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Spar News

14 Sep 2023

US Navy-owned FLIP Research Platform Retired from Service

(Photo: John F. Williams / U.S. Navy)

A dynamic era in naval oceanography recently ended as the iconic Floating Instrument Platform — popularly known as FLIP — was officially retired from service.Built in 1962 with funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), FLIP helped generations of scientists and oceanographers better understand the mysteries of the sea, including internal waves, air-sea interaction and long-range sound propagation. Sadly, age and exorbitant life-extension costs resulted in the platform being disestablished.On Aug.

02 May 2023

Floating Offshore Wind and the Need for High-end AHTS

© Arild / Adobe Stock

As the world continues to scramble for renewable energy, floating offshore wind has emerged as a key capacity enabler in the coming decades. With no major commercial scale projects currently in operations, the segment is largely based on governments and developers ambitious project plans for the future. Nonetheless, this market segment can offer vast opportunities to the world of offshore support vessels in both near- and long-term prospects.In this piece, we will discuss the key opportunities and challenges related to offshore floating wind


18 Apr 2023

Norden Offers Carbon Inset Tokens

Source: 123Carbon

Danish bulk shipping company Norden has partnered with 123Carbon and its partners, AllChiefs and Verifavia, to commence offering carbon inset tokens through 123Carbon’s newly developed platform.With the platform, Norden will now be able to tokenise CO2-equivalent reductions made on biofuel voyages and allocate them to industry customers who are looking to reduce their maritime Scope 3 emissions.The platform supports auditing companies like Verifavia, a global verification auditing body specialised in transport


13 Apr 2023

Markets: The Challenges of Developing Floating Wind at Scale

Hywind Scotland, the world.s first floating wind farm, operated by Equinor. (Credit: Signal Film / ©Equinor)

Tens of gigawatts of floating wind projects are slated for development in this and the next decade, but many obstacles remain.There has been much focus on the emerging floating wind market of late.The U.K. is forging ahead with commercial scale floating wind developments through the Scotwind and INTOG awards of at least 24 gigawatts (GW) of floating wind capacity representing close to 1,500 floating turbines that will come on stream through 2030. And this will be soon followed by the award of at least 4 GW of capacity through the Celtic Sea floating wind auctions. The U.S.

28 Mar 2023

NOAA, Coast Guard to Collect Data from a Great Lakes Icebreaker

(Photo: NOAA)

This week, NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) scientists worked with the U.S. Coast Guard during ice-breaking in Lake Superior Harbor in Duluth, Minnesota, aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Spar. This project is the first set of experiments funded by the newly developed Great Lakes Center of Expertise.Teams from both Coast Guard District 9 and NOAA deployed uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) with multispectral, thermal and LIDAR sensors to collect data while the Spar was breaking ice in the harbor.

24 Mar 2023

China, US Spar Over Warship in South China Sea

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) steams in the Philippine Sea, March 13. (Photo: Greg Johnson / U.S. Navy)

China's defense ministry said on Friday that it yet again had to monitor and drive away the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Milius that entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands."We sternly demand the U.S. to immediately stop such provocative acts, otherwise it will bear the serious consequences of unforeseen incidents," a spokesperson said in a statement from the Ministry of National Defence.The U.S. Navy said the guided-missile destroyer was asserting


12 Dec 2022

How Do Floating Wind Turbines Work?

Three of the common types of floating wind turbine platform. (Image: Josh Bauer/NREL)

Northern California has some of the strongest offshore winds in the U.S., with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it also has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off quickly, making building traditional wind turbines directly on the seafloor costly if not impossible.Once water gets more than about 200 feet deep – roughly the height of an 18-story building – these “monopile” structures are pretty much out of the question.A solution has emerged that’s being tested in several locations around the world: wind turbines that float.In California


07 Dec 2022

First US Floating Wind Auction Closes

© picsxl / Adobe Stock

Five developers selected to build the first floating wind farms in U.S. federal watersTo support the California Energy Commission’s planning goals of 2-5 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045 as well as a federal target to deploy 15 GW of floating wind by 2035, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has concluded the auction date for five 33-year leases offshore California. Exhibit 1 summarizes the outcome of the auction and estimates the potential of the lease areas using BOEMs standard power density formula of 3 MW per square kilometer


13 Jun 2022

Demand Grows for OSVs in the Offshore Floating Production and Storage Energy Sector

Copyright Igor Kardasov/AdobeStock

Over the last year we have seen an upswing in floating production and storage systems ordering after many years of low activity. According to our colleagues at World Energy Reports, “The global oil and natural gas markets are contending with rebounding energy demand on top of supply disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a result, activity and business sentiment in the floating production sector has seldom been stronger.”  This increased activity in the floating production


08 Dec 2021

Offshore Renewable Energy: A Port Puzzle for Floating Offshore Wind

The (current) world’s largest floating offshore wind farm; Kincardine. Sitting off north east Scotland, it has 9.5MW turbines on semisubmersible type foundations moored to the seabed. Photo from Cobra Group.

