Hull Equipment News

As COVID-19 continues to challenge many business plans and practices, the advent of remote inspection techniques is growing in popularity. What is reported to be the world’s first in-water remote ship surveys using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) have been completed by DNV GL.In-water bottom surveys using ROVs have now been carried out on three separate Wilson ASA-managed vessels with the first having been completed on the Wilson Fedje in December 2019 by a surveyor from Høvik. The survey was performed earlier in July on another ASA Wilson-managed vessel in Bergen, Norway.

Walk in the front door at Crowley Maritime Corporation HQ in Jacksonville, Fla., and you learn nearly everything you need to know about the company. With your visitor’s badge, you are handed a “Safety and Evacuation” brochure, and the person you are there to meet – in our case Tom Crowley, Jr. – walks down to greet you personally. Safety and People; The Crowley Way. The rest is just details. Crowley Maritime was founded in 1892 by Thomas Crowley in San Francisco. Its fleet:  A single Whitehall rowboat purchased for $80, used to ferry people and supplies from shore to ships anchored in the Bay.

CWind, a provider of services to the offshore wind industry, has announced a second of its vessels, the CWind Resolution due to be named later today in Brightlingsea, has gained the new class notation ‘Wind Farm Service Ships’ introduced by Bureau Veritas earlier this year. The CWind Resolution is only the second ever vessel to be classed under this notation to date, joining its sister vessel the CWind Challenger on the register. The vessel, a CTruk 20T MPC, is joining CWind’s fleet of now 15 vessels, as part of the company’s ‘Boat-share scheme’ under which experienced skippers are being given the opportunity to co-invest in the vessels.

Bureau Veritas has extended its Condition Assessment Program to cover all types of yachts. BV Yacht CAP will provide owners with a certified and recognized evaluation of the real status of any yacht to promote the yacht’s condition to charterers, brokers, yacht managers, banks and leasing companies. “Big yachts are big business but a high risk area for charterers and financiers,” says Vincent Lefebvre, Head of CAP and Environment section, Bureau Veritas. “BV Yacht CAP helps them…

Keppel Shipyard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation Ltd, has secured a Floating Production Storage & Offloading (FPSO) hull conversion contract worth S$84 million from Marathon Petroleum Company (Norway) on MST Odin. The 87,000 dwt multi-purpose shuttle tanker arrived at Keppel Shipyard for the fast track hull conversion on 19 March. Odin will undergo hull upgrading and modification works which involve procurement, construction and installation of the FPSO hull equipment, including shipboard marine systems, cargo, ballast, inert gas, crude oil washing, fire fighting and electrical and instrumentation. The contract also entails the fabrication and installation of topside module support structures…

Keppel Shipyard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd, delivered FPSO Alvheim, its first Floating Production and Storage Offloading (FPSO) facility for Marathon Petroleum Company (Norway) (MPC). Previously known as MST ODIN, the 87,000 dwt multi-purpose shuttle tanker was contracted to Keppel Shipyard at $84 million for hull upgrading and structural modifications. The scope of work involved procurement; construction and installation of the FPSO hull equipment; fabrication and installation of topside module support structures and green water protection; and modification of the mid-ship moon pool into a cargo tank, turret cone and support structures and caissons for seawater lift pumps.

Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded a contract for dry-dock and maintenance work on the cruise ship Carnival Glory. Northrop Grumman's Newport News sector is the prime contractor for the work, which is expected to take 10 days to perform and will include hull structure maintenance, underwater hull equipment inspections and underwater hull painting. The contract is valued at approximately $1.2 million. Carnival Glory arrived at the shipyard on January 9. The 110,000-ton ship is owned and operated by Carnival Cruise Lines and can carry 2,974 passengers. Approximately 40 Northrop Grumman Newport News employees will work on the project.

For the past 75 years, Maritrans has maintained a high level of customer satisfaction due to its constant vigilance regarding safety and performance. In order to instill and maintain these efforts, the company has always been quick to pursue individuals who can maintain this level of excellence. Most recently with Phil Doherty, who took over the head post at the Tampa, Fla.-based company this past April 1, 2003. No April Fool's joke here, as Doherty, who credits his passion and commitment to Maritrans and the offshore industry, has big plans for the tug and tanker company - the fate of which now lies within his hands. While Maritrans' business platform may have begun on its 75-year traditions, the company has never balked at the opportunity to embrace new technology.

Based on half-wave resonance measurements, a new means of quickly and accurately determining steel thickness can speed ship surveys. It is especially valuable in inspecting old and corroded steelwork. The new DNV system, launched at Nor-Shipping '99 is unique. Present-day methods, based on ultrasonic thickness measurements, are not reliable on heavily corroded plates, and for large vessels are also considered too slow. The basic technological challenge was to transmit 100 percent of the signal energy through corroded steel plates, and receive and interpret the reflected signal to give an accurate thickness measurement. The basic principles of the new measuring method (half-wave resonance) have been known for 40 years.

Based on half-wave resonance measurements, a quick, accurate means of determining steel thickness can speed ship surveys. It is especially valuable in inspecting old and corroded steelwork. Present-day methods, based on ultrasonic thickness measurements, are not reliable on heavily corroded plates, and for large vessels are also considered too slow. A new Det Norske Veritas (DNV) system addresses the technological challenge of transmitting 100 percent of the signal energy through corroded steel plates, and receiving and interpreting the reflected signal to give an accurate thickness measurement. The basic principles of the new measuring method (half-wave resonance) have been known for 40 years.