Maersk annouces first ever investment in Portuguese start-up

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May 31, 2019

Maersk has invested in the technologic startup Huub. This is the first ever investment made by the shipping giant in a Portuguese startup. Huub, a 'brand accelerator', announced that the investment round was performed by Maersk’s Corporate Venture unit Maersk Growth.

With this new round, HUUB closes its early-stage investment cycle with an overall of EUR 4.35 million. This amount represents more than the double average seed on the USA and exceeds the European average by four times.

This investment will now enable the start-up to follow its strategic plan, aiming to triple the current number of brands, increasing European logistics operations and enhancing effectiveness and competitiveness, before the start of the next investment round.

Huub manages end-to-end interactions from suppliers to customers on both B2B and direct to consumer.

The company expects to close 2019 with a revenue of EUR 3.5 million, marking a growth of about 200% in comparison to the last year.

Source;safety4sea

World’s Largest Commercial Ocean Current Energy Project to be Developed by OceanBased in Partnership with Florida Atlantic University

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May 31, 2019

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OceanBased Perpetual Energy, LLC (OceanBased) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Florida Atlantic University’s Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNMREC) to assist the company to develop the world’s largest commercial ocean current energy project. The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a mutual interest and agreement between the two entities for the development of the project.

The goal of the project, which plans to focus on an area off the southeast coast of Florida, will be the installation of hundreds of megawatts (MWs) of ocean current generating equipment. The equipment is planned to be installed below the sea surface, below the deepest drafts of any seagoing vessels, and connected to the U.S. transmission system.

The initial phase of OceanBased’s project will focus on verifying compatibility between generation and subsea transmission equipment. Installation of up to 1MW of shore-connected capacity is expected to follow, reaching up to 20MW within as few as five years.

Wind has longtime been the star of the show when it comes to renewables, but we believe there is a vast untapped resource in our oceans to be the next great frontier of renewable energy. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated that the Gulf Stream can produce up to 45 terawatt hours per year of generation for Florida. That’s as much as 2-3 of Florida’s nuclear generation plants. The Gulf Stream’s unique characteristics among renewables as a constant energy resource is what prompted us to choose this location, said Nasser M.N. Alshemaimry, Chairman and CEO of OceanBased, a serial entrepreneur with decades of experience building companies in diverse sectors.

SNMREC is one of three centers designated by the U.S. Department of Energy to assist companies with the responsible development of marine renewables. Also designated as a State of Florida Center of Excellence, for nearly a decade FAU researchers have been tackling questions related to the success of marine renewables such as resource characterization, environmental interactions and technology gaps.

"This agreement helps to formalize our mutual interest in accelerating marine renewable commercial projects in the U.S.,” said Gabriel Alsenas, director of SNMREC. “We especially like to see this type of commitment from private sector project developers as a sign that our efforts to stimulate new markets with our research efforts is paying off."

In 2019, OceanBased joined SNMREC’s Preferred Partner Program, which provides the company with access to customized guidance for its project scoping and market development needs. SNMREC plans to provide OceanBased with technical, strategic, and regulatory support, vital to the project’s success.

"We must invent and innovate ways to avert the great challenges, obstacles and dangers associated with global climate change,” said Nasser M.N. Alshemaimry.

We are proud to partner with FAU to launch one of the most ambitious renewable energy projects to date and make a statement that we cannot pretend, ignore, conserve or drill our way out of the global energy crisis. Unlocking the opportunities of our oceans is incredibly exciting, and we look forward to continuing to update on progress.

Global LNG Trade Continues to Increas

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May 31, 2019

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Höegh LNG Partners, a provider of floating liquid natural gas (LNG) services under long-term contracts, said that with new LNG production facilities in the US and around the world coming on stream, global LNG trade continues to increase.

This, together with competitive LNG pricing and environmental arguments, are driving interest in FSRUs world-wide, said the company which owns and operates floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) which act as floating LNG import terminals.

"With an established platform of long-term contracts, Höegh LNG Partners is in a strong position to maintain its leadership position in the FSRU sector and fund incremental growth opportunities as they crystalize," said Steffen Føreid, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

Höegh LNG reported time charter revenues of $36.1 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared to $34.9 million of time charter revenues for the first quarter of 2018.

All the vessels were on-hire for the entire first quarter of 2019, it said.

Big Moon rises on Welsh tidal scheme

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May 31, 2019

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Canadian technology provider Big Moon Power has joined a tidal energy project in Anglesey, North Wales, in the UK.

