Sparrows News

The Unified Command began to remove containers onboard M/V Dali at the Key Bridge incident site, Sunday. Salvors removed containers from the Dali as part of the effort to gain access to the portion of the Key Bridge that lies atop the ship. The transfer of containers from the Dali will continue in the coming days, as weather permits.The removal of the containers is a critical step required to safely move the Dali and eventually fully re-open the Fort McHenry Channel. Removing containers allows for safe access to then remove the pieces of the Key Bridge that lie across the ship’s bow…

The U.S. Transportation Department on Friday said it reached an agreement with Baltimore County to revise an $8.26 million grant agreement to enable Tradepoint Atlantic (TPA) to accommodate more cargo.Repurposing the funds will allow a boost in cargo to Sparrows Point at the Port of Baltimore, which is outside the area affected by last week’s collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and continues to move cargo.The changes will enable Baltimore County and TPA to speed paving at least 10 acres that will be used for an additional cargo laydown area by the end of April…

Salvage crews worked to lift the first piece of Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the water on Saturday to allow barges and tugboats to access the disaster site, Maryland and U.S. officials said, the first step in a complex effort to reopen the city's blocked port.The steel truss bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning, killing six road workers, when a massive container ship lost power and crashed into a support pylon. Much of the span crashed into the Patapsco River…

The catastrophic bridge collapse that closed the Port of Baltimore to ship traffic is unlikely to trigger a major new U.S. supply chain crisis or spike goods prices, due to ample and growing spare capacity at competing East Coast ports, economists and logistics experts say.With six people still missing after a container ship collision destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, it remained unclear how long the span's twisted superstructure would block the harbor's mouth.But port officials…

INEOS Forties Pipeline System (FPS) has selected Liebherr for the supply of a new Ram Luffing (RL) series offshore crane for its Unity Platform in the UK North Sea.After more than 30 years of service, the currently installed RL crane on the Unity Platform has run its course, and will be replaced by Liebherr’s RL 650 technology.The RL 650 crane, said to be particularly suitable for a Not Permanently Attended Installation (NPAI), will fulfil all material handling for the offshore platform…

Baltimore-based offshore wind energy development company US Wind, Inc. announced its plan to form a long-term partnership with Haizea Wind Group Management S.L. to manage and operate Sparrows Point Steel, Maryland’s first permanent offshore wind factory in Baltimore County, Maryland. The facility will be available to manufacture steel components for the U.S. offshore wind industry, including monopiles and towers.“The partnership between US Wind and Haizea to lead Sparrows Point Steel will create one of the premier offshore wind industrial facilities in the world…

British union Unite on Friday said several Sparrows offshore services workers have voted to strike at dozens of platforms on the UK continental shelf including those of BP and Shell.Around 150 Sparrows workers across more than 20 oil and gas platforms have voted for strike in a dispute over pay, the union said in a press release.This comes after the union last week announced its Sparrows members working on BP’s Andrew, Clair, Clair Ridge, ETAP, Glen Lyon and Mungo installations backed strike action in a separate dispute over pay and conditions.The strike action will hit BP’s platforms from Mar

More than $220 million in discretionary grant funding has been awarded to improve U.S. port facilities in 16 states and territories through the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced Thursday.“This $220 million in federal grants will improve America’s ports with nearly half the projects are located in Opportunity Zones, which were established to revitalize economically distressed communities,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L.

Throughout the world, offshore wind is on a growth trajectory. With green energy mandates from states in New England and the mid-Atlantic, the U.S. is joining the fray. Consultants Wood MacKenzie, in its U.S. Offshore Wind Outlook 2020-2029, suggested that as much as 25 gigawatts (GW) of capacity could be deployed in the U.S. by 2030 (though estimates range from 14 GW to as much as 34 GW), accounting for a hefty portion of incremental capacity coming online.Shipyards in New England have already seen the tip of the offshore wind iceberg…

William P. Doyle is the incoming Executive Director of the Maryland Port Administration. A former U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner, Doyle currently serves as CEO & Executive Director of the Dredging Contractors of America – and the group's member companies have recently made a series of announcements to build new dredges of several types and sizes. We caught up with the incoming Port of Baltimore head to discuss his initial goals for the new role. How do you feel about being selected the head of MPA and Executive Director of the Port of Baltimore?I feel terrific.

Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,300-acre multimodal global logistics center in Baltimore, Md., said its dry dock will return to service this week after last being used in 2017. BAE Systems’ Titan dry dock departed is scheduled to arrive in Baltimore and dock at Tradepoint Atlantic’s onsite dry dock to undergo a five-month-long repair and maintenance program starting Thursday.Used in Norfolk, Va. for servicing ships as long as 1,000 feet, BAE Systems' massive Titan dry dock has a 52,534-ton lifting capacity and is one of the world’s largest and most modern floating steel dry docks.

Sparrows Group has become the first authorized external service provider for Dana’s Brevini winch and hoisting products in the USA.The agreement will see the engineering and equipment specialist sell and service Dana’s hydraulic and winch product lines and is a further step in Sparrows’ long-term growth strategy for the industrial and marine sectors.Dana currently operates in 34 countries with 149 major facilities globally. The company’s Brevini brand designs and produces a range of gearboxes and hydraulic and electric components that are used in plants, ports and vessels around the world.

Sparrows Group has been awarded a three-and-a-half-year extension to its inspection services contract for Stena Drilling’s global fleet of drilling vessels. The contract scope includes carrying out LOLER lifting gear surveys, potential dropped objects surveys, cargo carrying unit (CCU) and non-destructive testing (NDT) inspections as well as rig specific maintenance. As well as an extension to the contract, the scope has also been expanded to cover Stena’s entire fleet of seven vessels, including the Stena Don in Norway.

