Cobalt News

Damen Shipyards Group has officially launched a fully electric service operations vessel (SOV), 70 meters x 17 meters, with its offshore charging capabilities.To achieve offshore charging, Damen has partnered with UK-based MJR Power & Automation – a company that has previously developed an offshore charging system for a crew transfer vessel.The charging system uses the motion-compensated gangway to create a connection between the vessel and a turbine or substation offshore, in much the same way a personnel transfer is undertaken.

An arbitration tribunal has delivered a verdict in a drillship order cancellation case involving offshore drilling contractor Northern Drilling and Daweoo Shipbuilding Marine and Engineering (now known as Hanwha Ocean), ruling in favor of Hanwha.Billionaire John Fredriksen-owned offshore drilling company Northern Drilling canceled the West Aquila and West Libra drillship orders with South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2021, citing delay of deliveries as well as a repudiatory breach of contract, and said it would seek a refund for installments paid.

Canada's The Metals Company (TMC) aims to apply next year for a licence to start mining in the Pacific Ocean, with production expected to get underway by as early as the fourth quarter of 2025, it said in a statement.TMC has been at the forefront of efforts to begin extracting polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor, a nascent industry that could boost supplies of metals considered vital to the global energy transition, including nickel and cobalt.Environmental campaigners warn…

In the depths of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, trillions of potato-shaped rocks are scattered across the seabed - containing minerals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese vital for new green technologies in the global energy transition.In this ocean region - the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) - an abundance of the rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, is increasingly fuelling debate about the mining of metals needed to produce technology such as batteries for electric…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has announced that the second of Japan's first two LNG-fueled ferries, the Sunflower Murasaki, has entered service.The vessel is owned by MOL and operated by its group company Ferry Sunflower. The vessel is a sister ship to the Sunflower Kurenai, which began operation in January, and will sail the Osaka-Beppu route between Sunflower Ferry Terminal (Osaka) and Beppu International Tourist Port (Oita) as a replacement for the existing vessel Sunflower Cobalt.The 17…

The International Seabed Authority will start accepting applications in July from companies that want to mine the ocean's floor, a decision that came after the U.N. body spent the past two weeks debating standards for the new and controversial practice.Deep-sea mining would extract cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese - key battery materials - from potato-sized rocks called "polymetallic nodules" on the ocean's floor at depths of 4 to 6 km (2.5 to 4 miles). They are abundant…

Norway's Loke Marine Minerals has acquired deep-sea mining firm UK Seabed Resources (UKSR) from Lockheed Martin, the companies said on Thursday.UKSR holds a 100% interest in two deep sea mineral licences in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean, and a 19.9% interest in the Ocean Mineral Singapore, licences issued by the International Seabed Authority (ISA)."We've got the approval from the UK government... Our ambition is to start extraction from 2030," Hans Olav Hide…

Holland Shipyards Group (HSG) and AYK Energy have signed a deal for AYK Energy to make batteries for the zero-emission container ship FPS Waal.AYK Energy founder Chris Kruger said the company was increasing production at its factory in Zhuhai, China, to supply the retrofit project at HSG's shipyard in Werkendam. Under the contract, AYK will supply two high-density DNV-approved Aries 88 lithium batteries to the vessel. Kruger confirmed the 125-watt hour/kilogram (Wh/kg) batteries will be installed on Future Proof Shipping’s FPS Waal…

As companies race to expand renewable energy and the batteries to store it, finding sufficient amounts of rare earth metals to build the technology is no easy feat. That’s leading mining companies to take a closer look at a largely unexplored frontier – the deep ocean seabed.A wealth of these metals can be found in manganese nodules that look like cobblestones scattered across wide areas of deep ocean seabed. But the fragile ecosystems deep in the oceans are little understood…

Classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) has granted approval in principle (AIP) for Value Maritime’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) system. The Filtree System – a prefabricated gas cleaning system that filters sulphur and 99% of particulate matter – will be fitted on two Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) MR tankers, significantly reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.The CCS system includes a carbon capture module that captures the CO2 in a special chemical. This chemical will be stored in a large tank onboard which will be converted for this purpose.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has informed that on August 30, naming and launching ceremonies were held for the second of Japan's first two LNG-fueled ferries. The ferries were ordered from Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd..The ceremonies were held at the Enoura Plant of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Shimonoseki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Japan.MOL Chairman Junichiro Ikeda named the vessel the "Sunflower Murasaki."On hand for the rope-cutting honors was para-athlete Maya Nakanishi, who has ties to both Osaka and Oita Prefecture, homes to the ports the new ferry will serve.

