US Appeals Court, Says BP Bound by Gulf Spill Accord
By Jonathan Stempel, Reuters A divided U.S. appeals court has rejected BP Plc's bid to block businesses from recovering money over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, even if they could not trace their economic losses to the disaster. By a 2-1 vote, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans late Monday upheld a Dec. 24 ruling by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, authorizing the payments on so-called business economic loss claims.
Polar Onyx Readies for Brazilian Depths
The offshore construction vessel Polar Onyx was delivered on March 4, 2014 from Ulstein Verft to GC Rieber Shipping, as the latest addition to their growing investments into the subsea segment. The vessel’s first assignment will be to work for deepwater projects serving as pipelay support vessel for Petrobras offshore Brazil. The 130-meter long and 25-meter wide Polar Onyx is based on ULSTEIN’s SX121 design,
Keppel to Build Jackup for China Waters
Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) has secured a contract from TS Offshore Limited (TS Offshore), to construct an ultra-high specification jackup rig worth approximately $500 million. Scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2017, the jackup will be the first built to Keppel's new proprietary KFELS N Plus design.
Blogs
Oil Rig Ballast Control System Accidents
P-36 Ballast control systems are a vital part of semi-submersible oil platforms. The ballast control system is made up of a network of pipes, valves, pumps, and tanks, which work as a liquid control system to keep the vessel at an even keel. Offshore drilling is an extremely risky undertaking, which is susceptible to accidents, which may cause human casualties and environmental disasters.
Offshore Energy
BMT to Showcase at Oceanology International
BMT Group Ltd (BMT) will showcase its portfolio of offshore support products and services on Stand R400 at the Oceanology International conference taking place in London’s ExCeL this month. BMT provides fully integrated services in monitoring, understanding and managing the risks associated with working in the offshore environment. Visitors will have the opportunity to engage with BMT’s technical experts and discuss the specific challenges they face.
Subsea Defense
Fire Onboard Australian Navy Submarine
HMAS Waller, one of the Royal Australian Navy’s submarines, experienced a fire whilst on the surface off the West Australian coast. Emergency response actions were taken to extinguish the fire. There were no causalities. As a precaution four members of the ship’s crew who were involved in the response to the fire have been landed for observation. HMAS Waller had recently completed a scheduled maintenance period and was at sea as part of her return to operations.
Unmanned Vehicles
Life or Death in the Golden Hour
Finding a victim under water within the ‘Golden Hour’ determines whether a mission is a rescue or a recovery. This life or death moment is given fresh hope with a technological breakthrough by the Los Angeles Long Beach Fire Department and Saab Seaeye engineers. The joint initiative hopes to cut the search time from an average of three hours, to less than 30 minutes using a cleverly modified Falcon ROV that can rapidly sweep the area.
Innovation
OSIL to Expand IAPSO Standard Seawater Range
OSIL are expanding the existing range of IAPSO Standard Seawaters to include a new mid-salinity standard, 20L-Series (salinity 20). OSIL (Ocean Scientific International Ltd.) have been producing IAPSO Standard Seawater, and a range of other seawater products (including Low Nutrient Seawater and Nutrient Standard Solutions for nutrient analysis), since 1989. Standard Seawater,
People
NASA Chief Engineer to Speak at SPE Conference
The chief engineer of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will be the guest speaker at the opening scene-setter session and at the ‘ice-breaker’ drinks reception at the SPE Intelligent Energy Conference and Exhibition in Utrecht, the Netherlands from April 1-3, 2014. Brian Muirhead works at the forefront of the some of the greatest technical and management challenges in the world today.
