The fleet of tankers operated by the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) is being reconfigured to meet fuel requirements in support of U.S. forces worldwide.

Joining their first vessel of type FireStorm 50 "Jake Godbold" from Canadian yard MetalCraft Marine (MCM), Kingston, Ontario, Jacksonville welcomed their 2nd, a FireStorm 70. The vessel matches its predecessor and will be stationed near the main port in Jacksonville, Florida.

Austal received construction order for the fourth and fifth vessels of the U.S. Department of Defense’s next generation multi-use platform, the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), as part of a program potentially worth over US$1.6 billion, as Austal states.

STX Norway Offshore has through its subsidiary STX Brazil Offshore entered into a new contract for the building of one Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel for Norskan Offshore in Brazil. The vessel is scheduled for delivery at the end of 2013.

Zhenhua Heavy Industries, China, will construct and ABS will class a 4,200 ton newbuild heavylift pipelay vessel for Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC).

Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering (SOE) has signed contracts for the construction of 8 x TIGER 12000cbm semi pressurised and refrigerated LEG Carriers with Jaccar Holdings, Jacques de Chateauvieux’s personal investment company.