Winter News

DEME’s DP3 offshore installation vessel Orion has departed for the United States to prepare for the installation of 176 foundations on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, following the wrap up of works at the 882 MW Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland.DEME’s flagship Orion vessel has completed monopile installation works on Ocean Winds’ Moray West offshore wind farm project in Scotland.Despite harsh winter conditions, DEME managed to install 29 monopiles in approximately two months.Meanwhile…

Marlink reports it is providing new capabilities to long-term customer TUI Cruises on its Mein Schiff fleet, augmenting its managed hybrid network solution with Starlink LEO connectivity.Marlink will install its Sealink NextGen network solution – combining low-latency LEO connectivity with global 4G/5G and C/Ku-band VSAT - on the combined fleet of six existing Mein Schiff vessels and two newbuildings. These different connectivity links will be orchestrated by Marlink’s SD-WAN solution…

Maritime Developments (MDL) has assisted Saipem in progressing an LNG project offshore Greece, which included work on the connection of Gastrade’s Alexandroupolis floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) to the country’s gas transmission system.The project consisted of a FSRU and a mooring and pipeline system, connecting the floating unit to the Greek National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGTS).An MDL flex-lay spread was used for the installation of two flexible risers…

The Canadian government has awarded a contract to shipbuilder Chantier Davie Canada Inc. of Lévis, Quebec, for initial work related to the construction of new Program Icebreakers. Under this $19.6-million contract including taxes, Davie will begin work to develop the initial design.A series of six new Program Icebreakers is planned to replace the Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG) medium icebreakers that operate in Atlantic Canada and the St. Lawrence waterways during the winter, and in the Arctic during the summer.This contract enables the shipyard to initiate project planning phases…

The Swedish Maritime Administration has purchased the 18-year-old icebreaker Polar Circle, expanding its fleet of icebreaking ships to help keep the nation's ports and shipping lanes clear during the cold winter months.In December, the Swedish Maritime Administration put out a tender to acquire a secondhand icebreaker, with Polar Circle emerging as the most suitable option. The agency recently ran the Polar Circle through trials in the Gulf of Bothnia before committing to purchase the vessel."We are delighted to welcome Polar Circle to our fleet.

The first towboat of 2024 passed through Lock and Dam 2, in Hastings, Minn. on Sunday, signaling the start of this year's navigation season on the Mississippi River.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' St. Paul District said it considers the first tow to arrive at Lock and Dam 2 as the unofficial start of the Mississippi River navigation season, because it means all of its locks are accessible to commercial and recreational vessels.On Sunday, Marquette Transportation Company's Joseph Patrick Eckstein traveled through the lock with 12 barges en route to St.

Police from two countries in the eastern Caribbean are investigating the possible murder of two people believed to be U.S. citizens who owned a catamaran that was hijacked by three fugitives in the waters off the island of Grenada.The yacht's alleged owners, Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry, were last seen Sunday night, when three men escaped from the custody of Grenadian authorities. Police in St. Vincent and the Grenadines captured the men on Wednesday.The Royal Grenada Police…

The first vessel carrying LNG for Germany's Baltic Sea terminal of Mukran arrived on Saturday for a test operation as the country steps up its quest to replace Russian pipeline gas.Private company Deutsche ReGas said that Energos Power, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), had moored at the terminal on Ruegen Island, having received approval from local authorities.Germany has intensified its quest to increase LNG capacity for regasification on its shores, as European countries seek to reduce their heavy reliance on Russian gas following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.The tests will

American shipping companies are spending more than $120 million to repair and maintain their fleets of Great Lakes bulk carriers this winter.The fleet of U.S.-flagged ships, known as "lakers", can move more than 90 million tons of cargos annually, including iron ore, stone, coal, grain, salt and sand. Each year after the shipping season draws to a close, these vessels enter shipyards and repair facilities around the Great Lakes for a period of winter maintenance and repair. This…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday finalized two wind energy areas (WEAs) in the offshore Oregon region, aligning with government goals to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power along U.S. coastlines this decade to fight climate change.The two WEAs, Coos Bay WEA and Brookings WEA, are spread across 195,012 acres (78,919 hectares) and "the department continues to take steps to evolve its approach to offshore wind to drive towards union-built projects and a domestic-based supply chain," said the agency, which is part of the U.S.

