Onshore Operations News

Digitalization in the maritime industry continues to grow. Technology is constantly evolving, providing organizations with new ways to transform and manage their operations with adoption of technology creating first-mover advantage and future relevancy, and positivity impacting margins. The offshore services industry has been a major driver in the trend towards utilization of remote inspection and monitoring technology for Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance (IRM) of critical assets and infrastructure.

Artemis Technologies on Thursday announced what it described as "the latest evolution" of the Artemis EF-12 Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) and daughter craft, featuring a revitalized design that, the company says, raises the bar for crew comfort and operational excellence during offshore missions."The Artemis EF-12 CTV has been designed for everyday crew transfer operations, providing seamless transportation for personnel between port or vessel and offshore installations," Artemis Technologies said.Key Enhancements of the Revitalised Artemis EF-12 CTV…

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest deepwater oil import and export terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast, has found no major damages to its marine operations during an initial review [of the impact of the hurricane Ida], but operations remain offline as assessments continue, according to a person familiar with the matter.Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Llc - a joint venture of Marathon Petroleum Corp, Phillips 66 and Valero Energy Corp - has a crude oil loading and unloading facility 18 miles (29 km) off the coast of Louisiana.

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Siem Offshore has won a contract for its Siem Dorado multi-purpose support vessel in Guyana.Siem Offshore said the contract was for 55 days firm, in addition to mobilization and demobilization fees, with extension options included. It did not say who the client was.The work scope will consist of fiber optic cable lay, support, and hook-up, the shipowner said Wednesday. Worth noting, last year, the Guyanese media reported that ExxonMobil, the operator of the giant Stabroek offshore block, was moving forward with plans to build its own fiber-optic line to assist its offshore and onshore operations in Guyana.Siem Offshore's vessel will mobilize to Guyana later this summer.Built in 2009…

Danish shipping company Uni-Tankers is upgrade aging and obsolete voyage data recorders (VDR) on more than 10 of its vessels. Some of the VDRs are 10 or more years old and are nearing the end of their service life.Uni-Tankers has chosen Danelec Marine to implement an upgrade program ensuring that it ships are equipped with the latest VDR technology, which will also help boost efficiency and the proactive use of ships’ data.A required piece of equipment on large vessels, VDRs are used to collect and store data from various onboard sensors…

On April 30 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a notice, requesting public comments, on a proposed “incidental harassment authorization” (IHA). An IHA is a legal and enforceable document presenting the terms and conditions with which a company must adhere in order to protect wildlife. In this case, the draft IHA was for Vineyard Wind, the wind energy company ready to start construction on an 800 MW offshore wind farm in the Atlantic, covering about 675 square kilometers, starting 14 miles from the coastline of Martha’s Vineyard.

As maritime operators deal with challenging operating conditions, many are embracing digitalization as the most reliable way to lower operational costs and improve vessel efficiency.According to research conducted by Lloyds List Intelligence and Ovum, two-thirds of vessels use digitalization systems onboard. According to the executives surveyed, this is being driven by a desire to improve operating efficiency, with 88 percent already working toward that goal. As part of the process…

The world's first offshore floating wind farm has started to deliver electricity to the Scottish grid, providing power to approximately 20,000 households. The 30MW Hywind Scotland wind farm, operated by Statoil in partnership with Masdar 25 kilometers offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was officially opened today by First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. “This marks an exciting development for renewable energy in Scotland,” First Minister Sturgeon said. “The learnings from Hywind Scotland will pave the way for new global market opportunities for floating offshore wind energy.

Satellite-based connectivity has always played a critical role for the maritime sector. As the communications expectations of ship owners, passengers and crews continue to grow, maritime service providers are seeing a transformation in the type and quantity of applications that need to be supported at sea. The advent of VSAT broadband services is driving a shift away from traditional, low-level L-band connections that ship operators have relied upon for decades. VSAT services are preferred to respond to the demand for high-speed broadband that can support bandwidth-intensive applications.

ABB’s OCTOPUS marine software will be installed on three new Torvald Klaveness vessels to help them meet incoming emissions regulations. The OCTOPUS reporting software is compliant with the IMO Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) and supports future European Union Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) rules. OCTOPUS gathers information from onboard sensors and gives insight into key performance parameters, such as fuel efficiency, allowing Klaveness to optimize fleet-wide performance. The purpose of a SEEMP is to establish a mechanism for a company and/or a ship to improve the energy efficiency of a ship's operation. OCTOPUS aids this process by measuring and displaying important vessel fuel consumption and torque related Key Performance Indicators.

ABB has launched an updated maritime software analytics platform that brings together the company’s EMMA and OCTOPUS applications into one software suite, under the banner OCTOPUS. Now external information, such as weather or cargo load parameters, can be combined with the ships process and propulsion information. OCTOPUS acts as a digital hub for vessel data that can improve efficiency across a whole fleet and it can gather an unlimited amount of signals from onboard sensors.

With most offshore wells in Brazil located between 30 and 300 km from the coast, communication with offshore assets has not always been straightforward or reliable. Some operators and service providers still use traditional maritime VSAT services for coverage offshore Brazil, yet the introduction of Microwave radio has led to a much better level of quality and reliability in high-bandwidth voice and data communications. Claudio Paschoa, Maritime Reporter’s correspondent in Brazil had an interesting conversation with Arild Fotland, head of Ceragon’s Oil and Gas Division, about the advantages of Microwave radio communications for offshore operations in Brazil. Fotland joined Ceragon in 1978 and has been stationed all over the world.

