Global leader in offshore wind DONG Energy Wind Power has selected Cathie Associates, Ceteal and Ghenova to provide support for its offshore wind farm projects over the next five years. Industry leading independent offshore geoscience and geotechnical engineering consultancy, Cathie Associates, have teamed up with independent marine structural engineering company, Ceteal, and multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy, Ghenova. Together the consortium will deliver on a framework agreement, which will provide a range of geotechnical and geophysical consultants for DONG Energy’s offshore wind farm projects.

Oceaneering International, Inc. (“Oceaneering”) (NYSE:OII) announced today that it has acquired the assets of Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC (“Blue Ocean”), a privately held provider of riserless light well intervention (“RLWI”) services, for approximately $30 million in cash. Included in the acquisition are three RLWI systems, two of which are currently under construction, and are expected to be fully functional by mid-2017. Oceaneering expects to invest approximately $10 million to complete construction of the two RLWI systems.

Applying digital technology to improve operational efficiency and performance is set to be a major talking point as the Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) launches its call for abstracts for Technology Showcase 2017. Technology in action – Opportunity to adopt is the overarching theme for the fourth annual conference and exhibition which takes place in Aberdeen on March 1, 2017.

Aker Solutions won a contract from Statoil to build the pipeline facilities, modifications and tie-ins needed at the Mongstad terminal to receive oil from the North Sea Johan Sverdrup field. The contract, valued at about NOK 350 million, is for engineering, procurement, construction and installation services. The work will be completed in 2019.

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has launched an innovative logistics service to provide a faster inventory and manufacturing process for industrial businesses that is designed to help simplify stock ordering and reduce administration. Users can scan product barcodes to automatically generate orders for replenishment of stock, which will be delivered by Trelleborg directly to a user’s production line. The SealScan app is compatible with a range of iOS devices and is part of the Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Service PLUS program, aimed at simplifying workflows in every part of industrial business; from engineering to manufacturing, procurement to aftermarket.

Technip has been awarded a subsea contract by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd, (wholly owned subsidiary of PETRONAS), for the Samarang Redevelopment Project Phase 2 EOR, in Malaysia. Under this contract, Technip will manage the engineering, supply, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) of flexible pipelines, with diameters ranging from 4” to 6”, as well as EPCIC of associated platform I-tubes.

C-Kore Systems successfully completed another campaign with PTTEP Australasia by supplying them with their C-Kore Subsea Testing Tools. The C-Kore tools speed up and simplify subsea testing. They were used to fault-find electrical cables subsea where traditional measurement methods would have taken much more time to deploy and given less accurate results. The C-Kore units saved the customer a substantial amount of time with their repeatable results and streamlined reporting.

The Carbon Trust’s Cable Burial Risk Assessment (CBRA) guidelines, co-authored by Cathie Associates, have now been used as far afield as the CERES Project in Australia. In addition to the now commonplace use of CBRA guidelines for offshore renewables and HVDC interconnectors, this represents a significant step forward in the acceptance of CBRA as best practise in the subsea power cables sector. The guidelines, which were officially released by the Carbon Trust in February 2015, represent a step change in cable burial risk assessment, focussing on identifying the most efficient, risk managed and tailored cable burial requirements.

Technip has been awarded an EPCI contract for the subsea development of the Dvalin (previously named Zidane) field by DEA Norge AS. The Dvalin field development is a tie-back from a new 4-slot template to the Heidrun platform through a 15km long Pipe-in-Pipe production line. The development also connects the Heidrun gas export from Heidrun to the Polarled Gas Transport Pipeline through a new 7.5km pipeline. The contract includes engineering, procurement and installation of the pipelines, spools, riser bases and PLEMs (pipeline end modules) as well as rock installation and commissioning scope. Also included in the contract is the installation of a control umbilical between Heidrun and the Dvalin template. Offshore installation will be carried out in 2018 and 2019 by Technip’s own vessels, including the state-of-the-art reel lay vessel Deep Energy for pipelay and North Sea Atlantic for umbilical installation. The project will be managed from Technip Norge’s offices at Lysaker, Norway, with pipe fabrication at the Orkanger Spoolbase.

