Technology Tools News

NOAA’s effort to recapitalize its aging fleet of research ships took a major step forward today with the U.S. Navy’s award of a $178,082,877 contract to Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors LLC, Houma, La., for the detailed design and construction of two new oceanographic ships.NOAA is acquiring the vessels through an agreement with the Naval Sea Systems Command, a leader in building, providing and procuring large research ships for the nation's research fleet.The first ship, to be named Oceanographer, will be homeported in Honolulu.

Seaspan Shipyards said its operations remain up and running as the Canadian shipbuilder continues to closely watch the fast-developing COVID-19 situation.Seaspan, which operates shipyards in Vancouver and Victoria on Canada's west coast, noted it is following the guidance and direction of public health and government authorities, and added that it has not received a recommendation or directive to shut down operations in B.C. It said no Seaspan employee has tested positive for COVID-19 to date."As COVID-19 developments continue to unfold…

Indian Ministry of shipping has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with IIT Kharagpur on Wednesday for setting up a Centre for Inland and Coastal Maritime Technology (CICMT).CICMT will provide technological, vessel design and applied research support for inland waterways and coastal shipping, said a government release.Speaking on the occasion, Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Shipping said, “Indigenous technology is the need of the hour for the maritime sector, and we are determined to promote Make- In- India as per the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.”Detailing about the state-of-the-art centre which is being set up the under the flagship Sagarmala Program…

Seabed survey and ocean exploration company Ocean Infinity said it has conducted urgent subsea search, inspection and operations on the wreck of the MV Grande America, which sank in the Bay of Biscay on March 12.Grande America capsized and sunk last month after its cargo of containers and vehicles caught fire during a voyage from Hamburg to Casablanca.Having entered into an agreement with marine services and salvage company Ardent, Ocean Infinity deployed its fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) to locate the wreck.

Moving from smart talk to practical solutions and learning from other industries will be the twin themes of an industry event scheduled for Vancouver in March. Technology will be an enabler, but the maritime industry will have to be prepared to change its model to be a candidate for a smarter digital future. Meeting the real enterprise challenges blocking shipping’s digital journey is the focus for the Transas Global Conference 2018, whose ‘Enterprise Change’ agenda brings together global business leaders…

From humble beginnings KVH has evolved rapidly to become a central player in the maritime world’s global Big Data revolution. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News caught up with Martin Kits van Heyningen in Oslo for his take on KVH’s current position and future direction. “We certainly didn’t envision that we would be in the high-speed satellite broadband business when we started,” is how Kits van Heyningen, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board, KVH, succinctly summarizes the biggest difference between the company he founded in 1982 versus the one he leads today.

The Sally Ride, a Neil Armstrong Class Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR) vessel, dry docked at Bay Ship and Yacht on April 15, 2017, to carry out modifications to superstructure and to perform general vessel maintenance. Named for the late astronaut Sally Ride, the ship is 238 feet long and incorporates the latest technologies, including high-efficiency diesel engines, emissions controls for stack gases, and new information technology tools both for monitoring shipboard systems and for communicating with the world.

The U.S. Navy's new Auxiliary General Purpose Oceanographic Research Vessel (AGOR), R/V Sally Ride (AGOR 28), has completed builder's trials, February 21, off the coast of Anacortes, Wash. Builder's trials for Sally Ride tested various shipboard systems and ensured readiness prior to conducting acceptance trials with the U.S. Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey. The propulsion system, mission-over-the-side handling equipment, anchor handling system and work/rescue boat launch system were among the systems successfully demonstrated.

Strategically located Spain, linking countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas, along with a dynamic coast line dotted with number of highly proactive ports have bolstered its progress helping it to become a global leader in the ‘ship’ repairs and conversion. Spearheading the ship design and construction operations in Europe, the sector is witnessing an unusual boom with an annual volume of about €400 million. One can find 13 shipyards competing in this ship repair/conversion market. The smaller ones being able to repair vessels of up to 100 meters in length and the bigger ones – considered to be the biggest shipyards in Europe in terms of docking facilities – have dry docks that service vessels of up to 400 meters.

