Project News

At a high-level, there are three solutions to transferring technicians from shore bases to offshore wind farms for construction and O&M activities: crew transfer vessel (CTV), helicopter, and SOVs/CSOVs.SOVs and CSOVs generally house 60-120 technicians offshore for a few weeks at a time, allowing them to transfer to structures on integrated heave compensated gangways, by daughter craft or on CTVs. The vessels are also equipped with cranes, storage, and small workshop areas.SOV: Service operations vessels…

Earlier this month Strategic Marine hosted the keel laying ceremony for 2 x 40m 550 Passenger Fast Ferry for the Government of Bermuda, with the Director of the Department of Marine and Ports Services for the Government of Bermuda and various supply partners participating in the project.

Sweden-based construction and development company Skanska has signed the final contract award, worth $612 million, for the upgrade of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) in New York, which will serve as an offshore wind hub.The project will transform the SBMT into one of the largest dedicated offshore wind ports in the United States and support Empire Wind offshore wind project, which is currently being developed by Equinor off New York.The award will facilitate the demolition of existing buildings…

Norway's Equinor is confident of finding an investor for its planned Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm in New York after a new power off-take agreement improved the project's economics, the company said on Thursday.New York State authorities in February awarded the project a new conditional power purchase contract, replacing a previous deal that was no longer competitive due to rising construction costs, higher interest rates and supply chain snags.Equinor was glad to have received the new contract, which significantly changed the economics of the project, CFO Torgrim Reitan told analysts durin

The end may be in sight, but the race for bigger cranes is still having an impact on offshore wind project efficiency.The industry has already felt the need for upgrading crane lifting capacity on existing offshore wind installation vessels: NOV is upgrading the cranes on Cadeler’s existing O-class wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs), and a gantry crane extension will soon make Van Oord’s Svanen one of the largest floating heavy-lift installation vessels.It’s a newbuild phenomenon too. NOV has developed a telescoping leg encircling crane for Shimizu’s GustoMSC-designed WTIV Blue Wind.

While construction productivity issues continue to present immediate challenges for the U.S. offshore wind industry, the long-term outlook remains strong for the nascent sector, according to a recent report from business intelligence and consulting firm Intelatus Global Partners. Intelatus' most recent monthly report on the U.S. offshore wind industry identifies a number of factors hindering offshore construction activities--from weather delays to the scheduling and availability of necessary vessels."Construction vessel productivity to date has been below expectation…

Founded as the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and renamed Military Sealift Command in 1970, MSC today not only support the Navy, but we are the Department of Defense's provider of all sealift. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently interviewed Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, U.S. Navy, for insights on the service today and it’s needs to grow in the future.What makes MSC so vital to the Navy’s fleet and our military forces around the world?When we  look at the history of contested logistics in World War II…

Babcock has been awarded the contract to manage the Type 23 class frigate Refit Support Group, allowing the company to take end-to-end responsibility for vessel upkeep and regeneration in preparation for handover to the ship’s crew.This innovative change follows more than five years of close working between the Royal Navy-led Refit Support Group and Babcock.It frees up UK Royal Navy personnel for front line operations and creates new and exciting roles for 40 Babcock engineering technicians and managers at its Devonport facility…

Norwegian shipowner MPC Container Ships (MPCC) has signed a $55 million pre and post-delivery ECA covered financing agreement with Deutsche Bank and SINOSURE for its two dual-fuel methanol newbuildings.The vessels are scheduled for delivery towards the end of 2024 and are secured by 15-year time charter agreements with North Sea Container Line (NCL). The loan matures in 2036, according to MPCC.Chinese-based shipyard Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering is in charge of the construction…

Damen Shipyards has launched a Combi Freighter (CF) 3850 at the Ba Son Shipyard in Vietnam, built for German shipping company Reederei M. Lauterjung.The CF 3850 is the first in a two-vessel order from Reederei M. Lauterjung. Following this order, Damen’s client has placed an order for a third CF 3850.The vessels are to be named MV Arion, MV Hestia and MV Neptune.Upon delivery, MV Arion and MV Hestia will enter into a long-term charter with Amadeus Schiffahrts- und Speditions, a subsidiary of HGK Shipping.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has signed a long-term time charter party agreement for one floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with the Polish gas transmission system operator Gaz-System, which is the developer and operator behind the future LNG terminal.The FSRU will be constructed by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard and is expected to be completed in 2027. Thereafter, the FSRU will be managed by the MOL group.The FSRU is being built for the project that involves the…

