International Services News

Gulf Drilling International (GDI) has signed a three-year contract with North Oil Company (NOC) to provide drilling services through the drilling rig Dukhan for NOC’s extensive development programmes in Al Shaheen oil field.The Al Shaheen Oil Field is a production oil and gas field off the north east coast of Qatar in the Persian Gulf, 80 kilometres north of Doha.The subsidiary of Gulf International Services (GIS) said in a press release that the signing ceremony was attended by GDI’s Chief Executive officer William Ceppi and NOC’s Chief Executive Officer Jacques Azibert. Also in attendance were Mark Gibson, Chief Operation Officer, and Francis Bourcier Drilling Manager of NOC…

Stephen Wang is counting the costs of President Donald Trump's trade war. He had to put down 12 times more cash as a guarantee to U.S. customs that he would pay the bill for tariffs on the Chinese-made pumps, valves and motors he imports.The cost of the guarantee - a U.S. customs bond - has shot up, an additional hit to importers already facing steep customs bills adding up to tens of billions of dollars for tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on incoming Chinese goods…

Port Everglades' largest tenant is urging the Florida Board of Pilot Commissioners to reject a proposed fee increase for harbor pilot services that it says would unfairly raise average pilotage costs more than 100 percent for shipping lines that call frequently at the port.While the proposed fee structure would decrease fees for cruise ships, it would hike the costs for companies that operate frequent-call feeder vessels that sail in and out of Port Everglades, Crowley Maritime Corporation said in a statement.

Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group announces that it has agreed to acquire EnerMech Group Ltd, an international services company providing critical asset support to the energy, infrastructure and industrials sectors, from Lime Rock Partners.The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2018, subject to customary anti-trust and regulatory approvals.Equity for this investment will come from Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), a $2.5 billion fund that invests in the global oil and gas sector outside North America. The Fund’s mandate includes exploration & production, mid-stream, downstream and oil field services.

Interferry, the trade association representing the worldwide ferry industry, has announced that the new chairman of its board of directors is John Steen-Mikkelsen, CEO of Danish ferry operator Danske Faerger.Steen-Mikkelsen was elected together with three new board members at the annual general meeting held last week in Cancun, Mexico, during the association’s 43rd annual conference.The Interferry board is drawn from all types of large and small ferry operations - including ro-pax, ro-ro, cruise ferries, fast ferries and passenger-only ferries - as well as industry suppliers.

As the global fleet of offshore renewables fleet increases, ways to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency and safety of operations and maintenance work, using robotics and autonomous systems, will also grow. Elaine Maslin reports.Robotics and autonomous systems are moving into many areas of modern day life. It’s becoming harder to avoid them, from our phones to automotive systems and now offshore energy renewable projects.Both are seen as tools to do otherwise dull, dirty or dangerous work…

Crowley Maritime Corp.’s liner services group announced today that it has launched a new feeder shipping service connecting San Juan, Puerto Rico; Rio Haina, Dominican Republic; and St. Croix and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).With the new service, vessels depart Rio Haina on Sundays and arrive in San Juan on Tuesdays. After departure on Thursdays, cargo arrives in St. Thomas and St. Croix on Fridays, before the vessel moves to the Dominican Republic again for Sunday operations.

Maersk Drilling has been awarded a four year contract for the deep-water drillship Maersk Venturer by Tullow Ghana Ltd. The contract, which was signed December 2017, is expected to commence in February 2018 and covers development drilling on the Jubilee and TEN fields offshore Ghana. Maersk Venturer is currently in transit for the job offshore Ghana thereby further strengthening Maersk Drilling’s presence in the region. ”I am very pleased that Maersk Drilling will be mobilising another deepwater rig for this significant job in a strategically important region. It is our first contract with Tullow Ghana and it is a testament to our successful operational track record in Ghana.

European multimodal transport provider Samskip said it will acquire activities associated with Nor Lines AS, marking a major expansion of its shipping, transport and logistics businesses in Norway. Subject to approval by Norway’s competition authorities, Samskip has agreed with the DSD Group to acquire the activities of Nor Lines, which generate an average annual turnover of €110 million ($128.2 million). With its head office in Stavanger, Nor Lines is a diversified logistics business offering domestic and international services.

Qatar’s Gulf International Services (GIS), the leading service group, has announced that its subsidiary Gulf Drilling International (GDI) has signed a contract with Dolphin Energy for drilling rig services. The contract was signed by Mubarak A al-Hajri, managing director and chief executive officer and Hassan al-Emadi, general manager, Dolphin Energy, Qatar. The work under this contract will be performed by the high spec jack-up rig "Al Jassra" and will consist of drilling three wells on the DOL 1 production platform located in offshore waters of Qatar. The service will commence this month. GDI has provided liftboat services to Dolphin Energy in the past and noted that its new liftboat "Al Safliya" is set to commence working for Dolphin Energy under a five-year contract later this month.

Offshore survey company Fugro Chance Inc. has appointed Blaine Thibodeaux to president. His responsibilities include Fugro’s Gulf of Mexico and Arctic offshore operations, including marine positioning, offshore construction and subsea projects, and international services. Having begun his career with Fugro’s IT group in 1996, Thibodeaux joined John Chance Land Surveys (a Fugro company) in 1997. As a Division Manager, he oversaw FLI-MAP, the airborne corridor mapping system, collecting thousands of miles of LiDAR data for federal and state agencies and the private sector.

