West Coast Of Norway News

Kongsberg Maritime Celebrates 50 Years of Ship Design

2024 marks 50 years of ship design work for Kongsberg Maritime. From setting the benchmark that set the standard for offshore supply vessels in the 1970s, to advanced anchor handlers that transformed the oil and gas industry, and a growing reference list in fishery and merchant ships, Kongsberg Maritime’s range of ship designs has continued to evolve over the past five decades.The early 1970s, at the dawn of the offshore oil and gas industry, saw the very first vessels, designed…

Norwind Offshore Expands Fleet with Versatile Offshore Wind Support Vessel

Norwind Offshore, an offshore vessel company formed in late 2021 by Norway's Farstad, Volstad, and Kleven to be focused purely on offshore wind, has taken delivery of the first of four Commissioning Service Operation Vessels (CSOVs) built by Vard. The delivery ceremony took place Monday, in Ålesund, on the west coast of Norway. The naming ceremony was attended by representatives of Norwind Offshore, as well as from Vard, various suppliers and business partners.“This is a red-letter day for us,” said Norwind Offshore’s CEO, Svein Leon Aure.

NATO's Stoltenberg, EU's von der Leyen Travel to North Sea Platform

The heads of NATO and the European Commission flew on Friday to a North Sea platform bigger than the Eiffel Tower in a visit underlining Norway's importance for gas supplies since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The Troll A platform extracts gas from Norway's biggest gas field. After a drop in Russian flows, the Nordic country last year became the largest gas supplier to the EU.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will discuss the protection of infrastructure and gas supplies to Europe with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere…

Stiesdal, Maersk Offer Floating Wind Services

Denmark's Maersk Supply Service and renewable energy pioneer Stiesdal Offshore have entered into a strategic partnership to offer combined solutions to this fast-growing sector within floating offshore wind.The companies say they intend to combine their respective strengths to meet the significant expansion predicted for floating wind. Specifically, they will offer comprehensive and integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) solutions for foundations and moorings.They said that "This integrated approach will streamline the value chain…

Ulstein: Is THOR’s Superpower Shipping’s Silver Bullet?

Shipbuilder and designer Ulstein is looking to take its revolutionary Thorium powered vessel concept from the drawing board to the deep blue sea. Is this the solution that industry, and society, have been searching for to enable a truly sustainable maritime future?Everything about the launch of ULSTEIN THOR was unexpected.The vessel concept, a 149m 3R (Replenishment, Research and Rescue) design with a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (MSR), took the industry, and wider society, by surprise.

The Race is On to Pioneer Hydrogen Shipping

Hydrogen is touted as an inevitable green fuel of the future. Tell that to the people who'll have to ship it across the globe at hyper-cold temperatures close to those in outer space.Yet that is exactly what designers are attempting to do.In the biggest technological challenge for merchant shipping in decades, companies are beginning to develop a new generation of vessels that can deliver hydrogen to heavy industry, betting plants worldwide will convert to the fuel and propel the transition to a lower-carbon economy.There are at least three projects developing pilot ships that will be ready to test transporting the fuel in Europe and Asia within the next three years…

Hydrogen Ferry Project Gains $9.4 Mln in Funding

A project to produce a novel emissions-slashing hydrogen passenger ferry has been granted €8 million ($9.4 million) in European funding as the Norwegian government announces strengthened focus on development and commercialization of hydrogen as a carbon-neutral fuel.The HySHIP project involves 14 European partners collaborating on the design and construction of a new ro-ro demonstration vessel running on liquid green hydrogen (LH2), as well as the establishment of a viable LH2 supply chain and bunkering platform.

Huisman to Deliver Giant Skyhook Crane to Norway

Dutch crane specialist Huisman has signed a letter of intent with Norway-based Wergeland and PSW for the delivery of its Skyhook quayside crane at the Gulen Industrial Harbour, Norway.The crane - dubbed the largest Slewing Jib Quayside Crane in the world - will be deployed at the Gulen Industrial Harbour, the base of Wergeland and near PSW Group in Mongstad, providing the additional potential for both decommissioning works as well as for outfitting the next generation deepwater semi-submersibles in the port’s 100 meters wide dock.

Hybrid drives: Siemens sends in the machines

Encouraged by the success of a hybrid drives program, Siemens is going all out in Norway to automate production of that core marine energy storage enabler, the lithium battery. Offshore service vessel charterers, rig owners, ferry operators and ship owners are the target market. Trondheim’s technical university and a recent history of hosting battery makers and system integrators has made it launchpad for new applications involving the new BlueDrive Plus C drives and batteries.Siemens’ Norwegian head of strategy and business development…

Sture Terminal Situation Normalised

The fire in the engine room of the crude oil tanker Dubai Harmony moored at Equinor’s Sture terminal in Øygarden municipality on the west coast of Norway near Bergen has now been extinguished.At 1102 this morning, Equinor's alarm center received reports of a fire in the engine room on board Dubai Harmony, which was loading at the quay at the Sture terminal.The fire has now been extinguished and the fire service is continuing to cool the area where the fire took place.The 102 people who were at the Sture terminal were evacuated from the terminal when the incident occurred as a precaution, while only personnel with emergency tasks remained…

V.Ships Manages REV Ocean Expedition Ship

Norwegian ocean research organization REV Ocean has appointed V.Ships Leisure as ship management partner for the world’s largest research and expedition vessel.V.Ships Leisure, part of V.Group, will provide a tailored suite of ship management services for the new vessel, which is scheduled for completion in 2021. The ship will be equipped for conducting research that covering the whole of the marine ecosystem using advanced technology developed by Norwegian knowledge clusters…

Equinor Awards FEED Contract to Deltamarin

Deltamarin Oy, the provider of ship design, offshore engineering, and construction services for marine and offshore industries worldwide, has signed a contract to support the energy majors in LCO2 vessel design and environmental optimisation.The contract is a part of the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project led by Equinor and partners Shell and Total, Deltamarin, said a press release.CCS will be an essential part of reducing carbon emissions and reaching global climate targets.The environmental optimisation FEED study includes evaluation of technology related to energy efficiency and reduction of the environmental footprint of the LCO2 carrier type of vessels.

Technology Centre Mongstad Sign MoU with DNV GL for CO2 Capture Technology

The world’s largest testing facility for carbon capture, Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM), has signed a collaborative agreement with DNV GL to deliver advisory and verification services for CO2 capture technology.According to a press release from the quality assurance and risk management company, the new global advisory partnership will offer advisory and verification services at TCM`s facilities on the west coast of Norway and other worldwide carbon capture projects.Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the only available technology for mitigating climate change in certain industries such as cement production and the use of oil and gas.“We have been working with both CCS and verification of new technologies for the energy sector for a long time.

Oliver Design Fits Out North Sea Salmon Factory Vessel

Spanish naval design and architecture firm, Oliver Design, has just completed interior design of the salmon factory vessel Norwegian Gannet. The ship is currently under construction at the Balenciaga yards near San Sebastian, Spain. Oliver Design will shortly begin the work of interior outfitting on the ship, which is due to be launched in April and handed over to the owner in August. Although the shipyard was founded in 1921 and the naval design firm in 1990, this is the first time the two leading Basque firms have worked together.

Autonomous Vessels: Modern Ferries Evolve

Automated now; autonomous looms large in the center porthole. The word ‘autonomous’ is probably the maritime industry’s most frequently used term in the past year. The word, however, has a far different meaning than the similarly sounding “automated” – which means that certain processes are handled by machines, rather than by humans. Throughout 2017, industry thought leaders have been mulling over the new digital paradigms that are emerging including the ‘Internet of Things’ and/or the linkage of processes and machines – the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ – where devices talk to each other…

Boreal Orders Electric Ferry at Vard

Shipbuilder Vard Holdings Limited said it has been awarded a contract to build a new car- and passenger ferry due for delivery to Norwegian public transport operator Boreal in the third quarter of 2019. The vessel will ply the Norwegian fjords powered by a fully electrical battery solution for continuous electric operations. Vard said the vessel’s hull will be constructed at one of its Romanian yards, Vard Braila, and final delivery will take place from Vard Brevik in Norway.

