Type Systems News

Dutch offshore access provider Ampelmann announced it has signed a new contract to build two more W-type systems for Ulstein, on behalf of one of Germany’s major shipowners. This is Ampelmann's second contract with Ulstein to provide an integrated gangway system on two new vessels.The two W-types are estimated to be delivered by 2025 with the contracts including two systems firm, followed by a potential two plus two in the client options. These systems are intended for offshore wind use to assist in the transferring of both personnel and cargo from vessel onto offshore platforms.

The GEF-UNDP-IMO Glofouling partnership (2017) is a global initiative to counter the environmental issue of invasive aquatic species (IAS) and the resulting harmful ecological and financial damage that can occur when such invasion events are introduced through the medium of biofouling on ships hulls and other marine structures such as those found in the oil and gas industries.One of the key objectives of the Glofouling project is to develop a Global Knowledge Hub and also identify…

Dutch offshore access solutions provider Ampelmann has reached a new milestone: 500,000 safe personnel transfers for BP globally.The  provider of offshore personnel transfer system completed its first transfer for the oil major in Trinidad & Tobago in 2010 and has since enabled another 17 projects in seven countries.“Half a million people transfers in eight years is a key milestone for Ampelmann,” said Gus DeOliveira, Area Sales Lead for the Americas. “We thank BP for their continuous trust and support in jointly making the Oil & Gas industry safer and more efficient.”“The safe delivery of these transfers is a great achievement,” said a BP Marine Representative.

Offshore access solutions provider Ampelmann said it has won five new contracts for its Walk to Work (W2W) solutions in the offshore wind market over the course of September. These projects will see two A-type and three E-type systems installed on vessels operating in the North Sea.Four of the five contracts have been secured by Ampelmann’s recently opened office in Hamburg, Germany.An Ampelmann E-type system has been installed on the Viking Neptun vessel to enable supporting works at the Merkur wind farm in the German North Sea.

Today Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) decided in principle to launch a new wholly owned entity to integrally oversee its current businesses in material handling equipment centered on forklift trucks, engines and turbochargers. The new entity will serve as an independent management body to provide integrated and swift responsive oversight of these three core businesses. Under this initiative, MHI looks to generate synergy benefits, streamline its organization, and explore new fields as a way of significantly strengthening its competitiveness. Going forward, scale expansion and higher earning capacity will be pursued in a quest to achieve net sales reaching 1 trillion yen.

Ampelmann, a provider of motion compensated offshore access solutions, announced it has achieved a milestone in the operation of its systems; two million safe transfers. The accomplishment was achieved 10 months after the one millionth transfer. The two millionth safe transfer took place on a project for Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP). BSP utilizes multiple Ampelmann A-Type and L-Type systems for the transfer of personnel during operations and maintenance activities. Ampelmann CEO, Jim Craig, said, “2015 marks an important year in Ampelmann’s history as we celebrate two million safe transfers.

There are 320 oil/gas floating production units are now in service, on order or available for reuse on another field. FPSOs account for 64% of the existing systems, 79% of systems on order. Production semis, barges, spars and TLPs comprise the balance. Total oil/gas inventory is the same as last month – but two units on order last month (N’Goma FPSO and Delta House Semi) were completed and are now in the active inventory. Another 29 floating LNG processing systems are in service or on order. Liquefaction floaters account for 17%, regasification floaters 83%.

The world is changing fast and this is especially true in the fast boat sector. Since the millennium, rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) and high speed craft (HSC) have been at the cutting edge of maritime operations for everything from homeland security and law enforcement to extreme weather rescue. For over 30 years specialist organizations around the world including the RNLI (UK lifeboat), Royal Marines, US Navy and US Coast Guard have driven the evolution of fast craft. They know what has worked in the past and know what boats they want for the future.

With implementation of the US Coast Guard Subchapter M regulations just around the corner, owners of uninspected towing vessels are scrambling to understand and prepare for what’s to come, even while the rules are still evolving. Among the proposed changes for towing vessels are standards for propulsion and steering controls that closely resemble the existing standards for fully inspected offshore vessels. One component of the rules would require certain vessels to be equipped…

The 94-ft. (28.6 m) explorer yacht Whale Song is designed specifically for the owner to safely travel the world in his quest for observing whales in their natural environment. The yacht is built extremely strong with a superstructure aft layout for maximum comfort at sea. The hull is steel construction to ABS ice class scantlings and contains spacious and comfortable amenities for accommodating the owner and seven guests on extended voyages. This yacht has been designed to utilize commercial type systems for reliability, durability and minimum crew. Below deck, the vessel is divided into six watertight compartments by utilizing five watertight bulkheads. The crew quarters are forward which allows for separation of owner and guests from the crew when desired.

(This is Part II of a two-part series on the Articulated Tug Barge from Robert P. Hill. Why The ATB? The ATB, or "Articulated Tug/Barge" unit is designed to combine the economics of tugboat and barge operation with the speed and weather-reliability of a ship. A hallmark of this concept that makes it different from the ITB or "Integrated Tug/Barge" is the fact that both the tug and the barge are truly independent vessels able to operate successfully even if not together. The tug is a full ABS or internationally-classed ocean tug, capable of meeting all SOLAS regulations where required. It can be made capable of towing and other traditional tug missions.