Hseq News

The maritime industry’s movement toward remote vessel operations will not only build a more diverse workforce, it will benefit from it, argues marine robotics company Ocean Infinity.Greater workforce diversity, whether it be considered along lines of ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, age, socioeconomic status, neurotype, physical ability or any other parameter, has shifted over the course of the last decade from a ‘nice to have’ to a fundamental value. The modern view of society that the thought leaders at Ocean Infinity subscribe to, is often characterized as ‘intersectionality’.

Marine salvage, rescue, emergency response and specialized services company Resolve Marine announced that Deputy CEO Joseph Farrell, III has been appointed Chief Operating Officer. In the combined role he oversees all operations and administration including emergency response, projects, Alaska, shared resources, HSEQ, strategy and M&A, finance, government relations, human resources, marketing, and alternative investments.Farrell, III, was appointed Deputy CEO in April 2022 and brings 17 years of field operations and business experience at Resolve Marine…

For years, the shipping industry has focused on regulations and procedures to improve safety. Yet shipping is still at risk of major accidents. The whole industry needs to change its focus. Ticking boxes never made anyone safer. Also, assessing culture using valid and reliable survey instruments can help to improve safety.It has been well documented that most maritime accidents (~80%) are caused by human error. Still, most of the focus on learning is rooted in technical causes and adding procedures and checklists.Despite this bias…

Hardcore preventative procedures to ensure health, safety, and solid protection from wildly spreading diseases are in the spotlight like never before. For life and work onboard, this means a new set of disease prevention procedures to create, repeat, rehearse, and perfect until they become deeply rooted habits. These procedures must not only apply to the staff and the passengers. They must also include and be followed by temporary workforces like contractors, suppliers, and service personnel.

MV Kaami, a general cargo vessel salvaged six miles off the northwest coast of Skye, Scotland after running aground in March, has been dismantled and recycled in Kishorn.Built in 1994, the 89.8-meter vessel, owned by Norway’s Misje Rederi, was sailing under the flag of Bahamas when it ran aground on March 23 this year. It was refloated by Resolve Marine Group and towed to Kishorn Port and Dry Dock on the northwest coast of Scotland.Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has invested more than £700…

V.Group has appointed John Adams as managing director of V.Ships UK Ltd. Adams brings a wealth of experience from 30 years at Teekay Shipping, most recently holding the position of Managing Director, Glasgow and Chair of the Operational Leadership Team.In his time at Teekay, Adams played a key leadership role during Teekay’s growth, integrating acquisitions into the expanding fleet operations. He is also Chairman of Bahamas Shipowners’ Association and Vice Chair at the International Chamber of Shipping…

APEM, the European aquatic and environmental consultancy specializing in freshwater and marine ecology and aerial surveys, has begun conducting its first ever aerial surveys at the Thang Long 3.4GW offshore wind project (OWP) in Vietnam."APEM has won a contract with Enterprize Energy. We will be the aerial surveyors for the Thang Long Offshore Wind Farm in the Ke Ga region of southern Vietnam. We are looking forward to working closely with Enterprize Energy. We will be supplying them with bespoke high-resolution aerial surveys. This will be alongside our data collection expertise and marine wildlife scientist team. This will enable Enterprize Energy (EE) to gather wildlife information about the site in preparation for the Thang Long Offshore Wind Farm…

The data analytics duo Yxney Maritime and Grieg Connect are partnering with the Norwegian NOx Fund to develop a data-driven digital solution for automated NOx emissions reporting. Solstad Offshore and ferry operator Fjord1 will participate in the pilot phase of the project.The Norwegian NOx Fund records NOx emissions from all vessels operating in Norwegian waters and collects a fee for emissions per vessel. Calculating and reporting emissions has historically been a manual chore for shipowners…

Merseyside UK shipyard and engineering services company Cammell Laird has appointed a new quality assurance manager to forge closer relationships with suppliers and bring best practice from other industries to his new role.Gordon Maxwell is the new QA manager heading up a team of 19 striving to deliver the company vision of getting it right first time.He said he is looking to take a more proactive approach to quality assurance as he draws on his experience of working for the likes of television parts manufacturer Philips Components and central heating manufacturer Baxi.

The provider of software tools for the offshore industry UniSea has agreed to take part ownership of the energy efficiency specialist Yxney.“Yxney is experiencing rapid growth meeting the increasing demand for data-driven energy efficiency solutions in the offshore sector,” said CEO Gjord Simen Sanna of Yxney, which provides operational support and HSEQ (quality, health, safety, environment) to offshore industry.“UniSea is a highly respected player in the industry with a large client base. Yxney already uses UniSea data as the source for our calculations on many vessels. Closer collaboration between the two companies will allow us to provide even more efficient data flows…

UniSea AS, a software developer and consultancy specializing in solutions for the shipping industry, has been selected by Tidewater Inc. as its partner in the digitalizing and standardizing of Tidewater’s business processes related to health, safety, environment and quality (HSEQ) and operations. The UniSea software suite will be implemented on all Tidewater vessels and in all offices in one of the largest contract’s in UniSea’s 21-year history.Tidewater Inc., headquartered in Houston…

The Maritime Group (TMG)  carried out a pivotal assessment review of the tugboat operations in the new third set of NeoPanamax locks of the $5.25 billion Expanded Panama Canal and made other operational observations. TMG  was intructed by Autoridad del Canal de Panama (Panama Canal Authority – ACP) with a brief to focus on Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ) procedures. "ACP accepted our findings in early September 2017 and is now considering any modifications to its procedures and the optimization of its schedules," says a press release. Managing Director, Captain Malcolm W Parrott said: “We were selected after a highly competitive international bidding process for our depth of experience and expertise in all aspects of the study including shipping…

Wilson Sons shipyard, part of the WilsonSons Group, has delivered yet another tugboat. The SST-Aruá is the second tugboat delivered to SAAM SMIT Towage Brazil and is part of a total order of four vessels. The first of the series the SST-Aimoré was delivered in June this year. "It took just over 18 months to deliver the second tugboat from the moment of signing the contract. In a challenging time for the shipbuilding industry, WilsonSons shipyard could again show their strength and resilience," said Adalberto Souza, director of Wilson Sons shipyard. The SST-Aruá was built in Guarujá (SP).

