Important Product News

ABS granted Approval in Principle (AIP) to Hyundai Heavy Industries’ (HHI) Deepwater Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) hull design.HHI advises the Newbuilding Conversion FLNG hull design for offshore application can be constructed for about 80 percent less than the cost of a conventional FLNG hull. It is based on LNG carrier designs combined with the requirements for FLNG production, such as structural reinforcements to take topside module load and a hull designed to allow up to 25 years operation without dry-docking.“ABS is the market leader in the classification of offshore drilling and production units, including FLNG vessels, with more than 150 floating oil and gas facilities in the ABS-classed fleet,” said ABS Vice President Global Gas Solutions, Patrick Janssens.

Brazilian miner Vale SA posted a sharp decline in profit from the previous quarter as lower iron ore prices undermined record production of the steel-making ingredient. Vale, the world's largest producer of iron ore, reported second-quarter net income of $1.43 billion, down 43 percent on the previous quarter and below the average analyst estimate of $1.89 billion in a Reuters survey. "It was a very challenging environment where the price of our most important product has dropped by 15 percent," Chief Financial Officer Luciano Siani said in a video accompanying results. Net income was more than three times higher than the year-ago quarter, when a one-time foreign exchange charge slashed profit to $424 million.

Ever-greater pressures on shipbuilders in terms of time and resource availability, accentuated by increased project complexity in many spheres of newbuild activity, emphasize the need for well functioning design tools. Efficient data management to support the creation, distribution and handling of design and production information has become a vital factor influencing competitive performance. The latest initiative by the Swedish company Kockums Computer Systems (KCS), in extending its proven Tribon concept to the basic design phase, offers the industry an opportunity to rationalize and integrate the whole design, engineering and manufacturing task from an earlier starting point in the cycle.

management solutions to the marine industry. Under this agreement, MOBEX will distribute StarTrak's products and services in the marine market throughout North America. StarTrak recently introduced the wireless communications product BargeTrak, a solar powered wireless solution contained in a single package about the size of a notebook. "BargeTrak is an important product that has been in development and trials for the past two years," said Tim Slifkin, StarTrak's founder and President. "In addition to offering increased security, we believe our solution will bring revolutionary changes to the inland and coastal marine industry with significant improvements in barge utilization…