Octopus News

EST-Floattech will be providing the battery system for the purpose-built electric-landing utility vessel (E-LUV) to be built at Coastal Workboats’ new yard Stornoway. The company will also provide the shore-based power supply system.The collaboration with Coastal Workboats Scotland is realized due to Coastal Workboats receiving a £6 million (€7 million) grant to demonstrate the UK's first commercial electric workboat and charging station from the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition.The BV-classed E-LUV is set to be the UK's first commercial electric workboat.

Developer of maritime battery systems EST-Floattech has received an investment of 4 million euros from Energy Transition Fund Rotterdam and existing shareholders Rotterdam Port Fund, PDENH, Ponooc, and Yard Energy.Energy Transition Fund Rotterdam is investing 3 million euros, the fund's first investment in maritime battery systems. The existing shareholders are jointly investing 1 million euros.The announcement was made by Chantal Zeegers, the Alderman for Climate, Building, and Housing in Rotterdam.

Governments have decided to pay up to revive offshore wind farm developments after rising costs put at risk multiple projects that are needed to help them cut emissions and reach climate targets.Many countries are relying on a huge and rapid build-out of offshore wind farms which have high upfront costs but over the longer term can provide cheaper energy than fossil fuel plants.But some countries' wind power capacity targets started to look unrealistic this year after developers cancelled projects in the U.S.

ABB has introduced a new Operational Planner module for its ABB Ability OCTOPUS – Marine Advisory System to help offshore fleet managers plan and optimize the maintenance of offshore wind farm operations.For support vessels moving between turbines or rigs during a single shift, OCTOPUS Operational Planner forecasts vessel workability across multiple sites. Whereas an offshore support vessel typically relies on an onboard weather routing system to predict weather and wave heights…

WTIVs have always been fuel-hungry. Now they are being tasked with installations that are further, deeper and heavier.Offshore wind farms continue their march into deeper water, further from shore, with turbines that can now reach more than 270 meters high with blades 120 meters long. Designers and OEMs are pushing efficiency to new levels to contain OPEX on the new-generation jack-up WTIVs taking them up there.Danish ship design firm Knud E. Hansen has chosen specialization for its Atlas A-class WTIV, a smaller derivation of its massive C-class design.

China's Yantai CIMC Raffles Shipyard has ordered an integrated power, automation, and propulsion system from ABB for a newbuild offshore wind installation jack-up vessel (JUV) being built for the Dutch marine contractor Van Oord.The vessel, Boreas, is due for delivery to the owner in the second part of 2024, and it is said that it will be one of the largest and most technologically advanced hybridized units of the type in operation, measuring 175 meters in length. It will be able to lift over 3…

Ask the right government department in any G7 state and you’ll find funding to put battery power for your vessel. Beyond funds, new battery makers and system integrators are ironing out safety issues, and a growing number of giga-sized cell factories offer hope that costs will fall for marine energy storage, as ESS choice grows. Efforts are also underway to recycle rare earth elements and to augment or greenify staggeringly high plant electricity inputs. Apart from funding, the drivers of change include constraints on shipping in Emissions Free Areas like the fjords of Norway…

ABB has secured an order of around $27 million to supply Eneti’s two newbuild vessels with advanced power, automation, and control systems for improved safety and performance.The two $330 million wind turbine installation vessels (WTIV) will be delivered to Monaco-based offshore wind construction player Eneti Inc. from the South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in Q3 2024 – Q2 2025.The vessels will feature advanced power, automation and control systems, real-time performance analytics and electric propulsion from ABB.

Estonian ferry operator Tallink will tap sustainability and efficiency gains enabled by ABB Ability Marine Advisory Systems – OCTOPUS for its new passenger and car ferry MyStar due for delivery from the Finnish Rauma Marine Constructions shipyard in 2022.The liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered MyStar will be deployed on the 80-kilometer trans-Baltic route between Tallinn, Estonia, and Helsinki, Finland, and the OCTOPUS optimization software will collect and transfer operational…

A social media post has falsely claimed the Ever Given ship that blocked the Suez Canal is carrying nuclear weapons. There is no evidence to support this – and Evergreen Line, the company leasing the vessel, told Reuters the allegation is false. The original post has now been removed from Facebook; however, other accounts have shared a screenshot. It claims information has been leaked in the Netherlands that the “EVERGREEN was loaded with WEAPONS and NUKES”. Comments left underneath suggest some users believe the claim to be true. “This is getting deep. More tentacles than an octopus.

ABB announced Monday it has won a contract to supply the digital solution ABB Ability Marine Advisory System – OCTOPUS to Roll Group’s recently delivered vessel, BigRoll Biscay.BigRoll Biscay is the eighth vessel in Dutch heavy lift specialist’s fleet to rely on ABB marine software, which improves the safety and efficiency of ship operations by optimizing the route based on weather and forecasted vessel motions.Vessel motion monitoring and forecasting is critical for heavy lift vessels that need to move safely when in transit.

