Met Ocean News

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will initiate the environmental review of a proposed wind energy project offshore New Jersey.At its closest point, the approximately 81,129-acre lease area, OCS-A 0549, known as Atlantic Shores North, is located 8.4 miles from the New Jersey coast and approximately 60 miles from New York.The Atlantic Shores’ proposal currently includes installation of up to 157 wind turbine generators, eight offshore substations, one permanent meteorological tower, and two temporary metocean buoys - for a total of up to 168 offshore structures.

The loss of the Stellar Daisy in 2017 was a tragic reminder of the importance of wave data to ship design and operation. The vessel sank in the South Atlantic Ocean, with 22 of 24 crewmembers lost. The structural failure of the vessel was attributed to several factors including material fatigue and the forces imposed on the hull as a result of the weather conditions.Survey requirements for some vessel types have since been tightened, but even before this tragedy, work was underway to evaluate the wave data used to determine ship structural integrity requirements.

Maersk and Hong Lam Marine have conducted the world’s first ship-to-container ship methanol bunkering operation of a Maersk’s container vessel at the Raffles Reserved Anchorage in Singapore.This was also Singapore’s first methanol bunkering and it was conducted with the support of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), government agencies and research institutes.Maersk’s container vessel – the world’s first container vessel sailing on green methanol – was successfully refuelled with approximately 300 metric tonnes of bio-methanol via Hong Lam Marine’s Singapore-registered tanker…

Oil and gas company Valeura Energy said Monday that modifications to the MT Jaka Tarub crude oil storage vessel were complete, making the vessel compatible with infrastructure at its Wassana oil field, offshore Thailand.According to Valeura Energy, the vessel is capable of tandem crude oil loading/offloading. "Subject to favorable metocean conditions, the vessel will arrive at the Wassana field in the coming days, after which Valeura intends to resume oil production operations, targeting initial rates of up to 3,000 bbls/d, net to the 89% working interest share held by its subsidiary company Valeura Energy Asia Pte. Ltd." the company said.As reported by Offshore Engineer in December 2022…

Dutch marine survey services firm Fugro is back on the water for Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind off the U.S. east coast, conducting a third year of integrated site characterisation services for the New Jersey-based offshore wind farm developer.Geophysical, metocean, and environmental scopes of work are currently underway, while geotechnical services will startlater this month, using a newly commissioned Fugro C30 mobile rig.Working from a third-party vessel, the Fugro C30 mobile rig will deliver Atlantic Shores heave‑compensated drilling capabilities and downhole sampling…

Pilot LNG, developer of the Galveston LNG Bunker Port (GLBP) project, announced that it has awarded the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for the project’s marine infrastructure engineering to W. F. Baird & Associates.Baird will provide a variety of services to Pilot LNG including design of marine structures, metocean modeling including storm surge and tidal currents, dredging design and dredged material placement analysis, and support for vessel maneuvering assessments.

The world’s FPSO fleet is getting older, with 55 FPSO units in the global fleet reaching the end of their design life in the next five years, with an additional five having life extension in place. With 19 more FPSOs currently being evaluated for life extension, safety issues and structural integrity concerns come to the fore? Matt Tremblay, ABS Vice President, Global Offshore, explains the challenges for FPSO operators, and discusses why a new working group comprised of major…

After several false starts, 2021 is the year when the U.S. offshore wind industry begins to realize its potential. This is according to Philip Lewis, Director of Research, World Energy Reports (WER).In an interview with Maritime Reporter TV's Greg Trauthwein, Lewis, whose WER is set to release an intelligence pack that presents a roadmap to the opportunities in the U.S. offshore wind space, says that at least 30 major offshore wind projects are forecast to be developed within this decade.

Back in 2017, Ocean Infinity made a novel move; deploying six autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), instead of just one, from a single vessel, vastly increasing the ground that could be covered in a single survey. Now the firm is taking the use of remote, robotic systems a significant step further.Back in 2017, Ocean Infinity made a novel move; deploying six autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), instead of just one, from a single vessel, vastly increasing the ground that could be covered in a single survey.

MetOcean Telematics (MetOcean) won a five-year blanket purchase agreement (BPA) to supply the United States Coast Guard (USCG) with its  search and rescue buoy, the Iridium Self Locating Datum Marker Buoy, also known as the iSLDMB.The United States Coast Guard is a a core-user of the iSLDMB, and during an active SAR event, the MetOcean iSLDMB allows Coast Guardsto quickly travel to the event location via aircraft and then deploy the buoys by air in the region of interest, helping to significantly reduce overall search time.

Industries are adapting to an increasingly digitalized landscape. The floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) industry is no different. As concerted efforts are made to improve project economics Matt Tremblay, ABS Senior Vice President, Global Offshore, discusses how digitalization can increase safety, reduce costs, and build robust technical and operational capabilities.No one could have predicted what a challenging year 2020 would become. Offshore production activity fluctuated dramatically with changing market economics and a global pandemic…

Geophysical seismic surveys and port security may appear to have little in-common. However, it turns out that managing complex marine seismic operations, where 10km-long seismic streamers have to be deployed harmoniously alongside other offshore marine assets, isn’t that dissimilar to managing – and protecting – port facilities.It's an area that ION Geophysical, more known for seismic data acquisition technology, has recently been proving its expertise in, using its Marlin system for marine operations management.

