Personnel Transportation News

French offshore vessel services firm Bourbon has set up a new division dedicated to offshore wind called Bourbon Wind, which will support the group's ambition to become a major player in the entire value chain: pre-studies,  transport and installation services, field maintenance, floaters repair, and personnel transport. Bourbon Wind will coordinate all the group's activities in the offshore wind field, creating important cross-functional synergies:  Bourbon Subsea Services for development studies…

Caspian Offshore Construction has recently taken delivery of a Damen Stan Tug 1606 ICE class in Kazakhstan. The company turned to Damen when a contract they secured required fast delivery of a small ice class vessel.Damen was able to have the vessel – named Caspian Flora – underway to the client just six weeks following contract signing.The vessel was built at Damen Shipyards Changde in China, to a design that has proven enormously successful, with over 80 sold in the last fifteen years alone.

Damen Shipyards Group has teamed up with the global leader in motion compensation access solutions, Ampelmann, to conduct tests with Ampelmann’s L-Type system on board a Damen Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 5009. Damen is developing its marine access solutions in order to guarantee increased safety, reduced costs and efficiency in the global crew transfer market. As part of this mission, Damen has recently increased its cooperation with a number of access suppliers. On this occasion, the process has resulted in a live demonstration of a combined Ampelmann and Damen solution at a North Sea gas production platform. Teaming up with Ampelmann for a number of tests was a natural route says Damen Business Development Manager David Stibbe.

Thunderstorms often play a significant part in disrupting offshore operations, especially when conducting personnel transportation by helicopter. And it is not just the threat of lightning, but also the dangerous wind-shear and icing events which can take place in a cumulonimbus cloud that can present added danger offshore. Helping to ensure the safety of operating personnel and minimize downtime, a new thunderstorm detector from Biral aims to provide early warning of nearby thunderstorms.

PMI Energy Services, a Superior Energy Services company, has opened a shorebase in Morgan City, Louisiana, focused on supporting shelf, coastal and inland waters production and drilling activities. PMI’s shorebase is centrally located on the Louisiana coast and provides better protection from weather events than ports located directly on the Louisiana coastline. It maintains a close proximity to established fuel docks, mud docks, 29-B waste transfer stations, rental and supply companies…

Announced in June 2011, Bourbon and CGG entered a five-year charter agreement for a series of six custom newbuild seismic support vessels. Now more than two years later, the third ship in the series, Bourbon Gannet, is due to enter service in the early part of 2014, following the launch of the first two vessels, Bourbon Petrel and Bourbon Fulmar, in summer and autumn 2013, respectively. The remaining three sister vessels are under construction in Dubai’s Grandweld Shipyard, also slated for launch in 2014.

In 2011, Bourbon entered a five-year charter agreement with CGG for a series of six new seismic support vessels, an industry first. Two years later, the Bourbon Petrel and the Bourbon Fulmar are already in service in the Black Sea and Northern Europe, and a third vessel, the Bourbon Gannet, will also be operational in the near future. The Grandweld Shipyard in Dubai is building the vessels and delivery of the remaining sister ships is scheduled for 2014. These custom-built vessels were designed to provide fuel…

Harvey Gulf International Marine, LLC and Abdon Callais Offshore, LLC (ACO) have executed a definitive agreement whereby Harvey Gulf is to purchase substantially all of ACO’s assets and business. Purchase includes 48 offshore supply vessels (OSVs), of which four are currently under construction. With its roots in the Callais family tracing back to 1945 and under the later leadership of Harold J. Callais followed by his sons, ACO has long been recognized in the industry as a high quality marine transportation company providing multiple sized…

Consolidated Marine Management (CMM) take delivery of 'King Gregory', first of two fuel-efficient medium-size tankers from Hyundai Mipo. The 52,000 dwt King Gregory, is the first of two medium-range (MR), IMO II & III-class oil/chemical tankers contracted by Latsis Group's Consolidated Marine Management. The ship features the latest equipment and technology to cope with new environmental requirements and energy-saving demands, according to Kostas Vlachos, Consolidated’s Chief Operating Officer.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is constantly working to enhance the Canal's safety and reliability, which includes emergency preparedness. On January 1, 2005, the ACP implemented new regulations to help plan for and mitigate the effect of oil spills. Called the Panama Canal Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (PCSOPEP), its goal is to provide for the expeditious and effective reaction to an oil spill and reduce its possible impact to the Canal and the local environment. All vessels with a 400 metric ton or more of oil carrying capacity, as fuel and/or cargo, are required to submit a PCSOPEP at least 96 hours prior to arriving in Canal Waters.