• Salvage experts en route to Gladstone.
• Van Oord wins major dredging contract Map Ta Phut.
• Diamond Offshore gets 4 drilling pacts from Petrobras in Brazil.
• Denmark’s DONG to build two more UK wind farms.
• Boskalis Orders Two Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers.

Subscribe to the IMC Brokers Blog

• Garware Offshore to acquire construction barge.
• Baulderstone JV wins $1b port contract.
• China’s first offshore wind power generator ready.
• High seas and storms temporarily halt efforts to dismantle MSC Napoli.

Subscribe to the IMC Brokers Blog

• Boskalis to buy 2 new dredgers for 200 mln eur under current renewal programme.
• Oil salvaged from Den Den.
• Shell may sell Africa firms to Chinese.
• Merwede shipyard launches offshore vessel for Toisa Ltd.
• Iran, Azerbaijan sign maritime MOU.
• Black Sea salvage team to lift sunken oil tanker.
• Awilco Offshore signs 330 mln usd contract with BP.

Subscribe to the IMC Brokers Blog

• Pacific Carriers buys PSA′s offshore unit for $500m. (tags: offshore)
• ExxonMobil gets exploration licence for offshore Libya. (tags: ExxonMobil)

Subscribe to the IMC Brokers Blog

• ‘Ghost fleet’ ships in limbo after Md. salvage yard closes.
• SBM Offshore receives 950 mln usd orders, contracts.
• Offshore windfarm plans ‘take step forward’.

In a statement issued by Vroon Offshore it was confirmed that the three crew members airlifted to Hull Royal Infirmary earlier this afternoon from the Viking Islay are dead.

Their families have been informed and Vroon Offshore Services can now confirm their details.

The able seamen were coxswains Finlay MacFadyen (46) from Aberdeen and Robert O’Brien (59) from Leven in Fife; and boatman Robert Ebertowski (40) from Gydnia, Poland.

The Viking Islay, a 53 metre The Viking Islay is an 1986 built Emergency Rescue and Response Vessels/ Safety Standby Vessels, was supporting the Ensco 92 drilling rig on BP’s Amethyst Field in the Southern North Sea when the accident occurred. She has now returned to port in Immingham where a full investigation will be carried out by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

Graham Philip, chief executive of Vroon Offshore Services Limited said: “This is a tragic incident which has shocked everyone at Vroon. Our heart-felt condolences go out to the family and friends of our colleagues and we are doing everything we can as an organisation to support them at this time.

“All three men were valued and dedicated seafarers and between them had over sixty years experience at sea.”

“The details of the incident are still to be established but it would appear that the men were undertaking an operation to secure an anchor chain in a storage area in the bow of the vessel.

“We are doing, and will continue to do, all we can to find out what happened. Our own investigation team has travelled to Immingham to work with the MAIB, the police and other relevant parties to carry out a full and transparent investigation.”

Vroon Offshore Services Limited is a UK company based in Aberdeen. It owns and operates 32 vessels ranging from purpose built cargo-carrying field support vessels to towing vessels and conventional emergency response and rescue vessels.

source: Vroon Offshore

Tags : Viking Islay, Vroon Offshore

Med Offshore recently ordered an AHTS 6615 of the Damen Offshore series. This is the second time Med Offshore orders an anchor handling tug supply vessel from Damen, following the AHTS 6114, Med Otto, which was delivered to Med Offshore in September 2006.

Med Offshore the Italian shipping company owned by the Garolla Family operates a fleet of supply boats and anchor handlers while the Holding company Sarda Bunkers operates a fleet of tankers for the transportation of bunkers and oil products. The newly ordered vessel will form part of the fleet renewal program which started with the acquisition of the AHTS 6114, Med Otto. The vessel will be mainly deployed in the Mediterranean. However, she is designed and equipped for world wide services. The AHTS 6615 is one of the latest designs from the Damen Offshore Series. The Offshore Series include both AHTS and PSV type of vessels covering a bollard pull range from 80 to 160 ton (AHTS) and a deadweight range varying from 2000 to 4500 ton (PSV).

