A dive support vessel with 23 crew was forced to issue a mayday call on Monday after a fire broke out in the vicinity of the vessel's engine room as the ship was approximately 5 nautical miles east of the Tyne piers on the east coast of England. After picking up the call distress call from the Marshall Islands-flagged Nor Da Vinci, which had just departed Blyth harbour, … [Read more...]
Wärtsilä to Power World’s First LNG-Powered Offshore Construction Vessel
Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has been selected to supply the engines and propulsion machinery for the first offshore construction vessel to be powered by liquified natural gas. The ship was ordered in March by Belgian operator Dredging International (DEME) at the Cosco shipyard in China. The 210-meter-long vessel, named 'Orion', will be … [Read more...]
Norway’s Farstad, Solstad, and Deep Sea Supply to Merge, Creating Offshore Supply Vessel Giant
By Gwladys Fouche and Jonathan Saul OSLO/LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The pace of consolidation in the crisis-hit shipping industry accelerated on Monday after three of Norway's biggest offshore oil industry service vessel (OSV) operators announced plans to merge to create one of the biggest fleets in the sector. Shipping tycoon John Fredriksen and Norwegian billionaire … [Read more...]
Singapore Junk Bonds Slump as Chartering Group Swissco Seeks Restructuring
By Netty Ismail and David Yong (Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s junk-bond market is suffering its worst rout in at least four years as debt restructurings spread among shipping and oil-and-gas service companies. High-yield notes in the local currency from borrowers in Singapore slid 1.9 percent last quarter, the most in an IHS Markit Ltd. index going back to 2012. Rig and … [Read more...]
Singapore’s Marco Polo Marine Seeks to Delay Bond Payment Amid Business Review
by David Yong (Bloomberg) -- A Singapore provider of barges and tugs for coal, steel scrap and iron ores plans to ask bondholders for approval to delay paying S$50 million ($37 million) of securities due next month after appointing an external adviser to review its business. Marco Polo Marine Ltd. told some noteholders of the plan at a meeting Tuesday, and those present … [Read more...]