Crews aboard two 25-foot Response Boat – Smalls, from Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay, Maryland, are to be seen here escorting the tugboats 'Honor' and 'Captain William Landry' near Sparrows Point, as they tow a section of the Midtown Tunnel that will connect Portsmouth with Norfolk, Virginia. The Coast Guard explains that the tunnel section is being towed down the Chesapeake Bay to the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, where it will await placement in the Elizabeth River this fall.

Sparrows,  a company in offshore lifting and mechanical handling services, announced increases in both profits and turnover for 2012. Earnings at the Aberdeen headquartered company before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were £20.8 million with turnover reaching £188million. In comparison, profits in 2011 were £17.5million on a turnover of £172million. The U.K. accounts for 53% of total turnover with international sales making up the remaining 47%. Sparrows also increased staff numbers from 1,649 at the beginning of 2012 to 1,748 by the end of the year.

A young Aberdeen engineer has been recognized for her work inspiring school pupils to take on a career in the oil & gas industry. Katy Crawford, who is employed by offshore lifting and mechanical handling services company Sparrows, has been chosen to receive the Raising the Profile of the Profession – Promoting Engineering to Primary Students award from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). After just one year in full-time employment, the 22-year-old has become heavily involved in making children aware of the benefits of picking a career in engineering.

John C. G. Hutchison closes a 42 year career at this year’s Workboat Show in New Orleans. Born in Philly on April Fool’s Day 1941, John Hutchison played collegiate golf at Duke University and Moravian College, and coached the golf team at Lehigh University before being drafted in 1966. A Viet Nam vet, 2nd LT, Infantry Branch, John returned home in 1970 and worked at the Bethlehem Steel Corporate Office in Bethlehem, PA, and other Bethlehem offices in Burns Harbor IN, Johnstown PA, and Sparrows Pt., MD.

Sparrows Offshore LLC (formerly Energy Cranes LLC), the Houston-based offshore crane, fluid power and pipe-laying equipment specialist, has signed contracts in 2010 worth more than $8m. With the new work, the company plans to increase its U.S. workforce by six percent, creating onshore and offshore jobs in the group's Houston and Louisiana operating bases. The new contracts cover crane refurbishment projects for long-term rental projects and new crane sales internationally and in the Gulf of Mexico and have been awarded by customers including Shell, Chevron, Apache, Total, Superior Energy, Transocean, EOG, Nippon, Maritech, Northstar and K-Mesco.

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) has approved five applications under section 9 of the Shipping Act, 1916, as amended. · Coastal Towing, Inc., Spring, TX, has received approval to sell the 1,454-gross-ton tank barge COASTAL 2007-L to Overseas Bureau Shipping, a Panamanian corporation, and transfer said Vessel to Panamanian registry and flag. The vessel was built in 1977 in Nashville, TN. · C. S. Liftboats, Inc., Erath, LA has received approval to sell the 2,518-gross-ton Jack-Up Drilling Rig M/V TRIDENT CRUSADER to National Drilling Company, a United Arab Emirates corporation, and transfer said Vessel to United Arab Emirates registry and flag. The vessel was built in 1999 in Pascagoula, MS.

Two government ships, currently moored at a shipyard near Baltimore, Md., will be recycled at the Bay Bridge Enterprises facility in Chesapeake, Va., under the terms of contracts announced today by the Maritime Administration. Both are World War II-era ships, formerly anchored in the James River Reserve Fleet in Newport News, Va. Bay Bridge will receive $95,000 to dismantle the Hoist, and $695,000 to dismantle the Sphinx. Both ships were originally awarded to North American Ship Recycling, Inc. Those contracts were terminated by the Maritime Administration after notification by North American Ship Recycling, Inc. that the company had terminated all operations at the Sparrows Point Shipyard.

The Coast Guard along with state and local agencies have completed the clean-up and recovery operations of approximately 100,000 gallons of oil from a sunken cargo vessel in the Patapsco River Monday. The Coast Guard, Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and Maryland Port Administration (MPA) formed a unified command Nov. 14, 2007 to evaluate and approve the clean-up of the Seawitch, an abandoned vessel formerly used in a ship salvaging and scrapping business. "This operation is a fine example of our partnership among federal, state and local agencies along with the private sector," said Capt. Brian Kelley, Captain of the Port of Baltimore. In July 2008, the Unified Command accessed the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to pay for the clean-up and recovery operations.

The U. S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has awarded contracts to recycle two more of the obsolete government-owned ships, which are currently moored in the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF) in Virginia. The two ships being recycled are the Escape and the Cape Cod. These two vessels will be the 83rd and 84th ships to leave the JRRF since 2001. The Escape (ARS-6) was built as a Navy rescue ship in 1942 by Basalt Rock Co. in Napa, Calif. The vessel supported the nation's "Mercury" manned spaceflight program in the early 1960s. The Escape will be recycled at Bay Bridge Enterprises, LLC, of Chesapeake, Va., at a cost to the federal government of $115,200. The Cape Cod (AK-5041) was built as a break-bulk cargo ship in 1962 by Bethlehem Steel in Sparrows Point, Md.

Energy Cranes International Limited, provider of offshore lifting and handling services which includes Sparrows Offshore, Aberdeen Hydraulics and Baricon Systems, announced the appointment of Doug Sedge as chief executive officer (CEO). John Jordan, the incumbent CEO, is standing down from the role and will be leaving the group. Doug Sedge is well known in the oilfield business community, where he was CEO of RBG Group from 2005 to 2008. His most recent assignment was in a European role with Canadian offshore technology group…