Jim Craig News

Ampelmann, provider of offshore access to the energy industry, has unveiled its latest walk to work system which has been specially designed for operation in extreme cold conditions. The N-type, nicknamed Icemann, was officially launched in front of 200 guests on Thursday, April 20, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Designed to safely and efficiently transfer crew in extreme icing and temperatures as low as -28C (-18F), the fully enclosed and insulated system is operational in sea states up to 3.5 meters significant wave height and comprises active motion compensation.

On April 14, 2016, offshore access solutions company Ampelmann and Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. signed an agreement to install and operate a winterized version of an Ampelmann’s motion compensated gangway system. This system will be capable of safely and efficiently transferring work crew up to -28 degrees Celsius, therefore supports Sakhalin Energy’s requirements to continue maintenance and increase offshore POB year round in the Sakhalin-2 field. The winterized Ampelmann, project name “Icemann”, will be installed on one of Sakhalin Energy’s new ice breaking support vessels of which delivery is due next year. Ampelmann will engineer and build this bespoke, unique in the world system for its launching customer Sakhalin Energy. The contract duration will be for 10 years.

Ampelmann, a provider of motion compensated offshore access solutions, announced it has achieved a milestone in the operation of its systems; two million safe transfers. The accomplishment was achieved 10 months after the one millionth transfer. The two millionth safe transfer took place on a project for Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP). BSP utilizes multiple Ampelmann A-Type and L-Type systems for the transfer of personnel during operations and maintenance activities. Ampelmann CEO, Jim Craig, said, “2015 marks an important year in Ampelmann’s history as we celebrate two million safe transfers.

Ampelmann announced that it will open a new office in Houston, Texas as the next step in the company’s continued expansion. Ampelmann said the new office strengthens its presence in the Americas and confirms the company’s commitment to the global oil and gas industry. The company, which is headquartered in Delft (The Netherlands) and has offices in Qatar and Singapore has taken up residence in the Two Allen Centre, in downtown Houston. The new office will enable Ampelmann to better support current and future customers in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and Latin America.

Developer of motion compensation solutions Ampelmann announced that its supervisory board has appointed Jim Craig as the company’s new chief executive officer, effective immediately.   Craig brings more than 25 years of energy industry experience to the role, having previously served as the managing director of Centrica Storage.   Ampelmann's inventor and founder, Jan van der Tempel, decided to step down from the position of CEO to dedicate more time to teaching and technology development. He will continue his involvement with the company as a member of its supervisory board.

Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] was awarded a $15m firm-fixed-price contract as part of the U.S. Navy's Modernization Program for the DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The contract, for initial Machinery Control System (MCS) shipsets and related equipment, includes options and engineering services which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $51.5m. MCS provides centralized and remote control of selected machinery on U.S. Navy DDG 51-class ships. The new contract follows three earlier awards (January and November 2007, and April 2008) to modernize computer programs, provide engineering services, backfit software and support integration of hull, mechanical and electrical systems aboard existing Arleigh Burke-class ships.

By Daryl C. NORFOLK (NNS) -- The Naval Construction Force will soon have a new, 21st century convoy training simulator to augment current training for Seabees. Lockheed Martin was recently awarded a contract that includes a state-of-the-art $5 million combat convoy simulator (CCS) expected to be delivered to Construction Battalion Center (CBC), Gulfport, Miss., in September 2008. The trainer is part of a $52.5 million contract providing convoy simulators to the Marine Corps. The system consists of six vehicle simulators, four high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles and two medium tactical vehicle replacements, that will be programmed with a variety of training scenarios and scenery projected onto a 360-degree screen.