Activity News

Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LD Armateurs) has taken delivery of the DP2 multipurpose support vessel TVO Mariner for its LD TravOcean subsidiary, expanding its capacity for subsea cable installation, repair and protection work.The vessel, delivered to the group in mid-September, will support telecommunications cable installation and repairs, trenching and deepwater ROV operations, as well as offshore wind projects.“The TVO Mariner gives us full ownership on project execution for submarine cable installation and repairs, trenching services and deep water ROV operations.

Ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman for Middle Eastern oil from inside the Strait of Hormuz have reached their limits after Saudi Arabia diverted exports from the Red Sea, adding to shipments from other producers, trade sources and analysts said.The increasing amount of Saudi exports this month requires more supertankers to shuttle crude through Hormuz to conduct cargo transfers, they said. That has reduced ship availability, raising shipping costs and increasing the time…

Crude oil flows out of the Strait of Hormuz reached 33.7 million barrels so far in the week starting September 20, preliminary ship-tracking data from Kpler showed on Friday, putting exports roughly on track with the previous week's levels.The traffic comprised 19 tankers, of which 17 are very large crude carriers (VLCCs) that can carry 2 million barrels of oil, the data showed. Most of the tankers are laden with crude from Saudi Arabia, followed by Iraq.For the full previous week…

The US Senate is nearing a deal to reform laws to speed up permitting of large infrastructure projects after the White House compromised on how renewable energy is treated, though a vote is uncertain before the midterm elections, a top Senate Democrat said on Thursday.Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the environment committee, and fellow Democrat Martin Heinrich have negotiated permitting legislation with Republican counterparts for months, after the talks had been cut off in December when President Donald Trump halted five near-complete offshore East Coast wind farms.Whitehous

Van Oord has named its two next-generation flexible fallpipe vessels Vindnes and Vestnes, with the 35,000-tonne-capacity ships scheduled for delivery in 2028 and 2029.The purpose-built vessels, currently under construction at Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore in China, will expand Van Oord's subsea rock installation capacity for offshore wind, interconnector and other energy infrastructure projects.Unlike converted vessels, Vindnes and Vestnes have been designed specifically for subsea rock installation…

Fincantieri's Norwegian subsidiary Vard has signed a contract, worth between $76 million and $86 million, to build a commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) for Dong Fang Offshore, marking the fifth vessel ordered by the Taiwan-based marine contractor from the shipbuilder.The vessel will be based on VARD 4 39 design and adapted for subsea operations, offshore wind installation and maintenance, as well as cable laying and repair work.Measuring about 102.5 meters long and 19.5 meters wide…

ABL has been appointed by German transmission system operator 50Hertz to provide marine warranty survey services for the 2 GW Ostwind 4 offshore grid connection project in the German Baltic Sea.The consultancy will provide marine assurance for transportation and installation operations covering subsea cables and offshore infrastructure, including the installation of the project's converter platform and associated assets.Ostwind 4 will be the first project to use a high-voltage…

Fugro has secured a marine asset integrity contract in Australia covering the replacement of critical subsea infrastructure and survey and inspection work, with offshore operations expected to start towards the end of 2027.The contract, awarded by an undisclosed client, combines subsea intervention with survey and inspection services using Fugro's remote operations capabilities.Fugro will provide engineering, project management and offshore execution for the campaign, aimed at…

Stillstrom by Maersk has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Semco Maritime to manufacture and deliver a key part of its offshore vessel charging system, moving the technology into manufacturing following completion of its design phase.Semco Maritime will manufacture the local equipment room, or local equipment room (LER), which controls power, communications and safety functions across Stillstrom's offshore charging infrastructure.The containerized unit houses the transformer and medium-voltage switchgear used to transfer offshore-generated electricity from a wind farm to a vessel…

Subsea Cable Assets (SCA) has secured its first contract, a roughly $20 million award from Saipem Contracting Netherlands for cable transportation and handling work supporting a major offshore energy project in the Caspian region.The scope covers engineering, equipment fabrication, installation and operation, demobilization and reinstatement, with SCA managing the campaign from equipment supply through to deployment.SCA will provide five cable transport carousels, each with a capacity of 1…

ABL has been appointed by Allseas as marine warranty surveyor for the single-lift removal of the Statfjord A topside in the North Sea, an operation set to use an upgraded 60,000-tonne lifting system aboard Pioneering Spirit.Allseas is carrying out the engineering, preparation, removal and disposal of the Statfjord A platform, a concrete gravity-base production facility on the Equinor-operated Statfjord field.The entire topside will be removed in a single lift by Pioneering Spirit…

