Following ExxonMobil’s Q3 earnings release, Steven Ho, Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics, a leading developer of autonomous systems for ocean-going vessels announces that it has accomplished its full $20M investment goal with a second close of $5M. The company announced the first close of $15M in July.

Strohm, the world’s leading manufacturer of thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP), has  received a circa EUR 25 million Convertible Loan from its shareholders as it strengthens its position for low carbon energy transition activities and renewables. 

The investment, which was secured at the start of the year before the global coronavirus pandemic struck and subsequent oil price fall, will be used to support the firm’s strategic objective of tripling its 2019 capacity in the next 18 months and the continuation of its product development for the new emerging sectors.  

The business, which rebranded from “Airborne Oil & Gas” earlier this month to Strohm (October), ascertained the financial support based on the increasing market acceptance of its corrosion free TCP technology as a viable alternative to traditional subsea pipeline solutions with a significantly extended service life. 

In the last 12 months, Strohm has secured a series of new business wins adding to an already healthy order book with contracts in the pipeline to deliver around 20km in total of its spoolable, lightweight product. The company is also developing solutions for the emerging sectors of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen on the basis that installation of its TCP delivers a 50% lower carbon footprint compared to conventional steel alternatives.  

Bernhard Schmidt, chairman of Strohm’s supervisory board, said: “We are excited about the future of TCP and the instrumental role of Strohm in further developing this technology and opening up the market. I would like to thank the shareholders for their continued support of the company and their belief in the unique technology of TCP.  We enjoy working with the management team with whom we have a shared vision of TCP’s continuous growth potential in both the traditional and new markets within the energy space as a key transitioning technology.”    

Strohm’s shareholder base includes strategic investors such as Aker Solutions, Chevron Technology Ventures, Evonik, private equity investor HPE Growth, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, Shell Ventures, Subsea 7, and Sumitomo Corporation.  

Strohm CEO Oliver Kassam added: “We are very pleased by the overwhelming and continuous support of our shareholders. As momentum grows in the energy transition space, this new funding allows us to triple our capacity and seize on new opportunities to support operators with a zero corrosion, lower CO2 emission technology at a lower cost. The market conditions are challenging right now but we remain confident of the robust growth potential of TCP in the traditional segments of brownfield production enhancement and deepwater riser solutions. 

Earlier this year, Strohm – which has the world’s largest track record for TCP - installed a second high flow TCP Jumper Spool for Anasuria in the North Sea, completed a 3km flowline in offshore West Africa, and secured new orders for 10km of flowlines and a deepwater TCP Jumper Spool both destined for the same region in 2021.   

Visit the Strohm website here  

Wärtsilä has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) tied to a License and Cooperation agreement with UK-based Anemoi Marine Technologies for the future sales and servicing of Rotor Sail solutions to the shipping industry. The agreement was signed on 22 October 2020.

Kraken Robotics Inc., Canada’s Ocean Company, has announced that Quincy, Massachusetts based Dive Technologies Inc. (“Dive”) recently completed successful sea trials of a Large Displacement Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (LD-AUV) which was powered by Kraken’s pressure tolerant batteries.

The governors of Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia announces the formation of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Regional Transformative Partnership for Offshore Wind Energy Resources (SMART-POWER) amongst the three states. The partnership is designed to advance offshore wind projects in the region and promote the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic area as a hub for offshore wind energy as well as its supply chain. Regional cooperation like this will be vital as offshore wind energy expands in the United States.

The SMART-POWER partnership builds off of the investment each state has made to-date in the region to utilize offshore wind as part of its renewable energy policies. The partnership creates a framework for Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia to develop and expand offshore wind energy in the region as well as grow the supply chain and workforce. From a supply chain perspective, coordination and alignment between multiple states regarding future offshore wind capacity procurements could trigger economies of scale, placing downward pressure on project prices and benefitting ratepayers in multiple states.

The following statement can be attributed to Liz Burdock, president & CEO of Business Network for Offshore Wind:

“An alliance between Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia balances offshore wind economic development more evenly across the east coast. The market is now too dynamic and requires such large-scale collaboration that no one state should go it alone; regional cooperation is a must as the industry begins a multi-billion dollar build out over the next decade.”

Element Materials Technology (Element) has further expanded its energy testing capabilities at its Amsterdam, Netherlands laboratory by adding additional corrosion inhibitor testing equipment.

Eco Wave Power has signed an MOU with MSMART Future Technology, as the basis for the development of a 50MW wave energy array in Vietnam. 

Dresser Natural Gas Solutions (Dresser NGS), a leading provider of measurement, instrumentation and piping solutions to the natural gas distribution and transmissions markets, has acquired Flow Safe, a manufacturer of spring-operated and pilot-operated high performance pressure relief devices.

