Norway News

An ammonia-fueled tanker design developed by South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has received approval in principle (AIP) from classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR).The project to develop the novel, emissions-slashing aframax tanker was announced in January as maritime stakeholders consider cleaner-burning ammonia and other zero-carbon options to meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) target to halve shipping’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2008 levels by 2050.Together…

Sweden has protested to Russia after two warships entered its territorial waters without permission, a defense department spokesman said on Wednesday, as Sweden agreed with two neighboring countries to deepen military cooperation.The spokesman said Sweden had called in Russian diplomatic representatives to protest the breach on September 14 by “two Russian corvettes which entered territorial waters near Gothenburg”.The Swedish military has also reported that a Danish military…

Knut Kloster, one of the founders of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. and a pioneer of the modern cruise industry, passed away on Sunday at the age of 91.“We are incredibly saddened by the loss of the visionary who not only brought our company, but our industry, to life,” said Frank Del Rio, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings president and CEO. “Knut was a pioneer in our industry and certainly ahead of his time, exploring every opportunity to be at the forefront and break boundaries.

Norway-based ship management company OSM Maritime said Monday that it is nearing a deal to acquire Singapore-headquartered competitor SeaTeam Management from Frontline Ltd and Golden Ocean Group Limited.The acquisition, which is in final negotiations and remains subject to definitive documentation, is expected to be completed within the next 30 days, OSM said.“We look forward to finalizing our agreement with Frontline and Golden Ocean, after engaging in a very constructive dialogue,” said Tommy Olofsen, chair of OSM Maritime.

Robert Allan Ltd. is a consulting naval architectural firm, established in Vancouver, Canada in 1930. Mike Fitzpatrick has been a driving force in the company’s growth since joining the firm in 2003. As a key member of the initial employee ownership group, he was named president and CEO in 2015, responsible for corporate direction, business development, management of senior project managers, and project priorities, schedules and profitability. Fitzpatrick is a 1995 graduate of the University of New South Wales in Australia, with a Bachelor of Engineering in naval architecture.

China's shipbuilder CIMC Raffles has launched the Antarctic Provider, a vessel being built for Norway's krill harvesting company Aker BioMarine.The launching ceremony for the krill transport vessel built by CIMC Raffles Offshore Ltd. was held Thursday at CIMC Raffles Yantai base. The 167.6 meters long Antarctic Provider will be used mainly for krill transportation between the Antarctic fishing area and South American ports. It will also provide the fuel supply for fishing vessels…

Norway's Hurtigruten has called off its remaining cruises this year due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in Europe and the Americas, the company said on Thursday."Our goal is to resume operations in January 2021," the company said in a statement.The decision affects Hurtigruten's so-called expedition cruises, which often take passengers into Arctic or Antarctic waters, though its business of shipping goods and people between ports along the Norwegian coast will continue.The company was the first cruise operator worldwide to return an oceangoing cruise ship to service in mid-June…

The dredging market in the U.S. is strong and growing, a bright spot for U.S. shipyards, with increased funding for critical infrastructure projects and port dredging at the federal and state levels. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, the country’s largest dredging company, has invested mightily in new dredgers at U.S. yards. Lasse Petterson, CEO and President, shares insights on the strategy ahead.You have sat at the helm of Great Lakes Dredge and Dock for just over three years. What…

Norwegian shipbuilder Ulstein has shared the progress update on the construction of the next-gen cable layer the Nexans Aurora. According to Ulstein, the construction is "well underway.""During a time span of a few days in September 2020, the cable capstan has been installed, the painting process is ongoing and the thrusters are about to be installed," Ulstein said. The hull of the vessel was built in Poland and arrived in Norway in June for final outfitting."The construction of the next-generation cable-laying vessel, the 'Nexans Aurora', is well underway at Ulstein Verft.

Greenpeace's flagship Rainbow Warrior blocked a tanker on Thursday from delivering crude oil from Norway to Sweden's Lysekil refinery in a protest against plans to expand it, the advocacy group said.The 850-tonne sailboat decorated in rainbow colors dropped anchor in a fjord near the installation owned by Sweden's largest refiner Preem to block passage for the Grena Knutsen carrying crude from Norway's Gullfaks oilfield."We will not let any crude oil to the refinery until Preem stops its plans to expand," said Greenpeace member Gustav Martner during a live feed from Rainbow Warrior as it lower

RLS PhotoNorway-based krill extraction and processing company Rimfrost has awarded Kongsberg Maritime a contract to design and equip a new 120-meter krill harvesting vessel destined for operations in Antarctica.The vessel will be built by Westcon in Norway, and Tersan Shipyard in Turkey. Westcon will complete the vessel at its facility in Norway after initial construction at the Tersan Shipyard in Turkey. It is expected that the 120m ship will be ready to begin operations in 2022.Kongsberg Maritime said that the contract has been awarded in several stages during 2020…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner and manager GC Rieber Shipping has signed an agreement to transfer its fleet management services business to OSM Maritime Group, and become a pure shipowner.Under the agreement, GC Rieber Shipping will transfer all technical, crewing, and support functions in Bergen to OSM.OSM will establish a new ship management company within the offshore segment in Bergen, who will be owned 100% by OSM and be located together with OSM Bergen.GC Rieber Shipping currently has 6 vessels under management in Bergen, including vessels under third party management.

