John Moores News

Bibby Marine announced it has tapped Longitude Engineering to design its first-of-kind zero-emission electric service operation vessel (SOV).The "eSOV" project, as the project partners are calling it, was first announced in September 2023 and recently awarded £20 million under the U.K.'s Zero Emission Vessel and Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition as stakeholders across the marine and offshore industries strive for cleaner vessel operations.Nigel Quinn, Bibby Marine CEO, said, “This project is the natural progression of our decarbonization journey…

Bibby Marine and its consortium partners are moving forward with plans to build the world’s first zero-emission electric service operation vessel (eSOV) after securing funding for the project from the Zero Emission Vessel Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition.The award, announced Monday at London International Shipping Week, comprises of match funding to build the pioneering vessel, which will operate solely on 20MWh of batteries – a significant step toward achieving the marine industry’s net-zero ambitions.

The Nautical Institute (NI) has announced Rei Misa as the winner of its 2023 Lüddeke Prize.The Lüddeke awards were made possible by a generous legacy endowment from the estate of Captain Christof Lüddeke. The prize recognises an exceptional maritime student – many previous winners have gone on to become leading practitioners in their field with some becoming President of The Nautical Institute.Misa already has wide-ranging maritime experience having worked as a Deck Cadet, Marine…

New research has found that of almost 5,000 seafarers surveyed, almost 40% have experienced at least one form of unethical or illegal action in violation of international standards relating to worker rights either during the recruitment process or while working at sea.The research report was published by the Institute for Human Rights and Business and Sustainable Shipping Initiative and is based on surveyed data obtained between September 2022 and February 2023.The findings include that 70% (around 1…

Shanghai is slowly emerging from a grueling COVID lockdown that has all but immobilized the city since March. Although Shanghai’s port, which handles one-fifth of China’s shipping volumes, has been operating throughout, it has been running at severely reduced capacity. Many shipments have either been canceled, postponed, or rerouted to other Chinese mega-ports such as Ningbo-Zhousan.With the city due to fully reopen on June 1, the port is going to be in overdrive as manufacturers try to fulfil backlogs, with serious knock-on effects around the world.

Engineering X – an international collaboration founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Lloyd’s Register Foundation – has awarded nearly £1 million ($1.2 million) in grants to six projects in the U.K. and overseas aimed at tackling the complex social, environmental and engineering challenges of decommissioning ships and offshore structures.From training to improve worker safety in ship recycling facilities in Bangladesh, to assessing the risks of structural failure of decommissioned offshore structures…

New research from Queen’s University Belfast and Liverpool John Moores University reveals how the microplastic pollution crisis is threatening biodiversity, specifically the ability of hermit crabs to select a shell needed for their survival.Currently up to 10 percent of global plastic production ends up in the sea although the understanding of how this affects marine life is limited. The research, published today in Biology Letters, focused on the impact of plastics on hermit crabs…

The finalists of the 2017 Mersey Maritime Industry Awards (MMIAs) have been announced. The winners will be revealed at a prestigious black tie dinner that will have a Ministerial presence and promises to bring together the best of the maritime industry right across the Maritime, Logistics and Energy spectrum in the region. The MMIAs are organised by sector representative body Mersey Maritime and the Awards recognise the excellence and diversity that exists across all sectors of the maritime industry in the North West. Chris Shirling-Rooke, Chief Executive, Mersey Maritime, said: “The number and quality of entries for the 2017 MMIAs has risen for the third consecutive year, which will make for an exciting awards evening when the winners are announced on 9th March.

UK Industry trade body Mersey Maritime has announced a new trade agreement with the Isle of Man Shipping Association (IOMSA) which aims to supercharge bilateral trade, particularly among small to medium sized businesses. The agreement was announced at a special reception during the International Festival of Business in Liverpool UK and has resulted from a series of discussions facilitated by the Isle of Man Ship Registry, which is an Executive Club member of Mersey Maritime, and other IoM based companies such as software engineer PDMS, both of which are also involved with IOMSA.

