Northern Seas News

Russian warships entered the Barents Sea on Wednesday to rehearse protecting a major shipping lane in the Arctic, its Northern Fleet said on Wednesday, as Moscow stages sweeping military exercises involving all of its fleets.Russian military moves are being closely watched by the West at a time when a troop build-up near its border with Ukraine has sparked fears of a conflict. Moscow has denied it plans to launch an attack on Ukraine.Moscow said last week it would stage a series of drills involving all its fleets in the seas directly adjacent to Russia.

AB Klaipedos nafta (KN), the operator of oil products and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, and the German company Nauticor GmbH & Co. have agreed on the sale of KN’s 10% stake in the charter contract of Kairos, the world’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel to Nauticor.This leaves the world's biggest LNG bunkering vessel at Nauticor's disposal. The transfer shall become effective as of 30 September 2019, said a press release.World’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel Kairos started operations in Q4/2019. Kairos, owned by Babcock Schulte Energy, is charterd by Blue LNG, a joint venture between Nauticor (90%) and KN (10%). The joint venture partners decided to sell transfer KN’s share in Blue LNG to Nauticor. The transfer shall become effective as of September 30 th, 2019.

Russian oil company Rosneft announced it has ordered two Aframax crude oil tankers to be built at Russia's far eastern Zvezda shipyard for scheduled delivery in 2022.The Russian-flagged vessels will have a deadweight of 114,000 metric tons and a 1A/1B ice class, which makes them able to operate in icy conditions year round, including in sub-Arctic seas and Russian ports of the Baltic region, said Russian shipping company PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group).According to the documents, Arctic Leasing will place orders for construction of the two Aframax tankers at the shipyard…

The new Barge Master Gangway will be presented at the joint booth of Barge Master and Bosch Rexroth during the international offshore trade exhibition ONS (Offshore Northern Seas) in Stavanger. The next generation gangway, a result of cooperation between Bosch Rexroth and Barge Master, is designed for the safe and efficient transfer of personnel and cargo from ships to drilling and offshore production platforms, wind turbines and other ships. Barge Master specializes in the development and fabrication of motion compensating systems…

Norsafe, a leader in marine life-saving equipment, will be showing its world record breaking freefall lifeboat at the Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) show in Stavanger, August 29, to September 1, 2016. The GES 50 MKIII broke the world record on June 25, 2015 when the 70 passenger model was dropped from 40 meters with ten people on board. Since then the same lifeboat has been dropped several more times from this height, demonstrating the quality of design and workmanship by Norsafe’ dedicated and skilled workforce.

A naming ceremony was held today for Finland’s new-generation icebreaker, Polaris, built at Arctech Helsinki Shipyard. Presently under construction at Helsinki Shipyard, the vessel is designed especially for icebreaking operations in the Baltic Sea and will be fitted for oil recovery and emergency towing. The nearly 110-meter-long vessel’s design and construction features various Finnish technological innovations, such as ice-strengthened propulsion units and an effective oil recovery system integrated into the hull. Furthermore, the icebreaker will be powered by both diesel and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to reduce both carbon emissions and fuel costs, making Polaris the most environmentally friendly icebreaker in the world, according to its builders.

Under a contract with Rosneft to create a microbial medication for northern seas signed in 2014, scientists of Moscow State University’s biological faculty have identified about 100 microorganisms able to decompose oil and petroleum products at low temperatures including below zero ones. Over one year, more than 250 samples of water have been tested in Russia’s major northern ports, as well as by the shoreline of northern cities like Murmansk, Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky, etc. As a result, the scientists have discovered that it had taken a long time for the microorganisms to adapt, yet now they use petroleum products as food. The study has used bacterium which adapted to oil pollution in a natural way, which is why they are totally environmentally friendly.

Speaking at this year’s Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) Conference and Exhibition, Khalid A. Al-Falih, Saudi Aramco president and CEO, addressed the challenges facing the industry and gave insights into Saudi Aramco’s strategy for turning these into opportunities, informs the Middle East energy major. In his speech, Al-Falih outlined some of the chief challenges that major producers such as Saudi Aramco face, including rising project costs, critical manpower shortages, global economic weakness and political turmoil in many oil producing regions, including Africa, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. Al-Falih said, focusing on long-term strategies for meeting the growing global need for energy and enhancing “our industry’s resilience to the kinds of shocks…

Schlumberger today launched the Quanta Geo* photorealistic reservoir geology service at the Offshore Northern Seas Annual Conference and Exhibition. The new service includes the industry’s first microresistivity imager that produces oriented, photorealistic, core-like images of the formation in wells drilled with oil-base mud (OBM). Interpretation of the images identifies geological features and predicts reservoir trends in 3D with a high degree of certainty. “Geological imaging in wells drilled with OBM has long been recognized by operators as a major technical challenge, particularly in deepwater,” said Hinda Gharbi, president, Wireline, Schlumberger.

