Msr News

When discussing ship design, the maritime industry has been tossing around a number of new terms and definitions. Sustainability, alternative fuel “ready”, digitization and lifecycle are a few of the terms becoming more commonplace amid the industry’s search for zero emissions solutions. As IMO MEPC 80 meetings push emissions reduction to meet “well to wake” requirements, we will learn much of the challenge is tied to energy and infrastructure ashore. Electrification and the development…

Analysts and commentators are quick to point out that fossil fuels will power maritime equipment, and indeed dominate the fueling marketplace, well into the future. However, they will do so alongside new fuels, and new technologies, that will be introduced to the maritime sector in the coming years. In its September, 2023 report “Beyond the Horizon: View of the Emerging Energy Value Chains”, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) explains that, “During the recent 80th meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 80)…

Scientists warn that climate change is the greatest peril that humankind has ever faced. Yet oil and gas exploration is set to clock the highest growth for more than a decade this year and next. Protesters cause disruption but, for the moment, hydrocarbon energy underpins life as we know it“Offshore oil and gas production probably matters now more than ever,” said Audun Martinsen. The Rystad Energy Partner and Head of Energy Research told Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.“It…

A group of partners in South Korea has set out to develop, demonstrate and commercialize vessels powered by small modular reactors (SMR).Nuclear power for ships has been gaining interest amid stricter greenhouse gas emissions regulations in the international shipping sector.Nine participating institutions, including KAERI, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeongju-si, Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO), Korean Register (KR), H-Line Shipping Co., Ltd., HMM Co., Ltd., Wooyang Shipping Co., Ltd., Sinokor Merchant Marine Co., Ltd.

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.

Shipbuilder and designer Ulstein is looking to take its revolutionary Thorium powered vessel concept from the drawing board to the deep blue sea. Is this the solution that industry, and society, have been searching for to enable a truly sustainable maritime future?Everything about the launch of ULSTEIN THOR was unexpected.The vessel concept, a 149m 3R (Replenishment, Research and Rescue) design with a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (MSR), took the industry, and wider society, by surprise.

Ulstein today unveiled a vessel concept that it claims is capable of making the vision of zero emission cruise operations a reality. Dubbed Ulstein Thor, the 149m 3R (Replenishment, Research and Rescue) design will feature a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) to generate vast amounts of clean, safe electricity. This enables the vessel to operate as a mobile power/charging station for a new breed of battery driven cruise ships.Ulstein believes Thor may be the missing piece of the zero emissions puzzle for a broad range of maritime and ocean industry applications.

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China has expressed its readiness to work with India to link its ambitious Maritime Silk Road plans with India's 'Mausam' project in a bid to address New Delhi's strategic concerns and derive "common benefits", reports PTI. Ever since the "One Belt and One Road" initiative to revive the ancient Silk Road and Maritime Silk Roads (MSR) was mapped out by Chinese President Xi Jinping, India has been showing vacillation and hesitations over whether to join the project. The scheme has different facets, though the main objective is clearly for China to take the leadership of Asia. The Mausam project aimed at re-establishing India's ancient maritime routes with its ancient trade partners in and along the Indian Ocean, was launched in June 2014.

Malaysia and China will establish a series of cooperative projects in the future including railway, industrial parks as well as ports as part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) initiative, reports Bernama. Before the introduction of the MSR, China and ASEAN had been carrying out a series of cooperative projects together, including the twin parks namely Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park and China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park, Liu Jinsong, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said. Last year, Chinese leaders repeatedly proposed making 2015 the year of ASEAN-China maritime cooperation.

Chinese officials on Saturday fleshed out some details for the country's ambitious 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) project in its “one belt, one road,” action plan. Though the plan released by China’s economic planning agency and the commerce and foreign affairs ministries, didn’t commit to specific projects, it has included Kolkata as the lone Indian port to figure in the final blueprint. China claims that the MSR is an initiative that aims to connect China's ports with ports in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Greece and Kenya. But how far India would figure into the plan is yet to be seen. Though India is taking part in the Bangladesh-China-India -Myanmar (BCIM) corridor is closely related to the Belt and Road Initiative…

Soon after China identified Malaysia's Malacca as part of its 21st Century Maritime Silk Route economic belt (MSR), an international shipping port is being planned for the state. The existing port in Malacca would be expanded to meet international standards, informed the Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, as per a report in the Star. A vast opportunity awaits Malacca under MSR, and the government will start with the port expansion as part of the initiative, the minister added. The authorities are still planning the project to make Malacca port part of the Chinese MSR initiative, and Liow has discussed this with his counterpart from China. He added that his ministry had suggested that cruise liners ferry tourists from China directly to Malacca through the MSR maritime route.

