Meet the CIO: Erika Graziuso, Crowley
Erika Graziuso, Chief Information Officer, Crowley, brings a breadth and depth of non-maritime experience to bear in her quest to drive Crowley’s digital transformation in the name of decarbonization, holistic transportation efficiency and crew attraction and retention.Emulating best practices from industries outside of maritime has been a mantra in boardrooms and conferences for decades, as traditional maritime mindset has, at times, been seen as an impediment to achieving next-level efficiency.Enter Erika Graziuso…
The Internet is Not As Useful As We May Think
I was discussing torsional stiffness in ship’s hulls with one of our intern engineers and pointed out a torsional stiffness problem with a certain hull design section since it could not inscribe a decent sized circle.I expected it to be a comment that would be confusing to a young engineer and proceeded to explain that torsional stiffness is related to gyradius which is powerfully related to radius and radius is related to circles. Inherently the stiffest shape in torsion is a…
EU Weighs Concession to Russian Bank over Black Sea Grain Deal
The European Union is considering a proposal for the Russian Agricultural Bank to set up a subsidiary to reconnect to the global financial network as a sop to Moscow, the Financial Times said on Monday.With the bank under sanctions, the move aims to safeguard the Black Sea grain deal that allows Ukraine to export food to global markets, the newspaper said.The European Commission had no comment while the Kremlin on Monday, in response to a question about the report, said it had…
Wabtec's Power Play
With shipowners pressed to upgrade machinery to meet strict new emission targets, there’s much confusion with chatter surrounding ‘decarbonization’ and ‘future fuels’, solutions that don’t exist today – and may not exist in mass for another generation – cluttering the conversation. Enter Wabtec, formerly GE Transportation, which today offers a Tier 4 compliant engine with no need for urea. Is it the cheapest propulsion solution on the market? No. But the Pennsylvania-based engine builder mounts a compelling case for its 250MDC diesel engine based on performance…
Moose Boats Delivers Vessel for California Department of Fish and Wildlife
San Francisco Bay Area boatbuilder Moose Boats said it has recently delivered an M1 – 46 to the State of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. The vessel is to be named, Chinook and will be based out of Fort Bragg, Calif. to serve as an offshore patrol boat.Twin Volvo Penta D11-625hp turbo diesel propulsion engines, Twin Disc transmissions and Hamilton water-jets with Blue Arrow and Jet Anchor station-keeping controls power the 46-foot aluminum catamaran. Accommodations…
Keel Laying Ceremony Held for USCG's Offshore Patrol Cutter 'USCGC Ingham'
Eastern Shipbuilding Group hosted the keel laying ceremony for the U.S. Coast Guard’s future Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), USCGC Ingham (WMSM-917), the third vessel in the new Heritage Class built at the Nelson Street facility. The presiding official for the U.S. Coast Guard was Rear Admiral Chad L. Jacoby, Director of Acquisition Programs & Program Executive Officer (CG-93). Congressman Neal Dunn (FL – 2nd District) was the senior official in attendance."Today marks another pivotal…
Metal Shark Delivers Two Fireboats to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue
Shipbuilder Metal Shark has delivered two of three new welded-aluminum “50 Defiant” monohull pilothouse fireboats to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR).Designed by Metal Shark’s in-house engineering team and built to Lloyds Registry Standard, the welded-aluminum monohull pilothouse fireboats “FB-21” and “FB-73” were acquired to boost MDFR’s maritime firefighting capability and will replace existing vessels in its fleet.Compared to MDFR’s outgoing vessels, the new 55’ x 17.5’ Metal Shark fireboats offer faster speeds enabling shorter response times…
Naval Group Teams-up with 9 Australian Firms
French shipbuilder Naval Group has signed nine different memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Australian companies to manufacture its countermeasure solutions for the Royal Australian Navy in Australia.The specialist in naval defence and marine renewable energy said that its Pacific unit is proposing a breakthrough in anti-torpedo countermeasures for Australia’s submarine and surface ship programs with CANTO, the latest countermeasure generation based on Dilution/Confusion multi-effects.This breakthrough in the field of anti-torpedo defence, applies the dilution/confusion concept to defend High Value and Mission Essential Units by generating a high-level acoustic signals over 360-degree…
Moose Boats Awarded New Vessel Contract
Moose Boats, a boat designer and manufacturer in the San Francisco Bay Area, was awarded a contract from the State of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife for the construction of an M1-46 catamaran to serve as an offshore Game Warden boat.Twin Volvo Penta D11-625hp turbo diesel propulsion engines, Twin Disc transmissions and Hamilton water-jets with Blue Arrow and Jet Anchor station-keeping controls will power the 46 foot aluminum catamaran. Accommodations are designed…
New System Measures Shock Mitigation
CDG Coast Dynamics Group, Ltd. introduced KINETIX, a vessel and crew monitoring program for high-speed craft, designed to enable maritime agencies to optimize their shock mitigation strategies using more complete data, more easily comply with legislation, and keep their personnel and assets safer.KINETIX consists of lab-quality, marine-grade sensors that integrate with the vessel’s shock mitigation seating, while specialized software records data in a compact, marinized housing.
MetalCraft Delivers New Fireboat to Kuwait
MetalCraft Marine (MCM), an aluminum boat manufacturer located in Kingston, Ontario, has delivered their 18th NFPA Type III Fireboat in 14 years.In 2015 the Kuwait Fire Services Directorate (KFSD) ordered their first FireStorm 50’, along with a 50’ STLC landing craft support craft. The KFSD liked the FireStorm 50’ so much, they bought Two more in 2016. The KFSD have now received their Fourth FS50.The new FS-50 has the very latest in technology available for fire fighting and search and rescue. This is the first FireStorm powered by Volvo D13 1000 HP twin diesels. It is propelled by the first Marine Jet Power 310X mixed flow waterjets installed in North America. The boat’s electronics are the latest offerings by Raymarine, the Axiom PRO Series.
