CHEMBULK HOUSTON

SBM Offshore and Solstad Offshore have formed a joint venture that has entered into a letter of intent with a shipyard for the construction of a multi-purpose deepwater installation and construction vessel, with delivery targeted in the first half of 2029.The vessel will be owned by a joint venture in which Solstad Offshore will hold a 50.1% stake and SBM Offshore 49.9%. Solstad Shipping will act as ship manager, while SBM Offshore will charter the vessel for its own projects. When not required for SBM Offshore projects, the vessel may be chartered to third parties.

Despite the current ceasefire between the United States and Iran, it remains too risky to move the thousands of sailors stuck in the Gulf, the head of the IMO said."We will not be able to activate anything until the root causes are addressed and there is more of a final agreement, a ceasefire, or complete agreement, between the parties involved in the conflict," Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general, told Reuters on Sunday ahead of the start of the Posidonia shipping industry week in Athens.There are an estimated 20,000 seafarers aboard vessels stuck in the Gulf as Iran imposes restrictions on movements through the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States, Britain and Australia are working together to develop unmanned undersea vehicles as part of their trilateral AUKUS defence pact, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters on Saturday.AUKUS said in a joint statement that delivery of the vehicles will start in 2027.The program will improve the three nations' reconnaissance and strike capabilities, "and bolster superiority in anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, mine countermeasures, electronic warfare, and contested littoral manoeuvre," the statement added.

Norwegian shipbuilder Vard has signed a contract with research organization Inkfish for the design and construction of a deep-sea research vessel based on the VARD 9 42 design, in a deal valued at nearly $810 million (€700 million).The company said the contract is the largest order ever secured by Vard for a single vessel and the largest order of its kind for a Norwegian shipyard.The vessel, known as RV11000 during the project phase, will be 162 meters long with a beam of 28 meters. It follows Inkfish's first purpose-built research vessel, RV6000, which was contracted with Vard in 2025.

DEME, through its Japanese joint venture Japan Offshore Marine (JOM), has secured a contract for the Oga–Katagami–Akita Offshore Wind Project, covering engineering work and vessel charter services for the offshore installation of 21 wind turbines.The contract forms part of an agreement between Oga Katagami Akita Offshore Green Energy and Penta-Ocean Construction.JOM will install 21 Vestas V236-15 MW turbines, marking the first deployment of 15 MW-class wind turbines in Japan and the first application of turbines of this size outside Europe, excluding China.