After being very much on the margins of the offshore wind industry, floating offshore wind now appears to be ready to hit the mainstream. With gigawatt scale developments already on the horizon, what will the infrastructure needed to build and support them look like? Over the past 12 months, the floating offshore wind sector appears to have had a major dose of adrenaline. While the largest development, to date, is the relatively small-scale 50MW Kincardine project off northeast Scotland (which will be outdone by the 88MW Tampen project in Norway later next year [2022])


11 Oct 2021

Cargill Loads Soy in Texas After Ida Damages Louisiana Terminal

The first bulk U.S. soybean cargo from the Texas Gulf Coast in about six months was loaded and shipped last week from a Cargill Inc terminal, in a sign of shifting trade flows in the wake of Hurricane Ida, traders and shipping sources said.The vessel Spar Rigel was loaded early last week with about 55,000 tonnes of soybeans at Cargill's Houston terminal, an outlet that typically loads mostly wheat and sorghum grown nearby, according to a shipping vessel lineup seen by Reuters.The uncommon shipment is the first of several soybean cargoes expected to load at Cargill's Texas facility this autumn after one of the company's two terminals at the Louisiana Gulf Coast - the country's top outlet for corn and soy shipped down the Mississippi River - was severely damaged by Ida on Aug.

10 May 2021

Dredging: Important Developments Will Impact Business

(Photo: Georgia Ports Authority)

For dredging company officials, the first quarter of 2021 was a pretty good start to a new year. In a tough business, challenges and pitfalls are always expected. But from a bigger picture perspective—markets, regulations and policies—company officials couldn’t be faulted if a bit of optimism infused their worldview.There are a number of reasons for this. Many are well known and don’t need to be detailed here. Just quickly, though, WRDA 2020 would be at the top of the list. WRDA


14 Apr 2021

Gallery: BP's Giant Argos Platform Arrives in Texas

Credit: BP

BP's behemoth Argos offshore oil platform, the centerpiece of the company's $9 billion Mad Dog 2 project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, has arrived in the U.S. after a 16,000-mile journey from South Korea.The platform, loaded onboard Boskalis' BOKA Vanguard heavy transport vessel, had left South Korea on February 3, and it has this week arrived in the Kiewit Offshore Services fabrication yard in Ingleside, Texas."The arrival of the new floating production unit is a major milestone towards the completion of Mad Dog 2.

08 Feb 2021

VIDEO: BP's Argos Platform Sails Away from S. Korea

Credit: Boskalis

Oil major BP has informed that its Argos oil platform, built by Samsung Heavy Industry, has set sail from South Korea and is en route to Texas.The platform, which will be capable of producing up to 140,000 gross barrels of crude oil per day from up to 14 production wells, will be deployed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico as part of the Mad Dog 2 development.As previously reported, the Argos platform weighing almost 70,000 tons was in January loaded on Boskalis' semi-submersible heavy transport vessel BOKA Vanguard preparation for the sailaway.Announcing the sailaway


29 Jan 2021

Gallery: BP's Giant Argos Platform Loaded on BOKA Vanguard in South Korea

Credit: Boskalis

BP's giant Argos offshore platform, to be used for the Mad Dog 2 development in the Gulf of Mexico, was this week loaded on Boskalis' BOKA Vanguard vessel in South Korea and is preparing set sail for the U.S.According to Boskalis, the Dutch marine services contractor, the giant Argos floating production unit weighing nearly 70,000 tons was floated onto Boskalis' semi-submersible heavy transport vessel BOKA Vanguard on Tuesday."The vessel was submerged well over 29 meters to make this happen.

27 Jan 2021

Ex-TechnipFMC Director to Lead U.S. Dredging Giant's Foray into Offshore Wind

Eleni Beyko most recently served as director, Energy Transition for Americas at TechnipFMC, a global oil and gas services company. (Image credit:  GLDD)

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, a U.S.-based dredging services giant, on Wednesday announced the appointment of industry veteran Eleni Beyko as senior vice president offshore wind – a strategic growth area for the company. Beyko, who started on Jan. 25, brings more than 20 years' experience in program engineering, business leadership and project management in the automobile and offshore oil and gas markets. At GLDD, she is responsible for developing its offshore wind operations, including strategy and business development, tendering and project execution.

