A leading offshore communications provider has achieved a number of successes in recent months.  The company reports that it is expanding its existing networks and moving into new markets.

LS Cable has announced that it has succeeded in the development and commercialization of an umbilical cable, a composite cable for offshore engineering, for the first time in Korea.

North Sea Communications AS (NSC) is expanding its submarine fiber optic cable network serving oil and gas platforms in the North Sea.  The company, which is 100% owned by the TeliaSonera group, was established in 1998, with the single purpose to build and operate a fiber optical cable between Norway and the United Kingdom.

Ownership of a company operating a fiber optic network to provide communications services to offshore oil and gas platforms is about to change hands.

RigNet, a provider of managed communications solutions for the upstream oil and gas industry, announced that it has entered into a multi-year contract with Seahawk Drilling, a drilling services company focused on the Gulf of Mexico to provide managed remote communications for its fleet of offshore rigs.

Ocean Specialists, Inc. (OSI) has announced the introduction of its patented Portable Dynamic Riser (PDR) technology to the deepwater oil and gas industry.  The PDR is a portable, skid-mounted cable package that allows Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs) and other mobile assets to establish a connection to an in-field fiber optic network without the need to install a custom-designed dynamic riser.  The potential to provide virtually unlimited bandwidth to offshore drilling platforms opens the industry to significant new opportunities to improve the safety, efficiency and quality of its operations by providing real-time access to the industry’s most advanced technology, subject matter experts and best practices wherever they may be located world-wide.

Nexans has launched SHIPLINK™ as the new brand identity for its range of cable solutions and services for shipbuilding and offshore. The comprehensive scope includes power, data and control cables. With its vast product range, extensive global production and research facilities, Nexans is continuing to innovate and develop new technologies, products and services for shipbuilding with safety, reliability and environmental standards at their core.

MTN Ghana held a one-day workshop in April to discuss and explore the possibility of providing broadband network services to oil companies operating offshore in Ghana.

ABB has won an order worth $110 million from Eni Norway AS, to build a power link between a new oil and gas platform in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian power grid. The order was booked in the first quarter.

Nexans has completed a 3 million Euro contract for SBM Offshore (Single Buoy Moorings) to manufacture and supply the specialized offshore power, control and instrumentation cables for the conversion of the Espirito Santo FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) vessel serving the BC-10 deep water field development in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil.