Standard Commercial News

A 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Maersk Drilling and Maersk Supply Service will provide decommissioning services to oil and gas operators. After decades of production, an increasing amount of offshore oil and gas fields are approaching the end of their economic life. In the North Sea alone, more than 400 fields are expected to cease production by 2026 at an estimated cost of $56 billion. Globally, more than 700 fields are expected to require decommissioning. The JV will initially offer bundled solutions for up to 80 percent of the oil field decommissioning process, including project management and work scopes such as plug and abandonment of wells, towage of floating units and removal of subsea infrastructure.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is introducing the VisionMaster FT Electronic Chart Display and Information System-E (ECDIS-E), a new cost-effective navigation solution for commercial tankers, container ships, bulk carries and passenger ferries including retrofit installations. Based on the Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine VisionMaster FT platform, the new ECDIS-E combines an optimized feature set with easy to install hardware. The system meets International Maritime Organization requirements for certain classes of vessels operating internationally to be equipped with ECDIS for paperless navigation. "This new design not only meets mandatory safety requirements, but brings new technology to the user," said Alan Dix, managing director, Sperry Marine.

Northrop Grumman Corporation introduce the VisionMaster FT Electronic Chart Display and Information System-E (ECDIS-E), a new cost-effective navigation solution for commercial tankers, container ships, bulk carries and passenger ferries including retrofit installations. Based on the Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine VisionMaster FT platform, the new ECDIS-E combines an optimized feature set with easy to install hardware. The system meets International Maritime Organization requirements for certain classes of vessels operating internationally to be equipped with ECDIS for paperless navigation. "This new design not only meets mandatory safety requirements, but brings new technology to the user," said Alan Dix, managing director, Sperry Marine.

The latest recovery from SS Gairsoppa reportedly set the world record for deepest, largest precious metal recovery. Odyssey Marine Exploration said it has recovered more than 61 tons of silver bullion this month from a depth of nearly three miles. This recovery of bullion from the SS Gairsoppa, a 412-foot steel-hulled British cargo ship that sank in February 1941, consists of 1,574 silver ingots weighing about 1,100 ounces each or almost 1.8 million troy ounces in total, sets a new record for the deepest and largest precious metal recovery from a shipwreck.

Odyssey Marine Exploration inform the 'Seabed Worker', will cease salvage operations to make a scheduled port call in Cork, Ireland. After taking on fuel, supplies and changing personnel, the Seabed Worker will immediately return to the site to continue recovery operations under an extension of the charter agreement. No materials recovered from the shipwreck site will be landed during this port call in Ireland. Pursuant to Odyssey's agreement with the UK Government, the company…

Odyssey Marine Exploration (Nasdaq:OMEX), announced it has successfully recovered approximately 48 tons of silver bullion from a depth of approximately three miles. This initial recovery of bullion from the SS Gairsoppa, a 412-foot steel-hulled British cargo ship that sank in February 1941, totals 1,203 silver bars or approximately 1.4 million troy ounces of silver and has been transported to a secure facility in the United Kingdom. After unloading the cargo, taking on fuel and changing  personnel, recovery operations will continue and are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2012.This record-breaking operation has so far produced the heaviest and deepest recovery of precious metals from a shipwreck.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's  (DARPA)  Tactically Expandable Maritime Platform (TEMP) program has completed the design of innovative technologies to transform commercial container ships into self-contained floating supply bases during disaster relief operations, without needing port infrastructure. The program envisions a container ship anchoring offshore of a disaster area, and the ship’s crew delivering supplies ashore using DARPA-developed, modular on-board cranes and air- and sea-delivery vehicles.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, pioneers in the field of deep-ocean exploration, announce their contract with JBR Recovery Limited to support the logistics, refining and monetization of the anticipated silver cargoes from SS Gairsoppa and SS Mantola when recovered. Both the Gairsoppa and Mantola projects are being conducted under contract with the UK Department for Transport. Under these contracts, which follow standard commercial practices, Odyssey will retain 80% of the net salved value of the cargoes after recovery of expenses. Both merchant ships were torpedoed by German submarines, the Gairsoppa during WWII and the Mantola during WWI. During those wars, the UK government insured privately owned cargo under their War Risk Insurance program.

Historical records indicate the Gairsoppa was carrying up to seven million ounces of silver and the Mantola was carrying approximately 600,000 ounces of silver when each sank. Odyssey discovered both shipwrecks in Q3 2011 and conducted a series of reconnaissance dives to both sites in March and April 2012. Both the Gairsoppa and Mantola projects are being conducted under contract with the UK Department for Transport. Under these contracts, which follow standard commercial practices, Odyssey will retain 80% of the net salved value of the cargoes after recovery of expenses.

Construction is a complex business. Equipment can break down; employees can be injured; a project can go awry in unexpected ways. Add a marine element to the work underway, and the pitfalls that a contractor must navigate to manage risk become even more challenging. Marine contractors have long understood that they need specialized coverage and have sought out ocean marine insurance carriers with the expertise to help them. Each project they bid on, however, can come with a variety of special requirements.

FORAN v50 was officially presented at an event organized by SENER, the second FORAN Users Meeting (FORUM 2001), which took place in Valencia, Spain. v50 was conceived with the objective of maintaining FORAN as a leader in the delivery of state-of-the-art technologies, while meeting the requirements of present and future customers. v50 covers General Design, Hull Structure, Machinery and Outfitting Design, Electrical Design and Accommodation, all developed with the emphasis on the particular requirements of Initial, Classification and Detail design for all types of ship. The main technologies and innovations that have been introduced are: Oracle Relational Database; NURBS surfaces; Object Oriented Kernel; and, Enhanced Initial Design capabilities.

By Brian A. Barbara D. Linney & David A. Most federal government contractors are familiar with the scores of standard clauses incorporated by reference into their contracts and subcontracts as mandated by the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the departmental supplements such as the DFARS. Although most contracts include close to 100 standard clauses addressing a panoply of regulatory requirements, there are no standard clauses addressing compliance with the export control laws. For this reason, it is not uncommon for corporate contract administrators and purchasing agents to believe that the export control laws are synonymous with industrial security requirements and that as long as technical data to be provided to subcontractors is not classified as Confidential…

The most recent application of Image Marine’s expertise in producing custom vessels for comfort and recreation afloat is a 72-ft. (22 m) aluminium catamaran destined for the waters of South East Asia. While live-aboard dive boats and dinner cruisers continue to generate widespread acclaim for Image’s tourism vessels among commercial operators, this latest completion has been built and outfitted to meet the needs of a private owner. Image Marine’s Sales Manager, Mark Stothard, explains that the trade and private spheres share some common requirements. “Regardless of whether the boat is intended for personal enjoyment or profit-making, owners want a boat that will be comfortable, reliable, well-built, economical to operate and easy to maintain.