BigLift Shipping has expanded its fleet with two MC-Class wide deck carriers, the 23,134gt/2016 built sisters BigLift Barentsz and BigLift Baffin. The transaction was made after BigLift Shipping ended the co-operation with RollDock for the management of the MC-Class vessels at the end of 2017.

Cosco Shipping Specialised Carriers has become the world’s largest multipurpose operator by deadweight as the company’s existing fleet of 1.76 million dwt plus a further 38,000dwt ship is on order. Having reduced its fleet by 13 to 146 ships, Germany’s BBC Chartering has been relegated to second place on the list of the ten largest multipurpose carriers. BBC Chartering’s current fleet has a total deadweight of 1.68 million tonnes and just one 13,000dwt newbuild is on order. Dutch operator Spliethoff is in the third place with a fleet of 778,000dwt plus six 108,000 dwt vessels under construction. As of early January 2018, the ten largest multipurpose/project/heavy lift vessel operators by deadweight had a fleet of 460 ships with a total deadweight of 8.14 million tonnes and an aggregate lifting capability of 147,000 tonnes.

Holyhead Towing’s fleet suffered a major setback at the hands of Storm Emma at the beginning of March. On 2nd March the storm destroyed Holyhead Marina with many yachts and other vessels being wrecked plus some of Holyhead Towing’s vessels being dumped ashore. Turbine Transfer vessels affected included the Wylfa Head, Tremadoc Bay, Penrhyn Bay, Mallthraeth Bay and Lynas Point. The latter two craft suffered the most damage.

Maersk Supply Service has successfully completed the first contract for its first Stingray-class newbuild subsea support vessel, the 14,908gt/2017 built Maersk Installer. She joined the project in January 2018, supporting the Vashishta development off the East Coast of India. The contract utilised the Maersk Installer’s advance capabilities, including her DP3 system and the 400t AHC crane with large outreach to load and install rigid jumpers.

RollDock and SAL Heavy Lift formed the world’s first pool for dock vessels as of 1st April 2018 to join forces for Ro-Ro and Float-In/Float-Out heavy lift cargoes. The pool will consist of the combined fleet of six vessels and will be managed by RollDock and use the RollDock brand with SAL providing specialised heavy break bulk cargo support. Five of the vessels come from the existing RollDock fleet (S and ST class vessels) and one from SAL (Combi Dock I).

Subsea 7 S.A. has signed an agreement to acquire Siem Offshore Contractors and two vessels, expanding Subsea 7’s capabilities within the renewable energy segment. The acquisition, which is subject to competition clearance in Germany, will include the entire issued share capital of Siem Offshore Contractors, the 8,530gt/ 2016 built inter-array cable lay vessel Siem Aimery and the 4,367gt/2014 built support vessel Siem Moxie. Siem Offshore Contractors is a well-known installer of subsea inter-array cables and provides repair and maintenance services to the global offshore renewable energy market.

Tidewater’s 18,900gt newbuild cable layer Living Stone reportedly suffered a fire on 15th February at her shipyard in Santurzi, Port of Bilbao, Spain. The ship had already been removed from the financially-troubled La Naval shipyard for completion elsewhere. Wagenborg Offshore’s new Walk to Work vessel Kasteelborg (above) entered service on 7th March following conversion from a standard offshore supply vessel in just 12 weeks at the Royal Niestern Sander shipyard. The Kasteelborg will support the offshore activities on the southern North Sea under a 6-year contract with the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) and Shell UK Exploration & Production (Shell UK).