Crowley Maritime Corp. has taken delivery of Louisiana, the third of four new, Jones Act product tankers being built for the company by Philly Shipyard, Inc. (PSI), the sole operating subsidiary of Philly Shipyard ASA. The delivery marks another highpoint for Crowley’s petroleum services group as its tankers are at the forefront of the industry for their potential future conversion to LNG propulsion.

Louisiana, which is 50,000 dead-weight-tons (dwt) and capable of carrying 330,000-barrels of product, is scheduled to be christened in New Orleans on May 5. Crowley’s fourth product tanker is under construction at PSI, and delivery is planned for third quarter 2016.

Credit: Crowley Maritime Corp.

Louisiana joins sister ships Ohio and Texas, which were received by Crowley in 2015 as the first-ever tankers to receive the American Bureau of Shipping’s (ABS) LNG-Ready Level 1 approval. The approval allows Crowley to convert the tanker to liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion in the future.

“The Louisiana’s delivery continues to enhance the services we are able to provide to our petroleum customers,” said Crowley’s Rob Grune, senior vice president and general manager, petroleum services. “We celebrate new tonnage and the advanced technology, but most important to us and to our customers are the highly trained men and women of Crowley who are committed to transporting their fuel in the safest, most reliable way possible.”

“Milestones like today show we can deliver solutions that reinforce the value of the Jones Act vessels and American-built and American-crewed trade,” Grune said.

The new 50,000-dwt product tankers are based on a proven Hyundai Mipo Dockyards (HMD) design that incorporates numerous fuel efficiency features, flexible cargo capability and the latest regulatory requirements. The vessel is 600 feet long and is capable of carrying crude oil or refined petroleum products, as well as various chemical cargoes.

“We are proud to deliver another Philly-born tanker, the shipyard’s fifth tanker for Crowley and 23^rd vessel in total,” remarked Philly Shipyard’s President and CEO Steinar Nerbovik. “On behalf of the men and women who built her, we are honored knowing that the Louisiana will be another safe and quality addition to Crowley’s fleet that will serve its mariners and our nation’s waterways for decades to follow.”

Crowley’s marine solutions group is providing construction management services for the product tankers. The company has an on-site office and personnel at the Philadelphia shipyard to ensure strong working relationships with shipyard staff and a seamless construction and delivery program. Crowley routinely provides shipyard construction management services for third-party clients as well.

As offshore topsides become heavier and more oil reserves are identified in harder to reach locations, innovative solutions are key to effective oil & gas extraction. As a result, floatover installations are experiencing an upturn, rather than traditional heavy crane lifting. JP Chia, Engineering Manager and floatover specialist for Trelleborg’s engineered products operation, will be on stand at OTC Houston to discuss this trend, share market insights and answer any questions.

An active, global industry expert since the technology was introduced in the early 2000s, Chia has compiled his first hand experiences in a new whitepaper, The Floatover Forecast. He recounts lessons learned, changes in technologies and materials, as well as trials and errors that have contributed to developments in the field.

JP Chia, says: “Supported by statistics from a current research paper, our whitepaper details just how far the offshore industry has come in three decades of floatover developments, and how much further they can advance as oil companies utilize the technology in far-off locations. Visitors can get their copy of the whitepaper from our stand, number 5541 (hall A).”

As oil and gas exploration continues to develop year-on-year, and technology becomes more sophisticated, the effectiveness of extraction will improve. However, as floatover installations become more popular, it is vital that the industry applies the right thinking to ensure that projects are implemented safely and efficiently from beginning to end.

Chia continues: “Our whitepaper will help owners, operators, EPC contractors and consultants to confidently keep up to speed with the world of floatover installations.”

Available to view on stand, Trelleborg’s leg mating units consist of steel structures incorporating engineered elastomeric pads. They make a floatover transition possible by damping the forces created as the topside’s load is transferred to the jacket. The elastomeric pads are designed to take up the static and dynamic forces of the topside structure, as well as the horizontal forces due to open sea motions during the float-over mating operation. The assembled LMU can be installed either on the topsides or jacket.