The 'West Alpha' platform, owned by North Atlantic Drilling, has begun drilling the Universitetskaya-1 well in the Kara Sea as part of a joint Rosneft and ExxonMobil project, reports Russian official news agency 'Arctic-info'. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who took part in the launch of works by videoconference, called it an important step in the development of prospective fields in the Arctic. He noted the uniqueness of the project in terms of technologies applied in exploration and environmental enterprises. Earlier, the head of the Russian oil company, Igor Sechin, said that the beginning of the implementation of the joint project between Rosneft and ExxonMobil in the Kara Sea is the most important event for the company in 2014.

OAO NK Rosneft will conduct marine fauna monitoring in the Northern Sea Route in 2014. The studies will be organized by the Arctic Research Center, a joint venture of Rosneft and ExxonMobil. The objective of the said studies is collection of data on marine fauna in Rosneft License Areas with a view to building a complete and detailed picture of the baseline environment state and developing a set of environmental controls to be applied during hydrocarbons exploration and production. The studies will cover animals, birds and mammals of northern seas. The said activities will be conducted on two icebreakers by several marine mammal observation teams.

Russian Ministry of Finance transferred the first tranche of 5 million euros for implementation of environmental projects of the Arctic Council. This amount is the first payment of Russia’s financial contribution with the total amount of 10 million euros to the Project Support Fund of the Arctic Council, established by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). The funds are to be transferred in two tranches of 5 million euros each in 2014 and 2015, respectively, reports RIA Novosti. The Fund will use them to eliminate hotbeds of pollution in the Arctic, as well as to reduce atmospheric emissions of harmful substances, including those directly affecting climate change.

The Kara-Winter-2014 Ice Expedition organized by the Arctic Research and Design Center (a joint venture of Rosneft and ExxonMobil) with expert support from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute Federal State Budget Institution was successfully finished. It has become the largest expedition in the Arctic Ocean since the USSR collapse. Within 63 days scientists have been studying least developed areas of three northern seas: the Laptev, Kara, and East-Siberian Seas on board the Yamal Ice-Breaker. The works have been also carried out off the coast of Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya archipelagoes, and De Long Islands. There have been carried out ice and meteorological measurements at 35 stations.

Prysmian Group, a leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry, is participating in the creation of Norstec, an association uniting the main players in the energy industry at the global level with the aim of supporting the production of renewable energy using offshore wind farms in the Northern Seas. Norstec, supported by British Prime Minister David Cameron, brings together more than 40 entities operating in the energy transmission infrastructure and technology industry, including world-leading manufacturers - such as Alstom, Areva, E.On, National Grid, Siemens, Vattenfall and Vestas —, developers, researchers and industry bodies…

An Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) poll reveals industry professionals see Arctic exploration as viable solution for Norway. The Industry Snapshot Poll was conducted at ONS by global independent technical advisor, GL Noble Denton. Senior professionals from across the industry also took part in the survey online. 74% of participants said that the development of sizeable reserves in Arctic waters offshore Norway could reverse the country’s diminishing North Sea production rates by 2030. By contrast, only 26% of participants felt Norway would not be able to abate the decline through Arctic exploration. Lutz Wittenberg, GL Noble Denton’s Executive Vice President for Europe, said: “The remote Arctic region is becoming more attractive to the industry as a whole.

A poll conducted at the Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) conference in Stavanger has revealed that industry professionals see Arctic exploration as a viable solution to Norway’s declining oil production rates. 74% of participants said that the development of sizeable reserves in Arctic waters offshore Norway could reverse the country’s diminishing North Sea production rates by 2030. By contrast, only 26% of participants felt Norway would not be able to abate the decline through Arctic exploration. The Industry Snapshot Poll was conducted on the first day of ONS by global independent technical advisor, GL Noble Denton. Senior professionals from across the industry also took part in the poll online.

A new study about crucial risk management issues relating to Arctic operations is released by DNV and the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI). The study concludes that, in order to safely develop Arctic resources, there is a need for improved technology, oil spill preparedness and close cooperation between the authorities, industry and society. DNV’s CEO, Dr Henrik O. Madsen, presented the study entitled ‘Energy and the environment – Arctic resource development, risks and responsible management’ at the Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) Conference in Stavanger. Interest in the Arctic is growing rapidly, but there is no race for resources. The Arctic is more characterised by cooperation than by conflict.