Offshore Loading News

Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC), the operator of the Hibernia platform in the Atlantic Ocean offshore Canada, has reported that a near-miss incident occurred on the platform on October 5, 2022.According to HMDC, as reported to safety regulator CNLOPB, on October 5, the platform's personnel were in the process of completing a pressure test of the high-pressure manifold on the Hibernia Platform. Personnel had closed the upper diverter valve when the valve…

Classification society ABS said it has awarded AET the SMART (INF) Notation for the 152,700 DWT DP2 shuttle tanker Eagle Passos, which was built and delivered by South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (SHI).The first shuttle tanker to be granted an ABS Smart Notation, which recognizes the vessel’s data communication and network infrastructure, Eagle Passos will also be granted the Operational Performance Management (OPM) and Crew Assistance and Augmentation (CAA) class record comments in recognition of the optimization…

Classification society ABS announced Tuesday it has updated its Shuttle Tanker Advisory, offering insights on shuttle tanker design and operation all over the globe, with particular focus on Brazil, the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.The Advisory explains how ABS optional notations complement class and statutory requirements to fulfill varying regional and operational requirements. As well as exploring new technologies having an impact on the sector, the Advisory identifies…

With the ongoing development of deepwater pre-salt plays and a decreased demand on local content in tankers and other vessels, Brazilian national operator Petrobras and other super-majors have been looking abroad for better rates and reliable operators of shuttle tankers. Claudio Paschoa, Maritime Reporter’s correspondent in Brazil spoke to Peter Liew, Global Director – Mid Size Tankers, Crude Shipping, about AET Tankers’ history and its operations in Brazil.AET (formerly American Eagle Tankers) was founded in Houston in 1994 primarily to conduct lightering operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The company’s fleet grew to 32 vessels (mainly Aframax tankers but also two VLCCs) by 2003, when acquired by MISC Berhad.

Norway's Equinor has entered into time charter contracts with the shipowner Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS (Knutsen) for two newbuild shuttle tankers to transport crude oil from the Roncador oil field in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil.The new vessels will be built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea and are scheduled to enter operation in 2020.The vessels, which meet all requirements for offshore loading in Brazil, are designed for operations in Brazilian waters and are optimized for intended trading pattern, Equinor said.

OPEC member Venezuela has raised the prospect of declaring force majeure on contracts with major crude buyers amid plummeting output from its oil fields and tanker bottlenecks at ports, according to three sources familiar with the matter.Falling production from Venezuela has contributed to a rally in global oil prices to a near four-year high, and other OPEC members may boost output at a meeting later this month to compensate for the shortfall and other risks to global supplies.Oil is the financial lifeline for the embattled socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro…

Petroleum tanker owner and operator AET announced the extension of partnership in the DP2 shuttle tanker sector with Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.(Petrobras), the Brazilian multinational petroleum corporation. "Recently we were awarded a contract to own and operate four specialist DP2 Suezmax Shuttle Tankers on long-term charter by Petrobras. These new vessels will be in addition to the two AET DP2 ships currently on charter in the Brazilian Basin for Petrobras," said a press release from the company. The four 152,000 DWT DP2 shuttle tankers will be built by a Korean shipyard for delivery in 2020 and will be contracted to Petrobras for operations in international and Brazilian waters.

ABB said it has won an order from Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries to equip two new 125,000 DWT shuttle tankers contracted to the world's largest offshore operator Statoil ASA. Ordered by petroleum and chemical tanker owner and operator AET and scheduled for delivery in 2019, the vessels will transport oil from the Statoil fields on the Norwegian and U.K. continental shelves to land-based terminals. The two twin-skeg specialist DP2 offshore loading shuttle tankers will feature a range of ABB’s power and automation solutions, including the power distribution system Onboard DC Grid.

Statoil ASA and petroleum and chemical tanker owners and operator AET are extending their partnership in the North Sea shuttle tanker sector. Statoil has, awarded a long-term contract to AET, a subsidiary of Malaysian energy shipping group, MISC Berhad, to operate two specialist DP2 offshore loading shuttle tankers (OLSTs) on long-term charter. These new vessels will be in addition to the two AET DP2 ships currently on charter, in the same area, for Statoil. These new vessels are in addition to the two AET DP2 ships currently on charter in the same area for Statoil.

Kongsberg Maritime Ltd, the UK subsidiary of global marine technology company Kongsberg Maritime, welcomed customers to its Aberdeen training centre on Thursday 30th June for a seminar on the future of Dynamic Positioning Operator (DPO) Training and Certification. Delegates from operators including Helix, V-Ships and Technip attended the seminar to find out more about the new KONGSBERG Training and Certification Scheme for DP Operators, which is certified by DNV GL and recognised by the industry. The seminar detailed how the KONGSBERG Training Scheme for DP Operators is a step-change in the critical area of DPO training, with teaching and assessor competence, and the use of advanced simulators forming the platform for training and certification.

By combining well-proven MacGregor Pusnes technology in bow loading and offloading systems, MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has helped to develop a solution that enables crude oil to be loaded directly from a floating production storage offloading (FPSO) facility or a floating storage offloading (FSO) unit to a conventional tanker, up to very large crude carrier (VLCC) size. The first contracts for the systems have been signed with China's Cosco Shipyard Group. "MacGregor, and its Pusnes brand, has a long history of developing pioneering offshore loading systems within the industry," says Høye Høyesen, Vice President, MacGregor Advanced Offshore Solutions.

