Juha Koskela News

ABB has been selected by the Astilleros y Servicios Navales S.A. (ASENAV) shipyard based in Chile to provide a power and propulsion system for Antarctica21’s newbuild boutique expedition ship Magellan Discoverer. Due for delivery in 2026, the vessel is the first hybrid-electric polar cruise ship featuring Azipod propulsion to be built in the Americas. Accommodating up to 96 passengers and 67 crew members, the vessel will be operating in the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and…

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has signed a partnership agreement with ABB to accelerate the decarbonization and digitalization of the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet.Targeting increased safety and efficiency, the agreement covers 14 existing ships and a further four vessels due for delivery from 2025 to 2028.The first phase of the partnership includes a 10-year Azipod propulsion service agreement for the fleet, providing efficient preventive maintenance to support safety and maximize vessel availability as well as fast turnaround for planned Azipod propulsion maintenance.In addition…

ABB announced it has secured a 15-year agreement covering service for Carnival Corporation brand vessels powered by Azipod XO electric propulsion systems.The deal aims to simplify service management of Azipod XO propulsion units, with ABB experts remotely available 24/7 to support the vessels’ electric engineering crew on maintenance, based on ABB Ability Remote Diagnostic System and ABB Ability Condition Monitoring for Azipod propulsion. The owner accumulates data about Azipod propulsion performance…

ABB said Monday it had secured a large order from Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore Ltd., to deliver an integrated bridge-to-propeller technology for Havfram Wind’s two new NG20000X-HF Wind Turbine Installation Vessels (WTIVs). The vessels will be able to install offshore wind turbines with a rotor diameter of more than 300 meters, as well as XXL monopiles weighing up to 3,000 tons at water depths of up to 70 meters.ABB scope comprises four Azipod electric main propulsion units with a total propulsion power of 17 MW…

ABB said Monday its digital technologies have enabled the harbor tug Maju 510 to become the first vessel in the world to receive Autonomous and Remote-Control Navigation Notation from ABS classification society, and first Singapore-flagged vessel to receive the Smart (Autonomous) Notation from MPA. The notations acknowledge the breakthrough performance of the tug, demonstrating autonomous collision avoidance capabilities in trials conducted at Raffles Reserved Anchorage, off Singapore Island…

ABB announced it has secured an order from Polish shipbuilder Remontowa Shiprepair Yard S.A. to supply integrated power, automation and propulsion solutions to three large passenger and car ferries to operate in the Baltic Sea. The 195-meter-long ferries will each have capacity for up to 400 passengers and 200 trucks and will be delivered to the Polish ferry company Polskie Promy one apiece in 2025, 2026 and 2027.The "large" order was booked in the first quarter of 2022, ABB said.

ABB’s Azipod propulsion will help Global Mercy enter less accessible harbors off the African coast, while reducing vibrations and noise – crucial to the comfort of up to 200 patients and medical personnel on board.With about 5 billion people lacking access to surgical care globally, international charity Mercy Ships uses hospital vessels to provide surgeries and medical assistance for free to people who have little access to healthcare. The newest Mercy Ships vessel, the world’s largest purpose-built civilian hospital ship Global Mercy…

A tugboat in the busy Port of Singapore has become the first in South Asia to operate under remote joystick control, in a trial demonstrating the increased safety and efficiency of operations utilizing advanced digital solutions already available today.The harbor tug was controlled from a shore command center located at the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s Maritime Innovation Lab in April 2021.The 32-meter harbor tugboat Maju 510, which is owned and operated by Keppel O&M’s joint-venture company Keppel Smit Towage…

Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Gondán has tapped ABB to supply all-electric power solutions for ten fast 40-meter urban passenger ferries transporting up to 540 passengers each across Lisbon’s Tagus river.The contract comes a week after Astilleros Gondan said it would start building a series of 10 fully electric passenger ferries for the Portuguese river passenger transport operator Transtejo.The ten new ferries will replace the existing fleet serving this route when they enter service between 2022 and 2024.In addition to energy storage…

ABB Marine & Ports said it is ramping its presence with local divisions in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, in a move aimed at extending the company's global reach and service capabilities.In Turkey, ABB's newly established local division will serve the country’s vibrant maritime community. The shipbuilding segment in Turkey is a hive of activity – particularly for smaller and short-sea vessels, where ABB’s recent references include systems for two Turkish-built windfarm service vessels delivered to Louis Dreyfus Armateurs…

China’s Chengxi Shipyard has delivered the first of twin self-unloading transshipment newbuilds for Germany’s largest bulk carrier owner Oldendorff Carriers.Juha Koskela, Division President, ABB Marine & Ports, said the newbuilds are the first bulk carriers to feature Azipod propulsion.The delivery saw two 1.9-MW Azipod units installed on each of the 21,500-DWT transshipment bulkers as part of a package of electric, digital and connected solutions from ABB. The scope of supply also included diesel-electric power plant…

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has awarded ABB a $150 million contract to equip five newbuild cruise ships with its Azipod electric propulsion and integrated electric power plant setup.Each cruise ship will be powered by twin Azipod units, bringing the total ordered propulsion power for the five newbuilds to 178 megawatts (238,700 horsepower)."Part of the order includes the largest and most powerful Azipod propulsion units ever to be installed at Fincantieri, rating at 20 megawatts each," ABB said. The vessels will enter service between 2023 and 2026.

