Europe News

OMS Group has started construction of CS Resilience, the third vessel in its next-generation GREAT-Class fleet, with a first steel cutting ceremony held at CRIST's shipyard in Gdynia, Poland.The milestone marks the start of construction of the cable-laying vessel, which is scheduled to enter service in 2028 and forms part of OMS Group's long-term fleet expansion program.CS Resilience is one of two next-generation cable-laying vessels being built under OMS Group's partnership with Ulstein, announced in January 2026.

Britain and the Netherlands have signed a maritime partnership setting the path for new amphibious transport ships for their forces under a $3.2 billion (£2.4 billion) deal, with the vessels set to be built in UK shipyards alongside Dutch industry.The ships will be based on a Dutch design and form the backbone of a strengthened UK-Netherlands amphibious force, with each country operating four vessels.The 160-metre, 15,000-tonne ships will transport troops, vehicles and equipment, including drones.

Oil prices gained more than 3% on Wednesday after Iran and the U.S. military traded airstrikes and Washington reimposed crude sales sanctions on Tehran, raising fears their fragile truce was unravelling and Middle East supplies could be disrupted again.Brent crude futures LCOc1 gained $2.40, or 3.2%, at $76.56 a barrel at 0645 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 climbed $2.26, or 3.2%, to $72.70 a barrel.Both benchmarks rose about 3% on Tuesday after the U.S. revoked…

Solstad Maritime has secured a one-year contract extension for the construction support vessel (CSV) Normand Vision with Ocean Installer, keeping the vessel in operation under the agreement through the end of 2028.The extension will begin in direct continuation of the current agreement.The deal also includes two additional annual options covering 2029 and 2030, as well as a mechanism for a further extension until 2031.Normand Vision is a multi-purpose CSV designed and built for subsea structures, umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) installation.

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has agreed to acquire majority stakes in four companies for an initial expenditure of about $687 million (€600 million), expanding its capabilities in marine drones, subsea services and underwater communications across commercial and defense markets.The agreements cover acquisitions of majority stakes in Next Geosolutions, WSense, Graal Tech, and Defcomm, which will be integrated into Fincantieri’s Underwater technological hub.Next Geosolutions…

Bernhard Schulte Offshore (BSO) has taken delivery of Windea Clarke, the fourth and final commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) in its latest newbuild series, with the vessel set to enter a seasonal charter on a UK North Sea offshore wind project.The vessel was christened on June 30 at Ulstein Verft in Norway and completes a series of four new CSOVs integrated into BSO’s offshore fleet since mid-2025.With the latest delivery, BSO’s offshore fleet comprises seven vessels.Like its sister vessels…

Dutch marine services firm Boskalis has christened the Windpiper, which it describes as the world’s largest subsea rock installation (SRI) vessel, following an 18-month conversion project.The 227-meter-long and 40-meter-wide vessel was officially christened on July 3 by Ms. Jones-Bos, a member of the Boskalis Supervisory Board, Boskalis said.The Windpiper has a rock cargo capacity of 45,500 tons across two holds and will double Boskalis’ rock installation capacity.The large cargo…

Russia's second city of St Petersburg and the surrounding region came under a major Ukrainian drone attack overnight on Saturday, with a local port and oil infrastructure hit, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said, as Kyiv's drone strikes continue to deepen fuel shortages in Russia.St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said the city of 6 million had been subjected to a "large-scale" drone attack, with the city's oil terminal struck. He said there were no casualties and that the aftermath of the attack had been dealt with.Alexander Drozdenko…

Kongsberg has signed a contract with an unnamed international customer to deliver technologies for the protection of critical infrastructure.The project will focus primarily on underwater surveillance and protection, according to Kongsberg, which did not disclose the value of the contract.Critical infrastructure includes oil and gas installations, telecommunication cables, energy grids, ports and transportation networks.“Preventing and detecting threats and attacks are essential to protect people and critical infrastructure.

German federal prosecutors said on Thursday that a Ukrainian national tied to the Nord Stream pipeline blasts has been charged with being an accomplice to a war crime, disruption of public services, causing an explosion and destroying structures.Serhii K, as the suspect is known under German privacy rules, is suspected of acting on behalf of Ukrainian government entities, along with other military personnel, to destroy the pipelines in 2022.The aim was to permanently halt gas deliveries…

Danish marine equipment supplier Svanehoj has secured its first contract to supply LNG tank gauging systems for the conversion of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier into a floating storage unit (FSU).The company will deliver four LNG density and temperature (LTD) gauging systems to Drydocks World Dubai for the conversion of the LNG carrier LNG Bayelsa into the FSU Cap Lopez.The conversion is being carried out for Dixstone Lower Gulf FZCO as part of a floating LNG development aimed at expanding Gabon's offshore gas infrastructure.

