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Holy Grail News

14 Jun 2023

Ardmore Shipping Builds a Better Fleet

Image courtesy Ardmore Shipping

Garry Noonan, Director, Innovation, Ardmore Shipping is candid in discussing emerging technologies and their impact on ship fuel and emissions reductions. With a fleet of product and chemical tankers under his guise, Noonan gives insights on technologies that he has seen work, as well as his thoughts on the fuel transition, which he believes won’t become mainstream until we’re well into the 2030s.While Cork, Ireland-based Ardmore Shipping, founded in 2010, is relatively new in shipping circles


11 Apr 2023

Weather Routing: Sofar Ocean Plots the Course

Wayfinder is a dynamic voyage guidance system, designed to deliver the most efficient and least weather-restricted speed and waypoint recommendations to a fleet.
Image courtesy Sofar Ocean

Sofar Ocean is on a quest to extract and put to use data from the world’s waterways. Co-Founder and CEO Tim Janssen discusses how his team’s hyper-focus on data is helping to improve weather routing via Wayfinder.Tim Janssen and his Sofar Ocean team continue their ‘Epic Ocean Data Quest,’ remaining laser focused on doing its part to help extract and put to use increasing quantities of information from the world’s oceans. For its part, Sofar continues to build scalable networks to gather information premised on its Sofar Spotter buoy.

26 Jan 2023

3D Printing: Navy Builds Up Additive Manufacturing on Ships

Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) onloads a 3D printer during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022, July 8, 2022.  
U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Ace Rheaume

The U.S. Navy has long valued the potential of additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D Printing.AM refers to the depositing of material layer by layer to create an object. For the Navy, it’s not practical to carry every replacement part for every system on a ship, and it can be difficult to forecast if or when parts will fail. AM provides a flexible source of supply in being able to make parts instead of ordering them and waiting for them to arrive, especially for warships at the far end of the supply chain.

07 Oct 2022

Molten Salt Reactors: Maritime’s Nuclear Option

Multipurpose: an illustration of Ulstein International’s nuclear-powered Thor showing its ship-to-ship resupply boom and passenger transfer, and below a close-up of a replenishment operation. Image courtesy Ulstein International

A race is being run by nuclear scientists and ship designers. The prize? “Decarbonization’s” holy grail — believed to be a “small” thorium-fueled, molten-salt rector’s unlimited power to propel sea trade. At the same time, a recently revived discussion among leading marine-nuclear thinkers revolves now around how to put an ultra-modern, as-yet non-existent marine reactor aboard a modern commercial vessel. As with nuclear power generally, shipborne reactors produce national discussion first, then discovery.

03 May 2022

Startups Apply Artificial Intelligence to Supply Chain Disruptions

© Hor / Adobe Stock

Over the last two years a series of unexpected events has scrambled global supply chains. Coronavirus, war in Ukraine, Brexit and a container ship wedged in the Suez Canal have combined to delay deliveries of everything from bicycles to pet food.In response, a growing group of startups and established logistics firms has created a multi-billion dollar industry applying the latest technology to help businesses minimize the disruption.Interos Inc, Fero Labs, KlearNow Corp and others


17 Feb 2022

Strong Demand for Police and Fire Boats with More Orders on the Horizon

Endeavor Series 30-foot vessel built by Silver Ships for the Bayport Fire Department in Bayport, N.Y. (Photo: Silver Ships)

Today, despite an abundance of market challenges and supply chain headaches, many of America’s police and fire boat builders are in possession of the shipyard holy grail: a healthy backlog.Dave Hunt, business development and project manager for Theodore, Ala. based Silver Ships said vessel orders from police and fire agencies have been on the rise and that the expectation is that this trend will continue. “Between vessels delivered and in production, we have seen a year over year increase steadily since 2017; particularly the last two years.

20 Jan 2022

Dredging Companies Keeping a Close Eye on New Infrastructure Dollars

© itsallgood / Adobe Stock

For dredging company executives, the recently passed $550 billion federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) sits like the proverbial Horn-o’-Plenty, ready to disgorge billions of federal dollars for maritime, port, harbor, coastal, inland waterways and flood projects, many of which will require dredging. This is a really big deal because this new money will go toward existing projects, work that’s been on the books, so to speak, but, until now, couldn’t be funded.

