The Lighthouse News

Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Acting Minister for Transport, announced a record year in 2023 at a Singapore Maritime Foundation New Year Conversations event.The annual vessel arrival tonnage in the Port of Singapore crossed three billion gross tonnage (GT) for the first time, increasing by 9.4% over 2022 and setting a high of 3.09 billion GT in 2023. This reflects growth in all segments, including container ships, dry bulk carriers, liquid bulk and chemical tankers, ferries and specialised vessels…

Corvus Energy, a Norway-based provider of battery energy storage solutions and fuel cell systems for the marine sector, has been awarded a Type Approval from DNV for its Cyber Security Notation on the Control and Monitoring System of Corvus Energy's Orca Energy Storage System (ESS).The Type Approval certificate signifies that Corvus Energy's control and monitoring system, along with its data collection through Lighthouse, has successfully met all the stringent safety, quality…

Spain's GONDAN Shipbuilders announced it held a steel cutting ceremony marking the start of construction on a new vessel it is building for the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas for Scotland and the Isle of Man.The NLB, which has been responsible for the management of lights, buoys and beacons in the region since 1786, plays an essential role in safe navigation.The new hybrid-powered vessel…

Washington Island Ferry Line (WIFL) has been the essential link between the residents, business and visitors of Washington Island and Wisconsin's Door Peninsula for more than eight decades.Picturesque and peaceful Door County isn't named for some intrepid settlers named Door. The name has a more ominous meaning. It's derived from the treacherous passage between the peninsula and Washington Island that mariners called Porte des Mortes, or Death's Door.A unique combination of environmental…

On July 1 the Port of Tyne launched a 'next-generation' Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) system to enhance VTS operator situational awareness and supports decision making.The system adheres to the standards set by the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), covers the waters of the Port of Tyne in the UK, extending from six nautical miles out at sea to three nautical miles inland. It uses the Automatic Identification System (AIS)…

UK-based offshore vessel owner North Star this week held a naming ceremony for the Grampian Tyne service operation vessel (SOV) which will be deployed at work at the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the UK.The vessel was named at a ceremony at Equinor’s Port of Tyne base in the North East of England (UK), ahead of its early handover to the Dogger Bank Wind Farm.The traditional good luck celebration, involving the customary champagne bottle being smashed against the hull of the ship…

Researchers from NOAA, the state of Michigan, and Ocean Exploration Trust discovered an intact shipwreck resting hundreds of feet below the surface of Lake Huron. Located within NOAA's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the shipwreck has been identified as the sailing ship Ironton. Well preserved by the cold freshwater of the Great Lakes for over a century, the 191-ft. Ironton rests upright with its three masts still standing."Using this cutting-edge technology, we have not only located a pristine shipwreck lost for over a century…

Tim Clerc’s maritime career spans half a century, starting with his cadet training in 1969 in the U.K. He sees hybrid technology as one of the most transformational technological developments in maritime in that span, and the company is currently awaiting its 10th hybrid, the Seacor Yangtze. Clerc discusses the hybrid strategy and offers some practical insights.If you had to pick one technology that you think has made the business of running ships more efficient, more cost effective…

Ifremer, Jean-Louis Etienne and the entire Polar POD team announced its construction by the Piriou shipyards in association with 3C Metal, under the direction of the project owner, Ifremer. The scientific program of this international oceanographic "station" is being overseen by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS), in partnership with the French National Centre for Space Studies (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales…

The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man announced the award of a £51.8 million contract to Spanish shipyard Astilleros Gondán S.A, for the build of a hybrid powered buoy tender vessel to support its vital safety service to mariners.The tender includes a commitment to place over £2 million of contracts with U.K. suppliers with a requirement for any contract over £25,000 to be advertised in the U.K. As part of the deal Gondán will also create a special fully funded internship program for up to 15 U.K.

Classification society DNV has released an update to its Wind Assisted Propulsion Systems (WAPS) technical standard (ST-0511). The major update introduces new methods for evaluating WAPS fatigue strength, as well as the performance of the systems in extreme conditions.While experience in using the systems is still developing, WAPS have already been implemented on commercial vessels to reduce emissions and fuel usage in a tightening regulatory and economic climate.“As we continue to build experience on WAP systems…

North Star’s new UK-built hybrid-powered daughter craft, specifically designed for the offshore wind market, has been launched at a naming ceremony held at the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht club in Lowestoft, adjacent to the firm’s regional operations hub. The vessel was christened ‘Grace Darling’ in honor of a famous lighthouse keeper’s daughter from the North East of England who risked her life in 1838 to save the stranded survivors of a wrecked merchant ship traveling from Hull to Dundee.

