Offshore Terminals News

Crown LNG Holdings AS, a provider of LNG liquefaction and regasification terminal technologies for harsh weather locations, has agreed to merge with Catcha Investment Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, that would result in Crown becoming a U.S. publicly listed company. The combined company, named Crown LNG Holdings Limited (“PubCo”), intends to apply to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol “CGBS”.Crown designs and…

Apollo Global Management has recently informed that certain funds managed by its affiliates have signed an exclusive agreement to invest in the Arthur Kill Terminal project, dubbed a major offshore wind energy staging and assembly port under development in Staten Island, New York.New York-based Atlantic Offshore Terminals will lead the development of Arthur Kill Terminal. Arthur Kill Terminal is anticipated to begin operating in late 2025 and, if successful, will catalyze investment across the offshore wind supply chain in the region and greater US.Boone Davis…

KOTUG International B.V. has completed the 100% acquisition of Marsol International Ltd., an offshore and marine terminal service center, specialized in offshore single point mooring (SPM) buoy terminals and its related infrastructure.The core business of Marsol is integrity management based commercial and technical marine service solutions for SPM and offshore terminals. Over the years Marsol’s management has operated on 32 offshore marine terminals in more than 20 countries. Marsol’s operational headquarters are based in Dubai.

Risk Intelligence provides security data, information, analysis and assessment to enable safe navigation in areas of risk in an increasingly uncertain worldSince its founding in 2001, Denmark-headquartered security information specialist Risk Intelligence has developed a fully integrated risk assessment and planning tool that provides valid, actionable intelligence to any fleet, on land, in port or at sea, 24/7/365. The company has three information and intelligence products that together assess security risks at sea…

Risk Intelligence provides security data, information, analysis and assessment to enable safe navigation in areas of risk in an increasingly uncertain world.Since its founding in 2001, Denmark-headquartered security information specialist Risk Intelligence has developed a fully integrated risk assessment and planning tool that provides valid, actionable intelligence to any fleet, on land, in port or at sea, 24/7/365. The company has three information and intelligence products that together assess security risks at sea…

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced plans to create Offshore Wind Training Institute to offer offshore wind training programs.The institute will provide benefits to workers across New York State through new job training programs, tailored college curriculum, and enhanced academic research opportunities.Atlantic Offshore Terminals (AOT), New York-based developer of offshore wind port and supply chain facilities, has applauded Gov's initiative."The creation of the Offshore Wind Training Institute is a critical step in developing the next generation of workers here in New York, who will serve as the backbone for the State’s offshore wind industry and clean energy future for decades to come…

On September 26, the State University of New York Maritime College hosted a conference on the emerging east coast offshore wind industry. “Offshore Wind Power, Planning for America’s Ocean Energy” focused on four fundamental topics:• East Coast Wind Farm Overview – Status of the Industry.• Jobs and Supply Chain Technical Working Group.• Wind Farm Port Development.• Offshore Wind Maritime Operations.In some ways, actually clocking in for a day’s work on an offshore wind turbine is tantalizingly close. Ditto for power flowing from an offshore substation to a mainland interconnection.

Hamburg-based Buss Group has acquired SSC Wind from Wildeshausen with an aim to expand its services in the offshore and onshore wind markets.In future, the company will operate on the market under the company name Buss Wind Services GmbH.With this strategic step, Buss completes its portfolio in the wind sector. To date, Buss had focused on port logistics for offshore wind farms in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.Buss offers this service both in its own offshore terminals in Eemshaven (Netherlands), Sassnitz and Stade (Germany) as well as at third-party terminals.In addition, Buss provides extensive services in the onshore wind sector for the maintenance and repair of rotor blades.

OCIMF and CDI release new information paper Linked Ship/Shore Emergency Shutdown Systems for Oil and Chemical Transfers. The information paper, jointly released by CDI and OCIMF on April 21 recommends an Emergency Shutdown (ESD) connection that will link ship and terminal ESD systems, so that manual activation by the terminal or ship will stop cargo transfer operations. “Linked ship/shore ESD systems have been a standard safety feature of LNG transfer operations for many years,” said OCIMF Director Captain Andrew Cassels.

