With 22 active heave compensated (AHC) cranes ranging from 10t to 250t currently operational on its vessels and another 17 on order, French offshore service provider Bourbon Subsea Services considers itself something of an authority on AHC crane capabilities…
With a number of new vessels in the works and others just starting to make their presence felt in the market, Jumbo Offshore's recent announcement that it will build a new-generation K-Class heavylift vessel suggests there's still plenty of competitive juice in the offshore installation…
Back from the SEG annual meeting in San Antonio, Andrew McBarnet detects stirrings in the market for ocean bed seismic services.Ten years ago when the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) held its annual meeting in San Antonio, the event…
The offshore yard of Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea will start cutting steel for Dockwise's new marine transportation super vessel in September. David Morgan reports.Previously referred to as ‘Type 0' but officially named as Dockwise Vanguard on 19 August…
Seaway Heavy Lifting (SHL) is anticipating a relatively quiet year or two for its vessels in the North Sea but, if the events of recent months are anything to go by, work from unexpected sources could yet turn that forecast on its head. David Morgan reports…
Baker Hughes' latest fracturing and stimulation vessel, the Blue Tarpon, is designed for operations in the Lower Tertiary play of the Gulf of Mexico. Katie Jernigan takes a look at the newest addition to the Baker Hughes fleet. Chouest owns…
The proliferation of modern specialist vessels serving just about every sector of the offshore oil & gas business has not gone unnoticed by traditional shipping industry equipment and service providers, as was plain to see at the 2011 Nor-Shipping event in Oslo late May…
On 1 July 2011, Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) announced that it reached an agreement with The Rezayat Group of Saudi Arabia (Rezayat) to sell SMIT’s terminal and AHTS transport activities to Lamnalco Ltd. (Lamnalco). Boskalis and Rezayat each own a 50% stake in Lamnalco…
With floating LNG facilities now widely acknowledged to be a key enabler for exploiting stranded gas reserves, Trelleborg Marine Systems' Simon Wilson offers some insights into the new design methodologies needed for integrated berthing and…
Finland's Wärtsilä and Norway's Aker Solutions are combining their respective fields of expertise to develop the ultimate environmentally friendly offshore wind farm installation vessel concept, designed for operating in IMO emission control areas…
The world's largest cargo barge – Heerema's H-851 – announced its arrival on the offshore scene in 1988 when installing the 44,785t jacket for Shell's Bullwinkle platform in a then daunting 412m of water in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, following…
Seaway Heavy Lifting will shortly take delivery of its second heavylift crane vessel, the state-of-the-art Oleg Strashnov. David Morgan looks at some of the new HLV 's novelties and niceties. The Oleg Strashnov has been a while coming…
The old rivalry between ROV pilots and divers appears to be breaking down, as both sides recognize the considerable benefits of working together. Russell McCulley referees.--'When I started, it was taboo to even get near an ROV,' says Michael Johnson…
Exploration and production at greater depths and a heightened emphasis on safety could mean even bigger roles for ROVs in offshore operations. Experts say the machines are not just up for the challenge, but ahead of the game. Russell McCulley reports…
With a year of incident-free operation in West Africa under their belt, Steve Douglas and David Brittan reckon combining the first CrewZer-class vessel with the latest Frog transfer devices has produced arguably the industry's safest crew supply…