Pick up your copy of ‘The Floatover Forecast’ from stand 5541 (hall A) at OTC Houston. For additional information about Trelleborg’s engineered products operation, click here.

Aker Solutions secured a framework agreement from Lundin Norway to provide engineering services for offshore developments in Norway.

The agreement covers early-phase studies, pre-engineering (FEED) work, verifications and follow-on engineering for Lundin Norway. It encompasses engineering work from Aker Solutions' three business areas - Engineering, Subsea and Maintenance, Modifications and Operations - as well as the company's integrated study house, Front End Spectrum. The contract has a fixed period of three years and may be extended by as many as two years.

The first delivery will be a study for a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Alta and Gohta oil development in the Barents Sea. The contract is part of the first-quarter order intake.

"We are pleased to have this opportunity to work long term with Lundin," said Per Harald Kongelf, head of Aker Solutions' Norwegian operations. "The company's focus on the southern Barents Sea fits well with our technology and engineering expertise for even the most challenging conditions."

Aker Solutions has previously provided engineering work for Lundin's Edvard Grieg development as well as the subsea production system for the Brynhild field. The new agreement gives Lundin access to Aker Solutions' technical expertise and lifecycle knowledge from the full range of field developments.

SEACOR Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CKH) (the "Company" or "SEACOR") has announced that William C. (Bill) Long has been appointed the Company's Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary effective immediately. He will report directly to Mr. Charles Fabrikant, SEACOR's Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Long joins SEACOR with over 20 years of business and legal experience with publicly-traded companies. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Long served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of GulfMark Offshore, Inc., an NYSE-listed marine transportation service provider. Before joining GulfMark Offshore, Mr. Long spent more than 17 years with Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc., an NYSE-listed offshore drilling company, where he was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary.

Mr. Fabrikant stated, "We are pleased that Bill has joined our leadership team. He brings extensive business and legal experience and strengthens our management group."

Mr. Long holds a Juris Doctorate degree, a Masters of Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Houston. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas.

SEACOR and its subsidiaries are in the business of owning, operating, investing in and marketing equipment, primarily in the offshore oil and gas, shipping and logistics industries. SEACOR offers customers a diversified suite of services and equipment, including offshore marine, inland river storage and handling, distribution of petroleum, chemical and agricultural commodities, and shipping. SEACOR is dedicated to building innovative, modern, "next generation," efficient marine equipment while providing highly responsive service with the highest safety standards and dedicated professional employees. SEACOR is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol CKH.

NSL, ASCO Group’s global lifting and rigging specialist, has been awarded a significant contract with Italian drilling and EPCI company Saipem S.p.A. The two-year agreement will deliver HSE competency assurance and lifting intervention of onshore and offshore lifting operations to Saipem personnel. The global scope of the Saipem agreement will see NSL extend their reach from 34 to 50 countries across the Middle East and Africa; the Americas and Australasia.

Jonathan Taylor, Group Director at ASCO said:

‘We are proud to be awarded this significant contract. It demonstrates NSL’s continued ability to deliver high value, comprehensive rigging and lifting training and competency programs to oil and gas personnel on a truly global scale.

‘We are delighted at the prospect of strengthening our relationship with Saipem and look forward to a safe and effective working partnership.’

In addition to the provision of training and competency services, NSL has over 25 years’ experience in supporting clients through lifting technical assurance; lifting intervention (including the supply of technical authorities and appointed persons); advice on lifting operations efficiency and productivity, maintenance and servicing regimes.

Saipem is one of the world leaders in drilling services, as well as in the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of pipelines and complex projects, onshore and offshore, in the oil & gas market. The company has distinctive competences in operations in harsh environments, remote areas and deepwater. Saipem provides a full range of services with “EPC” and “EPCI” contracts (on a “turn-key” basis) and has distinctive capabilities and unique assets with a high technological content.

