European Regional Development Fund News

With a background in subsea and offshore, coming up with new ideas is the norm’ for UK-based engineering consultancy STL (Submarine Technology Limited), writes Elaine Maslin.The last few years have been no different. The company has been focusing on ship-based robotics, including robotic arms. These aren’t just any robotic arms – they’re motion compensated systems for deploying/recovering people and robots to and from fixed or moving objects. That could be wind technicians to…

With a background in subsea and offshore, coming up with new ideas is the norm for UK-based engineering consultancy STL (Submarine Technology Limited), writes Elaine Maslin.The last few years have been no different. The company has been focusing on ship-based robotics, including robotic arms. These aren’t just any robotic arms – they’re motion-compensated systems for deploying/recovering people and robots to and from fixed or moving objects.That could be wind technicians to an…

The Port of Rotterdam Authority and Eneco are going to construct shore-based power facilities in the Waalhaven, Rotterdam (the Netherlands) so that moored Boskalis vessels can run on green electricity instead of fossil fuels.The shore-based power installation will be built on the Boskalis site in the Waalhaven, Rotterdam. There are two berths on the quay at this location, which are both frequently used. Vessels come to the Boskalis Waalhaven location for maintenance and to be mobilized for offshore projects.The intended completion date of the green shore power installation is 1 June 2023…

Boomsma Shipping announced its general cargo vessel Frisian Sea has been fitted with wind-assisted propulsion units to help reduce the ship's fuel usage and emissions as the shipping industry continues work to reduce its environmental footprint. “We believe it is necessary and very important to meet sustainability challenges to reduce our environmental footprint. Together with the IMO decarbonization goals for 2050 we want to do our part to reduce our fuel consumption and CO2 emissions as soon as possible…

Dutch shipyard Royal Niestern Sander has begun building a new aft for a passenger ferry that will be converted to liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion for German operator AG Ems.The shipyard is designing and building a completely new stern section to replace the one existing on the 1986-built passenger ship Münsterland, which will be fited with dual fuel engines, LNG storage tanks, propulsion systems, all LNG installations, pipelines and other systems.Niestern Sander was awarded the contract to undertake the project in July 2019…

French container line CMA CGM announced that its ship APL Singapura has inaugurated the cold ironing facilities of the Terminal des Flandres in the Port of Dunkirk.By plugging into an onshore electricity supply (also known as "cold ironing"), container ships calling at port can shut down their auxiliary engines while still getting the power they need, particularly in order to maintain controlled temperatures in refrigerated containers (Reefers).This innovative technology has significant environmental benefits, including: Zero emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides and fine particles while ships are at berth, and significantly reduced noise pollution.The cold ironing system installed at the Terminal des Flandres will become fully operational during the first half of 2020.

The WASP (Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion) project, funded by the Interreg North Sea Europe program, part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to the tune of €3.4 million has been officially approved and launched.The project brings together universities, wind-assist technology providers with ship owners to research, trial and validate the operational performance of a selection of wind propulsion solutions thus enabling wind propulsion technology market penetration and contributing to a greener North Sea transport system through harvesting the regions abundant wind potential.This fully aligns with the wider programs’ objective of promoting the development and adoption of products…

The maritime classification society Lloyd’s Register has been brought in to coordinate REShiP (Renewable Energy Ship Propulsion) project to research and develop renewable energy ship propulsion technologies.REShiP  started in April 2019 with the aim of identifying the best solutions connected with the shipboard installation of an innovative power generation system for propulsion and on-board use, with an almost total reduction of both pollutants and noise emitted.The project is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the framework of the Regional Operational Program (2014-2020) of the Italian Region Friuli Venezia Giulia.The project activities are aligned with the IMO - International Maritime Organization – Regulations concerning the limits on NOx…

Dutch shipyard Royal Niestern Sander (RNS) announced the signing of an agreement with the ferry company AG Ems for the conversion of another passenger ferry - Münsterland - to LNG propulsion.The Holland-based shipyard receives a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union for this innovation process."Thanks to the LNG conversion, the Münsterland will start using a much less polluting fuel, which will reduce emissions significantly. The new shape of the stern will also reduce the hull resistance. As a result, the ship needs less engine power to sail at the same speed, which means a reduction in fuel consumption and noise…

The Polish government and the Polskie LNG company signed a grant agreement on 24 April for the extension of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Świnoujście, in north-western Poland on the Baltic Sea coast.Almost EUR 128 million from the European Regional Development Fund is invested in extending this terminal, which is the only facility of its size in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu said: "The extension of the Świnoujście terminal will help diversify natural gas supply sources and improve the country’s energy security. This is a new example of the Energy Union in motion, supported…

