GoM: Total Begins Two Deepwater Projects

Total S.A announced the final investment decision (FID) to develop the Anchor oil field located in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM), off the coast of Louisiana.Additionally, front-end engineering and design (FEED) has begun for the North Platte discovery in the deepwater GoM.Total holds a working interest of 37.14% in Anchor, alongside operator Chevron (62.86%).The Anchor field will be developed with seven subsea wells connected to a semi-submersible floating production unit (FPU) with a capacity of 75,000 barrels of crude oil and 28 million cubic feet of gas per day.
Seabulk Orders Four Tugs from Master Boat Builders
Seabulk Towing Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of SEACOR Holdings Inc., announced Wednesday it has contracted with Alabama-based Master Boat Builders, Inc. for the construction of four 80 metric ton bollard pull harbor tugs with an expected delivery beginning in the second half of 2021 through early 2022.Two of the newbuilds will augment the company’s existing Rotortug fleet and feature updates to the Rotortug design, Seabulk said.The other two Azimuth Stern Drive newbuilds will be equipped with diesel mechanical and electric motor propulsion systems. These vessels represent Seabulk’s initial investment in hybrid power towing assets and will operate alongside the company’s existing harbor fleet in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. East Coast.
Coast Guard Ends Search for Crashed Helicopter

The mission to locate two people missing from a helicopter that crashed in the Gulf of Mexico has been called off, the US Coast Guard said on Monday evening.Air and boat crews were unable to find the downed aircraft and passengers after scouring more than 4,117 square-nautical miles over the course of approximately 68 hours, the Coast Guard said“We searched diligently with our pilots, boat crews and cutter crews but were unable to find the two men aboard the helicopter,” said Lt. Cmdr.
Mexico: U.S. and Canada to Sign USMCA Trade Deal

Canadian and U.S. government representatives will arrive in Mexico on Tuesday to sign the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.The three countries have come to an agreement over labor, steel and aluminum, he said at his regular daily news conference. (Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Abraham Gonzalez, Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
Enbridge, Enterprise to Develop GoM Crude Export Terminal

Enbridge Inc and Enterprise Products Partners LP on Monday signed an agreement to jointly develop a deepwater offshore crude oil export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico capable of loading Very Large Crude Carriers.Both pipeline operators will work to finalize an equity participation agreement that would provide Enbridge an option to purchase ownership interest in Enterprise's Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT), subject to SPOT receiving a deep-water port license, Enbridge said in a statement.The companies would first jointly develop the SPOT project…
Helicopter Missing in the US Gulf

The U.S. Coast Guard said it is searching by air and sea for two people aboard an overdue helicopter believed to have crashed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders received a report at 10:37 a.m. on Saturday from the helicopter's owner, Panther Marine, that the aircraft crew did not reach their destination when transiting from one offshore platform to another.Panther Marine said it lost communications when the helicopter was 10 minutes from landing.
DOMESTIC DREDGING: U.S. Ports Require a Diverse Fleet

The reasons for that are many and these realities cater to regulatory, commercial and regional needs.The U.S. dredging market is complex and relies on the diverse fleet of private dredging companies to get the job done. In addition to design and technical capabilities, environmental restrictions and regulations often dictate whether a trailing suction hopper dredge, cutter suction dredge, or mechanical dredge can respond to the coastal protection, wetland restoration, port deepening, and channel maintenance needs of the Nation.
U.S. Needs to Revive Shallow-Water GoM E&P

The US should define the Gulf of Mexico Shallow Water Province as a distinct entity to avoid stranding more than $20 billion of its oil and gas resource, said a new research.According to a research from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) the GOM Shallow Water Province, comprised of water less than 200 meters deep, is a historically energy-rich area which now produces natural gas, accounting for 33% of the gulf’s…
Kalmar Signs Pact with Baja Ferries

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has signed an agreement with Mexican ferry operator Baja Ferries to supply 20 terminal tractors for use in RoRo port operations.The order, which was agreed through Kalmar’s Mexican distributor Tracsa/Sitsa, was booked in Cargotec's 2019 Q3 order intake, with delivery scheduled to take place during Q1 2020.Baja Ferries is a leading provider of cargo and passenger ferry services in Mexico, offering integrated and multimodal logistics solutions. The company’s…
GoM Oil Output Set for Record Year

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is positioned for another year of record oil production in 2020, despite massive cuts in investment.According to Rystad Energy, most of this growth coming from deep water projects.“2020 is expected to be another record year with average production above 1.9 million barrels per day,” says Joachim Milling Gregersen, an analyst on Rystad Energy’s upstream team.Oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has grown every year since 2013, with an average of 104,000 barrels per day added annually.
Petronas in Game for a Third FLNG Unit

Malaysian oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) would build a third floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG)unit if there’s a demand.Petronas is the only company to own and operate two FLNGs, namely PFLNG Satu and PFLNG Dua.Bernama reported, quoting the gas and new energy business executive vice-president and chief executive officer Adnan Zainal Abidin, that if there is a reservoir with a sizeable amount of reserves and with the right gas composition that it is economically viable…
North Sea: Inmarsat Targets OSVs

