System Integrators News

Canada-headquartered water-lubricated and grease-free seals and bearings company Thordon Bearings has appointed propeller manufacturer Bruntons Propellers as its new distributor for the U.K. and Ireland region.The propeller manufacturer will market, supply and service Thordon’s entire marine portfolio of propeller shaft bearings and seals. There is also provision for Bruntons to promote and service Thordon’s products in other market segments.Neil McDonald, Thordon Bearings’ Regional Manager…

Skansi Offshore’s platform supply vessel (PSV), Kongsborg, has had a battery hybrid solution installed that is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption.SEAM delivered, and was the system integrator of, its hybrid solution, the e-SEAMatic® BLUE. The 1800kVA/620kWh system was installed in a dedicated pre-built deckhouse, complete with necessary auxiliary systems – significantly reducing the installation time onboard the vessel.The objective of this integration was twofold: a significant reduction in fuel emissions…

Corvus Energy has launched its inherently gas-safe marine fuel cell product, the Corvus Pelican Fuel Cell System.The system is the result of the H2NOR research project that started in 2021. H2NOR was initiated by Corvus Energy, Toyota and other partners to fast-track the development and production of sustainable and scalable Maritime Hydrogen Fuel Cell Systems.Corvus says the result of the two-year development is the safest marine fuel cell system to date. Using the well-proven fuel cell technology from Toyota…

Robert Schluter served as an officer as part of the marine engineering team on board the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Mahan DDG-42 out of Charleston before transitioning to the business world and “general, corporate type work”. Today he serves as managing director at the third startup he’s helped build, e1 Marine.The company, a joint venture between Louisiana-based marine equipment lessor Maritime Partners, Irish tanker owner Ardmore Shipping and Schluter’s second startup…

Corvus Energy announced it has been selected to lead an IPN project – a program funded by the Research Council of Norway to promote innovation in the industry. Corvus Energy joins forces with research institute NORCE and other partners for the project which has been awarded 13,9 million NOK in funding.The industrial project, titled “Optimized Hydrogen Powered Maritime Mobility” or “OptHyMob” for short, will improve operations of hydrogen-driven marine vessels in order to reduce costs and extend the lifetime of both the hydrogen fuel cells and the batteries in hybrid configurations.

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…

Nakilat, DNV, and a group of yards and system suppliers – ABB, Honeywell, Kongsberg and Wärtsilä + Hudong-Zhonghua – have teamed on a joint development project (JDP) to elevate software reliability and maintenance during operations. The JDP, which was initiated in 2020 by Nakilat, has resulted in the launch of a new DNV Recommended Practice (DNV-RP-0582), published in June 2021.“With one of the largest LNG shipping fleets in the world, we are intimately aware of the importance of Information Technology (IT) integrity in ensuring safe…

Furuno USA said it has hired John Bozzelle as commercial business development manager, based in Jean Laffite, La.Bozzelle will be tasked with establishing and developing business relationships with Furuno dealers and commercial ship owners, operators and builders around the Great Lakes and Eastern Seaboard to promote the Furuno product line.Furuno USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Furuno Electric Company of Nishinomiya, Japan. With two offices in the U.S., a subsidiary company in Panama City…

DNV issued a Type Approval Design Certificate for Alfa Laval PureBallast 3 Ex deckhouse solutions, the first design approval for the installation of ballast water treatment systems on the weather deck, a potentially attractive installation solution for many ship owners and shipyards alike.According to the manufactuers, placing ballast water treatment systems in a deck-mounted enclosure is necessary on many modern tankers due to lack of a pump room or other suitable internal space.

The past decade has seen tight restrictions on emissions from vessels, notably with a 2015 move to a .10% sulfur maximum in Emission Control Areas (ECA) in North America and in northern Europe. As the International Maritime Organization (IMO) now shapes shipping’s decarbonization future, shipowners are looking at transitions away from fossil fuels. Among the myriad of alternatives are lithium ion batteries and some early forays into hydrogen fuel cells.To date, large batteries are used on short runs…

As part of the European Union (EU) Recognized Organization (RO) Mutual Recognition Type Approval scheme, EIZO Corporation has been awarded type approval from Lloyd’s Register (LR) for its 19- and 25.5-inch maritime monitors for an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) with radar applications, the first European certificate for electrical equipment in Japan.The EU RO Mutual Recognition Type Approval scheme covers type approval certification on selected components…

Encouraged by the success of a hybrid drives program, Siemens is going all out in Norway to automate production of that core marine energy storage enabler, the lithium battery. Offshore service vessel charterers, rig owners, ferry operators and ship owners are the target market. Trondheim’s technical university and a recent history of hosting battery makers and system integrators has made it launchpad for new applications involving the new BlueDrive Plus C drives and batteries.Siemens’ Norwegian head of strategy and business development…

A new joint industry report offers recommendations for enhanced battery safety on vessels.The report, released by DNV GL in collaboration with the Norwegian, Danish and US maritime authorities, battery manufacturers, system integrators, suppliers of fire extinguishing systems, shipyards and shipowners, assesses explosion and fire risks in maritime battery installations and the effectiveness of fire extinguishing systems in the event of a battery fire.While onboard battery power represents a pathway toward more environmentally friendly vessel operations…

