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25 Feb 2021
Petrobras, SBM Offshore Sign LoI for Giant Búzios Field FPSO
Brazilian oil giant Petrobras has signed a letter of intent with Dutch FPSO supplier SBM Offshore for the delivery of an FPSO to be deployed in the Búzios field in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil.SBM Offshore will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and operation of the FPSO, to be named the FPSO Almirante Tamandaré. The contract for the lease and operation is for 26.25 years.
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08 Feb 2021
VIDEO: BP's Argos Platform Sails Away from S. Korea
Oil major BP has informed that its Argos oil platform, built by Samsung Heavy Industry, has set sail from South Korea and is en route to Texas.The platform, which will be capable of producing up to 140,000 gross barrels of crude oil per day from up to 14 production wells, will be deployed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico as part of the Mad Dog 2 development.As previously reported, the Argos platform weighing almost 70…
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03 Feb 2021
Valaris Drillship Goes Adrift off Scotland
A Valaris drillship went adrift on Tuesday evening, breaking free from moorings near the port at Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland.According to BBC, which was the first to report on the incident on Wednesday, "a major rescue operation has been ongoing overnight," when the 228 meters drillship, Valaris DS4, broke free and started drifting without power.According to the news agency, coastguard rescue teams…
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02 Feb 2021
Lenders to Sell Polarcus' Vessels. All Employees to Be Laid Off
Lenders of the troubled marine seismic contractor Polarcus, which last week took control of the company's vessels after a debt payment default, will sell Polarcus' vessels and all the employees will be let go.Banks last week tool control of Polarcus' subsidiaries that own seismic vessels, with the subsidiaries in question being Polarcus Asima AS, Polarcus Alima AS, Polarcus Amani AS, Polarcus Adira AS…
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01 Feb 2021
VIDEO: 2021 Will Be a 'Step-change' for U.S. Offshore Wind Industry
Despite being the second-largest global market for onshore wind, the United States is today a very minor player in comparison to the European and East Asian offshore wind markets, however, this is about to change.Philip Lewis, Director of Research, World Energy Reports said in an interview with Maritime Reporter TV, that 2021 is expected to be a "step-change" for the U.S. Offshore wind industry.But first, where are we today? Per Lewis, the U.S.
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29 Jan 2021
Gallery: BP's Giant Argos Platform Loaded on BOKA Vanguard in South Korea
BP's giant Argos offshore platform, to be used for the Mad Dog 2 development in the Gulf of Mexico, was this week loaded on Boskalis' BOKA Vanguard vessel in South Korea and is preparing set sail for the U.S.According to Boskalis, the Dutch marine services contractor, the giant Argos floating production unit weighing nearly 70,000 tons was floated onto Boskalis' semi-submersible heavy transport vessel BOKA Vanguard on Tuesday."The vessel was submerged well over 29 meters to make this happen.
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20 Jan 2021
Elon Musk's Firm Buys Two Offshore Rigs to Serve as Launchpads for SpaceX Rockets
Two offshore drilling rigs, previously used for oil and gas exploration beneath the seabed, could soon help with space exploration.Namely, according to multiple reports this week, a company linked to billionaire Elon Musk bought two deepwater semi-submersible drilling rigs last year, with plans - reportedly - to convert them into floating launch pads for Musk's SpaceX rockets.SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies Corp…
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15 Jan 2021
Offshore Wind: Things are Getting Bigger
The global offshore wind industry has been picking up pace unabated by the global pandemic, with industry investments growing and offshore wind turbine makers competing on who'll build a larger turbine. With offshore wind turbines, bigger is better, Rystad said recently.Wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa in May 2020 announced it was working on developing wind turbines with up to 15MW capacity and a 222-meter rotor - the world's largest in the making.
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11 Jan 2021
Shell's Prelude FLNG Restarts LNG Shipments
Shell's Prelude LNG, the world's largest floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project, offshore Australia, has resumed LNG cargo shipments, almost one year after a shutdown caused by an electrical trip.In a brief statement sent to Offshore Engineer, a Shell spokesperson said Monday that the Prelude project had restarted LNG cargo shipping.The Shell spokesperson said: “LNG cargoes have resumed from Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility.
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08 Jan 2021
Rem Offshore's Platform Supply Vessel Hired for Offshore Wind Work
Norwegian offshore vessel operator Rem Offshore has said its platform supply vessel Rem Trader has been awarded a contract in the offshore wind sector.Rem Offshore said in a social media post on Friday that the vessel - delivered in 2012, and formerly known as Brage Trader- had won a campaign contract for 2021 and 2022 with the Dutch offshore services company Van Oord. Under the contract, the platform supplier…
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04 Jan 2021
Eni Extends Abo FPSO Contract
Italian oil company Eni has extended the contract for BW Offshore's Abo Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel.BW Offshore, the owner of the FPSO, said Monday it had signed the extension with Eni's subsidiary Nigerian Agip Exploration.Under the extension, the FPSO, used for production from the Abo field offshore Nigeria, will remain on the contract until the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, with options until Q2 2023.