At this year’s Seatrade Maritime Middle East Exhibition taking place in Dubai, Jawar Al Khaleej Shipping LLC (JAK) signed a contract with Damen Shipyards Group for the supply of three vessels: one Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 5009 and two ASD Tugs 3213. JAK is a provider of specialist services to the offshore oil and gas sector in the Gulf, delivering logistical support including oil terminal support services, towage and salvage, together with other integrated offshore solutions.

International testing, inspection, certification and consulting engineering group RINA reports it has grown strongly during 2014, propelled by an upturn in marine, acquisition in the energy sector and international diversification. Turnover for 2014 grew 13 percent to Euro 333 million. EBITDA (adjusted) grew to Euro 37.7 million. Ugo Salerno, Chairman and CEO of RINA S.p.A., said, “2014 was an important year for RINA. We were not only able to seize opportunities for new business around the world such as major development projects in Egypt and Turkmenistan, but we were also able to take advantage of signs of recovery in shipping and opportunities in energy.

London's Baltic Exchange informs that the achievements of Eyal Ofer, the principal of ship management company Zodiac Group, have been celebrated with the award of honorary life membership of the Exchange. The prestigious award was last awarded in 2009 to the late Sammy Ofer, KBE, father of Mr Eyal Ofer. Other recipients of Baltic Exchange honorary membership have included the Duke of Edinburgh, Winston Churchill, and Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller. Presenting the award Baltic Exchange chairman Quentin Soanes said: 

“We thank you for your services to the London shipping market and the UK ship register. Receiving the award Eyal Ofer said:

“I and Zodiac Maritime have a longstanding association with the Baltic Exchange which will always remain important to us.

With two major LNG conferences taking place this week on opposite sides of the world - the third annual LNG Global Congress in London and the World LNG Series Asia Pacific Summit in Singapore - AtoBviaC, the specialist maritime route provider, has carried out a thorough review of all LNG trades to ensure that key ports and vessel manoeuvres in this important sector remain covered. LNG vessels are some of the most expensive in the industry, consistently attracting the highest charter rates…

A recent upgrade to AtoBviaC’s end user applications for the BP Shipping Marine Distance Tables now means that users can adjust routes and obtain distances to match their own operations. The changes make it possible for the user to produce deviation reports following changes in voyage destinations. AtoBviaCs’ new interfaces for the BP Shipping Marine Distance Tables are ‘Port to Port –Online’ and ‘Port to Port v4’. Both applications allow users to edit routes to meet their particular needs.

The abundance of deepwater O&G prospects, combined with the lack of oil transportation infrastructure in Brazil, has increasingly favored FPSOs as a production solution. Petrobras presently has more than 25 FPSOs in operation and this number is expected to double during the next decade. BW Offshore is a leader in FPSOs and FPSO operations. Although it has been quoting for jobs in Brazil for some years, the company finally established a local office in 2008. BW Offshore currently has three FPSOs operating in the Brazilian offshore and has another one slated to be delivered by the end of the year. The Rio de Janeiro office is headed by General Manager Jon Harald Kilde M.S.c., who shared with Maritime Reporter´s correspondent in Brazil, Claudio Paschoa, the company’s strategy and outlook.

With the global LNG (liquefied natural gas) market forecast to double in size over the next decade, industry is readying to provide ample liquefaction capacity to meet demand. In the United States alone, LNG imports reached 4.9 million tons in 2000, about 5 percent of the global LNG trade, and up from 3.4 million tons in 1999. Drivers for the rapid LNG growth include continued demand for a cleaner-burning fuel and the need to bring "stranded" gas from deepwater and remote areas to market. Concern over long-term U.S. gas supply; a larger number of new supply projects; and lower LNG infrastructure costs from a decade ago also are contributors to the LNG growth spurt in recent years. But perhaps the reality of Sept.

