Technical Department News

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) issued an approval in principle (AIP) to Hudong-Zhonghua (HZ) Shipyard for its new  liquified natural gas (LNG) carrier design, currently the world’s largest with 271,000 cubic meters of cargo tank capacity.The design features flexible dual-fuel propulsion and an air lubrication system for more sustainable operations. The synergy of a more efficient hull and the use of low-carbon fuel in the fuel-efficient engine is expected to translate to the lowering of the overall carbon footprint of the vessel…

Greek shipping company Neptune Lines will trial Maindeck's digital project management solution to plan and execute dry-docking projects.Neptune Lines provides transportation and shipping solutions for manufacturers and shippers of cars and high and heavy cargoes. Its fleet comprises 22 pure car and truck carrier vessels with loading capacities ranging from 1,500 to 6,500 vehicles.During the upcoming drydocking of Neptune Galene, Neptune Lines will trial Maindeck's platform to optimize its project management and enhance efficiency across all project phases. Features of the solution include advanced tendering, tracking and reporting capabilities.“We are proud to be working with Neptune Lines, one of the leading Greek ship managers.

Industry veteran Marco Santoro has taken the helm as chief executive officer at Miami yacht repair yard RMK Merrill-Stevens.A naval architect and marine engineer, Santoro began his career in yachting as part of the technical department at Italy's Rodriquez Yachts. In 2003, he joined Italian yacht builder the Ferretti Group as an intern in the after sales and service department, and over the course of 20 years worked his way up through a number of leadership roles, culminating as the company's vice president of refit and retail works. “My journey in this company was amazing.

The Shaft Power Limitation (ShaPoLi) system, engineered to help optimize tanker engine output ahead of impending EEXI (Energy Efficiency Existing ship) regulations, has gained approval from classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR).Developed by SELMA in conjunction with Tankers Technical Department of Neda Maritime Agency Co Ltd, the system will be fitted on board the Neda-operated 319,000 dwt very large crude carrier (VLCC) Aragona, enabling full use of available engine output…

To help shipbuilders meet increasing demands to reduce the impact of noise on marine life, Técnicas y Servicios de Ingeniería, S.L (TSI) has obtained technology especially for the construction of ‘silent vessels’.In addition to environmental effects, the health of staff and the vessels themselves can also be affected by a loud ship. Noise is often an indicator of onboard vibration problems that can lead to equipment and system damage.In response to these issues, TSI has invested in technology from noise specialist…

Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment will install its open loop exhaust gas abatement technology on two roll-on/roll-off passenger ferries owned by Spanish company Trasmed GLE S.L., which is part of the multinational logistics company Grimaldi Group.Trasmed GLE S.L. has selected four of Wärtsilä’s I-SOx open loop scrubbers with exhaust de-plume systems for the RoPax vessels Volcan del Teide and Ciudad de Granada, which operate in the Mediterranean Sea. Each vessel will have four scrubbers installed, one on each main engine.

Hydrex mobilized diver/technician teams to vessels in the Netherlands and Australia to carry out stern tube seal replacements. In Flushing the repair was carried out on a 200-meter car carrier, and in Port Burnie, Tasmania, on a 188-meter RoRo vessel.Both ships were leaking oil, making an on-site repair necessary. Using a Hydrex flexible mobdock they were able to carry out these operations on-site and underwater, saving a trip to drydock.Despite the remote location of the RoRo vessel…

Marlink subsidiary Telemar said it signed a five-year service maintenance deal with Fairplay Towage to deliver bridge maintenance services across 50 of the company’s port and ocean tugs in Germany, Holland and Belgium.The contracts will consolidate service of critical bridge navigation equipment to a single provider, and scheduled service will be planned to agreed timeframes.The contract includes managing GMDSS declarations, annual radio survey, annual radar inspection, exchange of reserve-power batteries for GMDSS and SART/EPIRB/GMDSS handheld batteries.

JRC Iberia delivered a complete bridge concept on board the passenger vessel Amazonas II, built at Drassanes Dalmau shipyard in Barcelona, Spain.The bridge supply is composed of a full JRC navigation and external and internal communication package including VDR, ECDIS, Alphatron BNWAS, AlphaSea pilot and Talk-Back system among others.Amazonas II is the latest passenger catamaran ordered by shipowner Consorcio Fluvial Del Amazonas and will be operating in a remote area of Perú between the towns of Iquitos and Cavallococha at the source of the Amazon River close to the Brazilian frontier…

A design for the world’s first large liquefied hydrogen carrier has been granted approval in principle (AIP) from the classification society Korean Register and flag state Liberian Registry.The 20,000 cubic meters class vessel was developed by Hyundai Heavy Industries Group and Hyundai Glovis in partnership with the Korean Register and the Liberian Registry, and HHI Group’s Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) announced they have received the AIP on Thursday.Alfonso Castillero…

VOS Champagne, a 2015-built DP2 anchor-handling tug supply vessel managed by Vroon Offshore Services (VOS) Genoa, is the first commercial vessel to be classified with RINA's new ‘Biosafe Ship’ class-notation.The Biosafe Ship notation is a new goal-based notation, based on many different systems, components and operative procedures to control and prevent possible onboard infection outbreak.In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vroon has decided to comply with the RINA Biosafe Ship guidelines…

Synergy Group and D.S. Norden have formed a new 50/50 joint venture to handle the technical management of Norden’s owned tanker vessels. Norden Synergy Ship Management (NSSM) will be headed by Henrik Christensen who previously managed Norden’s Technical Department.“We see great alignment when we have partnered previously and we expect that to lead to more mutual wins in the future through NSSM,” said Captain Rajesh Unni, CEO & Founder of Synergy Group.The formation of NSSM further cements the partnership between Synergy Group…

