Europe News

NYK Line has ordered a new service operation vessel (SOV) from PaxOcean Group for offshore wind projects in Taiwan and the wider Asia-Pacific region, with delivery planned around 2029.PaxOcean will build the vessel at its Graha yard in Batam, Indonesia, while Ulstein Design & Solutions will provide the design and engineering package based on its SX222 platform.The 89.6-metre-long, 19.2-metre-wide vessel will accommodate up to 120 people and support offshore wind construction, operations and maintenance…

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.

TKMS and EDGE Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore jointly developing underwater surveillance and protection capabilities combining multiple platforms and sensor systems.The companies plan to evaluate an integrated multi-system approach to underwater security, combining TKMS's platform capabilities with EDGE's systems expertise to provide surveillance, protection and a comprehensive situational picture of the underwater domain.The MoU was signed as part of…

Interferry, the global trade association representing the ferry industry, has welcomed the European Commission’s proposed revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The association says the proposal has significant potential to accelerate maritime decarbonization, provided the final text secures accessible onshore power infrastructure and reliable grid connections through Member State obligations and more robust funding mechanisms. Interferry strongly supports the proposal’s…

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…

Stena Line has ordered two hybrid E-Flexer RoPax ferries from China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyard for delivery in 2030, with the vessels intended for its Gothenburg-Frederikshavn route between Sweden and Denmark.Each 214.5-metre vessel will accommodate 1,500 passengers and provide 2,750 lane metres of freight capacity across three vehicle decks, comprising one deck for passenger vehicles and two for freight.The day ferries will use hybrid propulsion allowing operation on…

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…

Euro zone bond yields fell for a second straight day on Tuesday, hitting their lowest in almost two weeks after Iran raised the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Washington hinted it could restart talks with Tehran, pushing oil prices lower.Germany's 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the bloc, fell 1 basis point to 3.44% after rising as much as 4 bps earlier in the session. It fell 7 bps on Monday as energy prices retreated.A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the strait…

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…

Trafigura has established Volare Shipping as a dedicated oil tanker owner with six Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) operating and eight newbuilds on order, and plans to raise about $500 million before listing the company in Oslo.Volare's eight newbuild VLCCs are scheduled for progressive delivery between 2026 and October 2028, taking its fleet to 14 vessels. Trafigura's global shipping business will commercially manage the fleet.Volare is contemplating a private placement of about $500 million that would fully fund its existing newbuilding program…

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…

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…

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…

A Russian frigate fired two flares towards a Danish military helicopter in international waters off Denmark on Monday, narrowly missing the aircraft, the Nordic NATO member's military said.The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after incidents involving gas pipeline outages, airspace violations and drone sightings since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, all of which have increased tensions between Moscow and the West.The Fennec military helicopter had been on a routine mission to photograph the Russian frigate…

XRG, ADNOC and SEFE have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore wider cooperation across the natural gas and LNG value chain, including supply, infrastructure and shipping opportunities aimed at Germany and the wider European market.The agreement covers potential cooperation in four areas: security of supply, market development and growth, supply chain resilience, and portfolio and shipping optimization.The companies will explore combining ADNOC's UAE-based supply and XRG's international supply sources with SEFE's market presence…