Larger Groups News

One of Bibby Marine’s floating accommodation barges, ‘floatels’, the Bibby Bergen, is on its way to Vordingborg, Denmark where it will house bridge construction workers. The floatel will be used on a two-year charter for Site Facility, a Danish company specializing in handling accommodation of larger groups of employees on remote sites.With 180 cabins, a kitchen, restaurant, relaxation rooms and laundry facility on board, the Bibby Bergen will house personnel working for the Storstrom Bridge Joint Venture.The bridge under construction…

The global salvage business continues to be very dynamic with emerging trends and significant moves made by major salvors. While not as heavily affected by primary economic factors such as the offshore market’s connectivity to oil prices, the global market for salvage and wreck removal continues to evolve rapidly and the U.S. influence on the market plays an important role. There are many market pressures on salvage companies beyond a business model that are inherently risky; these market forces will continue to shape the industry with interesting results.

By John Kemp. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. Britain's North Sea exploration and production business is set to be transformed, with cooperation replacing competition and proactive, intrusive regulation replacing a light touch. On Monday, ministers promised to back fully the recommendations contained in Ian Wood's review on maximising oil and gas recovery from the UK Continental Shelf (www.woodreview.co.uk). A powerful new regulator will be spun out of Britain's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), staffed by industry experts with salaries to match, to end the squabbling among offshore operators and promote a strategy based on shared infrastructure and regional development plans.

Austal USA has signed a contract with Cloud Nine of New York to construct a 135 ft. dinner cruise monohull. This is the second sale by Austal USA to the New York market this year and will further showcase the company’s ability to deliver a high quality, customised product. Austal’s Managing Director, Bob McKinnon said the sale of the new monohull is a strong indication of the immediate success of Austal USA in delivering vessels to the US domestic market. “We are very pleased to see that orders for Austal USA are progressing well,” McKinnon said. Cloud Nine specialise in offering private, luxury dinner cruises for social and corporate groups and have developed a large base of repeat customers.

Trico Marine Services, Inc., has taken delivery on the Northern Canyon, a 279-ft. UT 745 design platform supply vessel (PSV). The state-of-the-art vessel is designed to serve deepwater markets worldwide. Built in Norway, the Northern Canyon is equipped with a DP2 (dynamic positioning) system and is among the largest, most technologically advanced PSVs available in the industry. The vessel, which will be deployed initially in the North Sea, is quipped as a remotely operated vehicle vessel to perform subsea construction work globally. It has been awarded a three-year contract by Canyon-Offshore, Inc. Trico is scheduled to take delivery of a second 279-ft. PSV in September 2002. It also expects to take delivery of three new generation 155-ft.