CSL OWL has launched the first of two purpose-built subsea rock installation vessels designed for offshore wind construction and maintenance projects.The vessel, named Rock Star, is the first in CSL OWL's two-ship newbuilding program and is designed to carry up to 17,500 tonnes of rock and install material at rates of up to 2,000 tonnes per hour in water depths of up to 100 metres.Measuring 166.8 meters long and 40 meters wide, the vessel has a deadweight of about 21,000 tonnes…

DeepOcean and the controlling entity of TFKable Group plan to establish a joint venture offering integrated inter-array cable services for offshore wind projects, including a new purpose-built cable laying vessel (CLV).The venture will combine TFKable Group's subsea cable manufacturing capabilities, including those of Tele-Fonika Kable and JDR Cable Systems, with DeepOcean's offshore engineering, installation and seabed intervention expertise.The planned offering will cover engineering…

Oil prices fell to a two-week low on Tuesday as prospects for Gulf supplies improved, with Iran signaling it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days and Saudi Arabia set to resume exports from its Red Sea port of Yanbu.The Brent crude futures LCOc1 November contract was down $2.11, or 2.1%, to $98.23 a barrel at 1151 GMT.The WTI CLc1 October contract, which expires on Tuesday, lost $2.48, or 2.59%, to $93.30 a barrel. The more actively traded November contract CLc2 was down $2.36…

Jan De Nul has ordered a second trenching support vessel designed to bury subsea energy cables as it expands its fleet for cable installation and protection.The new vessel will be an exact sister ship to the Isambard K. Brunel, which Jan De Nul ordered in March, and will carry a subsea trencher capable of burying cables as deep as five metres into the seabed.The latest order takes the number of new vessels Jan De Nul has under construction for subsea cable installation and protection to five…

Vard has delivered Dong Fang Offshore's first newbuild, the Orient Inspirer service operation vessel (SOV), two months ahead of schedule, while the company has approved an order for another vessel from the Norwegian shipbuilder valued at up to $86 million.The Orient Inspirer, previously known as newbuild NB 987, was delivered from Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam following a ceremony on September 16 and is expected to arrive in Taiwan by the end of September.The vessel will be reflagged…

A new shuttling system is reshaping the Middle East oil market, as producers seek to keep exports flowing despite the escalating regional conflict. The question now is whether this complex, expensive process is a stopgap measure or the global energy market’s new normal.Several miles off Oman's coast, south of the Strait of Hormuz, rows of tankers lie at anchor. Many sit alongside each other, connected by ropes and hoses as they transfer crude from one vessel to another, creating…

Cadeler and Vattenfall have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore new offshore wind maintenance solutions, with a focus on major component exchanges for operating wind farms.The collaboration between Vattenfall Vindkraft and Nexra, Cadeler's dedicated offshore wind operations and maintenance platform, will combine operational expertise, service methods and long-term planning to examine more efficient and scalable approaches to maintenance.The companies will focus on Major Component Exchange capabilities across multiple turbine platforms…

A total of 17 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on the weekend, down from 37 a week earlier, shipping data showed on Monday, as tension in the Gulf persisted with the US and Iran in stalemate.Visible traffic through the strait, the conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas before the war, has dwindled to a trickle. However, Middle Eastern producers continue to export oil on tankers travelling with their transponders off.Among trackable ships…

Exmar has received Approval in Principle (AiP) from Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore for a concept to convert an existing membrane-type LNG carrier into a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit for offshore gas developments.The FLNG concept would use a membrane-type LNG carrier with an effective LNG storage capacity of about 170,000 cubic meters and a design life of 25 years.Designed for operation in mild environments, the converted vessel would provide offshore gas processing…

INEOS Energy has started commercial operations at the Greensand project in the Danish North Sea, opening what it describes as the European Union's first full-scale carbon dioxide storage site, with initial capacity of up to 400,000 tonnes per year.Denmark's King Frederik X officially opened the facility on September 18 at the Port of Esbjerg. The project is led by INEOS Energy alongside Harbour Energy and the Danish North Sea Fund, or Nordsøfonden.Greensand is designed to scale up to between 4 million and 8 million tonnes of CO2 storage annually as demand grows.In the first commercial phase…

Oil prices fell 2% on Friday, extending losses for a third straight session as easing concerns over Saudi supply disruptions outweighed anxiety about a widening of conflict across the Middle East.Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell by $2.14, or 2%, to $102.68 a barrel by 0806 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 futures fell $1.83, or 1.8%, to $100.08.Benchmark Brent prices are on track for their first weekly loss in three.Immediate concerns over supply tightness have been eased by a combination of Saudi Arabia loading more crude via Oman…

Argentina's government has presented a bill to crack down on companies operating in the Falkland Islands, potentially escalating tensions with the United Kingdom over the territory that is controlled by Britain but claimed by Argentina.The proposal introduced on Thursday toughens sanctions on companies and people who unlawfully participate in activities in the Falklands and in Argentina's maritime spaces and continental shelf in "any type of activity aimed at the utilization of…