Acteon Group Ltd, a leading global provider of marine and seabed services to the renewable, infrastructure and oil and gas industries, is announcing today that Dr Carl Trowell is to be appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Richard Higham.

Subsea 7 issued further details of the cost reduction programme, following initial guidance provided on 30 April. It is envisaged that the overall reduction in headcount would be approximately 3,000 from the global workforce of 12,000, by the end of the second quarter 2021. It is anticipated that two-thirds of the reduction would affect the non-permanent workforce and one-third of the reduction would affect permanent employees. Discussions with employee representatives will take place on a local basis and consultation will start soon.

Global subsea equipment solutions specialist Ashtead Technology has entered into a partnership with Trinidad-based Reliance Subsea Services Limited.

A Fugro vessel heading from the Netherlands to South Africa has made a 10-day detour to support Ifremer, the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, in monitoring a giant active underwater volcano off the east coast of Africa. Ifremer is performing important research on this unique volcano but the latest mission was thrown into jeopardy by the Covid-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions. When Fugro heard, they diverted the specialist hydrographic survey vessel Fugro Gauss to Mayotte in the Mozambique Channel to support Ifremer’s vital hydrographic survey.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has been awarded two contracts in Finland by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, the Port of Helsinki and the City of Helsinki with a combined contract value of EUR 32 million. In the Port of Helsinki, Boskalis will deepen de Vuosaari fairway and harbor basin from eleven to thirteen meters and utilize a part of the dredged material for the development of Helsinki’s Hernesaari area, which is close to the center of the city. The activities will commence immediately and are due to be completed by the end of 2021.

Forum Energy Technologies’ remotely operated vehicle (ROV), the Perry XLX-C, has successfully completed harbour trials in Vietnam. Working with its customer Submarine Manufacturing & Products (SMP) and the Vietnam Navy, the harbour trials followed an extensive commissioning period and factory acceptance test which took place at Forum’s test tank in Kirbymoorside, Yorkshire, UK.

After years as proven industry standards, Teledyne RD Instruments Workhorse Navigator and Explorer Doppler Velocity Logs (DVLs) are being retired effective May 2020.

Rovco, one of the offshore energy industry’s leading providers of ROV and hydrographic services, coupled with artificial intelligence-based technology, have recently purchased a Saab Seaeye Leopard. This investment adds to their growing fleet of ROVs, expanding their subsea capability and capacity much further.

Oceaneering International, Inc. (Oceaneering) has been awarded a considerable asset integrity contract from a major operator based in Dubai, UAE. The award includes the provision of general and advanced non-destructive testing (NDT) and fabric maintenance inspection services across the operator’s onshore and offshore facilities in the Middle East.

North Shields based manufacturer, Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD) recently handed over a purpose-built pre-lay plough to marine service providers Boskalis, for use at Ørsted’s offshore wind farm Hornsea Two.

Fugro has begun work on its first task order under a recently awarded multi-year hydrographic services contract with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Located off the north-west coast of Florida, the project involves acquisition of high-resolution bathymetry data over four sites totalling approximately 1475 km2. Deliverables will be issued to NOAA by December and they will use this information to update charted depths and features in the region, many of which predate the 1950s.

In the midst of the global pandemic, when it seems the world is standing still, people and businesses are still focusing on the future. One group is playing a big role to help companies and entrepreneurs build ocean-based business ideas that will create jobs and bring new money to the economy. Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, born in 2018 from a marriage of private investors and government funding and based in Atlantic Canada, is setting out to increase the value of this nation's ocean economy by $14 billion and 3,000 new jobs over the next 10 years. Oceanindustries in Canada contribute about $30 billion a year to the economy and make up 1.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

A long-term expertise in custom cable design and manufacturing for underwater technologies, led NOVACAVI to identify and come up with a selection of subsea and marine cables suitable for a wide variety of underwater technologies where no cable customization is required but the most efficient, reliable and available cable solution is strategic. Standard cables in various lengths and combination ready in stock to be delivered or to be manufactured in short delivery times to cope with any request.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) is pleased to announce an important milestone in the conversion project of its new crane vessel Bokalift 2. Yesterday, a steel cutting ceremony took place at the shipyard Drydocks World in Dubai. This milestone marks the beginning of an important new phase in the modification of the vessel’s hull and deck.

WFS Technologies has further strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of a former Formula 1 engineer as Head of Engineering and Projects. Colin Drysdale takes up the post and will be responsible for leading the successful delivery of projects at WFS which specialises in subsea wireless automation.

Equinor, Shell and Total have decided to invest in the Northern Lights project in Norway's first exploitation licence for CO₂ storage on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Plans for development and operation have been handed over to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

Hibbard Inshore has purchased a second Saab Seaeye Sabertooth underwater robotic vehicle. The Michigan-based company was first to adopt the pioneering Sabertooth technology for long tunnel inspection, breaking their record with a 12 kilometre Australian run using their initial Sabertooth vehicle.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is playing a key role in two industry groups lobbying the IMO to support a recommendation for Governments and national authorities to facilitate the movement of offshore energy sector personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is designed to ensure they are considered ‘key workers’, essentially to enable ease of movement during mobilisation and demobilisation for offshore sector crew changes.