Norway News

Army veteran-turned-Royal Caribbean Cruise Line founder Edwin W. Stephan passed away on Friday at 87 years old."We at Royal Caribbean mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to the Stephan family," said a statement from the global cruise company said.In 1969 Stephan founded the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, and his contributions helped create the modern cruise industry we know today. Under his leadership in 1970, the company launched Song of Norway, the first ship purpose-built for warm-water cruising.Since that initial voyage…

Norway-based dry bulk shipping company 2020 Bulkers has taken delivery of Bulk Shanghai, the fourth of eight 208,000 dwt Newcastlemax newbuilds.The 300-meter-long bulker, which commenced a 13-year bareboat charter with 2020 Bulkers, is owned by Norwegian shipping company Ocean Yield.Two further vessels are expected to be delivered by January 2020, and the remaining two vessels are expected to be delivered by May 2020.The vessel will on November 9, 2019, commence a 11-13 month index-linked timecharter with ST Shipping…

Robert Allan Ltd. has completed the design of a new TRAktor 3000-Z escort tug for Bukser og Berging of Lysaker, Norway who have placed an order for two of the vessels with Sanmar Shipyards of Turkey. The design was developed working closely with both Bukser og Berging and Sanmar to arrive at a design achieving not only the Owner’s requirements but also suiting Sanmar’s tug building practice. Bukser og Berging already operates several Robert Allan Ltd. designs and these two new…

Spanish-based engineering company Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) said that the world’s largest floating wind power plant will be installed in Norway, equipped with 11 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines.Scheduled to be commissioned in late 2022, Hywind Tampen will be the first ever floating wind power plant to power offshore oil and gas platforms.“We are pleased to have received the firm order from Equinor to be the supplier of this ground-breaking project. Thanks to our strong collaboration and joint focus on innovation…

Norway's Ulstein Group is aiming to become a leading player in the growing offshore wind industry designing and building vessels for some of the world’s toughest areas and demanding operations."The knowledge of how to integrate technical, operational and commercial aspects in a vessel design is paramount when contributing to the LCOE (Levelised Cost Of Energy) reduction in future offshore wind projects," said a release from the shipbuilder.New offshore wind farms are being developed further from shore, in rougher seas and deeper waters.

International  exploration & production (E&P) are struggling to make money from offshore investments made during the latest investment upturn, according to a new study by Rystad Energy.Rystad Energy has evaluated all offshore oil fields sanctioned since 2010 and ranked them by estimated value per barrel of oil (boe) under various oil price scenarios. The return on investment (RoI) figures were not up to the mark.The sanctioning activity was record-high during the strong investment cycle from 2010 to 2014…

ExxonMobil is supplying Mobilgard ADL 40 engine oil for Color Hybrid, Color Line’s latest addition to its fleet of ferries. The vessel is the world’s largest plug-in battery hybrid ship and was recently named ‘ship of the year 2019’ by Nor-Shipping.The vessel, which is already in service between Sandefjord, Norway, and Strömstad, Sweden, is capable of carrying 2,000 passengers and 500 cars. It combines four conventional Rolls-Royce Bergen B33:45L in-line diesel engines with electric…

The Norwegian Competition Authority has rejected the proposed merger between Scandinavian offshore accommodation/construction support providers Prosafe and Floatel.Oslo-listed accommodation services player Prosafe in a press release said that it will study the decision in detail, and expects to decide on whether to appeal shortly and within the deadline within three weeks.The company owns and operates semi-submersible accommodation vessels operating at present in the North Sea…

Scrubber manufacturers and suppliers Clean Marine and FMSI have unveiled their intention to merge in order to create a bigger market share in the exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) segment.The combined entity, which will operate under the name Clean Marine, will provide a fully integrated offering, including Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) expertise, significant capacity, fast production times, project management and global after-sales services.Further announcements will…

The recently named cable laying vessel Leonardo Da Vinci, set to join the fleet of energy and telecom cable systems company Prysmian Group in the second quarter of 2021, incorporates innovative features that required the new battery power class notation to be developed by classification society RINA.The new vessel is being built by Vard, a Fincantieri company, at one of its shipyards in Norway, with the hull being fabricated at Vard Tulcea in Romania. RINA has carried out a full…

30 companies and institutional investors have signed up to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Sustainable Ocean Principles committing to take action to secure a healthy and productive ocean.UNGC is a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact works with companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.The signatories to the principles include the container ship and supply vessel operator A.P.