Ballast water treatment (BWT) specialist Optimarin has cemented its place at the vanguard of the market, with the news that it has now sold over 400 of its environmentally friendly UV-based systems. The landmark has been surpassed on the back of a succession of major contracts, fuelled by the firm’s unique retrofit experience, proven technology and upcoming USCG certification.

2016 has been a boom year for a company that installed the first ever commercial BWT system back in 2000. Optimarin Ballast System (OBS) orders have been confirmed with Atlantis Tankers (10 units) and Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group (nine), while the firm also made its first foray into fishing, with a contract for the Fisherman’s Finest vessel America’s Finest. The latest win, with Carisbrooke from the UK, was the largest - a fleet agreement with the potential to encompass retrofits on 46 bulk and multipurpose vessels.

“We’ve been working with BWT technology since our formation in 1994,” comments Optimarin CEO Tore Andersen, “so we feel this surge in business reflects an appreciation of our established expertise, technology, and ability to satisfy all individual customer, and vessel, requirements.

“Now that the ratification of the IMO’s Ballast Water Management convention is finally imminent, we’re seeing more and more shipowners engaging us for fleet wide retrofit assignments. This is because they know they can trust us, our market proven system, and unparalleled retrofit experience.”

Together with its global engineering partners, Goltens and Zeppelin, Optimarin has now fitted over 70 units on existing vessels, alongside over 200 on newbuilds. Its flexible, modular system is perfect for making the most of limited vessel space, while its totally compliant technology ensures peace of mind.

This latter point has proven to be another of Optimarin’s strengths. The firm has invested millions of dollars in testing and certification, with certificates from DNV GL, Lloyd’s, Bureau Veritas, MLIT Japan, and American Bureau of Shipping, alongside full IMO approval. However, it’s the latest testing with USCG that appears to be elevating the business to a new commercial plane.

“USCG has the most stringent approval demands, thanks to its FDA/CMFDA test, which judges the life forms transported in ballast water as either living or dead,” Andersen explains. “The power of the 35kw UV lamps in the OBS ensures it has the power to instantly kill invasive organisms and that’s exactly what USCG wants to see.

“The system has now satisfied all marine water tests and is in its final testing stage, with full USCG approval expected later this year. For shipowners with large global fleets this gives them the flexibility to sail in and out of US waters, discharging ballast, as desired. For those with fleets based exclusively in North America this is a ticket to trade, full stop.

“USCG approval is becoming a benchmark standard for forward-thinking customers planning for guaranteed future regulatory compliance. This is proving to be a key business driver for Optimarin.”

Optimarin’s customers include names of the order of Saga Shipholding, MOL, Grieg Shipping Group, Gulf Offshore, Farstad Shipping, NYK, Nor Line, and Evergreen Marine Corp, amongst others. Its OBS system is easy to install, simple to maintain – with no moving parts – and does not use, or discharge, any chemicals.

“We believe we have an industry leading proposition,” Andersen concludes, “and it’s hugely satisfying to see the market respond to that at this key time for the BWT sector.”

Technip USA, Inc., an affiliate of Technip SA of France has been presented with the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) 2016 Safety in Seas (SIS) Culture of Safety Award today during the association’s annual meeting in Washington, DC.

Technip USA won the Culture of Safety Award in recognition of Technip’s Pulse program, a global vehicle for HSE climate change through leadership and communication.

Technip USA’s award-winning entry was selected by an independent panel of judges from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the National Academy of Sciences Transportation Review Board, and an industry safety consultant.

“We are honored and delighted to have been selected as the winner of the NOIA 2016 Culture of Safety Award. HSE is essential to our industry and is an absolute priority for Technip. Our Pulse program, implemented in 2007, is a simple, effective philosophy to create an HSE climate change across the company to achieve our goal of being “the reference company” in HSE performance. Everyone at Technip is responsible for ensuring a safer environment on our worksites throughout the world. We are thrilled that our efforts and accomplishments have been noticed and recognized,” said Deanna Goodwin, President of Technip USA, Inc.

