Mirage News

Cutting through piles made from concrete and steel and spending a long time under water isn’t a job for the faint hearted. So what kind of ‘rough diamond’ would be up to such a tough job? In a recent demolition project in Australia, the star performer was a diamond wire saw manufactured by Mirage Machines, an Acteon company, which was chosen by OPEC Systems to assist in the demolition of wharf structures located at Northshore Hamilton, Brisbane. Three full time dive crews were deployed…

InterMoor said it has completed the final tensioning and chain cutting operations on the FPSO Turritella for the Shell Stones project, located in the Walker Ridge protraction area in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The FPSO Turritella will connect to subsea infrastructure located beneath approximately 9,500 ft (2,896 m) of water, breaking the existing water depth record for an oil and gas production facility. This ultra-deepwater project marks the first FPSO for Shell in the GoM, and the second FPSO in the GoM.

Australian government plans to spend 50 billion Australian dollars (US$39.39 billion) on powerful new submarines, has become a political football at home, reports Reuters. The opposition said it wanted to invite Sweden to join Germany, France and Japan in submitting tenders for submarine fleet, as part of a proposal to end political gridlock on the project. The Government has rejected a Labor proposal to further open up the submarine tender process as "complete fantasy" and a "mirage". Prime Minister Tony Abbott has dismissed the Labor plan warning the nation could be left without any operational vessels. He also reminded Labor it had six years in government from late 2007 to make a decision about replacing the Collins class fleet.

France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier has started military operations against Islamic State in Iraq, a French army source said on Monday. "The carrier and its naval group has officially started missions as part of its Chammal operation in Iraq," the source told Reuters in a reference to the name of the mission. A second source said the carrier would be engaged for several weeks. Le Figaro newspaper, which is accompanying Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian ahead of an official announcement he is set to make on the carrier on Monday, said the first reconnaissance and possible air strikes in Iraq took place in the morning. France was the first country to join the U.S.-led coalition in air strikes in Iraq against Islamic State insurgents…

U.S. West Coast ports that were closed to incoming cargo vessels during the holiday weekend reopened in full on Tuesday as Labor Secretary Tom Perez arrived in San Francisco seeking to broker a settlement ending months of shipping disruptions. Perez was sent to meet with the two sides in the conflict at the behest of President Barack Obama, who has come under mounting pressure to weigh in on a labor dispute that has cascaded through the U.S. commercial supply chain and beyond. But there was no immediate word on exactly when or under what conditions he would join in talks between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, representing 20,000 dockworkers, and the bargaining agent for shipping companies and terminal operations, the Pacific Maritime Association.

Trimble announced today that registration has officially opened for its International User Conference—Trimble Dimensions—being held November 3-5, 2014 at the Mirage and the Treasure Island Hotels in Las Vegas. The three-day conference addresses innovations in agriculture, construction, civil infrastructure, engineering, government, mapping, natural resources, surveying, telecommunications, transportation and logistics and utilities. Trimble Dimensions provides insight into how information technology can transform the way professionals work by using integrated workflows to increase productivity. Hear how industry colleagues use Trimble’s end-to-end technology to easily transform data into intelligent, usable information.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it rescued two men from a grounded fishing vessel near Sitka Monday. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka landed on the beach at Low Island in Sitka Sound near the 50-foot fishing vessel Mirage and the two crewmembers were able to safely disembark their vessel and walk to the waiting helicopter for transport to Sitka. Coast Guard Sector Juneau watchstanders received a report from the Sitka Police Department that the Mirage, with two people aboard, was aground on the island approximately 10 miles west of Sitka. Sector command center personnel requested assistance from a Sitka Mountain Rescue smallboat crew to respond and confirm the situation.

Mirage Machines, an Acteon company, received a significant uplift in sales last year due to ongoing targeted online lead generation campaigns. Specialist engineering company Mirage, based in Derby U.K., supply high spec on-site machines to companies around the world, specializing in pipe maintenance and hot tapping equipment for the oil and gas industry. Mirage launched a new website in early 2013 and sought to capitalize on a long standing historical trend of traffic closely correlating with sales.

