No More ‘Tug Dilemma’
An ABB-chartered cable-layer ordered in September 2015 might be the only hybrid battery-powered offshore service vessel (OSV) in anyone’s new-build program right now, but don’t say that to the ABB man who led the team that designed the radical electrical system, Onboard DC Grid. The new cable-layer design is the first OSV since the Dina Star to boast a new DC Grid, but in the coming months, “There could be several more,” said ABB Global Product Manager, Johan Olav Lindtjorn. Some of those designs will eventually be tugs.
Engines Ordered for Largest Cutter-Suction Dredger
Dredging specialist Jan De Nul Group is set to further expand its modern fleet with a self-propelled, cutter-suction dredger to be built at Croatian shipyard, Uljanik Brodogradiliste in Pula. The vessel, currently designated JDN8069, will feature one MAN 14V48/60CR and two MAN 9L48/60CR engines as well as three step-up, RENK Rheine gearboxes for a diesel-electric plant. RENK will also deliver the gearboxes for the cutter-head drive as well as for the dredger and booster pumps. Upon completion, the vessel will be the largest of its type in the world.
Security Program to Cost Ports
Port operators and freight companies will have to pay up for tightened security checks that will extend full background checks to all workers entering U.S. maritime facilities and vessels by the end of the year, industry sources said on Tuesday. Industry sources say they are concerned over the high enrollment and electronic hardware costs associated with the roll-out of high-security biometric identification cards in the next phase of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. Homeland Security will begin to require security screening of all workers with unescorted access to ports at the end of the year, raising the number subject to checks to 850,000 from about 400,000 workers, who were required to be screened in April in the TWIC's first phase.
A New Chapter in Naval Shipbuilding
As a resounding endorsement of its long-term commitment to shipbuilding in the U.K., Vosper Thornycroft (VT) has created a state-of-the-art ship production facility within Portsmouth Naval Base. Having recently attained preliminary operational status through steel cutting on 295-ft. (90-m) transport barge, the 33-acre naval shipbuilding yard is set to play a key role in the construction of the Royal Navy's next generation of destroyers while extending VT's overall build capabilities and market reach. It has been some decades since Britain last saw the opening of a new yard of any significant size, and VT's initiative ensures a future for the industry in southern England.
