Falkor-Too

The Uruguay Sub200 expedition has resumed its study of the Uruguayan continental seabed after the malfunction with its A-frame structure, a piece of equipment used for handling heavy loads, which had forced the 'Falkor Too' to return to the port of Montevideo, was rectified. The ship left the port again on Aug 26. The expedition, which set sail on Aug 22, was aimed to be the most comprehensive study of Uruguay's continental shelf and deep ocean ecosystems. The vessel and its crew of 37 scientists and technicians from 18 institutions in six countries, under the guidance of Uruguay's University of the Republic (Udelar). were exploring a strip of the seabed between 200 and 3,600 meters deep. The 'Falkor Too' returned to the study area where it was conducting the expedition 'Visualizing the Depths off Uruguay' (Uruguay SUB200), The expedition is scheduled to last until Sep 10.

The 'Falkor Too' had to interrupt its scientific mission during the first days of the expedition "Visualizing the Depths off Uruguay" off Uruguay due to a technical failure and returned to the port of Montevideo on Aug 25, 2025. The incident occurred with the A-frame structure, used to handle underwater equipment and heavy loads.While the A-frame was being raised from its storage position to a vertical position, it stopped working. No one was injured. The device was, however, key to the mission’s development. Once the problem has been resolved, the vessel will resume scientific work at “point 3” of the 32 planned for the campaign with the least possible impact.

GC Rieber Shipping has entered into a time charter agreement with a European offshore client for the CSV vessel POLAR QUEEN for a fixed period of four months with options to extend by up to one month. With this charter, all GC Rieber Shipping subsea vessels have secured contracts for the summer season 2018. The POLAR QUEEN will be used in British sector to perform walk-to-work duties and commencement will be in May 2018. "We are pleased to see Polar Queen build on her success in the walk-to-work market and secure a new substantial charter with Tier 1 clients. With this charter, GC Rieber Shipping is sold out for the summer of 2018. Both POLAR KING and POLAR ONYX are now on solid long terms charters, and the agreement for POLAR QUEEN proves the robustness of our crew and organizational capabilities", said GC Rieber Shipping CEO, Christian W. Berg.

GC Rieber Shipping ASA has entered into a new time charter agreement with Boa Marine Services Inc. (BMSI) for the CSV " POLAR QUEEN " for a fixed period of 3 years. The new time charter agreement will be a continuation of BMSI's existing charter for the same vessel and will commence April 2015. BMSI has chartered "POLAR QUEEN" since October 2012. Boa Marine Services Inc. is a US subsidiary of the Norwegian owned Boa Group. The charter agreement holds options for up to three years extensions for BMSI. "GC Rieber Shipping has had a strong and good relationship with Boa Marine Services Inc. under the current contract. We look forward to extending and further build our cooperation with Boa Marine Services Inc. in the years to come" says CEO Irene W. Basili in GC Rieber Shipping.

GC Rieber Shipping has signed a two-year contract for its second subsea newbuild with the Mexican company Oceanografia. The vessel, which will be named Polar Queen, was recently handed by Freire shipyard in Spain. The contract will start in November. Three of the four vessels in the company's newbuilding program are thus delivered and all of them are on hire.