North Sea News

ABB has won an order of more than $20 million from MHI Vestas Offshore Wind to supply reliable, energy-efficient and compact WindSTAR transformers, which are designed for installation in wind turbines.Borssele III and IV comprise the second phase of the Borssele wind farm. This phase constitutes a 731 megawatt (MW) wind project in the North Sea, 22 kilometers off the coast of The Netherlands and will be capable of providing enough clean energy to power more than 800,000 households."High…

U.S. oil firm Chevron will become the first oil major to formally exit the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) as it transfers its last stake in an exploration license, according to a government letter.Oil majors, including Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell, have scaled down their presence in Norway by selling or merging their assets in the mature region to focus on new growth opportunities elsewhere.Chevron is also seeking to sell assets in the British North Sea in order to focus on growing U.S.

Following the path of oil prices, consolidation also follows myriad financial crises. What happens next isn’t altogether clear, but the long, deep trough for offshore energy may finally be in our choppy wake.In mid 2017, financial turnaround and financial repairs specialist Alix Partners made a bold statement regarding the beleaguered Offshore Service Vessel (OSV) marketplace. In a July 2017 report, following an analysis of 44 participants in the business, the restructuring team wrote: “The industry faces grave financial pressure…

Oceana, the largest international ocean advocacy organisation, has opened the organisation’s office in London to strengthen Oceana’s policy and research work to protect marine life and restore fish populations in the United Kingdom (UK).“Oceana is joining the marine conservation community in the UK at a turning point in public engagement and concern for the oceans. Now we need to move beyond conserving the oceans to actually restoring marine life and rebuilding fish populations…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Farstad has been awarded contact  for two of its vessels by French oil major Total Total E&P South Africa."Total has awarded Solstad a contract for one Large Anchor Handling Vessel (AHTS) Normand Ranger (2010, VS 491 Design) and one Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) Far Starling (2014, PSV 08 CD Design)," said a press release from the company.The contracts are to support Total E&P South Africa’s drilling campaign in Block 11B/12B for 1 well firm + 1 well option, which is expected to commence Q4 2018. The duration of the contracts are likely to be approx.

The international conference on maritime security and defense (MS&D), held for the seventh time in Hamburg during the SMM maritime trade fair, focused on current and future challenges to maritime security and defense. Twenty naval, industrial and science experts discussed topics such as how to protect international ocean trading routes, when and how to deploy naval forces on crisis missions, as well as cyber security issues.The welcome address opened the event with somber words as Rear Admiral Thorsten Kähler…

The Aoka Mizu floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel ordered by Hurricane Energy has left Dubai following a series of upgrades, the company said, another milestone for the group as it seeks to extract so-called fractured basement oil in Britain.Hurricane specializes in recovering oil from fractures in hard and brittle rock known as fractured basement reservoirs, which some see as a risky way to obtain crude.It expects first oil from its Greater Lancaster Area (GLA) project, west of Scotland's Shetland Islands, in the first half of 2019.

Offshore access solutions provider Ampelmann said it has won five new contracts for its Walk to Work (W2W) solutions in the offshore wind market over the course of September. These projects will see two A-type and three E-type systems installed on vessels operating in the North Sea.Four of the five contracts have been secured by Ampelmann’s recently opened office in Hamburg, Germany.An Ampelmann E-type system has been installed on the Viking Neptun vessel to enable supporting works at the Merkur wind farm in the German North Sea.

An offshore supply vessel left its work at an offshore wind farm to play the role of hijacked vessel in a Belgian anti-terror exercise last week.The vessel Esvagt Mercator took a brief break from its operations in the Belgian Nobelwind and Belwind wind farms to assist the Belgian anti-terror corps in the security drill last Wednesday.During the exercise, Esvagt Mercator was “hijacked” by soldiers on board outside the port of Ostend, after which units from the Belgian anti-terror corps boarded the vessel…

Offshore driller Rowan Companies has been awarded a two-well contract for its Rowan Norway jack-up rig in the Mediterranean Sea by Turkish Petroleum.Rowan Companies announced that the Rowan Norway, an N-Class ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig, has been awarded a two-well contract in the Mediterranean Sea by Turkish Petroleum with an estimated duration 100-140 days.The contract is expected to commence in late 2018. The Rowan Norway is currently warm-stacked in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea.

The offshore converter platform, BorWin gamma, has now safely set sail from Dubai and begun its journey to  its offshore site in the German part of the North Sea.Through the Gulf of Oman, the 18,000 ton ‘topside’ will pass into the Red Sea before going through the Suez Canal onto the Mediterranean and past Gibraltar. The journey then moves through the Bay of Biscay, to the English Channel and into the North Sea where it will be integrated with the ‘jacket’ nearly 130 kilometres off the German coast.Along with BorWin3…

The Finnish Aalto Shipping Company started its operations in spring 2018. The Taaleri Group owned shipping firm acquired two modern ice-strengthened dry bulk carriers for its fleet and started operating them under the Finnish flag.A new ice-strengthened vessel will be transferred to Aalto Shipping Company’s ownership in September, and it has been chartered for several years starting in October.The ship will operate mainly in the Baltic Sea and North Sea; it has excellent cargo capacity and can manage well even in difficult Nordic Sea ice conditions.