China is providing moorage for a U.S.-sanctioned Russian cargo ship implicated in North Korean arms transfers to Russia, according to satellite images obtained by Reuters, as U.S. concerns grow over Beijing's support for Moscow's war in Ukraine.Britain's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank said the Russian vessel Angara, which since August 2023 has moved to Russian ports thousands of containers believed to contain North Korean munitions, has been anchored at a Chinese…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released its latest report in the Pathways to Commercial Liftoff series, describing how the U.S. offshore wind sector is adapting to challenges and poised for continued progress, with a path to deploying over 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2050.The Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Offshore Wind report finds that the sector today is poised for liftoff, enabled by continued efforts to adapt to recent market challenges. The projects that move forward in the next several years will lay the foundation for consistent long-term deployment…

Danish shipowner CBED has signed a contract with Siemens Gamesa for the first offshore wind project for its new SOV Wind Creation as part of the CBED fleet.With the new walk-to-work project, the SOV joins commissioning an offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.The project starts at the end of the second quarter of 2024 and runs for the remainder of the year, thereby securing full activity for Wind Creation until the first quarter of 2025.CBED now has all three vessels in the fleet…

Wärtsilä Gas Solutions, part of technology group Wärtsilä, has signed a contract for the supply of cargo handling system for a new 12,500 m3 LNG bunkering vessel being built for Spanish shipowner Scale Gas, a subsidiary of Enagás.The order has been placed by the yard building the vessel, Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering, and was booked by Wärtsilä in the first quarter of 2024.The vessel is co-financed from the Support for Sustainable and Digital Transport Programme…

ABB has been selected by Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) to supply a comprehensive grid-to-propeller solution for the new double-ended, hybrid-electric ferry that will provide essential services between the town of Lincolnville and the island community of Islesboro in the United States.ABB’s scope of supply covers the hybrid-electric propulsion and energy storage system. ABB’s Onboard DC Grid power distribution system will ensure optimal use of energy sources, while…

Installed offshore wind capacity in the U.S. grew to 242MW in the first quarter of the year from 42MW in the previous quarter, the Oceantic Network said in its report, showcasing a recovery in a previously volatile industry.The offshore wind industry is expected to play a major role in helping several states and, the Biden administration meet goals to decarbonize the power grid and combat climate change.The industry had a tough 2023 after developers wrote off billions of dollars in impairment charges due to high-interest rates…

The first tanker carrying crude from the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline is expected to load at the Port of Vancouver in the second half of May, the company building the project said on Tuesday.The expanded pipeline, which will carry an extra 600,000 barrels per day of oil from Alberta to Canada's Pacific coast, will begin transporting crude on May 1 with final line fill completed in early May, Trans Mountain Corp said in an email.(Reuters - Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

The MSC Foundation, the MSC Group and Mercy Ships International have joined forces to build a new hospital ship.On 8 April, the chairman of MSC Group and MSC Foundation, Capt. Gianluigi Aponte, MSC Group President and Member of the MSC Foundation Board, Diego Aponte, and Mercy Ships Founder, Don Stephens, finalized an agreement to kickstart the new project with a generous anchor donation from MSC Foundation.The new purpose-built hospital ship will expand the impact of Mercy Ships’ life-changing surgeries…

As the U.S. offshore wind industry endures a predictable number of stops and starts during its adolescence, common mantras are ‘learn from the established European model’ and ‘embrace technology transfer from the offshore oil and gas sector.’ In Robert Langford, the American Bureau of Shipping has all of that and more bundled in one neat package.Rob Langford has worked in the offshore industry for more than three decades, ‘cutting his teeth’ in a UK design firm working in the North Sea oil and gas platforms, the holy grail of rigorous conditions in offshore energy production.

As U.S. shale oil boomed last decade, an oil pipeline company pitched an ambitious multi-billion-dollar export port off the Texas coast to ship domestic crude to buyers in Europe and Asia.In April, Enterprise Products Partners' SPOT became the first project to receive a license from the U.S. maritime regulator for a deepwater port that could load two supertankers, each of which can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil at a time.But multi-year regulatory delays, a loss of commercial backers and slowing U.S.

Damen Shipyards Group has launched a pilot project in which a small tug will be dismantled in a circular way and fully in line with the EU regulations.The project will serve as a trial, after which this approach of ‘green’ ship dismantling and recycling will be made available commercially, and also for larger vessels, according to Damen.The 15.4-meter-long tug named Jan, which was built in 1927, will be dismantled at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam’s Botlek site in line with the regulations…

Since our last market update in the subsea space about a year ago both our current market view and forecasts have strengthened significantly.While the demand picture is looking solid and arguing for a strong multi-year upcycle, the supply side has also started to wake from its slumber albeit ever so slightly at the time of writing. Moreover, we register an interesting dynamic on the shipowner side, where everyone is trying to position themselves for the impeding market boom.Please note that vessel definitions and abbreviations in this part of our industry can vary…