V Deep Seas News

Floating foundations for wind turbines present some technical advantages, which is encouraging more and more industry players to develop new floaters. Firstly, they can be deployed in deep seas, independent of the soil conditions. Secondly, the installation and heavy maintenance can be done in sheltered areas, so that the whole OFWT can be towed directly to the wind farm’s location by conventional tugs. However, floating foundations also bring new constraints on the wind turbine due to their motions in waves and wind.

Vessel sales for January 2016 (as of February 1) as prepared by Shipping Intelligence, Inc., New York.

The French State has implemented new provisions regarding tax exemptions on commercial vessels of at least 15 meters in length, including yachts. The provisions came into force on the 1st January 2016. These provisions can be found in the Official Bulletin of the Tax-Public Finance of the French Republic (BOI). New procedure: According to the BOI, merchant vessels are subject to VAT on port rights and some other services. The vessel needs to have a permanent crew on board; The vessel is assigned to the needs of a commercial activity; and The vessel should carry out at least 70% of her trading outside the French  territorial waters during the previous year (from the 1st January to 31st December).

The warming of arctic waters in the wake of climate change is likely to produce radical changes in the marine habitats of the High North. This is indicated by data from long-term observations in the Fram Strait, which researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) have now analysed. Their most important finding: even a short-term influx of warm water into the Arctic Ocean would suffice to fundamentally impact the local symbiotic communities, from the water’s surface down to the deep seas. As the authors recently reported in the journal “Ecological Indicators”, that’s precisely what happened between 2005 and 2008. The Arctic is a remote and extreme habitat.

Responders continue the hunt for possible survivors from the missing cargo ship El Faro, which is believed to have sunk during Hurricane Joaquin. As of Tuesday night, crews have searched some 172,257 square nautical miles while scanning in the vicinity of the ship's last known position 35 nautical miles northeast of Crooked Islands, Bahamas, the Coast Guard reported. A decision on how much longer the search will continue could be announced on Wednesday afternoon, the Coast Guard said.

Deep seas may complicate efforts to find the sunken U.S. cargo ship lost off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin, a federal safety investigator said, as a search and rescue mission for 32 missing crew stretched into a sixth day. A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board team arrived on Tuesday in Jacksonville, Florida, the port the El Faro departed from last week en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The ship disappeared in what maritime experts have called the worst cargo shipping disaster involving a U.S.-flagged vessel in more than 30 years.

A newly built, technologically sophisticated buoy tender multipurpose vessel, MV Indira Point, was delivered to the Directorate General of Light Houses and Light Ships (DGLL India) in April after being completing ahead of schedule by India’s Cochin Shipyard Ltd. under close supervision of Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass). Built at a cost of approximately $25 million by Cochin under single class, the vessel is 72 meters long, 1,350 tons DWT, fitted with Hele-deck and a 35 tons capacity crane for handling buoys in deep seas.

Seismic Research Vessel FA XIAN6, a Rolls-RoyceUT 830 CD design for Shanghai Offshore Petroleum Bureau, (Sinopec), is the first of its type to be built in China. It is equipped with a package of Rolls-Royce power and propulsion systems as well as advanced automated handling systems for deploying the seismic equipment. Built by Shanghai Shipyard Co., FA XIAN6 has been delivered to Shanghai Offshore Petroleum Bureau, which is a part of the Chinese conglomerate Sinopec, expanding its current fleet of seismic and geophysical exploration survey vessels.

The Australian-based Deep Sea Mining Campaign congratulated the Namibian Governments on its decision to place a moratorium on seabed mining. “The Deep Sea Mining campaign applauds the Namibian government’s decision to impose a moratorium for 18 months on marine phosphate mining,” said Natalie Lowrey, communications coordinator for the Deep Sea mining campaign. In announcing the decision, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the Hon. Bernhard Esau, stressed that seabed mining cannot happen if there is not solid proof that it will not have negative impacts on the environment. “Namibia has shown wisdom in being cautious. This very caution is exactly how sustainability is achieved.

Thailand & Burma establish joint committee to facilitate construction of the border Dawei deep-seas port. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra met with Myanmar Vice President Nyan Tun at Government House in Bangkok to discuss the Dawei projects, which have only made little headway and remained in need of an estimated 50 billion U.S. dollars in new funding. The two neighboring countries have formed a high-level joint committee to discuss ways and means to facilitate the construction of the Dawei deep-sea port, an industrial estate, a gas pipeline and other infrastructure such as roads and railway to link the Myanmar coastal town with the Thai border province of Kanchanaburi.

MAN GenSet engines to power standby ship in harsh climate. On 26 July 2012, Zamakona Shipyard S.A. delivered the 87 m long standby vessel ‘Esvagt Aurora’ to the ESVAGT AS company, belonging to the Danish multinational A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group. The vessel is powered by a diesel-electric set-up featuring, among others, 4 × MAN 6L21/31 engines – 1,320 kWm per engine: this is the third vessel the Bilbao-based shipyard has built for the same client. The vessel’s main purpose is to remain on standby and give immediate assistance to offshore platforms in emergency situations.

