Ndt News

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has launched a new recommendation, 177, to enhance the quality of machinery piping systems in shipbuilding.Piping systems convey different fluids at various temperatures and pressures to all parts of the ship, including to nearly every enclosed space on a vessel. As such, and because these systems are a means through which many of a ship’s control systems operate, it is crucial that these systems are designed to…

Offshore installation services firm Allseas has inaugurated 'Sandpiper', its new barge for shallow water offshore construction activities.Allseas said Thursday that the 170-meter barge was inaugurated this week in Singapore with a special ceremony after several upgrading activities in 2022/2023. The vessel is is a flat-bottom, anchored barge for shallow water offshore construction activities, purchased by Allseas in 2022 and upgraded for pipelaying in 2022/23.Sandpiper is equipped with a 10-point mooring system…

A self-propelled pontoon made entirely from standard scaffold components and fitted with a crane has been used for a project on the river Thames to install ladders, chains, and wooden fendering.This project sees yet another evolution of the ScaffFloat system that launched in the UK just two years ago. The Cornish-based company has grown across multiple markets and this latest addition of a crane to their self-powered pontoons has some in the industry likening it to the popular multicat style workboats.For the project on the Thames ScaffFloat mobilised an 8m x 6.4m ScaffFloat…

Melding advanced software, intelligence, robotics and navigation, Armach Robotics – a spinoff of Greensea Systems – leads a step change in ship hull cleaning and maintenance with its Robotics as a Service model. Ben Kinnaman, the CEO of Greensea Systems, explains.Ben, to start us off, please give us a background on Armach Robotics? Where did the idea come from and where are we today?Greensea Systems is a software company, well-known for our software platform on ocean robotics. We're also well-known for our unique navigation and autonomy solutions.

Nautilus Data Technologies (NDT) and Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) provide an interesting new twist to the maritime digitalization discussion, with the design, manufacture and delivery of an innovative 7MW data center housed on a refurbished 240-ft. deck barge. Jim Connaughton, CEO, NDT & Michael Complita, PE – VP Strategic Expansion, EBDG, discuss the strategic and environmental advantages as well as the future of housing massive computer banks on barges.When one says “Silicon Valley”, the first image to come to mind likely is not a barge.

Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor last year said that the delivery of an FPSO, being built for the Johan Castberg field development in the Barents Sea, would be delayed after the company discovered issues with the weld quality of the hull of the FPSO under construction in Singapore.In an update on Monday, Equinor said that, following the initial findings, an in-house investigation team from Equinor had studied the deviation in quality of welding and inspection of the Johan Castberg FPSO…

ABSG Consulting Inc. (ABS Consulting) signed an exclusive global licensing agreement to offer an innovative ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT) solution that supports expanded use of composite materials on offshore assets to extend service life.Developed to test the heat shield on the Orion space capsule, this is the first proven nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technology that can successfully scan layered composite material for defects, offering unprecedented visibility into the integrity of these materials.The technology…

Bureau Veritas (BV) says it has launched the BVS eAcademy to provide online learning for marine and offshore energy markets across the globe.Led by BV Solutions Marine & Offshore (BVS M&O), BVS eAcademy offering more than 25 maritime courses developed from BV’s own internal training academy which, since 2016, has delivered more than 20,000 training sessions to more than 1,500 BV staff.Delivered online and on-demand, the course are suitable for maritime professionals, or students looking to develop their awareness and understanding of specific areas of expertise…

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced Brandi Smith has been named program director of the Newport News Columbia-class submarine program.Smith will be responsible for leading the company’s construction activities for the U.S. Navy’s new class of ballistic-missile submarines, as well as maintaining strong relationships with General Dynamics Electric Boat and Navy customers. She will report to Jason Ward, Newport News vice president for Columbia-class submarine construction.Smith began her career at Newport News in 2002 as an engineer in the carrier overhaul program.

A focused Q&A with M.Sc. Chem. Eng. Anders M. Sørheim, Yara Marine TechnologiesHow important is material quality when selecting a scrubber system?If the intention of a scrubber installation is to operate the scrubber for the lifetime of the vessel, assuming a minimum of 10 years, then the material quality is imperative. A study performed by the American stainless-steel manufacturer ATI titled “Evaluation of Alloys for Marine Exhaust Scrubbers – Effect of Welding and a Crevice” confirmed the importance of correct material choice for scrubbers.

AXIS Pipeline Construction Group and ST Engineering Halter Marine and Offshore shipyard have partnered to service the subsea fabrication and installation market. This newly forged partnership, combined with more than 40 years of subsea fabrication and installation management experience, provides innovative capabilities currently unavailable to the subsea installation market, the companies said.Located in Pascagoula, Miss., ST Engineering Halter Marine and Offshore (STEHMO) is a provider of services for ships, drilling rigs and other marine vessels within the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. STEHMO provides dry docking, upgrades, repair, conversion…

Houston-based subsea engineering company Oceaneering International has secured a contract renewal from Equinor, the Norwegian multinational energy company, covering the provision of maintenance, reliability and integrity management.The oilfield provider of engineered services and products, primarily to the offshore oil and gas said in a press note that the contract, which was originally awarded to Oceaneering’s integrity business in 2005 and competitively tendered again in December 2013, is extended until December 2020.Under the agreement, Oceaneering will provide support to Equinor’s onshore and offshore facilities in Norway, covering a wide spectrum of maintenance…

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) survey and inspection firm Cyberhawk has completed the first full ABS Intermediate Hull Survey 4 on an oil tanker using UAVs.Cyberhawk performed full class inspection across 19 tanks on board an oil tanker while at a shipyard in Singapore. This included 12 Cargo Oil Tanks (COT), two slop tanks and five ballast tanks. Attending was the American Bureau for Shipping (ABS) to ensure the quality of the inspection complied with the specific ABS rules (ESP) set for tankers.

