Operations Support News

Groton, Conn. submarine builder General Dynamics Electric Boat hosted a christening ceremony for the U.S. Navy's new Virginia-class submarine Idaho (SSN 799) March 16.Idaho is the 26th submarine in the Virginia class, designed for the full range of 21st-century mission requirements, including anti-submarine and surface ship warfare and special operations support. Electric Boat and its partner Newport News Shipbuilding share construction of the Virginia class in a teaming agreement. Idaho is the 13th submarine in the class to be delivered by Electric Boat.The submarine will be the fourth U.S.

Matt Hart, Manager & Platform Leader, Marine & Stationary Power Systems, Wabtec, offers insights on how the megatrends of decarbonization, energy transition and autonomy all inspire and impact the marine power solutions from Wabtec.Matt, to start us off, can you provide insight on the journey to your present position?I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with an undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering and started with General Electric in the Edison Engineering Development rotational program at the Erie…

General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics, wasn awarded a $967 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy for Lead Yard Support and Development and Design efforts for Virginia-class fast-attack submarines.The cost-plus-fixed fee modification to a previously awarded contract totals $967,185,528. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut; McLeansville, North Carolina; Newport News, Virginia; and Newport and Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Work is expected to be completed by October 2024. This contract was awarded on September 29. 2023.Virginia-class submarines are designed for the full range of 21st-century mission requirements…

General Dynamics Electric Boat held a keel laying for the Virginia-class submarine Tang (SSN 805) at its facility in Quonset Point, North Kingstown, R.I.The submarine will be the third ship in the U.S. Navy to carry the name Tang. The first USS Tang was a Balao-class submarine, SS 306, credited as the most successful U.S. submarine of WWII, sinking the most tonnage of any U.S. submarine—33 enemy ships—on five war patrols over the course of just 14 months."This ship represents…

General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), was awarded a $1.076 billion contract modification from the U.S. Navy to provide long-lead-time material and advanced construction for Virginia-class fast-attack submarines.Electric Boat is presently under contract for construction of submarines in Block V of the class. The $1,075,896,000 in advance procurement funds from this contract modification will enable Electric Boat to purchase materials and…

Equinor, a Norwegian oil company, said on Friday that it had recently awarded six offshore vessel contracts to five shipowners. The total value of the contracts, including options, is estimated to be more than NOK 2.5 billion ($235,6 million). The six platform supply vessels will be managed by Simon Møkster Shipping AS (Stril Luna & Stril Mar vessels), Island Offshore Management AS (Island Crusader vessel), Eidesvik AS (Viking Avant vessel), Remøy Shipping AS (Rem Hrist vessel) and P/F Skansi Offshore (Kongsborg vessel).

In November 2021, GTMaritime published a white paper: “Maritime Communications - A look over the horizon.” The report, available here, is built around three broad Sections – 1. “Basics of marine Communications;” 2. “The connected ship;” and 3. “Special services.”Then, each Section presents a closer look at various topics. The “Basics” section, for example, covers regulatory issues established by IMO treaties and national agencies. It presents the terms and concepts that define satellite systems and networks…

Will Roberts joined Seattle-based Foss Maritime in 2017 as chief commercial officer, and in 2018 he was named chief operating officer. Prior to joining Foss, Roberts held a number of leadership roles for marine systems and services provider Rolls-Royce, rising to senior vice president, customer and services–Americas. A U.S. Navy veteran, Roberts served as a qualified deck and engineering officer aboard the fast attack submarine USS Honolulu. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in ocean engineering and holds a Master of Engineering Management from Old Dominion University.

Oil and gas company Chevron has chartered Edda Accommodation's Edda Fides offshore accommodation unit for operations support in Australia, starting in the second quarter of 2022.Currently on a charter with Norway's Equinor, mono-hull vessel Edda Fides will provide accommodation and associated facilities for up to 300 people for an upcoming turnaround maintenance event on the Wheatstone offshore gas processing platform, off the coast of Australia."Edda Fides worked at Wheatstone for Chevron back in 2017…

Moduteh Marine, of Tacoma, Wash., has gained recognition on meeting the stringent conditions of military contracts. In 2020 they completed a contract to build a fleet of five small tugs. These carry the military designation Work Boat Docking.“The mission of the CNIC Work Boat Docking (WB Docking) is to provide waterborne support at U.S. Navy Installations,” said Modutech’s Brian Swindahl. “The boats are required to have the ability to safely assist vessels including submarines for mooring and dry-docking…

Polish shipbuilder Remontowa Shipbuilding said it recently delivered the fourth in a series of six tugboats for the Polish Navy.The vessel, H-12 Semko, was built in Gdańsk and sailed to Świnoujście for handover to the 8th Vice Admiral Kazimierz Porębski Coastal Defense Flotilla.The contract for the design and construction of six tugs was signed in June 2017. The workboats will be used by the Polish Navy for military and logistics operations support at sea and in ports, as well as for technical evacuations, personnel transfers, search and rescue operations and oil spill recovery.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. announced Thursday it is moving its corporate headquarters to Houston, positioning the nation’s largest dredging services provider nearer to major regional projects and opportunities. The firm will also open regional offices in Jacksonville, Fla., and Staten Island, N.Y.The move to Houston from from Oak Brook, Ill., which stems in part from changing industry dynamics, places the company closer to key regional customers and new markets, especially along the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi River…

