Marine Link
Friday, April 26, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Center News

25 Apr 2024

King to Open MARIN's Seven Oceans Simulator Center

Image courtesy MARIN

His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands will open the Seven Oceans Simulator center (SOSc) of MARIN, the Maritime Research Institute of the Netherlands, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024.The opening program takes place in the Shallow Water Basin, one of MARIN's test facilities for ship models. Experts from the maritime research institute, the NL Coast Guard, Search &  Rescue Institution KNRM and maritime service providers talk about shipping safety, about working in increasingly busy seas and about involving the crew in the design of new ships.

24 Apr 2024

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Inks Long-Term Lease for Georgia’s Brunswick Port

(Credit: Wallenius Wilhelmsen)

Wallenius Wilhelmsen has signed a 20-year lease agreement with the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), with options up to 30 years for Brunswick port expansion, increasing its strategic terminal and processing networkUpgraded and enlarged Brunswick facilities will further expand the scope and scale of U.S. Southeast operations of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, which is the world's largest RoRo vessel operator.The Brunswick expansion will further cement the company’s position as the favored partner for North American customers…

24 Apr 2024

Simulators Track our Changing Relationship with Technology

Kongsberg Digital has integrated NORBIT’s oil spill detection system with its K-Pos DP system for simulation-based training of offshore professionals at Equinor.
Image courtesy Kongsberg Digital

Simulation-based training has its whole-of-ship/whole-of-team scenarios, but zooming in, the industry is now working on more specific targets.We have a close relationship with technology, evidenced by, for example, the phones we are estimated to unlock around 50-80 times a day. It has changed us. Half the people surveyed in a 2022 King’s College London study said that they feel like their attention span is shorter than it used to be. They are wrong, though, if they think that the average attention span of adults today is just eight seconds, one second less than goldfish.

19 Apr 2024

Simulators Track our Changing Relationship with Technology

Kongsberg Digital has integrated NORBIT’s oil spill detection system with its K-Pos DP system for simu-lation-based training of offshore professionals at Equinor.
Image courtesy Kongsberg Digital

Simulation-based training has its whole-of-ship/whole-of-team scenarios, but zooming in, the industry is now working on more specific targets.We have a close relationship with technology, evidenced by, for example, the phones we are estimated to unlock around 50-80 times a day. It has changed us. Half the people surveyed in a 2022 King’s College London study said that they feel like their attention span is shorter than it used to be. They are wrong, though, if they think that the average attention span of adults today is just eight seconds, one second less than goldfish.

17 Apr 2024

U.S. Department of Energy Advances Zero-Emissions Targets

Source: DOE

This week at Singapore Maritime Week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is advancing ambitious decarbonization targets for the maritime transportation sector, both domestically and internationally.DOE is teaming with over 15 government and industry partners in Singapore to foster partnerships and collaborate on clean energy solutions aimed at achieving net zero-emissions in the maritime sector by 2050. Domestically, DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is joining with ABS to create opportunities for data and information sharing to strengthen U.S. shipping. The U.S.

17 Apr 2024

Ras Al-Khair SEZ Seeking Maritime Infrastructure Investment

(Image: Ras Al-Khair Special Economic Zone)

Saudi Arabia’s Ras Al-Khair Special Economic Zone (SEZ) said it is seeking local and foreign investors to help boost the Kingdom’s maritime infrastructure.With an initial area of 20 square kilometers, Ras Al-Khair SEZ, operated by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, is an expanding zone with two focus areas, The King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services, and the Offshore Cluster supply chain. The SEZ is located next to Ras Al-Khair Port, the Kingdom’s newest industrial port.Ahmed M.

16 Apr 2024

SMM 2024 Exhibition Halls Already Nearly Fully Booked

© Hamburg Messe und Congress / Michael Zapf

The SMM 2024 trade show will run from September 3-6 this year, and organizers are expecting more visitors and exhibitors than last time; the exhibition halls are nearly fully booked.“We are expecting more than 2,000 international exhibitors from 70 nations,” says Claus Ulrich Selbach, Business Unit Director Maritime and Technology Fairs & Exhibitions at Hamburg Messe und Congress. “We are overwhelmed by the response. We are actually setting-up an additional hall to accommodate all requests.