NOIA President Randall Luthi congratulated Technip on our exemplary commitment to safety culture saying, “Technip’s award-winning entry is one of many examples in the offshore oil and natural gas industry that “safety culture” is more than just a buzz phrase. Technip has demonstrated how to develop and maintain a true culture of safety”.

Oil production has started under budget and ahead of schedule at the Julia oil field in the Gulf of Mexico, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) announced on April 19. The first production well is now online and a second well will start production in the coming weeks.

The Julia development is located approximately 265 miles southwest of New Orleans in water depths of more than 7,000 feet. The initial development phase uses subsea tie-backs to the Chevron-operated Jack/St. Malo production facility, reducing the need for additional infrastructure and enhancing capital efficiency. Technology has also played a key role in the Julia development including the use of subsea pumps that have one of the deepest applications and highest design pressures in the industry to date.

“Successful deepwater developments like Julia, located more than 30,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, benefit from ExxonMobil’s disciplined project execution capabilities and commitment to developing quality resources using advanced technology,” said Neil W. Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Development Company.

The Maersk Viking drillship is currently drilling a third well, which is expected to come online in early 2017. Credit: Maersk

Production results will assist in the evaluation of additional wells included in the initial development phase, which has a design capacity of 34,000 barrels per day of oil.

“This initial production will provide ExxonMobil with insight into the potential future development of the reservoir,” said Duffin.

Discovered in 2007, the Julia field comprises five leases in the ultra-deepwater Walker Ridge area of the Gulf of Mexico. ExxonMobil, the operator, and Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC each hold a 50 percent interest in the Julia unit. Over the past decade, ExxonMobil has drilled 187 deepwater wells worldwide in water ranging from 2,100 feet to 8,700 feet.

ExxonMobil is on track to start up 10 new Upstream projects in 2016 and 2017, adding 450,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day of working-interest production capacity. The company is enhancing resource value through production optimization, technology application and cost management.

Fast Supply Vessels (FSV) are tasked with delivering cargo and crew to oil and gas platforms, and other offshore operations with speeds unheard of in a crew boat 20 years ago. SEACOR Marine's newest FSV, the Alya McCall, relies on five high-performance Twin Disc MGX-61500SC QuickShift® transmissions. They provide the crucial links between the ship's powerful Cummins engines and Hamilton Waterjets.

The first in a new class of FSV from SEACOR Marine—Express Plus—the 206' x 32' US-flagged Alya McCall will accommodate 16 crew, 100 passengers and 300 LT of deck cargo. The aluminum FiFi-I class vessel has dual FFS pumps and remote-controlled monitors. Her five Cummins QSK60 Tier 3 engines each deliver 2,680 bhp. Paired with Twin Disc transmissions and Hamilton HT-810 Waterjets, the combination achieves a top speed of 38 kts. She is currently in service in the Persian Gulf.

Provided by Twin Disc distributor Sewart Supply of Morgan City, Louisiana, the MGX-61500SC transmissions feature industry-leading QuickShift technology. They instantly deliver smooth, seamless torque to the waterjets, from neutral to full ahead. And while waterjets rely on deflectors for reverse thrust, the shaft rotation can be reversed to backflush an intake screen if debris blocks its flow.

The API has called on the administration to maintain and promote U.S. oil and natural gas development through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) 2017-2022 offshore program, API Group Director of Upstream and Industry Operations Erik Milito said in a briefing with journalists on April 26.

“Rising U.S. production has dramatically increased our ability to protect consumers and the U.S. economy from energy shocks even within a low price environment,” said Milito. “Forward-looking energy policy recognizes long lead times needed for offshore energy development. The nation’s long-term energy security can only be ensured with a lasting commitment to expanding offshore oil and natural gas development to new areas.”

In 2010, over 30 percent of the oil and 11 percent of the natural gas produced in the United States was produced in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). New projections by the EIA estimate that Gulf of Mexico production will increase to record high levels in 2017. This and other data have informed BOEM’s analysis, recently released as part of the 5 year program’s decision document, and led the agency to state that “there is no reason to exclude any of the proposed program areas in the Proposed Program Options based purely on the price of oil and gas.”