Bahri Ship Management, one of the six business units within transportation and logistics company Bahri, said it is in compliance with the submission of EU MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) plans for the full fleet, ahead of the deadline. At present, Bahri Ship Management operates 39 VLCCs, 23 chemical tankers, 10 product tankers, fivebulk carriers and six ROCONs. Seven further VLCCs are on order, with deliveries expected to be completed by May 2018. To comply with the EU MRV Regulation, ship owners and operators of vessels exceeding 5,000 GT and intending to operate to or from or within the European Union must have approved ship-specific monitoring plans (MP)…

Data from maritime safety specialist Propel shows huge potential to reduce risk of serious accidents. “Human failure tops the agenda of many companies though few know how to address it in a proper way. Collaboration, trust and engagement of all personnel -ship and shore- are vital to reduce major accidents. The whole industry needs to change its focus when it comes to improving maritime safety,” said Benedikte Wentworth, CEO of Propel. According to Propel, despite the continuing downward trend in total vessel losses…

ChartCo, a global supplier of maritime digital data and compliance services, has announced its acquisition of the Swedish environmental shipping technology expert business Marine Position. The transaction extends ChartCo's core product strategy of providing a centralized digital platform on board vessels which is linked to key shoreside activities. Marine Position AB is a global specialist provider of maritime environmental regulations and compliance covering international, national and local requirements.

Global Maritime, a provider of marine warranty, dynamic positioning and engineering services to the offshore sector, has made two important hires to support its Asia Pacific (APAC) operations. Mei Ling Chan has been appointed as Regional Finance Manager for APAC where she will take responsibility for finance functions and reporting across the region; and Leong Weng Yoon has been named Global Maritime’s new HSEQ Manager for APAC. Leong Weng Yoon’s appointment reaffirms Global Maritime’s commitment to the highest health, safety, environmental and quality standards across its operations.

Kongsberg Digital and VesselMan have entered into a partnership agreement which makes VesselMan part of Kongsberg’s digital ecosystem for the Kognifai platform. Matthew Duke, VP Digital Platform at Kongsberg Digital points out that dry-docking and retrofitting constitute a considerable part of the expense for a typical shipper, and that any tool that can disrupt that and help both shippers and shipyards with a more efficient process is very important. “In Kongsberg, we believe that having an open digital platform and an open ecosystem is essential for the customers’ benefit,” adds Duke. “VesselMan’s solution is an example of a product that we wanted to add to our digital platform because it can digitalize a difficult and paper-based process.

ChartCo, provider of maritime digital data and compliance services, said it has expanded its range of integrated marine solutions with the acquisition of the at-sea digital document management company Docmap. Oslo-based Docmap AS was founded in 2005 and provides solutions within the health, safety, environmental and quality (HSEQ) operations on vessels and ashore. Its recently launched Docmap 8 software operates both shore side and on board through standard web browsers and incorporates modules for audit control and risk assessment, and works alongside customers’ continuous improvement programs. Docmap 8 can be supplied either off the shelf with best in class functionality, or customized to suit individual company requirements.

The U.K. Government’s Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) has awarded a five-year contract for a new Scottish Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) to Ardent Maritime Netherlands BV, to begin on December 31, 2016. The ship is the Ievoli Black, a 70-meter towing vessel of some 2,283 gross metric tons and a bollard pull of 139 metric tons, capable of firefighting operations, anchor handling, towing, research and underwater services. The Marnavi-owned Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel is experienced in ETV operations, having served as an ETV for the Netherlands from 2010 to 2013.

Ardent, formed just over a year ago as a merger of A.P. Moller-Maersk’s Svitzer Salvage and Crowley’s Titan Salvage, has been issued the ISO 9001:2015 Certification for its Quality Management System for Preparedness, Emergency Response, Wreck Removal, Decommissioning, and Diving Services by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance. The ISO 9001: 2015 sets criteria for a quality management system, and evaluates organizations with their management approaches and customer focus. “I am very satisfied, and proud that we accomplished this in such a short time.

Seaspan has named three new Vice Presidents to its Senior Leadership Team, announcing the appointments of Linda Wortman as Vice President, Finance & Accounting; Catherine Chick as Vice President, Business Services & Technology; and Shawn Chylinski as Vice President, Health, Safety, Environment & Quality. As Vice President, Finance & Accounting, Linda is responsible for strategic financial oversight of the marine division and corporate services. She is a key advisor to the CFO and Executive Leadership Team and ensures information and metrics are available to inform value added business decisions. Linda joined Seaspan in 2008 as Controller, Marine and was appointed to the role of Vice President, Finance & Accounting in January 2016.

Aquatic Engineering & Construction Ltd, an Acteon company, has marked 1 million working hours without a single Lost Time Incident (LTI). This milestone follows on from Aquatic’s achievement of 1000 days without an LTI in December 2014. The improvement level in FPAL scoring since 2013 and successful accreditation to BizSafe3 in Singapore demonstrate that Aquatic is continually improving standards and providing training opportunities across HSEQ. David Tibbetts, vice president technology, Aquatic, and accountable for the health, safety, environment and quality (HSEQ) function, said, “This achievement is due to the commitment of the Aquatic team to maintain the culture of safety promoted globally by Acteon.