R1 News

A pair of hybrid crew transfer vessels (CTV) with extensive zero-emission capability have been delivered to service the Hornsea Project 2 offshore wind farm in the U.K. North Sea for Ørsted.The newbuilds, MHO Asgard and MHO Apollo, built by AFAI Southern Shipyard in China, are the third and fourth Incat Crowther-designed vessels for MHO & Co, following on from MHO Esbjerg and MHO Gurli.MHO Asgard and MHO Apollo are powered by an advanced propulsion system that was developed in collaboration with Danfoss and Volvo Penta.

Nduna Maritime, a subsidiary of the Mnambithi Group, and the integrated chemicals and energy company Sasol have invested in South Africa's first locally-owned chemical tanker with a funding agreement made through the Sasol Siyakha Trust.The Bow Cecil is claimed to be the first South Africa flagged vessel to transport chemicals to international markets. "We are particularly proud of this landmark agreement, as it is a significant investment into localizing and diversifying our supply chain. As a global producer of a number of chemical products, we supply numerous markets around the world with products made in South Africa. Through Nduna Maritime…

A pair of 39-meter multipurpose crew transfer vessels have been built by PT Bintang Timur Samudera in Indonesia and delivered to MH-O & Co to be operated for Orsted in its Hornsea Project One wind farm offshore England.According to designer Incat Crowther, the new vessels MHO Gurli and MHO Esbjerg are the largest wind farm support vessels to enter service to date anywhere in the world. They draw on Incat Crowther’s experience with larger offshore fast catamarans operating in the oil and gas industry.

Incat delivered its latest large fast ferry, a 110-meter catamaran for Virtu Ferries of Malta dubbed Saint John Paul II.Saint John Paul II is the 44th large commercial fast ferry delivered by Incat and the sixth in excess of 5,500gt in the past decade; a decade also shared with 19 other Incat newbuilds of smaller passenger ferries and support vessels.“Using the latest computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and hydrodynamic free-running model test techniques, the well proven Incat Wave Piercing Catamaran hullform has been further developed for Mediterranean winter conditions…

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) celebrated a twin milestone for its KwaZulu-Natal ports as part of its R1.4 billion ($106.3 million), nine-tug construction contract. On Thursday, 22 August the new USIBA tug was christened and named ahead of its delivery to the Port of Richards Bay, while the Port of Durban took delivery of its Umbilo tug which had been launched and named in May. The vessels are the sixth and seventh respectively to roll off the production line on time and within budget. All nine tugs are being built by Southern African Shipyards in Durban.

Australian shipbuilder Incat has been awarded a contract for the design and construction of a large new vehicle-passenger ferry for a major European operator. The new vessel for Naviera Armas is the second vessel in Incat’s new generation 109 meter high speed wave piercing catamaran range and will operate in Spanish waters when delivered in early 2019. Born out of theIncat 112 meter, the concept was redesigned from the keel up by Incat’s in-house naval architects and engineers at Revolution Design Pty Ltd.

A new generation fast ferry has left Tasmania on her delivery voyage to Denmark via the Panama Canal. The Express 3 is a 109 meter long high speed vehicle/passenger ferry from Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania for Danish operator Molslinjen, becoming the fourth Hobart-built catamaran in the company’s current fleet. An entirely new generation fast ferry, the 109 meter wave piercing catamaran Express 3 has evolved from Incat’s well proven 112 meter catamaran range which first entered commercial service in mid-2007. Incat’s Tim Burnell commented, “The design brief was simple.

Collaboration between the Ports of East London and Ngqura, together with the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), helped avert another potential maritime disaster in the Eastern Cape during the past week. Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) towed the BBC Shanghai, a 101 meter long general cargo vessel with 11 crew members on board, safely into the Port of East London on Friday, March 17, after she suffered engine failure en route from Durban to Lagos. One of TNPA’s new tugs – Shasa – which has a bollard pull of 70 metric tons…

Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) R1.4 billion tug building contract in Durban continues to create jobs and develop local marine capabilities, with the fifth of the authority’s nine new tugs launched this morning in Durban. The project is now 81% complete and still on track to deliver the ninth and final tug early in 2018, on time and within budget. Five tugs are under construction at any given time at the premises of contractor, Southern African Shipyards. Four are already delivered and at work in Port Elizabeth and Saldanha.

Built Built by Austal Ships, Rashid Behbudov, sistership to the Muslim Magomeyev and the second Incat Crowther 70m Catamaran Fast Crew Boat, has been delivered for Caspian Marine Services. Muslim Magomayev, the first of this design developed by Incat Crowther, was built by Incat Tasmania and delivered to CMS in 2014. Both Muslim Magomayev and Rashid Behbedov are engineered for the Ampelmann walk-to-work system, which transfers crew to offshore platforms in day-to-day operation as well as in emergency situations.

A challenge for designers or an emergency response vessel is deciding to what type of emergency the boat will respond. The designers at the non-government Marine Engineering Bureau in Odessa Ukraine have fitted a very wide range of capabilities into their 31.73 by 9.7-meter tug. The vessel’s beams and 4.1-meter molded depth will give it the stability for handling heavy ships. The azimuthing stern drive tug will be ready to handle a wide range of services. These will range from towing various objects to auxiliary operations in the harbor area.

The latest of Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) nine new tugboats has set sail from the Durban premises of contractor, Southern African Shipyards, on Thursday, July 7, destined for its new home at the Port of Port Elizabeth. The tug was ceremonially launched as Qunu in May alongside a third tug, Cormorant. Qunu was named after the Eastern Cape home village of former President, the late Nelson Mandela and is due to arrive in Port Elizabeth on Friday, July 8. She is the second of two new tugs built for the port as part of this large-scale fleet replacement project.

