Ceona News

Mark Preece has been appointed Managing Director of CWind, the Global Marine Group (GMG) offshore renewable business.   Preece, who has extensive experience in the offshore and maritime sectors, joined CWind on an interim basis late in 2017.    He has formerly served as Executive Vice Chairman at PDi Ltd, CEO of CEONA Offshore and CEO of Reef Subsea.

In recent years, the speed with which newbuild vessels have entered the market has amplified the subsea vessel demand/supply imbalance, says a report by Douglas-Westwood London. This has been further exacerbated by sustained low oil prices, as operators defer the sanctioning of new offshore projects which could have supported vessel utilisation. As a result, the average vessel dayrates declined by an average of 35% between 2014 and 2016. The weak market conditions have meant that many low specification vessels have struggled to hold on to existing charter rates, whilst some contracts were cancelled entirely. Furthermore, several high specification vessels have been forced to offer significantly lower day rates so as to stay competitive in such challenging times.

The announcement on the February 28 of EMAS Chiyoda’s bankruptcy is the latest in a long line of vessel contractors to fall victim to the downturn since January 2015. Multiple companies such as Cal Dive, Ceona, Cecon, Hercules Offshore, Harkand and Swiber have entered into administration, taking a significant number of vessels out of the active fleet. In other cases, internal restructuring measures (e.g. Siem Offshore, Boa Offshore, Deepocean etc.) were/have been in order. While current indicators of subsea activity (e.g.

Norwegian shipping company GC Rieber Shipping ASA has entered into an agreement with Dolphin Geophysical to increase Dolphins competitiveness in a challenging market. Rieber has agreed to take early redelivery of the survey vessel Polar Duke from Dolphin  as part of an overall restructuring agreement. The deal will reduce $16million of hire payments for GC Rieber. Together with Dolphin’s improved terms of bank loans and reduced charter rates on Dolphin’s vessels from fellow Norwegian shipping firm Sanco, the deal will significantly improve Dolphin’s costbase. In addition, GC Rieber Shipping will grant Dolphin a rolling credit facility of USD 5 million, consisting of payments due to GC Rieber Shipping. The credit facility is effective for 9 months.

UK offshore vessel owner  Subsea contractor Ceona has gone into administration, with the loss of 102 jobs. Ceona and Ceona Services (UK) Ltd have been hit by the depressed subsea market caused by the low price of Brent crude oil. The group – a heavy subsea engineering contractor operating in the deep water oil and gas market –  has ceased trading and 102 employees will be made redundant from the firm, which was headquartered in London but had offices in Aberdeen and Houston. Ceona provided engineering and project management services to deliver complex subsea construction and pipe laying projects, utilising a fleet of ships. The administrators now intend to take steps to market for sale the assets of the group, including the state-of-the-art flagship Ceona Amazon.

Ceona, a London-based SURF contractor with deep-water subsea construction capabilities, has announced that the company's executive vice president commercial and business development, Mark Preece, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). According to the press release, Mark takes over from current CEO, Steve Preston, who after 40 years in the industry has decided to retire from operational management and step down. Steve has worked tirelessly to establish Ceona as a key subsea player over the last three years, having been a prime mover and overseeing the construction of the company's purpose-built flagship, Ceona Amazon. Ceona is a SURF and heavy subsea construction contractor in the deep-water market…

Ceona, SURF contractor with heavy subsea construction capabilities, has entered into a Joint Venture (JV) with Seaweld Engineering which will act as a strategic partner for offshore deepwater construction projects in Ghana. The JV allows Ceona to extend its operations in West Africa and build upon the success it has already achieved in the region. The agreement will see Seaweld Engineering supporting Ceona in delivering its full line of products and expertise in Ghana. The companies…

Dramatic changes to the global oil and gas landscape over the last decade have led the industry to encounter increasingly challenging and remote environments including emerging yet largely unexplored new provinces and more complex deepwater territories. But true to its industrious and adventurous spirit, the sector is turning these challenges into opportunities and underpinning this shift to new frontiers is adding significant tangible value to the way in which hydrocarbons are recovered.

Ceona, SURF contractor with heavy subsea construction capabilities, has bolstered its fleet with the christening of its flagship asset, the Ceona Amazon, which has been delivered in less than two years of the letter of intent (LOI) for its construction being signed. The Ceona Amazon has been internally designed at Ceona and purpose built to perform in multiple pipelay and operational modes. She also features a large storage capacity and heavy subsea construction capability with her versatility setting her apart as a deepwater field development asset.

L-3 SAM Electronics has been awarded a contract to provide the complete electrical package, including cable engineering and installation, energy distribution, propulsion, lighting and infotainment systems, as well as internal and external communications systems, for two offshore supply vessels for the Norwegian shipowner, Siem Offshore. Built by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG), located in northern Germany, the 155-meter-long and 31-meter-wide ships are due to be delivered in February and July 2016.

