Fife News

Harland & Wolff announced the completion of the first barge at its shipyard in Methil, Fife, since 1856.The barge, which has been built for waste management and recycling business Cory, will launch from Methil and be taken by sea to Cory’s lighterage site on the banks of the River Thames. It will join Cory’s existing fleet of tugs and barges, which are used to transport recyclable and non-recyclable waste via a series of river-based transfer stations across London.Matt Smith, General Manager of Harland & Wolff (Methil)…

The National Oceanography Center (NOC) is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the scientific research ship RRS Discovery’s predecessor being designated as a Royal Research Ship (RRS), while the modern RRS Discovery becomes the first Research Vessel to be refitted at Babcock’s Rosyth facility, 35 miles away from the birthplace of the original vessel in Dundee.To mark this 100th anniversary, the current RRS Discovery will also join its ancestral inspiration, the original RRS Discovery in Dundee fromJune 2-4…

Inland and Coastal Marina Systems (ICMS) in Scotland said Friday it had installed a heavy-duty pontoon system in Eyemouth Harbour as part of the new operations and maintenance (O&M) base for the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm.The system comprises a 58m x 4m pontoon and a 27m x 4m pontoon, both with one meter freeboard to match that of the vessels, creating a berthing facility for crew transfer vessels (CTVs) serving the new wind farm which is located  15.5 kilometers of the coast of Fife…

CessCon Decom,  a Scotland-based firm specializing in decommissioning of oil and gas structures, plans to launch a decommissioning hub at the Port of Aberdeen’s £400 million South Harbour expansion in Q3 2022, creating up to 50 new jobs.The new hub will be located within Crathes Quay at South Harbour and deliver dismantling, recycling, and reuse services with a key focus on subsea infrastructure. The jobs boost is expected over the next 12 months, and CessCon said it would be…

U.K.-based offshore services firm Briggs Marine said it has secured a contract to deliver crew transfer vessel (CTV) services to the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm, currently under construction 15 kilometers off the Fife coast. The project is jointly owned by EDF Renewables UK and ESB.Utilizing its Damen 2610 vessel Forth Engineer, Briggs Marine will transfer technicians to turbines, substations and construction vessels as well as providing a cargo-carrying capability to support construction and operations.Rob Baker…

Some equations just don’t add up. For example, storing 500 offshore wind turbine blades at a site with only space for 400 (and that’s only if you don’t store the other key elements required to build a full turbine). Elaine Maslin visited Siemens Gamesa’s blade manufacturing facility in Hull, UK, to find out more.Storage space is becoming a major challenge that’s looming for ports involved in the fast-evolving offshore wind industry. It’s already becoming a challenge for Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy at its blade manufacturing facility in Hull, on England’s east coast.

Following a £1million conservation, the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther, Fife, is set to welcome visitors back onboard the iconic ‘Fifie’ Reaper, the last of the great First Class Scottish Herring Luggers and a rare survivor from the golden age of sail.One of the few vessels in the UK’s National Historic Fleet kept in seagoing condition, the two-masted, 70-ft., 50-tonne Reaper will open to the public on August 4 at her pontoon on Anstruther Harbour, once Scotland’s busiest fishing port.The refurbishmen project…

Offshore services firm Allseas said Wednesday it had removed the former DP3 gas production topsides from Spirit Energy’s Morecambe Bay development in the East Irish Sea, using the giant Pioneering Spirit vessel.This follows the removal of the adjacent DP4 topsides and subsequent transport to the UK in April. The two normally unmanned installations used to produce gas as part of Spirit Energy’s complex of eight installations in Morecambe Bay. As the field has matured, the reserves the platforms previously tapped into have been produced by the larger…

First Subsea, part of the First Tech Group based in Aberdeen, has won the inter-array cables protection contract from DEME at the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm (OWF).The cable protection system will be designed to protect the cable during installation and during the operating lifespan of the wind farm.The windfarm has been developed by EDF Renewables and Irish electricity company ESB, which now has a 50% stake in the project.Neart na Gaoithe will consist of 54 turbines and will be located in the North Sea approximately, 15km off the coast of Fife in south-east Scotland. When fully operational, the NnG offshore wind farm will generate 450 MW the equivalent electricity to power over 375…

Ørsted, the largest energy company in Denmark, has acquired a 22.5% share in Pict Offshore, the Scottish developer of an innovative technology set to transform the way technicians access offshore wind turbines.The Get Up Safe (GUS) system, developed in partnership between Ørsted and Pict Offshore, is a motion compensated hoist solution that enables technicians to safely transfer between small moving vessels and offshore wind turbines.Using this technology means that technicians will no longer have to step from a moving boat onto a ladder and then climb (sometimes over 20 meters) to reach the base of the turbine. Instead they can clip…

UK-based marine services company Stewart Marine has contracted Neptune Marine to build a new EuroCarrier 2611, which is to be named ‘Viking Energy’.To meet Stewart Marine’s operational requirements, Neptune will customise the 26-metre long workboat with a DP1 system.Stewart Marine is based in Fife, Scotland. It offers marine services to the offshore renewables industry around the world. Talking after the contract signing, Owner Graham Stewart, said: “After several years working with Neptune’s EuroCarriers, I am very positive about the capabilities of the design – especially the manoeuvrability and handling. Moreover, our crews are very positive about set-up of the vessel.”“As well as my previous experience with EuroCarriers…

The Royal Navy’s new flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth berthed in her home port of Portsmouth early on Wednesday morning and was greeted Prime Minister Theresa May visited the aircraft carrier and hailed it as a symbol of the UK’s maritime might, said a press release from UK Chamber of Shipping. “Britain truly has the best sailors, marines and officers in the world and I believe that you deserve the very best equipment. That is what we have with HMS Queen Elizabeth. This ship is a symbol of the United Kingdom as a great global, maritime nation,” the prime minister said in an address. “Clearly, she is a stunning piece of twenty-first-century engineering and a true testament to British shipbuilding and design. Six shipyards from across the United Kingdom contributed sections of this vessel.

