United Kingdom News

Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) was contracted by Lindblad Expeditions in December 2015, to construct two (2) new 100 guest passenger cruise vessels for exploratory cruising in Alaska; Baja, California; Pacific Northwest; Costa Rica & Panama, and Belize. Both vessels have joined the Lindblad Expeditions fleet.The first vessel, National Geographic Quest, was delivered in July 2017 and has voyaged to Alaska, Costa Rica and Panama. The National Geographic Venture was delivered on November 1…

The United Kingdom Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Marine Accident Investigation Branch issued an investigation report on the allision of the UK-registered containership CMA CGM Centaurus with the quay in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates,that resulted in collapse of a shore crane and subsequent injury of 10 persons.At 1137 on 4 May 2017, Centaurus made heavy contact with the quay and two shore cranes while under pilotage.The accident occurred because the ship was unable to attain a sufficiently high rate of turn into a basin in preparation for berthing.

Wallem Ship Management in Hong Kong and Zeaborn Ship Management in Hamburg have chosen  Verifavia Shipping for European Union (EU) Reporting and Verification (MRV) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Data Collection System (DCS), as well as certification of associated IT systems.The emissions verification company for the transport sector said in a press release that trough their agreement with Zeaborn Ship Management, Verifavia Shipping will provide EUV verification…

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…

Companies, lenders, and their auditors worldwide need vessel appraisals that can be relied upon when put into legal documents. As the offshore energy support markets awaken, this is more important now, than ever.While a great deal of shipping finance is done at a 10,000' level, with bond deals and equity swaps, the value of the assets found on ground level are still very important. There are taxation issues, insured value, public reporting, and allocation of purchase price, where the value of individual vessels is important.

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.

China Navigation Company (CNCo), part of the Swire Group, has expanded its presence in North America by establishing a branch office in Vancouver, Canada.The opening ceremony was graced by Bruce Ralston, Minister of Jobs, Trade & Technology, British Columbia, who unveiled a plaque in the CNCo office located at W Hastings Street.Minister Bruce Ralston said, “The Province recognises the significant contribution that The China Navigation Company makes to the shipping industry worldwide.

Today (27 September), International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the global maritime community celebrate the annual World Maritime Day, under the theme: IMO 70: Our Heritage – Better Shipping for a Better Future. IMO has been celebrating its major anniversaries during 2018, with a focus on the achievements of the past decades as well as the challenges of the future, as the Organization seeks to promote safe, secure, environmentally sound, efficient and sustainable shipping.The Convention establishing IMO was adopted on 6 March 1948 and it entered into force 10 years later…

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.

Energy.It seems that energy touches every aspect of our lives from heating our homes to ensuring that fresh produce is available at grocery stores. It powers our cars and allows industry to move products around the world. The connection between energy and risk to the maritime environment has been a growing area of discussion, research and analysis. The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, within its Joint Doctrine Publication (JDOP 0-10) 5th edition UK Maritime Power, captured this issue superbly: “Fossil fuels and minerals are an important resource in the maritime environment. New deposits of oil and gas, as well as mineral wealth, are discovered under the seabed each year, and improvements in technology will facilitate future exploitation.

When the owners of Norwegian oil firm Aker BP decided to digitise its assets and operations, they searched high and low for the right software company. But they failed to find a suitable one.So instead they set up their own, Cognite, to create digital maps of Aker BP's oil industry assets, integrating data from equipment such as pumps, heat and pressure sensors, maintenance records and even staff rotas to improve efficiency and safety.Less than two years later, Cognite is selling its software to Aker BP's rivals and one competitor…

UAE-based Gulf Marine Services (GMS), a provider of self-propelled self-elevating support vessels (SESVs) serving the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy sectors, said it secured a new contract for one of its Small Class vessels.The new charter is for 12 months (including options) and is scheduled to commence shortly. The vessel will be supporting well intervention activities for a national oil company (NOC) in the MENA region.Duncan Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of GMS…