“The five year program is a critical part of our nation’s ability to secure affordable and reliable energy and create jobs for future generations of Americans,” said Milito, ahead of the public hearing held in Washington, D.C., on offshore areas in the program. “Too many promising areas are already excluded from the proposal, taking off the table thousands of potential jobs and billions of dollars in potential government revenue. Knowing that oil and natural gas will be needed for many more decades to come, the Department of the Interior should promote robust development of U.S. offshore energy resources and recognize the Arctic and Gulf of Mexico as core components of the five year program.”

API is the only national trade association representing all facets of the oil and natural gas industry, which supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy. API’s more than 650 members include large integrated companies, as well as exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms. They provide most of the nation’s energy and are backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 30 million Americans.

By Reid Porter, API

Wild Well Control, Inc., a Superior Energy Services company and a global leader in well control and engineering services, announces that its DeepRange™ tool, in conjunction with its 7Series riserless intervention system, has successfully performed full plug and abandonment operations on four subsea wells in the Gulf of Mexico. These wells are a part of a larger plug and abandonment campaign which began earlier this year.

“The new tools and techniques used on this project have already exceeded expectations,” said Martial Burguieres, Wild Well VP of Marine Well Services. “Our methods offer reduced costs while maintaining full BSEE compliance.”

Each of the first four wells used the new DeepRange tool to isolate an outer annulus by circulating a minimum of 200 feet of cement in place and pressure testing the plug as per BSEE regulation.

“This new technology and methodology will help operators reduce their subsea P&A liabilities as riserless operations represent dramatic cost reductions when compared to traditional subsea P&A operations,” said Burguieres.

Wild Well will host a press conference Monday, May 2, at 2 p.m. in the onsite press conference room located in the NRG Center, level 2, rooms 406-704 during the 2016 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston to discuss how DeepRange™ impacts today’s industry.

Statoil has set tough targets to reduce costs in their project portfolio. During the last decade subsea costs have increased significantly and the industry needs to move from tailor-made solutions to more industry standards.

At the Barents Sea Conference in Hammerfest, Norway, a new subsea concept developed by Statoil was presented by Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for technology, projects and drilling in Statoil.

The new subsea solution is called Cap-X.

Image courtesy: Statoil

"Once again we aim to drive subsea technology development on the Norwegian continental shelf together with our industry partners. The potential for increased efficiency and reduced costs can make this the next standard within subsea templates," says Margareth Øvrum. "With Cap-X, Statoil is one step closer to a “plug and play” solution on the seabed."

Cap-X is a combination of existing and new technology. It is ¼ the size of today’s subsea templates and enables more operations from vessel instead of rig.

The technology increases the efficiency of horizontal drilling in shallow reservoirs. The main structure of the technology can be produced in shorter time by a larger number of suppliers, with potential for local production.

The development of Cap X was initiated in 2013 to increase commerciality of potential resources in the Barents Sea.

“We as explorers need to find resources that can be developed at a lower cost and with lower emissions. Cap-X can potentially have a significant impact on developing the resources in the Barents Sea and in other areas with shallow reservoirs”, says Jez Averty, senior vice president for the exploration Norway and UK cluster in Statoil.

Bristow Group has announced the strengthening of its operational structure by centralizing, simplifying and standardizing its business operations to improve safety performance, effectiveness and efficiency for clients. This new structure will enable the company to continue to reduce costs, while improving its leading competitive position. As part of these operational changes, Bristow will also continue to pursue its diversification strategy into new business growth areas, similar to the UK SAR contract.

As part of this new organizational structure, Chet Akiri has been named acting senior vice president operations and chief commercial officer reporting to Bristow Group President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Baliff. Jeremy Akel, who previously served as Bristow’s senior vice president and chief operating officer, has departed the company, and Bristow is eliminating the chief operating officer position. Also departing the organization is Mike Imlach, Bristow’s vice president of global operations and Mike Sim, vice president of business development.