11 Dec 2020

Green Hydrogen is Finally Getting Its Day in the Sun

© Thomas / Adobe Stock

Hydrogen has taken off this year as the future green fuel of choice, with governments and businesses betting big that the universe's most abundant element can help fight climate change.More than $150 billion worth of green hydrogen projects have been announced globally in the past nine months. In total, more than 70 gigawatts of such projects are in development, which could require $250 billion worth of investment by 2040, research firm Rystad Energy estimates.Why now?China, Japan


03 Aug 2020

Ship Power: Inside WinGD's X-DF2.0 Technology

iCER at driving end. Image: WinGD

Developments in marine power today are centered on ever tightening legislative mandate which increasingly aim to dramatically reduce and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions to the environment. While the holy grail of being truly ‘emissions free’ is still not feasible, there is much concurrent work in industry and academia to develop and source the fuels, the machinery technology, the logistical infrastructure and the business case for solutions that will meet the 2050 50% emission reduction mandates from the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

27 Jan 2020

@ Glosten: “Crazy ideas are not off the table”

“Doing business the same way over and over will not last; we know technology will advance our industry, and if we just sit back and don’t take an active role, we’re going to lose. There is no room for complacency.” 
Morgan Fanberg, President, Glosten

From racing scows on the inland lakes of Minnesota to graduating from the United States Merchant Marine Academy to taking the helm of Glosten, Morgan Fanberg has led a ‘maritime life.’ We caught up with Fanberg in his Seattle office to discuss the path ahead for one of the U.S.’ most progressive and respected naval architecture and marine engineering firms.Morgan Fanberg has always been a ‘maritime guy,’ but his early maritime aspirations centered on racing sailboats. “I went to St.

14 Oct 2019

Wrangling Big Data Into Actionable Intel

Photo by Randy Montoya

Social media, cameras, sensors and more generate huge amounts of data that can overwhelm analysts sifting through it all for meaningful, actionable information to provide decision-makers such as political leaders and field commanders responding to security threats.Sandia National Laboratories researchers are working to lessen that burden by developing the science to gather insights from data in nearly real time.“The amount of data produced by sensors and social media is booming — every day there’s about 2.5 quintillion (or 2.5 billion billion) bytes of data generated


18 Oct 2022

Marine Hybrid quietly arrives 
 positioned to explode

The Harbor Harvest vessel under construction (CREDIT: Robert Kunkel)

Hybrid is not only here, it is growing, and with that growth it will soon reach far beyond coastal applications.For those who were around for the arrival of Y2K, you will remember the anticipation, preparation and perspiration as the maritime world waited for the failure of communications, navigation, security and machinery associated with the digital change of the clock. The forecasts, now historical urban legend, left the world without a digital catastrophe.We wait now for 2020 and the advent of the IMO maritime emissions regulations.

27 Oct 2018

Maritime's Push Toward "Net Zero Carbon"

IMO’s 2050 deadline to reduce GHG emissions 50% from 2008 levels has set off a gold rush to develop Zero Emissions SolutionsClimate change is the biggest issue facing [all aspects of] the maritime industry, said Kitak Lim, IMO secretary general, in an interview earlier this year with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News. He predicted that shipping could experience as much change in the next 10 to 20 years as it has in the last 100 years, as the industry races to meet a number of challenges


19 Feb 2018

Cruise Ships & Eco-Trends in Energy Transition

Around 360 cruise vessels are operating on the ocean today, transporting thousands of passengers to both new and established locations across the world. The Cruise Boom relishing the industry in recent years has driven growth and advancement with 93 new vessels now under construction showcasing the latest technology available today. Now, the rising popularity of remote and adventurous routes such as the Polar Regions and UNESCO heritage sights has raised concerns about the impacts on marine environments and coastlines. The stakeholders continue to wait for environmental legislation to be set that will determine the green strategies adopted by different operators. Here, we take a brief look at some of the most promising technology available to the cruise industry today.

11 Jan 2017

Xeneta Warns on Uncertain Container Shipping Market

The contract freight rate benchmarking company Xeneta warned about further uncertainty for the global container shipping market in 2017. Although rates have risen significantly from the historic lows of early 2016, giving battered ship owners some reprieve, structural problems continue to undermine stability, while macro-economic and political factors are casting long shadows on the horizon. 2016 was a tumultuous year for carriers, defined by low rates, overcapacity and the subsequent collapse of Hanjin. However, the final months of the year saw generally higher short-term rates, with the market average price for 40’ containers on the world’s number one trade route – Far East Asia to North American main ports – climbing from a low of $1164 in April to $1716 by the close of 2016.

22 Aug 2016

Will Vessel Prices Continue Relentless Slide?