Sovcomflot Group and Sberbank CIB  have signed a 14-year $340 million credit facility agreement to finance the construction of three Arctic shuttle tankers for the Novy Port project  (project operator: Gazprom eft). Novy Port is one of the largest oil and gas condensate deposits on the Yamal peninsula in Russia. The vessels will serve as part of project infrastructure designed to enable year-round shipment of crude oil from an offshore loading terminal in the Gulf of Ob. The commercial production from the field will start in 2016. The transaction involves Sberbank Europe AG, a subsidiary bank of PJSC Sberbank. Commenting on the transaction…

Five pilot projects have been cohsen to be pursued as part of Norway’s Green Coastal Shipping Program aiming to encourage research and implementation of green technology concepts in the country’s shipping sector. The pilot projects, presented by DNV GL and 25 partners from the Norwegian maritime industry and the Norwegian authorities, include several different ship types, and infrastructure with an emphasis on alternative fuel concepts. "When we launched the Green Coastal Shipping Program, we said we wanted to make Norway a world showcase for green coastal shipping.

Kongsberg Maritime has become the first global maritime training provider to offer a new DNV-GL approved Dynamic Positioning Operator (DPO) training scheme at its training centers worldwide. The new KONGSBERG Training Scheme for DP Operators is based on a combination of new and established DNV training standards, with the learning process designed by Kongsberg Maritime. The scheme is a step-change in the critical area of DPO training, with teaching and assessor competence, and…

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has secured contracts to supply Pusnes bow loading systems for three newbuild shuttle tankers intended for operations in Brazilian waters. The order was booked into first quarter 2015 order intake. South Korean shipyard Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd will install a Pusnes bow loading system on a 157,000 dwt Suezmax DP2 shuttle tanker under construction for tanker specialist Tsakos Energy and Navigation Ltd. The Greek headquartered company specified Pusnes loading systems for two earlier shuttle tankers, the Brasil 2014 and Rio 2016, both delivered in 2013. The other two systems will be installed on a pair of 156,000 dwt Suezmax shuttle tankers under construction at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea for Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS.

The Simsea AS maritime training center in Haugesund, Norway, has chosen Kongsberg Maritime to support the extension of its offshore simulation facilities with new simulators and significant upgrades to existing simulators. Kongsberg Maritime has also recently delivered a new rig simulator model at Simsea, based on the Floatel Superior accommodation unit, which is currently in operation in the North Sea. Developed as a part of the K-Sim Offshore simulators installed at Simsea,…

Bibby Ship Management India Pvt. Ltd contracted Kongsberg Maritime to deliver a Kongsberg Offshore Vessel Simulator (KOVS) including an upgrade of the customer’s existing Kongsberg Dynamic Positioning (DP) simulator in Mumbai. This extension to the Bibby Training Institute Mumbai represents the first KOVS in India and was commissioned to strengthen Bibby’s ability to conduct advanced training courses for Indian seafarers. The Bibby Training Institute Mumbai has already helped to grow the number of certified Indian DP operators, from 60 when it opened in 2006 to more than 1,000 today.

Statoil and its partners are considering developing the Skrugard discovery in the Barents Sea by means of a floating production unit with the additional capacity to process and transport from other prospects in the area. A feasibility study has identified a technical and commercial solution for the Skrugard field in the Barents Sea. The solution involving a floating production unit will result in the rapid and cost-efficient development of the discovery. The production unit will have separate oil storage and offshore loading capability with a production capacity of 95…

A fixed platform has been selected by Statoil and its partners for the Dagny oil and gas discovery in the North Sea, while the Eirin gas field is to be developed with a subsea solution. Gas from Dagny will be exported through a tie-back to the infrastructure on Sleipner East, while offshore loading into shuttle tankers is proposed for the oil. The seabed production installation on Eirin will be tied back to the planned Dagny platform. Originally a small gas discovery just north of the Sleipner fields…

In its capacity as Focal - MOOG Components Group representative in Scandinavia and Holland, the MacArtney Group has recently passed a momentous system delivery milestone. Since the partnership was initiated, MacArtney has facilitated the sale and delivery of more than 40 Focal swivel solutions to offshore Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels operating across the world. FPSOs are offshore production facilities that house both processing equipment and storage for produced hydrocarbons.

FMC Technologies, Inc. has announced that it has signed an agreement with Technip France, on behalf of the Technip Samsung Consortium (TSC), to supply offshore loading arm systems as part of the 'Shell Prelude' Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project. FMC's scope of supply includes seven offshore footless marine loading arms, four for liquefied natural gas and three for liquefied petroleum gas. FMC's Loading Systems business in Sens, France will design and manufacture the equipment. FLNG opens up new business opportunities for countries looking to develop their gas resources, bringing more natural gas to market. Shell is the first to go ahead with such a project, Prelude FLNG.

FMC Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: FTI) announced on May 14, 2012 that it has signed an agreement with Technip France, on behalf of the Technip Samsung Consortium (TSC), to supply offshore loading arm systems as part of the Shell Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project. FMC’s scope of supply includes seven offshore footless marine loading arms, four for liquefied natural gas and three for liquefied petroleum gas. FMC’s Loading Systems business in Sens, France will design and manufacture the equipment. “Today’s announcement expands our existing support of the Prelude development, having received the subsea equipment contract in June of 2011,” said Robert Potter, FMC’s Executive Vice President, Energy Systems.

Kongsberg Maritime has delivered its 50th HAIN (Hydro Acoustic aided Inertial Navigation) Reference System, to long-time HAIN user, Ocean Rig. HAIN significantly improves reference data accuracy and update rate sent to Dynamic Positioning (DP) systems to support safer, more reliable and efficient offshore drilling operation. It is also suitable for applications including offshore loading and specialist operations such as offshore construction. Ocean Rig is an international offshore drilling contractor providing oilfield services for offshore oil and gas exploration…