Fugro News

Marine geosciences and offshore construction support services company NextGeo has appointed Frank Koopman as Offshore Wind Strategy Director.Koopman is an experienced executive and leader in the offshore energy sector, with over 20 years of experience in leading complex organizations, projects and innovation programs. He was Global Director Offshore Wind and Global Director Marine Site Characterization at Fugro from 2019 to 2023.Giovanni Ranieri, CEO of NextGeo, said, “We are thrilled to confirm our collaboration with Frank Koopman, who will serve as NextGeo's Offshore Wind Strategy Director.

Fugro Pioneer is ready to be equipped with methanol engines after successfully converting the main components on board, the company reports, a plank in its path to reach Net-Zero operations by 2035.The geophysical vessel was converted in the Netherlands as part of the Fugro-led consortium MENENS (Methanol as Energy Step Towards Emission-free Dutch Shipping) with a grant from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).The vessel adjustments to the Fugro Pioneer allow two of its four original engines to be replaced by methanol engines…

Dutch offshore survey firm Fugro has reached an agreement to acquire two platform supply vessels (PSVs), Sea Goldcrest and Sea Gull, which will be converted to geotechnical vessels to address the needs of growing offshore wind sector.The addition of the Sea Goldcrest and Sea Gull, built in 2019 and 2020 respectively, to its owned fleet will further strengthen Fugro’s ability to address the market demands and shortage in geotechnical capable vessels, the company said.With the purchase of these strategic assets Fugro will operate a balanced fleet of owned and chartered vessels…

Realizing the full value of digital solutions far exceeds the capability of technology. The technology exists today to help offshore energy and maritime operators radically improve efficiency and cut costs in equal measure. The real trick to driving efficiencies is to take advantage of the latest technologies while at the same time negotiating the necessary culture change within individual organizations, to really reap the benefits.Harvest Technology Group is a relatively young and small Australian company that has caught the attention of a number of offshore and subsea industry heavyweights…

Dutch offshore survey firm Fugro will convert the Fugro Resilience and the Topaz Endurance, two ULSTEIN PX121 platform supply vessels (PSVs), to geotechnical vessels, targeting their deployment in the global offshore renewable energy market.Fugro acquired the two platform supply vessels, the Topaz Endurance and the Topaz Energy (renamed Fugro Resilience), in February 2023.Ulstein Design & Solutions AS is responsible for the redesign of the two vessels, and on September 22, 2023, Fugro awarded Ulstein Verft a contract to convert the Fugro Resilience. Both vessels were built in 2015.

ADS Maritime Holding said Wednesday it had acquired a 10% stake in a Dive Support Vessel and will act as Commercial Manager with primary responsibility for following up the shipowning company’s activities related to the vessel and the bareboat contract.The vessel “Southern Star” is a high spec DP3 Dive Support Vessel (“DSV”) built in 2017, suited for light subsea construction work (150t subsea crane) and advanced dive support work with accommodation for approximately 120 pax.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded Fugro two mapping projects on the US Gulf Coast to monitor and quantify shoreline change in this flood-prone region.The projects, located in Texas and Louisiana, are underway and were awarded under an existing indefinite delivery indefinite quality (IDIQ) contract to support the agency’s Coastal Mapping Program. Geo-data deliverables are scheduled for Q3 2023 and will be integrated into the national shoreline dataset…

Dutch offshore survey company Fugro has expanded its geotechnical vessel fleet with the Fugro Quest vessel. According to Fugro, the vessel is equipped with advanced deep-water technology."Fugro uses this type of vessel to determine the exact composition of the soil; the resulting data are essential to establish the optimal location and design of offshore developments, such as wind farms," Fugro explained.The Dutch company also says that the vessel provides increased personnel and operational safety…

Community Offshore Wind, a U.S. joint venture between RWE Renewables and National Grid, has awarded Fugro an offshore survey contract to support site appraisal and concept design activities in the New York Bight. The joint venture was last year succesful in a joint bid in the New York Bight offshore lease auction which it secured area OCS-A 0539 with a winning bid of $1.1 billion. The awarded seabed has the potential to host 3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, enough to power 1.1 million U.S. homes.

Dutch offshore survey services firm Fugro has secured a contract with the Danish grid operator Energinet for geotechnical site investigations for the North Sea I offshore wind development.The Danish government plans to expand offshore wind capacity by 4GW by 2030, and the geodata acquired by Fugro will be used to inform future bids in the area. "This award follows Fugro’s success working on the North Sea Energy Islands project for Energinet throughout 2022, a project that is the first of its kind…

Norway's offshore and maritime services provider OSM Maritime (OSM) has bought New Zealand’s oil and gas and offshore marine service firm Kingston Offshore Services. "The acquisition was completed on June 30th and aims to further strengthen OSM’s current operations and services in Oceania," OSM said.The company’s founder, Kurt Aldam will become part of OSM, in the organization that will be headed by OSM’s Oceania MD, Casey Munyard. "Both our existing and our potential customers will enjoy access to a large seafarer crew pool which is supported by a globally leading organization.

