Offshore Energy News

Heerema Marine Contractors has extended its global framework agreement with Fugro for another four years, securing continued survey and positioning support for its heavy-lift vessel fleet across offshore installation, decommissioning and wind projects.The renewed agreement runs from January 2027 through December 2030 and covers Fugro's positioning and survey services for Heerema's offshore operations worldwide.Fugro will provide Geo-data and positioning support for the transport…

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…

We are entering in interesting period in the subsea vessel market, as contract backlog among the EPCs continue to rise to new all-time highs, existing long-term contracts are coming up for renewals, and a wave of newbuilds are closing in on delivery. On the top end, the market dynamics are changing as the Tier 1 EPC landscape is consolidating, while the fleet is expected to see a net growth of more than 20% in the coming two years.The still pending merger between Saipem and Subsea 7 is getting closer, with now only the European Commission’s Phase II review outstanding at the time of writing.

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.

Fugro has secured a contract from 50Hertz to carry out unexploded ordnance (UXO) survey, identification and clearance work for the LanWin3 and LanWin6 offshore grid connection projects in the German sector of the North Sea.The work will help prepare cable routes for the installation of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables connecting offshore wind farms to Germany's electricity network.The two grid connections will each have a transmission capacity of up to 2 GW, providing…

Saitec Offshore Technologies and Japan's Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) have agreed to extend operations at the 2 MW DemoSATH floating offshore wind demonstrator in Spain through 2027, with Japanese construction company Kumagai Gumi joining the project as a new partner.The three companies have signed a cooperation agreement to continue operating the floating wind turbine at the BiMEP open-sea test site off the Basque coast, shifting the project's focus towards research…

SSE Renewables has selected Subsea7's Seaway7 as preferred supplier for offshore wind turbine foundations and subsea inter-array cables at its 1.4 GW Berwick Bank B offshore wind project in Scotland, under an agreement expected to support 465 UK jobs.The preferred supplier agreement covers engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of approximately 90 fixed-bottom turbine foundations, as well as the design, supply and installation of inter-array cables.The project is planned for the outer Firth of Forth…

Greece said on Thursday the developer of an EU-backed undersea power cable scheme in the eastern Mediterranean has applied for a license to resume seabed surveying, key for the long-delayed project to move ahead.Construction of the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) aims to link the European mainland to Cyprus and later Israel, but is opposed by Turkey.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Athens last week said the US was "very committed" to the project as it promotes energy supply diversification…

A Ukrainian ex-military officer goes on trial in Germany on Wednesday, accused of organising the secret operation that blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022, severing western Europe from the biggest source of Russian natural gas.The suspect, identified under German privacy rules only as Serhii K., is accused of leading a group of Ukrainian agents including divers and an explosives expert to mount one of the biggest infrastructure sabotage operations of modern…

The topsides and jackets for two offshore substations serving Germany's 927 MW Gennaker offshore wind farm have departed the Netherlands for installation in the Baltic Sea as part of the OST-6-1 offshore grid connection project.The OSS Zingst and OSS Darß substations are being delivered by the HSI joint venture, comprising Smulders HSM and Iv, under an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract.The substations, each with a capacity of approximately 450 MW…

Sumitomo Corporation Global Metals Co., Ltd. (SCGM) and TFI Marine Limited have formed a partnership to introduce innovation into mooring solutions for floating offshore wind and offshore energy projects. The partnership enables and accelerates the deployment of floating offshore wind in Japan and globally, contributing to decarbonization and energy security.Mooring systems are among the principal cost and risk drivers in floating offshore wind. As projects move into deeper water and towards commercial scale…

Incat Crowther will provide naval architecture and design services to America’s largest shipbuilder HII for ROMULUS unmanned surface vessels (USVs) being built under the U.S. Navy's Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) program.HII has been awarded a U.S. Navy contract to build the vessels, with Incat Crowther supporting the program through its Louisiana-based team as a member of the ROMULUS project team.ROMULUS is a modular family of AI-enabled unmanned surface vessels based on HII's open-architecture Odyssey Advanced Autonomy Solutions and designed to address current and emerging U.S.

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

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…

Global LNG prices could shoot higher this winter as Europe holds its lowest stocks in years and North Asian buyers face increased competition with the Strait of Hormuz still closed, executives said at an industry conference this week.Europe will enter this winter more vulnerable than usual amid storage levels that are lower than last year, industry executives and analysts said at Gastech in Bangkok.At the same time, the war on Iran has prevented Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from shipping liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz…

China dipped into its massive crude oil stockpile in August for the third month in the past four as increased refinery processing exceeded a modest increase in oil imports.Refineries processed about 640,000 barrels per day (bpd) more than what was available to them from imports and domestic oil production, according to calculations based on official data.China, the world's biggest crude importer, slashed its purchases to the lowest in a decade in the wake of the higher oil prices caused by the disruption to supplies from the Middle East after the U.S.

MacGregor has expanded its offshore technology portfolio with a certified floating-to-floating personnel transfer capability for its Horizon gangway and a new bow transfer system designed for direct ship-to-well transfer of LCO2.The Horizon gangway has received DNV certification under DNV-ST-0358 for floating-to-floating personnel transfers following a successful sea acceptance test. The certification enables motion-compensated connections between two vessels moving independently…

Excessive humidity can damage sensitive equipment in offshore measurement systems, impair data quality and necessitate costly service call-outs. Customers in offshore data collection and marine research therefore use ThoMar's SeaDry to reduce humidity inside protected enclosures and technical cavities.SeaDry was developed to cope with high levels of humidity and extreme climatic changes during transport at sea. Manufactured in Germany, this salt-and-starch-based high-performance…

C-Job Naval Architects and Glomar unveiled the design of a next-generation Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) that the pair claims provides a breakthrough in versatility and sustainable engineering.Purpose-built as Glomar’s first vessel of its kind, the design eliminates the need for multiple specialized ships. Engineered for peak performance across diverse offshore tasks — from subsea inspections and cable trenching to ROV operations — this vessel sets a new industry benchmark as a “Swiss Army knife” for offshore work.“This project reflects C-Job’s drive to deliver innovative…

For generations, the Gulf of America has served as the proving ground for offshore innovation. Every major chapter in modern offshore energy has depended upon American engineers, geoscientists, mariners, fabricators, regulators, and offshore workers to solve problems many believed were beyond reach.From the earliest fixed platforms to deepwater production, subsea systems, floating facilities, and today's 20,000 psi reservoirs, the Gulf of America has consistently demonstrated…

Moby Robotics is a new entrant to the subsea swarm autonomous robotic space, created in 2025 and aiming to take a leadership role in the discovery and recovery of subsea minerals market.The race to secure critical minerals from the deep ocean has accelerated dramatically over the past two years, driven by geopolitical concerns, energy transition goals and growing demand for rare earth elements. While much of the industry's attention has centered on regulatory debates and large mining contractors…

When maritime autonomy is discussed, the image is often a large cargo ship crossing an ocean without a crew. That remains a longer-term regulatory and technical challenge. The more immediate commercial market is developing elsewhere – smaller uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are already surveying seabeds, inspecting pipelines and cables, monitoring offshore wind farms, and collecting hydrographic and geophysical data.Intelatus Global Partners identifies 825 USV…