Johan Roos is Interferry’s executive director of European Union and IMO affairs based in Brussels, Belgium. He took up the newly created regulatory affairs post in September 2011 after previously serving as director of sustainability with Sweden’s Stena Rederi AB. He holds a masters degree in environmental sciences from the University of Gothenburg. In 2000, he left classification society DNV to join ferry operator Stena Line to develop internal environmental management systems and for many years, he was in charge of sustainability issues for all of the Stena group’s shipping activities.

A review of the ferry industry’s latest challenges and opportunities attracted a record 340 delegates to Vancouver last week for the 39th annual Interferry conference. The global trade association event exposed a string of concerns – notably over punitive safety and environmental regulations – but also highlighted the financial potential of new routes, onboard shopping incentives and the use of LNG fuel. Alongside sessions on the future of the industry, Canada-based CEO Len Roueche outlined a vision for maintaining Interferry’s influential lobbying role among politicians and regulators.

Gulf Drilling International (GDI) Limited, a subsidiary of Gulf International Services (GIS), the largest oilfield service company in Qatar, has awarded two contracts worth US110 million to Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM), a joint venture shipyard between Nakilat and Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M). The first contract is for the construction of a self-propelled and self-elevating liftboat, which is customised for field transit operations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in water depths of up to 65 meters. When completed at the end of 2015, the liftboat will provide accommodation and platform support services for a customer with operations in Qatar.

The conference organizers inform that In a further response to the sinking of the South Korean ferry 'Sewol' in April, safety issues will be centre stage at Interferry’s 39th annual conference, which takes place in Vancouver from October 4-8, 2014. Prompted by the incident, the trade association is already in dialogue with the IMO about assisting in efforts to improve domestic ferry safety. Now these and other cooperative safety initiatives will feature in a wide-ranging conference agenda addressing the industry’s major regulatory, commercial and technical challenges. The IMO’s latest safety strategy will be examined by special guest speaker Jeff Lantz, US Coastguard regulations director and chairman of the IMO Council.

During the past five years, trade between Indonesia and the rest of Asia has mushroomed, particularly when compared to trade with North America and Europe (see the graph shown here). How much of this is due to proximity, or Indonesian goods being re-labelled by another Asian country, is beyond the scope of this analysis, but the lack of deep-sea services to the main consumer markets of Europe and North America must play a part, considers the analysis. Although Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation and South East Asia’s largest economy, ocean carriers currently offer no direct mainline services to either Europe or the US due to port capacity shortages.

Global container shipping and logistics group Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) reported fourth quarter 2012 Core EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) loss of US$69 million, a 75% improvement in the key profitability measure from a year ago. The Group posted a full year net loss of US$419 million, mainly due to a first quarter net loss (before non-recurring items) of US$255 million and one-time charges of US$108 million. Singapore-based NOL also said that its efficiency programme delivered US$504 million of cost savings, which is in line with its 2012 target. The savings were primarily achieved through reduced fuel consumption, network optimization and increased terminal productivity. “General market conditions in 2012 remained challenging.

Global container shipping and logistics group Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) reported a net loss of $67 million for the first half of 2011 compared to a $1 million net profit in the same period a year ago. The Group said it lost $57 million in the second quarter of 2011. NOL reported a 9% revenue increase in the first half of 2011 to US$4.595 billion. It announced a Core EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) loss of US$28 million. The Group said first half 2011 results were affected by higher operating costs, especially for fuel, and declining freight rates. It added that its supply chain management business, APL Logistics, increased revenue and Core EBIT. “Conditions are challenging throughout the shipping industry,” said NOL Group CEO Ronald D. Widdows.

Horizon Lines, Inc. (NYSE: HRZ), the nation's leading domestic ocean shipping company, today announced that Alherd Kazura has been appointed to the new position of Vice President of International Services. Mr. Kazura will report to Brian Taylor, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer of Horizon Lines, Inc. Mr. Kazura was previously Vice President International Planning and Development at Horizon, where among other responsibilities he led the transition team that established the carrier's Five Star Express (FSX) trans-Pacific service in December 2010.

Fendercare Marine has recently completed the delivery of 36 mooring buoys to Serco under their Marine Services contract awarded to Serco by the UK Ministry of Defence. Signed in 2008, FenderCare has a 5-year LTA in place with international services provider Serco. The contract is to supply class mooring systems within the context of the Marine Services contract awarded to Serco by the UK Ministry of Defence. The overall LTA makes provision for the supply of 600 containers of chain and fittings to yards designated by Serco…

Dave Sanford, interim chief of staff at Port Manatee, has been named to the National Academies of Science Marine Board, a Washington-based maritime advisory group. Sanford has accepted an appointment to a three-year term on the Marine Board, beginning Nov. 1. He brings to the board more than 40 years of maritime industry experience, including as director of navigation policy and legislation at the American Association of Port Authorities and in several senior executive capacities with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including as chief of civil works policy and chief of the Interagency and International Services Division. Formed in 1965, the Marine Board is an internationally recognized source of expertise on maritime transportation and marine engineering and technology.

The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) have approved Salama Fikira to operate on German flagged vessels. As an African-based service provider of international services, Salama Fikira said it is very proud to have been granted this approval to support vessels registered in Germany. Conrad Thorpe OBE, CEO of the Salama Fikira Group has welcomed this achievement by saying, "As the maritime security industry matures, the standards and regulations continue to be driven higher every year.

EnerMech Ltd has stepped up its presence in the African oil and gas sector with the £3 million (43 million Rand) acquisition of heavy load testing company Water Weights International SA (Pty) Ltd. The mechanical engineering group will use Water Weights International’s (WWI) strategic relationships to accelerate growth of its main business lines in South Africa and in key East and West African countries. EnerMech will invest up to £20 million (284 million Rand) in its African operations over the next three years and expects its workforce to grow to 250 in the same period.