Installed Such Systems News

Norwegian offshore vessel operator DOF Group has secured two new projects – one in the North Sea and the other in Asia Pacific region – whose combined revenue is expected to bring in $30 million to the company. The first contract for DOF covers engineering, procurement, removal and disposal (EPRD) for a North Sea operator, including the project management, engineering, logistics and execution of an FPSO cessation project. According to DOF, it will disconnect, transport and pre-moor the floating unit, and retrieve and recycle the mooring system.

Since the ballast water management system discussion started nearly two decades ago, a clear concern was the ability to fit new equipment on existing ships, placing a strain on both space and power. Last month we caught up with a few key suppliers to for their insights on market development.How many BWMS have you sold and installed to date?Maxime Dedeurwaerder, BIO-UV GroupLast year has proven to be the best on record, with roughly 200 BIO-Sea units delivered. All told, since we entered the ballast water market, we have about 700 units in service or pending commissioning.

Cruise ships moored in the Maltese port of Valletta will soon be able to plug into the island's energy grid, drawing the power they require to be fully operative without having to keep their diesel engines running. Nidec ASI, head of the Nidec Industrial Solutions platform belonging to the Nidec Group, said it has secured a  €12 million contract with the Maltese company Excel Sis for the creation of a “shore-to-ship” project at the port. Nidec ASI was awarded the supply of power and high-tech systems and all related engineering…

Brent Perry, CEO of Sterling PBES is a 40+ year veteran of the marine business, and one of the pioneers in delivering battery solutions to boats and ships at sea. Please give us a by the numbers look at Sterling PBES today?Right now we are sitting in a position where we had anticipated delivering somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-21 million worth of product, which is about 35 megawatt hours. And we’re scheduled to blow past that to almost $40 million. And we’re looking at the following year as a year of over a $100 million…

Autonomous vessel technology developer Sea Machines Robotics announced Wednesday it has closed a new $15 million financing round with significant participation by America's largest military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).The Boston-based tech company said it expects the investment and associated partnership with HII will accelerate the deployment of self-piloting technologies for unmanned naval boats and ships as the defense shipbuilding and technology giant continues…

German wind turbine builder is carrying out a condition monitoring campaign at the 402MW Veja Mate offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.The rotor blade condition monitoring system or fos4X “retroX” system, consisting of a sensor platform and intelligent software, was installed on strategically selected 10% of the wind farm’s turbines."The system enables structural condition monitoring of the rotor blades, recording of loads during turbine life time as well as the detection of yaw and pitch misalignment," said a press note from the specialist in fiber optic measurement technology and sensor technology.A further aspect of the joint project carried out by fos4X is the monitoring, consolidation and orchestration of the entire turbine and subsystem data.

The U.S.-based provider of ocean freight transportation services Matson has begun the installation  exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) on six vessels deployed in its Hawaii and China-Long Beach Express services.The scrubbers installation is  part of its strategy to reduce fleet emissions in line with new worldwide regulations established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that take effect on January 1, 2020. Three of the vessels will receive the new equipment in 2019 and the remaining three in 2020.While new low-sulfur fuels designed to meet the new IMO emission standard have been in development for years in anticipation of the change, there is still uncertainty about their costs and availability.

The importance of maintaining chemical toilets onboard ship has been raised following an incident in February onboard a Sydney Harbor-operating passenger ferry in which a high level of toxic gas was detected in a toilet cubicle after a passenger was fatally injured.A 39-year-old passenger was found unconscious in a toilet cubicle aboard the Lady Rose and could not be revived by paramedics. While the reasons behind her death are unconfirmed, during the initial investigation HAZMAT…

With compliance deadlines on the horizon for many shipowners, the study revealed a critical need for owners to start their technology-selection process, and to resist buying BWM systems based on initial price alone.ABS has just completed its second comprehensive survey of the shipping industry’s progress towards global compliance with ballast-water regulations, finding just over a third of installed management systems (BWMS) to be fully operational.The survey’s findings, which were supported by a series of workshops in New Orleans…

When it was time for France Pelagique to start renewing its fleet, an electric-power alliance of Dutch and Scandinavian yard interests formed up and delivered. The result was the first installation aboard a trawler of NES’s Odin’s Eye, a DC grid solution to integrate another first for trawlers — quiet-running permanent magnate, or PM, propulsion.Where to begin a fleet modernization that ends with green credentials and richer harvests? Well, there are multiple points of contact…

China and the Philippines will negotiate a military protocol to avoid maritime “miscalculations”, Manila’s defence minister said on Wednesday, following a brief standoff near a Philippine-occupied island in a disputed part of the South China Sea. Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippines tried to put up makeshift structures on a sand bar about 4 km (2.5 miles) off Thitu island in the Spratly archipelago in August, but China objected and sent ships to the area. President Rodrigo Duterte sought to defuse tensions by ordering troops to pull out. Construction was stopped. “We intend to sit down with China to draft and agree on a protocol to resolve immediately any incident,” he said, adding he hoped talks could start this year.

