Latest news with #Spitsbergen
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Transocean (RIG) Falters For 3rd Straight Day – Here's Why
We recently published a list of 10 Stocks Take A Shocking Nosedive. Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) is one of the worst-performing stocks on Thursday. Transocean dropped by 3.74 percent on Wednesday to close at $3.09 apiece as investors unloaded portfolios over the lack of fresh developments to boost buying. Wednesday's share price marked its third straight day of decline, suggesting that investors have already priced in earlier news that it secured another $100 million contract with existing client, Equinor ASA. Under the agreement, Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) will drill two more wells for Equinor ASA at the Spitsbergen rig in Norway as part of the latter's drilling extension option. The program is expected to kick off in the first quarter of 2026 in direct continuation of the rig's current program. The additional work followed their original three-well program on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), which was procured in 2024. An aerial view of an oil rig with drillers in hard hats working on the platform. Transocean Ltd.'s (NYSE:RIG) Spitsbergen rig was built in 2010 as a sixth-generation dual-derrick winterized semi-submersible rig, which is capable of drilling high-pressure and high-temperature formations. While we acknowledge the potential of RIG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Travel Weekly
2 days ago
- Travel Weekly
HX Expeditions' Spitsbergen is back in service after renovation
HX Expeditions' Spitsbergen has a new eatery and science center upon completion of the ship's refurbishment. The new informal dining space is called Brygga Bistro and serves snacks and light meals in the mid-morning, afternoon and late evening. It is on Deck 5 and offers table service. The science center is on Deck 6 and includes a lecture space, library, citizen science workstations and interactive screens. It also has interpreter systems for language accessibility. The Explorer Lounge and Bar received a refresh with new seating, and the bar now serves HX's 14 new cocktails. When HX Expeditions got new investors and separated from Hurtigruten, HX committed to renovating the Fram and Spitsbergen. Those renovated ships have new exterior colors. The Spitsbergen has a 220-guest capacity and is sailing the Arctic this summer.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Transocean Ltd (RIG) Soars on New $100M Contract
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) stands against other top-performing companies on Tuesday. Transocean Ltd. grew its share prices by 7.32 percent on Tuesday to close at $3.08 apiece as investors cheered worth $100 million of backlogs after its client, Equinor ASA, exercised the option to extend its drilling operations at the Spitsbergen rig in Norway. In a statement, Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) said Equinor exercised a two-well option for the Transocean Spitsbergen in Norway. The program is expected to kick off in the first quarter of the year in direct continuation of the rig's current program. The additional work followed their original there-well program on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), which was procured in 2024. The Transocean Spitsbergen was built in 2010 as a sixth-generation dual-derrick winterized semi-submersible rig, which is capable of drilling high-pressure and high-temperature formations. An aerial view of an oil rig with drillers in hard hats working on the platform. In the first quarter of the year, Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) swung to a net loss of $79 million from a net income of $98 million in the same period a year earlier, despite contract drilling revenues improving by 18.7 percent to $906 million from $763 million year-on-year. Overall, RIG ranks 4th on our list of top-performing companies on Tuesday. While we acknowledge the potential of RIG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I visited Europe's largest wilderness - where it's illegal to go outside without a weapon and seal is on the menu
Improbable, measureless and beautifully sinister, Svalbard is a natural film set - it's no wonder parts of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning were filmed here. The size of Ireland, the Norwegian archipelago is the largest wilderness in Europe - just 400 miles from the North Pole. Most of it is rock and ice and only one island, Spitsbergen, is inhabited, home to 2,600 souls in five tiny settlements. I'm here for a week - joining a snowmobile expedition. Here's how it went... Ultra cold at base camp Svalbard never thaws and is frozen to a depth of more than 330ft (100m). At the heart of this icy world is Longyearbyen, a former coal mining town. In spring the temperature hovers at about -15C. This is the world's most northerly town, featuring the most northerly library, pub, schools and a handful of 'Scandi cool' hotels. Seal features on menus. Snowmobiles are sold at the Co-op. Reindeer patrol the tundras. It's illegal to leave Longyearbyen without weapons. 'Polar bears can appear anywhere,' warns our guide, Elise, who carries a rifle. The previous week a group was stalked (luckily, without incident). Typically they're 7ft-plus and can weigh more than 100 stone (630kg). There are more than 3,000 in Svalbard. You can spot stuffed bears all over town: in the airport, pub and even the church. Out on the ice there are six in our group, each with a snowmobile. For eight hours we ride up frozen rivers, through ice fields and on to glaciers, the temperature dropping to -27C. We're wearing polar suits and the handlebars are heated. For sustenance we have freeze-dried curry. The size of Ireland, the Norwegian archipelago is the largest wilderness in Europe - just 400 miles from the North Pole After Longyearbyen we see no one else. It's an unforgettable ride, with mountains as white as clouds below a cobalt-blue sky. Cliffs arise in the distance looking like stacks of iced