Wärtsilä’s ESS Reduces North Sea Giant's Costs

The technology group Wärtsilä has agreed to retrofit the world’s first energy storage solution on board a large offshore supply vessel. The North Sea Giant, one of the world’s largest and most advanced subsea construction vessels, will be fitted with an energy storage system that reduces the vessel’s energy consumption, operating costs and exhaust emissions. The retrofit energy storage system improves the operational efficiency and environmental footprint of the North Sea Giant, responding to key requirements of Norwegian North Sea Shipping AS, the owner of the vessel.

Hatteland Display Relocates Norwegian HQ

Hatteland Display is moving its headquarters 30 miles west to a new purpose-built building with extended research and development (R&D) and testing facilities. The company has begun to relocate from its original location in Åmsosen to its new HQ in Aksdal on the west coast of Norway, in a move that aims to support Hatteland Display’s technology growth strategy and to ensure better links and shipping access. Hatteland Display’s entire Norwegian operation is moving to the purpose-built building on Aksdal Business Park.

Nexans Sets a New World Record in Submarine Cable in Norway

While the Nordic countries are among the most advanced in terms of clean electricity generation, their consumption of energy per capita is also among the highest in the world due to cold climate and a sparse population distribution. To meet growing electricity demand and accompany increased energy production, BKK Nett AS, one of Norway’s largest power companies, decided to install the Kollsnes-Mongstad power line to strengthen the electrical grid in Western Norway. After the manufacturing and installation of two submarine cables for Kollsnes-Mongstad connection, BKK Nett AS has awarded Nexans with a contract worth approximately 37 million euros for delivery of the third and last submarine cable to complete the Modalen-Mongstad connection.

Norwegian Authorities Investigation on HARRIER

The HARRIER is still under arrest in Norway after its owners failed to illegally set sail for the dangerous and dirty scrapping yards in Gadani, Pakistan, last February. The owners are now forced to find a safe and environmentally sound recycling destination. In parallel, investigations are still ongoing following the charges pressed by the Norwegian environmental authorities against the owners of the TIDE CARRIER for having attempted to breach existing waste trade laws. At the edge of bankruptcy, Eide Group sold the previously named EIDE CARRIER, which had been laid up for 10 years, to cash buyer Wirana, a scrap dealer specialized in trading toxic ships to dirty and dangerous scrapping yards in South Asia.

Ulstein: A Century of Innovation

Ulstein, now a century old, has spent the last 100 years looking to the future. Since its formation on August 9, 1917 in Ulsteinvik, Norway, the family-owned shipbuilder, designer and systems supplier said it has focused on tomorrow’s opportunities today. Over the years, Ulstein has evolved through innovation and pioneered trailblazing solutions, driven by its desire to meet shifting customer demands, commercial openings and market challenges head-on. There isn’t much that remains the same in a century of operation…

Battery Pioneers AKASOL , ZEM Set Sail Together

The German expert for lithium-ion battery systems AKASOL and the Norwegian pioneer of maritime energy storage solutions ZEM have worked together on the development of AKAZEM. The result is a unique autonomous IP 67 compliant liquid cooled modular system that can be combined in a “lego-like” fashion to meet smaller vessels’ space and power requirements up to a 2C power range at costs that opens many new applications. The first joint product, AKAZEM 15 OEM, is a self-contained modular battery unit specifically designed for work boats in the aquaculture industry, fishing boats and smaller passenger ferries. This self-contained 24kWh IP 67 system is likely to become a game changer…

Ferry Crossing System for FosenNamsos Sjø

Rolls-Royce signed a deal with Norwegian shipbuilder Kleven to supply its automatic crossing system, for two new double-ended plug-in battery-hybrid ferries being built for Norwegian ferry company FosenNamsos Sjø. The system controls the vessel’s acceleration, deceleration, speed and track. The system will control the ferries as they cross the fjord between Flakk and Rørvik connecting the peninsula of Fosen with Trondheim. New ferry contracts in Norway have strict yearly limits on energy consumption as part of the commercial agreement between the ferry operator and the customer…