Activity News

Vard has started construction of the UPO Atlantic commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) for U-Ming Purus Offshore (UPO), following a steel-cutting ceremony at its Vard Vung Tau shipyard in Vietnam.The ceremony, held on November 2, marked the first construction milestone for the vessel, designated NB 1004 and based on Vard's VARD 4 19 design.The UPO Atlantic is being developed to support offshore wind projects in Taiwan and across Asia, as part of UPO's expansion into the…

BOURBON has taken delivery of the first of two new 34-meter crew boats from Grandweld Shipyards in Dubai, expanding its fleet of offshore personnel transport vessels.The first vessel was officially delivered on November 3 following successful sea trials.Designed to transport offshore personnel, the new vessels have capacity for 60 passengers, with business-class-style seating, a cruising speed of up to 38 knots and improved fuel efficiency compared with the previous generation…

Cadeler has signed a firm contract to support turbine transportation and installation at the 1.2 GW Dogger Bank C offshore wind project in the UK, with its newbuild Wind Apex wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) scheduled to join the campaign in the third quarter of 2027.The contract will mark the first deployment of Wind Apex following its delivery from the shipyard, according to Cadeler.The vessel will work alongside the project's existing installation vessel, providing additional…

Dutch-based Jack-Up Barge, backed by the Van Es Group, has expanded its fleet with the three-legged accommodation and services jack-up unit JB 121, following a naming ceremony in Dalian, China.The ceremony took place on November 3 at Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore, ahead of the unit's scheduled departure for the Netherlands in early November.Jack-Up Barge, a company that provides support services across the offshore wind, oil and gas, and maritime infrastructure sectors, initiated the acquisition of JB 121 earlier in 2026 as part of its fleet expansion strategy…

Stillstrom by Maersk has completed the construction and factory acceptance testing of what it describes as the world's first 11 kV vessel-mounted connection unit designed to charge service operation vessels (SOVs) directly from offshore wind farms.The milestone, witnessed by DNV, marks the completion of testing for Stillstrom's Vessel Container Unit (VCU), a modular system designed to transfer electricity from offshore wind infrastructure to vessel batteries.The containerised unit houses an 11 kV connector package and can be installed at the bow…

Saudi state oil giant Aramco is working to expand a crude pipeline that circumvents the Strait of Hormuz as the world continues to experience the biggest energy supply shock in history, CEO Amin Nasser said on Tuesday.The effective blockade of the chokepoint that links the Gulf to world markets, previously a conduit for 20% of global oil supplies, has redrawn global energy flows and infrastructure investment priorities among the region's oil producers.Last month, Saudi Energy…

Hornbeck Offshore Services has signed multiple agreements with Shell to provide deepwater well intervention and marine support services in the U.S. Gulf of America, with operations scheduled to begin in 2027.The agreements cover riser-based well intervention, riserless well intervention stimulation support and marine transportation services, according to Hornbeck.Under the agreements, Hornbeck expects to deploy a riser-based well intervention vessel equipped with an Intervention Riser System (IRS) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)…

Oil fell nearly 4% on Monday as talks between Iranian and Qatari officials on a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran raised hopes that Middle East supply disruptions could ease.Iranian negotiators left Doha talks on Sunday, but not due to difficulties in negotiations, an official briefed on the meeting told Reuters on Monday."The new month brought with it renewed hopes of a breakthrough in the Iranian stalemate," said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell $4.20…

Big Oil is reaping near record cash windfalls from the eight-month-old Iran war, but Western energy producers’ reluctance to ramp up spending reveals persistent doubts about the industry’s long-term outlook.BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell and TotalEnergies reported combined net profits of $56 billion in the third quarter, driven by surging oil and gas prices, record-high refining margins and strong trading results.BP posted its highest quarterly profit ever, $8.5 billion, as earnings from its refining business rose tenfold from a year earlier.

Borr Drilling has confirmed the recovery of a fourth body following the sinking of its Prospector 5 jack-up rig offshore Gabon, with search operations continuing for one person still missing.The company said on November 2 that the body of a fourth individual had been located during ongoing search and rescue operations, bringing the number of confirmed fatalities to four.All four bodies have been recovered and are being transported to Port Gentil, Gabon.The Prospector 5 sank offshore…

Huisman has secured a contract from Siem Industries to supply four knuckle boom cranes for two offshore subsea construction vessels under construction at Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding in China, with deliveries of the vessels scheduled for 2029 and 2030.The contract covers two 400-tonne knuckle boom cranes with below-deck winches and two 50-tonne auxiliary cranes with deepwater capabilities, Huisman announced on October 29.The cranes will be manufactured at Huisman's production facility in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, China, while the vessels are being built at Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding in Fuzhou.Th

