Technology Holds News

Tip #49 - Embracing Technology for Effective Maritime TrainingThe maritime industry, like so many others, has experienced a wave of technical advances in recent years. These changes have opened new doors for enhancing the quality of training and skill development for maritime professionals. In this edition of Training Tips for Ships, we'll consider how incredibly far we have come and explore how embracing technology can lead to more effective and efficient maritime training.Digital technologies have been making their way into maritime training, especially over the last two decades.

A global network of centres of excellence in marine technology was officially launched on Monday (4 December) at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Directors of five regional Maritime Technology Cooperation Centres (MTCCs) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the global maritime technology centre network. The network of MTCCS - in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific - is the mainstay of the GMN maritime technology project, run by IMO and funded by the European Union. The MTCCs are expected to provide leadership in promoting ship energy-efficiency technologies and operations, and the reduction of harmful emissions from ships.

The speaker line-up at the next annual Transas Global Conference confirms that the innovative digital solutions company is catching the mood at the cutting edge of vessel operations by suggesting that, properly harnessed, operations and technology can transform maritime safety as well as efficiency. “If vessels, shore authorities, ports, regulators and training facilities worldwide work together on technology on a common operating platform, there is the potential to achieve extraordinary gains in operating efficiencies, but also a step change in safety,” says Transas CEO Frank Coles.

Inmarsat Maritime President Frank Coles said the efficiency gains of the “Maritime Industrial Internet” are at hand, if only shipowners can grasp the potential for competitive advantage. The first satellite in the Global Xpress fleet will complete all of its testing by July of this year, with the second and third satellites on schedule to be launched by the close of 2014. The Global Xpress Maritime service is expected to become globally available from the end of the first quarter of 2015.

The global cruise industry and its fleet of increasingly large, ultra-modern ships is projected to continue its steady growth in 2014, powered by growth overseas, particularly in the German market, as well as the adoption of faster, stronger and generally better satellite communication technology that is moving toward the level of seamless, cost-effective communication connections that can be expected at a land-based vacation destination. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)…

Technical proposals for the shipment of natural gas under compression rather than in the refrigerated, liquefied state have surfaced from time to time over the years, but have received a lukewarm response from the marine industry. The considerable cost of the shipboard containment methodology has been a major stumbling block. Now, a Canadian engineering contractor has come up with an altogether more economic solution to the cargo carrying needs of compressed natural gas (CNG), and pitched at relatively short-distance sea transport applications. Instead of the prohibitively expensive pressure bottles that have earlier been central to CNG transport concepts…