China has launched its first cruise liner to sail via its ambitious transcontinental initiative Maritime Silk Road (MSR) on its maiden voyage during which it will visit three South-East Asian nations. The liner has scheduled stops in Vietnam, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia before eventually reaches Kuantan Port in Malaysia. The cruise liner set off from the Beihai port in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The 135-m-long 20-m-wide modern cruise ship can accommodate about 400 people and is equipped with wireless Internet access. Zhang Xiaoqin, vice governor of Guangxi, said the new cruise liner was another milestone in China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) cooperation and would promote maritime connectivity in the region.

Malaysia is ready for greater collaboration and cooperation with China with regard to Maritime Silk Road (MSR) proposal delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Malaysian Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that his Ministry has identified a few ports in Malaysia to be part of the MSR. The sources in the Ministry said that Malaysian side is supportive on the incentive of building the Maritime Silk Road and have been keeping an open mind on it. Malaysia is a trading nation, and it has a number of sea ports, including, for example, Port Klang. Malaysia is in the process of developing port cities collaboration between Qinzhou Port (of China) and the Kuantan Port (of Malaysia).

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is visiting Africa, has accelerated its drive to draw the continent into the Maritime Silk Road — Beijing’s ambitious transcontinental initiative, reports The Hindu. The core of the "One Belt and One Road" initiative, the creation of a Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is infrastructure construction. China should also include Africa in the initiative and encourage the transfer of its labor-intensive industries to Africa. China thinks that a modern standard-gauge rail link between Nairobi and Mombasa will linkup the capital of Kenya and the country’s well-established port has much larger implications.

Thordon Bearings Inc. signed a letter of intent (LOI) under which it will cooperate with MSR Gryfia of Poland to promote the conversion of ships to an open seawater lubricated propeller shaft Thordon bearing system from a sealed oil lubricated propeller shaft bearing system. The LOI will create an action plan in which a Ship Conversion Team, comprised of MSR Gryfia and Thordon Bearings representatives, that promotes this initiative to the marine community. The goal of this movement…

The right whale migration and calving season will soon begin along the Atlantic seaboard. The Mid-Atlantic Seasonal Management Areas and the associated speed restrictions of 10 knots will become effective for Mid-Atlantic coast ports from Long Island Sound to Savannah on November 1, 2013 and will remain in place through April 30, 2014. The Southeast U.S. Seasonal Management Area which includes the ports of Brunswick, Fernandina and Jacksonville, will become effective on November 15, 2013 and will remain in place through April 15, 2014.

MarineSafety International Rotterdam b.v. (MSR) recently successfully completed the first of a series of four training courses for Point Fortin sponsored by Atlantic LNG Trinidad and Tobago. This Interactive Pilot-Tug-Master training for the Trinidad Pilots & Berthing Master Association, the tug masters of Plipwijs, and various masters of LNG carriers calling at Point Fortin, lasted five days. The major portion of the course was related to all aspects of safely piloting the LNG carriers Norman Lady, Matthew and Methane Arctic, loaded, as well as ballasted, in and out of Trinidad's LNG port under difficult circumstances. Special attention was given to tug assistance when operating an Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tug.

IZAR has been awarded a contract to build a 900,000bb FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) unit for Belgium's company Exmar Offshore. The unit is scheduled to be delivered at the end of January 2003 and is intended to be operated by Exmar at the Aquitaine field, in the Mediterranean sea, off Libya. The design is characterized by moderate dimensions such as 210.6 m length, 44 m breadth, 23 m depth and 16.5 m design draft if, compared to its huge 900,000bb storage capacity. This newbuilding will actually be the largest ever delivered by the Spanish builder in terms of capacity despite having constructed several large FPSO units in the past…