IMO to Open Regional Office in Fiji
The IMO will open its seventh Regional Presence Office (RPO), in Suva, Fiji, after IMO Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, and Fiji Minister for Transport, Ro Filipe Tuisawau, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 18.The Regional Presence Office will support the maritime needs and priorities of countries in the Pacific Islands region, aligning IMO actions with national and regional development policies, while providing advice on key maritime issues such as training, safety and security, legislation and marine environment.
Ulstein Introduces New Subsea Vessel for Offshore Energy Market
Norwegian shipbuilder and ship designer Ulstein has developed a new subsea vessel - ULSTEIN SX232 – designed to service the offshore wind market for floating and fixed installations as well as offshore oil and gas industry.Designed for walk-to-work operations in the offshore energy market, the ULSTEIN SX232 features an optimizes hull based on the ULSTEIN TWIN X-STERN design.The vessel is equipped with smart power and propulsion system developed to minimize energy consumption during DP operations and an integrated energy recovery system utilizing all the waste heat in the machinery systems…
ONE Establishes New Headquarters in Dubai
Ocean Network Express (ONE) has opened a West Asia Regional Headquarters in Dubai. The move aims to expand ONE's growth in the rapidly developing markets of the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and East Africa.The West Asia Regional Headquarters office will serve as ONE’s central hub across the region, encompassing functions such as commercial activities, customer service, and digitization. It will also house a team dedicated to developing regional trade partnerships and exploring…
IMO’s PPR11 Agrees Guidance on Key Environmental Issues
The IMO’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 11) agreed new guidance on several key environmental issues.Meeting from February 19 to 23, 2024, the following guidance will now be submitted to the Marine Environment Protection Committee for approval this March (MEPC 81) and October (MEPC 82):• the safe transport of plastic pellets by sea• best practices for cutting black carbon emissions from ships operating in or near the Arctic• reducing risks of use and carriage…
US to Establish National Offshore Wind Center of Excellence
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set out plans to invest $4.75 million to establish a new national center of excellence to accelerate offshore wind deployment across the United States.The Academic Center for Reliability and Resilience of Offshore Wind (ARROW), led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst with approximately 40 partners, will focus on workforce development, targeted research, and partnerships and strategies to advance offshore wind development.As offshore…
Vigor Wins Repair Contract for Hospital Ship USNS Mercy
Vigor Marine has been awarded a contract for a 93-calendar day shipyard availability for a mid-term availability of Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19).The $21,198,656 firm-fixed-price contract includes a base period and options, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $21,711,746. Vigor was the sole bidder for the project.Work will be performed in Portland, Ore., beginning March 15, 2024, and is expected to be completed by June 15…
Prysmian Commissions Inter-Array Cable System at French Offshore Wind Farm
Prysmian Group has commissioned the inter-array cable system for the Fécamp offshore wind farm, located in the English Channel, offshore France.The Fécamp offshore wind farm is composed of 71 wind turbines with a total capacity of nearly 500MW.It will be able to generate clean electricity equivalent to the power needs of over 770,000 people.Prysmian had secured this project in 2020 with a contract awarded by EDF Renewables and its partners.Asso.subsea was contracted by Prysmian Group to execute the seabed preparation, installation and protection works for the cables.
Bollinger Delivers US Navy Berthing Barge
Last week, Bollinger Shipyards delivered the first Bollinger-built Auxiliary Personnel Lighter–Small (APL(S)) Class berthing and messing barge (APL 71) to the U.S. Navy. APL 71 is the fifth vessel of its class to be delivered to the Navy and the third to be homeported in Norfolk, Va.The previous four APLs were built and delivered by VT Halter Marine, which Bollinger acquired in late 2022. Halter received the initial contract in 2018.APLs are used by the Navy to house crewmembers when ships are in port for availabilities and Inter-Deployment Training Cycles.