A three-year EU-funded project, CASCADe, has developed new methodologies in which information is shared and displayed on a ship’s bridge, helping to improve efficiency on board and contribute toward the prevention of accidents at sea. Drawing directly from the experience of seafarers, CASCADe has developed a new adaptive bridge design methodology that treats both human agents and electronic equipment as parts of a cooperative system. This allows for the sharing of information to be optimized. In addition, CASCADe has developed a set of adaptive bridge displays.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus named the 'R/V Sally Ride' to honor the memory of Sally Ride, a scientist, innovator and educator. Ride was the first American woman and the youngest person in space. She later served as director of NASA’s Office of Exploration as well as the California Space Institute at University of California San Diego. “The christening of this ship is not only a celebration of the hard work and dedication of the men and women who have brought this vessel from an idea to a reality, but also of the spirit of exploration and discovery shared by Sally Ride and the United States Navy,” said Mabus. The Neil Armstrong-class…

February 22 marked the launch of Neil Armstrong, the first of two Navy oceanographic research vessels to be launched with Siemens Blue multi-drive low voltage system. Neil Armstrong was launched in Anacortes, Washington. Siemens said the use of Siemens Blue improves the vessels reliability due to failsafe features that help the vessel owner lower maintenance costs, increase efficiency and improve operational ease for the vessel and crew. The ship’s advance design decreases fuel consumption, resulting in reduced emission of harmful greenhouse gases. Siemens provided the main generators, main propulsion and thruster motors, switchboards, power management system and automation system for alarm, monitoring and control functions.

While the Integrated Bridge increasingly plays a bigger role in various shipbuilding programs, in many cases the degree of integration can be limited and does not allows a fully functional integration of different navigation systems or further ship systems on the bridge. In tandem there has been an increasing demand for higher level integrated bridge systems, which was reasonably driven by more sophisticated and safety-sensitive vessels such as cruise ships, specialized vessels and few oil tankers.

Almost 80% of collisions and groundings occur due to a failure of bridge systems and their usage. A new three-year European research project, part funded by the EU has been launched to help increase safety onboard vessels. CASCADe, (model-based Cooperative and Adaptive ship-based Context Aware Design) aims to address the lack of symbiosis which exists between current bridge design, operational procedures and the end user. In the maritime environment there is a proliferation of increasingly complex technology. Studies have shown that the use of instruments with a range of different user interfaces or the provision of too much information can lead to errors and a reduction in performance.

Siemens Industry, Inc. (NYSE: SI) wona contract to equip two U.S. Navy Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR) vessels with its unique diesel electric propulsion solution at Dakota Creek Industries Inc. (DCI), located in Anacortes, Wash. Seattle-based Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering firm Guido Perla & Associates, Inc. (GPA) will design the ships. The total order value is more than $10 million. "Siemens' dedication to supporting Dakota Creek Industries exemplifies…

With Sailors and Marines increasingly relying upon networked data and apps, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) demonstrated to Department of the Navy officials how a new suite of information technology tools could improve fleet operations during experiments Dec. 14 in Dahlgren, Va. "We're trying to take our prototypes and have them work in the actual environment they'll have to operate in aboard a ship," said Wayne Perras, the ONR project officer overseeing the two-week experiment at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren. The technology tools are being tested in a special laboratory containing shipboard combat systems and networks. The…

The Coast Guard’s top officer discussed plans to adopt social-media practices to modernize the Coast Guard and increase the organization’s transparency in a teleconference yesterday with bloggers and online journalists. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen spoke about ways the Coast Guard plans to use social-media tools to get the broadest representation of the Coast Guard to the public. “We’re going to be moving from ( Web ) 1.0 to 1.2 to 2.0 to 2.5, and … the challenge and the problem is we shouldn’t take the status quo as an acceptable position,” Allen said. Making the organization more transparent comes at a crucial time, especially during hurricane season, when communication is extremely vital.

Finnish technical consultancy Deltamarin, in characteristically innovative style, is breaking new ground with the development of new computer-based services encompassing safety simulation and risk assessment, knowledge management and life-cycle support. Its latest endeavors form the basis of what it describes as contemporary configuration engineering and management, and extend the role and business scope of a practitioner of the latest technology tools in marine design, engineering and production. Armed with new methodologies and products, which offer a seamless link from the design and construction period into the post-delivery stages…

Finnish technical consultancy Deltamarin, in characteristically innovative style, is breaking new ground with the development of new computer-based services encompassing safety simulation and risk assessment, knowledge management and life-cycle support. Its latest endeavors form the basis of what it describes as contemporary configuration engineering and management, and extend the role and business scope of a practitioner of the latest technology tools in marine design, engineering and production. Armed with new methodologies and products, which offer a seamless link from the design and construction period into the post-delivery stages…

A convincing economic argument fuels the liner shipping sector's adoption of unprecedented capacity ratings, with a new level soon to be reached in impending projects for newbuilds in the 9,000-TEU category, and technical work set in train for ships in the 10,000-12,500 TEU category. Experts believe that behemoths of 18,000-TEU could be in service on specific volume trades within a decade, yielding unit operating cost savings in the order of 30-percent relative to the 5,000-TEU size. The enormous infrastructural implications attached to nurturing a new generation of ultra-large container vessels seem to be less daunting now compared with even a year ago…