Kiewit Offshore Services News

Offshore wind developers Ørsted and Eversource marked the sailaway of the first U.S.-built offshore wind substation, which departed a Texas fabrication facility Wednesday. The substation is transiting across the Gulf of Mexico and then up the East Coast for installation at the South Fork Wind project site in a few weeks.Kiewit Offshore Services, Ltd. (Kiewit), the largest offshore fabricator in the U.S., designed and built the substation, which will be deployed at Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind project serving Long Island…

Ørsted and Eversource have taken the final investment decision (FID) on the South Fork Wind project that will be New York’s first offshore wind farm. The FID comes after the South Fork Wind joint venture, owned 50/50 by Ørsted and Eversource, last month received final approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for its construction and operations plan, the final in the agency’s review of the project. Once completed at the end of 2023, the 130MW offshore wind farm will generate enough electricity to power 70…

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has granted Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the South Fork Wind, New York’s first offshore wind farm, Ørsted confirmed Thursday. This is the final decision needed from the agency to move the project toward the start of construction. The approximately 130 MW South Fork Wind project, owned by the Danish firm Orsted AS and U.S. company Eversource Energy, will be located about 19 miles (30.58 km) southeast of Block Island…

BP's behemoth Argos offshore oil platform, the centerpiece of the company's $9 billion Mad Dog 2 project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, has arrived in the U.S. after a 16,000-mile journey from South Korea.The platform, loaded onboard Boskalis' BOKA Vanguard heavy transport vessel, had left South Korea on February 3, and it has this week arrived in the Kiewit Offshore Services fabrication yard in Ingleside, Texas."The arrival of the new floating production unit is a major milestone towards the completion of Mad Dog 2.

The Shearer Group, Inc. (TSGI) announced a new addition to its naval architecture, marine engineering & marine surveying firm, Daniel Toerner.A recent graduate from Texas A&M University, College Station, with a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering, Toerner joins TSGI as a naval architect. During his time at Texas A&M, he interned at Electro-Mechanical Industries, Kiewit Offshore Services, and Clarus Subsea Integrity. He also studied during a summer abroad in Italy.Toerner was the Team Captain for Texas A&M’s Human Powered Submarine Team where he designed…

Crowley Maritime Corp.’s offshore services group has delivered Shell’s Appomattox semi-submersible Floating Production System (FPS) to the open waters of the U.S. Gulf from Kiewit Offshore Services' construction facility in Ingleside, Texas.Making the tow-out possible were Crowley’s Ocean Sky and Ocean Sun tugboats, which worked together on behalf of customer Heerema, alongside other third-party assets to deliver Appomattox.Demonstrating both nearshore and offshore capabilities, the company’s ocean class tugs safely towed the FPS through the Aransas Channel, then disconnected and provided escort services to the deep-water installation site.

On September 14, five Signet Maritime ASD/Z-Drive tugboats, the SIGNET ENTERPRISE, SIGNET RELIANCE, SIGNET MAGIC, SIGNET WEATHERLY, and SIGNET VOLUNTEER successfully completed the Towout of LLOG’s DELTA HOUSE semisubmersible production facility to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In June 2011, Signet also assisted with LLOG’s highly successful OPTI-EX Floating Production System (FPS) for the Who Dat development field located in Mississippi Canyon 503/504/547. Signet Maritime’s Tractor fleet escorts DELTA HOUSE to the Gulf of Mexico. Signet’s International Operations Complex located in Ingleside, Texas was responsible for assisting with the arrival of each hull on a heavy lift vessel (HLV), offload in the deep hole, lifts & sets, stability (incline) testing, and sail-out.

This week a team of BSEE engineers and inspectors conducted a safety inspection of the first FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel designed and built for containment use in the Gulf of Mexico. The pre-production inspection is one of the necessary steps to clear the Eagle Texas vessel for containment use in standard production operations or in emergency situations that require containment. The eight-member inspection group, led by Ronald Washington of the Houma District…

Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) announced today that Kiewit Offshore Services (Kiewit) in Ingleside, Texas has been selected as the shorebase location to house equipment to outfit the company's modular capture vessels (MCVs) in the event of a deployment to a deepwater well control event. The equipment, which includes modular processing facilities for the MCVs and the centerpiece of the containment systems, the capping stacks, will be stored, maintained and tested at Kiewit's Ingleside facility near Corpus Christi. This MCV shorebase is one of two shorebase locations for MWCC. The selection of Kiewit and Ingleside as MWCC's MCV…

Signet Maritime Corporation announced that its newest tug, a Robert Allan designed RAmparts 3200 Class ocean towing and escort tug, M/V SIGNET WEATHERLY, will be delivered on March 10, 2012, from Signet Shipbuilding & Repair in Pascagoula, Mississippi. This state-of-the-art ASD will be used in Signet’s U.S. Gulf of Mexico operations. Signet will own and operate the vessel in support of its Offshore Towing Division and its expanding U.S. Gulf and overseas harbor, ship assist, deep offshore and ocean rig transport business.

According to a report from the Southern Gazette, CAW/MWF Local 20 president Wayne Butler said he remains hopeful there will one day be a graving dock in Marystown, following last week’s announcement Kiewit Offshore Services was withdrawing from the bidding process for the upcoming federal shipbuilding program.    (Source: The Southern Gazette)

Signet Maritime Corporation announced the successful completion of transportation, delivery and loadout of two mat supported Jackup rigs. Signet provided full turnkey operations for the movement of the Rubicone H-191 from Sabine, Texas to Kiewit Offshore Services, Ingleside, Texas. The MV Signet Enterprise with 4,400BHP, 62.6MT Bollard pull ahead, 53.5MT bollard pull astern and the MV Signet Intrepid with 4,400BHP, 60.3MT bollard pull ahead, 54.7MT bollard pull astern, were the primary towing tugs for the project. The ocean tow was accomplished flawlessly in four days.

As BP, the National Response Team, and an army of volunteers respond to the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico, NOIA member companies are lending their resources in an unprecedented cooperative effort to stop the flow of oil and prevent further damage to the environment. These resources include land-based and offshore facilities, aircraft, marine vessels, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), a containment dome, subsea tooling, subsea video, dispersant, personnel, and technical expertise on suction systems, blowout preventers, dispersant injection, well construction, containment options, subsea wells, environmental science, emergency response, spill assistance, well intervention, and drilling and well competence.

As Intelligent Engineering (IE) prepares to carry out another drilling rig repair using its SPS Overlay technology in the reinstatement of the pipe-rack deck on board the Pride South Atlantic, a semi-submersible unit belonging to Pride International, the company's recent focus on the offshore sector is clearly paying dividends. Work on board the Pride South Atlantic, commencing in early July, is the latest in a series of new offshore contracts and will involve the reinstatement of a 490 sq. m. deck area to be carried out at the Maua Jurong facility in Niteroi, close to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Denis Welch. "One, a significant percentage of the world's mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) are 20 years old or more and require steel upgrades and reinstatements.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico region is again poised to prosper, spurred by the buzz of activity surrounding the oil patch, and specifically the renewed vigor with which companies will explore and develop deepwater fields for the production of natural resources. Though the resumption of business at "full throttle" has taken perhaps a bit longer than many observers would have initially predicted, particularly given the continued high price of oil and gas and the "pro" oil industry political team occupying the White House, it is a safe bet that, at least for the next several years, the offshore oil business will ensure that the marine business in the GOM region is a prosperous one.