Atkins News

Glosten Tapped to Design Scripps' New Hydrogen-hybrid Research Vessel

UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography today announced that naval architecture and marine engineering company Glosten has been selected as the naval architect for the university’s new California coastal research vessel. The new vessel will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-hybrid propulsion system.Selected after participating in the university's request for proposal process, Glosten will provide the preliminary design, contract design and detailed design for the research vessel to be operated by Scripps Oceanography.“This vessel will be the first of its kind…

Army Corps and Dredging Industry Sign MOU to Improve Safety Culture

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is working with industry partners to create and sustain an injury-free workplace and safety-first culture for the men and women who work in dredging and marine construction.On June 3 in Washington, D.C., the USACE inked a strengthened partnership agreement with the national safety voice for the dredging and marine construction industry, the Council for Dredging and Marine Construction Safety (CDMCS), and the groups discussed ways to meet shared safety goals.

MAN's New Digital Platform Aims to Link OEM Data

Engines manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions has launched a new digital platform designed to enable the integration and exchange of original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) data to promote industry collaboration in realizing the benefits of digital technology.The new platform, mýa, provides asset owners with a single, secure interface to data from multiple equipment manufacturers across the marine, power, and energy industries, among others.“Given the unique transformational challenges most industries are facing today…

New Admiral to Lead Coast Guard 14th District

The Coast Guard 14th District held a change of command ceremony bidding farewell to Rear Adm. Vincent B. Atkins and welcoming Rear Adm. Brian K. Penoyer, at Coast Guard Base Honolulu, Wednesday.Vice Adm. Fred M. Midgette, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area presided over the ceremony.Penoyer has served as Atkins’ chief of staff since 2016, advising the district commander on all Coast Guard missions conducted in the central and south Pacific. He is a 2015 recipient of the Coast Guard’s Type I Incident Commander qualification…

Offshore Pipeline Standard Update by DNV GL

The most used and recognized offshore pipeline standard in the world has been updated to reflect the latest pipeline research and developments by DNV GL, the quality assurance and risk management company, and other leading industry players. The standard, previously called DNV-OS-F101 is now renamed DNVGL-ST-F101. Around 65% of all new projects globally are designed according to the standard, first issued in 1976. The new revision reflects the conclusions of joint industry projects (JIPs) by DNV GL and other leading industry players such as DNV GL’s JIP providing guidance for installation of rigid and flexible pipes, umbilicals and power cables.

Northern Powerhouse Partnership Meet at Liverpool

Peel Ports has hosted the inaugural meeting of the Northern Powerhouse partnership at the Port of Liverpool today (8 December). The initiative is creating a new network to help grow the Northern economy and aims to champion the area’s strengths and promote local developments. Topics at the first meeting included transport and connectivity, the government’s industrial strategy, quality of life improvements and how partners can work together to support the Northern Powerhouse programme. The event was attended by over 40 leading businesses, including Atkins, Barclays, Deloitte, Drax, Siemens and Vodafone, as well as universities, local enterprise partnerships and business organisations.

Can Trump Make Coal Great Again?

Most of the U.S. coal industry doubts Donald Trump can fulfill his promise to make the ailing industry great again in a country awash in dirt-cheap natural gas, a competing fuel. But a small sub-section of the coal sector that mines metallurgical coal - a variety used by steel makers instead of power plants - is gearing up for a Trump-inspired boom. That's because the Republican president-elect has promised a spending surge for roads, bridges and tunnels after he takes office on Jan. 20, a push to upgrade America's infrastructure with the support of leading Democrats that could jolt demand for metallurgical coal from American steel mills. Prices for met coal, as it is called, have already risen in recent months on lower supply from China.

Maiden Call of the Hyundai Saturn to New York

As the leader of customer-focused terminal operations in North America, GCT USA has welcomed the Hyundai Saturn to GCT Bayonne. The Saturn is the first of five Hyundai ships in the G6's New York Express (NYX) service calling the port of New York and New Jersey through the expanded Panama Canal. The Saturn and its sisters are the first Hyundai neo-Panamax class vessels deployed on the Transpacific-US East Coast trade lane, all boasting a cellular capacity of 10,077 TEUs. Serving New York as the first North American port-of-call, the enhanced NYX service connects the largest East Coast market to the carrier's wider network in Latin America and Central/Northeast Asia.