28 Dec 2020

Coast Guard Vessel Spills Oil in Womens Bay, Alaska

(File Photo) The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spar. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Warrant Officer Marcus Trapp.

The U.S. Coast Guard said on Saturday it was responding to a report of a discharge of hydraulic oil from Coast Guard Cutter SPAR in Womens Bay, Kodiak, Alaska.Coast Guard said it was monitoring the cleanup which has been contracted to Choctaw Defense Services (CDS). Personnel on scene deployed boom systems, absorbent pads, and a skimmer that is pumping to a vac truck.Watchstanders at the Sector Anchorage Command Center received notification from the National Response Center at 9:40 a.m., that the crew of the cutter SPAR reported a hydraulic oil discharge.

16 Apr 2019

Interview: Astrid Skarheim Onsum, SVP, Head of Wind, Aker Solutions

Offshore renewable energy is gaining investment support in the United States, particularly on the east coast. While the U.S. is a full generation behind its European counterparts in tapping the wind as an energy source, if current plans come to fruition it could gain ground quickly. Recently we spoke with Astrid Skarheim Onsum, SVP, Head of Wind Aker Solutions, for her view on the path ahead and the growing role and promising future of ‘floating wind.’Please give an overview of your responsibilities as SVP


08 May 2019

BMT Subsea Technology for Equinor

Global engineering company BMT announced a partnership with Sonardyne to deliver to Subsea 7 its proven ‘Riser Monitoring System’ (RMS).The subsea integrity monitoring solution has been adopted by the world’s largest spar platform, Aasta Hansteen.The Aasta Hansteen Spar platform is operated and owned by Equinor ASA, the Norwegian multinational energy company.Located 300 kilometres west of Sandnessjøen on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) in water depths of up to 1,300m, the deepest field development on the NCS, the Aasta Hansteen Spar is installed in a harsh environment utilising highly robust deepwater Steel Catenary Risers (SCR).Neil Charles


22 Aug 2019

MTR100: Five "Ones to Watch"

Saipem’s Hydrone R – in the flesh and ready for real world testing. Image from Saipem.

For Marine Technology Reporter's (MTR) 14th Annual "MTR100" - a look at 100 innovators and technologies in the subsea space - MTR editor-at-large Elaine Maslin reports on five companies and technologies that are worth the watch for the remainder of 2019 and beyond. For the full edition, see https://magazines.marinelink.com/nwm/MarineTechnology/201907/Blue Logic: Entering a new eraCompletely new modes of operation are entering the underwater domain for oil and gas operations and


30 Mar 2020

Coast Guard Corrals Wayward Buoy in Long Island Sound

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Oak (WLB-211) sits at anchor. The Newport, Rhode Island-based buoy tender maintains 144 Aids to Navigation (ATON) that guide mariners into some of the oldest and busiest ports in the U.S., including Boston, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Portland, Maine. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Emily E. Torsney)

Built to guide mariners through safe waters, the Valiant Rock Lighted Whistle Buoy 11 was dangerously adrift in the Long Island Sound.When ferry operators traveling between Orient Point and Fishers Island, New York, first reported the buoy off station on Jan. 17, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Oak (WLB-211) was already underway but foul weather kept the cutter from removing it.This was the beginning of a two-week saga that would involve several Coast Guard units. Like the Loch Ness monster of the Long Island Sound, the 35-foot-tall green buoy was occasionally seen but hard to catch.

12 Nov 2020

Aquaculture: Inside the De Maas’ Offshore Fish Farm

Image Courtesy De Maas.

As attention increasingly turns to ocean health and sustainability, an innovative new fish farm solution was deployed earlier this year when the De Maas’ Semi-submersible Spar Fish Farm (SSFF) became the world’s first offshore farm installed at an open ocean location exposed to tropical storms. MTR recently visited – virtually – with co-founder Philip Schreven for insight on the design and operation particulars of their innovation.How did you became involved in this unique niche of the maritime industry?Mark van Leeuwen and I founded De Maas in 2007 as an offshore oil and gas services company.

10 Nov 2020

DNV GL Releases Class Rules for Floating Offshore Wind

Floating offshore wind turbine Hywind (Image care of DNV GL)

The floating offshore wind industry, currently at its beginnings, is set for massive growth in the years to come, which has now led the classification society DNV GL to released the first integrated rule set for floating offshore wind structures."The rules provide both new entrants and experienced stakeholders a set of well-tested rules and standardized processes for these new structures," the company said.According to forecasts in the Carbon Trust’s new Floating Wind Joint Industry Projects report