The 20 year four-fold growth pattern in the world’s FPSO fleet stalls out in 2016 with a record number of FPSOs idle and available for redeployment – or perhaps to be forced into other uses, lay up or scrap. FPSO redeployments typically are far more complex, costly and risky than for (say) drillships and yet the need for redeploying idle FPSOs is now in the forefront of the industry like never before as FPSO owners also have to face the worst ever down market for their equipment and services.

Briggs Marine and Environmental Services, the Fife, Scotland-based leading supplier of offshore services, has ordered a Damen Multi Cat 2712. One of the largest models in Damen’s extensive Multi Cat range, the 27-metre 2712 is a versatile workboat capable of taking on almost any role in the coastal environment. Designated the Forth Warrior, the new Multi Cat is currently being fitted out at Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld in the Netherlands. Special equipment being installed includes…

The Aircraft Carrier Alliance successfully lifted one of the final sections of the second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier in Rosyth on Friday, January 8 following its arrival from Glasgow. The 750-metric-ton block was raised 25 meters in the air using the Goliath crane and placed on the deck of HMS Prince of Wales, bringing assembly work on the ship significantly closer to completion. This section to be assembled is known as the Aft Island and will control aircraft operations aboard HMS Prince of Wales.

The final sections of the second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier produced by Cammell Laird arrived at Babcock Rosyth Facilities in Fife on Thursday, September 3, following their voyage from Birkenhead. Center Block 4 is the longest of the upper sections of hull of HMS Prince of Wales, the second of two new aircraft carriers being constructed by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance. Comprised in two parts (rings C and D), it contains a mixture of aviation workshops, mission system compartments and training rooms.

The Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA), which is building HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales in shipyards across the U.K., has opened a visitor center in Rosyth Dockyard. The facility, which has a view of both HMS Queen Elizabeth across the non-tidal basin and the Forth bridges behind it, has been created to allow small groups of visitors to learn more about the Alliance and the construction of the two largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. Featuring an upstairs…

Cargo ship Lysblink Seaways, which ran aground on Scotland’s west coast February 18, will be transported to shelter this afternoon after a successful ship-to-ship fuel oil transfer was performed yesterday, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reported. The ship was refloated last week and anchored in Mingary Bay, though forecasts of bad weather led to a resolution to move the vessel into a more sheltered position. Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage & Intervention has authorized the move, MCA said, adding the decision has the full support of the Scottish Environment Group and Marine Scotland. Eexpected to begin around 2 p.m.

The ship to ship transfer of the fuel oil from the grounded cargo ship Lysblink Seaways is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning as better weather conditions provide a work window between 3 a.m. and midday, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reported. In total, 153 tons of fuel will be pumped from the Lysblink Seaways onto the tug Kingdom of Fife. “The wind is expected to moderate which means there is an opportunity to carry out this work,” Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage & Intervention said.

The ‘Lysblink Seaways’ ran aground on 18 February at Kilchoan, Ardnamurchan Peninsula, in the western entrance to the Sound of Mull. Early this morning the increased wind caused the vessel to drag her anchor. A tow line was placed on board and, as per. the contingency plan, the ‘Lysblink Seaways’ was towed back out to sea. This vessel is stable and at anchor 1.5 miles east of Kilchoan in Mingary Bay with her 9 crew on board. No oil sheen has been reported today and salvage work has been progressing well. Salvors are making final preparatory for the transfer of fuel oil from the damaged tank to other internal tanks on board the vessel. This fuel will be removed from the ‘Lysblink Seaways’ when the weather improves.

Hawaiian Ocean Transport (HOT) say it has strengthened its core management team by hiring Julian Velez as its new business development manager. The company inform that as the new development manager, julian Velez will bring new perspectives and extensive knowledge from his 7 years of experience as a leader in the transportation industry. Prior to joining Hawaiian Ocean Transport, Inc. Velez most recently held the position of Solutions Specialist & Sales Manager for Old Dominion Freight Line.

The aft island of the double island 'HMS Queen Elizabeth' has been lowered into place by Aircraft Carrier Alliance workers at Rosyth Dockyard in Fife. After an air horn sounded, a huge Goliath crane was used to lower the 750-tonne section of the aircraft carrier, known as Upper Block 14, into place. HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales promise to be the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy. "Moving this section into place is a momentous occasion for the programme.

The Rt Hon Edward Davey MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, joined GDF SUEZ E&P U.K. in Aberdeen yesterday to witness the signing of another major contract with the U.K. supply chain for the Cygnus project. The deal with Burntisland Fabrication Ltd (BiFab) to construct the accommodation platform of the GDF SUEZ operated Cygnus development is one of several partnerships helping to deliver more investment and new jobs for U.K. companies. Having signed the Field Development Plan when the Cygnus Project was sanctioned in August 2012…