DOF Group has secured a contract from TotalEnergies to provide subsea construction and mooring services for the floating storage and offloading (FSO) Unity Replacement Project.The contract covers engineering, transportation and installation of mooring systems, as well as subsea construction work, including the disconnection of the existing floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit and the connection of its replacement.Project management and engineering activities will begin immediately from DOF's offices in Aberdeen…

Nord Gas Solutions has secured a contract to supply an LNG regasification system for Belgium-based Exmar as part of the conversion of a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) that will support the expansion of the EemsEnergyTerminal in Eemshaven, the Netherlands.The order, booked in the second quarter of 2026, covers the delivery of a regasification system module that will be installed on the converted FSRU to boost LNG import capacity at the Dutch terminal.Exmar said the project forms part of efforts to strengthen Europe's energy security, with the new regasification system playing a key

MacGregor has secured a series of offshore load handling modernization and upgrade contracts during the first half of 2026, strengthening its position in the offshore services market.The contracts, booked in the company's first- and second-quarter 2026 order intake, cover engineering, upgrades and modernization projects aimed at improving the performance and extending the operational life of offshore cranes and other load handling equipment.Among the projects is the complete replacement of crane control systems with MacGregor's latest technology…

Aker Solutions has been awarded a substantial contract to deliver a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) substructure for a European offshore wind project by an undisclosed customer.The company's scope of work includes engineering, procurement and construction.Aker Solutions said it will book the award as order intake in the second quarter of 2026 in its Renewables and Field Development segment.The company defines a substantial contract as having a value of between $250 million (NOK 2.5 billion) and $400 million (NOK 4.0 billion).The customer and the offshore wind project were not disclosed.

SBM Offshore has secured project financing worth $465 million for the Chalchi floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel, being built for Woodside Energy's Trion project offshore Mexico.The financing has been provided by a consortium of international banks and institutional investors and includes partial insurance cover from China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation.SBM Offshore said the financing would be drawn during the construction period and would become non-recourse after the vessel starts operations.

Norwegian shipbuilder Vard has delivered a hybrid construction and cable laying vessel (CLV) to Japan's Toyo Construction, marking its first vessel delivery to the Japanese offshore wind market.The vessel was handed over at Vard Langsten in Norway on June 26. It is also the first vessel Toyo Construction has ordered from Vard.The CLV was outfitted, commissioned and delivered on time from Vard Langsten, while the hull was built at Vard Shipyards Romania-Tulcea.Spanning 151 meters long and 28 meters wide…

Around 1,000 Norwegian oil service workers were locked out on Saturday morning in an escalation of a labour dispute that is expected to disrupt drilling and some production on the Norwegian continental shelf.The lockout was declared in response to an ongoing strike by several hundred members of the Safe union and will affect companies including SLB, Halliburton, Subsea 7, DOF Subsea, Weatherford, DeepOcean and Baker Hughes, an industry group Offshore Norway said on Friday.The country's oil and gas output could fall by about 12…

MPC Container Ships (MPCC) has agreed to acquire four eco-conventional container vessels for a total of $340 million, each backed by a three-year fixed-rate time charter with a top-five liner company, as it advances its fleet modernization program.The vessels, built in 2023 and 2024 and each with a capacity of 7,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), are expected to be delivered in October and November 2026, subject to inspection and customary closing conditions.The fixed-rate…

Ocean services provider DeepOcean has completed the installation and testing of all inter-array cables at the Nordseecluster A offshore wind farm in Germany.DeepOcean's contract included project management and engineering, the provision of cable protection systems, offshore preparatory works, pre-installation cable route surveys, transport and installation of inter-array cables, cable pull-in and cable burial activities.Cable-laying operations began in January 2026, with a total of 48 inter-array cables installed between January and April.

The owner of the Gazprom-controlled Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is suing the European Union in the bloc's second-highest court, seeking to annul the EU's binding phase-out of gas imports from Russia, a public document showed.The EU approved a law this year to halt all Russian gas imports by late 2027, severing ties with Europe's former top supplier in response to Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.The ban blocked the prospect of reviving the Nord Stream system - two double pipelines under the Baltic Sea…

Dutch specialized shipbuilder Concordia Damen has delivered the Century Star to Century Cruises. The vessel is the first river cruise ship that the China-based cruise line has had built specifically for the European market and marks the start of a series of three sister ships. The Century Star will sail on the Danube from September 2026, with itineraries on the Rhine to follow at a later date.The vessel was built in collaboration with United Waterways, which assists Century Cruises in adapting to European operational standards, including regulations, safety management, crew and hospitality.

International Car Operators (ICO), a member of Japan’s NYK Group, has started commercial operations at Belgium’s first shore power facility for roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels at the port of Zeebrugge.The facility entered service after a testing phase earlier this month, during which technical specifications were validated. The first vessel connected to the system was an NYK-operated pure car and truck carrier (PCTC).The project marks the first commercial use of shore power for…