Dutch marine survey services firm Fugro is back on the water for Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind off the U.S. east coast, conducting a third year of integrated site characterisation services for the New Jersey-based offshore wind farm developer.Geophysical, metocean, and environmental scopes of work are currently underway, while geotechnical services will startlater this month, using a newly commissioned Fugro C30 mobile rig.Working from a third-party vessel, the Fugro C30 mobile rig will deliver Atlantic Shores heave‑compensated drilling capabilities and downhole sampling…

Whether we realize it or not, robotics and robotics systems are starting to impact our daily lives. From warehouse picking systems through to high-end medical devices through to your mowbot lawnmower. Each tends to be specialized to its own task and a similar trend is now starting to play out in the offshore wind space, where it’s hoped that robots can make operations safer and more efficient.According to a report, The Economic Opportunity for Robotics in Offshore Wind and Key Energy Markets by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE Catapult)…

The Guanabara FPSO has arrived at the Mero field in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, the Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras has informed.The FPSO, also known as Mero 1, will be the first 'definitive' oil production system at the Mero field, the third largest pre-salt field behind Búzios and Tupi. MODEC is responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, mobilization, installation and operation of the FPSO, including topsides processing equipment as well as hull and marine systems.

A Fugro-led consortium has secured a grant from Dutch Government’s Netherlands Enterprise Agency for the development of methanol as a low-carbon shipping fuel.The MENENS (Methanol as Energy Step Towards Emission-free Dutch Shipping) consortium has 22 partners, and according to Fugro, represents the complete Dutch maritime sector, from equipment suppliers, designers, shipbuilders, and ship owners to Geo-data and survey specialist Fugro."Fugro’s leading role in the consortium is…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore has won contracts for two of its medium size construction support vessels.Solstad said Thursday that the Dutch offshore services firm Fugro had chartered its CSV Normand Mermaid for a period of 16 months firm. The contract will start in December 2021.Also, Solstad said that it had secured a contract extension for the Normand Baltic CSV."The present Client on CSV “Normand Baltic” has exercised their option to extend the contract with another 8 months to July 2022 with further 90 days options thereafter…

The market for marine services in support of the installation and maintenance of undersea telecommunications cables has matured over a period of more than 100 years to reach its present state of development. The largest providers of marine services (companies such as the Global Marine Group, SubCom, Alcatel Submarine Networks and Orange Marine) take different approaches to operations, but provide a mature and assured set of services that play a critical role in the industry. Marine services support the suppliers of undersea cable systems (delivering 50…

Automation, where routine tasks are handled by machines, has been talked about throughout maritime sectors for much of the 21st Century. Initially touted by suppliers of engine room and bridge management systems for its cost savings (with reduced manning levels), its value proposition was then infused with risk management (reduced human error) and remote operations, where vessels could be managed from a shoreside control room. In early 2017, Rolls Royce —an early proponent of unmanned operations—teamed with tug operator Svitzer on a remotely operated vessel…

Norwegian offshore service and supply ship shipping company Solstad Offshore announce it has secured a new contract for one of its construction support vessels (CSV) with Petrobras offshore Brazil. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The 2002-built CSV Normand Flower will be contracted with the state-owned Brazilian multinational oil and as company from April 2022 for a period of three years firm, with 475 days options thereafter, Solstad Offshore said.Normand Flower will sail under REB Flag…

While the adoption of unmanned/uncrewed surfaces vessels (USVs) was initially in defence, use of these low footprint systems has spread into other sectors, not least survey, and now the race is on for greater capability, endurance and autonomy. Elaine Maslin reports.After starting small, in inland waterways, use of USVs for survey operations has moved into coastal and now offshore waters. Given the extensive amount of seabed and rapid growth in offshore wind, there’s plenty of work out there for them to do.With the travel restrictions posed by Covid and increasing awareness of climate change…

UK-based unmanned surface vessel developer SEA-KIT has said it has been awarded the first-ever Unmanned Marine Systems (UMS) certificate by Lloyd’s Register for its USV built for Fugro."SEA-KIT has worked closely with Lloyd’s Register since early 2020 in a concerted effort to achieve the highest standards for the Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) sector, culminating with their latest 12m X-class USV for leading geo-data specialist, Fugro, being awarded thenew UMS certification on 28 June 2021.

Dutch seabed survey services firm Fugro has won a subsea inspection contract with the oil and gas company Neptune Energy at the Cygnus gas field in the UK North Sea.As part of the contract, Fugro will employ its specialized survey technology to inspect the subsea infrastructure, including pipelines and structures, and to undertake survey activities in advance of future drilling campaigns on the Cygnus field. It will use the Atlantis Dweller vessel as part of the operations."Traditionally…

Dutch offshore survey specialist Fugro has secured a contract with RWE to carry out geophysical exploratory works at Five Estuaries offshore wind farm, the extension project of the existing 353MW Galloper wind farm.Works are expected to take place in the Southern North Sea from August to November 2021.Three dedicated vessels will map the characteristics of the seabed and bedrock to assess the conditions around the wind farm site and the potential cable locations. The seafloor…