The spot price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is continuing to meander at low levels amid ample supply from major exporters and signs that winter demand is easing in the top-importing regions of Asia and Europe.The spot price for LNG delivered to north Asia ended at $9.60 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the week to Feb. 2, up slightly from the seven-month low of $9.50 the previous week.Spot LNG prices have broken their usual seasonal pattern of rising during the northern winter and again in summer…

Russian ports are operating during more severe storms and easing restrictions for non ice-class vessels during winter, traders said and regulations showed, in an attempt to boost exports following disruptions from Western sanctions and harsh weather.Following the European Union oil embargo, Russia has to rely mostly on seaborne loadings, rather than westbound pipeline supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.Traders and analysts said the easing of restrictions carried technical and ecological risks, but could help Russia's revenues that are heavily reliant on oil.Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft,

U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Freeport LNG said on Friday it expects one of three liquefaction units at its Texas plant will be out of service for about a month after it faced a technical issue during last week's Arctic freeze.This shutdown was the latest in a series of incidents at the plant since it exited an eight-month outage from June 2022 to February 2023 following a fire and explosion.Since April, at least one liquefaction train at the plant has shut or tripped - sometimes several times…

Scientists aboard Britain's high-tech polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough are headed to the Weddell Sea to investigate how carbon dioxide moves and transforms in the Southern Ocean.The ship departed Tuesday from Punta Arenas, Chile for the 30-day scientific expedition.As the carbon in the seawater rises to the surface near Antarctica, it interacts with the atmosphere, ice, and microscopic plants and animals, called phytoplankton and zooplankton, near the ocean surface, before descending to the ocean depths.

German utility RWE on Jan. 1 handed over floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure at Brunsbuettel on the North Sea to state-owned Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET) as agreed when first imports arrived 10 months ago, it said.DET is now the sole operational manager and markets the capacity of the Brunsbuettel Elbehafen LNG project.Germany's quest to increase LNG capacity for regasification on its shores has intensified as it seeks to end reliance on Russian pipeline gas…

Senator Wesley Livsey Jones gave his name to the famous “Jones Act” governing U.S. domestic maritime trade. But what do really know about him? It turns out that he was much more than a leading merchant marine policy maker. (i)Jones had a long career in the U.S. House of Representatives before he was a Senator, was an effective legislator, an astute politician, one of the hardest working legislators of his era, and always viewed as honest and forthright. His many maritime legislative successes included the Merchant Marine Act…

The 2023 navigation season has drawn to a close on the Upper Mississippi River.A 15-barge tow pushed by the towboat Thomas Erickson, the last of the season, departed Lock and Dam 10, near Guttenberg, Iowa, December 3, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District said.The 2023 season commence March 12, when the towboat Phillip M Pfeffer broke its way through the ice of Lake Pepin to travel to St. Paul, Minnesota.With the 2023 navigation season in the rearview, St. Paul District staff will remain busy this coming winter with maintenance projects at Lock and Dam 2…

The number of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels transiting the Panama Canal to Asia halved in November compared with a year ago as Asia prices for the gas this week traded at their steepest premium to European prices in nearly two years.A severe drought has cut vessel traffic through the canal, increasing costs for shippers that take alternative routes or pay extra fees for auctioned slots in Panama. Further restrictions on canal transits likely will put more cargoes on lengthier routes…

Russia has pledged to disclose more data about the volume of its fuel refining and exports after OPEC+ asked Moscow for more transparency on classified fuel shipments from the many export points across the vast country, sources at OPEC+ and ship-tracking firms told Reuters.Russia is the only member of OPEC+ which contributes to export cuts rather than production cuts as part of its participation in the group's agreement to curb supplies. Market analysts have struggled to verify…

Finnish companies have designed about 80 percent of the world’s icebreakers, and about 60 percent of them have been built by Finnish shipyards.Finland is home to a strong and vibrant maritime cluster, with a mix of large, medium and small shipyards, as well as a deep pool of marine engineering expertise and a broad network of vessel equipment suppliers.As one of the world’s northernmost countries, Finland is also home to a fleet of icebreakers that keep imports and exports flowing through its harbors, even during the coldest winter months.

Shell has almost finished extensive maintenance at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility off Australia and is set to resume exports next month, according to industry sources and shipping data.The timing of the giant floating facility's return to operations is likely to coincide with peak consumption in major markets, including China and Europe, as winter in the northern hemisphere drives demand, although high inventories have limited buying so far this year.In a sign that the work…

The Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, which was damaged last month, will get a bigger northbound transmission capacity next year following repairs, Finnish operator Gasgrid said in a statement on Wednesday.The increase will come from an enhancement of the Latvia-Lithuania interconnection, which allows for higher gas volumes to be transported around the Finnish-Baltic region, it added.The pipeline will in the future get a base capacity of 70.5 gigawatt hours of gas per day in the direction from Estonia to Finland…

Hamburg-based ship finance platform oceanis’s Q4 State of Ship Finance Report comes with a thank-you to shipping companies that are committed to the green transition.Over the past decade, oceanis has seen large changes to the ship financing landscape towards greener projects. The most obvious green financiers are the Poseidon Principles banks, the initiative launched in 2019 whose signatories manage 70% of the world’s shipping loans. At the same time, many other banks and funds are moving away from financing ‘brown’ assets and trades.