DNV GL Seeks to Standardize Floating Turbines

DNV GL launched a new joint industry project (JIP) together with thirteen global partners to mutually develop a Recommended Practice for the coupled analysis of floating offshore wind turbines. Despite the fact that the wind industry has a strong focus on the development of floating offshore wind turbines, it is still missing a widely recognised and unified approach for the practical methods to build and validate the numerical models, in accordance with the requirements in the standards. Standardisation is a key milestone to guide the industry towards the development of reliable floating wind turbines. Guidance includes setting up minimum requirements for the design on new concepts that can help investors’ evaluation…

NASSCO Delivers Second ECO Tanker to APT

On Thursday, May 19, shipbuilders at General Dynamics NASSCO delivered the Magnolia State to longtime customer American Petroleum Tankers (APT). The ECO Class tanker is one of the most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly tankers in the world and symbolizes the emerging future of green shipping. It is also the fifth ship NASSCO shipbuilders have delivered in the past eight months. The Magnolia State is the second of a five-tanker contract between NASSCO and APT, which calls for the design and construction of five 50,000 deadweight ton, LNG-conversion-ready product carriers with a 330,000 barrel cargo capacity. The 610-foot-long tankers are equipped with a new “ECO” design, which provides a 33 percent fuel efficiency improvement compared to product tankers built only a few years ago.

APT’s 2nd ECO Class Product Carrier Christened

On Saturday, April 23, General Dynamics NASSCO hosted a christening ceremony for the second Jones Act ECO Class tanker for American Petroleum Tankers (APT) under construction at the company's shipyard in San Diego. U.S. Representative Scott Peters spoke at the ceremony, and the ship’s sponsor, Trang Cormack, christened the ship with the traditional break of a champagne bottle alongside the ship. The ECO Class tanker, the Magnolia State, is the second of a five-tanker contract between NASSCO and APT…

Energy Sector Volatility Affects Middle Market M&A Activity

Market volatility for the petroleum sector provides a backdrop to an evolving Merger & Acquisitions environment for the Offshore Sector. In the 3Q edition of Maritime Professional, this series of articles examined the overall evolution of maritime and offshore M&A activity since 2010, tracing the flow of deals in the post-financial crisis era. In this edition, we take a closer look at relevant U.S. offshore energy industry deal flow and market movements as they relate to oil prices over time, and highlight some recent middle market transactions.

Lamprell Wins Daman Corporate Health Award

Lamprell (ticker: LAM), a leading provider of diversified engineering and contracting services to the onshore and offshore energy industry is delighted to announce that, last Wednesday 5 November, the Group was declared as a winner at the Daman Corporate Health Awards which took place at the Rosewood Hotel, Abu Dhabi. In total, 47 companies were shortlisted for the finals in 12 different categories. Lamprell won the award for the ‘Improved Corporate Health and Wellness Performance’ category. Lamprell introduced several reforms and innovations that improved overall wellness performance across the organisation, including conducting regular health checks, running various health and safety awareness campaigns as well as organising team-building activities and sports events.

AVEVA E3D Takes Center Stage

Customer case studies combine with advances in asset visualization and cloud technologies to showcase a new era in the creation and management of complex Digital Assets. AVEVA announced the expansion of customer trials of its 3D design software in the cloud, after its debut at the AVEVA World Summit 2014 in Berlin. AVEVA Everything 3D (AVEVA E3D) was demonstrated running in the cloud and generated so much interest that an additional session was added to the already packed agenda for keen delegates to find out more.

Agenda, Speakers for AVEVA Summit Announced

AVEVA today announced additional speaker, sponsor and agenda details for this year’s AVEVA World Summit. The global event is being held in Berlin, Germany, from 14-16 October. AVEVA customers from across the world’s process, plant, power and marine industries are invited to the Summit to share their experiences and business challenges. Industry giants AMEC and RasGas will open the customer presentations, describing how AVEVA technologies are enabling them to lead the way in the creation and management of complex digital assets. These will be followed by 16 additional case study presentations from leading EPCs, OOs and shipbuilders, including Jacobs, WorleyParsons, Foster Wheeler, Toyo Setal, AREVA, ADMA OPCO, Atkins, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Namura Shipbuilding.