Ask the right government department in any G7 state and you’ll find funding to put battery power for your vessel. Beyond funds, new battery makers and system integrators are ironing out safety issues, and a growing number of giga-sized cell factories offer hope that costs will fall for marine energy storage, as ESS choice grows. Efforts are also underway to recycle rare earth elements and to augment or greenify staggeringly high plant electricity inputs. Apart from funding, the drivers of change include constraints on shipping in Emissions Free Areas like the fjords of Norway…

Singapore's Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) signed a definitive agreement with Rotterdam-based Value Maritime (VM) to install carbon capture and filtering systems on MR tankers M/T Pacific Cobalt and M/T Pacific Gold, with an option to equip three more vessels. The installation of the first system is scheduled to be completed within 2022 with engineering and planning underway.The 2020-built, 49,700 DWT sister vessels, will be fitted with VM’s Filtree System – a prefabricated gas cleaning system that is designed to filter sulfur and 99% of particulate matter.

The Metals Company (TMC) and Allseas have successfully completed the initial deep-water trials of the polymetallic nodule collector vehicle in the Atlantic Ocean, TMC said Thursday.To remind, back in March, The Metals Company (TMC), a company extracting battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, said it had together with its strategic partner and shareholder, Allseas, completed the deployment and wet-test commissioning of their pilot robotic nodule collector vehicle at the Port of Rotterdam…

Edward Heerema is founder and president of Allseas, which brought the world’s largest construction vessel, Pioneering Spirit, to the market. The company, which also brought innovation to the pipelay sector, has added its latest trick to Pioneering Spirit – its jacket lift system. But Allseas is also targeting deepsea mining and has its sights on the offshore wind market. Elaine Maslin caught up with Edward Heerema to find out more.The first time I met Edward Heerema was at the company’s offices in Delft, in the Netherlands.

The Metals Company (TMC), a company extracting battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, said Friday its subsidiary NORI had signed a non-binding term sheet with its strategic partner and shareholder, Allseas to develop and operate a commercial nodule collection system. The system has a targeted production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per year of wet nodules and expected production readiness by Q4 2024.According to TMC, formerly knowns as DeepGreen Metals, polymetallic nodules contain high grades of nickel…

Subsea technology company Seatools has delivered deep-sea mineral collection equipment for Allseas' Hidden Gem seabed mining ship.Seatools was responsible for the engineering, manufacturing, and qualification of the electronics, instrumentation, and hydraulics for Allseas’ pilot polymetallic nodule collection vehicle. The vehicle will be part of a pilot nodule collection test conducted by Allseas, which is scheduled to take place in 2022 in the Pacific Ocean.Allseas developed…

Regulations governing deep-sea mining will take longer to finalize due to the global pandemic, a group of Latin American countries said, creating uncertainty for companies looking to mine the sea bed for metals, including cobalt and nickel.The delayed negotiations also pose a potential difficulty for companies seeking financing from investors to mine the sea floor.The U.N.’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) is working on global rules covering sea bed mining, which is not allowed…

The 228-meter-long former drillship Vitoria 10000, now renamed Hidden Gem, has this week arrived in Rotterdam, The Netherlands to start its conversion into a subsea mining vessel.The news of the vessel's arrival was shared by The Metals Company (formerly DeepGreen Metals Inc.) whose strategic partner Allseas acquired the Vitoria 10000 in March of 2020, as its configuration is well-suited for modifications that will enable the deployment at sea of a 4.5 kilometer-long riser to bring polymetallic nodules up from the seafloor.In partnership with The Metals Company…

Billionaire John Fredriksen-owned offshore drilling company Northern Drilling said Tuesday it had canceled a drillship resale contract with the South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).In May 2018, Northern Drilling signed agreements with DSME to buy two newbuilding 7th generation DP3 and ultra-deepwater capable drillships DSME known as the West Aquila and the West Libra, for $296 million each with $90 million paid at contract signing and the remainder at delivery. However, Northern Ocean said  Tuesday it had canceled the contract for the West Aquila drillship due to delay of delivery as well as a repudiatory breach of contract.Northern Drilling…

The Metals Co (TMC) was trading down around 17% after listing on the Nasdaq on Friday following its creation from the merger of deep-sea mining exploration firm DeepGreen and a blank-check company.TMC opened at $11.0535 a share but started falling soon after, hitting a low of $8.31.In a filing on Tuesday, TMC said it had received only $110.3 million of the proceeds from a private placement of Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp (SOAC) shares, having entered into agreements with investors for a $330 million placement.“SOAC intends to continue to seek to enforce the funding obligations of

Global maritime group Wilhelmsen and the Norwegian offshore supply base firm NorSea have together acquired an 18% stake in the Norwegian deep-sea mining company Loke Marine Minerals."As the energy transition continues to gather pace, we are actively looking at new projects and business areas, outside of the oil and gas industry, where NorSea’s unique port infrastructure and proven service and supply know-how can continue to be a key driver of success. The development of the seabed mineral industry in Norway is far from certain…

Classification society ABS said it has been selected to class a former drillship that is being converted to a subsea mining vessel.The industry-first project will see Allseas’ 228-meter Vitoria 10000, now renamed Hidden Gem, equipped with a deep-sea mineral collection system to recover polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor and transfer them to the surface for transportation to shore. The nodules contain high grades of nickel, manganese, copper and cobalt—key metals required…