Finnmark News

Odfjell announced it has promoted its first female captain in the history of the 109-year-old company. The Norwegian chemical tanker company said Lise Henriksen has been named captain of the Bow Sky."On behalf of Odfjell, I congratulate Lise on her well-deserved promotion and thank her for paving the way for women in the maritime industry,” said Odfjell  CEO Harald Fotland. "Her expertise and leadership abilities have led her to this prestigious role – a historic appointment at Odfjell and in an international maritime field currently dominated by men.

Horisont Energi, a company working to develop its blue ammonia project in Norway, has signed a deal with liquid bulk storage company Koole Terminals to develop an ammonia terminal and storage facility at the Port of Rotterdam, for further distribution.Horisont Energi is developing the Barents Blue project in Norway's north, Europe's first large-scale carbon-neutral ammonia plant with offshore carbon storage. Gas for the project will come from Equinor's and Var Energi's offshore fields in the Barents Sea.

It was Canadian whalers, the Norwegians tell us, who first noticed that a dead whale does not bob in the waves. The carcass didn’t pitch or roll, either, and it was somehow “self-propelled” — its fins giving it forward motion and acting as stabilizers, or foils. The story still inspires Trondheim company Wavefoil, maker of scalable, retractable foils that offer ship owners and designers fuel savings and passenger comfort. In Norway, high-speed ferries, cruise ships and fishing vessels are the first customers for retrofits and newbuilds.

Innovation in the world of marine design and propulsion continues to move forward at record speed, driven by new emissions regulation and the push toward emission free ships. In September 2019 an innovative new technology from Wavefoil AS of Trondheim, Norway was installed on the Faroese ferry M/F Teistin, the first ship in the world with retractable bow foils that are designed not only for ship stability but also to convert wave energy directly into propulsive thrust.The foils are designed to both help in saving fuel and improving comfort on board.

Ammonia, the same pungent solution used in fertilizers and cleaning agents, may one day be the key to transporting renewable energy around the world. There are currently a number of government and corporate projects assessing the feasibility of converting excess renewable energy from sources like wind, solar, tidal and nuclear into ammonia and then back into usable energy.In its purist form, ammonia or NH3 is composed of one nitrogen and three hydrogen atoms making it an ideal candidate to chemically bind excess renewable energy. Like several other chemical compounds, ammonia can be transported by chemical tanker in liquid form to end-users. Based on its near ambient liquification point, it may be more appealing to transport ammonia over longer distances than hydrogen.

Norwegian oil major Equinor said that NorSea opened a shore power supply station at the Dusavik supply base in Stavanger, Norway, on January 18."The base is the latest in a string of supply bases where vessels operating on Equinor contracts are offered shore power for hotel needs while at berth and to charge their onboard batteries," said a press statement.Shore-to-ship power supply is one of several measures to reduce emissions in logistics. Thirteen supply vessels on long-term contracts with Equinor have installed shore power systems on board, and a further five vessels in the contract portfolio will be prepared for shore power supply during 2019.“We need broad cooperation if we are to reduce emissions from our supply chain.

Wind power in the northern regions of Finland is developing most rapidly than other parts of the c Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula. According to data collected on a statistical portal Patchwork Barents, regions of Ostrobothnia and Lapland are the undisputed leaders in the production of electricity from wind power. In another northern Swedish province - Norrbotten - is planned to place the largest wind power project to build a wind farm Markbyugden. In the northern province of Norway Nordland, Troms and Finnmark in 2014 did not show any significant changes in the volume of production of electricity from wind energy. Finnmark is the largest manufacturer in the north of Norway, with production capacity of 200 GW / h.

Statoil has today, 7 January, awarded the service contracts for seven bases for the company in Norway. These contracts have been awarded to NorSea Group AS, Saga Fjordbase AS and Asco Norge AS. The contracts awarded include terminal and warehouse services as well as storage and pipeline handling. “These contracts, which will involve a long-term cooperation with the chosen suppliers, will result in great savings for Statoil’s logistical operations. Logistics represent some 10% of our field costs and making base operations more efficient is essential for extending the lifetime of the fields we operate,” says Astrid Sørensen, SVP for operations in Statoil.