NCS Survey, an Acteon company, has been awarded a five year contract for positioning services with SURF Company, Ceona. Mobilization has been completed on the first vessel, Ceona’s DP3 multi-purpose vessel, the Normand Pacific. Succeeding its initial work in the Gulf of Mexico, NCS Survey will be supporting Ceona with further subsea work in Nigeria at the ABO and OYO fields.

Norway-based Offshore shipping company, Oceanteam Shipping ASA, highlights results in the first quarter of 2014 and draws attention to a Mexico J/V  with PEMEX. Revenue from operations USD 15.1 million for the quarter. EBITDA from operations is positive USD 6.7 million for the quarter. Operating profit of USD 4.2 million. Net finance negative USD 3.7 million. CSV Southern Ocean is 100 percent consolidated from the first quarter due to change in control effective from 2014. This is related to implementing of IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements and IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements. Oceanteam takes 40 % stake in new offshore shipping company. DOT Shipping is a joint venture founded together with Grupo Diavaz focusing on the Mexican market.

The offshore construction vessel Polar Onyx was delivered on March 4, 2014 from Ulstein Verft to GC Rieber Shipping, as the latest addition to their growing investments into the subsea segment. The vessel’s first assignment will be to work for deepwater projects serving as pipelay support vessel for Petrobras offshore Brazil. The 130-meter long and 25-meter wide Polar Onyx is based on ULSTEIN’s SX121 design, a design which is generally designed to operate in the IMR/SURF construction market, with high capacity for flexible pipe cargo below deck and on main deck. Irene W.

L-3 SAM Electronics announced today that it has been awarded a major contract to provide complete electrical packages, as well as integrated navigation, automation, communications, energy distribution and propulsion systems for Ceona Amazon, the 199-meter offshore construction and pipelaying vessel to be delivered this coming October to Ceona, a London-based subsea contracting organization. The turnkey supply work, which also includes all cabling installation, is to be carried out under contract to the vessel’s principal outfitter…

Ceona has placed a contract for the charter of a high spec new build construction support vessel with GC Rieber Shipping. The vessel will be contracted exclusively to Ceona for an initial period of five years with the option of up to 5 additional years. The high-capacity vessel is designed for operations in harsh conditions and deep waters, with a length of 130 meters and a 25 meter beam. The vessel will be built to the highest standard for dynamic positioning, DP-3, and is equipped with a 250t AHC offshore crane.

Pipe-laying equipment from the Dutch company Huisman Equipment has been ordered by Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven for CEONA's new ship. Work has started at Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven AG on the multi-functional offshore construction vessel and pipelaying platform Ceona Amazon for London-based shipping company Ceona. The 33,000 gt DP2-equiipped newbuilding, 199.4 m long, 32.2 m wide and drawing 7.5 m, will be part of a new generation of vessels in the Ceona fleet, and she is due to enter service in late 2014.

UK-based Ceona contract with Lloyd Werft for the construction of a new multi-purpose offshore vessel, the 'Ceona Amazon'. The Ceona Amazon, based on a drill-ship design, is SPS compliant and equipped with a DP2 system. It will be especially well-suited for operations in remote and challenging locations and capable of laying rigid or flexible pipelines and umbilicals. Ceona has finalised its agreement with Lloyd Werft for the construction of a new high-capacity vessel, the Ceona Amazon, at a signing ceremony in Bremerhaven. Members of the Ceona management team, led by CEO Steve Preston and Chairman John Smith, were joined by a representative from majority shareholder Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, at the contract signing with Lloyd Werft at the Bremerhaven, German shipyard.

MAN Diesel & Turbo has won an order to supply the main gensets for a multi-layer vessel newbuilding, recently commenced by Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven AG for British client, Ceona. The multi-layer vessel, Ceona Amazon, which will specialize in pipelines and subsea structures, will be equipped with two 9L32/44CR and four 8L32/44CR main gensets, providing a total output of 28MW. Each engine will be constructed at MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Augsburg production facility in southern Germany…

RentOcean, a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Oceanteam Shipping ASA, has been awarded a contract to supply Ceona with a certified 2000t modular carousel system and a loading tower with built-in 15t tensioner for a one-year project plus option for one additional year. The carousel and the additional equipment will be used on Ceona's Polar Onyx vessel for the installation of flexibles, which will take place in 2014 and 2015 offshore Brazil. RentOcean will also supply technicians to ensure smooth operations.

Huisman, a worldwide specialist in lifting, drilling and subsea solutions, currently has five new built pipelay systems out on the quayside of their production facility in Schiedam, The Netherlands. These “high five” showcase the latest in pipelay technology and underline the added value of the new production hall for Huisman Schiedam. This 66m high production hall offers the largest indoor lifting capacity in Europe (1,200mt), allowing for the simultaneous indoor assembly, including testing and commissioning, of several products and systems.