Green(er) Rigs Put Stena Drilling at Forefront of O&G Decarb Push
As the offshore oil and gas industry transitions to more sustainable practices, drilling rig operators are faced with demands to implement greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement measures as part of their workload. Being the owner of the first ever drillship that secured DNV’s Abate(P) notation, Scotland-based offshore drilling contractor Stena Drilling discusses everything the company is doing to make its drill-ships ‘greener’.The first step to reducing its carbon footprint for Stena…
US Invests Nearly $10 Million to Advance Marine Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced nearly $10 million for seven projects that will accelerate development and testing of marine energy technologies. These investments advance research on wave-powered technology for use in seawater desalination and support a feasibility study for a potential ocean current test facility. “Marine energy technologies have incredible potential to provide clean electricity as well as clean water,” said Alejandro Moreno, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Hybrid Well Boat Joins Bakkafrost's Faroe Islands Fleet
One of the global aquaculture industry's largest well boats has recently joined Bakkafrost's Faroe Islands fleet.The 109-meter Bakkafossur was built at the Sefine Shipyard in Turkey, and it was completed and delivered to Bakkafrost in December 2022.The highly technological vessel can carry up to 1,000 tonnes of live salmon and is regarded as a huge upgrade to secure sustainable operations in the future. In addition to the five diesel-electric engines, the vessel is equipped with large batteries, ensuring an approximately 20% increase in energy efficiency.
Austal USA Taps Fairbanks Morse Defense to Equip OPC WMSM-919
Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD) on Thursday announced it has been awarded a contract from shipbuilder Austal USA to supply a range of equipment to support the construction of WMSM-919, the U.S. Coast Guard’s next Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC).FMD, which has been expanding its offering as single-source maritime defense contractor, said its cross-company package for WMSM-919 includes two main propulsion diesel engines through Fairbanks Morse Defense, a hangar door and stores elevator through Federal Equipment Company (FEC)…
Pushing the Envelope: A H2 Project Highlights French Teamwork on Alt-Energy
At the Sea Tech Week Maritime Transport conference this past September, held in Brest, France, there was no shortage of big-picture, creative ideas pertaining to maritime shipping and alternative energy.One such project, called Seaguel, was presented as part of a larger discussion on hydrogen (H2) as maritime fuel. The full session was titled “Distributing Hydrogen from Offshore Wind Farms as a Fuel for Ships.” The topic was developed by France Energies Marines (FEM), a public-private R&D collaborative focused on offshore renewable energy.Right now…
Ship Design: Hybrid Live Fish Carrier
Knud H. Hansen has designed, project managed and supervised the construction for a Live Fish Carrier for Bakkafrost in the Faroe Islands. This vessel is one of the biggest Live Fish Carriers in the world at 109.2 x 22.2m with a cargo capacity of 7,000 cu. m. With four cargo holds of 1,750 cu. m. each the vessel can transport about 1,000 tons of live salmon from cages offshore to shore-based processing facilities. The vessel can also take live salmon onboard for treatment for lice in fresh water in the cargo tanks and when discharging to cages…
Big Berty KA4815: New Desalination Pump
Aussie Pumps introduced a new desalination pump, capable of both high pressure and high flows. Manufactured by Bertolini in Northern Italy, it features heavy duty AISI 316 stainless steel construction, which makes it suitable for reverse osmosis, desalination, food industry, pharmaceutical, marine and even chemical applications. The pump can be used as a direct drive with electric motor in the 1,450rpm range (4 pole), and alternatively, can be close coupled to a gearbox, or pulley’s or driven by a gasoline or diesel engine.Called the Big Berty KA4815…
Floating Power Plants: Is Nuclear the Key in the Net-zero Energy Transition?
Floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) may not immediately spring to mind as providing a solution to several of today’s key global challenges – but FNPP development is emerging as a means of decentralized stand-alone production of cost competitive hydrogen-based fuels and clean electricity and water, according to a new report by Intelatus Global Partners.The commercial case for deployment of FNPPs featuring small modular reactors is founded in the growing demand for hydrogen and…
Fairbanks Morse Defense Acquires Maxim Watermakers
Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management, has acquired Maxim Watermakers, a privately-owned provider of desalination and water treatment technologies for marine defense applications based in Shreveport, La. The company’s water treatments systems, which provide life-sustaining water for crews during ship deployments, position Maxim as an essential addition for FMD to provide turnkey onboard solutions and global technical support that ensure crews are always mission ready.“What we do is critically important to the safety of our nation and the world…
Tech File: Hatenboer-Water Develops "Plastic Free @Sea" Concept
While much of the maritime world's tech chatter focuses on emissions and fuel choice, Dutch water company Hatenboer-Water developed the Plastic Free @Sea concept as a smart solution to reduce plastic waste on board ships at sea.Reducing plastic waste has become key in environmental protection, including in the shipping industry. Answering the call is Hatenboer-Water with its Plastic Free @Sea concept, designed to help shipowners reduce the tens of thousands of plastic water bottles on board to virtually zero…
Reverse Osmosis and the New Dawn of Marine Desalination
Today’s desalination plants are rugged, durable and highly automated to meet the demands of operators and the crew, enabling them to meet schedule and mission with ample potable water production.In the days of old, marine distilling plants – then mostly steam – relied on archaic flash evaporators, which used steam to heat, power an air ejector, and ultimately create a vacuum whereby seawater would flash or boil and ultimately be distilled. The process would often occur over two stages and what did not flash would be pumped overboard as brine. Times have changed.
New LNG ATB Bunker Vessel is a US First
Bunkering ports around the world have long used a variety of small tankers or tug and barge combinations to deliver fuel to visiting ships. Mostly this was heavy oil, but recently a new breed of bunkering vessels is emerging to deliver clean burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) to modern ships with dual-fuel capabilities.The fall of 2020 will see a new addition to this fleet servicing ships in Florida and the Caribbean. As an articulated tug barge (ATB) combination, the vessel will have a cargo capacity of 4,000 cubic meters of LNG.
Ballast Water Update: Weighing the Advent of VIDA
The hard-fought passage of VIDA promises a simpler, more unified and logical set of environmental standards related to the discharge of myriad vessel streams. Industry wanted it, and now it is here. Will it deliver, and if so, when? That depends on who you talk to.As most commercial maritime operators know, US ballast water regulations made a sharp turn last December. That’s when President Trump signed the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018.That legislation contained Title IX – the “Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA)…
Wärtsilä's FW System Yields One TPD Fuel Savings
The technology group Wärtsilä has successfully installed its Serck Como Horizontal Tube Evaporator (HiTE) fresh water production system onboard the pipe-laying vessel, ‘Lorelay’, owned by offshore contractor Allseas. This is the first commercial installation of this Wärtsilä innovation. The retrofit project produces clean water for technical applications and human consumption, and has led to fuel savings of as much as one ton per day.The unique aspect of the Wärtsilä HiTE is that it is a multi-stage evaporator specifically designed for small to medium capacities of 30 to 150 tons per day.
