Intertek News

In 2019, Oldendorff Carriers signed a research agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Center for Bits and Atoms to investigate disruptive improvements in ship design, propulsion, and alternative energy sources to help achieve the enhanced decarbonization targets to 2050. As part of their agreement, Oldendorff Carriers asked MIT to conduct a study on the long-term stability and degradation of a B20 advanced biofuel blend.Biofuels offer a drop-in fuel option, reducing GHG emissions from a life-cycle perspective.

The captain of a Vietnamese oil tanker has been jailed for over five years in Singapore for his role in a scheme that saw around $150 million of oil stolen from Shell's biggest refinery over several years.Doan Xuan Than, 47, was sentenced to 66 months in prison on Thursday, a spokesman for the State Courts of Singapore said, becoming the second person jailed in a case that also involves former employees of Royal Dutch Shell who allegedly conspired to siphon oil from the firm's Singapore refinery.The theft…

An alleged oil heist in Singapore that has already led to 20 arrests, the seizure of at least one tanker and allegations that thieves siphoned thousands of tonnes of fuel from Shell’s biggest refinery is shining a spotlight on an illegal trade worth tens of billions of dollars worldwide. Working routes in a triangle of sea anchored by Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore and encompassing the oil facilities of Malaysia, the smugglers take advantage of a difficult-to-patrol sea and enticing black market prices, experts say.

International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) has finalised a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to help bunker surveyors identify their responsibilities when overseeing bunker deliveries involving Mass Flow Meters (MFMs) in Singapore. The SOP has been developed to address industry concerns and benefit all parties in the bunkering supply chain, and build trust in this new operating paradigm as Singapore moves toward the mandatory use of MFMs for supply of marine fuel oil (MFO). The SOP project was initiated by Capt Rahul Choudhuri of VPS when he took over as Chairman of the Executive Committee for IBIA in Asia in February this year. He saw a need for a harmonised approach for bunker surveyor practices when dealing with MFM bunker deliveries.

Intertek has enhanced its sample cylinders services with the aim of providing further cost savings for clients. Sample cylinders are used by offshore chemists to transport live crude, gas and water samples from offshore to onshore laboratories for testing. Intertek has invested £180,000 in 200 high-pressure cylinders to meet an increased demand from clients for analysis services. Fifty cylinders will be specially coated to allow the safe and effective transportation of samples containing mercury and hydrogen sulphide. Both elements can adhere to the internal surfaces of standard stainless steel cylinders, rendering analysis unreliable.

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) will be holding a forum entitled: ‘Bunkering with new fuels – Building on strong foundations’ as part of London International Shipping Week, on Wednesday 9 September. The event will include presentations from Mark Bell from SGMF (Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel), Michael Green, Global Technical Manager for Intertek Lintec, Armelle Breneol EAME Marine Fuels Logistics Advisor for ExxonMobil, Vyacheslav Mischeko from Argus Media and Nigel Draffin maritime consultant and author. The speakers will address the latest topical issues, in particular the availability of ECA compliant fuels…

Intertek’s Farnborough laboratory is supporting P&O Cruises’ new flagship Britannia by providing independent oil condition monitoring (OCM) services which monitor the condition of Britannia’s engines and other oil lubricated systems. Britannia, the largest cruise ship designed exclusively for British holiday market, set sail from Southampton last month to fulfill a busy timetable of Mediterranean cruisers which does not allow for unexpected engine and machinery repairs or time out of service.

Intertek said it is launching a new set of oil and gas decommissioning services to help manage costs and asset inventory. The company showcased the new services, which focus on the circular economy approach, at Decom North Sea’s lunch and learn yesterday. Pirie continued, “Circular economy provides great opportunities for decommissioning, when planned correctly it can create greater cost control as well as ensuring that redundant materials are removed and used in the most effective way possible.

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) noted an improvement in bunker quality from across the marine fuels supply chain thanks in part to a campaign launched by the association. Addressing an audience of more than 1,000 marine fuel buyers, suppliers and traders at the association’s annual dinner in London last night, IBIA Chairman Jens Maul Jorgensen said that the early results for 2015 show that there has been a marked improvement in bunker fuel quality with 8% of samples found to be off-spec compared with 10% in 2014. These results are based on samples taken by testing company Intertek ShipCare. “Test figures for standard…

Intertek has invested $1.8m expanding its center of excellence for corrosion testing services to meet growing demand for asset life extension solutions in the oil and gas industry. The expansion, which has been driven by major new contract awards worth around $1.51m, takes the total investment in the Manchester, UK, site to over $7.55m since it first opened in 2008. Originally consisting of two units with a total size of 10,000 sq ft, the facility has been extended twice to meet rapidly growing demand for corrosion testing services, primarily from the oil and gas industry. Now covering 27,000 sq ft, it is one of the world’s largest independent laboratories dedicated to corrosion testing.

Intertek, the global provider of quality and safety services, will address key topical issues at the NACE Corrosion 2014 conference this week. Corrosion costs $276 billion annually in the U.S. alone and is often responsible for damage, downtime and the costly replacement of vital industrial infrastructure on a global scale. Experts from Intertek’s corrosion solutions team will present six papers on current topics that affect the oil and gas and a range of other industries globally at NACE Corrosion 2014. The event will take place at the Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, between March 9-13. Raymond Pirie, Vice President of Exploration and Production services at Intertek…

Reuters - Dubai based rig-maker Lamprell said on Monday it sold its International Inspection Services (INSPEC) division to Intertek for $66.2 million to reduce its debt and focus on its core business. Lamprell is attempting to pay down debt after a disastrous 2012 in which the company issued multiple profit warnings prompted by delays and cost overruns on its gas turbine repair vessels. Intertek will pay for INSPEC with cash and Lamprell said it would use part of the proceeds to pay down a substantial part of a secured debt facility put in place last year. INSPEC carries out inspections for infrastructure-intensive industries including desalination and energy projects.