InterMoor, an Acteon company, has won a contract for design, fabrication and installation of 12 suction pile anchors, preset installation of 12 chain/polyester/chain mooring lines and hook-up of the LLOG Delta House production semi-submersible (the Floating Production System “FPS”). The work will be conducted in the Mississippi Canyon 254 block of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The project will involve suction pile design, fabrication and installation, followed by preset mooring installation and pre-set mooring hook-up of the FPS. The 12 piles will be 85 ft. long and 16 ft.

Lumitec, a designer and manufacturer of marine LED lighting solutions, is set to premier three new products at IBEX September 17-19 at booth 2155. Lumitec will also reveal technology updates for some of their most popular lights. Leading the launch is Lumitec’s new Cayman line of spreader/floodlights with a measured output of up to 2,400 lumens, (integrating sphere measurement). The Cayman family offers: dual-color output, Monolithic solid metal construction, dimming, and DeckSweep optical technology.

US Government Consul-General, Jeffrey Hawkins, observes ineffectual Nigeria Government response to a growing incidence of piracy. The US envoy made his comment at the recently concluded Nigeria Maritime Expo (NIMAREX 2013) in Lagos. Acknowledging that Nigeria has enormous maritime potentials, the US envoy commented that realising those potentials would be a mirage if the security challenges are not tackled, reports the Nigerian Tribune. Hawkins posited further that there are many accusations that entities involved in providing maritime security collude in some of the illegal activities. According to the US envoy, both the available data and the anecdotal evidence suggest that the situation is only worsening…

FORAN users meeting in Toledo experience head-mounted display (HMD) virtual reality representation. HMD is a device that lets the user to view and interact with 3D simulation environments, in this case applied to 3D ship models generated in FORAN. After the development of the second generation of a viewer, FORAN FVIEWER VR, for the virtual navigation through the ship 3D model, SENER has presented a new and innovating application in a Head Mounting Display (HMD). The recent FORAN Users Meeting in Toledo was the venue for this new experience…

With a strategy focused in innovation, SENER is going ahead in the Virtual Reality (VR) applications for shipbuilding. After the development of the second generation of a viewer, FORAN FVIEWER VR, for the virtual navigation through the ship 3D model, SENER has recently presented a new and innovating application in a Head Mounting Display (HMD). The recent FORAN Users Meeting in Toledo was the venue for this new experience, where SENER in collaboration with Ingevideo showed to the event attendees two different and innovative approaching to the VR.

A Greek citizen, Panagiotis Lekkas, the captain of the bulk cargo ship the M/V Theotokos, pleaded guilty to four felony counts in federal court in New Orleans for violating anti-pollution laws, ship safety laws and obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard investigation, the Justice Department announced. Additionally, a Philippine citizen, Charles P. Posas, the second highest officer onboard the M/V Theotokos, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of lying to the Coast Guard and violating recordkeeping laws aimed at reducing the risk of marine invasive species. Posas is the first individual ever charged under the anti-invasive species law, a law designed to mitigate the introduction of marine invasive species into waters of the United States.

Technip has been awarded a contract by Bluewater Industries, Inc. for the flowlines, risers, jumpers and subsea structures for the Mirage field development, in the Gulf of Mexico. This field is located in Mississippi Canyon Block 941, at a water depth of 4,050 feet. ATP Oil & Gas Corporation (NASDAQ: ATPG) is 100% owner and operator of Mirage and Bluewater Industries is managing the project. The contract covers engineering for the installation, welding and installation of two steel catenary risers and two oil and gas export flowlines (31 and 52km long), fabrication and installation of subsea structures and jumpers, and pre-commissioning. Technip's operations and engineering center in Houston (Texas) will execute this contract.

Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Ford in uniform 1945, who later became the 38th President of the United States (1974-1977). Ford received his commission as an Ensign in the U.S Naval Reserve on April 13, 1942 and later participated in many actions in the Pacific aboard the fast aircraft carrier USS Monterey (CVL 26). He was eventually released from active duty under honorable conditions in Feb. 1946. President Ford, 93, passed away on Dec. 26, 2006 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Former President Gerald R. Ford passed away Dec. 26 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 93. When he entered the White House in 1974 as the 38th President, Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. became the fourth consecutive President to have served in the U.S. Navy.

Spirit Energy 76, Unocal Corporation's U.S. Lower 48 exploration and production unit, said the exploratory well drilling the Mirage prospect in the Gulf of Mexico deepwater is a significant oil discovery. Spirit Energy holds a 25-percent working interest. Vastar Resources, Inc. owns 75-percent working interest and is the operator. Vastar estimates the well encountered approximately 300 ft. of net pay. The company said it is too soon to estimate the extent of the discovery. Additional drilling will be conducted to further evaluate the find. The well was drilled in 3,927 ft. of water, approximately 80 miles south-southeast of Venice, La., on Mississippi Canyon block 941. It has been temporarily abandoned.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS), in New Orleans, held a sale of offshore oil and natural gas leases in the Central Gulf of Mexico attracting $171.8 million in high bids from 67 companies. Sale 172 is the seventh lease sale held subject to the provisions of the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act, passed in 1995. The MMS received 272 bids on 207 offshore tracts. 3,806 tracts comprising approximately 20,368,385 million acres offshore Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi were offered. The total of all bids was $199.6 million. The highest bid received was $16.6 million, submitted by Marathon Oil Company and Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corporation for Walker Ridge, Block 121.

The operators of many of the riverboat casinos along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers are likely to enjoy smooth sailing as growing demand, limited new supply, and relaxed regulations support stronger operating results and possibly rating upgrades, Moody's Investors Service reports. The rating agency also cautions, however, looser gaming restrictions in one jurisdiction or the strengthening of one casino's position through the addition of new amenities could put pressure on neighboring operations. "Overall, our rating outlook is positive and we expect more upgrades than downgrades of companies in this industry over the next 6-18 months," says Moody's VP/Senior Analyst Todd Gray.

The operators of many of the riverboat casinos along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers are likely to enjoy smooth sailing as growing demand, limited new supply, and relaxed regulations support stronger operating results and possibly rating upgrades, Moody's Investors Service reports. The rating agency also cautions, however, looser gaming restrictions in one jurisdiction or the strengthening of one casino's position through the addition of new amenities could put pressure on neighboring operations. "Overall, our rating outlook is positive and we expect more upgrades than downgrades of companies in this industry over the next 6-18 months," says Moody's VP/senior analyst Todd Gray.

With the construction of new sister ships progressing as scheduled and the recently signed contract to manage the world's first ocean-going luxury residence, Silversea Cruises is well poised for growth in the next millennium. The line was founded in 1992 with the concept of offering all-inclusive, ultra-luxury cruises to all parts of the world. The first ship, Silver Cloud, debuted in 1994, followed by Silver Wind in 1995. In five years, the line emerged as a leader in the ultra-luxury cruise market and is internationally recognized as the world's best small ship cruise line. The company's strong performance has made it possible to expand the fleet after only four years of operation. In May 1998, Silversea signed a contract for two new ships.

With the construction of new sister ships progressing as scheduled and the recently signed contract to manage the world's first ocean-going luxury residence, Silversea cruises is well poised for growth in the next millennium. The line was founded in 1992 with the concept of offering all-inclusive, ultra-luxury cruises to all parts of the world. The first ship, Silver Cloud, debuted in 1994, followed by Silver Wind in 1995. In five years, the line emerged as a leader in the ultra-luxury cruise market and is internationally recognized as the world's best small ship cruise line. The company's strong performance has made it possible to expand the fleet after only four years of operation. In May 1998, Silversea signed a contract for two new ships.