Broward County’s Port Everglades has appointed Ricardo D. Charlton, BSME, FSO, as its new Director of Operations.Port Everglades is a self-supporting enterprise fund of Broward County, Fla., generating more than $170 million in revenues in fiscal year 2019 (October 1, 2018 – September 1, 2019) and is ranked among the nation’s leading container ports and a world leader in the cruise industry.As Director of Operations, Charlton will oversee a workforce of 95 encompassing the Division’s Harbormaster Office…

NOAA has awarded a lease to Massa Industries, LLC for office space in Middletown, R.I., that will temporarily house a new marine operations support facility for Rhode Island-based NOAA ships Henry B. Bigelow and Okeanos Explorer.The Middletown facility will also support NOAA personnel engaged in the design and construction of a new pier for the two ships and a permanent NOAA marine operations support facility at Naval Station Newport. NOAA expects to occupy the interim facility in the fall of 2020 and relocate it to the naval station in 2023.“With an expanded presence in Rhode Island…

D-Marin Business Bay Marina has taken delivery of a new Ribcraft 5.85-meter Pro rigid inflatable boat (RIB) to be used for operations support at the marina.Featuring a center console with extended canopy, removable crew seat, highly reinforced inflation tubes, the RIB provides open deck space for rescue operations, garbage collection as well as forward custom area for fitting a portable fire pump to be used in an emergency situation. Powered by Yamaha 115-horsepower outboard, the RIB can reach speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour, the builder said.

Singapore-based offshore rig builder Keppel Offshore & Marine has partnered up with Energy Market Authority (EMA) to develop energy solutions in the areas of distributed energy resources, digitalization and emerging low carbon alternatives.As part of the $10 million partnership, EMA and Keppel O&M are launching a grant call for solutions relating to energy storage systems and smart power grids for the offshore and marine environment. "These solutions should seek to reduce overall energy usage and carbon footprint while enhancing overall operational efficiency.

Bolko, the first of a total of six multi-role tugs built by Remontowa Shipyard in Poland has recently been delivered to the Polish Navy. Further five tugs – Gniewko, Mieszko, Semko, Leszko and Przemko – are scheduled for delivery in the near future. Each of the ASD tugs is equipped with two SCHOTTEL Rudderpropellers type SRP 360 FP. They will be used for military and logistic operations support at sea and in ports.The propulsion system of the Navy tugs consists of two ice-classed SCHOTTEL Rudderpropellers type SRP 360 with 2.0 m fixed pitch propellers.

Saudi Aramco's shipping arm Bahri has issued an expression of interest (EOI) to charter up to 12 liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers from 2025, its first foray into the superchilled fuel, industry sources said on Monday.No further details were immediately available and Saudi Aramco declined to comment. EOIs are preliminary enquiries that may or may not turn into full-fledged orders.According to Bahri's website, the national shipping carrier of Saudi Arabia has six business units dealing in oil…

The National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) has announced the election of new officers to its Executive Control Board (ECB).Don Hamadyk, Director, Research and Development at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division in Newport News, VA, has been elected as ECB chairman for a two-year term. Don earned his undergraduate and Master’s degrees from Stevens Institute of Technology.Don succeeds Tim Glinatsis, Vice President, Engineering at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, ME.

Subsea services specialist Sapura Brazil has signed a five-year optimized maintenance agreement with Wärtsilä.As per the agreement the the Finnish tech major will support Sapura’s fleet of six pipe-laying support vessels' (PLSV) operational performance and increase both its efficiency and reliability by accurately predicting maintenance requirements. This will also help lower operating costs.The Wärtsilä solution includes asset diagnostics of the vessels’ main engines and thrusters to define the actual condition of the equipment. This enables a predictive maintenance strategy whereby servicing activities and overhauls are carried out according to the known condition of the equipment components…

Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group announces that it has agreed to acquire EnerMech Group Ltd, an international services company providing critical asset support to the energy, infrastructure and industrials sectors, from Lime Rock Partners.The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2018, subject to customary anti-trust and regulatory approvals.Equity for this investment will come from Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), a $2.5 billion fund that invests in the global oil and gas sector outside North America. The Fund’s mandate includes exploration & production, mid-stream, downstream and oil field services.

Following the purchase of Transas by Wärtsilä, Transas' ubiquitous CEO Frank Coles will depart the newly merged company, finding a spot on top as the CEO of Wallem Group. Coles offers a diverse background and long career in maritime, spanning law, shipping services and maritime communications.Coles replaces Simon Doughty, who announced his decision to step down earlier this year.“The opportunity to lead and help grow a prestigious and diversified company like Wallem was something I could not pass up," said Coles in a statement.

Norwegian oil major Equinor said that NorSea opened a shore power supply station at the Dusavik supply base in Stavanger, Norway, on January 18."The base is the latest in a string of supply bases where vessels operating on Equinor contracts are offered shore power for hotel needs while at berth and to charge their onboard batteries," said a press statement.Shore-to-ship power supply is one of several measures to reduce emissions in logistics. Thirteen supply vessels on long-term contracts with Equinor have installed shore power systems on board, and a further five vessels in the contract portfolio will be prepared for shore power supply during 2019.“We need broad cooperation if we are to reduce emissions from our supply chain.