Nations and Industry Partners Respond to Green Shipping Challenge
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry are co-leading an international initiative to accelerate reduction of emissions from the shipping sector, and on December 1, during COP28, they chaired a new round of announcements under that initiative, the Green Shipping Challenge.Various countries and organizations proposed measures to reduce emissions from shipping. This year’s announcements include:• Amazon: Amazon and other…
Van Oord Awarded Offshore Wind Contracts in Baltic Sea and Taiwan
Van Oord has been awarded two new offshore wind projects: Baltic Power in the Baltic Sea and Greater Changhua 2b and 4 in Taiwan. The contracts have a combined value of more than EUR 500 million. Once operational, the two offshore wind farms will deliver renewable energy to approximately 2.5 million households.The Baltic Power offshore wind farm is being developed by a joint venture between ORLEN (Poland) and Northland Power (Canada). The wind farm will be located in the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea, 23 kilometers from shore.
Singapore Firm Orders Next-Gen Cable Ship Design
Singapore-based Megamas Resources, in partnership with Renaissance Technologies (RTM) has contracted Ulstein Design & Solutions AS to design a cable-laying and repair vessel. According to a press release issued Thursday, the decision to press ahead with the order was taken in view of the shortage of cable ships, as well as an aging fleet in the submarine cable industry. Megamas Resources plans to build two cable layers, with the first targeted to be ready for service in early 2026, to fill the gap in meeting the industry demand.
Van Oord Set to Kick Off Cable Installation for Iberdrola's Baltic Eagle Offshore Wind Farm
Dutch offshore installation services company Van Oord is set to start the cable installation works on Iberdrola's Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm in Germany."After Van Oord’s heavy lift installation vessel Svanen completed installation of all fifty monopiles for Iberdrola Deutschland’s Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm, Van Oord now continues installing transition pieces and starts cable installation. This week the inter-array cable loading onto Van Oord’s cable-laying vessel Nexus has commenced…
Pope Says Impeding Migrant Rescues at Sea is 'Gesture of Hate'
Pope Francis said on Friday that migrants who risk drowning at sea "must be rescued" because doing so was "a duty of humanity" and that those who impede rescues commit "a gesture of hate".Francis, 86, spoke at an inter-religious prayer service before a monument dedicated to those lost at sea. Earlier, the city's archbishop, Cardinal Jean Marc Aveline, an Algerian-born Frenchman, criticized politicians who block NGOs and their ships from saving drowning people."We cannot be resigned to seeing human beings treated as bargaining chips, imprisoned and tortured in atrocious ways," Francis said.
Van Oord Christens Calypso Cable Layer
Dutch offshore installation contractor Van Oord on Saturday held a christening ceremony in Rotterdam for its new cable laying vessel Calypso."The Calypso is equipped with the latest sustainable technologies and will be a key strategic addition to Van Oord’s offshore wind fleet," Van Oord said.The vessel was christened by Ms. Inca Cerutti. She is the wife of Niek Hoek, chairman of the Supervisory Board. After the ceremony, the christening lady and employees and guests had the opportunity to board the vessel for a guided tour.The Calypso Van Oord’s second cable-laying vessel.