Trading worldwide without electronic tools is no longer an option, young navigators and crew are switched on to digital technology and they want to have this new technology at their fingertips rather than the messy, slow and labour and paper-intensive methods of the past.Tor Svanes, the founder and CEO of NAVTOR, believes that electronic chart and display information systems (ECDIS) is now a must have navigational tool in the modern era.ECDIS has become the modus operandi on all ships…

The world’s largest LNG bunker vessel ‘Kairos’, operated by Nauticor, has supplied DEME’s next generation offshore installation vessel Orion, this first such ship-to-ship bunker transfer at the Port of Rostock.Orion is currently at the Liebherr construction yard in the Port of Rostock, where it is being outfitted with a 5,000-ton crane. The new offshore installation vessel is the fifth dual fuel addition to the DEME fleet, following three trailing suction hopper dredgers (Minerva…

The provider of towage services Boluda Towage Europe said that it's tugboat ‘Union Koala’ was officially certified for compliance with the IMO Tier III standards. The converted tug returned to service during a ceremony at the ABC Tower in Zeebrugge, Belgium."Boluda Towage Europe has passed a new milestone: it is the first towage company in Europe to convert an existing tugboat, complying with the IMO Tier III standards. The company embarked on this project together with supplier Anglo Belgian Corporation with the aim of reducing shipping emissions and addressing local port authorities’ demand for cleaner operations in the port area," claimed a press note from the company.To ensure that the vessel is complying with the IMO Tier III standard…

Finnish tech company Wärtsilä will supply equipment for two offshore support vessels (OSV)under construction at the Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding yard in China for Netherlands-based shipping company Spliethoff.The order with Wärtsilä is booked in November 2019, said a press note.The design of the two DP2-B-type ships combines the intake of a multi-purpose vessel with Dynamic Positioning station-keeping ability, thus making them ideal for supplying cargo to offshore installations. The versatile characteristics give the ships a unique position on the market. The design parameters specified high fuel efficiency and a minimal environmental footprint…

Lasse Stokkeland has decided to leave his position as general manager of Havyard Ship Technology AS (HST), and the Board has appointed Erlend Hatleberg as the new general manager.Hatleberg, 43, grew up in Leirvik in Sogn and now lives in Dale in Sunnfjord.He graduated as an engineer in 2003, and has worked amongothers in Fundo. He started working in HST's technical department in 2009.Hatlebergbecame project manager 2011, and has  been responsible for deliveries of PSV ships, construction vessels and icebreakers for Russian ship-owners and now for Fjord1's new series of ferries.In connection with the management change in HST, Stig Breidvik will become new production manager. Stig is 52 and lives in Leirvik in Sogn.

The Danish company Bawat A/S, specializing in the treatment of ballast water aboard ships and in ports, has just finalized the provision of capital equal to more than $2.94m from new and existing shareholders.The new shareholders include Selfinvest Family Office as a key stakeholder, and previous TORM CEO and current SKULD chairman Klaus Kjærulff. Former Sondex owner Åge Søndergaard of SonFlow A/S joins the new shareholders. Their engagement represents considerable support of…

The voluntary French sea rescue organization “Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer” (SNSM) has had one of its 12 meter-long rescue vessels (SN 203) coated  with the Fouling Release Film Renolit Dolphin S. The test at the location of Pornichet, near Saint-Nazaire in Brittany is being monitored by the SNSM’s National Technical Department and is scheduled to run for one year. All necessary performance parameters of the film on the hull will be routinely checked by divers.The non-profit organization…

Corvus Energy, a provider high power energy storage in the form of modular lithium ion battery systems to the maritime industry, has completed the installation of a 5.5 MWh battery energy storage systems (ESS) in each of the two Grimaldi Group RoPax cruise ferries Cruise Barcelona and Cruise Roma.The energy storage solutions supplier said in a press release that the ‘mega batteries’ will allow the Grimaldi cruise ferries to turn off the diesel engines and operate solely on battery power and with zero emissions for up to four hours during port stay.“The Corvus energy storage system is an important component in our vision for sustainable shipping…

The Italian luxury yacht builder Cantiere delle Marche (CdM) announced the sale of DEEP BLUE 43 a new, fully custom 43-metre explorer yacht designed by Horacio Bozzo Design.DEEP BLUE 43 is the latest addition to the yard’s significantly active Order Book. The contract has been signed last December and the latest project’s details have been defined in these last few weeks. The yacht is already under construction with delivery due in 2021.DEEP BLUE 43 has been commissioned by an experienced Owner who, in the past years, owned yachts built by shipyards such as Feadship, Lürssen, Blohm and Voss. He is a repeated client for CdM, a yard which…

Family-run shipyard Overmarine has delivered Mangusta Oceano 43, the third 43-meter yacht in the Mangusta Oceano series of displacement vessels, previously known as “Project Firenze” to its owner.The official ceremony was held on Overmarine Group’s private quay following the successful completion of the tests and sea trials, held in the rough winter seas.The 43 metre, three decked yacht, which has been designed by Alberto Mancini, is built from steel and aluminium. It has a beam measuring 8.7 metres and a 450GT.Mangusta is one of the few yachting brands still owned - and always managed, too - by a family, the Balducci family, who has been working in the boating industry since the 1950s.With over 300 boats delivered…

A month after a Hydrex diver/technicians removed the bow thruster of a 300-meter container vessel a team once again mobilized to Italy. They reinstalled the overhauled unit underwater with the use of the company’s flexible mobdock technique.The available time window for the removal of the bow thruster in October was very short because of the tight schedule of the vessel’s charterer. The time required to perform the operation therefore needed to be brought back to the absolute minimum. For this reason the job was split in parts, performed in different ports.