Exmar Ship Management Opts for Luminultra
Belgium-headquartered EXMAR Ship Management has selected the LuminUltra Quench-Gone Aqueous (QGA) test kit to monitor the quality of the drinking water produced onboard the LPG FSO NKOSSA II.The decision follows the success of the QGA solution in analysing the quality of the water produced by reverse osmosis aboard accommodation barges operating offshore West Africa.Paul-Philippe Halleux, who is a Technical Superintendent from EXMAR Ship Management’s Offshore Services division, commented: “We cannot emphasise enough the importance of testing the quality of our drinking water on a regular basis. We produce drinking water through reverse…
ST Engineering Secures $560m New Contracts in 4Q2018
ST Engineering has announced that its Marine arm has won $560m worth of new contracts in the last quarter of 2018. Fast Patrol Boats For the Singapore Police Coast GuardThe Ministry of Home Affairs has awarded ST Engineering a contract for the design, construction and maintenance of Fast Patrol Boats for the Singapore Police Coast Guard. Construction of the boats is expected to commence in mid-2019.145 MW Floating Power BargeST Engineering and Siemens have jointly received an order for a SCC-800 2X1C SeaFloat barge-mounted power plant from Seaboard Corporation subsidiary Transcontinental Capital Corporation (Bermuda) Ltd., an Independent Power Producer with operation in Dominican Republic.Under a turnkey plug and play concept…
sVGP Compliance Difficulties Continue for the Workboat Sector
The recent implementation (January 19, 2018) of the long-delayed small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) requirement has major implications for environmental regulations in general, and specifically how the compliance difficulties continue for vessel owners with no real end in sight. Moreover, the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) recent publication of NVIC 01-18 (March 1, 2018), while helpful in advising owners on how to comply with the ballast water regulations, does not relieve vessels from the underlying requirements…
SeaCURE Gains Korean Exposure
Evoqua Water Technologies’ partnership with Krosys was strengthened with the unveiling of a SeaCURE Ballast Water Treatment System during the Kormarine 2017 exhibition in Busan, South Korea. The electrochlorination unit (ECU) skid showcases the Korean engineering company’s competence in building, installing and commissioning Evoqua’s high-end ballast water treatment technology in the Korean newbuild and retrofit markets. The development represents another success for both companies…
Hatenboer-Water Reverse Osmosis Units For Diving Support Barges
Holland Shipyards has asked Hatenboer-Water to supply two Tethys reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment units for diving support barges scheduled to be deployed along the Gabon coast. The order marks the first project for Tethys, the new Hatenboer-Water standard water maker series for compact applications. The RO units are to be installed aboard two diving support barges currently under construction in the Holland Shipyards’ site in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, the Netherlands. Each unit will provide drinking water at a capacity rate of up to 6 m3 per day.
New Fresh Water Generators for Pionerio de Libra FPSO
Dutch water treatment specialist Hatenboer-Water has supplied three fresh water generators for the Pioneiro de Libra oil production vessel built by Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd. The order consists of three reverse osmosis type fresh water generators. Two of the generators are topside installations in heavy duty box frames suitable for a hazardous Ex Zone 2 area. The Pioneiro de Libra is operated by OOGTK Libra GmbH & Co KG, a joint venture between Brazil’s Odebrecht Oil & Gas and Teekay Offshore. The reverse osmosis (RO) units desalinate seawater for different applications on board.
Vigor Wins $10.3M Navy Repair Deal
Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon, is being awarded a $10,268,877 firm-fixed-price contract for a 45-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry docking of USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE 9). Work will include clean and gas-free tanks, voids, cofferdams and spaces, deckhouse preservation, main generator maintenance and cleaning, high voltage switchboard and emergency switchboard cleaning, shell and deck steel replacement, dry-docking and undocking, propeller shaft and stern tube inspect, forward and aft stern tube seal inspection and overhaul, underwater hull cleaning and painting, freeboard cleaning and painting, sea valve replacements, renew flight deck nonskid, and reverse osmosis unit sea-chest installation.
The Looming sVGP Deadline
The sVGP and recent ballast water treatment system approvals create another headache for small vessel owners. Steve Candito provides a primer. The long delayed Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) legislation is scheduled to come into force on December 18, 2017. Despite some confusion and inconsistencies on this issue generally, there is currently no serious effort to delay the sVGP requirement. Thus, vessel owners should be preparing now for compliance. Although the deadline is still months away…
Detyens Wins Medgar Evers Overhaul Contract
Detyens Shipyards Inc. said it was awarded a $13.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for a 60-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry-docking of U.S. Navy’ Military Sealift Command (MSC) cargo ship USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE 13). According to the shipyard, work will include clean and gas-free tanks, voids, cofferdams and spaces, deckhouse preservation, main generator maintenance and cleaning, high-voltage switchboard and emergency switchboard cleaning…