On Saturday, the 23rd of February 2019, Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) hosted a keel laying ceremony, marking the start of construction on the first of three Multi-mission Inshore Patrol Vessels (MMIPVs) for the South African Navy. These vessels will aid in protecting the country from threats such as trafficking, illegal fishing and piracy, as well as support job creation and enterprise development.

TechnipFMC has added to its international fleet of subsea pipelay, diving and construction ships after purchasing a new-build diving support vessel - the Deep Discoverer.

Rotech Subsea Ltd. has announced that it has signed an agreement to undertake a major seabed preparation scope for United Arab Emirates-based ULO Systems. The preparatory work will precede the installation of 12,000 concrete mattresses designed to minimize erosion by protecting a river bank on-site at a nuclear plant in rural Bangladesh.

Stress Engineering Services, Inc., (SES), a global leader in consulting engineering services, has promoted Kenneth Bhalla to chief technology officer (CTO).

SeaRobotics Corporation (SeaRobotics) announces the successful completion of its factory acceptance testing of its new entry into the Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) Workboat market with the SR-Endurance 7.0 meter system.

Fugro is further strengthening its leading position as an unexploded ordnance (UXO) service provider with a recent multimillion-Euro contract award from TenneT. The Geo-data specialist is now set to commence integrated UXO services at an offshore wind farm development in Dutch coastal waters; the contract follows previous involvement in route survey activities at the site.

OPITO, the global, not-for-profit skills body for the energy industry, has appointed Hart Victor in the role of vice president of strategy for the Asia Pacific region.

Fabienne Ellington has joined the world’s leading manufacturer of Thermoplastic Composite Pipeline (TCP), Airborne Oil & Gas, as its first vice president Asia and Middle East. Her focus will be to drive the firm towards achieving its growth plans across the two regions.

Ocean Specialists Inc. (OSI), announces the completion of the Desktop Study (DTS) and Budget Analysis Projects for the Early Warning Offshore Cascadia system being developed by the University of Washington.

i-Tech 7, Subsea 7’s Life of Field business unit, has appointed a new regional director to help strengthen and grow its life of field business in the Asia-Pacific region.

Delmar Systems, Inc. successfully completed an 8-line disconnect of the mooring system on Seadrill’s West Phoenix semi-submersible drilling rig on the UK Continental Shelf. The rig disconnection was performed in an impressive two and a half hours without needing AHTS vessel assistance. The West Phoenix is currently under contract with Equinor for a three well campaign all of which are using Delmar’s Releasable Anchor Mooring System.

MacArtney HQ has recently repurposed the old salmon smoking facility (Lakserøgeri) in Hjerting to accommodate a new 2500sqm facility that incorporates new workshop space for Electronics, Fibre Optics, Cabling and Mechanics. Having expanded five-fold on the footprint of the original workshop the new facility now provides workshop technicians with a bright, open and purposeful space.

Oceaneering International, Inc. (“Oceaneering”) has secured a contract renewal from Equinor which covers the provision of maintenance, reliability and integrity management.

Okeanus Science & Technology, LLC (Okeanus), an established marine equipment and engineering service provider, has announced that it provided equipment to marine survey leader TerraSond in support of its recent Wind Farm survey work off of the East Coast of the United States.

A new Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) with the potential to change the way offshore hydrographic surveys are conducted will launch at Ocean Business in April 2019.

TDI-Brooks International, Inc. has now completed the geophysical and geotechnical phases for the Texas Colt Pipeline. The scope for the Offshore Pipeline route investigation was from the HDD/DP exit nearshore Freeport in approximately 20 feet WD to the proposed Offshore Platform at Block BA466 in approximately 110 feet WD. a distance of approx. 31 miles.