The propulsion configuration consists of 2 MaK 8M32C engines of 4000 kW each, driving Rolls-Royce controllable pitch propellers in Damen Optima nozzles. Each gearbox will have a 1200 kW shaft alternator. The vessel is equipped with a Rolls-Royce Brattvaag waterfall winch, having a pull of 250 ton. The vessels will be classed by Bureau Veritas and will comply with the requirements of the Italian flag, and among other regulations, with the latest amendments to the IMO resolution A673(16), “Guidelines for the Transport and Handling of Limited amounts of Hazardous and Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk on Offshore Support Vessels” The notation includes FiFi-1 and DP-2. Ample tank capacity is available for fuel oil, potable water, ballast & drill water, dry bulk, liquid mud, brine and recovered oil. Accommodation is provided for 29 persons divided over single, double and quadruple cabins. Construction of the vessel will take place at Damen Shipyards Galati in and the delivery of the vessel is scheduled for 2009.

source: Damen

Tags : Med Offshore, Damen, AHTS

India’s Great Offshore Ltd is believed to be taking over Norwegian offshore company PetroJack AS in a 500 mln usd deal, the Economic Times reported.

The deal is likely to be closed within a couple of weeks, it added.

However, it said Great Offshore managing director Vijay Sheth refused to comment, as did senior officials at India-based Aban Offshore, which owns a considerable stake in PetroJack through Sinvest ASA of Norway, which was bought by Aban in 2006.

source: ABC Money

Tags : Great Offshore, PetroJack, jack-up

Offshore workers were airlifted from a drilling rig in the North Sea following an engine fire.
A total of 32 of the 87 personnel were taken off the installation before the fire was brought under control on Tuesday night. No-one was injured.

The Ocean Guardian rig, which is owned by Diamond Offshore and has a potential drilling depth of 25,000ft, is located 120 miles north east of Aberdeen.

A spokesman for Diamond said the evacuation had been a precaution.
“We have had a fire in the engine room,” he said.
“As a precaution we began down-manning non-essential personnel.”

Damage assessment

The fire broke out at about 1900 BST on Tuesday.
The spokesman added: “The fire is out and there are no injuries, everyone is accounted for.
“There were two helicopters which lifted a total of 32 people off the rig, 19 were in one helicopter and 13 in the second.
“Fifty five people are still on board and the incident is at an end. We are in the process of assessing the damage.”
He said there was a fire suppression system in place which was activated when the fire broke out.

The Houston-based company described the Ocean Guardian as a semi-submersible drilling rig.

source: BBC NEWS

Tags : Diamond Offshore, Ocean Guardian, semisubmersible

SUBSEA 7 INC. announced today that it has been awarded a contract valued at upwards of US $ 80 million by BP Angola (Block 18) BV. The contract is for Life of Field support services in the Block 18 Greater Plutonio development.

Subsea 7 and its subsidiary Sevenseas Angola will be providing project management and engineering for the maintenance, repair and light construction work that is required in this deepwater field. The tie-ins of production flowlines and water injection lines to several Block 18 subsea wells are part of the work scope.

The 3 year contract which will start immediately, with an option for another 2 years, will also have Subsea 7 provide two Hercules ROV’s to work from BP’s deepwater support vessel. The two ROV’s are state of the art work class vehicles equipped with the latest tooling and inspection tools.

Jan Willem van der Graaf, Subsea 7’s Vice-President for the Africa region comments,

“In addition to our proven EPIC capability, it is a core part of Subsea 7’s strategy to provide our clients with long term maintenance and construction support during the operational phase of their fields. Subsea 7 has a proven track record in Life of Field type of business over many years in other parts of the globe. We are pleased that we can bring this expertise to the market in Africa. We look forward to working closely with our Angolan partners, BP Angola and all our subcontractors to make this project a success.”

source: subsea 7

Tags : subsea 7, ROV, Angola, Offshore