Building Technology News

GF Piping Systems launched HEAT-FIT at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami, debuting a lightweight, corrosion-free, and efficient thermoplastic piping system.With the HEAT-FIT Jacket System, GF Piping Systems offers a solution that introduces thermoplastic piping systems into essential applications (L3) onboard cruise ships, merchant vessels, and offshore platforms. HEAT-FIT is compatible with the ecoFIT range of polyethylene pipes and fittings designed for industrial applications and water and wastewater treatment.

While merriam-webster.com is succinct in its definition of ‘autonomous’, ask 10 people in the maritime sector what ‘autonomous’ vessel means to them and the responses vary widely. Achieving autonomous, unmanned operations is not high, today, on the agenda of many (if any) shipowners. What does command their attention? Building ships that are increasingly ‘smart,’ with integrated, connected systems that take on additional decision-making processes while helping to reduce crew size (and cost)…

GAIL India, largest state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company in India, will likely scrap the tender for hiring LNG ships after failing to negotiate acceptable terms with bidders in what would hurt India's ambition to build high-tech LNG carriers at home under the Make in India programme, reports the Economic Times. The oil marketing giant had issued a tender last September seeking to charter at least 9 LNG vessels to bring home from the US up to 5.8 million tonne of gas annually from early 2018. Successful bidders were supposed to locally build a third of all ships they make under the Make in India plan. GAIL received bids from 2 Japanese consortiums after the deadlines for submissions were extended more than once.

GAIL India has deferred a USD 7-billion tender for hiring nine newly-built ships to ferry liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US by one month. Bids for the tender were to close on February 29 but now have been extended to March 31. The state gas utility is seeking 9 LNG ships of cargo capacity of 1,50,000-1,80,000 cubic metres to help transport LNG it has tied up from Sabine Pass and Cove Point LNG projects in the US, with supplies slated to start from December 2017. Press Trust of India quoted GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi as saying: "The postponement has been done at the request of bidders to allow them time to finalise their bids. GAIL India  is the largest state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company in India.

Gamma Yachts has built its most customized Gamma 20 so far, with smart design from Vripack, to opera singer Andrea Bocelli. Gamma Yachts announced the delivery of 22.1-meter M/Y Libertas, the third in its Gamma 20 ‘mini’ super yacht series. With design by Dutch company Vripack, the yacht has impressive guest space for its length overall as well as excellent fuel efficiency, the builder said. Built and designed in Holland, the yacht combines the precision and technical capabilities of the Dutch with world-class interior furnishings and materials from Italy.

ABB is celebrating today its 125th anniversary in Finland. Founded in 1889 in Helsinki by entrepreneur and inventor Gottfrid Strömberg, ABB Finland is today an innovative automation and power technology company with more than 5,000 employees in 30 locations, with sales of 2.3 billion euros in 2013. “ABB Finland has been driving innovation in power and automation technologies for 125 years. Today, ABB Finland is one of our most dynamic and successful country organisations and we continue to invest substantially in innovation and production facilities” said ABB Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Spiesshofer. “I would like to thank our colleagues in ABB Finland for their long standing excellent results and confirm our strong commitment to grow together in the future,” Spiesshofer added.

Dubai Maritime City LLC (DMC), the world-class mixed-use maritime cluster, announced the signing of long term partnership agreement with Mubarak Marine LLC. The agreement is for the development of an industrial complex project for maritime services, shipbuilding and repair worth AED 130 million. This complex will enable Mubarak Marine to establish their headquarters as well as a major marine workshop and maintenance facility. The agreement is in keeping with the overall promotion…

With funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and supported by "Projektträger Jülich" (PTJ) (project sponsors Jülich), over the next three years Hamburg University of Technology, Mareval AG Hamburg and the maritime engineering company HeavyLift@Sea will conduct research into the improvement of tools for the simulation of offshore crane operations. The project is named HoOK - Hochseeoperationen mit Kranen [Offshore Operations with Cranes]. The goal is…

Experts discuss potential solutions at the 9th ShortSea, Feeder and Inland Waterway Shipping Dialogue. Volatile freight and charter rates, high fuel prices, unemployed vessels and the problems of ship financing are leading to structural change in coastal and inland waterway shipping. Experts are agreed on that. Yet what does this actually mean for the future of the shortsea, feeder and inland waterway ship trades? And how can companies prepare for the transition? At the invitation of the ShortSea and Inland Waterway Shipping Promotion Center (SPC) and Port of Hamburg Marketing (HHM), these and other questions on short sea and inland waterway shipping topics were discussed at the 9th ShortSea, Feeder and Inland Waterway Shipping Dialogue in the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce on 11 October.

DSME won a new order for three submarines from Indonesia. This contract is the single biggest arms sales deal by a Korean firm and the value of the contract is approximately 1.1 billion dollars with the submarines scheduled to be delivered in the first half of the year of 2018. This contract is comprised of three 1,400 ton class diesel-powered submarines with each one measuring 61.3m from stern to bow with the ability to carry 40 crew. These submarines will be fully armed with eight weapon tubes able to discharge all kinds of torpedos, mines, and guided missiles.

Costa Cruises set to return to Trieste in 2012 with 28 calls and an estimated 65,000 passenger movements. Trieste – April 8, 2011 – Trieste will be hosting the naming ceremony on July 2 for the Costa Favolosa, the new flagship of Costa Cruises, which is the largest Italian travel group, Europe’s no.1 cruise company and also the only cruise operator whose fleet flies the Italian flag. The Costa Favolosa, weighing in at 114,500 gross tonnage and with accommodation for up to 3,800 total Guests…

The rise and fall of the Brazilian shipbuilding market is well-known, having plummeted from the top of the world list in the early 1980s to the bottom by 1999. Today, Brazil is storming back, an amazing revival of the nearly defunct shipbuilding industry driven by the sudden influx of orders from major offshore oil & gas players, namely Petrobras. Today the shipbuilding market in Brazil has in excess of 100 firm orders for ships in a variety of shapes and sizes, in addition to a large number of drill rigs and production unit orders. In addition, companies from around the globe are flocking to Brazil to set-up shop and engage in the industry’s renaissance.

CHINA will build three shipyards at Bohai Bay, the mouths of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River over the next five years, according to the national shipbuilding authority. The country will enhance management in the shipbuilding industry from this year to 2010 by speeding up the construction of three major shipyards, and by enhancing the development of new ship types, establishing modern shipbuilding models and developing the building technology for ship accessories, according to China's medium and long-term shipping development plans. It is time for China to further develop its shipbuilding industry, said an official from the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense.

In rough waters and heavy snow, a crew of budding professional mariners at the helm of the 565-ft., 17,000-ton Empire State VI prepared for docking at the Alfred A. Olivet Pier on the campus of the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College in Throggs Neck, NY. Meanwhile, seasoned mariners monitor high-tech radar display systems that enhance safety and navigation in inclement weather and other conditions that reduce visibility. Some of them coordinate their tasks with partners who are busy operating electronic charting systems and evaluating the precise, up-to-the-minute data they generate. While the description above has the flavor and feel of a ship at sea, don’t be fooled.