A Costly Lapse in Judgment
An allision in the maritime sector is defined as an accident in which a moving object strikes a stationary object (bridge fender, bridge deck, dock, dredging vessel, etc.). According to the Maritime Law Association (MLA) such an accident calls the “Oregon Rule” into play. Simply put, the Oregon Rule states that “…when a moving object hits a stationary object, the moving object is presumed at fault. The moving vessel thus has the burden of proving an alternate theory of causation…
Shipbuilding: “We had shipyard for dinner …”
The Duclos family is iconic in boatbuilding circles, as the Somerset, Mass.-based Gladding-Hearn, Duclos Corporation, has built a strong heritage in the pilot boat and fast ferry sectors, and in total more than 425 vessels have been delivered since it was founded in 1955. Today a trio of second-generation siblings run the yard, brothers and co-presidents John and Peter Duclos with sister Carol Hegarty serving as CFO. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News visited the yard recently…
Autonomous Workboats: The Future is Now
Sea Machines is bringing autonomous self-driving systems to the world of workboats. At an impressive virtual reality demonstration seen late last year and then again at a frigid, late winter visit to the Boston waterfront, the future of workboat technology became all too evident for this writer. The late George Allen, former head coach of the Washington Redskins football team perhaps said it best when he coined the phrase, “The future is now.” If so, then Michael Johnson, the founder of Sea Machines Robotics has brought that reality to the marine industry. The technology company targets the emerging market of autonomous marine vessels. That’s not some sort of futuristic vision; those capabilities are here, now.
FLIR to Debut Maritime Thermal Camera Innovations
Providing enhanced safety, security and awareness for professional, commercial and fishing owners and operators, FLIR Systems will introduce the latest additions to its award-winning M-Series marine thermal cameras and highlight the new capabilities of its Next Generation cameras at this year’s Nor-Shipping. The new M100 and M200 series thermal cameras provide enhanced awareness at night and are FLIR’s most compact pan-and-tilt marine thermal cameras to date. They are engineered with FLIR’s Boson high-performance thermal camera core…
What the Heck is ‘Privity’?
Is the Limitation of Liability Act Still Relevant? In the aftermath of the El Faro disaster, that vessel’s owners exercised their right to file a petition to limit their liability in accordance with the U.S. Shipowner’s Limitation of Liability Act, 46 USC §30501, et seq. This evoked negative press and social media reaction with a now-familiar refrain: Why should a shipowner escape full liability for a disaster by hiding behind a 19th-century (i.e., outdated, antique, ancient) statute?
Oil Majors Push Offshore Players for 30% Cuts
30%That’s the minimum level of capital expenditure cuts facing owners and operators of offshore rigs, vessels and various support services, as they scramble to keep equipment working and their heads above water during one of the worst oil downturns in 30 years. From a high of $108 per barrel in June of last year, prices plummeted roughly 60% as supply surpassed weakening demand, crashing in November to around $44 a barrel. The pricing collapse caught all sectors of the industry and financial markets by surprise, pulling down with it market valuations, quarterly earnings and day rates.
Bordelon Marine Debuts Stingray Class OSV
The story of Bordelon Marine is not far afield from many others in the Gulf of Mexico, that of a small, family owned business carving a niche for itself. But when Wes Bordelon joined his namesake company in 1999, he knew that change was essential for survival. More than a dozen years later, MarineNews sat in Bordelon Marine’s brand new shipyard in Houma, La., a month before the debut of its Stingray class of offshore service vessel, to discuss the renewed trajectory of the company in step with the changing demands in the market.
New DP Vessel Inertial-aided GNSS Service by Veripos
Global offshore positioning specialists Veripos introduce a new inertially-aided precision GNSS solution for dynamically positioned vessels. The new system, Verify Axiom, combines tthe latest GNSS positioning technology advances with high integrity inertial measurements for enhanced and more reliable positioning performance. Developed in association with Sonardyne International Ltd. and featuring the seamless integration of Veripos GNSS and Sonardyne inertial technologies, Verify Axiom exploits long-term precision characteristics of GNSS positioning with the continuous availability and rapid update rates of inertial sensors. It thus…
Axiom Propellers Granted US Patent
Axiom Propellers has been awarded a US patent for its Axiom symmetrical blade design. The patent complements others the company already holds including for the European Region, UK, South Korea, Australia and Hong Kong giving Axiom Propellers worldwide coverage. It covers the unique features of the Axiom Propeller including the shape of the blade and the fact that there is no twist with regards to pitch, its curvatures and diameters and the wake produced, all of which are a direct contrast to a marine screw.
Metso Controllers Chosen for Norwegian FPSO Project
Metso has won an order from Eni Norge and Statoil to supply its latest-generation stainless steel valve controllers to the Norwegian Goliat Floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) plant in the Barents Sea. Metso's controllers will equip all pneumatic actuated control, on/off and ESD valves of the plant and will help Eni Norge to monitor and report valve performance for asset management purposes. With all valves-related information available, predictive maintenance is possible. Goliat is one of the largest industrial projects ever in the High North and the first oil field to be developed in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea. Metso's delivery to Goliat project will comprise more than 800 controllers.
Metso Improving Offshore Energy Safety
Metso introduces new solutions for improved safety in upstream offshore industry. New stainless steel version of Metso's intelligent safety valve controller Neles ValvGuard offers market leading pneumatics capacity, extensive safety valve testing capabilities and enhanced online condition monitoring features resulting in improved safety and availability at offshore platforms. To complement its Smart Product offering for offshore customers Metso has released stainless steel versions…
