Planning And Equipment News

Fleet management software provider ABS Nautical Systems (ABS NS) and spare parts supply chain technology company Spares CNX are partnering to digitalize spare parts inventory management and deliver significant time and cost savings to vessel owners and operators. PROPELLER platform, Spares CNX's proprietary software for vessel inventory management, will be integrated with ABS NS' NS Enterprise software suite, offering clients seamless data-driven support for the procurement process, including increased visibility into onboard spare parts levels, locations and real-time consumption.PROPELLER works seamlessly with select NS Enterprise software modules…

Florida-based Crowley Logistics has added 400 new refrigerated (reefer) cargo containers to its industry-leading equipment fleet just in time for the peak perishables shipping season beginning in Central America.The additional units, all 40-foot-long, high cubes built to Crowley’s exacting standards, further demonstrates the company’s focus on offering customers the most reliable and efficient equipment in the market. These units have wireless asset monitoring technology, which will provide continuous monitoring of the equipment as it transits from origin to destination, both at sea and over land, to ensure the cold chain is maintained the entire time goods are in transit…

Navis, a division of Cargotec Corporation, has announced that Deep Water Container Terminal (DCT) Gdansk in Poland is implementing Navis SPARCS N4. The terminal operating system (TOS), scheduled to go live in the fourth quarter of 2011, should allow DCT Gdansk to support rapid terminal development plans, including increasing container volumes to one million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2012. Having moved more than 450,000 TEUs in 2010, the terminal plans to increase this to 1.4 million TEUs by 2015 and has potential for up to four million TEUs with future planned development phases. SPARCS N4 will allow DCT Gdansk to support planning and equipment control operations with increased throughput and multiple vessel berthing.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the release of fiscal year 2010 grant application guidance kits for 13 DHS grant programs totaling more than $2.7b—funds for state, local, tribal and territorial governments and private sector entities to strengthen our nation’s ability to prevent, protect, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies. “These grants play a major role in our efforts to work with our state, local, tribal and territorial and private sector partners to build a national culture of readiness and resilience,” said Secretary Napolitano. The grant program guidance kits announced also incorporate the input of DHS’ state…

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) announced the successful completion of sea trials, following the repower of the M/V COHO. Vessel owner and operator - Black Ball Transport Inc., retained EBDG to design and engineer the repower, and also to provide owner's representation during the yard period at Todd Pacific Shipyard. The successful yard period and sea trials culminated over eight months of effort by various EBDG personnel, spanning the disciplines of Naval Architecture, Marine, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering.

BAE Systems’ CORDA (Centre for Operational Research & Defense Analysis), has won a new contract from the MoD to lead a research program into maritime defense equipment capability. Under the terms of the contract, from the MoD Research Acquisition Organization, CORDA will lead the program as the prime contractor, and will provide advice to inform future capability planning, including equipment procurement planning decisions and to de-risk technology to support early procurement activity. During the course of the research, CORDA will work closely with academia and 23 industrial partners. Source: Manufacturer.com

Barge operators are often accused of giving the marine fuels industry a bad name. While it is true that there are barging companies with a debatable approach to the business, they are very much in the minority. Worldwide, barge operators are working hard to improve their services and operations. In many respects, they are leading not only the bunker industry — but shipping as a whole. Nowhere is this demonstrated clearer than during barge-to-ship transfers of oil; nowhere is this expertise better demonstrated that in the U.S. Operating bunker barges in the U.S. is a fraught business. To say the very least, U.S. authorities do not like oil in their harbors, and culprits can find themselves on the sharp end of some harsh penalties if negligence is proved.