Tanker Opinions, published Poten & Partners says that, for a shipowner, there are usually a few twists to the traditional capital budgeting process. A shipowner that is deciding whether to invest in new capacity has at least three other factors to consider: (1) his production facilities (i.e. the vessels) are not only used to transport commodities, the vessels are commodities themselves, i.e. there is a liquid secondhand market for vessels of all sizes and ages; (2) the location of a shipowners’ production facility is not fixed, it floats and (in theory) competes with vessels all over the world; (3) vessels, even though they can cost well over $100 million to build, have a limited lifespan.

21 Dec 2015

Cosco - Only Bidder for Piraeus Port

China’s Cosco Pacific is understood to be the only party interested in the acquisition of the 51 percent stake (plus another 15 percent) of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), reports Kathimerini. Alexis Tsipras's government had halted the sale after winning elections in January but resumed the process under the 86 billion-euro bailout deal it agreed with its euro zone partners in the summer. The deadline for final bids was 1700 GMT on Monday. The Hong Kong-listed firm was the only party to submit a timely binding offer in the context of the tender proclaimed in 2014 by the state privatization fund (TAIPED) by Monday’s deadline, four hours before it expired. All signs point to the absence of a second offer for the stake, which could have created some competition for the asset up for sale.

13 Nov 2013

Remote Monitoring: The Bottom Line for Fleet Optimization

By any yardstick, remote monitoring is fleet optimization in the new millennium. You’re all over it: optimizing your fleet. But, what does that mean? For some operators, it means making sure their mix of vessels meets the needs of their customers and the prevailing winds of the economy. For others, it entails reading the tea leaves just right when it comes to deciding on time charters or dipping one’s toes into the spot markets. Still others focus on the closely linked Holy Grail of reduced bunker consumption and minimal stack emissions. For all of these cool customers, however, “remote monitoring” will also be part of that equation. That said; defining what remote monitoring means is another thing altogether. Remote monitoring of on board metrics or data points is here.

08 Nov 2013

Marine News November: Editor's Note

Optimizing both a fleet of workboats and the business model that makes all of that possible is probably the highest priority item on your plate, every day. And, as you will soon discover within the pages of the latest edition of MarineNews, fleet optimization can mean 10 different things to 10 different operators. The way forward for those that will survive this robust but equally difficult business climate necessarily involves regulatory compliance, a weather eye on new rulemaking efforts that loom large in the center porthole, successfully navigating the need for the Holy Grail of fuel economy and reduced stack emissions and a dozen more goals. I don’t have to list them all; you already know what you are up against.

22 May 2013

Grieg Star & DNV’s Crane Collaboration

(Courtesy Grieg Star)

Saving money and the planet, it’s the Holy Grail for today’s cost and image conscious shipowners. Bearing that in mind, fellow open hatch cargo vessel operators should sit up and pay attention to the findings of a new research project conducted by Grieg Star, in partnership with DNV Research & Innovation, and supported by the Research Council of Norway. Grieg and DNV have been investigating the potential of hybrid battery/diesel solutions for powering onboard cargo cranes. In a unique simulation project


16 Apr 2013

Insights: Chris Charman Chief Executive, International Marine Contractors Association

Chris Charman took over as Chief Executive of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) in December of last year. IMCA’s Chief Executive leads the IMCA secretariat and is responsible for delivering the association’s extensive global work program. Charman, perhaps not widely known to our North American readership, nevertheless brings impressive qualifications to this important advocacy group for the international offshore, marine and underwater engineering sectors.

15 Apr 2013

American Investors and Colombian Government Battle over $17 Billion Treasure Salvage

A group of investors sued the Colombian government for preventing American salvage group Sea Search Armada from recovering San Jose, a ship that sank in 1708, often referred to as the “Holy Grail of Shipwrecks.” With numerous court rulings throughout the years, the battle has lasted since 1979. In a case filed March 29 with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), a group of American investors claimed the government of Colombia violated their human rights by preventing them from salvaging their jointly owned property, a Spanish galleon sunk in 800 feet of water near Cartagena, Colombia. The investment group, named Sea Search Armada (SSA), brought the suit after more than 20 years of various legal efforts to affirm SSA’s initial agreement with Colombia.

01 Apr 2013

Enormous Sunken Treasure Claim Conceded, Thirty Years On

Government of Colombia lawyers concede salvage company Sea Search Armada to be rightful owner of 50% of treasure proceeds. Lawyers representing the Government of Colombia (GOC) admitted recently in a U.S. court that Sea Search Armada (SSA), engaged in a long-running suit with Colombia, was the rightful owner of 50 percent of the proceeds of perhaps the most valuable sunken treasure in history. This is the first time representatives of the government have conceded this point in over 30 years of legal wrangling. The admission came in oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, D.C. over the validity of SSA's suit.

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