Friendly Systems News

Norwegian offshore support vessel owner Island Offshore has awarded a contract to Kongsberg Maritime to supply turnkey hybrid battery solutions for three platform supply vessels.Two vessels Island Crusader and Island Contender, previously operated with a combination of Bergen LNG engines and Bergen Diesel engines, while the Island Commander deploys four diesel engines. Now, they will be equipped with battery packs and shore connections."The conversion of all three into hybrid…

Long a staple for offshore service providers, a more compact and carefully designed version of the diesel electric option is now available for inland pushboats. For budget conscious operators (and who isn’t, in this environment?), the stars may finally be aligned.For many years, electric propulsion has proven to be a viable propulsion solution for many different types of vessels. Most familiar to workboat stakeholders would be the advent of the ‘diesel electric’ offshore serve providers (OSV) that became commonplace during the offshore boom era. Those vessels operated in a different regulatory environment, with the emphasis more leaning towards operational efficiencies and fuel economy.

India's Essar Ports has signed a 30-year concession agreement with the Government of Mozambique to develop a new coal terminal at Beira Port, as part of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project. The project will be executed on Design, Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (DBOOT) basis through a subsidiary, New Coal Terminal Beira, SA (NCTB SA), which is a joint venture of Essar (which will own 70) and Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM, which will own 30%). The project will enhance the coal handling capacity of Mozambique by 20 MTPA in two phases of 10 MTPA each. Mozambique is estimated to have reserves of over 23 billion tonnes of coal…

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s biggest shipbuilder and a leading integrated heavy industries company, announced today it teams up with its shipbuilding affiliates, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI), to participate in KOMARINE 2015, a major maritime international exhibition from October 20 to 23 at Hall 3, Booth 3F05, BEXCO, Busan in South Korea. In the biennial event where about 1,200 companies from 40 countries are expected to participate, HHI Group will showcase 38 leading shipbuilding technologies categorized into four sections; Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, Smart Technology, Green Technology and Marine Equipment Solution.

Ballast water treatment (BWT) specialist Optimarin has secured a fleet agreement for the installation of 10 of its flexible, reliable and environmentally friendly systems with an unnamed Asian shipowner. The contract, covering a group of 6,700 TEU container vessels, was secured thanks to the firm’s retrofit expertise and market proven technology. The first of the Optimarin Ballast System (OBS) units has already been installed, with two further systems following at the beginning of next year, and two more in spring 2016. Goltens Green Technology, which entered into an agreement with Optimarin last year as a ‘preferred retrofit partner’, will manage all design and supervision from its Singapore office.

The IMO requirement has phased installation of ECDIS on board all ships, beginning July 2012. Maersk Tankers, one of the world’s largest product tanker companies, has selected Transas to address this by implementing ECDIS compliance program across the Maersk Tankers’ fleet. The agreement includes ECDIS installations for both retrofit and for newbuilt vessels for Maersk Tankers. According to the agreement signed between Group Procurement in Maersk and Transas Marine, the vessels…

L-3 SAM Electronics announced today that after one year of preparation time, seven container ships currently chartered by Hamburg Süd and regularly calling at the U.S. West Coast ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles, Port Hueneme and Oakland, Calif., were equipped with its latest SAMCon high-voltage onshore power connection facilities, enabling the vessels to meet California’s strict clean air regulations. The regulations establish measures for providing shore-based, emission-free electrical power to vessels, allowing their main and auxiliary engines to be disengaged while in port.

ClassNK has announced the acquisition of Victoria, Canada-based maritime software company Helm Operations. The deal was hailed by both parties as two world-class companies joining forces to improve safety and operational efficiency in the marine industry, while greatly enhancing the success and capabilities of both organizations. Tokyo-based ClassNK is one of the world’s largest classification societies, providing safety and certification services for more than 8,600 ships, representing about 20% of the global merchant fleet. Founded in 1999, Helm Operations has grown to become a leading provider of manning, maintenance, dispatch, and HSQE software to the workboat and offshore industries…

Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock Division marked the opening of the maneuvering and seakeeping basin (MASK) facility, with a ribbon cutting ceremony, Dec. 19. The 360-foot long and 240 foot-wide facility holds approximately 12 million gallons of water and is used to evaluate the maneuverability, stability and control of scale models. "As I marvel at this triumph of naval engineering and naval architecture, it is gratifying to see that once again the Navy is demonstrating its long term commitment to science, engineering and innovation," said keynote speaker, Dr.

A new formal group of organizations involved in testing for the certification of ballast water treatment systems has been set up, known as the “GloBal TestNet,” to facilitate increased standardization and harmonization of test procedures and information exchange. The move is expected to benefit test facility clients as well as the end-users of ballast water treatment technologies: the ship owners who need cost-effective and environmentally-friendly systems to meet the requirements of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention), 2004. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing the GloBal TestNet was signed on October 21…

MacGregor bulk handling systems are to be installed on four offshore support vessels (OSV) of various types under construction in Asia and Europe. In the last quarter of 2011 Cargotec secured contracts for MacGregor bulk handling systems for installation onboard four offshore support vessels (OSV) newbuildings belonging to two different owners; one in the UAE (two vessels) and the other in Spain (two vessels). At the end of November, Grandweld Shipyards in the United Arab Emirates ordered MacGregor bulk handling systems for two anchor-handling tug/supply (AHTS) vessels, hull Nos 389 and 390.