Vega News

Eleven Filipino seafarers arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday nearly a week after they survived a Houthi missile attack off Yemen.They were crew members of the Barbados-flagged, Greek operated merchant ship True Confidence which the Houthis attacked last week, killing three sailors, including two Filipinos. The migrant workers' ministry said in a statement the 11 survivors received government help on arriving in Manila.Mark Anthony Dagohoy, a crew member on True Confidence, said it was difficult to recall what they went through…

Offshore seismic survey specialist Shearwater on Friday announced a new project with the Austrian oil firm OMV for a "pioneering" towed streamer survey with Ocean Bottom Nodes over the Berling gas and condensate discovery in the Norwegian Sea. Spanning 1040 sq.km, this hybrid survey starts in July 2023 and will last for three months. Shearwater's vessels, SW Tasman and Oceanic Vega, will lead the operations. SW Tasman will operate as an ROV node deployment vessel for first time…

Norway-based offshore vessel owner DOF has secured a three-year contract for its anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) Skandi Vega with the current charterer Equinor.The contract, which includes two one-year options, will start in direct continuation of the current contract. "Skandi Vega is one of the largest AHTS vessels in the world and has been operating for Equinor since delivery in 2010. DOF is delighted to continue the long-term partnership with Equinor, and the new contract is proof of the value the vessel and its crew bring to this partnership," DOF said.According to the vessel's AIS, the Skandi Vega is currently in the Norwegian North Sea…

Swan Hellenic has taken delivery of SH Diana, its third expedition cruse ship built by Helsinki Shipyard.The 125-meter-long, 12,100 GRT newbuild is the largest ship in the Swan Hellenic fleet. Accommodating 192 passengers, SH Diana is slightly larger than 152-passenger SH Minerva and SH Vega launched from Helsink Shipyard in in December 2021 and July 2022 respectively.The Finnish shipbuilder in December sold the ship to Swan Hellenic at auction after the original buyer, Russian-owned GTLK Europe…

Swan Hellenic announced that SH Diana, the newest and largest ship in its fleet, was floated out of dry dock this week at Helsinki Shipyard.SH Diana’s fitting out is now already under way, leaving the luxury expedition cruise ship on schedule for her maiden cruise leaving Palermo, Italy for Lisbon, Portugal on April 15. The 125-meter-long, 12,100 GRT vessel will then make its way up the West Atlantic seaboard of Europe for explorations of the Arctic.Andrea Zito, CEO of Swan Hellenic Limited…

Kongsberg Maritime has launched EcoAdvisor, an intelligent and dynamic decision support system for optimizing a range of offshore vessel operations. "EcoAdvisor is an outcome of a joint ‘Intelligent Efficiency’ research project between Kongsberg Maritime, vessel operator DOF Subsea AS (DOF), Sintef, NORCE, and Innovation Norway, with the aim of developing technologies to monitor and reduce the GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions during vessel operations," Kongsberg Maritime said.It monitors the vessel operation and its environment…

SH Vega, the second of three Vega-class ships under construction in Helsinki for Swan Hellenic’s heritage brand, was recently named at Helsinki Shipyard. The naming ceremony was held on Monday July 11 with Patrizia Passalacqua as the godmother of the vessel.The series of three expedition cruise vessels have high ice class and are made for high-end cruising worldwide, including high latitude areas. After the naming ceremony SH Vega is heading to the maiden voyage to Tromsø and Svalbard.SH Vega is completely self-sufficient for up to 40 days or 8,000 nautical miles.

Finnish shipbuilder Helsinki Shipyard said it has laid the keel of the third of three Vega-class polar expedition vessels for Swan Hellenic.The keel was laid with outfitted grand block 305 that arrived at the shipyard during week 50 in 2021 among several blocks for the newbuild on board the carrier vessel M/S Meri.Construction is proceeding smoothly, the builder said. More than half of the block deliveries have already arrived from the block supplier, and the rest of the blocks will arrive during April-May.

Offshore vessel owner DOF said Tuesday it had won vessel charter extensions with Norway's Equinor and Shell in the UK.Equinor has exercised options to extend the firm periods of the contracts for 2008-built Skandi Mongstad PSV for three years, and 2010-built Skandi Vega AHTS vessel for two years. Both vessels have worked continuously with Equinor since delivery from the yard in 2008 and 2010, respectively.Also, Shell UK Ltd has exercised an option to extend the contract for the platform supply vessel Skandi Kvitsøy for one year firm, from end March 2022.Furthermore, DOF's subsidiary DOF Rederi has sold Skandi Rona, a platform supply vessel built in 2002, with delivery in April. DOF did not share the financial details.

Two crude oil tankers due to load Russian Urals and Kazakh CPC blend this week have been cancelled as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.The Wonder Vega was due to load CPC Blend on March 7 and the Iberian Sea was due to load Urals but shipowners cancelled both vessels, the sources said.Vitol, which booked the vessels, has found a replacement, according to three sources.The cancellations were due to the proximity of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Novorossiysk is a port in the Black Sea.

Helsinki Shipyard has delivered SH Minerva, the first of three Vega-class ships under construction in Helsinki for Swan Hellenic’s heritage brand.After being christened on November 23, the vessel left Helsinki on December 3 and is heading toward Ushuaia, from where the vessel will take off for a New Year maiden Antarctic cruise departing December 29. The new ship sailed through the Kiel Canal on December 6.The new purpose-designed ship is the first in a series of three next-generation polar expedition vessels designed for worldwide cruising with a strong focus on high-latitude areas.