Research vessel Falkor leaves Darwin today to explore the poorly understood air-sea interactions across the Indian and Pacific Ocean. This research is very important in understanding the ocean’s role in global climate change. The exchange of energy and matter between the atmosphere and the ocean are particularly onerous requirements, and have largely been neglected in climate research. Chief Scientist Dr. Oliver Wurl, from the University of Oldenburg and his international team of scientists from Germany, the United States, and United Kingdom plan to gain new insight during this 31-day expedition.

Many universities are adding or expanding their underwater archaeology program in an effort to give students a broader educational experience and a better understanding of our maritime history. The field of underwater archaeology is rapidly growing as more scientists and researchers learn to scuba dive, and the equipment required for marine exploration becomes more affordable. Long Beach City College in California is one of the many institutions involved in these efforts. They recently added the Maritime Archaeology, Science and Technology (MAST) program led by Dr. Laurel Harrison Breece. She is a member of the Registry of Professional Archaeologists and visiting professor at UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. An accomplished diver, Breece earned degrees from UCLA from her work on the silver collection from the sunken city of Port Royal Jamaica and the Spanish colonization of Central America.. She has worked on a number of high profiler projects with husband and colleague Dr. Bill Breece. “I am very excited about the new program and the opportunity it will offer students to both work in marine archaeology and operate the equipment used in these projects.” She choose JW Fishers Mfg. as the supplier for the needed equipment acquiring a sub bottom profiler, side scan sonar, magnetometer, underwater video system and metal detector. “I went with Fishers because we could get all of the gear from one source, and they offer free training.”

Ashtead Technology has strengthened its UK team with the appointment of a regional technical support leader, to provide its customers with the most efficient, cost-effective technological solutions.

Seabed Geosolutions, in cooperation with CGG, secured a new extension to its ongoing shallow water operations in the U.A.E. The variation order from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) covers Phase-II of the Ghasha Field project. This new survey is due to start in October and is expected to take approximately 9 months. It has a value of around USD 60 million. With this new award, Seabed Geosolutions will enter its 4th year of continuous operations for ADNOC in the U.A.E., having recently successfully completed the Hail, Shuweihat and Ghasha Phase-I surveys.

DOF Subsea, a leading provider of integrated subsea services, has been awarded a contract by Ithaca Energy for phase 1 of the decommissioning of the Ithaca Operated Athena Field in the UK North Sea. The scope of work includes removing the subsea water column infrastructure that has been used on the field. The contract involves the removal of mid-water arch and risers, and secures utilisation of several DOF Subsea vessels, capable of undertaking both moorings and construction work, operating in the Atlantic region during Q4 2016 and will utilise vessels from DOF Subsea’s state of the art fleet. DOF Subsea UK has extensive fleet capability and unrivalled access to the vessels. DOF Subsea has steadily built its track record in decommissioning projects in both the UK and Norwegian sectors. In recent years the company has seen activity increase with the growing focus in the North Sea.

RentAir Offshore and ATR Power Solutions have effectively merged to become one company, offering a broader service to the global energy industry. This follows the successful merger of their parent companies, Centurion Group and ATR Group, earlier this year. The new combined business, which will trade under the Rentair Offshore brand, brings together the complementary expertise, products and services of both companies in the rental of specialist air compression, steam and power generation equipment to support oil & gas production, well testing, fabric maintenance and renewables.

Hydraulic cutters and systems specialist Allspeeds, the designers and manufacturers of Webtool, announces a compact ROV cut loop cutter for emergency activation of a Blow Out Preventer (BOP). The Webtool cut loop cutter will sever the cutting loop to activate the BOP in the event other measures have failed. Subsea intervention involves the use of remotely operated tools that often include cut loops as a redundancy measure to prevent a blow out once all ‘topside’ solutions have failed to work. The cut loop prevents pressure lock in the hydraulic system needed to activate the BOP.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has published ‘ADCI/IOGP/IMCA Diving Terms’ as IMCA D 057. “This invaluable document has been prepared as a joint industry project (JIP) involving representatives from IMCA, the Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) in the United States, and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) Diving Industry Work Group (DIWG),” explains Richard Benzie.

Independent subsea remotely operated vehicle (ROV) service provider ROVOP has expanded its fleet of ROVs for the US region. The company has taken delivery of a new vehicle which will be the first of its kind for the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and, in a direct response to market conditions, is set to help operators reduce costs by 40%. The commercially-proven Seaeye Leopard electric work class ROV, the most powerful vehicle for its size in the world, adds to ROVOP’s existing capability at its Houston base.