British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat plc and the provider of electric, digital and connected solutions for the marine industry ABB Marine & Ports have signed a master supply agreement aimed at tackling an obstacle identified by ship owners which has stopped them using IoT (Internet of Things) technology.A recent 2018 Inmarsat survey of 125 owners found 51% identifying an inability to get data off ships in real-time as their obstacle to IoT adoption.The agreement recognises ABB as a certified application provider to work with Fleet Data, the IoT platform developed by Inmarsat and Danelec Marine which collects information from onboard sensors…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) conducted a multi-agency Joint Oil Spill Exercise (JOSE) yesterday (Friday) to test its abilities to respond to oil spills at sea. A mock collision and oil spill was staged in Singapore waters near Pulau Semakau in a response exercise.More than 250 personnel from 26 agencies participated in JOSE 2018 (please see Annex A for list of agencies), which comprised a table-top exercise at the MPA’s Port Operations Control Centre. During the exercise, agencies deliberated on operational and policy measures to deal with a major oil spill in Singapore waters, and a seaward deployment exercise scenario near Raffles reserved anchorage.The seaward deployment exercise scenario involved a simulated collision between two tanker vessels…

Earlier this summer Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ventured to Ålesund/Sunnmøre area of western Norway visiting local manufacturers and suppliers serving the global maritime industry and featuring a series of business and technology presentations by leading sector companies including Inmarsat, VARD Group, Ulstein Group, Brunvoll, Ulmatec, Jets, ABB Marine & Ports, Fostech AS and Rolls-Royce Marine. Tom Mulligan reports on new business developments and technology innovations…

ABB has won a contract to supply its ABB Ability Marine Advisory System – OCTOPUS marine software for one of the world’s most advanced floating hotel vessels for offshore operation.The 600-person accommodation vessel Edda Fides, operated by Edda Accommodation, will now be able to integrate real-time weather forecasts with ABB Ability Marine Advisory System – OCTOPUS, a digital solution that helps vessel owners gather and analyze data to optimize operations.OCTOPUS will provide…

ABB Ability Marine Advisory System – OCTOPUS marine software will map the safest and most efficient routes for a fleet of heavy lift vessels servicing the expansion of a giant oil field in Kazakhstan.ABB has secured a series of contracts for nine heavy lift vessels transporting modules for the Tengiz oil field expansion by Tengizchevroil (TCO). OCTOPUS will enhance the safety and efficiency of the heavy-lift vessels carrying out the transportation work by indicating the optimal route based on weather and forecasted vessel motions.TCO has contracted China’s biggest shipping company…

ABB technology allowing integration of batteries receives major vote of confidence as Louis Dreyfus Armateurs orders second wind farm service vessel featuring a wide scope of ABB’s solutions.Maritime transportation group Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) will add a second 83 meter windfarm service operation vessel (SOV) to its fleet, featuring an extensive range of ABB’s technology, with the award-winning power distribution system Onboard DC Grid at its core. The vessel will support operations at Hornsea Project Two off the UK coast…

A futuristic, zero-emission new design of water taxi, called SeaBubbles, was successfully demonstrated today on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The vehicle represents a milestone in the development of new forms of transportation that do not impact the environment or place any burden on urban infrastructure. The water taxi will soon be equipped with the ABB Ability Marine Advisory System – OCTOPUS, a software solution that helps vessel operators gather and analyze all relevant data to optimize water travel. The development of the demonstration craft was supported by the Geneva cantonal authorities and the Department of Energy, Transport and Agriculture (DETA), represented by State Councilors Luc Barthassat and Pierre Maudet, drawing on technology from ABB.

“We are living through one of the most exciting periods in the history of the maritime industry,” said Juha Koskela, Managing Director, ABB Marine & Ports. ABB, a company with its sights set on spurring the next step change for vessel and fleet management, has laid out its new approach “harnessing the full potential of its power, control and automation solutions” via digital integration. “We believe the next generation of ships will be electric, digital and connected as the industry moves towards the use of new energy sources and automated ship operations,” Koskela said. “Electric. Digital.

ABB’s OCTOPUS marine software will improve the safety and efficiency of four new semi-submersible heavy lift vessels, using weather and loading data to plot the optimal route. The ships, owned by Greenland Heavylift Holdings, will transport gigantic cargoes such as oil rigs and jack-up rigs, with OCTOPUS providing a tailored route for each voyage that is updated with fresh weather data throughout the transportation. OCTOPUS is the maritime industry’s most comprehensive vessel management software platform and ship owners can choose the modules most relevant to their operations. In this case, OCTOPUS will take into account the hydrodynamic properties of the vessel…

ABB’s OCTOPUS marine software was chosen for four new semi-submersible heavy lift vessels currently under construction at CSBC Corporation in Taiwan, with the first expected to go into service in 2017. The ships, owned by Greenland Heavylift Holdings, will transport gigantic cargoes such as oil rigs and jack-up rigs, with OCTOPUS providing a tailored route for each voyage that is updated with fresh weather data throughout the transportation. OCTOPUS is a vessel management software platform enabling ship owners to choose the modules most relevant to their operations.

ABB’s OCTOPUS marine software will be installed on three new Torvald Klaveness vessels to help them meet incoming emissions regulations. The OCTOPUS reporting software is compliant with the IMO Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) and supports future European Union Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) rules. OCTOPUS gathers information from onboard sensors and gives insight into key performance parameters, such as fuel efficiency, allowing Klaveness to optimize fleet-wide performance. The purpose of a SEEMP is to establish a mechanism for a company and/or a ship to improve the energy efficiency of a ship's operation. OCTOPUS aids this process by measuring and displaying important vessel fuel consumption and torque related Key Performance Indicators.

ABB will supply the complete power, propulsion and automation package for a series of new cruise vessels being built by MV WERFTEN for Genting Hong Kong brands Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises. The three Crystal Cruises’ luxury “Endeavor Class” mega-yachts will feature a Polar Class 6 and enable cruising in the Arctic; then follow the route of migrating whales along the coast of the Americas and Europe to Antarctica during winter. The Star Cruises “Global Class” vessels will be two of the largest on the market with 204,000 tons registered tonnage each.