Tanker owners Ektank and Utkilen have selected marine automation specialists Høglund to provide automation systems on new chemical tankers currently under construction in China. The four 18,600 dwt tankers for Ektank, and the four 9,900 dwt tankers for Utkilen will be fitted with integrated automation systems that link together systems such as power management, cargo control and alarms. This new level of integration is essential for the vessels’ long-term performance and reliability, Høglund said.

Grand Bahama Shipyard and L&R Midland (UK) Ltd have signed an exclusive agency agreement covering the U.K. markets effective June 1, 2017. Caribbean shipyard Grand Bahama Shipyard (GBS) has engaged L&R Midland (UK) as its representative in the U.K. in what is expected to be an increasingly busy period due to approaching new International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations that will require ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) and exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) retrofits.

Cavotec's MoorMaster automated mooring and Automatic Plug-in System (APS) are set to enter service with a hybrid battery-powered ferry in Finland, delivering substantial operational efficiencies and reducing environmental impact. The Electra, operated by FinFerries, is 90m long, 16m wide, and carries up to 90 vehicles. It makes crossings at 15-minute intervals during the day, and one round trip per hour at night, year-round and in all weather conditions between Parainen and Nauvo in southwest Finland.

Global ship management services provider Anglo-Eastern Ship Management has created a unique ballast water treatment (BWT) training facility at its Manila base in the Philippines. Working in conjunction with BWT specialist Optimarin and Saga Shipholding, Anglo-Eastern has built an essential resource for training crews in the wake of the ratification of the IMO’s Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention. The facility, which officially opened this month, features a fully functional Optimarin Ballast System (OBS) at its heart…

China on Monday welcomed U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' suggestion that diplomacy should be the priority in the South China Sea, and that major U.S. military action was not being considered to contend with China's assertive behaviour there. Mattis, speaking in Tokyo on Saturday, blamed China for "shredding the trust of nations in the region", but also played down any need for U.S. military manoeuvres in the disputed waters of the South China Sea and instead called for open lines of communication. The comments, his most complete on the issue to date, came after analysts had said other remarks made by President Donald Trump's administration had suggested the possibility of U.S. military action, or even a naval blockade.

China said on Tuesday it had "irrefutable" sovereignty over disputed islands in the South China Sea after the White House vowed to defend "international territories" in the strategic waterway. White House spokesman Sean Spicer in his comments on Monday signaled a sharp departure from years of cautious U.S. handling of China's assertive pursuit of territorial claims in Asia. "The U.S. is going to make sure that we protect our interests there," Spicer said when asked if Trump agreed with comments by his secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson. On Jan. 11, Tillerson said China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea.

The new U.S. "I think the U.S. is going to make sure that we protect our interests there," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a news briefing. Spicer was responding to a question as to whether Trump agreed with comments by his Secretary of State nominee, Rex Tillerson, on Jan. 11 that China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea. Tillerson's remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing prompted Chinese state media to say the United…

The Liberian Maritime Administration is to introduce a proposal to the meeting of the IMO Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC70) in London on 24 October to allow certain ships additional time beyond 2020 to install adequate ballast water management systems as required under the Ballast Water Management Convention, which comes into force in September 2017. The proposal, says Liberia, would ensure that enough adequate systems and sufficient dockyard space are available. With effect from 8 September, 2017, most oceangoing ships engaged in worldwide operations will be required to install a ballast water management (BWM) system approved in accordance with IMO guidelines.

ABB has launched Stage 3 of its so-called “Next Level” strategy which aims to drive company-wide growth via four entrepreneurial divisions, while realizing the group’s full digital potential and improving operational efficiencies. “Over the last two years, ABB has become faster, leaner and more efficient. We have continuously improved margins and further strengthened our cash generation,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. Effective January 1, 2017, ABB will shape its divisional structure into four divisions: Electrification Products…

Cleaning up the wastewater stream on marine vessels isn’t just about removing hydrocarbons out of oily separators and bilges. Workboat galleys harbor a tremendous amount of FOGs (fats, oils and grease) that, if not properly disposed of, can be a health risk, damage equipment and add to overall operational costs. Even if vessels are equipped with sophisticated grease trap systems, the introduction of nontoxic, neutral pH biologic compounds into the trap and/or waste stream is a necessary step to reduce toxic buildup and environmental pollution.

Shipowners seeking to combat the harmful effects of lime scale, bacteria, algae and biofouling inside their vessels’ various water systems needn’t look any further than Hydropath Marine, a chemical-free technology for onboard water treatment. The patented Hydropath technology, which uses electrical signals to kill algae and bacteria, was initially developed in the early ’90s to treat lime scale within the home, but has since been developed for a dozen different product ranges for both land-based and marine applications…

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has received an order from ENEA Wytwarzanie S.A., a power producer in Poland, for two sets of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) type deNOx system for installation at Units 1 and 2 of the company's Power Station in Kozienice. These high-performance systems reduce emissions of NOx (nitrogen oxides), a cause of air pollution, by more than 80 percent. They are scheduled to go into operation at Unit 1 in late 2015 and at Unit 2 in May 2016. The Power Station in Kozienice, located some 85 kilometers south-southeast of Warsaw, is one of Poland's largest coal-fired power plants. Units 1 and 2 have an output of 200 megawatts (MW) each.