Friendly Ocean News

Shipping companies that transport the world's coal are in the crosshairs of some financial backers who are cleaning up their businesses in the absence of a truly global drive by nations to renounce the dirtiest fossil fuel.In a sign of investors taking the initiative, six European firms collectively representing over 5% of the estimated annual $16 billion capital financing requirements of the dry bulk industry told Reuters they were either reducing their exposure to vessels that…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that it has joined forces with Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding and Weathernews to launch the Fleet Optimal Control Unified System (FOCUS), a project that will gather and apply ship operation data to ensure safer, more environmentally friendly ocean transport.With information and communication technology (ICT) such as IoT and Big Data rapidly expanding, and new possibilities opening up for ICT applications aboard vessels, on shore, and in between, the three companies decided to undertake this task as a core project to promote the use and application of ICT.Detailed voyage and engine data on actual voyages will…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that its group company MOL Engineering  has acquired a certificate of approval to engage in the servicing and maintenance of lifeboats, launching equipment, on-load release gear, and automatic release hooks. It is the second firm in Japan to earn ClassNK certification in this category. Inspection and maintenance of this critical ship safety equipment are regulated by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Treaty). MOL Engineering  provides annual inspection, the fifth year inspection, of lifeboats and launching equipment aboard MOL Group-operated vessels about 130 times a year.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., today announced that its group ship management company for dry bulkers, Magsaysay MOL Ship Management, Inc. has acquired certifications from Nihon Kaiji Kyokai, for Energy Management Systems (ISO50001*1) and Environmental Management Systems (ISO14001*2) on June 18. MMSM’s certifications cover ship management of bulk carriers and other cargo ships, as well as office operations onshore. MOL Ship Management Co., Ltd. acquired the same certificates in July 2014, followed by MOL Ship Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. and New Asian Shipping Company Ltd. With MMSM’s acquisition in this time, all 4 MOL Group ship management companies for dry bulkers have earned ISO50001 and ISO14001certification.

Designers Ken Freivokh, responsible for the Maltese Falcon; and Pat Bray, responsible for a fuel efficient, semi-displacement hull form, presented their latest project, an environmentally sound 137-ft motor yacht design. Through the use of hybrid diesel/electric technology this vessel can operate for up to five hours on battery power alone, quietly slipping through the water at six knots. A 4,000 mile range at 14 knots is achieved with this low wake, low carbon footprint hull form.

A Panamanian registered freighter carrying potash that ran aground between Germany and Denmark was freed by tugboats on Sunday and will go to a Danish port for checks, coast guard officials said. The 32,935-ton Friendly Ocean ran aground on Saturday west of the northern German region of Darss, in a narrow shipping area between Denmark and Germany where ships have often struggled with shallow waters. A German and a Danish tugboat freed it on Sunday morning, and the freighter will now make a stop in the Danish port of Kalundborg to see whether the ship sustained any previously undetected damage. The ship is carrying 30,000 tons of potash, an alkaline potassium compound often used in fertilizers. It was en route from Latvia to China, the coast guard in the German city of Neustadt said.