Floating Structures News

Mammoet has entered into a strategic partnership with Tugdock Submersible Platforms to expand the use of the Tugdock Submersible Platform (TSP), a technology which improves buoyancy, stability and load transfer activities in marine transport operations.The TSP is a modular, submersible platform that allows large floating structures to be transferred seamlessly from quaysides into the water.Structures are driven or skidded onto the TSP in a controlled process, after which the platform can be submerged or raised as required.Each unit is built from interlocking component cells…

Kongsberg Maritime has developed a simplified mooring system for offshore floating structures. Building on its patent-pending integrated tensioning and remote pull-in technologies, the company is now focused on reducing cost, complexity, and environmental impact across the mooring system lifecycle.The latest developments center on minimizing mooring components and enabling future layouts that avoid active tensioning equipment in permanent systems. The solution provides a controlled…

Navantia Seanergies, Spanish shipbuilder Navantia’s green energies division, has delivered its second substation jacket for Ocean Winds for the offshore wind farm at Dieppe Le Tréport in France.The jacket departed from the south basin of the Puerto Real shipyard, bound for its destination on France’s Atlantic coast.The structure – almost 54 metres tall and weighing approximately 1,900 tonnes – was fully fabricated at the Puerto Real facility and was loaded out on May 13, 2025.

If the dynamic positioning (DP) system went down on an offshore supply vessel, it could result in a collision. On a dive support vessel, it could result in injury or death for a diver. On a drilling rig, it could result in a blowout with loss of life, pollution and fire.Built-in redundancy is key to avoiding failures, and this in turn determines the thruster, electrical and engine configurations that are designed to enable DP systems.“There is no single, universal solution,” says Lauri Tiainen, Director Thrusters and Propulsion Control Systems, Wärtsilä Marine.

Kongsberg Maritime has unveiled a range of innovative methods designed to transform and industrialize the transportation and installation (T&I) of floating offshore wind turbines.The new solutions have been developed to streamline the entire process, from anchor and mooring installation through to electrical cable pull-in, ensuring that turbines are ready to be connected to energy grids, and offer a comprehensive solution for the floating offshore wind market.The solutions are…

Examining similarities and differences between the deepwater oil & gas and the emerging floating wind segment.There has been much excitement around the potential for the offshore wind industry to access deeper water sites through the deployment of floating wind technology.Further, there has been much discussion around the development and deployment of disruptive technologies to leverage the opportunity of floating wind. However, in the short- to medium-term, there is insufficient…

As 2023 is drawing to a close we would once again invite the readers of Offshore Engineer Magazine to gaze into our crystal ball to see what 2024 might have in store for the offshore support vessel industry. Before diving straight into our forward-looking sentiments however, it is important to address some of the main trends in the year that past as these lay the foundation for the year to come.Continuing the market development from the year before, 2023 very much advanced the ongoing recovery for offshore support vessels further.

Herbert-ABS Software Solutions released its Herbert-ABS Wind program, touted as a regulatory wind and overturning moment calculation tool that can be provided as a stand-alone application, or as part of the larger HECSTAB design and regulatory assessment software suite.Leveraging extended modeling capabilities from the HECSTAB Ship Project Editor, or HECSTAB Rhino plug-ins, anyone can define a 3D model representative of a vessel’s topside structures. Once a model is complete, Herbert-ABS Wind can perform calculations for wind force and overturning moments used in design and regulatory approval. Herbert-ABS Wind allows naval architects to evaluate relevant regulatory requirements for floating structures…

Glosten is growing its PelaStar partner network to prepare for Phase 2 of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Floating Offshore Wind ReadINess (FLOWIN) Prize. The expanded team will focus on identifying facilities and the requisite investment to enable U.S.-based platform fabrication and marine logistics capabilities; creating workforce development plans focused on local manufacturing in underserved communities; advancing engineering readiness for ultra-deepwater sites in the U.S.

Northern California has some of the strongest offshore winds in the U.S., with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it also has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off quickly, making building traditional wind turbines directly on the seafloor costly if not impossible.Once water gets more than about 200 feet deep – roughly the height of an 18-story building – these “monopile” structures are pretty much out of the question.A solution has emerged that’s being tested in several locations around the world: wind turbines that float.In California…

Heavy lift shipping and offshore transport and installation contractor Jumbo Offshore reports it has executed the transport and installation of a torpedo pile mooring system, including mooring for flexible risers, umbilical for the Libra Consortium's Guanabara floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO). While this type of installation previously required the mobilization of up to three anchor handling tugs, Jumbo carried out the entire contract using only its J-class offshore installation vessel Fairplayer…

Scana reports that it has more than doubled revenues and EBITDA in the first quarter. Revenues increased by 126 percent to $21.2m (NOK 208 million) compared to the same period last year, while EBITDA was up 140 percent to $1.63m (NOK 16 million), with the acquisition of PSW Group being the main driver.“Scana have transitioned to a new company. The acquisition of PSW Group closed on 11 January 2022, and Scana now forms a driving force for the green shift in the ocean industries,” says Styrk Bekkenes, CEO of Scana.“Our ambition is to reach $173m (NOK 1.7 billion) in revenues in 2025.

