Oil And Gas Support News

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.

Companies working on a $300 million logistics facility in Guyana that will support offshore oil operations said on Wednesday the shore base will help reduce shipping costs for supplies by as much as 12% by allowing larger supply vessels to dock.A consortium consisting of U.S. companies Exxon Mobil Corp and Hess Corp and China's CNOOC began production in Guyana in 2019 and has ramped up output since, aiming at 1.2 million barrels per day of crude and gas capacity by 2027.But onshore…

Corvus Energy, supplier of battery energy storage systems (BESS) for marine applications, announced plans to open a new factory in the state of Washington to help meet demand for marine BESS in the Americas as the marine industry accelerates its adoption of decarbonization technology to meet global emissions reduction targets.The manufacturing facility—located just north of Seattle in the Port of Bellingham—will have an annual capacity of 200 MWh of stored energy capacity as forecasts…

Cook Inlet Tug & Barge (CITB), an independently managed subsidiary of Foss Maritime Company, has announced that operations on Alaska’s North Slope are officially underway for the 2019 ice-free season. Three newly acquired tugs, along with barges and shore equipment, will be operating out of Prudhoe Bay for approximately the next three months.“It is great to see these vessels on the water and ready to work,” said Jeff Johnson, President of CITB. “These shallow-draft tugs and barges…

Hili Company, the logistics division of Hili Ventures, has entered into a joint venture agreement with leading international energy logistics company Peterson to provide oil and gas logistics services across the Mediterranean and North Africa. Peterson offers a comprehensive range of safe, reliable and value added logistics solutions to the global energy industry from locations including the Netherlands, North America and the northeast of Scotland. Established in 1920, the organisation has expanded throughout the UK with facilities at several prominent ports, including an integrated asset base in Aberdeen. The joint venture marries Peterson’s expertise in global oil and gas support with the wide-ranging capabilities of Hili Company…

Transas signed a contract with Lerwick Port Authority to install a new Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) to cover Lerwick Harbour, in Shetland. The new Transas system is required to replace Lerwick Harbour’s existing system. Lerwick is a major commercial port in Britain, strategically situated at the crossroads of the North Sea and North-East Atlantic. Handling more than 5,000 vessel arrivals, totalling over 12,000,000 gross tonnes, annually, the deep-water port’s users include fishing, oil and gas support, cargo, sailing, ferries and cruises. The new VMS will be based on the high-end Navi-Harbour software solution from Transas. Hardware equipment scope consists of Class A AIS Transponders…

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) has been appointed by Paragon Offshore, Houston, as marine and logistic services provider for a new drilling campaign off the Songo Songo Islands, Tanzania – the first new commercial drilling project in Tanzania in a number of years. ISS is providing a range of services for Paragon Offshore including full husbandry, crew logistics, visa assistance and arranging marine and air charters. A leading provider of standard specification offshore drilling services, Paragon Offshore is deploying jack-up rig M826 on the nine month campaign for PanAfrican Energy Tanzania – the country’s first natural gas producer. M826 arrived at the field on board semi-submersible vessel, OHT Falcon, to be floated off and pinned to the drilling location.

Technology Associates, Inc. (TAI) of New Orleans, La., announced that another derivative of a vessel built from TAI’s EnviroMax designs was launched. Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, LLC has launched a 6,300 DWT Technology EnviroMax 310 OSV from its Lockport, La. shipyard on April 28. The owner of this vessel is a major oil and gas support vessel company. The EnviroMax 310 vessel is U.S. flagged and will serve worldwide markets. The vessel is being built to the latest ABS rules and has AMS…

Crowley Maritime Corp. and IbisTek, LLC, have announced the formation of a joint venture, called IbisTek Crowley Limited, to provide a comprehensive package of project logistics, energy support services and emergency response capabilities in Ghana, West Africa. The partnership, which meets the local standards required to be considered an “indigenous Ghanaian company,” leverages Crowley’s worldwide logistics footprint and project expertise and Ghana-based IbisTek’s existing relationships and customer base in the region. The IbisTek Crowley office will utilize local participation in the oil and gas support sector through the staffing of Ghanaian national employees who will work with Crowley’s U.S.

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. announced that their Bollinger Fourchon, L.L.C. facility has worked 13 years without a lost time accident. Building on a philosophy that starts at the top, Bollinger Shipyards strives for zero accidents. Workforce, contractors, and customer safety is priority and an evident core component of facility operations. Through dedication of top management, a proactive workforce, and comprehensive safety program, Bollinger Shipyards continues to achieve high safety objectives.

The Australian Shipowners Association (ASA) informs it has urged the Abbott Government to be careful in its consideration of the Productivity Commission Report into Tasmanian shipping and freight, as there are still concerns about any recommendation to deregulate access to coastal shipping services. ASA explain that the retention of the Tasmanian Freight and Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Schemes is a sensible decision that has been well received by ASA. But there are still concerns about any recommendation to deregulate access to coastal shipping services as this will result in the loss of strategic skills in the Australian maritime workforce. “Retaining the Equalisation Schemes recognises that Bass Strait is part of the national highway and is an appropriate fiscal policy.

The accommodation jackup rig with Plug & Abandonment (P&A) features will be based on Keppel’s KFELS J Class design which is suited for the harsh environment of the Norwegian North Sea. Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) has signed an engineering services agreement with Workfox B.V, a subsidiary of the Seafox Group (Seafox), to embark on an engineering study of a purpose-built accommodation jackup rig with well intervention and P&A features.

