A network for commercial divers about commercial diving.

Independent merchant bank Quayle Munro Holdings PLC said one of its investee companies, Submersible Technology Services Limited (STS), has been acquired by Australian oil and gas service group Neptune Marine Services Ltd for £16 million with a further performance-linked paymenmt due in the future.

Perth headquartered Neptune Marine Services is one of Australia’s largest marine engineering services. The company supports a range of marine based projects primarily for the oil and gas and renewable energy industry. Its service divisions include subsea and pipeline engineering, commercial diving, specialist fabrication, inspection, repair & maintenance, ROV, and vessel supply services. Read the rest of this entry »

One hundred special guests were invited to a special ceremony at Nutall Drive in the King Bay Industrial Estate, Dampier, last Friday the 6th of November.

Local company Oceanic Offshore were celebrating the grand opening of their fabulous new office and base. The impressive new offices  are an exciting step forward for the locally owned company and the result of their many years of hard work, planning, determination and success. Read the rest of this entry »

PARIS  – French oil engineering group Technip expects a “sustained” activity in 2010 and believes it could see a “strong pick-up” beginning at the end of next year, its chief executive told Les Echos on Monday.

“In terms of volumes of awarded projects, we forecast a rather sustained activity in 2010. There could even be a strong pick-up at the end of 2010 or at the start of 2011″, Thierry Pilenko said. Read the rest of this entry »

London, England – October 2, 2009 – Acergy S.A. (NASDAQ-GS: ACGY; Oslo Stock Exchange: ACY) announced the award of a contract valued at approximately $170 million to SapuraAcergy Sdn Bhd by Apache Energy Limited for the Devil reek Development Project (DCDP) offshore Australia.

The DCDP has been initiated to recover and process the gas reserves from the Reindeer Gas Field located 80km northwest of the port of Dampier in 60m water depth. SapuraAcergy’s scope under the contract involves the transportation and installation of approximately 91km of 16” rigid pipeline including a shallow water beach approach, subsea tie-in and stabilisation works together with a wellhead platform of a 1,700T four leg jacket and a 450T topside processing module.

Engineering and project preparations will commence immediately in Kuala Lumpur and Perth. Offshore installation is scheduled to commence in late 2010 using the Sapura 3000, SapuraAcergy’s state of the art dynamic positioning heavy lift and pipelay vessel and project specific third party support vessels. This project will be accounted for in the share of results of associates and joint ventures line in the Acergy accounts. For this reason, the value of this award will not appear in Acergy’s reported backlog and revenue.

Jean Cahuzac, Chief Executive Officer, Acergy said “This award represents an important development for our Joint Venture and signifies Sapura 3000’s entry into the promising Australian market. It demonstrates our capability and versatility by offering competitive solutions for both shallow and deepwater projects. Building upon recent successes we are confident that our Joint Venture and the highly specialised Sapura 3000 will perform strongly for our Client.

LONDON -– Acergy S.A.  announced the award of a contract valued at approximately $170 million to SapuraAcergy Sdn Bhd by Apache Energy Limited for the Devil Reek Development Project (DCDP) offshore Australia.

The DCDP has been initiated to recover and process the gas reserves from the Reindeer Gas Field located 80km northwest of the port of Dampier in 60m water depth.

SapuraAcergy’s scope under the contract involves the transportation and installation of approximately 91km of 16” rigid pipeline including a shallow water beach approach, subsea tie-in and stabilisation works together with a wellhead platform of a 1,700T four leg jacket and a 450T topside processing module.

Engineering and project preparations will commence immediately in Kuala Lumpur and Perth. Offshore installation is scheduled to commence in late 2010 using the Sapura 3000, SapuraAcergy’s state of the art dynamic positioning heavy lift and pipelay vessel and project specific third party support vessels.

This project will be accounted for in the share of results of associates and joint ventures line in the Acergy accounts. For this reason, the value of this award will not appear in Acergy’s reported backlog and revenue.

Jean Cahuzac, Chief Executive Officer, Acergy said “This award represents an important development for our Joint Venture and signifies Sapura 3000’s entry into the promising Australian market. It demonstrates our capability and versatility by offering competitive solutions for both shallow and deepwater projects. Building upon recent successes we are confident that our Joint Venture and the highly specialised Sapura 3000 will perform strongly for our Client.”

MELBOURNE – The Santos-led joint venture has awarded engineering and construction company Subsea 7 an $80 million contract to install a subsea pipeline for the Casino-Henry gas field development in the Otway basin off western Victoria. 

The work includes installation of a 22-km pipeline that will connect the subsea production tress at the Henry-2 and nearby Netherby fields. Subsea 7 also will install four rigid spool pieces and a 22-km electrohydraulic umbilical cable from Casino-4 to the Pecten East field. Read the rest of this entry »

SYDNEY  – Deep-sea commercial diver Michael Ganas spent four years writing a novel that combined his love of engineering and the sea, but ended up publishing it himself because he found it hard to get anyone else interested.

Ganas’ debut novel, “The Girl Who Rode Dolphins” and which has won four awards, is set in Haiti where a former Navy Seal teams up with a marine biologist to find a ship that sank 21 years ago but ends up discovering a girl living with dolphins. Read the rest of this entry »

Hallin Marine has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of Phillip Chamberlain to head up its marine division.

As the division’s Marine Manager, he will be responsible for Hallin’s growing fleet of subsea operations vessels and be actively involved in developing the company’s marine strategy. Read the rest of this entry »

Neptune Marine Services Ltd announced that it has successfully secured a range of new projects both in Australia and international markets valued at approximately $25 million. All scheduled for completion in the first half of FY2010, the projects include:

- A NEPSYS® repair project for a new customer operating in the North Sea.
- Fabrication works out of the company’s Aberdeen workshops for an offshore project in Brazil.
- A range of diving and repair projects for several oil and gas projects in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
- A one year extension of a Master Service Agreement for diving and repair works for an existing customer.
- Freespan rectification and grouting services in Iran and Australia. Read the rest of this entry »

By Richard Sanchez

The offshore support vessel (OSV) markets are feeling the effects of declining activity and increasing numbers of new vessels.

U.S. Gulf of Mexico

The U.S. Gulf OSV market, which takes its cues from the offshore rig market, is severely depressed. Vessels of all types are going unused and some owners are cold stacking equipment for lack of work. ODS-Petrodata’s July survey of vessel owners found 32 OSVs available for work in the area, although anecdotal evidence suggests the number may actually be higher. Read the rest of this entry »

CAIRNS, Australia — The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) is calling for strict government regulation of the recreational dive industry after another fatal scuba diving accident.

Authorities have not yet identified the latest victim but told CDNN a 58-year-old male tourist from American died while diving off the Osprey V dive charter boat.

After the fatal accident, local tourism promoter, Col McKenzie, of Dive Queensland, blamed the victim’s death on a “pre-existing medical problem”.

Although the police, coroner and Workplace Health and Safety officers have just started their investigation of the fatal diving accident and medical examiners have not yet determined the cause of death, McKenzie based his instant armchair analysis on “statistics (that) show the most likely cause of a divers death at that age is heart failure”.

While McKenzie pitched his “boomers die because they’re old” rationale to local newspaper reporters, the MUA blasted the self-regulated diving industry for failing to provide adequate safety standards.

MUA spokesman Mick Doleman said people have contacted the union with concerns about diving safety standards and it is time for the diving industry, the Government and unions to develop professional training and safety standards.

Dive Queensland says the industry’s regulations are adequate, despite union claims.

www.abc.net.au