French oil and gas major Total has agreed to take all of Chevron’s share capital in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC), which will increase its stake in the project and expand its North Sea presence."Total has agreed to purchase from Chevron all the share capital of Chevron Denmark Inc. which holds a 12% interest in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC), a 12% interest in Licence 8/06, and a 7.5% interest in the Tyra West pipeline. The transaction remains subject to approval of partners and the relevant authorities…

DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has been contracted by Transmission System Operator TenneT to deliver the complete project certification for two offshore substations (OSS) for the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farms in the Dutch North Sea.The reliability of renewable sources is increasingly important as the world continues to rapidly electrify while also switching to greener forms of generation. According to DNV GL’s…

North Sea oil company Zennor Petroleum has entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Mitsui E&P UK in respect of its interests in United Kingdom Continental Shelf Licences P.213, Block 16/26a, Area B and P.345 Block 16/27b Area B which represent an 8.97% working interest in the Britannia Field.Completion of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory and partner consents.The acquisition of the Britannia Field interest is strategic for Zennor given its 100% operated working interest in the nearby Finlaggan Field.

Netherlands-based  global logistics company Samskip is restructuring the multi-purpose cargo and reefer services connecting North Sea and Baltic ports to Norway operated by subsidiary Nor Lines.A press release from the company stated: "The overhaul, effective from October 1st, 2018, will meet rising demand for reefer and project cargo services southbound and increase capacity for conventional and project cargoes northbound along the Norwegian coast and beyond to Murmansk. Two existing multi-purpose service loops increase to three."In the most obvious change…

Rising shipping rates have increased the costs of shipping oil from the United States to Asia and may further the restrict the flow of U.S. oil to the region later this year, multiple trade and shipping sources said on Thursday.Freight rates for tankers that carry crude oil have soared globally, buoyed by peak seasonal demand, weather disruptions and higher bunker fuel costs, the sources said.The cost of chartering a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude from the U.S.

Last week the Ailsa Floating Storage and Offloading unit (FSO) was successfully hooked up and completed, the final step of the FSO transportation and installation for the Culzean field, under the project management of Maersk Supply Service.The project has been delivered to Total E&P UK as an integrated solution, including project management, engineering, procurement and execution of offshore work scopes. Eight Maersk Supply Service vessels and crew carried out the marine operations.A…

Two of Iskes Towage’s vessels, the Damen ASD Tugs 3212 Mars and Mercurius, have been officially named at a ceremony held at IJmuiden Port, Amsterdam.The naming formed part of an event held to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of Iskes Towage & Salvage, which was formed by Ben Iskes, the father of current owner Jim Iskes, in 1968.The Mars was named by Elisabeth Post, Deputy for Transport and Traffic for the Province of North Holland, and the Mercurius by Miss Annick Vergouwen…

ESVAGT UK has appointed Ian Taylor as iUK Regional Director.Taylor brings many years of shipping experience and a considerable amount of ESVAGT knowledge to ESVAGT’s UK office at Dock Gate House in the heart of Aberdeen’s harbor area. As a Chartered Shipbroker, he has been handling contracts with ESVAGT for North Sea Charterers for the past decade.Having ‘sold’ ESVAGT to clients for years, getting onboard full time was an easy step. “It is a company I have known well for several years,” Taylor said. “ESVAGT has a significant presence in the U.K.

Mr. John Rynd graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President, and as a director of Hercules Offshore from 2008 through 2016. Prior to his time with Hercules, Mr. Rynd spent 11 years with Noble Drilling Services, Inc., where he served in a variety of management roles. Earlier in his career, he served in various roles of increasing levels of responsibility with Chiles Offshore and Rowan Companies. Beyond this, Mr.

French oil and energy group Total said on Monday it had made a major gas discovery on the Glendronach prospect, located off the coast of the Shetland islands in the North Sea.Total said preliminary tests on the new gas discovery confirmed good reservoir quality, permeability and well production deliverability, with recoverable resources estimated at about one trillion cubic feet (1 tcf).It said Glendronach, located near its Edradour field, will be tied back to the existing infrastructure…

Japan's Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd have agreed to share space on their feeder services.As the first step, the cooperation will cover specific Intra-Europe (BAX, NBS, NPX, REX, SDX, ADX, LEX) and Intra-Asia (BHX, HAS, PID) feeder trade lanes. The carriers have already ushered in a new Intra-Asia service, the Bohai Feeder (BHX) in August and will further introduce a new Intra-Europe service, the North Sea Poland Express (NPX), in mid-October to further…