Container feeder operator SAFEEN Feeders, part of the AD Ports Group, announced it has acquired a containership that will join its feeder service fleet in the Arabian Gulf.SAFEEN Pearl, formerly called Vega Virgo, will be deployed in its UAE Coastal Service (UCO) providing connection to UAE ports, including the Group’s flagship Khalifa Port, and the coastal ports of Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Fujairah.Captain Maktoum Al Houqani, Chief Corporate Authority Officer and Acting Head of Maritime Cluster - AD Ports Group…

The first of three Vega-class ships under construction in Helsinki for Swan Hellenic’s heritage brand has been named at Helsinki Shipyard. The new ship, SH Minerva, is scheduled to depart the shipyard early next week.The series of three expedition cruise vessels have high ice class and they are made for high-end cruise experience in worldwide cruising area with strong bias for high latitude areas.SH Minerva is completely self-sufficient for up to 40 days or 8,000 nautical miles. Preparations are made for implementing battery technology, which would make it possible to operate also silently.

KVH Industries, Inc. announced V.Ships Norway has signed up 12 oil tankers for KVH linkHUB, an onboard media player that provides a library of hundreds of hours of licensed premium digital entertainment content from KVH MOVIElink and TVlink services.V.Ships Norway initially trialed the service on one oil tanker and, following positive feedback from the crew, recently rolled it out to a total of 12 tankers.KVH MOVIElink services feature new Hollywood and Bollywood releases curated with seafarers in mind…

The Isle of Man Ship Registry registered Subsea 7's newest vessel, Seven Vega.It is the eleventh Offshore Support Vessel built for Subsea 7 to be flagged with the Registry. Seven Vega has been designed to install economical flowline technologies that address the growing market trend towards longer tie-back developments, and sets a new standard for offshore pipelay.While most Subsea 7 vessels store piping and cabling in large carousel holds under deck, Seven Vega stows the product on external vertically mounted reels recessed into the deck with an open-top configuration.

The Biden administration has temporarily suspended oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal lands and waters while it evaluates the legal and policy implications of the program, according to a Department of Interior memo.The move appears to be a first step in delivering on newly sworn-in President Joe Biden's campaign promise to ban all new federal drilling permits, part of his wider agenda to combat global climate change.The order was welcomed by environmentalists and derided by the oil and gas industry…

Norwegian company Solstad Offshore has won charters for two of its platform supply vessels in Norway.The offshore vessel owner said Monday that its platform supplier "Normand Serenade" has won a medium-term contract with Wintershall Dea to support the Deepsea Aberdeen rig's drilling operations in Norway.Wintershall recently hired Odfjell's harsh environment semi-submersible drilling rig to drill exploration wells at Dvalin North and Bergknapp fields and development wells at Vega field offshore Norway…

Offshore installation specialist Subsea 7 has expanded its fleet with newbuild reel-lay vessel Seven Vega.Built by Dutch shipbuilder Royal IHC, the Seven Vega is 149 meters long, with a breadth of 33 meters, and a Class 3 dynamic positioning system.Its reel-lay system has a 600-ton top tension capacity consisting of a 32-meter main reel and a 17-meter auxiliary reel with a maximum storage capacity of 5,600 and 1,600 tons respectively. The vessel is fitted with cranes offering a lifting capacity of 250 and 50 tons…

A new tourist ferry serving the Amalfi coastline is equipped with a Volvo Penta quad IPS installation with IMO III compliant after-treatment package, offering not only excellent maneuverability, fuel economy and emissions benefits.The 36-meter ferry Vega can transport up to 540 passengers each sailing on visits to the towns of Salerno, Maiori, Positano, Amalfi and the islands south of Naples. The vessel is the first vessel in the region to combine Volvo Penta IPS with the company’s latest SCR aftertreatment system that complies with the new IMO III emissions regulations.The ferry…

A Panama-flagged bulk carrier with a coronavirus outbreak on board has sailed from its anchorage off Port Hedland and is enroute to Manila, the Philippines.The clearance for the Vega Dream’s departure was given Wednesday by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.The Western Australian Department of Health said it offered assistance to the COVID-19 positive crew "in line with its commitment to humanitarian care", but medical intervention was not required and declined.Prior to embarking on its voyage, the Australian public health experts provided advice to the vessel around infection prevention and control. The shipping agent was also offered access to the Department’s vessel deep-cleaning plans…

The  container logistics company A.P. Moller - Maersk has embarked on a journey that covers the end-to-end logistics of first-ever Sri Lankan made electric supercar Vega EVX that will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show 2020 later this year in March.The car built in Colombo, started its journey from the Vega Innovations workshop in the heart of the city and is currently en route Port Rotterdam in the Netherlands from where it will continue all the way to Geneva, Switzerland.Maersk, with a legacy as a conglomerate within transport and energy, is transforming to become an integrated container logistics company.From operating eight different divisions with a big corporate layer on top…

Norwegian offshore vessel operator DOF has warned that several of its vessels might be laid up after the end of their current contracts, citing lack of new work opportunities amid the oil price rout and COVID-19 pandemic effects. On a positive note, Equinor has chartered one of its vessels on a long term deal."There has been a sharp decline in the tender activities, with few new contract opportunities and less projects to bid for. Due to the sharp decline in the oil price, the…

On Aug. 21, a tanker called the Otoman docked at the Jose oil terminal on Venezuela’s coast in the Caribbean to load 1.82 million barrels of heavy crude, according to the state oil company’s internal documents.Yet no tanker with that name is registered in major global shipping databases.Muddying the situation further, the unique identifier for the Otoman listed in the documents - a number used by the International Maritime Organization to identify ships - was assigned to another tanker called the Rubyni, according to the databases.The Rubyni was broken up two years ago, they record. Satellite images provided by TankerTrackers.com, an independent vessel tracking service…