Babcock has completed a contract to undertake a substantial refit on Bibby Offshore’s dive support vessel (DSV), Polaris, at its Rosyth dockyard. The project was Bibby’s largest ever refit package and underlines Babcock’s move to expand its role in the maintenance and refitting of complex oil and gas support ships. The Bibby Polaris vessel is one of Bibby’s international fleet consisting of eight subsea support vessels, including the most modern fleet of DSVs in the North Sea.

Ben Billings serves as President & CEO of the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA), a nationwide trade association headquartered in New Orleans that represents more than 200 member companies. OMSA’s membership includes approximately 100 firms operating more than 1,200 vessels that provide transportation services to the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world. It’s arguably a very good time to be at the helm of OMSA, with a resurgent U.S.

Shipping solutions provider BASS is going deep into Malaysian waters, signing on Sealink Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned unit of Sealink International Bhd, to equip it with the state-of-the-art Human Resource Management solution, BASSnet  HRM 2.8. The contract, finalized at the end of June, involves equipping the publicly-traded Sealink’s fleet of more than 40 ships with BASSnet  HRM 2.8, the latest edition in Human Resource Management solutions. BASSnet  HRM 2.8, a web-based solution…

Logistics and marine services provider, GAC Sri Lanka, chartered three anchor-handling tug boats to off-land the 'Hercules Triumph' from heavy-lift vessel 'Target' at Trincomalee Anchorage, Sri Lanka, then  arranged further towage over 700 NM miles to Kakinada, Indai arriving 8 days later. The rig is ready to start drilling operations for CAIRN Energy at the RAVVA offshore oil field. As part of its task to oversee the entire project, GAC Sri Lanka was also responsible for domestic air transfers of Hercules Offshore officials to and from the site.

Lockport, La.-based Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. is humming with work from oil and gas companies and government agencies. Family-owned and operated, Bollinger has 10 shipyards -- nine in south Louisiana and one in Texas -- along with 28 drydocks and 3,000 employees in four administrative locations. Last month, we caught up with Ben Bordelon, Bollinger’s Executive Vice President of Repair, for his outlook on the firm and the Gulf of Mexico. Bordelon is the nephew of Boysie Bollinger, who has been at the helm as CEO since 1985.

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. announce that their Bollinger Fourchon, L.L.C. facility has worked twelve years without a lost time accident. Building on a philosophy that starts at the top, Bollinger Shipyards say they strive for “0” accidents. Workforce, contractors, and customer safety is priority and an evident core component of facility operations. Through dedication of top management, a proactive workforce, and comprehensive safety program, Bollinger Shipyards continues to achieve high safety objectives. Ben Bordelon, Executive Vice President of Bollinger Shipyards, Inc.

Malaysia plans to boost its shipbuilding and repair industry through regulatory intervention and incentive packages for investment and human capital development,Bloomberg is reporting. The government has developed a plan in conjunction with the Association of Marine Industries of Malaysia which aims to generate $2b of gross national income and 55,000 jobs by 2020, the news agency reported. Key contributions will come from an expected uptrend in building and repairing oil and gas support vessels for energy exploration and replacing state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s vessels.

Aberdeen Harbor attracted increased traffic across the first half of 2011, with both vessel numbers and tonnage on the up. Vessel numbers rose by seven percent on the same period last year to 3,746 while shipping tonnage increased from 11.6 million tonnes to 12.2 million tonnes. Total cargo tonnage also increased over the same period by 4.7 percent from 2.2 to 2.3 million tonnes. The port also recorded 590,563 tons of shipping activity during the second week of July; the highest weekly tonnage ever to be handled.

Marlink, a supplier of integrated satellite communications equipment and network services has opened an expanded regional operations center in Houston, Texas to meet growing demand from it's maritime and offshore industry customers. Marlink's expansion of its Houston center follows closely the opening of business facilities and support centers in Oslo, Dubai, and Singapore in the second half of 2006. The new business offices and technical facilities in Houston will also serve as Marlink's regional headquarters responsible for coordinating company business activities throughout North and South America. The new Americas headquarters will provide both North American and Latin American markets with a comprehensive suite of satellite services that will evolve with customer requirements…

Port Fourchon may be a tiny spot on the Louisiana coast, but it looms large as a place that could harm the nation's energy supply for weeks or months, the Louisiana Ledger reported. The port is located at the end of a spit of land on the edge of Louisiana, wide open to waves, tides and storm surge. It is connected to the mainland by a two-lane ribbon of a highway lands. A major bridge on that highway is so old and its base so scoured that a good hit from a large ship could knock it out of commission. The port is home of a multitude of oil and gas support services that keep as much as 90 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's deepwater oil and gas wells running, along with 50 percent of the wells closer to shore.

When Austal Ltd. of Henderson, Western Australia, started looking last year for a CEO to lead its U.S.-based operations, the job description must have been daunting. They wanted a leader to take the helm of their newly built shipyard in Mobile, Ala., and turn it into a major contractor for both military and commercial vessels in the United States. Austal had recently entered the U.S. market for the first time, intent on competing with higher-profile rivals such as Incat/Bollinger, Derecktor Shipyards and Kvaerner. The company settled on Alan Lerchbacker, 50, an energetic former Navy Aquanaut with a business background, who took the position in February 2002. Lerchbacker had never heard of Austal until a headhunter contacted him.