17 Apr 2024

Maritime Risk Symposium 2024 – Great Power Competition and Gray Zone Engagement

Copyright Grispb/AdobeStock

For 15 years the Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS), an annual three-day event, has brought together government and maritime industry leaders, port representatives, international and domestic researchers and solution providers to examine current and emerging threats to maritime security. World events highlight that maritime security is increasingly at risk during the current period of great-power competition and ongoing conflicts. The active competition between nations who are not…

12 Apr 2024

Bakker Sliedrecht Completes ESS Upgrade of Two Boskalis’ Diving Support Vessels

BOKA Atlantis vessel (Credit: Bakker Sliedrecht)

Bakker Sliedrecht has implemented energy storage systems (ESS) on board of the two Boskalis diving support vessels - BOKA Atlantis and BOKA Da Vinci.The installation of the ESS reduces the vessels’ fuel consumption and associated carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by an average of up to 20%, according to Bakker Sliedrecht.The systems also provide a power supply and energy storage facility while the vessels are docked and contribute to quieter and more efficient operations…

11 Apr 2024

Insights: Jennifer Carpenter, President & CEO, American Waterways Operators

Jennifer Carpenter, President & CEO, American Waterways Operators (Photo: AWO)

Jennifer Carpenter joined The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry, in August 1990 and became its president and CEO in January 2020. She highlights some of the greatest focus areas for the 80-year-old trade group—simultaneously looking at both the present day and the road ahead.The towboat, tug and barge industry is in a period of rapid evolution. How is AWO—now in its 80th year…

10 Apr 2024

HMD's Ammonia-powered LPG Carrier Designs Earn DNV Approval

From left: Sung Hyuck Im (HMD), Kwang Seok Oh (HMD), Sung Ho Shin (DNV), Dong Jin Lee (HMD), Chul Young Kang (DNV), Choon Gyu Lim (HMD) (Photo: DNV)

DNV has awarded HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard an approval in principle (AIP) for the design of ammonia dual fuel 45,000 m3 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers.The presentation took place at the HD Hyundai Global R&D Center (GRC) in Seongnam, Korea. HD Hyundai Mipo (HMD), who have developed the basic ship design, provided detailed engine specifications and operational data from global engine maker, WinGD, and reviewed the safety and suitability of the design with DNV. The designs are based around a new 10…

09 Apr 2024

Fueltrax Opens Vessel Operations Center in Kuala Lumpur

(Photo: Fueltrax)

Electronic Fuel Management Systems (EFMS) company Fueltrax reports it has opened a Vessel Operations Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.This is Fueltrax’s second such center and the first outside of the company’s headquarters in the U.S. It provides closer-to-region coverage for Asia-Pacific customers.Ruben DeLeon, Fueltrax’s Vice President of Product Support, drew on his seven-year tenure at NASA's Mission Control Center in driving the establishment of the Kuala Lumpur facility.As DeLeon explains…

08 Apr 2024

American Cruise Lines to Receive Two New Ships in 2025

(Image: American Cruise Lines)

American Cruise Lines is set to take delivery of two more new small ships in 2025.The 125-passenger sister ships, American Patriot and American Pioneer, represent the fifth and sixth ships in the company’s Project Blue series of 12 new small ships for the U.S. market. The ships will be built at the company’s affiliated shipyard, Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Maryland.American Patriot will begin sailing in June 2025, and American Pioneer in November 2025 and both new ships will operate a host of American’s U.S.

08 Apr 2024

One Dead, Two Seriously Injured After Fire Hit Pemex Oil Platform

(Photo: Pemex)

At least one contractor was killed after a fire struck an offshore platform operated by Mexico's national oil company Pemex, the firm said in a statement on Sunday, adding that two others were in "grave" condition.A total of nine workers suffered injuries in the blaze on Saturday afternoon that struck the company's Akal-B platform, located in the southern Gulf of Mexico, where most of Pemex oil output originates.Five of the nine were Pemex employees while the rest were contractors from local service providers Diavaz and COTER.A day earlier…

04 Apr 2024

Con Edison, NGV Propose Offshore Wind Project for New Jersey

© chungking / Adobe Stock

Con Edison Transmission and National Grid Ventures submitted a plan to carry offshore wind power to New Jersey's electric grid as the state aims to meet renewable energy goals, according to a press release on Thursday.If awarded, the 'Garden State Energy Path' proposal involves building transmission infrastructure that would be operational by early 2029 and deliver about six gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power, Con Edison said."This project is foundational to helping New Jersey reach its goal of 11 GW of offshore wind by 2040," it said.Earlier this week, California’s grid operator recommende