The most used and recognized offshore pipeline standard in the world has been updated to reflect the latest pipeline research and developments by DNV GL, the quality assurance and risk management company, and other leading industry players. The standard, previously called DNV-OS-F101 is now renamed DNVGL-ST-F101. Around 65% of all new projects globally are designed according to the standard, first issued in 1976. The new revision reflects the conclusions of joint industry projects (JIPs) by DNV GL and other leading industry players such as DNV GL’s JIP providing guidance for installation of rigid and flexible pipes, umbilicals and power cables.

Sparrows Group has been awarded a three-and-a-half-year extension to its inspection services contract for Stena Drilling’s global fleet of drilling vessels. The contract scope includes carrying out LOLER lifting gear surveys, potential dropped objects surveys, cargo carrying unit (CCU) and non-destructive testing (NDT) inspections as well as rig specific maintenance. As well as an extension to the contract, the scope has also been expanded to cover Stena’s entire fleet of seven vessels, including the Stena Don in Norway.

Timing is all-important when repairs to a busy drillship are the order of the day. When Pacific International Drilling West Africa’s (PIDWAL) drillship Pacific Bora suffered damage to the starboard aft hull off the coast of Nigeria, PIDWAL called for assistance from the Harris Pye Engineering Group. The repair was successfully evaluated; all necessary specialists and labor, steel, tools and equipment were mobilized; and the repair was made, installed, painted and tested in less than two weeks of the Harris Pye team boarding the Pacific Bora (“PBA”).

Norsafe, global leader in marine life-saving equipment, has received a glowing recommendation from the Australian Navy for the quality of its lifeboat servicing on one of the Navy’s replenishment vessels HMAS Sirius. The work on the HMAS Sirius involved lifeboat overhaul and upgrade plus Non-destructive testing (NDT) inspection and overhaul of the winches and davits. Norsafe Australia received an e-mail from Chief Petty Officer Ben Reid which said, “I would like to express my thanks to the Ben Fuller and his team that recently completed the 60 monthly service routine on the Royal Australia Navy Replenishment Tanker HMAS SIRIUS for the 73 man fully enclosed life rafts and davits.

Hess Denmark ApS has awarded a contract to DNV GL to provide asset integrity inspection management of its South Arne field including Risked Based Inspection (RBI) services and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) inspection services. The contract continues an 18-year partnership between Hess and the leading technical advisor to the oil and gas industry. Oil export pipeline and offloading buoy. “DNV GL has been contracted to provide integrity inspection on the South Arne field since 1998. The renewal of this partnership demonstrates the importance of high-quality service delivery in a cost-pressured market. Further, the contract shows Hess’s confidence in DNV GL’s ability to deliver efficient solutions which can help manage operation costs for the South Arne field…

Dorchester based, Tritex NDT has launched its new Multigauge 5700 Datalogger Metal Thickness Gauge. The new gauge, has all the advantages of the Multigauge 5600 but with the added benefit of storing readings on the gauge, the manufacturer said. The Multigauge 5700 Datalogger includes an onboard memory for recording measurements in either a grid or string format, or combination of both. The readings are then transferred to a PC or laptop using wireless technology, which also allows remote gauging if required.

Global Diving & Salvage has announced the addition of Global Technical Services (GTS) to its three core services: marine construction, marine casualty response and offshore support. GTS is offering a wide range of Non Destructive Testing (NDT) instruction services to industry clients in coordination with Alaska Technical. Courses will offered to energy company, aviation, rail and infrastructure clients and will include visual, magnetic particle, dye penetrant, ultrasonic, radiography, radiographic film interpretation and eddy current courses.

The international expert organisation DEKRA has taken over the Plant Integrity (PI), Non Destructive Testing (NDT) and Microsopy operations from DNV GL (formerly KEMA) and as such is expanding its industrial operations in the Netherlands. A respective purchase agreement was signed by DEKRA and DNV GL on 8th of August 2014. The three units, employing together 24 experts, will be operating under the name DEKRA Material Testing & Inspection (MTI) in the new DEKRA buildings in Arnhem. MTI is concerned with the inspection and testing of capital-intensive and business-critical systems and materials. Customers include a large number of petrochemical, industrial and energy companies.

LCT 7074, the last known landing craft to survive the D-Day invasion in 1944, has been refloated as part of a project to lift and save the vessel which began in March 2014, almost exactly four years to the day after she had sunk. The vessel, which came out of service at the end of the WWII after numerous deployments to the Normandy beaches, was converted to a naval repair facility for a short while, and then became a floating nightclub berthed in Liverpool from around 1950. Unique Seaflex (Seaflex)…

Market volatility for the petroleum sector provides a backdrop to an evolving Merger & Acquisitions environment for the Offshore Sector. In the 3Q edition of Maritime Professional, this series of articles examined the overall evolution of maritime and offshore M&A activity since 2010, tracing the flow of deals in the post-financial crisis era. In this edition, we take a closer look at relevant U.S. offshore energy industry deal flow and market movements as they relate to oil prices over time, and highlight some recent middle market transactions.