Subsea News

Two undersea fibre-optic communications cables in the Baltic Sea, including one linking Finland and Germany, were severed, raising suspicions of sabotage by bad actors, countries and companies involved said on Monday.The episode recalled other incidents in the same waterway that authorities have probed as potentially malicious including damage to a gas pipeline and undersea cables last year and the 2022 explosions of the Nord Sea gas pipelines.The 1,200-kilometre (745-mile) cable connecting Helsinki to the German port of Rostock stopped working around 0200 GMT on Monday…

Norwegian offshore vessel operator DOF Group has won a contract for IMR vessel and associated subsea services in the Asia Pacific region.The contract will utilize one of DOF’s project vessels in the region and includes project management, engineering, logistics support and all related subsea activities.Offshore services are expected to commence in the first quarter of 2025 for approximately 150 days.“This award secures further backlog for the Asia Pacific region with an estimated value of over A$20 million ($13.1 million).

Seaway7, part of the Subsea7 Group, has secured a ‘substantial’ contract from ScottishPower Renewables for the transport and installation of the inter-array cables of the East Anglia TWO offshore wind project.Seaway7’s scope of work for East Anglia TWO includes the engineering, supply and installation of the 64 inter-array cables.Execution of the scope will be led from Seaway7’s Aberdeen office in the UK, with offshore activities scheduled to commence in 2027.Although the exact value of the contract has not been specified…

General Dynamics Mission Systems has been awarded a $15.9 million contract by the U.S. Navy to develop its Mining Expendable Delivery Unmanned Submarine Asset (MEDUSA) system.MEDUSA is a tactical, clandestine mining system using an expendable Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) that can be launched from a submarine torpedo tube. The U.S. Navy is developing MEDUSA to address the need for an advanced maritime mining system with long-range offensive mining capabilities.The scope of the newly awarded research and development effort includes the design…

An international team of scientists is reconstructing the impact of the 2008 Chaitén volcanic eruption on the marine environment following an expedition onboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too).After 9,000 years of dormancy, the Chaitén Volcano erupted without warning on May 2, 2008. Ash spewed 30 kilometers (18 miles) into the air and blanketed the landscape. Heavy rain in the following days triggered devastating volcanic mudflows known as lahars that cascaded down mountainsides and into the Northern Patagonian Sea.

Preparing for industrialization, the floating offshore wind industry is tackling its unique mooring and cabling challenges.The idea of keeping floating offshore wind platforms in place using dynamic positioning has been considered. The trouble is: it could take up to 80% of the electricity generated by the turbine to do it.So, as Maersk Supply Service said a few years back: In a field of 100 turbines with 4-5 mooring lines each, there is going to be a lot of subsea “spaghetti.” It’s not a problem unique to the industry…

China's Ministry of State Security said on Tuesday that it had retrieved spying devices both on the ocean surface and in the depths of the sea, including underwater "lighthouses" that could guide the transit of foreign submarines.The ministry said it had uncovered devices that had been hidden on the ocean floor and were sending back information that could "pre-set the field for battle," in an article on its official WeChat account, China's most popular social media app.Recent…

Russia has begun designing nuclear-powered submarines to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Arctic to Asia to try to nearly halve the journey time along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), a senior state official has said.Russia already uses nuclear-powered ice breakers to pave the way for such transport via the NSR, which runs along Russia's Arctic shores from Murmansk in the west to the Bering Strait in the east, a route Moscow sees as a faster alternative to the Suez Canal and has plans to develop.But Russia is suffering from a shortage of vessels able to battle thick Arctic ice…

Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) affiliate C-Innovation (C-I) on Monday announced it has signed a new three-year contract with bp for field development, and inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) work.The contract, which has options for two one-year extensions, is for the provision of two subsea construction vessels, C-Constructor and Holiday, and access to a fleet of specialized subsea and supply vessels. It also includes project management, engineering, equipment, logistics and port services.

Subsea7 in August announced it was awarded a "sizable" contract, worth between $50 million and $150 million, to perform engineering, procurement, construction, and offshore installation (EPCI) work in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.The company revealed on social media that the contract was awarded by Shell Offshore Inc., for its Vito waterflood project. Subsea7's work scope includes EPCI of a water injection flowline, hull piping, and associated subsea infrastructure for an enhanced…

Danish subsea cable and services firm NKT, in close collaboration with SSEN Transmission, has completed the turnkey project of connecting the Shetland Islands to the main grid in Scotland with the Shetland HVDC Link.The 320 kV HVDC interconnector is now a key contributor to the integration of renewable energy in Great Britain.Interconnected power grids are essential to the green transition and with the completion of the Shetland HVDC Link, 600 MW of renewable energy can now flow…

DeepOcean won a contract extension with Diavaz for the vessel, Arbol Grande. The vessel will work on Inspection Maintenance and Repair (IMR) services in Mexico for the next five years.Arbol Grande is a construction and subsea vessel, delivered in 2003 with specifications tailor made for the Mexican market. The vessel has been used as an accommodation and topside maintenance support vessel for several IMR contracts involving saturation- and air diving, as well as other light construction…

Greensea IQ announced an extension to its prototype (Other Transaction Agreement) with the Defense Innovation Unit and U.S. Navy following the successful completion to Phase 3 of the Autonomous Expeditionary Maritime Response Vehicle (AEMRV) prototype last fall.The objective of this contract modification is to demonstrate a production-ready edge processing configuration of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Workspace, called EOD Edge, deployed in Greensea’s IQNS, with the autonomy and Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) components.