Construction is underway for the second 70m Catamaran crew boat sister ship to the Muslim Magomayev, designed by Incat Crowther. Muslim Magomayev is a first-of-type vessel which Incat Crowther developed in close conjunction with Caspian Marine Services (CMS). Incat Crowther has undertaken extensive support work in the field, including involvement in engineering for the fitting of an Ampellmann walk-to-work stabilized access platform, making it the first catamaran to have such a system and its structure fully integrated into its design. The operational success of the vessel has led CMS to order a second unit, with construction having well advanced at Austal Ships’ Western Australian shipyard.

The South African government’s Operation Phakisa: Oceans Economy initiative has yielded more results with the ceremonial launch of two more tugboats built for Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA). The two tugs – named Qunu and Cormorant – form part of TNPA’s R1.4 billion contract awarded to Durban ship builder, Southern African Shipyards. It is the largest single contract TNPA has ever given to a South African company for the building of harbor craft and will see a total of nine new tugs built for the South African port landlord over three and a half years.

The first of Transnet National Ports Authority’s nine new, powerful tugboats set sail from the Durban premises of contractor, Southern African Shipyards, on Saturday, April 2, destined for its new home at the Port of Port Elizabeth. The tug was ceremonially launched as MVEZO last October. It arrived in Port Elizabeth in the early hours of Monday, April 4. Port Elizabeth port manager, Rajesh Dana, said, “The arrival of MVEZO in the Eastern Cape is particularly significant given that the tug was named after the small village in our province where former President…

Transnet Capital Projects (TCP) – which is overseeing Transnet National Ports Authority’s project to reconstruct the quay walls and deepen berths at Maydon Wharf – recently achieved a safety milestone of 1,000,000 man hours without a lost time injury (LTI) on the reconstruction and deepening of Maydon Wharf Berth 1- 4, 13 & 14 Project. Shane Perumal, Project Manager, said, “There has been a huge safety commitment from the project managers, the main contractor Stefanutti Stocks AXSYS Joint Venture…

The naming and launch ceremony of the trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Jun Yang 1 took place on Saturday, December 19, 2015 at Royal IHC’s shipyard in Kinderdijk, The Netherlands. The dredger is being built for CCCC Guangzhou Dredging Co., Ltd (GDC), and the ceremony was performed by Li Wen Ci, the wife of H.E. The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in The Netherlands. IHC noted it has a long-standing relationship with GDC, and both companies cooperated closely in the design of the dredger.

Offshore energy crew transfer vessel operator, Seacat Services, has added a new 23m vessel to its fleet. The South Boats IoW built catamaran, named Seacat Mischief, joined the fleet in late November, and is currently being readied for deployment. As the European offshore wind market focuses on the three increasingly distinct areas of deeper water construction, expansion in new markets and existing operations and maintenance activity, vessel operators have to think carefully about their fleet capabilities. Seacat Services’ new 23m vessels, in conjunction with its 21m, 24m and 26m catamarans - and soon to be built 27m boats - can provide a host of different solutions to meet these changing demands.

Incat Crowther announced the launch of Baru Gorgona, the first of a new series of 12 UT4000 Monohull Fast Supply Vessels to be built by ETP Engenharia Ltda. Additionally, Incat Crowther has signed a contract to supply the design of six further UT4000 FSVs to be built at Arpoador Engenharia Ltda. The vessel’s design has been optimized to comply with the UT4000 Fast Supply Vessel specification. Ships fuel is in excess of 40,000 liters, with a cargo fuel load of 90,000 liters. There is also capacity for 90,000 liters of cargo fresh water.

Transnet National Port’s Authority’s R1.4 billion contract to produce nine powerful tugboats is progressing on time and within budget at the Southern African Shipyards premises in Durban. “This is a milestone project that reinforces the capacity and skill of South Africa and indeed Durban when it comes to competing in the global shipbuilding industry,” said TNPA program manager Eugene Rappetti, Senior Manager for Marine Operations. “Despite the challenges of energy disruptions…

With the release of ShipConstructor 2016 R1.1, SSI said it provides additional enhancement for the offshore rig construction market, particularly with regards to weld management. These new features will benefit all shipbuilders, the developer noted, but said it especially benefits those wishing to expand into the offshore sector. ShipConstructor 2016 R1.1 is particularly geared toward early adopters of ShipConstructor's latest productivity-enhancing capabilities; the predominant portion of new features are focused on ShipConstructor Subscription Advantage Pack clients. According to SSI, clients are increasingly wishing to diversify into oil rig construction. To remain competitive they require constant innovation and embrace early adoption of software advancements.

The construction of a new vessel of dredging fleet, project TSHD 2000, has been launched to the RS class in Da Nang, Vietnam. The keel laying ceremony was held at Song Thu Corporation shipyard November 21, 2014. It was attended by Andrey Tarasenko, General Director of FSUE Rosmorport, and Pavel Shikhov, RS Chief Operating Officer. The ship has been designed by Damen Shipyards Gorinchem. RS class notation: KM Ice1 R1 AUT2 hopper dredger. A new vessel of dredging fleet is intended for extraction and removal of spoil, dredging of fairways, channels and roads to keep waterways safe.

Make no mistake, the commercial maritime industry will always revolve around heavy duty machinery and mega-machines designed to weather some of the toughest operating conditions on earth. But in recent years a proliferation of Software Solutions has evolved to help the machines operate more efficiently and cost effectively. MR editors report on latest developments in maritime specific Software Solutions. Kværner Verdal AS selected AVEVA Bocad Steel and AVEVA Bocad Offshore for use at its design and fabrication yard in Verdal…