 Intellian’s eagerly-awaited C700 Iridium Certus® maritime terminal has now been launched and is expected to quickly secure a reputation as the most powerful and technically advanced Iridium Certus® terminal on the market.

With its best-in-class RF performance, the C700 can deliver out-of-the-box uplink speeds of 352kbps and downlink speeds of 704kbps by default, with equally impressive low-elevation-angle RF efficiency thanks to its unique 12-patch phased array antenna technology. It will support three high-quality, low-latency phone lines simultaneously; and as a solid-state antenna with no moving parts inside, the C700 is especially robust, requiring no scheduled maintenance over its lifetime.

The advanced performance of the C700 provides customers across all markets with the flexibility to deploy it as the primary communication antenna or as a companion to a VSAT system for seamless redundancy. For primary communications, the Below Deck Unit (BDU) incorporates key features which make it ready to deploy without additional cost, including firewall, IP PBX, WAN port and built-in Wi-Fi. Hardware and software functions such as these, incorporated into the system, make the C700 the most powerful, feature-rich L-band solution on the market, delivering best in class performance and functionality. The innate stability and reliable connectivity afforded by the C700 also make it an ideal platform for future safety services, including the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS).

The C700 delivers installation efficiency both through the product design and the commissioning process. The BDU, weighing approximately 1.2kg, is available as a standalone bulkhead mount system or a 19” all-in-one rack-mount version. With its small, lightweight and space-saving form factor, the C700 can be carried on board by just one technician or crew member for rapid and low-cost installation. Once the C700 is installed, the built-in, user-friendly AptusLX software enhances the commissioning and setup experience of customers and partners.

Wouter Deknopper, Vice President and General Manager of Maritime, Iridium, observes: “Many vessel owners and operators may decide against VSAT for budgetary reasons, lack of deck space or the absence of adequate coverage on their voyage routes, so Iridium Certus is ideal as a primary means of communication, supported by the ease of upgrading to the C700 from an existing system.

“Iridium Certus also excels as a VSAT companion, combining the benefits of LEO with GEO, and L-band with Ku-band. VSAT can suffer from certain degradations and also isn’t global. That’s where you need a strong hybrid system, and Intellian of course is a highly respected manufacturer of maritime VSAT antennas and the new C700, so it is in a strong position to offer a very competitive turnkey hybrid package on the market. The flexibility of the airtime packages Iridium and our partners offer for Intellian customers is also an essential consideration in such uncertain times for the shipping industry and beyond.”

L-band is particularly resistant to rain fade and other forms of atmospheric interference, and the C700’s 12-element antenna arrangement is designed to supply rapid and efficient tracking performance, leading to optimal high-speed data and voice connections. Troels Christensen, Product Manager, EMEA, Intellian, explains: “The signal stability is exceptional even on fast boats or smaller vessels in rough seas, where you may experience heavy pitch and roll.”

An attractive proposition for crew communications with its multiple high-quality voice lines, the C700 is also protected with Intellian’s international support and service network infrastructure, and comes with a three-year warranty for parts and labor. “The fact that it can be retrofitted by reusing a vessel’s old mast mount, cables and power supply saves additional time and money,” adds Mr. Christensen. “There’s no need for extra boxes, there are no hidden costs, and Iridium Certus provides truly global coverage, even at the poles, so the C700 is an L-band innovation that pays ample dividends not just for smaller vessels, but right across the board.”

Eric Sung, CEO, Intellian Technologies, concludes: “We’re delighted to partner with Iridium and believe our C700 is a great addition to our innovative maritime product portfolio. The new C700 antenna is a great choice for multiple customer segments, delivering an affordable solution which leads the market in speed and functionality.”

MAN Energy Solutions has won a contract to supply complete propulsion packages to two OPV-45 offshore patrol vessels currently under construction at Israel Shipyards in Haifa.

At a time of renewed interest and heightened activity in the offshore wind sector developers are seeking technological innovation from the supply chain to assist in their efforts to maximize efficiency and minimise cost.

DNV GL, the world's largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has awarded aerodyn engineering with a statement of feasibility for its double rotor floating wind turbine concept nezzy².

A new state-of-the-art Operational Center to support the delivery of remote services to maritime customers has been launched in Hamburg, Germany, by the world’s leading classification society, DNV GL – Maritime. The launch also marks the two-year anniversary of DNV GL’s fleet wide roll-out of remote surveys and the milestone of 20,000 remote surveys delivered. This is DNV GL’s second Operational Centre dedicated to the delivery of remote services; the first was launched in Oslo in 2019.

VIKING, a leading marine safety specialist, acquired Drew Marine’s Fire Safety Rescue division in 2019 and absorbed the operation into its marine fire service (MFS) business, consolidated under a management and competency center based in Rotterdam.

Jon Fredrik Baksaas, the former CEO of Telenor, has been appointed as DNV GL’s new Chair of the board.