In the wake of the explosions near Tianjin port on Wednesday 12th August, MSC confirms that Tianjin Pacific International Container Terminal (TPCT) which is used by MSC, is located 6 kilometers from the blast site at the East Port Area. All MSC employees onshore are safe and there has been no impact on MSC crewmembers onboard our vessels. We do not foresee any further disruption to the sailing schedules. All MSC onshore operations resumed on 14th August. However, customs house will only accept official export and import declarations from Monday, 17th August. Interim services are available upon special request. As the Tianjin Maritime Safety Administration office has prohibited all loading and discharging of hazardous shipments from the port…

Dudgeon Offshore Wind Ltd has awarded the contract to build its onshore operations and maintenance (O&M) base to East Anglian construction company R G Carter. The company has been contracted to build the wind farm's new O&M base at Berth 9 located next to the River Yare within the Great Yarmouth port. Work commenced in early July 2015 and is scheduled to be completed during the second quarter of 2016. RG Carter have been contracted to convert an existing warehouse into Dudgeon's permanent office and logistics facility. Once finished the building will include a two story facility, integrated into the existing framework of the warehouse…

Pioneer Marine’s newbuilds will feature OCTOPUS-Onboard fuel monitoring system to support the crew’s decision-making. ABB Group company Amarcon will deliver Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP)-compliant OCTOPUS-Onboard fuel monitoring systems for 12 Handysize bulk carriers that will be built by YangZhou GuoYu Shipbuilding Co., Ltd and delivered to the Singapore based owner Pioneer Marine Inc. in 2015 and 2016. Mandatory on all vessels since 2013, SEEMP is an operational measure that establishes a mechanism to improve the energy efficiency of a ship in a cost-effective manner.

Edison Chouest’s Fairweather, LLC lessens Arctic risk while increasing efficiencies in a challenging environment. As interest in offshore commerce in the Arctic increases, key components of any successful operation in this theatre include logistics, assets, and of course, a healthy dose of experience while operating in cold weather environments. To that end, Fairweather LLC’s Arctic operations include the Deadhorse Aviation Center (DAC). Strategically located at Prudhoe Bay, DAC provides oil companies and their suppliers with an aviation command center to manage both onshore operations and Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) exploration and production activities on the Arctic Ocean and Beaufort Sea.

LOOP's Offshore Marine Terminal suspended its crude oil offloading operations while investigating an oil sheen discovered along the LOOP pipeline right-of-way on August 13. Sheening continued in the area of the pipeline. Activities are underway to inspect and repair the pipeline. Preliminary estimates indicate that marine offloading operations may resume between August 23 and 2. LOOP said it will continue to evaluate options to safely expedite offloading operations when repairs are complete. These activities do not affect LOOP's onshore operations at the Clovelly Hub and deliveries of crude oil continue on schedule. All other pipelines into and out of the Clovelly Hub remain operational.

The Dutch offshore contractor Seaway Heavy Lifting has ordered Amarcon’s OCTOPUS-Onboard decision support technology for her monohull crane vessel Stanislav Yudin. This order is the second OCTOPUS-Onboard installation for Seaway Heavy Lifting. In 2011 the Oleg Strashnov was equipped with Amarcon’s motion monitoring & forecasting solution. Both vessels from SHL offer, amongst others, significant lifting capabilities and are able to provide a broad range of offshore heavy installations tasks.

Energy industry project & construction management firm Universal Pegasus International (UPI) appoint two senior vice-presidents. The company name Tom Davison as Senior Vice President of Onshore Operations and Martin Morrison as Senior Vice President of Offshore Operations. In his role, Davison is responsible for the overall management, performance and growth of business for Onshore Operations at Universal Pegasus International. Additionally, he will provide technical leadership in project development and execution including the development of best practices and improving project delivery.

Oil service company Danish Welltec signed an agreement to set up a factory in Esbjerg. The factory will enable Welltec to increase production and ensure the quality of the company’s newest and most advanced products, which are exported globally. Mayor Johnny Søtrup looks forward to welcoming the company in the EnergyMetropolis. “Together with Esbjerg Business Development Center I have been in dialogue with Welltec since the spring. A delegation from Esbjerg was even at the opening of Welltec’s new U.S.

The Board of Directors of CMA CGM Group, the world’s third largest container shipping group, met under the chairmanship of Jacques R. Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, to review the financial statements for the third quarter 2013. During the period, consolidated revenue amounted to $4.1 billion, up 1.4% over the second quarter and down 2.1% year-on-year. Volumes carried rose by 11% year-on-year to 3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a new historical record for the Group.

Maritime Communication Partner (MCP) has been contracted by DeepOcean to provide state-of-the-art online and mobile communications for a Kleven newbuild MT6022 offshore vessel which will provide Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR) services for all Statoil operated fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). This five-year IMR agreement, say MCP, commencing in Q1 2014, is worth more than NOK 1.5billion (USD 253million). MCP’s role will be to keep DeepOcean and Statoil connected.

Improving and updating Arctic design standards for material, equipment, and offshore structures for the petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries. Seventy representatives from seven countries met for two days in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador in early October to further the creation of standards for resource development in the Arctic. The countries represented included Canada, UK, France, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, and Russian Federation. It was the third annual…