The LNG industry is beginning to move offshore, in part as a defensive tactic to avoid the safety and security concerns of local citizens to shore-based terminals and, in part, as an offensive move to access more gas reserves and possibly gain manufacturing and scale efficiencies. Project developers and the engineering contractors and equipment manufacturers that support them are working out the technical challenges of marinizing liquefaction, storage, loading, unloading and regas systems. "Moves to offshore facilities will change the economics of LNG project development," said Bob Nimocks, president of Zeus Development Corporation.

Governments and the shipping industry should redouble their efforts to ensure compliance with the new maritime security measures, which will enter into force on July 1, 2004, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has said in a Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) Circular. MSC/Circ.1104, issued 15 January 2004 following consultations between the Secretary-General and the Chairman of the Maritime Safety Committee, invites SOLAS Contracting Governments, port authorities, classification societies…

AtoBviaC Plc announces a new anti-piracy routing tool in its popular subscription 'BP Shipping Marine Distance Tables'. The AtoBviaC tool enables the ship operator to select routes based on the most current intelligence, and accurately calculate the time and fuel implications of the voyage. "In many cases this can work out to be considerably more accurate than the other available options and provides a level of self-determination that is missing from other solutions,” said Captain Trevor Hall, Director of AtoBviaC. Anti-Piracy Routing from AtoBviaC within the BP Shipping Marine Distance Tables is based upon information on piracy activity obtained on a regular basis from the Joint War Committee bulletins, and from specific routings requested by ship operators.

The International Maritime Organization’s Facilitation Committee, the focus for IMO’s work in eliminating unnecessary formalities and “red tape” in international shipping, has opened its first session as a formally institutionalized Committee of the Organization. The Committee now has full standing, reflecting the importance of its work and the issues it addresses, following the entry into force, on 7 December 2008, of the 1991 amendments to the IMO Convention to institutionalize the Committee, which puts it on a par with the Maritime Safety, Marine Environment Protection, Legal and Technical Co-operation Committees. Participation in all Committees is open to all Member States of IMO.

Lloyd's Register, the world leader in the classification of LNG carriers, has published a new guidance document for the design of membrane-technology liquid natural gas containment systems. The document is aimed at improving design procedures with respect to sloshing forces, and is the result of a long program of research and development, including extensive consultation with industry, and an investment of over $1,1m. The document has been used as part of the appraisal process for the approval of the largest LNG carrier built to date – the Q-Max type ships, of which Lloyd’s Register is the lead class. Sloshing is the motion of a fluid in a partially filled tank which may in sometimes be violent.

– In a move to solidify its course as a complete ship system supplier, Wärtsilä at Norshipping in announced that it will combine all its ship design units into a single entity, to be known as Wärtsilä Ship Design. The units involved in this reorganization include the recently acquired naval architect companies Vik-Sandvik of Norway, Conan Wu & Associates (CWA) of Singapore, and SCHIFFKO of Germany, as well as the company's conceptual ship design unit in Finland. "There will be close collaboration between our Ship Design unit, other parts of the Ship Power organization, and other Wärtsilä businesses. Our long term ambition is to create standard proven designs with predefined solutions, and to provide operational services with performance guarantees and fixed prices.

SeaChange Maritime has completed a private placement of $100m, the proceeds of which will be used to invest in expanding its fleet of container ships. The company, which is registered in the Marshall Islands and operates from offices in Miami, Fla., was formed in 2006 by former Sammy Ofer group executives Samuel Norton and Yariv Zghoul to serve as a leading supplier of container vessels for charter to integrated liner operators. Prior to forming SeaChange Maritime, Norton served as the senior executive officer of Tanker Pacific Management in Singapore and founded Tanker Pacific Offshore Terminals, a market leader in offshore storage and production solutions for the oil exploration industry.