British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat plc will extend its service portfolio for customers with the launch of Fleet LTE, following an agreement with subsea fibre and offshore LTE network operator, Tampnet.The new service which is primarily aimed at offshore support vessel (OSV) operators, but could also be used by fishing and ferry operators operating in the area, leverages low-latency, high data speed communications available via a dedicated Access Point Name…
AXIS, STEHMO Supporting Subsea Installation Market
AXIS Pipeline Construction Group and ST Engineering Halter Marine and Offshore shipyard have partnered to service the subsea fabrication and installation market. This newly forged partnership, combined with more than 40 years of subsea fabrication and installation management experience, provides innovative capabilities currently unavailable to the subsea installation market, the companies said.Located in Pascagoula, Miss., ST Engineering Halter Marine and Offshore (STEHMO) is a provider of services for ships, drilling rigs and other marine vessels within the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. STEHMO provides dry docking, upgrades, repair, conversion…
Offshore: OSV Market Report

The environment in oil patches onshore and offshore alike has been challenging throughout 2019; worries about an economic slowdown – whether cyclical or induced by a trade war – have weighed heavily on oil prices, even in the face of reduced production by the big producers. Though storm clouds persist, there appears a clearing on the horizon.The fate of Offshore Service Vessels (OSVs) is, naturally, closely tied to the price of oil. Seacor Marine’s John Gellert, in reviewing its Q2 results, said: “Activity levels in the U.S.
RWE Delivers its First LNG to Britain

German utility RWE has delivered its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to Great Britain.The cargo, comprised of approximately 150 000 m3 of LNG, was regasified through a Milford Haven LNG Terminal, located close to RWE’s 2000 MW Pembroke B gas-fired combined cycle gas power plant (CCGT).The cargo has been sourced from the portfolio of RWE Supply & Trading, the subsidiary of RWE which is responsible for gas and LNG trading.The cargo was loaded from Sabine Pass Liquefaction Terminal in the Gulf of Mexico…
Oil Majors to Raise $27Bln in Selling Spree

Global giants of the oil and gas industry – the so-called supermajors – are looking to sell assets that could fetch a total of $27.5 billion, according to Rystad Energy’s latest assessment.These companies are actively shedding mature assets on a massive scale in a bid to finance higher-yielding investments elsewhere, with the added benefit of pleasing shareholders who are calling for stricter capital discipline.“The expected transactions mean some of the majors are poised to exit certain regions…
Pirates Attack OSV in the Gulf of Mexico

Pirates attacked an Italy-flagged offshore supply vessel in the southern Gulf of Mexico, injuring two crew members, the Mexican Navy said on Tuesday, in the latest outbreak of robbery and piracy to hit oil platforms and infrastructure in the area.One of the crew members of the vessel, Remas, received a bullet wound, and the other suffered a concussion, and both were transferred to a nearby hospital, the Navy said in a statement.Owned by Italian offshore contractor Micoperi, Remas…
Hackers Demand $5M from Pemex

Hackers demanded about $5 million in bitcoin from Mexico's Pemex, they told Reuters on Tuesday, saying the state oil firm missed a special discount by not paying immediately after a cyberattack that fouled up the company's systems.The hack, which Pemex said it detected on Sunday, forced the company to shut down computers across Mexico, freezing systems such as payments, according to five employees and internal emails.Hackers have increasingly targeted companies with malicious programs that can cripple systems overseeing everything from supply chains to manufacturing…
Liebherr Crane Loads Massive Oil Platform

Mexican crane and heavy haulage contractor ESEASA used its Liebherr LR 13000 crawler crane for the first time to load oil platforms onto barges at the port city of Tampico.Tampico is on the Gulf of Mexico and is a major industrial center with its own port. A large number of industrial companies have made their homes on the banks of the Rio Pánuco, to enable them to ship their freight down the river to the sea.ESEASA also has a company site directly on the banks of the waterway. The company is currently manufacturing seven oil platforms there for state oil group PEMEX.
Maritime History & the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a strategic crossroads for maritime traffic, and is arguably one of the most important maritime developments in the past century. Here we take a deeper dive into the history behind that famous strip of waterway.The present canal, which saw its first vessel transits in 1914, along with possible alternatives through Nicaragua and Mexico, had actually been on the minds of merchants, explorers and military/political strategists since the Age of Exploration in early 1500’s.
MAN Launches 800 hp Light-Duty Workboat Engine

The MAN D2676 LE426 will be available in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. It fulfils the latest US EPA Tier 3 Commercial standard and comes with keel cooling.MAN Engines is expanding its range of engines for light-duty workboats in North America by introducing an 800 hp (588 kW) inline-six engine. The D2676 LE426 will be available from the second quarter of 2020. It satisfies the EPA Commercial emissions standards and offers 70 hp greater output than the well-established, 730 hp D2676 model.
Boskalis Wins Contracts for $120Mln

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. has secured multiple heavy marine transport services contracts with a combined value of about $120 million.The execution of the majority of projects is scheduled to take place in 2021 and 2022.Following last year’s transportation of a sizable box-shaped FPSO, Boskalis secured a contract to transport a similar FPSO from China to Brazil.With a weight exceeding 91,000 tons this marks another record-breaking transport for the BOKA Vanguard, which is…
Cargo Biz Grows at Hamburg Port

Germany’s largest universal port, the Port of Hamburg, reported a container throughput of 7 million TEUs for the first three quarters of this year, representing a growth of 6.9 percent year-over-year.The climb in container handling is primarily attributable to the four new transatlantic services, plus four new Baltic feeder services. Since the beginning of the year, the new transatlantic services operated by Hapag-Lloyd and ONE have connected Hamburg with ports in the USA, Canada…