The deal follows on from several visits by Nova Scotia-based Big Moon Power to North Wales and discussions with Morlais, a social enterprise-run demonstration site on the west coast of Anglesey.

Subject to receiving relevant consents the new agreement will enable Big Moon to deploy its tidal energy technology at a commercial scale at the site.

Run by Menter Mon, Morlais has the potential to become one of the largest tidal stream energy sites in the world.

The first stage of the project, which is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government, aims to secure consent for the development of the zone.

The second stage will put the necessary infrastructure in place for various developers, such as Big Moon, to implement their devices at the site.

Morlais was first awarded rights to develop the West Anglesey Zone from the Crown Estate in 2014.

Welcoming Big Moon Morlais director Gerallt Llewelyn Jones said: “It is an exciting time to be part of the marine energy sector and we’re really pleased that Big Moon has joined a growing list of developers who are keen to work with us."

Securing maximum benefit for the community through the project is central to our aims at Morlais and Menter Mon – Big Moon shares this vision, making our partnership an excellent fit.

Big Moon Power was founded by former Xerox Services president Lynn Blodgett in 2015, with the aim of harnessing tidal power and developing a new and sustainable business model for renewable energy.

Blodgett said: “There are many similarities between the community where we work in Nova Scotia and the community here on Anglesey – and making sure that they benefit from developments such as this is what drives us at Big Moon and Menter Mon."

For this reason I firmly believe that this is the beginning of a successful partnership as we work to develop and promote the marine energy sector.

The public will get an opportunity to view the latest plans for Morlais and meet the team at three public information days to be held this month at the Trearddur Bay Hotel, Ucheldre Arts Centre and Holyhead Town Hall.

Source:renews

Boskalis kits out Ndeavour for cable burial

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May 31, 2019

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Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) has delivered a cable burial tractor to Boskalis for its Ndeavor vessel.

The ultra-high powered, compact 2400hp cable burial tractor (CBT2400) and associated deck equipment were mobilised directly onto Ndeavour from the Swan Hunter quayside access point adjacent to SMD’s factory, in north-east England.

The tractor will be operated by Boskalis and specialist trenching contractor, Canyon Offshore.

SMD designed the CBT2400 to provide a reliable system for protecting cables in hard ground, with interchangeable cassette tooling.

The tractor provides a remote-control platform with a range of trenching tools for different ground strengths; the tool consists of a hard ground cutting boom, rear jetting tools for lowering the power cable and advanced tools for spoil clearance.

The vehicle operates in post lay mode and has been specifically designed for safe product handling.

The CBT range of subsea tractor systems are capable of trenching power cables in seabed’s ranging from sands and clays to rock in ultra-shallow, beach approach work or deep water.

SMD equipment business manager Paul Davison said: “Boskalis is one of the most experienced marine service providers in the offshore wind industry and we are delighted that they have chosen our equipment to strengthen their trenching capability."

The project is a great example of how we pride ourselves on working in partnership with our customers; the unique combination of tools has been a collaborative effort between SMD’s design experts and the combined operational expertise of Boskalis and Canyon Offshore.

SMD Services conducted specialised training for Boskalis and Canyon Offshore personnel earlier this month for the operation of the CBT2400.

Source;renews

4 containers from Neo-Panamax container ship collapsed onto pier, Genoa

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May 31, 2019

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4 stacked containers fell overboard from Neo-Panamax container ship MSC GAIA at Genoa, Italy, during container offloading in the afternoon May 29.

Containers fell onto pier, luckily nobody was injured. Accident said to be caused by crane operator miscalculation – he moved offloading container too close to containers stack, so it hit the stack, sending it down. As of 1300 UTC May 30, MSC GAIA was anchored at Genoa Anchorage.

Source:fleetmon

Safe Eurus to support Petrobras offshore Brazil

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May 31, 2019

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Petrobras has contracted Prosafe’s semisubmersible Safe Eurus to provide safety and maintenance support offshore Brazil.

The firm three-year contract, valued at $80 million, starts in 4Q 2019 and will be the first for the vessel, which was designed and built to service the Brazilian offshore market.

It will also be Prosafe’s third vessel under charter in Brazil: the others are the Safe Notos, on charter to Petrobras, and the Safe Concordia, working with MODEC.

The Safe Eurus is a DP-3, harsh-environment semi that can accommodate up to 500 personnel. Features include a large capacity open-deck area and telescopic gangway, and a 300-metric ton (330-ton) lift capability.