Jonathan Baliff commented: “The current downturn in our industry is likely to further impact our clients’ capital spending in fiscal 2017. As a result, in order to improve our safety performance, maintain our leadership position and sustain our long-term success, we have actively taken the additional and necessary steps to strengthen the business during these challenging times. These changes flatten our corporate leadership team structure, provide me with closer oversight of the operations and help us drive further revenue enhancements and cost reductions that are required. I would like to thank Jeremy, Mike and Mike for their years of service and contributions to Bristow and wish them much success in their future endeavors.”

In his new role, Akiri will merge corporate strategy and diversification with the other commercial areas of the company, including oil and gas business development, that further benefit Bristow’s customers and increase its competitiveness. Akiri will oversee operations on an interim basis while a search is underway for a new senior vice president of global operations.

Akiri joined Bristow in 2014 as Bristow’s senior vice president and chief corporate development, new ventures and strategy officer. Prior to joining Bristow, Akiri built high performance teams and successfully led strategic, commercial and operations planning and implementation in senior management positions at General Electric (GE). He served as chief operating officer for Global Nuclear Fuels America, and vice president and general manager of GE Hitachi Parts Services, where he had full profit and loss responsibility and was accountable for sales and margin growth, product development, operations, manufacturing, supply chain and regulatory compliance. He also served as a global sourcing leader for the Consumer & Appliances and Industrial Systems businesses, and was a merger and acquisition executive at GE’s corporate headquarters and aviation units.

Scanning the newspapers, social media and analyst coverage this year, there is consensus that a recovery in oil prices is coming, as a function of a reduction in over-supply, and that we should expect upward movement in prices later this year.

The extent to which this view is built upon analysis of data or gut feel is unknown (and in all likelihood there is a bit of both) but our analysis of Douglas-Westwood’s own drilling & production (D&P) data supports this view. We expect to see a fall in US production this year of nearly 900,000 bpd, the largest drop in output for a country since Libya in 2011 (civil war) and Saudi Arabia in 2009 (OPEC cuts). There will be production growth in a number of countries, the most-significant being Iran and Iraq, with the result that overall global production will increase by 460k bpd. With demand growth forecast at 1.2 million bpd this year, the overall net position is a reduction in net over-supply of some ¾ million bpd. This reduction in over-supply should put upward pressure on oil prices as it develops over the course of the year.

So can we expect the same trend to continue into 2017? Analysis of the data (which is built-up on a project-by-project basis) suggests not. Whilst there will be further demand growth, this will be offset by significant production. We anticipate net increases in production both onshore and offshore. Most of the additional volumes are from offshore (net 1.1 million bpd increase) with an overall impact (taking into account demand growth) of a slight increase in over supply in 2017. In the years that follow, we expect reduction in over-supply every year to 2020.

Why the blip in 2017? Put simply, we are not over the hangover from several years of record levels of industry spend (2011-2014). Major projects were committed to at that time and the lead times for some of these projects are long. But this dynamic works both ways. The current hiatus in spend is brewing a major supply problem towards the end of the decade – if nothing changes, the data suggests under-supply of oil by 2020.

Steve Robertson & Matt Cook, Douglas-Westwood London

Hoover Container Solutions (“Hoover” or the “Company”), a subsidiary of Hoover Group, Inc., has announced that Scott Meints has been appointed Vice President of Service Operations and Adolfo Aguilera is joining Hoover’s executive team as Vice President of Manufacturing. Both will report directly to Johan Wramsby, Chief Operating Officer.

Scott Meints

Joining Hoover in 1992, Meints has served in various management positions where he has played a key role in ensuring Hoover remain at the forefront of innovation in the chemical tank industry. In his new position, Meints will be responsible for growing Hoover’s service-related offerings in the global market, in addition to driving product development and innovation.

Adolfo Aguilera joins Hoover with more than 18 years of manufacturing experience, most recently serving as the Director of Manufacturing at TAS Energy Inc. As Vice President of Manufacturing at Hoover, Aguilera will be responsible for managing all aspects of manufacturing operations including safety, production, quality assurance and maintenance.

