Intelligent Decisions News

Jeff Chittim, ESAB’s North American Senior Product Manager for Heavy Industrial Products, discusses how WeldCloud online applications and the ESAB Heavy Industrial Product Line are a powerful tandem to help shipyards improve weld quality and efficiency.While automation has gone a long way in making shipyards more efficient, today shipbuilding remains a hands-on endeavor, with a dearth of ‘welders and fitters’ being a common lament.Technology companies such as ESAB, a global supplier of welding and cutting solutions across industries…

As companies around the globe seek to optimize operations through digitization, ESAB Welding & Cutting Products announced that its Aristo 4004i Pulse, Aristo 5000i and Aristo U5000i advanced welding power sources are sold exclusively as WeldCloud-enabled systems. The Aristo 500ix will continue to be sold as A WeldCloud-optional system. To encourage use, ESAB will offer Aristo purchasers a free three-month trial period, which can be activated at any time.WeldCloud is a suite of online data management applications that enables users to improve overall operational efficiency by monitoring…

AST said it has secured an order to supply its iRAMS monitoring systems for Norfolk, U.K. boat builder Goodchild Marine Services, to install on nine new ORC fast pilot vessels being built for British ports.The Pantocarene-designed launches were ordered in November by Associated British Ports in a £9 million deal. Construction of the first vessel has already begun and it is expected to be delivered to ABP’s Humber region in 2021. In total, ABP has commissioned five vessels to serve its Humber ports…

20 teams demonstrated their engineering prowess in week-long human-powered design competition. Intelligent Decisions (ID), Inc., a  global IT systems integrator, congratulates Virginia Tech HPS and their vessel “Phantom 6” as the winner of the ID Innovation Award at the 12th International Submarine Races (ISR). The sponsors also recognizes the efforts of the University of Washington: HPS Team and their vessel “Wolverine 2” for their second place Innovation Award and OMER’s vessel “OMER 8” for their third place Innovation Award. ID has sponsored the races and the Innovation Award since 2011.

Like it or not, eLearning is transforming maritime training. People may argue its merits and applications, but there is no arguing that it is here to stay. As eLearning continues to expand its presence, all of us involved in maritime training are going to be faced with critical decisions about whether and how we employ it in our organizations. But do we know enough to make informed decisions? Do we truly understand eLearning, its strengths, its limitations, and how it is best applied? This is the second in a series of articles which examines eLearning in the maritime industry.

Hull fouling causes drag-related speed loss and increased fuel consumption when more power is delivered in order to maintain ship schedules. Hull fouling is also a topic of growing environmental concern and international regulation as it relates to green house gas emissions and the carriage of aquatic invasive species on fouled hulls. To combat these issues, shipping companies are relying on modern hull coating systems like foul-release paint to provide a ready solution. Foul-release and most other types of marine hull paint are expensive and shipping companies have had few easy choices for accurately measuring paint performance and cost effectiveness before making fleet purchasing decisions.

The Norwegian cartel authority Konkurransetilsynet has approved the merger of Noble Denton with Germanischer Lloyd (GL). The two companies had announced their merger on 1 April 2009. Together, Germanischer Lloyd and Noble Denton will form a global technical assurance and consulting company to serve the oil and gas sector. The purchase of Noble Denton is the largest corporate acquisition in the history of Germanischer Lloyd. Germanischer Lloyd and Noble Denton will provide consulting, assurance as well as project management on a worldwide scale especially for the oil & gas and renewable energy sectors as well as for the maritime industry. The spectrum of services ranges from design and construction, transportation and installation.

The merger of Noble Denton and Germanischer Lloyd forms an integrated technical assurance and consulting company to serve the worldwide energy industries. The new entity will provide assurance, inspection, and consulting as well as project management. It will focus its worldwide services along the entire life cycle oil and gas - upstream, midstream, and downstream, renewable and energy installations onshore and offshore. This includes safety, integrity, reliability and performance management. Germanischer Lloyd, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, and Noble Denton, headquartered in London have followed similar growth strategies. Both organisations have conducted a number of acquisitions recently to complement their areas of expertise.

By John W. Picture this scenario: It's the middle of the night — 3:30 a.m. to be exact. The phone rings — it's a client is calling to say that a vessel is in distress and our services as an engineering firm are needed. "This is no drill." So many factors are at risk - factors that are not to be taken lightly; people's lives, the environment, and property. How will the next few hours or days play out? One of the key events in my life that helped lead me to my profession as a ship designer was a book about "bad days at sea." The book was The Grey Seas Under by Farley Mowat. If you love the sea then this is a must read. It gives a true taste of salvage operations and the courage of those who wrest disaster from the hungry sea.

The U.S. Navy is awarding indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contracts to 391 contractors that will provide for their competition for service requirements solicited by Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems Command, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, Naval Supply Systems Command, Military Sealift Command, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Strategic Systems Programs, and the United States Marine Corps. The 22 functional service areas within the scope of the contracts include 1. Research and Development Support. 2. Engineering System Engineering and Process Engineering Support. 3. Modeling, Simulation, Stimulation, and Analysis Support. 4. Prototyping, Pre-Production, Model-Making, and Fabrication Support.