BEND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 5, 2025--
Onboard Dynamics LLC (“Onboard Dynamics”), a leading developer of pipeline evacuation technology, has entered into a strategic partnership with T.D. Williamson (“TDW”), a global provider of pipeline services and equipment. This collaboration will enable TDW to represent, market, and sell Onboard Dynamics’ products and services directly to customers across the Eastern Hemisphere through its own network of channel partners.
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The partnership spans a broad and strategically important region—including Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, India, and the Asia-Pacific—where the demand for sustainable pipeline solutions is rapidly growing. Together, the companies aim to support regional efforts to reduce carbon emissions by minimizing methane releases during pipeline evacuation operations.
“This partnership with Onboard Dynamics brings cutting-edge pipeline evacuation technology to our customers outside of North America,” said Laurent Fabry, Sr Director Sales Operations Europe Caspian & Africa at T.D. Williamson. “It enhances our ability to support clients in reducing emissions during natural gas pipeline maintenance, aligning with our shared commitment to environmental stewardship and service excellence.”
Mitch Schmidtke, CEO of Onboard Dynamics, added: “The importance of this strategic partnership with TDW cannot be overstated. It validates the strength of our technology and significantly accelerates our global reach. Together, we are equipping the natural gas pipeline industry in the Eastern Hemisphere with the tools needed to meet both operational and environmental goals.”
By combining TDW’s renowned quality service and technical expertise with Onboard Dynamics’ emissions-reducing technology, the partnership delivers comprehensive pipeline integrity and emissions management solutions.
About Onboard Dynamics LLC
Founded in 2013, the goal of Onboard Dynamics is to support the natural gas ecosystem in reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions safely and reliably through innovative and practical commercial solutions. Our compression-based systems minimize methane and other GHG releases during pipeline operations and maintenance. Learn more at: www.onboarddynamics.com.
About T.D. Williamson
T.D. Williamson (TDW) draws upon more than 100 years of industry expertise and experience to help operators of pressurized pipeline systems keep the world's energy lifelines running safely and reliably. TDW delivers an unmatched, patented portfolio of technology, products and services for the life of a pipeline including pigging, hot tapping and isolation, integrity assessment and repair to support operators in protecting the environment and moving toward a more sustainable energy future. Find out more at www.tdwilliamson.com.
Onboard Dynamics’ GoVAC® Pipeline Evacuation System—an innovative, self-powered mobile unit designed to capture and recover natural gas during pipeline evacuations, eliminating the need for venting or flaring. Pictured here in action during a pipeline drawdown project in France.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Thursday formally removed the country’s impeached police chief for deploying hundreds of officers to support ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.
The court said Cho Ji-ho “actively disrupted” legislative activities by sending police forces to the National Assembly and trying to block lawmakers from reaching the main chamber to vote to lift Yoon’s decree.
Cho also infringed upon the independence of the National Election Commission, the court said, by dispatching police to help the military’s seizure of two NEC offices. Yoon said the actions were intended to investigate unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
Cho, who was impeached by lawmakers and arrested a week after Yoon’s power grab, is the first commissioner general of the National Police Agency to be removed by the Constitutional Court. He was granted bail in January after a Seoul criminal court cited his need for cancer treatment and faces a separate criminal trial on charges of assisting a rebellion.
Yoon imposed martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, describing the action as necessary to suppress an “anti-state” liberal opposition controlling the legislature. Hours later a quorum of lawmakers managed to break through the military and police blockade and unanimously voted to revoke the order.
Lawmakers later in December voted to impeach Yoon, suspending his powers and placing his fate with the Constitutional Court, which formally removed him from office in April. He was rearrested in July and faces a slew of serious charges including rebellion, which is punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty.
In its ruling on Cho’s impeachment motion, the Constitutional Court said he cannot remain as the national police chief when he carried out Yoon’s orders despite being clearly aware they were “unconstitutional, unlawful.”
The ruling noted Cho and the Seoul metropolitan police chief were summoned by Yoon to a safe house hours before the declaration of martial law, where they discussed plans to carry it out with Yoon’s then defense minister.
Following Yoon’s declaration, Yoon and the Seoul police chief deployed about 300 officers around the entrances of the National Assembly, which also was swarmed by heavily armed troops, including special operations units with Blackhawk helicopters, in what the court described as an effort to block the legislative vote.
After protests by lawmakers and civilians at the National Assembly, police briefly allowed lawmakers and legislative staff to enter before sealing the grounds for more than two hours later that night after the military’s martial law command announced the suspension of political activities. A quorum of lawmakers still managed to enter with some, including current President Lee Jae Myung, climbing fences to reach the main chamber.
Cho argued his actions did not constitute support for Yoon’s martial law, claiming he sent police to the Assembly to maintain order and prevent accidental clashes.
“Considering that lawmakers and others had no choice but to enter the National Assembly by abnormal means, such as climbing over fences, due to the respondent’s order to block the entrances, the respondent’s claim is not acceptable,” the court said in a statement.
FILE - South Korea's National Police Agency Commissioner General Cho Ji Ho speaks at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 9, 2024. (Ryu Hyung-seok/Yonhap via AP, File)
Kim Sang-hwan, top center, chief justice of the Constitutional Court and the court's other justices attend a hearing to deliver a verdict on impeached police chief Cho Ji-ho at the court in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (Kim Sung-min/Yonhap via AP)
