Materials And Equipment News

ClassNK has issued a type approval certificate for the lithium-ion storage battery system ORCA Energy, developed by Corvus Energy.Following an application from Corvus Energy, ClassNK carried out an examination of ORCA Energy based on the rule and the ‘Guidance for the Approval and Type Approval of Materials and Equipment for Marine Use’.The guidance applies to tests and inspections of materials and equipment for marine use for which advance approval or type approval by ClassNK is required by the relevant requirements in its rules.Upon confirming it complies with the prescribed requirements…

Blake Powell, president at JMS Naval Architects, discusses his career, company and latest trends in naval architecture and marine engineering.Please give a brief professional bio, including education, experience and overview of current duties as president of JMS Naval Architects.I earned my degree in Naval Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where I attended on a Navy ROTC scholarship and was commissioned as a Diving and Salvage Officer after I graduated.

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has developed a Unified Requirement (URH1) covering the release of ammonia from the onboard systems for bunkering, storing, preparing and using ammonia as fuel.IACS URH1 aligns with the Recommendations from U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and establishes that an ammonia concentration of 300 ppm or more is immediately dangerous, and a concentration of 25 ppm or more is dangerous if the exposure is longer than eight hours.Additionally…

MODEC and Toray Industries have jointly developed a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) patch technique for repairs on Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO), and Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) systems.FPSO and FSO repair services provided by MODEC, a general contractor specializing in engineering, construction, operation, and maintenance services of offshore oil and gas vessels, will utilize this CFRP patch technique for pitting corrosion repair from 2024.The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)…

New Zealand-based Propspeed's underwater foul-release coating system has received type approval from Bureau Veritas following significant third-party testing.Marine materials and equipment certification is the review and testing process that ensures ships’ component parts conform to the technical standards established by regulatory bodies. Bureau Veritas provides certification services for shipyards, suppliers and manufacturers, helping keep ship materials and equipment reliable for shipowners.

Cracks in a muffler and the substantial use of combustible materials in accommodation spaces led to a fire aboard a towing vessel last year on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near Freeport, Texas, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday.On June 25, 2022, the four-person crew aboard the towing vessel Mary Dupre departed Port Comfort, Texas, for Houston, pushing a single barge loaded with bio-diesel fuel. The following day, a fire broke out, leading to a total loss of the vessel, which was estimated at $1 million.

We have a national and economic security crisis on our hands. It is time for Washington policymakers to stop dancing around the facts and looking for small fixes. The U.S. mariner shortage is real and it poses an unescapable threat not only to our ability to establish lines of communication to the U.S. warfighter, but also to our nation’s ability to project power through international trade.Two Congressional hearings held on March 28 illustrate the challenge. First, General Van Ovost…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) today announced the immediate designation of four new Marine Highway Projects as part of the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). Projects in North Carolina, Alaska, and Puerto Rico will receive these designations. They can now apply for record levels of funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help address supply chain challenges.A Marine Highway Project is a planned service, or expansion of an existing service, on a designated Marine Highway Route.

CoastWise Offshore Services' crew transfer vessel was christened Friday at Next Generation Shipyards in Lauwersoog, the Netherlands.The vessel, named 'COS Master' will be operated by CoastWise Offshore Services for the transport of personnel and material to and from, among other things, offshore wind farms.The aluminum ship offers comfortable space for 31 passengers and 5 crew members. "This is a significant capacity increase. Until now, it was common practice to carry only 12 to 24 passengers.

Australian vessel designer Incat Crowther on Friday announced the launch of Tamoya, an Incat Crowther 17 to join Reef Ranger and Reef Resilience in Australia's Great Barrier Reef Joint Field Management Program fleet."Tamoya packs a lot of punch for her size, which is measured specifically to fit the home port berth. The main deck is dominated by an aft working deck with a quick launch and recovery system for a 3.4m RHIB, dive racks, deck winches, BBQ area, a sink and multiple deck lashing points…

Offshore installation company McDermott has won a contract with oil firm BHP for a marine installation campaign for the Shenzi Subsea Multiphase Pumping Project (SSMPP) in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.The project is located around 138 miles (222 kilometers) offshore in the Gulf of Mexico at a water depth of 4,400 feet (1341 meters)."We look forward to continuing our partnership with BHP through this latest contract award," said Mark Coscio, Senior Vice President for McDermott's North, Central, and South America region.

The global seafarers crisis takes center stage at the World Maritime University (WMU), as Dr. Michael Ekow Manuel discusses the importance of seafarers, seafarer training and the MarTID 2021 survey.While many maritime professionals have the theoretical ‘salt in their veins’, a career at sea seemingly predestined by family ties and/or geographic proximity, that is not the case for Dr. Michael Manuel, Professor, WMU. Hailing from Ghana, Dr. Manuel from a young age had a fascination with vehicles and everything that moves, but ships were not his focus, rather airplanes.