Poland’s LNG import terminal in Świnoujście will receive a EUR128mln grant from from the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund to expand its regasification capacity.The European Commission said in a notification that it has approved plans to support the increase of the regasification capacity, and the development of additional functionalities of the LNG terminal in Poland.The plans were approved under EU State aid rules and would see the terminal capacity increase from 5 to 7.5 billion cubic metres per year.The Commission approved the aid for the construction of this LNG terminal in 2011. The increase in capacity was…

Marine-i has made a grant award to a marine tech company Submarine Technology Ltd (STL) to focus on designing and building a futuristic robotic arm.The arm is a ship-based multi-axis robotic arm and will form an integral part of a new Autonomous Synchronised Stabilised Platform (ASSP) to enable intervention tasks to be carried from Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASV).Submarine Technology Ltd (STL) is based on the Isle of Wight but recently opened an office in Penryn to develop the device, which it hopes will transform autonomous marine operations. Marine-i is a European Regional Development Fund funded programme set up to boost marine innovation in Cornwall."Typical intervention tasks will include equipment transfer and payload management, survey and inspection, launch and recovery.

Greek utility company Gastrade has extended the timeline for completion of its Greek LNG development by six months to allow more time for the delivery of offshore floating, storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System Project.Gastrade, the developer of the 5.5 billion cubic metre per year regasification project, has pushed back its completion date from the end of 2020 to the second quarter of 2021 to give interested suppliers more time to deliver an FSRU.The project is being developed by Gastrade, and consists of an offshore FSRU, as well as a mooring, and a system of subsea and onshore gas transmission pipelines…

On Thursday, December 27, an InvaSave 300 Mobile Ballast Water Treatment System was transported from Damen Green Solution’s premises in Gorinchem, the Netherlands, to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to be used for a demonstration program as part of the “Atlantic Blue Port Services” project, made possible by the INTERREG Atlantic Area Program, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).Upon arriving in the port of Las Palmas, the unit will be connected to a vessel’s ballast…

U.S. conglomerate General Electric will test the world's largest wind turbine in a facility in northeast England, it said on Tuesday. GE Renewable Energy, the renewable arm of the U.S. firm, and the British government-funded Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult signed a five-year agreement to test GE's Haliade-X 12 megawatt (MW) turbine in Blyth, Northumberland. "This is an important agreement because it will enable us to prove Haliade-X in a faster way by putting it under controlled and extreme conditions," John Lavelle, president & CEO of GE's Offshore Wind business said in a statement. Britain is aiming to be a leader in offshore wind technology and its capacity could grow by five times current levels to 30 gigawatts by 2030…

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) increases efforts to improve the city’s air quality. Container transporters powered by lithium-ion batteries will move the containers at HHLA Container Terminal Alternwerder (CTA) between ships and the yard in future. The use of green energy prevents any CO2, nitric oxide or particulate matter from being emitted and the vehicles are also three times more efficient than their diesel-powered predecessors. Another benefit is that during their time at the charging station, the container transporters can contribute to the stabilisation of the grid by precisely extracting or feeding energy. The Ministry…

SevenCs is part of the EU INTERREG V A cross-border project “MariGreen” to support the maritime industry in the transition towards more efficient, greener and more sustainable shipping. The MariGreen project develops innovations for greener and low-emission shipping and supports in particular small and medium enterprises. There are 12 innovation projects behind "MariGreen" that are dealt with by a total of 59 partners located in the Netherlands and Germany. Alternative fuel for ships, Wind Energy Systems for freight and passenger shipping, improvement of logistics operations, resource-efficient ship operations and safety issues in nautical education and training are among the main topics. SevenCs engages in the MariGreen work stream “Wind propulsion in commercial shipping”.

Deep Green, an underwater kite construction from the Swedish company Minesto, is set to be deployed in 2017 at the Holyhead Deep site off the coast of Anglesey, Wales. Delivering a customized turbine solution in 2016 for the underwater power plant project will be SCHOTTEL HYDRO. And while the turbine complements the first full-scale Deep Green device, 19 more devices are due to follow during the coming three years and will eventually form an array with an overall capacity of 10 MW.

STC-Group has signed a contract with simulation developer Kongsberg Maritime to supply extensive upgrades to its large suite of simulators. The contract consists of sophisticated extensions and upgrades to the group's Kongsberg Maritime full mission and part task ship's bridge simulators and its full mission engine room simulator. A complete upgrade of the group's classroom set of 15 desktop cargo handling simulators and 15 desktop engine room simulators including instructor stations for both classrooms is also included in the delivery…