Tow Oil Rigs News

Around 1,300 offshore support vessels lying idle worldwide. Not everyone in shipping is bemoaning the industry's worst crisis in living memory: a cluster of companies that help preserve equipment and provide security for vessels parked around southeast Asia are busier than they have been for years. A popular lay-up anchorage near Indonesia's Batam island, a short hop from Singapore, is growing crowded, and firms such as Ocean Shipcare and Brubay Shipcare are running out of space at another at Brunei Bay, near Labuan, off northern Borneo. "Where do we go next? It's a good question, because we are trying to explore some other areas also," said Kanen Senasendram, base manager at Ocean Shipcare, which operates in Brunei Bay. He says he may need to hire more staff.

ALP Striker, named at a ceremony held named on May 13, 2016, is the first of four ultra-long distance towing and anchor handling vessels for ALP Maritime Services, each with a bollard pull of approximately 300 metric tons. The vessels of the SX157 design are a part of the ALP Future class. Service speed is 13 knots, while their top speed is 19 knots. With a fuel capacity of more than 3,500 cubic meters, they can tow at full power for 45 days, sufficient for nonstop Trans-Atlantic/Indian, Pacific Ocean towing operations without fuel calls.

Norwegian companies that provide supply ships and drilling rigs to the global oil industry face a bleak year ahead as contracts disappear and financing options dwindle in the face of weak global crude prices. They could increasingly be forced to sell or write down the value of assets, cut jobs and tap shareholders for cash to weather the downturn, according to industry experts. This would herald more pain for Norway, where the overall oil sector accounts for about a fifth of the economy and unemployment is rising, especially in the oil capital Stavanger and its environs on the west coast. Oil firms like Statoil, which offshore shipping companies rely on for business, have slashed costs and projects to cope with a 60-percent plunge in crude prices since June last year.

Ulstein has sold design and equipment packages for four ocean going tugs to Niigata Shipbuilding & Repair in Japan. The vessels will be built for the Dutch company ALP Maritime Services. The vessels are primarily designed for towing of large structures over long distances. This is a new market for Ulstein and the contract represents so far the highest value in one single contract for Ulstein Design & Solutions. The vessels of the SX157 design are developed especially for this project in close collaboration with ALP.