Northeast Coast News

The low interest in the first-ever auction of offshore wind farm development rights in the Gulf of Mexico marks a potentially serious setback for U.S. President Joe Biden’s green energy agenda, and the U.S. offshore wind sector in general.U.S. officials had touted the auction as a key milestone in Biden’s agenda to make offshore wind a cornerstone of U.S. efforts to fight fossil-fuel-driven climate change.But with only a single bid of $5.6 million emerging for the rights to 102…

It’s a big deal when a U.S. president visits an American shipyard, and these trips always send a message. When President Obama spoke at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in 2013, he warned of the consequences of sequestration. President Trump’s 2020 speech at Fincantieri Marinette Marine touted a $5.5 billion naval contract that gave a welcome boost to the Wisconsin shipyard and its supply chain partners. Most recently, President Biden traveled to Philadelphia’s Philly Shipyard…

U.S. offshore vessel owner Hornbeck Offshore Services, best known for its offshore oil and gas support vessel services, is looking at business opportunities in the growing U.S. offshore wind sector as well as in offshore accommodation services in the oil and gas area.For that, Covington, La. based Hornbeck Offshore said Wednesday it had contracted Eastern Shipbuilding Group to convert one of its recently acquired 280-foot offshore supply vessels (OSV) to a service operation vessel (SOV) to meet the growing demand of the U.S.

Brazil sank a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean off its northeast coast, the Brazilian Navy said, despite warnings from environmentalists that the rusting 1960s French-built ship would pollute the sea and the marine food chain.The 32,000-tonne carrier had been floating offshore for three months since Turkey refused it entry to be scrapped there because it was an environmental hazard and the ship was towed back to Brazil.The carrier was scuttled in a "planned and controlled sinking" late on Friday…

Edda Wind, the Norwegian offshore wind vessel owner, held a naming ceremony for its "Edda Boreas" commissioning service operation vessel on Saturday.The traditional ceremony where a bottle of champagne was sacrificed for good luck took place at Gondan Shipbuilders in Spain. “Boreas” comes from the god of northerly wind in Greek mythology.The Edda Boreas is a purpose-built Commissioning Service Operation Vessel (CSOV), prepared for emission-free operations with a hydrogen-based propulsion system.

Turkish shipbuilder Uzmar has built thee new tugs for Smit Lamnalco.Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., the three purpose-designed and -built RAstar 4200 ASD tugs SL Ibo, SL Matemo and SL Macaloe were ordered in 2019. They are the first RAstar 4200 design vessels used for terminal support and have been outfitted specially for these operations. These new 42-meter tugs are specifically designed to be operated in the offshore area near the northeast coast of Pemba, Mozambique. The three tugboats will be working together with one multipurpose vessel as a fleet in support of FLNG operation…

Norway-based crane manufacturer Red Rock has won an order from shipbuilder Vard for equipment supply for a service operations vessel (SOV) ordered last week by North Star Renewables for work on the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the UK.As previously reported, the vessel will be operating on Dogger Bank C and is the third order of a VARD 4 12 SOV. Red Rock will deliver one 2T 3D Motion Compensated crane, one 2T Boatlanding crane, and one 1T Shipboard crane. Equipment deliveries…

UK-based offshore vessel owner North Star Group has won another service operations vessel (SOV) contract at the Dogger Bank wind farm, this time for the third phase.North Star Group said Thursday it had secured a long-term charter worth about £90 million ($118,7 million) to deliver an additional ship for Dogger Bank C to support offshore wind technicians working in the field.The contract comes a week after SSE Renewables, with partner Equinor, reached financial close on Dogger Bank C, the third phase of what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, located in the UK North Sea.

Update: The article was updated on Wednesday, October 10, to include a statement by the crane manufacturer Liebherr.Offshore wind installation company Seaway 7 said Monday there had been an incident during the construction of its Alfa Lift offshore wind foundation installation vessel, currently being built in China at China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu."Today, we have been informed of an incident involving the folding A-frame on the main crane of Alfa Lift, currently under construction in China.

A  man in a hamster wheel-like vessel washed ashore near the Old Salt Park beach approach in Flagler County, Florida. He said he was on the way to New York. "[The vessel's] sole occupant was with the vessel and advised that he came to shore because he was missing some of his equipment," Flagler Sheriff's report from July 24 reads. In a tweet on Saturday, Flagler Sheriff said the occupant of the vessel was safe with no injuries. "The occupant advised he left the St. Augustine area [the day before] to head to [New York]…

As part of his Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (EO 14008)—issued on the first day he took office—President Biden made significant commitments to renewable energy. These commitments include collaborating with multiple federal agencies in the United States and promoting critical industry support for the acquisition of electric vehicles for the federal fleet, as well as rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, the landmark international agreement signed in 2015 to limit global warming.

UK-based offshore vessel operator Seacat Services has said that its recently launched catamaran Seacat Rainbow has gone straight on to a long-term charter at the Beatrice offshore wind farm.Seacat Rainbow will support Operations & Maintenance activity for the service team working at the Beatrice offshore wind farm, joining its sister vessel Seacat Weatherly, which is currently on a charter with wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.Both vessels are Chartwell 24 catamaran designs by naval architect Chartwell Marine.