An estimated 155 American maritime industry representatives from throughout the country are gathering today in Washington, D.C. This eclectic group of maritime professionals is gathering to update Congress a day after the release of a new study from the Navy League of the United States that says a unified domestic maritime industry plays a “unique and extraordinary” role in promoting U.S. economic, national and homeland security. “The Sail-In is the one time of the year that nearly…

Paragon Shipping Inc., a shipping transportation company specializing in drybulk cargoes, announced that it has entered into fixed rate time charter agreements for two of its 37,200 dwt, Handysize newbuildings with Cargill International S.A. Both vessels have been fixed for a period of two years at a gross daily rate of $12,125 commencing upon their delivery to the company, which is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2012. In addition, the charterers have an option to extend the charter period for an additional year at a gross daily rate of $15,500. Paragon also announced that it has entered into a three year time charter agreement for the M/V Deep Seas, a 1999 build, 72,891 dwt Panamax bulkcarrier, with Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) (SIX: RIGN) today announced that the ultra-deepwater drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 has set what the company believes is a world record for the deepest water depth by an offshore drilling rig of 10,194 feet of water while working for Reliance Industries offshore India. The rig, which is owned by a joint venture with Quantum Pacific Group, surpassed Transocean's prior record of 10,011 feet of water, set in 2003 by the Discoverer Deep Seas working for Chevron in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) announced that the newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship Discoverer Inspiration has commenced operations for Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico under a five-year drilling contract. The dynamically positioned double-hulled Discoverer Inspiration includes the most advanced drilling capabilities in the offshore drilling industry. The vessel is an enhanced version of Transocean's three predecessor Enterprise-class drillships…

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) announced that the newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship Discoverer Americas has commenced operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for Statoil Gulf of Mexico, a subsidiary of Statoil ASA, under a four-year drilling contract. The dynamically positioned double-hulled Discoverer Americas is an enhanced version of Transocean's three predecessor Enterprise-class drillships, which have set deepwater drilling records in recent years, including the world water-depth drilling record of 10,011 feet set by the Discoverer Deep Seas in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. One of 22 Ultra-Deepwater Floaters in the Transocean fleet, the Discoverer Americas features Transocean's patented dual-activity drilling technology…

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) announced that the Discoverer Clear Leader has commenced operations for Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico under a five-year drilling contract. The Discoverer Clear Leader is the first of five Transocean ultra-deepwater enhanced Enterprise-class drillships scheduled to commence operations in 2009 and 2010. The dynamically positioned, double-hulled Discoverer Clear Leader includes the most advanced drilling capabilities in the offshore drilling industry.

It seems to be a soap opera without an end. "It is crazy…makes no sense at all," is a common observation. If you are in the oil and gas business, the number one question is, "When is the drilling going to pickup?" It is a question without an answer…at least through the first quarter of 2004. "Normally when prices are low and oil rises about $25 a barrel and gas goes above $2.50 per million cubic foot, everybody goes back to work," noted Roy Breaux, Jr., president of Breaux Bay Craft, Loreauville, La. a leading builder of crew/supply boats. "We drill ourselves out of recessions, but not this time, at least not yet" Breaux said. Breaux echoes the sentiment of almost everyone in the industry "The answer must lie in Houston because that's where the decisions on when to drill come…

The last in a series of innovative, next-generation technology drillships left the building ways of Astilleros Españoles' Astano yard recently, heading for a neighboring shipyard for final fitting of its six massive Aquamaster thrusters. Discoverer Deep Seas, at the time of visit to tour the ship in Ferrol, Spain in early May, was dockside in nearby Bazan for the task of placing its six propulsion units, as task made easier by Bazan’ s deeper water facilities. Discoverer Deep Seas, along with its sister ships Discoverer Enterprise and Discoverer Spirit (the former named MR/EN’s Great Ship of 1999), embody not only the latest in drillship technology…

In extending its adherence to delivering cost-efficient and safety driven technologies, DNV has introduced a new means of quickly and accurately determining steel thickness can speed ship surveys. It is especially valuable in inspecting old and corroded steelwork. Present-day methods, based on ultrasonic thickness measurements, are said to have dubious reliability on heavily corroded plates, and for large vessels are also considered too slow. The basic technological challenge was to transmit 100 percent of the signal energy through corroded steel plates, and receive and interpret the reflected signal to give an accurate thickness measurement. The basic principles of the new measuring method (half-wave resonance) have been known for 40 years.

Transocean Sedco Forex Inc.'s ultra-deepwater drillship Discoverer Deep Seas has completed acceptance testing and has commenced a five-year contract valued at an estimated $374 million for Chevron U.S.A. Production Company in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The Discoverer Deep Seas is the third Discoverer Enterprise-class drillship to join the Transocean Sedco Forex fleet, following the delivery of the Discoverer Spirit to Unocal in September 2000 and the Discoverer Enterprise to BP in December 1999. All three rigs are designed to drill in water depths of up to 10,000 ft. and possess the company's patented dual activity drilling process, comprised primarily of two complete drilling systems within one derrick.

Transocean Awarded Contracts for Drillship and Semisubmersible Rig Transocean Inc. announced that Hydro has awarded the company a drilling contract for the construction of an enhanced Enterprise-class drillship plus a multi-year contract award for the High-Specification semisubmersible rig Henry Goodrich. Combined revenues possible from the two contract awards total approximately $950 million over six years. The enhanced Enterprise-class drillship is being designed to include the most advanced drilling capabilities in the offshore drilling industry. Hydro has awarded the company a four-year drilling contract, which is expected to commence by mid-2009, following shipyard construction, sea trials, mobilization to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and customer acceptance.

Transocean Offshore Inc.'s drillship Discoverer Enterprise has been accepted by BP Amoco and has begun work under a five-year contract with BP Amoco valued at more than $360 million. Dynamically positioned Discoverer Enterprise is the first of a new class of advanced, ultra-deepwater drillships employing the company's proprietary dual-activity drilling system. The vessel has completed equipment appraisal and testing in more than 6,100 ft. of water at BP Amoco's Neptune location in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. It is currently completing plug-and-abandonment work, and after that, it is expected to begin drilling an appraisal well in the Crazy Horse field.