Ship and boat designer Robert Allan Ltd has been awarded a contract by the Government of Canada to design a new version of the Near Shore Fishery Research Vessels (NSFRVs) currently operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.The new vessel will be used for fishery research by Fisheries & Oceans Canada and operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.The Canadian Coast Guard’s fleet of NSFRVs plays a key role in the delivery of fishery research in Canada’s waterways. Currently, there are four NSFRVs in service.Originally known as Inshore Science Vessels (ISVs), three were designed by Robert Allan Ltd. under the Economic Action Plan (EAP 2009) and entered into service in 2012 as the CCGS Vladykov, CCGS Leim and CCGS M. Perley. The new design is a direct development of these existing Robert Allan Ltd.

Thuraya has responded to strong demand from the maritime sector and distributors by launching the MarineStar, an affordable maritime voice solution with advanced two-way tracking and monitoring capabilities.Designed by the world’s most innovative provider of mobile satellite communications, the MarineStar is Thuraya’s new flagship voice terminal for entry-level maritime users. It is based on the same successful platform as other Thuraya voice hardware that have sold in excess of 1 million units to date.

Classification society ClassNK has released its Guidelines for Software Security which target software developers, system integrators and more.As part of its Cyber Security Series, ClassNK regularly releases guidelines and standards that outline cyber security measures based on the recently-released ClassNK Cyber Security Approach outlining the group’s basic approach to ensuring onboard cyber security for ships.The new guidelines, released as the third and latest part of the series, aim to assist with risk management focused on software used on board vessels.

Classification society DNV GL reports it has signed a contract for the first Cyber Secure class notation with Stena Drilling. The contract covers the application of the “Basic+” notation to the drillship Stena IceMAX and includes the vessel’s dynamic positioning, drilling and blowout prevention systems (BOP). It will be integrated with Stena Drilling’s own safety management systems.“Being cyber secure is an important step towards ensuring the digital integrity of our vessels, making sure that we take all the necessary safety precautions for our personnel and systems…

Norway on Jan. 1, 2026, will begin a ban on cruise ships powering through the Unesco-listed heritage fjords on anything but zero-emissions propulsion. For now, that means battery power, but few of the 190 cruise ship calls to these fjords are made with that kind of electro-chemical fuel on board. From now until 2026, you can still cruise the fjords on a closed-loop, or in-line, scrubber system, but few cruise ships have these installed. The new rules mean cruising elsewhere, finding…

Kongsberg Norcontrol has signed a framework agreement with the Norwegian Coastal Administration for delivery, operations and maintenance of radars to the maritime traffic service. The agreement has a potential total value of up to NOK 250 million and a duration of up to eleven years. This is amongst the largest framework agreements the Norwegian Coastal Administration has entered into with a single supplier. "The Ministry of Transport and Communications has assigned us to expand the service area for our maritime traffic service, and this framework agreement is an important step in achieving this. The agreement gives us access to modern radars with good performance," says Arve Dimmen, Director of Maritime Safety at the Norwegian Coastal Administration.

The IMO decision of April 2018, calling the international shipping industry to decarbonize and at least halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 was an important milestone and was largely welcomed by the global engine builders’ community. Although some parties found that the IMO target could have been even more ambitious, it clearly marked a paradigm shift: improvements in existing technologies will not be enough. Only through cross-sector cooperation and an increased focus on R&D in carbon-neutral technologies (such as batteries, fuel cells, or synthetic fuels) will shipping stand a chance of reaching the IMO 2050 target.2050 – The day after tomorrow2050 may sound distant, but for the shipping community it is not.

At the Posidonia trade fair last week, classification society DNV GL introduced its first class notations to help shipowners and operators protect their assets from cyber security incidents. The new class notations – Cyber secure – help owners and operators protect vital systems from cyber security threats. They will be published on the DNV GL rules page on July 1, 2018.“Whether in machinery, navigation or communication systems, programmable control systems are a longstanding and essential part of ships and offshore units…

Hatteland Display, a global provider of specialized display and computer solutions for maritime use, will unveil a number of new solutions and demonstrate its latest future-focused technological developments at the SMM 2018 maritime trade fair in Hamburg.New to Hatteland’s Series X Generation 2 (G2) range and shown for the first time at SMM are state-of-the-art, high-performance 8” and 13.3” panel computers. The latter features full HD capability offering considerably increased…

Corvus Energy was selected by Norwegian Electric System (NES) to supply lithium ion battery-based energy storage systems (ESS) for two new all-electric ferries being built by Havyard for Norwegian ferry operator Fjord1. The ferries will operate on the Magerholm-Sykkylven route. This follows a previous order in November 2017 to supply the ESSs for three similar newbuilt Fjord1 ferries that will operate on the Hareid-Sulesund route. Each of the five all-electric ferries, which are 111 meters in length and holds 120 cars, will be equipped with a 2.9 MWh Corvus Orca Energy ESS that will supply electrical power to the ferry’s NES all-electric power and propulsion systems. The ferries are expected to be delivered in 2019.