Delta Offshore Energy (DOE), a company developing an offshore gas to power project in Vietnam, has signed a technology license agreement with Stena Power & LNG Solutions.Under the agreement, Stena will grant DOE a license to use its Jetty-Less LNG receiving and regas technology for the offshore LNG to power project located in the Bac Lieu Province in Southern Vietnam.DOE will employ Stena’s floating Jetty-Less Autonomous Transfer System (ATS) and Self-installing Regas Platform…

Currently under construction at Cheoy Lee Shipyards' Hin Lee (Zhuhai) Shipyard facility are two 27-meter wind farm support vessels (WFSV) to support operations and maintenance of the Akita and Noshiro offshore wind farms, in the Akita Prefecture region of Japan.The first WFSV is set to be launched in December this year, with the delivery to the operator Akita Offshore Wind Corporation (AOW) in early 2021.AOW's Akita Noshiro Offshore Wind Farm Project is the first large-scale commercial…

Theyr Ltd, a London based met-ocean data provider to the maritime sectors are pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Mantel as a Non-Executive Director.In his role he will be defining and implementing the commercial shipping strategy offering Theyr’s High Fidelity Met Ocean Data and Optimization Services that will drive the digital transformation in shipping.Mantel previously helped pioneer the transformation from paper to electronic chart navigation as a Director and Shareholder of Transas Marine Ltd.

As a new decade starts, offshore wind development continues to progress. Actually, it’s probably more accurate to write that the development of the development of offshore wind (OFW) continues to, uh, well, develop.Apologies for that mild sarcasm. But even a quick look-back at OFW always raises the same familiar question: is the glass half empty or half full?Consider developments in the east coast leader in offshore wind: New York.In a webinar in December New York’s NYSERDA –…

Greece-based shipping company Arista Shipping has signed an ocean data agreement with the global provider of classification and technical advisory services ABS to drive smart shipping operations.The global provider of shipping transportation services and specializes in managing the worldwide transportation of dry bulk cargoes will processed data from the ABS Metocean Hindcast Data application to guide operational decision making for its fleet and managed vessels.Advanced ABS data processing is applied to over a decade of Metocean Hindcast model data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to determine the wind speed, wind direction, wave height, wave period, and wave direction corresponding to a specified vessel’s route.

The evolution of marine design is increasingly influenced by three drivers: New three-dimensional design tools, the increasing complexity of power systems, and new access to high-latitude shipping routes. While new digital design tools are a natural progression of the current Information Age, new propulsion energy requirements and Polar shipping routes are reactions to the legacy of the ebbing Industrial Age. Three-Dimensional Design WorkflowsA young naval architect recently stated…

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) held the first joint symposium on  extreme maritime weather: Towards safety of life at sea and a sustainable blue economy.The symposium has highlighted the need for the gap to be closed between met-ocean (meteorology and oceanography) information providers and the users of this information in the maritime industry.The October 23-25 event at IMO headquarters in London brought together about 200 stakeholders from shipping (including freight, passenger ferries, cruise liners), offshore industry, ports and harbors, coast guards, insurance providers and the met-ocean community - both public and private).Global examples of extreme maritime weather and a wide variety of related issues were discussed.

Allseas Group, the offshore pipeline installation contractor, has chosen WFS Technologies’ new Seatooth Pipelogger for the real time measurement of process temperature on a subsea pipeline system which they have installed recently.WFS, the player in subsea wireless automation, Subsea Internet of Things (SIoT) and Subsea Cloud Computing Networks (SCCNs) said that the pipeline system is designed to have a total gas throughput capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters per year.WFS Technologies’ Pipelogger is a real-time, wireless technology which requires little to no maintenance, and can operate at depths of up to 2,000m without the need for…

Swedish global engineering group Trelleborg AB said that its marine and infrastructure operation has announced that it is to collaborate with Danish water environment specialist, DHI, enabling marine consultants and port owners to more realistically simulate vessel movements in ports and increase port efficiency.AutoMoor, Trelleborg’s rope-free automated mooring system which uses smart technologies to enable a faster berthing process and improve safety within the port environment, will be integrated into DHI’s MIKE 21 Mooring Analysis Software (MIKE 21 MA) over a five-year period.The integration will give port operators the ability to…

The classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has issued an Approval in Principle (AIP) to Dutch-based SBM Offshore for its proprietary wind floater design.The global provider of floating production and mooring systems (FPSO) said that the wind floater is a TLP concept and has been designed for the full life cycle, including in-place conditions, as well as wet tow with the wind turbine installed, and mooring hook-up phase.The AIP demonstrates the successful design of the floater, compliant with ABS’ design standards, said the offshore oil and gas company.“We are very proud of this Approval in Principle and it is a testament to the expertise and innovative spirit at SBM Offshore.

The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) has provided a series of metocean data sets to be used in a new Scottish open innovation competition aiming to stimulate creative thinking and data science to design new data products for the benefit of the marine environment, communities and economy.Organized by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Data Lab, Scotland’s Blue Growth Data Challenge will make available data sets from 2015 in-situ observations and numerical modelling from EMEC’s wave and tidal energy test facilities in Orkney.The data sets include wave conditions at EMEC’s Billia Croo wave test site; meteorological observations in two locations adjacent to EMEC’s wave and tidal test sites…