Business owners across the U.K. wanting to drive growth in the maritime sector are being urged to engage with the newly opened Maritime Knowledge Hub in Birkenhead, Liverpool City Region. The hub, based near Cammell Laird shipyard, is celebrating the formal completion of its recent fit-out and is now planning a busy agenda of events, seminars, training and networking. The completion of Phase 1 of the Maritime Knowledge Hub is a joint venture between Mersey Maritime, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and Wirral Council on behalf of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The fit-out was completed by Wirral based Beech Group, which specializes in demolition, but have a refurbishment division.

UK Shipping Minister Robert Goodwill MP has formally opened a new ‘Maritime Knowledge Hub’ in Wirral, UK, jointly operated by Mersey Maritime and Liverpool John Moores University. Operated jointly by sector development organisation Mersey Maritime and Liverpool John Moores University , the new facility will be a global centre of excellence within the UK, generating knowledge-led growth and innovation. First announced at London International Shipping Week (LISW) last year, the aim of the £15m ($21m) Maritime Knowledge Hub is to create a regional focal point for innovation, research & development, education and training and business support, enabling the UK to capture a greater share in the estimated £3000bn shipping market.

U.K. Shipping Minister Robert Goodwill MP has welcomed the investment being made by Peel Ports during a March 10 visit to the company’s Liverpool2 container terminal. Upon opening later this year, Liverpool2 will become one of Europe’s most modern and advanced semi-automated terminals, able to accommodate virtually all of the world’s deep sea container vessels. Marine trials are due to begin later this month, with other elements of the build coming online throughout Q2. The Liverpool2…

In response to popular demand, Mersey Maritime has expanded the eligibility of its annual awards to include maritime companies and related organisations right across the Maritime, Logistics and Energy spectrum in the whole of the North West and the Isle of Man. Chris Shirling-Rooke, CEO of Mersey Maritime, said: “Last year’s inaugural event was so popular that we have been inundated with businesses wanting to get involved. Taking the time to enter one or more of our 10 award categories certainly pays off, as two non-finalists last year won lucrative contracts on the strength of their entries. “The judging panel is made up of leading industry figures from our main sponsors and all entries are evaluated, with the various merits of each debated by these eminent people.

Shipping companies are being sought to assist the ‘VoyagOR’ project, which aims use route optimization systems to make shipping operations more cost-effective. The VoyagOR project team is keen to engage with businesses that stand to benefit from improved route Optimization. A better understanding of such companies will help the project develop VoyagOR to best meet user requirements. VoyagOR utilizes a cloud-based voyage optimization system to provide a support tool to achieve fuel and emissions savings on short sea routes as well as improved scheduling.

Mersey Maritime, in association with some of its key members, is hosting what will be one of the most exciting events at London International Shipping Week (LISW15) on 9th September at The Walkie Talkie Building, 20 Fenchurch Street. Senior Liverpool Football Club (LFC) members will be present at this invitation only reception designed to showcase the amazing opportunities that exist for doing business with one of the Worlds’ most iconic port cities. LFC will also be bringing the European Cup which the club won outright after winning the competition for the fifth time in 2005. Mersey Maritime, together with key partners Peel Group and Liverpool John Moores University will make a major announcement during the course of the evening.

Birkenhead-based shipyard and engineering services company Cammell Laird is ramping up its activity in the energy sector by investing more than £1.5 million in its facilities and appointing a leading nuclear sector engineer. John Eldridge has joined Cammell Laird from Sellafield Ltd. which operates the nuclear reprocessing plant in West Cumbria. He has a track record of more than 40 years working on the design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear facilities. Cammell…

Telaurus Communications LLC of Cedar Knolls New Jersey has announced the appointment of Faith Cohen as European Sales Manager. Cohen brings to the newly created position a wealth of experience in maritime communications having spent the last 11 years with maritime service provider TEAMtalk Satellite, formerly known as IMC. She carries with her a broad range of skills having arrived at IMC as the company began its pioneering move to provide news services to cruise market. Cohen has a degree in Business Studies from John Moores University, Liverpool and multi-lingual proficiency in French, Italian, Russian and Hebrew. Based in Liverpool, she will focus on delivering Telaurus’ new, innovative and low-cost communications solutions to maritime communities across Europe.