Philippines Condemns Chinese Harassment of Supply Boats to Disputed Atoll
The Philippines condemned China's coast guard and "maritime militia" on Friday for what it described as "illegal, aggressive and destabilising" behaviour towards its boats during a routine rotation and resupply mission in the South China Sea.Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos said that despite the Chinese actions supplies were delivered on Friday to Philippine troops stationed on a warship that had been deliberately grounded on an uninhabited atoll more than two decades ago to support a sovereignty claim in the disputed Spratly Islands.The Philippines task force for the South China Sea…
OceanScore Launches EU ETS Solution
Maritime data company OceanScore has launched an integrated solution that enables ship operators to manage emissions liabilities and trade carbon allowances under the impending EU ETS regime for shipping.Shipping companies, as the designated Document of Compliance holder (DoC holder) under the EU ETS regime, will be required to surrender to the authorities EUAs based on their annual emissions, starting at 40% of emissions in 2024 and rising to 70% and 100% of emissions in 2025 and 2026…
Shipowners, Port Operators Ramp Up Methanol-fueling Projects
Interest in methanol as an alternative fuel has grown in the shipping industry, which seeks to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.Below is a list of upcoming methanol bunkering-related projects by companies and ports:COMPANIES:A.P. Moller-MaerskMaersk received the world's first methanol-enabled container ship in July. It has 24 more such vessels on order to help it to achieve its goal of using low-emission fuels to transport a quarter of its volumes by 2030.HD Hyundai Heavy Industries expects to build a dozen more such vessels…
Drought-hit Panama Canal Restricts Daily Crossings in Water-saving Move
The Panama Canal will extend restrictions on ships' maximum depth, it said on Tuesday, and it has limited average crossings at one of the world's busiest trade passages to just 32 ships a day as a prolonged drought continues.The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) will maintain a depth limit of 44 feet, or 13.41 meters, for neo-Panamax container ships.In June, the authority put off further restrictions that would have brought depth limits up half a foot, meaning ships would have needed to lighten their loads to float higher.During Panama's rainy season…
Philly Shipyard Wins Contract for Hospital Ship Design Study
U.S. shipbuilder Philly Shipyard announced it has been awarded a contract to develop preliminary designs for vessels to replace the U.S. Navy's two current Mercy-class hospital ships.The T-AH(X) Hospital Ship Feasibility Study contract was awarded by Gibbs and Cox, a Leidos Inc. company. Philly Shipyard said it will subcontract to Vard Marine Inc. to provide engineering and technical services for the six-month design study, and that the pair would leverage design work performed as part of a special study completed for the U.S.
TDI-Brooks Awarded Geotechnical Coring Project Off US East Coast
Avangrid has awarded TDI-Brooks a shallow water geotechnical site investigation survey at block OCS A-0508, also known as Kitty Hawk Wind. The data collected will inform the design of the export cable and inter-array packages.The scope of work includes utilizing a TDI-Brooks’ owned Datum Neptune 5K (pCPT) at 155 sites and a newly-designed TDI-Brooks pneumatic vibracorer (pVC) at 80 sites. The pVC is a light weight (4,600-lb in air), high power vibracorer and has been successfully deployed on the US East Coast >200 times for offshore wind farm (OSWF) projects.
SSI: Green Steel Could Be Added to Decarbonization Targets
The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) has published a green steel and shipping report calling for circularity in shipbuilding. Steel is the primary shipbuilding material, making over 75% of a vessel by weight, and the steel industry is responsible for 7-9% of global GHG emissions. Addressing steel emissions is critical to decarbonizing across the ship lifecycle, says SSI, and provides opportunities for collaboration with the steel sector and other steel demand sectors. The report identified drivers and barriers to closing the loop on steel in shipping…
RWO’s Blackwater Treatment System Chosen for New Zealand Ferry
RWO has been selected by KiwiRail to supply its next-generation advanced water treatment system - the CleanSewage Membrane Reactor (CS-MBR) – to New Zealand’s Inter-Island Resilient Connection Project (iReX).Two custom-built Interislander ROPAX ferries have been ordered to service the connection between Wellington and Picton. Environmental protection is a key priority for the project, and both vessels, which are being built at Korean shipyard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD), will…
Methanol Bunkering Gaining Interest Among Global Players
Denmark's Maersk said on Monday it has secured fuel for the world's first container vessel able to run on carbon-neutral methanol for its inaugural journey.Interest in methanol as an alternative fuel for bunkering has grown in the shipping industry, which seeks to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.Below is a list of key upcoming methanol bunkering-related projects by companies and ports:COMPANIES:*A.P. Moller-MaerskMaersk has ordered 19 methanol-enabled ships to work towards a goal of transporting 25% of its ocean cargo using green fuels by 2030.