In November 2021, GTMaritime published a white paper: “Maritime Communications - A look over the horizon.” The report, available here, is built around three broad Sections – 1. “Basics of marine Communications;” 2. “The connected ship;” and 3. “Special services.”Then, each Section presents a closer look at various topics. The “Basics” section, for example, covers regulatory issues established by IMO treaties and national agencies. It presents the terms and concepts that define satellite systems and networks…

A first-of-its-kind emissions-free push boat has been christened and delivered in Germany.The unique and innovative vessel, Elektra, was built over the course of nearly 2.5 years at Hermann Barthel GmbH in Derben and features battery-electric propulsion system combined with hydrogen and fuel cell technology, reportedly the world's first for a push boat. It will now undergo long-term prior to commencing commercial operations.The basis of the newly developed hybrid system is the battery package…

A high-tech workboat is more than halfway through its record-setting journey to autonomously circumnavigate Denmark.The Nellie Bly, equipped with Sea Machines autonomous command and control systems, arrived in Laeso, Denmark on Saturday, marking the halfway point of the 1,000-nautical-mile autonomous voyage.The journey, which Sea Machines is calling "The Machine Odyssey", officially commenced on September 30, when the Nellie Bly departed Cuxhaven, Germany, (near Hamburg) for Denmark. The vessel has a crew on board but is being controlled by U.S. Coast Guard licensed officers in Boston.

Aker Horizons has signed a Letter of Intent with Statkraft and Yara with the aim to establish "Europe's first industrial-scale green ammonia project in Norway, enable the hydrogen economy, and accelerate the energy transition." The company said the first project in the partnership will be to electrify Yara's existing ammonia facility in Porsgrunn, "which has the potential to be one of the largest climate initiatives in Norwegian industrial history."The partners will further target green hydrogen and green ammonia opportunities within shipping…

Bollinger Shipyards delivered the USCGC Frederick Hatch, the 166th vessel the Louisiana shipbuilder has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard over a 35-year period and the 43rd Fast Response Cutter (FRC) delivered under the current program.The USCGC Frederick Hatch is the final of three FRCs to be home-ported in Apra Harbor, Guam, increasing the presence for the U.S. Coast Guard in the Indo-Pacific Theater. Additionally, in 2020, Bollinger delivered two of six FRCs that will be home-ported in Manama…

The U.S. Coast Guard said it lit a first-of-its-kind LED-based rotating beacon at Oak Island Lighthouse on Caswell Beach, N.C., Monday.This upgrade is the Coast Guard’s first LED-based rotating beacon for an active aid to navigation and will provide a permanent, cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for the lighthouse. Necessary renovations of the lighthouse to prepare for the new beacon began in October."Lighthouses have navigational and historic significance here in North Carolina," said Lt. Brittany Akers, chief of waterways management at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina.

Dutch shipbuilding and engineering conglomerate Damen Shipyards Group is once again holding its one-day-only annual industry networking event at its headquarters at Gorinchem in the Netherlands.Following three successful editions as the Damen Workboat Show, this year it has been rebranded as the Damen Maritime Festival to better reflect the full Damen product range as well as the day’s lively atmosphere and will take place on Thursday 19 September.As before, the festival will give industry professionals from across Europe and beyond the opportunity to mingle with each other as well as explore in detail Damen’s current products and plans for the future.

As COVID-19 and a historically weak energy market wreaks havoc on the maritime industry, Christopher J. Wiernicki, CEO, American Bureau of Shipping, tells Maritime Reporter & Engineering News in its May 2020 edition that “COVID-19 will function as threat, a disruptor and catalyst for change, driving class further away from calendar maintenance towards predictive operations. The industry will accelerate its digitally driven movement into condition-based approaches and real-time…

Barry Parker, contributor to Maritime Reporter & Engineering News and MarineNews magazines, is – like many people around the world – sequestered and working from home. He is our designated “ship spotter” for the day.In the maritime business, most of us have been adept at working from home (or from remote locations). Still, with the precautions being taken to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid 19), remaining at home – in my case, on the North Shore of Long Island, has not been without its challenges.

At one time the most powerful lighthouse in the United States was Twin Lights in Highlands New Jersey. Today it is a wonderful little museum and right now it has a very interesting show of paintings by Maarten Platje on the War of 1812. One painting is called the Great Chase and it tells this amazing story of the US Frigate Constitution being becalmed off the New Jersey coast and becoming engaged in a rowing race to keep out of range of a powerful British Squadron. The Constitution escaped and went on to have her amazing victories that year…

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has begun operation of a new data platform called ‘Lighthouse’, to provide real time transport information to dry bulk shipping customers and stakeholders.The platform is a service that allows those involved in the transport process, such as shippers and vessel operators, to safely, unitarily, and in real time, share and monitor various kinds of information related to ocean transport, such as vessel schedules ,weather, ocean conditions, as well as data related to cargoes and contracts, on a customized basis for each customer.By establishing this system, MOL aims to help its customers enhance their supply chain management through measures such as optimization of ship allocation and more effective management of inventory…