Canadian operator Seaspan Ferries Corporation said it will be the first to trial Corvus Energy’s new Blue Whale ESS, featuring a unique rack-free design of stacking modular blocks to provide higher volumetric battery room energy density and, consequently, maximized passenger or payload capacity.The new large-scale energy storage system (ESS)—a battery system designed for large ships with high zero-emission energy demand, such as cruise ships, large Ro-Pax and Ro-Ro ferries and cargo ships—will be installed on board Seaspan Reliant…

Wight Shipyard Co said it has built and delivered four ferries simultaneously from its yard in Cowes, Isle of Wight, for a Maltese tour operator.The order, WSC’s largest ferry export order to date, consists of two 20-meter and two 33-meter lightweight ferries, designed by One2Three Naval Architects.Jo Daly, COO, WSC, said the four ferries were produced within a year, despite the restrictions and changes to working brought about by the worldwide pandemic COVID-19.The bespoke vessels for Captain Morgan Holdings Ltd…

Danish energy giant Ørsted has entered into an agreement with the Port of Virginia to lease a portion of the Portsmouth Marine Terminal for offshore wind staging materials and equipment.According to Virginia governor's office, Orsted could use the site for its work on the Coastal Virginia offshore wind project, which it is developing with Dominion Energy, as well as for staging materials and equipment for projects up and down the US east coast.Once executed, the lease will not expire before 2026, meaning that it covers a period in which Ørsted plans to install at least 3 GW of wind energy in the US.“This is a big step towards making Virginia a leader in wind energy and offshore wind manufacturing,” said Governor Ralph Northam.

Estonian port authority Port of Tallinn (Tallinna Sadam) has signed an agreement with compatriot construction company YIT Eesti AS for the construction of new cruise terminal in Tallinn Old City Harbour.The value of the contract is EUR 13.7 million. New cruise terminal will be completed in July 2021.The contract includes a 3-storey terminal building with a net area around 4000 m2, pedestrian promenade area at the pier, children’s playground and parking spaces.The multifunctional and environmentally friendly cruise terminal will be built in the Old City Harbor in the immediate vicinity of existing cruise quays. Both the interior and exterior…

The upstream consortium, led by UK enerrgy giant major BP, announced that the Azeri-Central-East (ACE) project is moving forward at pace with the awards of key contracts.BP as operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field development, revealed that the contracts, covering engineering, fabrication and construction, project management and other services follow the project final investment decision (FID) announced on 19 April 2019.The contract awards underpin the schedule for project delivery and complement the progress being made across the multiple areas and fabrication yards involved in this major development project.The scope of work under this contract includes collection of the materials and equipment from the suppliers’ locations and delivery to Baku sites…

Norwegian-based PG Flow Solutions said on Wednesday it has secured orders to supply large liquid-cargo systems and associated equipment for two multipurpose support vessels (MPSV) being constructed in China for an undisclosed shipowner.Under the contract with Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding, theliquid handling and pump specialist said it will supply a comprehensive hydraulically driven cargo system with pumps, mud agitators, hydraulic power pack and control system to each of the two vessels.

Export Control Lists Include Key Marine Tech Categories  Each year, the U.S. Department of Commerce receives thousands of inquiries from businesses looking to export, many of which involve licensing questions. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), together with other USG agencies, is responsible for export licensing and controls. BIS export licenses may be required for items (commodities, software, or technology) with proliferation, military, or terrorist uses, or which warrant control for other reasons.

South Korea shipbuilding major Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) announced that it has successfully built its first LNG-fuelled vessels with its own technology, proving itself to the eco-friendly shipping industry for its construction competencies and technological prowess.SHI announced on April 29, 2019 that the two LNG-fuelled 113,000 dwt oil tankers delivered to an Asian shipowner early this year just completed the first bunkering at the port of Rotterdam in Netherlands and now begin its operation as ecofriendly vessels. The shipbuilder stated that the two oil tankers are the first LNG-fuelled vessels SHI built at its yard. The order was awarded at the end of 2015…

AEGIR-Marine assigned with an NK Class Type Approval. The newly certified seal assembly will be available for customers worldwide as of today. They are an addition to our Type Approval from several other major classification societies.For the NK Class Approval AEGIR-Marine performed a 2,000 hours endurance test in its state-of-the-art and certified R&D Test Center. A 1,000 hours of test runs were at extreme RPM and another 1,000 hours were at low to average RPM. Also, the conditions a seal has to withstand were simulated as realistically as possible.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Commerce receives thousands of inquiries from businesses looking to export, many of which involve licensing questions. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), together with other USG agencies, is responsible for export licensing and controls. BIS export licenses may be required for items (commodities, software, or technology) with proliferation, military, or terrorist uses, or which warrant control for other reasons. Export licensing requirements can apply to a wide array of products, including marine technologies.

Russian natural gas producer Novatek's next LNG project, Arctic LNG 2, has signed an agreement on the design and construction of gravity-based structures (GBS).The Russian company SAREN, a joint venture of Renaissance Heavy Industries Russia (RHI Russia B.V.) and SAIPEM S.p.A, will perform the work. The agreement provides for the design and construction of three GBS platforms for the Project’s natural gas liquefaction trains. The scope of work under the contract includes management, design, supply of materials and equipment, construction of three GBS structures at the NOVATEK-Murmansk plant, as well as commissioning and preparation for operations, including towing and installation of the GBS structures.