Norwegian owner Offshore Heavy Transports (OHT) said its newbuild vessel Alfa Lift has been floated-out from its drydock at China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu, China. The semisubmersible heavy installation vessel, which is designed and built for installing the next generation XXL offshore wind foundations, was launched on February 28, 2021.The 51,087-dedweight-tonne vessel will now be moored while work continues on the steel and internal fit-out, including the mechanical completion of systems.

A merchant ship has reportedly been hijacked off the northeast coast of Somalia, marking the first successful hijacking by Somali pirates since 2017.The Panama-flagged ship was en route from the United Arab Emirates to Mogadishu port when it appeared to develop mechanical problems, Reuters reports.The 112-meter chemical tanker Aegean II was said to be attacked by six armed pirates on Wednesday night, according to maritime security intelligence group Dryad Global, who described the incident as an "isolated and opportunistic piratical activity which seized on a vessel in a vulnerable situation".According to Dryad Global, the Aegean II slowed from its 6-knot cruising speed to 1 knot, giving pirates a "window of opportunity" to attack.

Turkey may begin oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean within three or four months under a deal it signed with Libya that was condemned by others in the region including Greece, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Friday.Libya's internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) signed the maritime delimitation deal last year. Turkey says it creates an exclusive economic zone from its southern coast to Libya's northeast coast, and protects rights to resources.Greece, Cyprus and others oppose the accord and call it illegal, an accusation Ankara has rejected.

The global wind power industry is expected to install more than 626,800 MW of new capacity over the next decade, said a report.According to a report from Navigant Research, this new capacity represents a market worth more than $92 billion in 2019 and more than $1 trillion over the forecast decade.According to the report, global offshore wind development is expected to experience a 16% compound annual growth rate over a 10-year forecast period.China, Taiwan, and Europe are the leading markets, with the US soon to join when the first large-scale offshore wind plants are commissioned in coming years along the northeast coast of the country.The…

Crude oil smudges have been spotted at some Brazilian beaches in the northeast state of Ceará, the country's navy said on Monday, almost two months after the area was hit by another oil slick.That was part of a broader spill, whose origin remains a mystery, that stained hundreds of beaches on Brazil's northeast coast between September and November, threatening marine life, tourism and fishing.The navy said samples of the new spill were being sent for analysis to a marine studies institute…

MHI Vestas Offshore Wind will supply 100 turbines for the 950-megawatt (MW) Moray East offshore wind farm in waters off the northeast coast of Scotland.Under the contract, MHI Vestas will deliver one hundred of its V164-9.5 MW offshore wind turbines for the project in the Moray Firth. The order includes a 15-year service agreement, MHI Vestas said. This is the company’s largest ever MW project.Moray Offshore Windfarm (East) Limited, known as Moray East, is a 950 MW offshore wind project 22km from the coast of Scotland, which in 2017 won a Contract for Difference (CfD) from the UK Government to supply electricity at £57.50/MWhr, representing a significant cost reduction compared with similar projects under construction today (typically £140/MWhr).Project Director for Moray East…

For a long time there has been a deficit of trained maritime officers in Brazil, as for decades the only accredited training institutes were run by the Brazilian Navy, where a very limited number of prospective maritime deck and engine officers could be trained at its two training institutes in the country. That's all changing now with the Institute of Nautical Sciences (ICN) leading the way.With the discovery of the pre-salt in 2007 and the continued growth of the maritime and offshore sectors, the lack of qualified Brazilian officers became acute. For many years, and even today, most offshore captains and officers are foreigners, while there is a more significant number of local captains and officers in the merchant fleet.

Subsea 7 said Friday it has been awarded a contract from Nexen as part of the Buzzard Phase 2 Project, located approximately 55 kilometers off the northeast coast of Scotland. Subsea 7 said the contract is “sizeable”, between $50 million and $150 million.Subsea 7’s contract scope includes project management, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of a 5-kilometer pipeline bundle along with associated well and platform tie-ins, and provision of a heavy lift vessel for transport and installation of a new topside module.Project management and detailed engineering has commenced at Subsea 7’s office in Aberdeen. The pipeline bundle will be fabricated at Subsea 7’s Wester site near Wick, with technical support from Subsea 7’s specialist pipeline group in Glasgow.

The offshore energy boom: more than wind. Domestic offshore wind also promises to generate demand for new, efficiently propelled support vessels. The U.S. offshore wind farm industry, now in its infancy, is on the verge of a massive growth surge, and the boom will be felt throughout the American maritime industry. The U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy reported last year that there is a “robust pipeline of projects to ensure growth in the country’s nascent offshore wind market…

An Australian Navy survey ship has located a U.S. military aircraft that crashed off the Australian northeast coast at the weekend and left three Marines missing, Defence Minister Marise Payne said on Monday. The navy divers will conduct remotely operated underwater vehicle operations before considering sending down divers, Payne said in a statement. The U.S. Marine Corps had suspended a search for the three Marines missing since the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed while on regular operations on Saturday.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it had reopened all commercial ports along Florida's west coast on Friday, while hurricane Matthew continued to lash the northeast coast of the state.   Matthew was located about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southeast of Jacksonville Beach in Florida with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h), according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.   The hurricane was forecast to move near or over the coast of northeast Florida and Georgia through Friday night, and near or over the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. It is expected to remain a hurricane until it begins to move away from the United States on Sunday, the NHC said.     (Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)