Solstad Maritime has secured two contracts for its Normand Australis construction support vessel (CSV) in the Asia Pacific region, with a combined firm duration of 250 days.The contracts will be executed consecutively, with operations expected to begin in December 2026, Solstad Maritime announced on October 30.The agreements also include options for a combined 75 additional days beyond the firm contract periods.The estimated value of the contracts is at the lower end of the $10 million to $30 million range.Under the contracts, Normand Australis will provide remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and

Dutch geological data specialist Fugro said on Friday that Iran war-linked disruptions had dented its earnings by €25 million ($28 million) this year, including €10 million in the third quarter alone, while GPS jamming and restrictions on vessel movements continued to hamper Gulf offshore operations.Some clients in the region have altered project plans and, in some cases, used their own vessels for work that would otherwise have been contracted to Fugro, CEO Mark Heine told Reuters."We have work…

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has launched IMCA 2030, a four-year strategy designed to ensure the association remains relevant, authoritative, and valuable to members as the offshore construction industry navigates a period of significant change.Launched at the IMCA Global Summit in Antwerp, Belgium, the strategy responds to major industry trends including the growth of AI and automation, the energy transition, evolving regulatory requirements, and increasing competition for talent and skills.

DeepOcean has secured a contract from Tullow Ghana to carry out subsea gas lift riser retermination work at the Jubilee field offshore Ghana, using its recently upgraded Orient Adventurer subsea construction vessel.The project involves a gas lift riser connecting the Kwame Nkrumah floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to the Jubilee subsea production system, with offshore operations scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026.DeepOcean's scope includes project management…

DNV has issued a Statement of Feasibility for Aker BP and Höegh Evi's concept to transport liquefied carbon dioxide (CO2) by shuttle carriers and inject it directly into subsea wells for permanent storage at the Atlas project offshore Norway.The assessment covers the offshore infrastructure required to transfer CO2 from vessels into the reservoir, with DNV concluding that the main technical challenges and uncertainties identified are manageable at the current stage of development.The Atlas project…

Shipbuilder Vard has launched a new energy construction vessel (ECV) being built for Wind Energy Construction, a Norwegian company partly owned by the founders and owners of Norwind Offshore, with delivery scheduled for the second quarter of 2027.The vessel, designated NB985, was successfully launched on October 27 and is under construction at Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam, Vard announced.Based on Vard's VARD 3 11 design, the vessel is intended for offshore wind and subsea operations, including inspection, maintenance and repair of subsea pipelines, as well as the construction and installation of o

Three bodies have been located inside the wreck of Borr Drilling's Prospector 5 jack-up rig, which sank offshore Gabon on October 24, with search and rescue operations continuing for two people still missing.The bodies were discovered during underwater inspections using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), Vice-Admiral Charles Hubert Bekale-Meyong, chief of staff of the Gabonese Navy and commander of the search-and-rescue operation, confirmed in an October 28 statement.The images obtained did not allow the bodies to be identified…

With USD$9.87 million (8.85 million euros) in funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), Fraunhofer IFAM is establishing a new research infrastructure for wind energy. The FOKUS-Wind project will create Germany's first end-to-end testing and validation chain for autonomous systems in offshore wind farms across the institute's sites in Bremen, Cuxhaven, and Heligoland. The infrastructure will enable companies and research organizations to develop, test, and qualify drones, robotic systems, and sensors under realistic operating conditions.

Germany's Economy Minister Katherina Reiche on Wednesday said companies may return previously auctioned offshore wind farm sites, provided they pay a penalty to transmission system operators, as mounting economic pressures continue to batter the sector.The move comes as increasing financing costs, overcapacity in certain sea areas and declining revenue expectations have made it harder for developers to deliver on awarded projects.In a letter to Reiche, the heads of eight of Germany's 16 states called on her to amend a bill before the German lower house of parliamentThey advocated for a one-tim

GE Vernova Inc. announced that it will acquire Trench Group, a provider of high-voltage grid equipment, from investment firm Triton Partners. The deal will create scale across GE Vernova’s Electrification product lines, expanding its capabilities to better serve customers with integrated solutions that meet demand for grid modernization, energy security, and electrification technologies. By vertically integrating an existing supplier with a complementary product portfolio, the acquisition will directly enhance GE Vernova’s two largest Electrification businesses…

An oil spill from a damaged tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates has widened, satellite images showed, triggering more beach closures and raising environmental concerns.Images from the European Union's Copernicus satellite observation network dated October 24 show the oil spill has widened over the last few days and is reaching close to the shores of the northern Umm Al Quwain emirate, with dark layers of oil spreading at sea and along its coastline.Since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran…

Turkey may reach agreements to make acquisitions or further explore for hydrocarbons by the end of the year as part of its target to produce 1 million barrels of oil and natural gas a day, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Tuesday.Speaking at the Turkey Energy Summit in Istanbul, Bayraktar said Turkey had a production capacity of 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent, adding that the current planning had this reaching 550,000 to 600,000 by 2028Reaching the target would mean more than tripling Turkey's current output, and even the level planned for 2028 would leave it well short.