Source;offshore-mag

Ithaca buying Chevron’s UK North Sea portfolio

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May 31, 2019

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Ithaca Energy, a subsidiary of Tel Aviv-based Delek Group, is acquiring Chevron North Sea Ltd. (CNSL) for $2 billion.

The transaction will add 10 producing UK offshore field interests to Ithaca’s existing portfolio, four operated (Alba, Alder, Captain, and Erskine) and increase its UK production to around 80,000 boe/d this year. Liquids comprise 60% of production, with an operating cost of roughly $17/boe.

Ithaca estimates the acquired 2P reserves at around 225 MMboe, with a further 45 MMboe of contingent 2C resources, mainly via near-field development and infill drilling opportunities.

Around 500 Chevron employees will transfer to the company, of which roughly 200 are working offshore on the operated assets.

Ithaca said the transaction, yet to be ratified by the UK’s Oil and Gas Authority, would make it the UK North Sea’s second largest independent oil and gas producer..

Estimated price payable at completion will be around $1.65 billion, subject to adjustments, funded by debt facilities and existing cash resources.

Les Thomas, Ithaca Energy’s CEO, said: “The acquisition of CNSL is a significant step forward in the long-term development of Ithaca Energy and underlines our belief in the North Sea, particular in the UK central North Sea where the enlarged business will own a range of interests in a number of key producing assets…"

Like our current portfolio, the production and reserves base is heavily weighted towards operated asset positions, which provides us with the ability to actively prioritize and unlock the full potential of the business.

Chevron has been looking to sell its UK interests for some time and had started the process last year by transferring its operated position in the deepwater Rosebank oil field west of Shetland to Equinor.

Tom Ellacott, senior vice president, corporate analysis at Wood Mackenzie, said Chevron had a global disposal target of $5-10 billion between 2018 and 2020.

Chevron has a deep portfolio of high-return tight-oil opportunities through its leading position in the Permian basin – this sets a very high bar in the internal competition for capital within Chevron’s portfolio, making regions such as the UK now look more peripheral.

Greig Aitken, director, corporate analysis, added: “We recently identified the UK as one of nine countries that we considered peripheral to Chevron, due to lack of scale and growth potential."

Chevron will be left with 19% stake in the Clair field [west of Shetland] once the deal closes and a complete exit from the UK is looking increasingly likely.

Source:offshore-mag

Vinalines reclaims illegally sold stake in Quy Nhon Port

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May 31, 2019

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Vietnam’s state-run shipping company Vinalines will regain control of Quy Nhon Port in the south of the country after it has paid VND415bn ($17.7m) to buy back a 75% stake in the port.

Vinalines sold its 75% stake in the port to private minerals company Hop Thanh back in 2013. However, the government inspectorate ruled the deal illegal last year as it discovered multiple irregularities in the deal and the equity interest was sold without the government’s approval, and so the government requested Vinalines to buy the shares back.

Vinalines has already appointed a representative to the management board of the port.

Vinalines completed an IPO on the Hanoi Stock Exchange last year with a target to sell about 14.8 percent stake to strategic investor, however the IPO proved to be a failure with only around 1% of the offered shares sold.

Source:splash247

DNV GL, Authentic Vision to explore blockchain solutions

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May 31, 2019

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DNV GL announced its partnership with Authentic Vision to develop its digital assurance solutions for key industries.

The partnership represents the need for further innovations that track products throughout their life-cycle, enhance supply chain transparency and increase trustworthiness in the authenticity of consumer products.

Specifically, a priority of both partners, is to identify and develop blockchain technology for anti-counterfeiting, authentication, product traceability and digital assurance.

On the one hand, Authentic Vision's patended fingerprint tag links the physical world to digital blockchain technologies, while DNV GL is able to verify a product’s origin and authenticity. By these tech solutions, companies worry less about lost revenues due to counterfeiting and mitigate liability due to counterfeit products while ensuring authenticity for consumer products.

The partnership will initially focus on solutions for a range for industries including food & beverage, fashion and garments and automotive.

Renato Grottola, Global Director for M&A and Digital Transformation in DNV GL – Business Assurance commented.."In order to protect product and brand integrity, it is important to have secure tagging and tracing solutions in place, allowing the end user to trust the product’s origin. We believe that the collaboration with Authentic Vision can bring new and highly valuable elements into our suite of supply chain assurance solutions."

Source;safety4sea