The wreckage of a major German warship has been discovered off the coast of Norway some 80 years after it was sunk in a World War Two battle, Norwegian power grid operator Statnett and a maritime archaeologist said.Identified this year from images and sonar scans of its hull and of details such as the position of gun turrets, the cruiser Karlsruhe was first detected in 2017 just 15 meters (50 feet) from a subsea power cable that has been operating since 1977.Built in the 1920s…

Malaysian FPSO provider Yinson has ordered a large marine compressed air system from TMC for the FPSO Anna Nery, which currently under construction in China, and destined for Petrobras' Marlim revitalization project in Brazil.TMC's compressed air system will consist of four large capacity service and instrument air compressors with associated air dryers and filters. TMC has not revealed the value of the contract.Hans Petter Tanum, TMC’s director of sales and business development:"When you operate far from shore, you need powerful and reliable air supply onboard.

Seatankers, the powerful holding company of Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen, said on Thursday it had hired a veteran fund manager to broaden the group’s portfolio and bring in outside capital in a new unit.Vegard Soeraunet, until recently an investment director at Norway’s ODIN Fund Management, will be in charge of “long-term and active ownership” outside of Seatankers’s shipping and offshore oil services industries, the company said.“Getting the opportunity to take this to the next level with a new structure under Seatankers, is a great opportunity,” Soeraunet said in a statement.I

Delivery of the FPSO destined for Equinor's Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea is expected to be delayed after the company found issues with the weld quality and fatigue calculations program.The FPSO hull was ordered by Equinor (then known as Statoil) back in 2017 from Singapore's Sembcorp Marine and it was at the time said that the construction of the hull was "the most time-critical delivery for the completion of the Johan Castberg project," first production from which…

Oslo-listed offshore vessel owner GC Rieber Shipping last week completed the sale of its Polar King construction support vessel to, at the time, unnamed buyers.It has now been revealed that the 2011-built vessel was sold to the Greek-based Asso Group who took delivery of the vessel last week in Eydehavn, Norway. The vessel, to be renamed Argo, measures 110m in length, 20m in beam, has a Gross Registered Tonnage of 7,238, and features an ROV Hangar housing 2 Perry Slingsby work-class ROVs…

Kongsberg Maritime and Massterly (a Kongsberg Wilhelmsen joint venture) have signed contracts with the Norwegian grocery distributor ASKO to equip two new all-electric vessels with autonomous technology, and to manage their operations at sea.ASKO, which currently transports its cargo by more than 800 trucks daily, is investing heavily in environmentally friendly technologies such as electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. At present, road transport is the single mode of transportation…

On July 20, the tanker Cabo de Hornos delivered an estimated 450,000 barrels of crude oil to the Irving Oil refinery’s Canaport storage facilities in Saint John, N.B.What made Cabo de Hornos’s delivery different was that it was the first time crude oil had arrived in Saint John by ship from Alberta. It came via the Trans Mountain pipeline to the Westbridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C., and then through the Panama Canal.By the end of April next year, a second tanker will arrive at Canaport carrying 350,000 to one million barrels of Western Canadian crude oil.

Norway-based Yara Marine Technologies says it is running a competition for start-ups to accelerate the growth of technologies and solutions that will contribute to a greener maritime industry.“Our corporate mission is to nurture the next generation of high value, high performance sustainable ocean technologies,” says Yara Marine CEO Thomas Koniordos. “With this new program, we are seeking to position Yara Marine in the global start-up space while developing new opportunities for…

As COVID-19 continues to challenge many business plans and practices, the advent of remote inspection techniques is growing in popularity. What is reported to be the world’s first in-water remote ship surveys using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) have been completed by DNV GL.In-water bottom surveys using ROVs have now been carried out on three separate Wilson ASA-managed vessels with the first having been completed on the Wilson Fedje in December 2019 by a surveyor from Høvik. The survey was performed earlier in July on another ASA Wilson-managed vessel in Bergen, Norway.

Ocean Installer, a Norwegian company mostly known for its offshore oil and gas services provider, is increasingly turning towards the offshore wind industry.Following a recent establishment of an offshore wind branch, and the naming of a director to lead it, Ocean Installer on Monday announced it would enter into a partnership with shipbuilder Vard - a Fincantieri company - "to develop one of the world's most advanced turbine installation vessels for offshore wind." Erik Haakonsholm…

Norwegian oil company Equinor has successfully sent a drone carrying a 3D-printed cargo from shore to an offshore production platform in the North Sea in what the company says is a world's first.In a flight spanning around 80 kilometers from the Mongstad base onshore to the Troll field in the North Sea offshore Norway, the drone carried a 3D-printed part for the lifeboat system. The flight took one hour, at an altitude of approx. 5000 feet, or 1524 meters."The flight was a test…