The data analytics duo Yxney Maritime and Grieg Connect are partnering with the Norwegian NOx Fund to develop a data-driven digital solution for automated NOx emissions reporting. Solstad Offshore and ferry operator Fjord1 will participate in the pilot phase of the project.The Norwegian NOx Fund records NOx emissions from all vessels operating in Norwegian waters and collects a fee for emissions per vessel. Calculating and reporting emissions has historically been a manual chore for shipowners…

Innovation in the world of marine design and propulsion continues to move forward at record speed, driven by new emissions regulation and the push toward emission free ships. In September 2019 an innovative new technology from Wavefoil AS of Trondheim, Norway was installed on the Faroese ferry M/F Teistin, the first ship in the world with retractable bow foils that are designed not only for ship stability but also to convert wave energy directly into propulsive thrust.The foils are designed to both help in saving fuel and improving comfort on board.

The Cook Islands and Sao Tome and Principe have become the latest States to become Party to the Cape Town Agreement on fishing vessel safety.These small nations deposited their instruments of accession during the Torremolinos Ministerial Conference on Fishing Vessel Safety and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing (21-23 October).At the same time, they joined 44 other countries (46 in total) signing the Torremolinos Declaration, a non-legally binding political instrument.By signing the Declaration…

Semco Maritime AS (Norway) has signed a framework agreement with the Armed Forces.Semco Maritime AS has entered into a framework agreement with the Norwegian Defense Logistics Organization (FLO)The agreement covers the navy / coastguard vessels at Haakonsvern base and all assignments under this agreement will be handled from Semco Maritime’s shipyard at Hanøytangen.The agreement, which has a duration of four years, has an option of an additional three yearsThe agreement has a…

Acknowledging the need to be a leader in the transition to a lower carbon future and eventually net zero emissions, global trade association Interferry convened its 44th annual conference on the theme of innovation - exploring the potential to transform every aspect of the ferry industry. The drive towards zero-emission ferries captured major attention among a record 420 delegates drawn to London earlier this month by a wide-ranging technical, operational and commercial agenda.

Aiming to meet increasing demand in the offshore wind market, Norwegian owner Østensjø Rederi said it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) for the construction of four commissioning service operation vessels (CSOV) to be built at at the Astilleros Gondán shipyard in Spain for delivery from 2022.Designed by Salt Ship Design in Norway, the 88.3-meter-long vessels will be utilized for service operations during the commissioning and operation of offshore wind farms. The newbuilds, to be delivered early 2022 and onwards…

A Singapore company has paid a NOK 7 million ($763,000) fine after it was caught trying to illegally export a barge carrier vessel from Norway for scrapping on the beaches in Pakistan, Norwegian authorities said.In 2017, inspectors from the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) detained the Harrier, previously named Tide Carrier, when it suffered an engine failure and started to drift outside Jæren in Rogaland. Wirana Shipping Corporation, a company which buys discarded ships and sells them to scrap yards at beaches in India and Pakistan…

This year has already seen an alarming number of container ship fires including Yantian Express, APL Vancouver, Grande America, E.R. Kobe and KMTC Hong Kong.The escalation is of growing concern to IUMI (International Union of Marine Insurance) who used a recent forum to call for an urgent improvement to onboard firefighting systems.At a conference in Arendal, Norway, organised by marine insurer and P&I Club, Gard, and attended by IMO, flag states, shipowners, salvors, class, and insurers…

On October 15, 2019, Nexans hosted the grand block ceremony that represented a key step in the construction of its ground-breaking cable installation vessel, the ‘Nexans Aurora’. The vessel’s hull  is currently being built at the CRIST shipyard in Poland. It will be completed at Ulstein Verft in Norway, with delivery planned for 2021.The grand blocks are the major components in the construction of the hull. They are being assembled at CRIST, in the Polish port of Gdynia. Representatives from Nexans…

Offshore wind farms service provider has signed a long-term charter contract agreement with Ørsted, to deliver the world’s first hybrid powered Surface Effect Ship (SES) to Borssele 1 and 2 offshore wind farms.The agreement between Ørsted and CWind, part of the Global Marine Group, covers an initial three-year firm charter with options available for a further two years.The Hybrid SES crew transfer vessel will be operating from the Dutch port of Vlissingen, to Borssele 1 and 2…

Dignitaries from the state of Washington joined Governor Jay Inslee, Washington State Ferries officials and Vigor employees at Vigor’s Seattle shipyard to celebrate the beginning of the greening of WSF’s fleet. Speakers included Governor Inslee, Roger Millar, Secretary of Transportation for Washington State Department of Transportation, and Vigor CEO Frank Foti. The ceremony concluded with a dedication of a sign marking the construction site of the Program.Earlier in the year Washington’s legislature authorized a contract extension for Vigor to build up to five 144-car Olympic class…

AET, a petroleum tanker owner and operator, has named its newest vessels, two of the world's first LNG Dual-Fuel Dynamic Positioning Shuttle Tankers (DPSTs). The vessels, the cleanest DPSTs ever built, will emit 40-48% less carbon than equivalent vessels built in 2008, meeting the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) target of reducing carbon (CO2) emissions by 40% against 2008 baselines by 2030, and halving CO2 emissions by 2050.These LNG Dual-Fuel DPSTs also emit 85% less SOx…