• Eitzen Maritime Services to acquire Dubai-based Seven Seas for $115 million.

Eitzen Maritime Services said it has agreed to acquire Dubai-based ship supply firm Seven Seas for $115 million.

• Australia Gets 2.5 Million Square Kilometers of New Offshore Rights.

Anyone still wondering what all the fuss is surrounding Canada’s bid to gain new seabed territory in the Arctic Ocean should look to Australia, where the country’s government is predicting a possible oil and gas “bonanza” after being granted a 2.5-million-square-kilometre expansion of its offshore jurisdiction.

• Salvage Operations Commence after Barge Accident in Kentucky.

The Coast Guard says salvage operations are to start after two barges carrying iron ore sank in the Ohio River near downtown Louisville, Ky.

• StatoilHydro to build first full scale offshore floating wind turbine.

StatoilHydro has decided to build the world’s first full scale floating wind turbine, Hywind, and test it over a two-year period offshore Karmøy. The The company is investing approximately 400 million NOK. Planned startup is autumn 2009.

• Huge boost for offshore wind power.

The Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) has announced plans for a huge increase in offshore wind power. Up to 7,000 new turbines could be built by 2020, producing up to 25 gigawatts of electricity.

• Hellenic National Advisory Committee considers key shipping industry issues.

Lloyd’s Register’s Hellenic National Advisory Committee considers key industry issues for shipping’s future and welcomes Lloyd’s Register’s strategy to establish a new marine headquarters in Southampton to develop a centre of maritime excellence for world shipping.

• Offshore wind costs set to soar.

The construction of offshore wind farms is becoming more costly, creating further problems for the European Union in meeting its renewable energy target, reports the Financial Times.

• Saipem scores Angola, Egypt deals.

Saipem has been awarded two new offshore contracts in Egypt and Angola worth a total value of about US$600 million.

• Van Oord awarded Yamal dredging and trenching contract.

Van Oord has been awarded a dredging and trenching project on the Yamal Peninsula in Northern Russia.

• GulfMark Offshore to acquire Rigdon Marine.

GulfMark Offshore, Inc. reports that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Rigdon Marine Corporation (RMC), in a deal that values Rigdon at upwards of $550 million, based on yesterday’s $63.56 per share closing price for GulfMark stock.

• Florida’s offshore drilling policy is outdated.

The economic prosperity and national security of our country dictates that the distortions and false assertions about offshore oil and gas production be challenged.

• Petrobras to lease 146 vessels for E&P unit.

Brazil’s federal energy company Petrobras will order 146 vessels for its offshore exploration and production (E&P) operations over the next six years, company president José Sérgio Gabrielli said.

• Scottish & Southern Energy To Proceed With 504MW Wind Farm.

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) confirmed Wednesday that it will proceed with its investment in the 504MW (megawatt) Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm and said construction work will begin shortly.

• Liftboat salvage starts.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, Aqua Survey, Inc. has contracted Delmarva Salvage Company in conjunction with Tow Boat US to conduct a salvage operation on the research vessel Russell W. Peterson, a liftboat that grounded yesterday near Bethany Beach, Del.

• Fishing Vessel Submerged at Pier.

The Coast Guard is overseeing the salvage of a 70-foot fishing vessel that sank at the pier in Oceanside, N.Y. on Monday.

• Jaya to expand yards on buoyant offshore demand.

Offshore shipping and shipbuilding group Jaya Holdings plans to expand its shipyards in Indonesia and China to ride on what it sees as continued strong demand in the offshore shipping sector.

• Offshore Wind: How Europe Plans to Meet Clean Energy Goals.

The E.U. is serious about getting clean energy on the grid. The European Parliament has set a 25% target for renewable energy by 2020. About half of that target is projected to come from wind energy. A new report, “Pure Power - Wind Energy Scenarios up to 2030,” put out by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), shows that this is a feasible scenario, given current trends in the field.

• Smit ups divisional growth targets over five-year period.