Deme Offshore has laid all inter-array cables, manufactured by its partner Hellenic Cables, for the first phase of 3.6 GW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in UK.More than 200 miles of 66KV inter-array cables have been successfully installed by delivery partners working on the construction of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.The cables were laid by DEME Offshore’s Viking Neptun, with burial works being completed by DEME Offshore’s Living Stone.This work marks the completion of all inter-array cables on the first phase of the wind farm…

The Netherlands-based subsea services company N-Sea announced it has finalized a deal to acquire Geo Plus based in Groningen, The Netherlands.Geo Plus operates a fleet of five specialized survey vessels—Geo Ranger, Geo Focus, Geo Explorer, Geo Motion, and Geo Connection—which are currently operating on long-term projects in Europe and the Middle East. The vessels are well equipped for all types of geophysical surveys and inspection activities.By acquiring Geo Plus, N-Sea increases its capacity and capabilities in the field of shallow water hydrographic surveys…

Oceaneering International announced its Offshore Projects Group (OPG) segment has been awarded multiple contractual agreements for vessel services with global energy companies, covering operations in the Gulf of Mexico.The scope of work under the first contract includes a mix of basic and heavy inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) services, including vessel-based inspections, maintenance of smaller equipment, and replacement of jumpers. The contract also encompasses intervention services and installation work, which are currently scheduled for the second half of 2024.

Examining similarities and differences between the deepwater oil & gas and the emerging floating wind segment.There has been much excitement around the potential for the offshore wind industry to access deeper water sites through the deployment of floating wind technology.Further, there has been much discussion around the development and deployment of disruptive technologies to leverage the opportunity of floating wind. However, in the short- to medium-term, there is insufficient…

Norwegian offshore vessel operator DOF Group has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with an undisclosed energy company for its Skandi Seven field support vessel (FSV).The LOI entails a two-year firm and one-year optional contract. The contract is defined as very large, excluding optional period and additional services, though additional details were not revealed.Under the contract, DOF plans to mobilize Skandi Seven. Startup is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024, in direct continuation from ongoing contract.In addition to vessel services…

Boskalis’ cable-laying barge Giant 7 has started the installation of the second and final nearshore export cable for the 700 MW offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust (west Beta), being built offshore the Netherlands.The works on the second cable follow the successful installation of the first, also performed by Boskalis’ Giant 7 barge.Giant 7, with the help of the specialist burial sledge tool BSSIII, will repeat the same operation to bring and connect the second cable to the shore.The two 220kV AC export cables are needed to connect the offshore wind farm to the onshore power grid…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore has secured contract extensions with Subsea7 for two of its subsea construction support vessels (CSVs) – Normand Subsea and Normand Energy.Subsea7 has exercised the 2025 optional charter period for the Normand Subsea.The contract is now firm until December 31, 2025, with no further options thereafter.Normand Subsea has been on contract to Subsea 7 since 2009. It is a 113-meter-long vessel, built in 2009, featuring VS 471 design.

FreeStar Subsea Services, a Netherlands-based company established by the merger of Vriezoo ROV Services and Mark Offshore, has acquired its first vessel and started operations.The company offers remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and survey support services with its own vessel, the SSV Navicula Star, which was recently acquired the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ).While most mid-sized subsea companies specialize in either vessel or ROV services, FreeStar’s owners…

Italian offshore energy services firm Saipem has signed a long-term charter contract with Chinese state-owned port and naval machinery manufacturer ZPMC for the JSD6000, a latest generation ship for offshore heavy lifting, construction and pipelaying.The signed contract provides for the bareboat charter of the ship for a five-year duration, plus two extension options of one year each.The vessel will be delivered to Saipem in June 2024 and will become part of the company’s fleet.Equipped with a DP3 dynamic positioning system and a heavy-lift capacity of up to 5…

The specialized vessel Sapura Ônix is on its way to Atlanta Field in Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, where it will carry out the installation of subsea equipment to support the oil production, targeted for August 2024.Brazilian oil and gas company Enauta said the Sapura Ônix vessel is en route to install multiphase pumps (MPPs), umbilicals for power and data transmission, and production risers, connecting the wells’ subsea infrastructure to FPSO Atlanta.The FPSO Atlanta, chartered and operated by Malaysia’s Yinson Production…