Maintenance Management News

Massterly has opened its new Remote Operation Center (ROC) in Horten, Norway as the company transitions from the testing phase to fully-fledged autonomous vessel operational capabilities."The opening of the ROC is a milestone in Massterly's history and represents a big step forward for autonomous shipping," said Tom Eystø, General Manager of Massterly, a jointly owned venture between Kongsberg Maritime and the Wilhelmsen Group formed in 2018. "With the support of our owners, including our partners ASKO…

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) floating dry dock Dynamic (AFDL 6) docked a dive support boat for the first time in it's long history. This was the first time Dynamic has every docked a round-bottom vessel.For the first time, the Navy’s oldest floating dry-dock, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center’s (MARMC) Dynamic (AFDL 6), successfully docked a dive support boat, April 15.Dive Support Boat 1103, attached to the MARMC’s Dive Locker, will undergo emergent repairs. Boat 1103 is one of four dive boats in the Dive Locker’s fleet, which is vital to dive operations.

Reserve, La.-based cutter suction dredge manufacturer DSC Dredge has unveiled a new version of its Marlin Class dredge currently under construction and slated to become available in mid-2021.The newly designed 14-inch underwater pump mining dredge is equipped with a 1,125-horsepower EPA Tier 4-compliant diesel engine and offers 65-foot dredging depth capability. Notably, the dredge is completely transportable via both trucks and intermodal shipping containers.DSC Dredge said its Marlin Class dredges have been its most popular over the last year.

Baxter Marine Group announced it has acquired Wheelhouse Technologies, VesselVanguard and SeaKits Brand.The combined companies support more than 3,000 commercial, military, charter and recreational watercraft worldwide. Intuitive user tools, mobile applications, work orders, inventory and advanced telematics give owners and operators complete command of their vessel’s operations.Rick Heine, Baxter Marine Group Chairman, said, “Our goal is to provide the marine industry with the most advanced and intuitive systems to improve vessel reliability, safety, and reduce operational costs significantly.”Donald Hyde, founder of Vessel Vanguard…

ARMS Reliability said it has reached an agreement with floating production solutions provider MODEC to assist with optimization and rapid strategy development of asset maintenance management philosophy for MODEC’s newest floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) project for the Bacalhau field, offshore Brazil. The Bacalhau FPSO, the largest ever ordered for Brazil, will be capable of producing up to 220,000 barrels of crude oil per day."The four-phase project will begin with the development of an asset management philosophy based on asset strategy management…

Norwegian maritime equipment and technology giant Kongsberg Maritime has received Approval in Principle from Bureau Veritas for its Dynamic Positioning Digital Survey (DPDS) application.Kongsberg says that its DPDS application digitizes all the data derived from the DP Annual tests, carried out in accordance with IMO MSC Circ 1580 guidelines and IMCA M 190, to verify the performance and redundancy of the vessel-specific DP system. This encompasses the complete installation necessary for dynamically positioning a vessel…

A combination of factors including stowage deficiencies likely led to the loss of containers from the U.K.-flagged containership Ever Smart off the coast if Japan in 2017, according to U.K. investigators.On October 30, 2017, the 300-meter, 7,024 TEU-capacity containership suffered a container stow collapse during a period of heavy pitching and hull vibration while on passage between Taipei, Taiwan and Los Angeles, U.S. The master had changed the ship’s passage plan to avoid severe weather caused by a developing depression east of Japan.

The global leader in offshore wind Ørsted has opened the operations & maintenance (O&M) base for the Borssele 1 + 2 offshore wind farm in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. The opening was organized together with Energy Port Zeeland.All construction work and maintenance will be coordinated from the new base, which is located in Vlissingen-Buitenhaven at the North Sea Port. Borssele 1 + 2 will be operational at the end of this year.The maintenance location was officially opened by deputy Jo-Annes de Bat of Zeeland, alderman John de Jonge van Vlissingen, CEO Daan Schalck of North Sea Port, director Erik de Bruyn of Cordeel Netherlands and director…

ClassNK released its “Guidelines for Automated/Autonomous Operation of ships ~Design development, Installation and Operation of Automated Operation Systems/Remote Operation Systems”.In the field of ships, research and development of technology related to maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) has been actively carried out with the aim of improving safety by preventing human error and improving working conditions by reducing the work load on crew members, and demonstration experiments…

Semco Maritime Ltd. has appointed Brian Mercer new Managing Director in the UK. Brian Mercer has taken up the position as Managing Director based on a diverse background with more than 30 years of experience covering oil & gas, aeronautical engineering, project and program management, operations and maintenance management and asset integrity. He holdsa Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the Heriot-Watt University, a Master of Arts degree in defense studies from the King’s College London and is a chartered engineer.Since 2005…

As the marine industry evolves toward autonomous operations, one of the sticking points traditionally has been centered on maintenance and answering the question: “what happens when machinery needs fixed?”Helping to advance the technologies is the NYK Group, which recently finished a concluded a joint research agreement for developing advanced condition-based maintenance (CBM), a new maintenance and management process for ship machinery which eschews the maritime practice of time-based maintenance (TBM).

