Jane Tide News

Tidewater Inc. announced that it has taken delivery of the M/V Miss Jane Tide. The Miss Jane Tide is Tidewater's first VS 480 platform supply vessel built by the company's own Quality Shipyards, L.L.C. in Houma, La. The ship, designed by the Norwegian firm Vik-Sandvik, is the first of four identical vessels to be built by Quality. The Miss Jane Tide is a 260-ft. PSV and is the first domestically constructed vessel to be delivered under Tidewater's new construction program announced in January 2000. In addition, Tidewater has also taken operational delivery of the M/V Ace Nature, one of eight vessels acquired from The Sanko Steamship Co., Ltd. in late 2000. At 276 feet, the Ace Nature, a UT 745 PSV, is one of the largest ships among Tidewater's fleet.

Tidewater Inc. announced that it has taken delivery of the M/V Miss Jane Tide. The Miss Jane Tide is Tidewater's first VS 480 platform supply vessel built by the company's own Quality Shipyards, L.L.C. in Houma, La. The ship, designed by the Norwegian firm Vik-Sandvik, is the first of four identical vessels to be built by Quality. The Miss Jane Tide is a 260-ft. PSV and is the first domestically constructed vessel to be delivered under Tidewater's new construction program announced in January 2000. In addition, Tidewater has also taken operational delivery of the M/V Ace Nature, one of eight vessels acquired from The Sanko Steamship Co., Ltd. in late 2000. At 276 feet, the Ace Nature, a UT 745 PSV, is one of the largest ships among Tidewater's fleet.

It is little secret that as offshore oil production moves further from shore, the boats that service these offshore units must be bigger, stronger and more capable than their ancestors. Here's a peak at emerging technologies and the boats that house them. The technology to cost efficiently discover and recover oil and gas in increasingly deeper part of the Gulf of Mexico has quickly led to the development of bigger, stronger and more ruggedly equipped Offshore Service Vessels, not only on drawings boards but operating on the waterways. The discovery of oil and gas fields such as Auger, Marlim and Mars, have among others, highlighted the vast potential for drilling success and the inadequacy of the current fleet of OSVs to perform the job as cost effectively as possible.

Mud, Mud, Mud. Liquid mud is the name of the game in the design of today's offshore service vessels. The drilling rigs not only want huge volumes of mud, but they want the vessels that serve them to be able to carry several different types of liquid mud. That means two or three separate piping and pumping systems to keep the mud from cross contamination. That also increases demands for automated control and alarm systems, many of which utilize touch screen controls. The rigs also need dry bulk cement, barite and other such products, so dry bulk tanks with 6,000 or so cu. ft. of capacity would be desired. Many rig owners would also like the vessels to carry methanol and…

With over 550 vessels in service, Tidewater, Inc., is by far the world's largest offshore oil service operator. Headquartered in New Orleans, La., Tidewater operates wherever offshore oil and gas is found. While the industry has undergone a slow down in 2002-03, Tidewater is confident that current trends indicate business will improve and the company has been upgrading its fleet of vessels to meet customer needs. "We have a very strong balance sheet," said Stephen Dick, Executive Vice President of operations for North America, North Sea and West Africa for the company. "We have been moving aggressively in the area of new vessel construction, especially U.S. flagged supply boats and crew/supply vessels," Dick added.