While there is no consensus on what will be the maritime 'fuel of the future', developers across the world are for the first time testing the use of hydrogen to power ships as the maritime industry races to find technologies to cut emissions and confidence grows the fuel is safe to use commercially.To reach goals for the shipping industry set by the United Nations, industry leaders say the first net-zero ships must enter the global fleet by 2030. Ships powered by green hydrogen…

ABB has won a contract to equip KNOT's shuttle tankers with battery technology and other electric solutions, with the aim of making the vessels fuel-efficient and reducing emissions. Once complete, the shuttle tankers will go on a charter with Norwegian oil company Var Energi.Under the contract awarded by the South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, ABB Marine & Ports will deliver the power and control technology for the two new KNOT shuttle tankers.ABB’s scope of supply will also include the shaft generator system…

A pair of first-of-their-kind passenger vessels installed with all-electric propulsion will bring Niagara Falls sightseers to experience one of the wonders of the natural world undisturbed by exhaust fumes, engine noise or vibrations.The zero-emissions ferries, named the James V. Glynn and the Nikola Tesla, respectively in honor of the Maid of the Mist chairman and the renowned energy pioneer – are the first all-electric vessels built in the U.S., with power drawn from a high-capacity battery pack supplied and integrated by ABB.

ABB has signed a contract to support icebreaking LNG carrier Christophe de Margerie with remote diagnostics services for increased safety and performance as the vessel completed the transit of the Northern Sea Route, bound for China with Yamal LNG cargo two months earlier than usualThe pioneering icebreaking liquified natural gas (LNG) carrier Christophe de Margerie will now have round-the-clock remote support provided through ABB’s global network of eight ABB Ability Collaborative Operations Centers.

U.S. shipbuilding company Vigor has selected ABB to supply the hybrid-electric propulsion and energy storage systems for the newest additions to the Washington State Ferry fleet, setting the largest U.S. ferry system on course to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel use.The new Olympic Class ferries, each with a capacity of 144 cars and 1,500 passengers, with the planned addition of charging capability at terminals, would reduce fuel consumption by up to 95%. Upon delivery in 2024…

Classification society DNV GL and technology group ABB have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to accelerate digitalization in the maritime industry. The agreement was signed remotely by DNV GL – Maritime CEO Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen and ABB Marine & Ports Managing Director Juha Koskela in an online ceremony.The MOU will see ABB and DNV GL work together on a “Digitalization Roadmap”, to examine how the maritime industry can benefit from the greater availability of data…

Sembcorp Marine subsidiary Jurong Marine Services has ordered a hybrid tug for delivery from the Sembcorp Marine shipyard by the end of 2020.The tug, which will operate in Singapore harbor, will be equipped with ABB’s electric propulsion, power, energy storage, control and automation technology, making it the first tug in South Asia capable of switching between low emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) engines and zero-emission battery power, ABB said.LNG as a fuel virtually eliminates sulphur oxide emissions…

ABB signs Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hydrogène de France to jointly manufacture megawatt-scale fuel cell systems capable of powering oceangoing vessels.The MOU between ABB and hydrogen technologies specialist Hydrogène de France (HDF) envisages close collaboration on the assembly and production of the fuel cell power plant for marine applications.Building on an existing collaboration announced on June 27, 2018 with Ballard Power Systems, a global provider of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell solutions…

Responding to global COVID-19 travel restrictions, many firms are offering increased remote assistance to vessels where on-site visits are not an option.Technology company ABB said Wednesday it has increased the remote availability of technical service teams to help crews from shore at the time when many countries close borders and impose travel restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.With a network of 800 service engineers in 40 locations worldwide, ABB noted it is…

ABB will equip Japan-built self-elevating wind turbine installation vessel with its power and control technologies.The company said Tuesday that the 28,000-GT jack-up unit on order from builder Japan Marine United Corp, and due for delivery to Shimizu Corp. in 2022, will feature ABB's closed ring configuration for the vessel’s dynamic positioning (DP) operations This will enable safe and predictable performance with high tolerance in the event of the power plant fault."Whether applied to newbuilds or retrofits…

A large passenger vessel has become the industry’s first to achieve system compliance under classification society DNV GL’s framework for integrated cybersecurity.Today's vessels are increasingly fitted with integrated automation systems and digital solutions. And as vessels’ systems gorw more connected than ever before, new security threats areise, driving the need for closer and earlier collaboration on cybersecurity between all key stakeholders in the newbuilding process.ABB…