Statoil has completed the extensive 2013-2014 exploration programme in the Barents Sea. This represents an all-time high exploration activity and 10% of all exploration wells drilled in the Barents Sea since its opening in 1980. “This is a unique exploration programme. A commitment of this size and complexity requires geological, technological and organisational muscle, and the data collected are important for the future understanding of the oil and gas potential in the Barents Sea,” says Irene Rummelhoff, senior vice president for exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Rex International Holding said its 65% indirectly owned subsidiary, Lime Petroleum Norway AS, has received approval from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for the acquisition of 10% interest in each of the two offshore licenses, PL 707 and PL 708, from North Energy ASA. Lime’s 10% interest in each of PL707 and PL708 will become effective from November 29, 2013. The acquisition of the 10% interest in the two licenses is a result of the cooperation agreement between Lime and North Energy. Both concessions are located in the Barents Sea, in proximity to the coast on the Finnmark East platform. PL707 covers an area of about 982 square kilometers while PL708 covers an area of about 507 square kilometers.

On account of applicable Norwegian Government tax changes Statoil as operator has recommended a delay of the investment decision for the Johan Castberg project in the Norwegian Barents Sea. Statoil has continued to mature the resource base and development plans for the project. There are still uncertainties related to the resource estimate and investment level. "In addition, the Norwegian government has recently proposed reduced uplift in the petroleum tax system, which reduces the attractiveness of future projects, particularly marginal fields and fields which require new infrastructure. This has made it necessary to review the Johan Castberg project," says Øystein Michelsen, Statoil's executive vice president for development and production in Norway.

Norway-based TGS will commence the Europe 2013 acquisition season with two 3D multi-client surveys in the Norwegian Barents Sea. The two surveys, both supported by industry funding, involve the Finnmark Platform 2013 (FP13) covering 3,500 km2 and the Hoop to Fingerdjupet 2013 (HF13) covering 8,600 km2. Both 3D seismic surveys cover areas of complex geology and are designed to address specific customer imaging requirements. Data from both surveys will be processed utilizing TGS' proven Clari-FiTM broadband processing technology. The HF13 survey will also tie-in TGS' successful Hoop 3D in the east. The FP 13 survey is scheduled to commence during March 2013 and will be acquired by the M/V Geo Barents towing 8 streamers.

Statoil and its partners have chosen a development concept for the Skrugard field in the Barents Sea. The concept includes a floating production unit with a pipeline to shore and a terminal for oil from the Skrugard field at Veidnes outside Honningsvåg in Finnmark. The field is scheduled to come on stream in 2018. "The decision to bring Skrugard oil ashore at Veidnes is a key element of the further development of Norwegian oil and gas industry. This may spark off a new industrial era.

Norterminal AS plans to build a large oil-terminal outside Kirkenes in the Norwegian, Russian borderland. New fields in the Arctic Barents and Kara Seas bring along needs for reloading and storage terminals. The players in the market are now looking towards the sheltered waters along the coast of Finnmark. Kirkenes can become the gateway to all the new Arctic shipping lanes that opens as the sea-ice melts away and new icebreaking tankers are designed, reports the Barents Observer. “We believe Gamneset is the best location in Sør-Varanger,” Jacob B. Stolt-Nielsen told the BarentsObserver. Gamneset is located near Kirkenes main airport in a fjord that shelters a possible new harbor and terminal facilities from the open and rough Barents Sea. Russian waters are just a few hours away.

An excavation pier around the Russian warship Murmansk that took three years to build has now been sealed, and within weeks the contractor will start the final phase of demolishing the old battleship, reports the 'Barents Observer'. On Christmas Eve 1994 the 1955-built cruiser “Murmansk” was being towed from its home port towards India for scrapping. Off the coast of Finnmark the towline of the decommissioned Russian cruiser broke and it ran ashore near the small Norwegian town of Sørvær. In 2009 the Norwegian Government decided to remove the wreck.