Oil Field Supply News

ABB’s onboard DC grid was one of 15 technologies selected for an award at the current OTC expo in Houston Texas. The grid concept was selected for an award by a panel of representatives from the OTC Board and program committee. To qualify, technologies had to fulfill five criteria: they had to be new (less than two years old), innovative (original, groundbreaking and capable of revolutionizing the offshore exploration and production industry), proven to work, of broad interest and appeal to the industry…

ABB announced that the first vessel to feature Onboard DC (direct current) Grid has been delivered to Norwegian offshore owner Myklebusthaug Offshore by Kleven Yard. The Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) “Dina Star,” designed by Norwegian company Marin Teknikk, is 93 meter long with deadweight tonnage (DWT) approximately 5000 ton and will serve as a multipurpose oil field supply and construction vessel in the North Sea. ABB supplied the Onboard DC Grid system, including all power, propulsion, automation and advisory systems.

ABB wins order to install the first ever DC-based electric solution for a vessel. The Onboard DC Grid will allow vessels to cut fuel consumption and emissions by up to 20 percent. ABB, a power and automation technology group, has won an order from ship owner Myklebusthaug Management to supply the first ever direct current (DC) power grid on board a ship. The equipment will allow a new offshore platform support vessel, under construction in Norway, to operate at the highest energy efficiency level to minimize emissions.

ABB secured a first order for its Onboard DC Grid concept, which was launched in May 2011. The company is to equip a newbuild Platform Support Vessel (PSV), ordered by the Norwegian owner Myklebusthaug Management from the Kleven shipyard in Ulsteinvik, Norway, with a full Onboard DC Grid system, including all power, propulsion and automation systems. The 93m long, 4,800gt type MT 6015 PSV, a multipurpose oil field supply and construction vessel designed by fellow Norwegian company, Marin Teknikk, is due for delivery in the first quarter of 2013. Heikki Soljama, head of ABB’s business unit marine and cranes, says: “Myklebusthaug was keen to build an innovative vessel that was ready to accept future energy saving solutions, including energy storage and renewable energy sources.

The yard-crew at Bay Ship & Yacht shipyard, located on San Francisco Bay in the island City of Alameda, carefully rolled the cradled RV New Horizon from its work station, along the rails to the yard’s new 1200-ton Syncrolift, which lowers the vessel into the estuary that separates Alameda from Oakland. The 170 x 36 ft. vessel had undergone several weeks of underwater hull and machinery repairs at the yard. Once back in the water, she headed to her home port at the University of California’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego to join the three other vessels of the research fleet. Other R/Vs that have been dry-docked recently at Bay Ship & Yacht include.

Dawn has broken over the Bay Ship & Yacht shipyard, located on San Francisco Bay in the island City of Alameda, as the yard-crew carefully rolls the cradled Research Vessel or R/V New Horizon from her work station, along the rails to the yard’s new 1200-ton Syncrolift, which gently lowers the vessel into the estuary that separates Alameda from Oakland. Sparkling in the morning sun, the 170-by-36 ft vessel, weighing almost 800 tons, had undergone several weeks of underwater hull and machinery repairs at the yard.

The decision to repower a vessel is a multi-faceted one, and it can be safely assumed that no two decisions in this arena are exactly the same. Whether it's a crewboat that needs new power units to accommodate a new scope of operation; extending the life of an old, but otherwise stable boat; a rip and refit to replace under performing engines; or as a simple factor in the overall vessel conversion equation - the decision to install new engines on a vessel entails a significant financial investment for the owner. This year has seen a number of significant and unique marine repowerings. The vessels covered in this report are unique in that they range from a 149-passenger tour boat to an 846-ft. long military freighter powered by gas turbine engines.

With the launching and first of the year completion of the 208-ft. vessel Oscar Dyson, a new era has also been launched at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Typically the recipients of hand-me-down vessels from other services, the $39.3 million Oscar Dyson is the first new vessel the NOAA has received in over 30 years. Dedicated to fisheries research, the vessel is the first of at least two and maybe four built for NOAA by VT Halter Marine, at their Moss Point, Miss. shipyard. The Oscar Dyson was one of a number of ships that was caught in the Friede Goldman Halter bankruptcy two years ago and work was suspended during the shutdown and transfer of this project to the successor company, VT Halter Marine.

The Alaska Marine Highway System has become very active building ferries for the State of Alaska. Much of the recent attention has gone to the pair of 235-ft. fast ferries Derecktor Shipyards has under construction at their new Bridgeport, Conn., shipyard that can carry 250 people and 35 autos at speeds in excess of 30 knots. But since February of this year, Conrad Shipyard LLC, Morgan City, La. has been building a 181- x 50-ft. auto/passenger ferry for use in the Southeastern part of the state. It will run from Ketchikan to the Island of Annette a private reservation for the Metlakatla Indian Community. There are approximately 2,100 people on the Island, located 18 miles southeast of Ketchikan.