Every day, the world uses around one hundred million barrels of oil. The term “big oil” is used pejoratively to describe the industry’s lobbying power. But is big always better? This week, we look at both the biggest and the best, and the biggest and the worst of the oil industry. Big finds:...
Commercial Mariner – Vessel Reviews
COLUMN | Like trouble over bridged water [Tug Times]
O say can you see by the dawn’s early light A ship that blacked out, and a bridge no longer in sight (With apologies to Francis Scott Key) I have no desire to trivialise the recent events in Baltimore, because people died and that is a terrible tragedy for their families. We can only be […]
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REMINISCENCES | Frank Goto and the United Fishing Agency
The United Fishing Agency is one of the best things that has ever happened to Hawaii’s seafood industry. It is also one of the best things that ever happened to me. Without doubt it completed my education in ichthyology and marine biology. Not only that, it was indirectly responsible insert for me...
OPINION | FONOPs send a message – but they don’t speak for themselves
The Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) program run by the US Department of Defense has become a symbol of China-US naval competition and of the West’s advocacy for a rules-based order. Operational assertions are thrust into the limelight whenever China responds to one. And barely any US...
COLUMN | On the edge? McDermott, Petrofac, The Metals Company and Cadeler [Offshore Accounts]
Lady Gaga famously sang that she was “on the edge of glory”. This week, we look at four companies on the edge of….well, something. Let’s check in on two construction companies, a subsea mining venture, and our favourite wind turbine installer. McDermott on the edge Finally, a judge in the UK has...
COLUMN | Reaping what you sow: McDermott, Seatrium, Gunvor and Trafigura [Offshore Accounts]
It seems appropriate to get all biblical this week, just after Easter. When Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians that “a man reaps what he sows,” he probably wasn’t thinking about corruption in the oil and gas industry two millennia later. But the last month has seen no less than four...
COLUMN | Quick updates: PSVs changing hands; subsea newbuilds; Guyana booming; rigs fixing higher [Offshore Accounts]
Money is being made in offshore once again, but tragically lives are also being lost unnecessarily. Earlier this week, we examined how Perenco’s dysfunctional safety culture in Gabon, leading to six people dead or lost in an explosion. This is a sad backdrop for an industry booming at last. Stop...
COLUMN | US Army vessels in the vanguard of Gaza relief effort [Naval Gazing]
The US Army is usually perceived as being an exclusively land-based force. Few realise that the service incorporates a 135-vessel-strong maritime contingent under the auspices of the US Army Transportation Command. This fleet features a very wide range of vessels, including landing craft, support ships, maintenance vessels, and small raiding craft. It supports amphibious warfare […]
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COLUMN | Winner takes it all: Boskalis binges with record profits, as Boluda takes silver and McDermott gets sued (again) [Offshore Accounts]
Whilst the first big consolidator of this offshore upcycle was Tidewater, rapidly followed by ADNOC and AD Ports of Abu Dhabi, Europe is also experiencing a quiet wave of consolidation. Driving this is the biggest of the “Big Four” lowlands dredging and offshore companies, Boskalis. But whereas the gains in Tidewater have been open to […]
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VESSEL REVIEW | Catamaran response boat delivered to California’s Alameda Fire Department
Vallejo, California-based Lind Marine, through its Moose Boats boatbuilding division, has handed over a new response boat to the Alameda Fire Department (AFD) in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. “This purchase was approved by the City of Alameda’s local government due to the...