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23 Dec 2020
SBM Offshore, Shell Extend Brazil FPSO Term. SBM in Talks with Exxon Over Guyana Extensions
Oil giant Shell has extended the contract for the lease of SBM Offshore's Espirito Santo FPSO in Brazil. SBM Offshore is also in talks with ExxonMobil to extend the FPSO terms in Guyana.The Dutch FPSO operator said Wednesday that the lease and operation contracts with Shell of the FPSO Espirito Santo would be extended for five years.This means that the end of the contractual lease and operation period…
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18 Dec 2020
Siem Offshore Loses Offshore Vessel Contract in Canada
Norwegian offshore vessel operator Siem Offshore has seen a platform supply vessel contract in Canada terminated almost two years ahead of the expected contract expiration.The company said Friday that its Canadian subsidiary Secunda Canada had received a notice of early termination of the charter party for the vessel Siem Pilot."The original charter period expires in November 2022. Secunda Canada LP will be entitled to an early termination fee," Siem Offshore said.
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17 Dec 2020
Solstad on a Roll: Scores Vessel Charters in India, Australia
Just hours after announcing three contracts for its platform suppliers in the North Sea and Suriname, Norwegian offshore vessel operator Solstad Offshore released a separate statement on Thursday, announcing charters for three construction vessels.These charters are with an unnamed "large international contractor" and are for the construction support vessels Normand Navigator, Normand Frontier, and Normand Australis.The three vessels will be used for projects on the east coast of India.
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07 Dec 2020
VIDEO: Floating Offshore Wind: Opportunities & Challenges
The floating offshore wind industry, still considered nascent with around 100MW installed capacity - and minuscule compared to the installed capacity of its „older brother,“ - that is the conventional, fixed bottom offshore wind industry (29GW at 2019 end) - is showing promise and is expected to take off big time by the end of the decade.While the current installed capacity is small and focused on pilot projects…
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04 Dec 2020
Boskalis Charters Offshore Construction Vessel for Offshore Wind Work in Taiwan
Dutch marine services provider Boskalis will expand its offshore fleet with the multipurpose DP2 offshore construction vessel Boka Tiamat.The company said Thursday that the vessel would arrive in its fleet in January 2021 and that it would be deployed on offshore wind projects in Taiwan."The Boka Tiamat was delivered by the shipyard as a new-build in 2019 and is retrofitted with a 1300 kW SeaQ Energy Storage System…
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01 Dec 2020
OHT's Shipbuilding Deal for Offshore Wind Installation Vessel Now 'Effective'
OHT, the Norwegian offshore heavy transport firm, and soon to be offshore wind installation contractor has said that its shipbuilding contract for its first offshore wind turbine installation vessel has become effective."The shipbuilding contract for OHT’s first WTIV (Wind Turbine Installation Vessel) “Vind 1” has reached contract effectiveness following i.a. the issuance of a Refund Guarantee by China…
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20 Nov 2020
BW Offshore, New Zealand Gov't Reach Umuroa FPSO Settlement
FPSO operator BW Offshore has reached a settlement with the New Zealand government over the FPSO Umuroa, which has been stuck at the Tui field, around 50 kilometers off the coast of Taranaki, for months.BW Offshore has been unable to remove its FPSO from the Tui field following the contract termination, client liquidation, and the country's court and environment regulator intervention.Client Tamarind Taranaki in October 2019 said it wouldn't extend the FPSO contract after December 31…
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13 Nov 2020
Modec Takes Delivery of Carioca MV30 FPSO
Chinese shipbuilder Cosco Dalian has completed the construction of the Carioca MV30 FPSO for Japan's Modec.The 332 meters long Carioca FPSO - converted from Flandre VLCC - will be deployed at the Sépia field operated by Petrobras, located in the “pre-salt” region of the Santos Basin some 250 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at a water depth of approximately 2,200 meters.The FPSO will be capable of processing 180…
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05 Nov 2020
McDermott Ships Second Batch of Topside Modules for Modec FPSO
Offshore engineering and construction firm McDermott on Thursday announced the second shipment of topside modules for a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for Japans' Modec.The new shipment comes just weeks after the first shipment of modules sailed away from McDermott's Altamira fabrication facility in Mexico to be installed on the FPSO named Miamte MV34.The once completed, the FPSO will be located in the Eni-operated Area 1 block…