pink coins. On one occasion, at Horbyebreen, we enter a natural tunnel beneath the glacier. The silence is enormous. After 84 miles we reach the improbably stylish Nordenskiold Lodge, with leather armchairs, panoramic windows and even a sauna. Here we're looked after by a proper Arctic couple: Trond, a former trapper, and his partner, Ragna, who served up a superb reindeer stew. Plumbing is tricky in the tundra, so men have to pee outside. Doing so involves taking an armed guard (Trond) who keeps an eye out for polar bears with his .44 Magnum. Eight miles away is the Russian mining town of Pyramiden. Under the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, Moscow is permitted to extract coal, and the town is a relic of Soviet times. Due to sanctions, we don't visit, but we do skirt the sea-ice around the town. It's a gloomy place of scabby tower blocks and rusting cranes that during its heyday (1975-85) was home to 900 miners. Now only 20 remain - plus a statue of Vladimir Lenin. On our final day we walk across a frozen bay to the bottom of Nordenskiold Glacier. Here great columns of ice sheer off and collapse with a boom. From afar the glacier wall looks like a torrent of smashed up skyscrapers. But close up it's more like a rampart made of turquoise marble. In the evening, Ragna drops chunks of this prehistoric ice in our whiskies. On Spitsbergen there are more huskies than humans. Before snowmobiles, dogs were the only way to travel. On our return I try what's known as mushing, any sport powered by dogs. With names like Ravioli, Stinky and Twix, they're strong, affectionate and eager to please. Compared with zipping in a snowmobile it's slow going. Not everyone survives Svalbard. Some missions prove truly impossible. The North Pole Museum in Longyearbyen is like a gallery of mishaps. It's all here: an aviator's maroon suit, bits of Roald Amundsen's plane and the doomed Italia airship. The city museum also has a 'catastrophe section'. One exhibit concerns the rifle of trapper Georg Nilsen, who vanished in 1921. His skeleton was discovered in 1965, crunched up by polar bears... his rifle jammed. John Gimlette is the author of The Gardens Of Mars: Madagascar, An Island Story, published by Head of Zeus.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why remote Svalbard is best explored on an expedition cruise
The world is at its quietest and most awe-inspiring in the planet's remote reaches, where wildlife reigns and the planet's stark beauty is on display. Located some 580 miles from the city of Tromsø in mainland Norway, Svalbard is an archipelago comprising nine main islands, the largest being Spitsbergen. One of the best ways to immerse yourself in this wild environment is on an expedition cruise, where you'll glide past imposing glaciers, noisy walrus colonies, cliffs dotted with sea birds and families of polar bears. In the summer months, Svalbard enjoys constant daylight — making it an ideal time to see these pristine landscapes in all their glory. Here are five reasons to go on an expedition through this otherworldly archipelago. For any visitor to Svalbard, the chance to see the King of the Arctic in his natural habitat is the stuff of wildlife-spotting dreams. Roughly 3,000 polar bears call Svalbard home — more than the human population here — and as the largest of all the bear species, there's a high chance of spotting one of these mighty carnivores from a ship or tender. Polar bears are often seen navigating ice floes, stalking birds perched on cliffs or paddling alongside desolate beaches. These bears can disappear out of sight as quickly as they appear, so having an eagle-eyed guide makes all the difference. The chalk-white humps of belugas swimming in a procession; the breach of a huge humpback; or the tall fluke of a sperm whale slowly dropping below the ocean's surface, signalling the start of a deep dive — these are just a few of the wondrous wildlife moments you may encounter while exploring Svalbard. This Arctic landscape is where hundreds of walruses gather on rocky beaches to snort out a chorus, while herds of reindeer forage for moss along the tundra. Elsewhere, you can spot seals warily navigating the sea ice, or ogle thousands of sea birds — including guillemots, glaucous gulls and fulmars — nesting on vertical cliffs. During the summer months in Svalbard, when the North Pole is angled closest to the sun, the archipelago experiences perpetual daylight. The sun never quite dips below the horizon, casting a pink hue across the sky from dusk until morning. This phenomenon, known as the midnight sun, only adds to the wonder of travelling through these islands. You may lose track of time in the brightness of near-constant daytime, but this means any moment offers the chance to take in the astonishing scale of a glacier or watch as a whale exhales plumes of breath into the sky. Naturalists, marine biologists, geologists and experienced expedition staff are the human elements who make an adventure to Svalbard exceptional. The most fulfilling journeys through this archipelago bring the region's history, landscapes, marine life and conservation efforts to life through onboard lectures and presentations. On an expedition here, you are likely to have the opportunity to mingle with staff and ask them questions to develop a deeper understanding of this distinctive dot on the map. Journeying around Spitsbergen (the only inhabited island in the archipelago) feels much like moving through a documentary of your own making. This is where the Arctic's colour palette is most vibrant, visible in the dark granite seams of snow-topped mountain peaks, the glaciers that appear to glow turquoise and the steely blues of rippling ocean waves. Former whaling stations and hunting cabins made of wood and stone mark a history of human habitation — but it's the enormous whale bones lining the shore that are the most striking reminders of our past. This is paid content for Trailfinders. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller (UK) or their editorial subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