01 Apr 2024

Salvage Crews Work to Lift First Piece of Collapsed Baltimore Bridge

Crews begin cutting the top portion of the north side of the collapsed bridge into smaller sections for safe removal by crane in the Patapsco River, in Baltimore, March 30, 2024. Salvage teams use exothermic cutting torch to systematically separate sections of the steel bridge, which will be taken to a disposal site. (Photo: Taylor Bacon / U.S. Coast Guard)

Salvage crews worked to lift the first piece of Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the water on Saturday to allow barges and tugboats to access the disaster site, Maryland and U.S. officials said, the first step in a complex effort to reopen the city's blocked port.The steel truss bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning, killing six road workers, when a massive container ship lost power and crashed into a support pylon. Much of the span crashed into the Patapsco River…

29 Mar 2024

Dali Incident Could Be Largest Ever Single Marine Insurance Loss

Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies.

Britannia, the insurer of container ship the Dali, is working with the vessel's owner and U.S. authorities on the investigation into the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, the insurer said on Thursday.The bridge collapsed on Tuesday after the Dali suffered a power outage and struck a pylon, causing huge disruption in the port."We are working closely with the vessel's owner and manager and the relevant U.S. authorities as part of the investigation into the casualty…

28 Mar 2024

Svitzer Building New Training Center in Australia

(Image: Svitzer Australia)

Marine towage provider Svitzer Australia is building a new facility to deliver enhanced maritime training capabilities to the East Coast of New South Wales (NSW).The company reports construction is underway at its Port of Newcastle tug base, where Svitzer’s innovative, new TRAnsverse tug vessels are forecast to enter service in 2025 (the second and third to be deployed in the world). The facility will feature state-of-the-art Kongsberg Digital maritime simulators in support of crew training and other marine applications.Svitzer Australia chief operating officer…

25 Mar 2024

Fincantieri to Open Support Facility in Everett

A rendering of the first Constellation-class frigate to be constructed by Fincantieri Marinette Marine (Image courtesy of Fincantieri Marine Group)

This spring, Fincantieri Marine Repair (FMR) is expanding its presence to the Port of Everett with a new facility to support U.S. Navy assets.On March 12, the Port of Everett Commission unanimously approved a new one-year lease to establish an FMR office at the Port’s Marina Village at Waterfront Place.The U.S. Navy plans to homeport up to 12 new Constellation-class guided-missile frigates at Naval Station Everett, adjacent to the Port of Everett’s international Seaport. The FMR…

25 Mar 2024

US Dredging: Plenty of Issues, New WRDA on the Way

(Photo: Janet Meredith / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

2024 marks another year for development of a biennial WRDA bill—Water Resources Development Act, critical legislation for the Nation’s waterways, ports and harbors. WRDA encompasses a range of issues, from environmental regs to energy use to agriculture and, of course, a focus on projects critical for economic growth.Because these are dynamic and timely issues, Congress and the maritime sector like to keep WRDA on a two-year reauthorization timeline. Indeed, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, December and January, held three WRDA information hearings.

28 Mar 2024

Techcross Opens Training Center in Greece

Image courtesy Techcross

Techcross recently opened the doors for its new training center in Athens, Greece, its 7th training center opened globally in major shipping hubs that offers training on actual equipment.An opening ceremony for the Greece training center, designated as a hub for training in Europe region, was held recently at the newly relocated ARGO NAVIS building. The ceremony was attended by nine representatives, including Park Seog-won, CEO of Techcross, and Ioannis Alevropoulos and Maximous-Ioannis Katsidimas…

28 Mar 2024

Lawsuits Over Baltimore Bridge Collapse Likely

(Credit: USACE)

The owner, operator and charterer of the container ship that struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday are likely to face lawsuits over its collapse and the people killed or injured, but legal experts say U.S. maritime law could limit the companies’ liability.U.S. laws pertaining to open-water navigation and shipping, which are created through court decisions and by acts of Congress, could restrict the kinds of lawsuits filed against the registered owner of the Singapore-flagged ship…

19 Mar 2024

Derecktor Building Hybrid Ferries for Chatham Area Transit

(Image: Derecktor Shipyards)

Derecktor Shipyards New York is building a pair of hybrid ferries for Savannah, Ga. based Chatham Area Transit (CAT). Delivery is expected in 2024.The two 65-foot-long, 50-passenger ferries will be equipped with an electric propulsion package from BAE Systems, including permanent magnet traction motors and HybriGen Power system. Each vessel will feature a 308 kWh energy storage system (ESS) from Xalt Energy and a pair of Marine Jet Power (MJP) Ultrajet 305 waterjets.The ferries are being built to operate on short…