Boskallis Wins Two Big Dredge Contracts

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. Boskalis is to build a breakwater in Clacton-on-Sea for Tendring District Council over a distance of five kilometers between Clacton Pier and Holland Haven. The breakwater will consist of 23 stone groynes with sand fill to create beaches in between. Boskalis will execute the project through the VBA JV Ltd (a consortium of Volker Stevin, Boskalis Westminster and Atkins). Work is scheduled to begin this summer and will be complete late 2015. Two medium-sized trailing suction hopper dredgers will be deployed on this project, with all the stone work being performed by dry equipment. A joint venture between…

GCT (USA) President & CEO James Devine Retires

Global Container Terminals (GCT) has announced the retirement of James J. Devine, President & CEO of GCT USA, at the end of June, 2014. Devine’s retirement brings a distinguished 13-year tenure with GCT to a close, where he was instrumental in revitalizing the US operations. “Jim is an exceptional leader who has capably navigated the company through challenging market conditions. GCT’s success is a testament to his tireless work and vision,” said Stephen Edwards, President and Chief Executive Officer of GCT Global Container Terminals Inc. “We are grateful for innumerable contributions.” In the coming years, Devine will serve as a senior advisor to continue supporting the strategic growth of GCT USA.

Bilfinger Wants Speedy Sale Of Construction Unit

German engineering and services group Bilfinger aims to sell its civil engineering division quickly and, at the same time, is open to acquisitions abroad, the chief executive of the company was quoted as saying on Saturday. The company is accepting expressions of interest and preparing the unit for sale, CEO Roland Koch told newspaper Die Welt, confirming a story published by Reuters on Friday. "We just launched the process," he said. Bilfinger wants to wean itself off a business model vulnerable to price wars in the building sector and focus on providing higher-margin engineering and services for industrial facilities, power plants and real estate. The company said earlier in May that it aimed to exit certain parts of its construction activities.

Atkins Gain Maersk Oil Engineering Contract

Design, engineering and project management consultancy Atkins, says it has been awarded an engineering support contract covering three of Maersk Oil’s UK assets in the North Sea. The Gryphon FPSO, Global Producer III FPSO and Janice FPU are planned for major offshore inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) works this year, in addition to field expansion works. Maersk has committed to this plan by contracting a dedicated Dive Support Vessel (DSV) for 365 days. In order to ensure this is completed safely and on time…

German Ship Bank HSH Needs More Aid

Troubled German public-sector bank HSH Nordbank will likely need more state aid than previously thought due to deep losses in shipping lending and back taxes, the bank's supervisory board chairman said. The bank, one of the world's biggest shipping financiers, has said up to now that it may need up to 1.3 billion euros ($1.79 billion) in state backing from 2019 to 2025. "I wouldn't be surprised if we came to the conclusion, while looking at our 2013 results, that it will come out just a tick above that," Thomas Mirow told journalists late on Tuesday in comments embargoed for Wednesday. He declined to be specific because the bank's 2013 results had not been finalised yet, but said the increase would likely be in the hundreds of millions of euros.

California Leaders to Convene for Maritime Conference

The 14th Annual California Maritime Leadership Symposium, slated to take place February 19-20 at the Sacramento Convention Center, attracts key members from California’s State Legislature and representatives from California’s ports and the maritime industry. The symposium aims to encourage productive dialogue among maritime industry leaders and communicate port needs to California decision makers. The symposium is hosted by a broad-based coalition of the maritime industry, headed up by the California Association of Port Authorities…

Neumann Named CEO and President of Starboard

Beth G. Neumann has joined Starboard Cruise Services as CEO and President, reporting to Starboard Chairman, Ed Brennan. Owned by renowned world leader in luxury, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Starboard is the largest and leading onboard retailer in the cruise industry. In her leadership role, Neumann will oversee Starboard’s worldwide operations, which includes 1,800 employees, working both on land and on board the ships of the company’s eight partner cruise lines. Starboard’s sister company, Onboard Media, will also report to Neumann as part of her responsibilities.

CWind Backs New BV Class as Second Vessel Attains Classification

CWind, a provider of services to the offshore wind industry, has announced a second of its vessels, the CWind Resolution due to be named later today in Brightlingsea, has gained the new class notation ‘Wind Farm Service Ships’ introduced by Bureau Veritas earlier this year. The CWind Resolution is only the second ever vessel to be classed under this notation to date, joining its sister vessel the CWind Challenger on the register. The vessel, a CTruk 20T MPC, is joining CWind’s fleet of now 15 vessels, as part of the company’s ‘Boat-share scheme’ under which experienced skippers are being given the opportunity to co-invest in the vessels.