Dales Marine announced the appointment of David Gray as Chief Naval Architect, bringing the business a wealth of experience in ship and yacht design.Gray's areas of specialties cover the design and development of new vessels and conversions, including ships and floating structures, large yachts, and small commercial vessels such as workboats, dredgers, fast ferries, and other special service craft. In addition, Gray's has a keen interest in electric propulsion, hydrofoils, roll stability and stabilizers…

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has partnered up with Scotland-based floating wind specialist Flotation Energy to jointly evaluate offshore wind development opportunities in Japan. The agreement builds on the 2GW portfolio of offshore floating wind projects in Japan being developed by Flotation Energy (Japan) Co. Ltd., starting from Niigata and followed by other areas, the companies said.MOL will jointly develop a local supply chain and Flotation Energy will manage overall project development.

Dutch marine services company Boskalis said it has acquired the Southern Ocean, a large DP2 construction support vessel (CSV) capable of executing a wide range of offshore operations.The 134-meter vessel, which was previously jointly owned by Oceanteam and Bourbon, was recently hired by Boskalis for a two month job in Asia starting in February.It will now be renamed Boka Ocean and deployed on various types of offshore energy projects, such as the installation of array and export cables…

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, the potential is there for the floating wind farms to reach and…

The second of the three platforms for the WindFloat Atlantic project has left the Port of Ferrol for its final destination 20 kilometers offshore Viana do Castelo, Portugal.Upon arrival to the project site, it will be installed next to the first floating platform, which has the exact same dimensions: 30 meters in height and with a 50-meter distance between each column. The third and final platform, once it arrives to the site, will complete the first floating offshore wind farm in Continental Europe.Transportation of the three WindFloat Atlantic floating structures is a milestone in itself, as it sidesteps the need for towing craft designed specifically for this process and makes it possible for the project to be replicated in other geographies.The structure…

Pella Sietas, a shipbuilding company in Neuenfelde, Hamburg, has secured a EUR100 million ($111Mln) order from Russian authorities for a new icebreaker described as the biggest ever built in Germany.The new icebreaker, "Eisbrecher7", with a length of 120m, a width of 27.5m and a draught of 8.5m, is the largest single order in Pella Sieta's company history. The icebreaker is part of the Russian fleet modernization program which, as a special vessel, not only keeps sea routes clear but also provides pilot service for large ships in ice, towing ships and other floating structures. It also offers the possibility of fire fighting, sea rescue and deck cargo transport.

The largest shipbuilding group in the world, China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), has entered into a new strategic partnership with DNV GL, the international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway.A framework agreement between both parties was signed by Qian Jianping, Vice President of CSSC, and Norbert Kray, Regional Manager for Greater China at DNV GL – Maritime. The ceremony was witnessed by Remi Eriksen, Group President & CEO of DNV GL, CSSC Chairman Lei Fanpei, and CSSC Group President Yang Jincheng.The strategic partnership will focus on developing future-proof solutions and competencies for shipping in a variety of fields including alternative fuels and environmentally friendly technologies…

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the provider of classification, technical, and regulatory services for the marine industry, launched the industry’s first LNG Cargo Ready notation.The development was announced at a joint event with GTT, highlighting progress towards delivering “LNG Cargo Ready” ethane carriers.The ABS LNG Cargo Ready notation confirms that an ethane carrier is capable of future modification to trade LNG cargoes. ABS is the first classification society to develop requirements and notations for ethane carriers that assist in assessing the level of LNG cargo readiness.The notation identifies potential barriers and assesses LNG capability of equipment and systems installed on the Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLEC).“As a global leader in gas…

American Ethane Company (AEC) is collaborating with ABS, the global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries, on a next generation fleet of Ultra Large Ethane Carriers (ULEC).ABS is actively supporting AEC and its shipping project partners, who will build, own and operate a fleet of ULECs to transport 7.2 MTPA of US ethane to China.“ABS is a world leader in the classification of gas carriers and classes the majority of the large ethane carriers built to date, so it is exciting to be working so closely with AEC, which has done so much to advance the industry,” said Patrick Janssens…

ABS, the global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries, announced that it is collaborating with South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) on a next generation LNG carrier in a joint development project (JDP) signed today at Gastech 2019.“ABS is a leader in gas carriers with a proud record of supporting innovation, delivering operational efficiencies and advancing the cause of safety. This exciting project with SHI for a state-of-the-art vessel represents the next step in that journey,” said Patrick Ryan, ABS Senior Vice President Engineering and Technology.“ABS classed the world’s first LNG carrier and today continues to lead global gas carrier classification…

With the oil and gas sector seeing a downturn since 2014, the Platform has documented an increasing number of offshore units sold for scrap.While the recycling of fixed installations occurs under strict regulations, there are serious concerns regarding the recycling of floating structures, which classify as vessels.Around 200 floating structures have been identified as scrapped globally since 2015 – an estimated 40% of these assets ended up on South Asian beaches, where they were broken up under conditions that cause irreparable damage to the coastal environment and put workers’ lives and health at risk.According to a latest report by NGO Shipbreaking Platform titled “Recycling Outlook: Decommissioning of North Sea Floating Oil & Gas Units”…