In a bid to improve bunker quality across the marine fuel supply chain, the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) has called on marine fuel suppliers to adopt the ISO 2010 specifications for bunkers. Despite having been introduced four years ago to improve bunker standards, it is estimated that only a quarter of bunker suppliers are currently supplying in accordance with the 2010 specifications. Addressing 1,127 attendees from the shipping community at the annual IBIA dinner at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel last night (Monday, February 17), IBIA Vice-Chairman Jens Maul Jorgensen said, “ECO vessels are now entering the market equipped with engines which are more sensitive than vessels have ever had before.

Darlington, UK-based Intertek has expanded their Darlington UK ShipCare Coordination Centre to better support their growing international marine services of fuel and lube testing, inspection and technical expertise. Intertek provides ShipCare services in 250 major ports, located in over 100 countries. The Darlington UK Centre coordinates and reports ShipCare work worldwide, providing clients with one single, convenient, point of contact for global services. Intertek’s ShipCare program provides a range of value-added services supporting the world’s seagoing vessels with testing, inspection, and technical expertise. Global capabilities include marine bunker fuel quality and quantity measurement and assurance…

Intertek, a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide, has been awarded the dimensional control contract for INPEX Ichthys FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offloading) turret development. This contract calls for the assurance and verification of fabrication and integration of the FPSO turret. Intertek Surveying Services has been operating for over 25 years and is considered a global leader in dimensional control, laser scanning and precise surveying. Through its expert dimensional control surveyors, Intertek will support INPEX with audits during the fabrication and integration process to ensure first-time fit up. The Ichthys LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) project involves piping gas nearly 900 km from the Ichthys field off the north-west coast of Western Australia to Darwin…

Intertek will tackle the issue of mercury pollution across industries during the “International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant” (ICMGP) in Edinburgh, Scotland, July 28 to August 2, 2013. Intertek will showcase expertise in detecting, monitoring and controlling mercury, supporting industries such as food, consumer products and oil and gas. Recent Harvard studies have shown that mercury is a long term problem, as past accumulations built over thousands of years could persist for centuries.

Intertek invested £900,000 (4,143,720 Malaysian Ringgit) in a new Malaysian regional center which will bring enhanced services to the exploration and production (E&P) sector in the region. Based in Kuala Lumpur, the facility boasts two laboratories and will allow Intertek to significantly expand its locally delivered services for its existing E&P business in the region. It will be also be a focal point for the provision of local expertise through consultancy, technical support and testing services for the South East Asia region.

Intertek has signed a contract with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) to provide crude oil assay and gas analysis services. The information gathered will help shape the design and construction of their new Oil-Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex (OGPC) near Baku city. Intertek will perform a variety of services including sample gathering, testing locally in Baku and full crude assay analysis within its U.K. North Sea operations. The work will take around six months to complete. Intertek has undertaken work for various divisions within SOCAR for the past 16 years.

Intertek, the global provider of quality and safety services, has invested £15 million in new Aberdeen headquarters for its energy services operation. Intertek will move in phases to the 41,000 square feet North Point building on the Energy Park in Bridge of Don with the first service line now based there and 160 employees to relocate by March 2012. The company has signed a 20 year lease and is investing more than £4.5 million in state-of-the art laboratories which are currently being renovated along with top range research and development, testing and training facilities. Raymond Pirie, vice president for Intertek’s global upstream business said the move to bring energy services under one roof would strengthen Intertek’s integrated offering, delivering further value to clients.

Aberdeen-based Veripos, the leading supplier of GNSS positioning services to the world offshore industry, has appointed Angus Scott as Regional Manager of its Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) division. Reporting to company Managing Director Walter Steedman, he will be responsible for continued  business development and operational aspects of the business on behalf of major operators of seismic, survey, DP, construction support and pipelay vessels. Mr Scott, who holds a BSc…

Metal Action Machining Ltd. (the CNC Division of Analytic Systems) has announced that they have been certified to the International Standards Organization (Certificate number AS-1197), Aerospace AS9100 Quality Management System. On the heels of being certified to ISO9001-2008 one year ago, Metal Action decided to upgrade to the Aerospace Certification. This will allow Metal Action to obtain new aerospace contracts for the likes of AVCORP, ASCO, Boeing, Bombardier, etc, as well as to assist in the potential work for the (NSP) National Ship Procurement project with Seaspan Marine. AS9100 fully incorporates the entirety of the current version of ISO 9001 while adding additional requirements relating to quality and safety.

Intertek has secured more than £5 million of new contracts for oil and gas technical inspection, training and staffing in the last six months through its North Sea Moody businesses. Intertek acquired Moody International last year in a £450 million deal. The company is currently investing £15 million in new Aberdeen headquarters in Scotland for its energy services, and the Intertek Moody teams are among the first to move to the new premises. The new center on the Energy Park in Bridge of Don is currently being renovated, and 160 staff expected to be based there by June.

The laboratory is located at the Birsfelden Rhine harbor, and is focused on testing petroleum, fuels and chemicals. A further lab expansion is planned towards the end of 2012, enabling Intertek to offer a full spectrum of services for quantity and quality assessments of liquid petroleum refined products. Rainer Mast, Intertek Germany Country Manager, stated, “The new lab and inspection location in Birsfelden is the 3rd Intertek Switzerland lab and inspection facility for fuel and oil testing, adding to our existing locations in Schlieren and Geneva.