The UK is the third-largest maritime trading partner for the port of Antwerp. In order to be fully prepared for Brexit the Port Authority is taking various initiatives including the appointment of a new representative for the UK and Ireland. Justin Atkin has assumed this role as of 1 September 2018.With an annual freight volume of around 15 million tonnes the UK is the port of Antwerp's largest maritime trading partner after the USA and Russia. Antwerp is also ideally situated as an investment location close to the European centres of decision-making…

Hansa Heavy Lift  has transported a giant carousel together with eight reels, weighing a total of 3,508.7 metric tonnes, from Newcastle, United Kingdom to Lagos, Nigeria destined for the Egina Oil Field.The voyage took place on board the super heavy lift vessel HHL Lagos, which was mobilised in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to prepare the vessel with additional deck strength for the extralarge carousel, which weighed over 2,200 metric tonnes including spooled product and had a diameter of over 25 metres.“Close connection between the Hansa Heavy Lift engineering…

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…

Luxembourg-based dredging and offshore contractor Jan De Nul Group named its newest offshore installation vessel Taillevent in the Belgian port of Ostend.Miss Pauline Stassijns, granddaughter of Director Dirk De Nul, baptised the vessel and wished her success and a safe journey. The De Nul family, employees and their guests attended the christening.Jan De Nul Group acquired this offshore installation vessel, at that time MPI Discovery, from the Dutch company Vroon Group on 18…

Iberdrola inaugurates the wind farm of Wikinger, located in Germany in the waters of the Baltic Sea, with an investment of 1,400 million euros.In its development have participated companies like the Asturian Windar, with the construction of 280 piles of 40 meters in length, as well as the Danish Bladt and the Spanish Navantia, which have made the 70 foundations (‘jackets’) – a large part in Fene, or Adwen, which has been in charge of the wind turbines.With an output of 350 megawatts (MW)…

Due to the application of BMP protection measures by the Master, his crew and the private security team, the piracy attack was thwarted and the crew and vessel remained safe.The Master had already evacuated the crew to the citadel when the embarked Armed Security Team (PAST) responded to the attack. There was a sustained exchange of fire before the skiff with several armed people on board broke off and changed course away from the MV.Following the collective advice of industry and military counter-piracy operations…

Will a rising tide in the offshore oil markets float all the boats? In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, that remains to be seen.Offshore services, exploration and production are on a roll. In early October, yet another business combination of big drillers was announced. In a sign of optimism, Ensco announced its plan for an all-stock acquisition of Rowan Offshore, worth around $2.4 billion. The new company will be domiciled in the United Kingdom, but will have a large presence in Houston.

Scandinavian based Shipping and Freight Forwarding company Martin Bencher expands in North America with an office in Vancouver, BC, Canada.A press release from the project logistics company quoted  Peter Thorsoe Jensen, CEO MB Group as saying: “North America is a very important project market for the Martin Bencher Group and with an office in Vancouver, BC, Canada, we are in a better position to service existing and new customers in the Pacific North West and throughout Canada.”“After 10 years of successful operation in the USA…

The world’s biggest container ship, OOCL United Kingdom, made her maiden call at Malaysia's Westports in Port Klang on her way to China.The OOCL United Kingdom, with a carrying capacity of 21,413 TEUs, is one of the carrier’s six ‘G Class’ vessels and they are currently the world’s largest container ship.The vessel berthed at Container Terminal 8, Westports new container wharf that was completed in 2017.Westports has earmarked nine high-performance ship-to-shore cranes to handle OOCL United Kingdom’s containers.

The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), a government agency has contributed to a new UK government-funded study on navigational requirements for autonomous maritime vessels.According to UKHO, it worked together with partner organisations L3 ASV and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to identify the future data requirements for autonomous shipping, and explore how navigational and wider geospatial data can be used to enable the safe navigation of smart and unmanned autonomous vessels.The study…

Practical efforts to implement ship energy-efficiency measures and promote technology transfer are an integral part of International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s initial strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships.A press release from the UN-body said that this is embodied in the global network for energy-efficient shipping under the Global MTCC Network (GMN) project, funded by the European Union and run by IMO.Representatives from the five Maritime Technology Cooperation Centres (MTCCs) in the GMN network recently met for their second annual meeting (22-26 October) in London…