Smit Internationale NV said Wednesday it is raising its divisional growth targets for the next five years. For the Harbour Towage operations, Smit said it is now targeting 50 percent growth in net profit between 2008 and 2012, after it said the target set in 2005 for growth in net profit was amply exceeded last year.

• 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.

• Great Offshore Sells AHTS ‘Malaviya Nine’.

Great Offshore Ltd has announced that the sale of vessel, “Malaviya Nine”, a 1983 built Anchor Handling Tug - Supply Vessel (AHTSV). With this sale, the current fleet of Offshore Vessels of the Company stands at 40.

• Van Oord starts work on Indonesian project.

Dutch dredging and marine contractor Van Oord reports that it has started dredging operations for the access channel to Banjarmassin on the island of Kalimantan, Indonesia.

• Work begins on E.ON’s wind farm.

E.ON has set up its base in the Port of Workington in preparation for the offshore wind farm it is generating nearby.

• Asia Pacific maritime show kicks off in Singapore.

The biennial Asia Pacific maritime show kicked off here Wednesday, featuring 841 exhibiting companies from 52 countries, 650 of which are from abroad.

• Hercules Offshore announces Saudi contracts.

US-based Hercules Offshore announced today it has signed contracts to provide Saudi Aramco with two jackup drilling rigs for three-year terms plus one-year fixed price options at the same rate. The Hercules 300 and Hercules 261, currently known as the High Island I and High Island VIII, respectively, will fulfill the contract commitments.

• Decision still to be made on whether to salvage abandoned yacht.

A decision is yet to be made on whether a delivery yacht abandoned at sea can be salvaged. The four crew on board the Air Apparence abandoned the yacht in rising seas 80 nautical miles off Kaipara Harbour.

• Salvage Or Sink: Alien Boat Lodged On Reef.

Authorities may opt to sink a boat that was found abandoned off Urunao yesterday. It appeared to have been deliberately run aground while some 10 illegal aliens made their way into Guam yesterday morning.

• ABB to transmit offshore wind for Germany.

The automation and power engineering major ABB will link offshore wind to Germany’s power grid. ABB will provide the technology to connect the self-proclaimed world’s largest offshore wind farm to the German power grid in a contract worth more than $400 million.

• Nigeria: Maritime - Reading for Excellence.

The complexity of the maritime industry is one that challenges even the most well informed about this all-important sector of the economy. Its transactional vocabulary is peculiarly arcane.

• Big job for salvage team.

An Auckland-based salvage team faces a challenging job trying to retrieve a damaged commercial fishing boat stuck fast on a reef with about 2400 litres of oil on board in Doubtless Bay in the Far North.

• Site for offshore windfarm study is Hurd’s Bank.

The site under study for the installation of offshore wind farms is Hurd’s Bank, The Malta Independent has learned.

• Offshore Runner vessel launched.

The ‘Offshore Runner’ vessel for Raj Shipping Agencies Ltd, Mumbai was successfully launched on February 11 at Dempo Shipbuilding and Engineering Pvt Ltd, Old Goa.

• Swire Pacific orders eight AHTS’s from Qingdao.

Swire Pacific Offshore Holdings Limited (SPO) has signed an agreement with Qingdao Qianjin Shipyard, Qingdao, to build eight new “P” Class Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessels (AHTS) for delivery in 2010 and 2011.

• Saipem awards contract to Fairmount.

A contract has been signed by the company and Saipem for the charter of AHT Fairmount Summit for towage and anchor handling operations for Saipem’s Castoro Sei.

• Bourbon moves into subsea services field.

Bourbon is moving into subsea services with a US$2.5 billion investment over the next five years.

• Dredging protester stands by surfing stunt.

A surfer, fined yesterday for coming within metres of the dredging ship the Queen of the Netherlands, has defended his actions.

• Lerwick set for £12 million dredging contract.
• Cal Dive Acquires Horizon Offshore.
• Britain proposes massive offshore wind power investment.

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