• Tugboat company to invest €70m on new boats.

Rimorchiatori Malta Ltd has announced an investment of over €70 million on an expanded tugboat fleet in Malta.

• California – bill introduced re tug escort requirement.

A bill has been introduced in the California Assembly that would, if enacted into law, mandate use of tug escorts not only by tank ships and tank barges (as currently required), but also by vessels carrying hazardous materials.

• Van Oord reviews developments in key markets.

Dutch dredging contractor Van Oord says turnover from the market in The Netherlands in 2007 amounted to Euros 146 million.

• Technip Gets EU190 Million Offshore Canadian Order From Husky.

Technip SA, Europe’s second-largest oilfield-services provider, won a contract from Husky Energy Inc. for work on the Canadian oil company’s White Rose field off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

• Dredging International Awarded Expansion Contract to Dredge Pacific Sea Entrance.

Paving the way for construction, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) awarded the third and largest expansion contract Tuesday to dredge the Pacific sea entrance. The ACP kicked off this next phase of expansion awarding the contract to Dredging International.
The dredging of the Pacific sea entrance is essential to provide enough draft and width for longer, wider ships to pass and enter the new locks.

• E.ON submits plan for largest UK offshore wind farm.

E.ON, one of the UK’s leading power and gas companies, has submitted a planning application to build a £700 million offshore wind facility off the East Yorkshire coast – despite objections from the Ministry of Defence.

• Dredging Policy — Charting a wider course.

This policy, which revises the earlier guidelines, states that the ports may ensure that pre-qualification criteria are fixed in advance and that they should not be so stringent as to restrict entry of certain potential Indian bidders.

• Windfarm platform on its way to North Wales.

One of Europe’s largest construction vessels enters Welsh waters next week to work on npower renewables’ Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm.

• Foss Maritime Sells Selected Assets to Tidewater.

Foss Maritime Company announced today that it has agreed to sell selected assets, including two tugs and twenty barges currently operating on the Columbia Snake River system, to Vancouver, WA-based Tidewater Barge Lines.

© International Marine Consultancy

Maritime and Coastguard Agency Emergency Towing Vessel "Anglian Princess".

For worldwide emergency towage contact International Marine Consultancy.

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© Dan Burton

36-Year old free diver, Julia Petrik, is pictured catching a ride on a whale in Russia’s White Sea waters.

Temperatures above the ice were as low as -15C (5F) and during the free-dive Miss Petrik swam to depths of 82ft, wearing only ultra-tight wetsuits, face masks and flippers.

Miss Petrik, one of the world’s top free divers, swims underwater with no air tanks and can hold her breath for up to two minutes.

© Natalia Chervyakova

After entering the water she grabbed hold of a passing Beluga Whale for a lift - a moment captured by British photographer Dan Burton.

Beluga Whales only live in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters and are protected from the sub-zero temperatures by a thick layer of blubber. The elusive whales are an unmistakable all white in colour with a distinctive melon-shaped head and can grow up to 16ft in length.

more pictures of the event can be found here: The Arctic Circle

Julia Petrik’s website, Dan Burton Photography

© International Marine Consultancy

Excalibur is the largest of the Seacore’s jack-up platforms, with a gross displacement of 4000T. Fitted with 17m square moonpool, 220 Tonnes crane and crew accommodation. Can work in water depths up to 40m.

More tugs, multicats, dredgers, barges, jack-ups at your disposal at International Marine Consultancy.

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