Wärtsilä said it has established its latest Expertise Center (EC) in Singapore to provide support functions, including operational support and dynamic maintenance planning, for marine and energy customers.Together with nine other Wärtsilä EC units around the world, the new center supports Lifecycle Solution agreement customers with advice and recommendations based on the analysis of data from monitoring the condition and performance of the specified machinery.Based within the company’s Acceleration Center facilities…

The global downturn in offshore energy is well recorded, a downturn which has had impact on various arms of the energy and marine supply chain. While Goltens has felt the downturn like many other companies, it is reporting 'cautious optimism' in the Middle East premised on new international regulation and the need for shipowners to upgrade ships.Almost all the offshore vessels in Dubai are operating, and many have come in from Asia to do the same, but following the offshore crash in 2016, operators are delaying maintenance.

Kalmar, a provider of lifting solutions and part of Cargotec, has announced a further extension of its collaboration with world-leading global terminal operator DP World.A new fleet of Kalmar mobile equipment - 33 terminal tractors, three empty container handlers, three reachstackers and one forklift - will ensure safe and efficient operations at DP World's new deep-water port at Posorja in Ecuador. The order was booked in Cargotec's 2018 Q4 order intake, with delivery scheduled to begin during Q2 of 2019. Kalmar has enjoyed a long and successful relationship with DP World, a leading global operator of marine and inland terminals. The Posorja terminal is the first deep-water port in Ecuador and it is currently in its first phase of development.

The French shipping company, Compagnie Maritime Nantaise, initiates the process of implementing SERTICA for Maintenance, Procurement and HSQE.As of today, the first vessel has been converted to SERTICA. Compagnie Maritime Nantaise is implementing SERTICA Fleet Management for 7 vessels operating from Nantes and for 6 passenger vessels operating from Brest. The company mainly involves in the business of industrial and specialized sea transportation. They are shipping ESA Ariane launcher components between Europe and French Guiana…

The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) and MAN Energy Solutions hosted a conference for software suppliers delivering Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) to expand the use of Shipdex.Shipdex is the standard protocol for exchanging technical data - such as manuals – electronically between supplier and ships directly, cutting the need for huge stacks of - often outdated - paper manuals.“Honestly, we would have liked to see more suppliers for the conference. It was well received by the participants, and will result in new users, but we would like a much wider adoption of the protocol. The industry needs to standardise to reap the benefits of digitalisation…

A rigorous marine inspection system is vital for companies operating in Australian and Asian waters. The safety of vessels, maritime equipment and employees all depend on ongoing maintenance, following regulations and effective management. For organizations and firms with assets, equipment and staff working at sea, the need for high-end successful monitoring of conditions is a 24-hour, 365-day job. The industry leaders in oil and gas, tourism, defense and shipping are choosing to implement paperless inspection applications that also form part of a computerized maintenance management ecosystem.

Arcadia Shipmanagement Co. Ltd. selected ABS Advanced Solutions to implement an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Program to further enhance the reliability of its fleet of 15 tankers.The Advanced Solutions EAM program is designed to aid owners and operators with managing physical assets from design to decommissioning to optimize use, reduce costs, and improve vessel reliability and efficiency.According to ABS, the program addresses core elements established over more than a decade of experience: asset lifecycle management strategy…

Hybrid drive and potential fuel savings are well known — from 10 to 30 percent, according to the sources we’ve written about over the years. Less known, is the potential need to purchase some sort of remote monitoring package to complement that diesel-electric or battery hybrid system from a system operator in order to secure the maximum safety benefits. As the count of system operators offering hybrid drives grows, so too, it seems, there’s continuous need to look at who they are and what they’re offering.

The National Air and Naval Service of Panama (Servicio Nacional Aeronaval - SENAN) has taken delivery of four Interceptor 1102 vessels from Damen Shipyards Group. The President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, performed the christening ceremonies of all four vessels on February 6, 2017. Coinciding with the vessel handover, SENAN also signed a second contract with Damen for an additional batch of four Interceptors. Both contracts include a comprehensive after-sales package that consists of training, spare parts and maintenance.

MAN Diesel & Turbo’s after-sales division MAN PrimeServ has signed a maintenance contract with Teekay Shipping, one of the world’s largest marine energy transportation, storage and production companies. The new EMC (Engine Management Concept) contract is for the maintenance of the Oak Spirit, Creole Spirit and Torben Spirit, sisters from Teekay’s 173,400-m3 LNG carrier series. The agreement covers the provision of spare-parts, maintenance management and the servicing of each vessel’s 2 × 5G70ME-GI (-Gas Injection) dual-fuel main engines.

Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence has announced a new project with maintenance management specialist SpecTec focused on optimizing ship maintenance. This joint accomplishment aims to reduce ship maintenance costs by enabling unnecessary maintenance to be deferred for shipboard equipment that is operating properly and identifying potential issues for action before a failure negatively impacts operations. By means of the integrated solution, onboard sensor data that is automatically gathered and analyzed by the Cat Asset Intelligence onboard predictive analytics platform…

The 60-meter Royal Bahamas Defense Force Corvette HMBS Nassau (P-61) has arrived at Damen Maaskant Shipyards Stellendam in the Netherlands for an extensive refit. The 17-year old vessel will receive a comprehensive overhaul that comprises full systems and instrumentation replacement. The P-61 refit is part of the ‘Sandy Bottom Project’ contract between Damen Shipyards Group and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force that the two parties signed in 2014. This includes the delivery of nine Damen vessels…