Adolfo Aguilera

“Hoover is fortunate to have an incredible depth and breadth of talent across our team. It’s these contributions that allow us to continuously provide a comprehensive range of high quality products and services to each of our customers,” said Johan Wramsby, COO, Hoover. “Scott’s deep knowledge of technical standards, products and industries, coupled with his energy, makes him a great fit to head the growth of Hoover’s global service network, and I’m incredibly happy to welcome Adolfo Aguilera, who will bring his motivation and diverse leadership experience to enhance our manufacturing operations.”

Meints has an associate degree in manufacturing engineering from the Southeast Community College in Milford, Nebraska, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bellevue University. He is also a certified welding inspector.

Aguilera received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, as well as a Master of Science in engineering from Purdue University.

Kongsberg Maritime and Statoil have signed an agreement with Eelume, a NTNU spin-off company, to accelerate new technology that will significantly reduce costs related to subsea inspection, maintenance and repair operations.

NTNU and Sintef have conducted research on snake robotics for more than 10 years. Eelume is now developing a disruptive solution for underwater inspection and maintenance in the form of a swimming robot. The idea is to let these robots do inspection and light intervention jobs on the seabed, reducing the use of large and expensive vessels. With its snake-like form, the slender and flexible body of the Eelume robot provides access to confined areas that are difficult to access with existing technology.

Swimming down to subsea templates. Image credit: Kongsberg Maritime

Eelume robots will be permanently installed on the seabed and will perform planned and on-demand inspections and interventions. The solution can be installed on both existing and new fields where typical jobs include; visual inspection, cleaning, and adjusting valves and chokes. These jobs account for a large part of the total subsea inspection and intervention spend.

The strength of the collaboration lies in the unique contributions from each of the parties. Eelume is founded by top academics from NTNU, Kongsberg Maritime brings in 25 years of experience and technology development within marine robotics and Statoil provides access to real installations for testing and qualification. The combined efforts now include an exciting mix of entrepreneurial spirit, industrial competence, technology and a demanding end-customer. The result is a very robust development process from idea to market.

“With our unique expertise in the field of snake robotics Eelume is the first company in the world to bring these amazing robots into an industrial setting. Now we take the step from academia and into the commercial world to secure our place in the new and exciting subsea intervention landscape,” says Pål Liljebäck, CTO Eelume.

“This is a perfect example of how NTNU AMOS can contribute to bringing research based innovations into the market place through new spin-off companies and cooperation with leading industry players. Eelume is already the 5th spin-off company from researchers at NTNU AMOS and the third since 2013. SFF NTNU AMOS is strongly supported by the NTNU management, the Norwegian Research Council, Statoil, DNV GL and SINTEF Group,” says Asgeir J. Sørensen, Director, NTNU AMOS, Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems.

“As the main shareholder and responsible for business development in the company we think this is a perfect match for effectively introducing a new innovation based on NTNU inventions and competence into the market place. The support from Innovation Norway and the FORNY program in the Norwegian Research Council has been crucial to reach this milestone,” says Anders Aune, Head of TechTrans, NTNU Technology Transfer AS.

“This partnership offers the chance to bring radical technology to the market, not just in what the Eelume robot can do, but how it does it,” says Bjørn Jalving, Executive Vice President Subsea Division at Kongsberg Maritime. “It is a new tool that will enable operators to realise large scale cost savings by introducing new ways of conducting routine tasks and helping to prevent unscheduled shutdowns by reacting instantly when required.”

“Eelume is a good example of how new technology and innovation contributes to cost reduction. Instead of using large and expensive vessels for small jobs, we now introduce a flexible robot acting as a self-going janitor on the seabed. To support smaller companies in bringing new technology to the market is an important part of our research portfolio,” says Statoil’s Chief technology officer Elisabeth Birkeland Kvalheim.

Watch an animation of the innovative new Eelume snake robot in action:
Animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgDrZWlV5Ss