Shipboard Equipment News

An incorrectly sized bearing led to an engine failure and fire last year onboard the offshore supply vessel Ocean Guardian, reports the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).On May 27, 2022, the vessel was conducting a sea trial in Shilshole Bay when its no. 3 diesel generator engine suffered a mechanical failure, resulting in an engine room fire that caused $1.1 million in damages.After maintenance was completed on all four main diesel generator engines in January and February 2022, full-function tests of vessel systems were conducted in open waters.

ABB Marine & Ports said it is ramping its presence with local divisions in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, in a move aimed at extending the company's global reach and service capabilities.In Turkey, ABB's newly established local division will serve the country’s vibrant maritime community. The shipbuilding segment in Turkey is a hive of activity – particularly for smaller and short-sea vessels, where ABB’s recent references include systems for two Turkish-built windfarm service vessels delivered to Louis Dreyfus Armateurs…

The following excerpts are from the new travelogue by Captain Sean P. Tortora, titled, “Steaming to Djibouti…My First Hitch on an Underway Replenishment Ship.”  Join a motivated young merchant marine officer on his first journey onboard a venerable navy auxiliary steamship. Accompany him through the convoluted reporting for duty process through his truly surreal first tour onboard. Meet the oddball characters in the crew and follow their outlandish daily routine. Listen in to the truly jaw-dropping crew interactions.

Responding to global COVID-19 travel restrictions, many firms are offering increased remote assistance to vessels where on-site visits are not an option.Technology company ABB said Wednesday it has increased the remote availability of technical service teams to help crews from shore at the time when many countries close borders and impose travel restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.With a network of 800 service engineers in 40 locations worldwide, ABB noted it is…

The Office of Merchant Mariner Credentialing published changes to five Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circulars (NVICs) concerning qualification for certain Merchant Mariner Credential Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended (STCW) endorsements.NVICs 04-14, 08-14, and 09-14 were revised to provide guidance on renewal of STCW endorsements for Proficiency in Survival Craft, Proficiency in Survival Craft-Limited, Basic Training, and…

If autonomous vessels are the future of maritime shipping, then cyber threats may be its Achilles heel. Congested shipping, restricted visibility, limited maneuverability, and intensive docking activities all contribute to port hazards – 42 percent of EU reported marine accidents (injury/death/damage to ships) took place in port areas and 44 percent of workboat fatalities occurred on Tugs. Autonomous shipping should provide numerous benefits including increased safety by relieving crewmembers of unsafe and repetitious tasks.

Every day we see more and more news about how the planning for new offshore wind projects continues to expand with the increasing investment from both domestic and foreign interests in these projects. This is resulting in both developers and contractors making logistics plans to secure vessels and crew for the purposes of meeting the demands necessary to crew and operate vessels in support of future wind farm operations. Unfortunately, there are challenges associated with the…

Ballast water treatment (BWT) specialist Optimarin reports positive developments in the market today, with the first six months of 2019 showing a year-on-year doubling of revenues, orders and a substantial increase in EBITDA. The Norwegian-headquartered company, has recorded increased business activity in key shipping areas such as North West Europe, South East Asia and the Mediterranean, while segments such as offshore are showing signs of recovery. “It’s a multi-faceted picture…

BIMCO and the international association for the marine electronics industry, CIRM (Comité International Radio-Maritime), have sent the industry’s first proposal for an industry-wide standard for software maintenance to the IMO for consideration. Without an industry-standard, BIMCO sees an increasing risk of severe incidents on ships, delays and costs to shipowners and cyber security problems. "We hope the entire industry will adopt these standards, to make ships safer, to prevent cyber security problems and to save money," says Angus Frew, Secretary General and CEO at BIMCO. "The industry has been living in a world of hardware. But software has been integrated into most physical equipment on the vessels…

Furuno USA, Inc. said it has been awarded a five-year U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) IDIQ contract, valued at approximately $10 million, to supply Doppler Speed Logs (DSL) as part of the USCG’s Doppler Speed Refreshment Project. Furuno’s DS60 DSL will be installed on more than 200 vessels, ranging from 87’ Marine Protector-class patrol boats to the 418’ National Security Cutters, the largest class of vessel in the USCG fleet. The U.S. Government required a DSL that would interface with existing shipboard equipment…

Conceived in its never-ending drive to progressively service its customers, KVH is working on a proprietary Internet of Things (IoT) solution for the commercial maritime market. Code-named “Watch,” KVH’s IoT application is designed to collect, compress, process, transport and analyze system data from ships, with the promise to deliver a broad swath of customizable efficiency solutions. Robert Balog, SVP, Engineering and Michael Mitsock, VP of Marketing discuss the plan with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.

Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence has announced a new project with maintenance management specialist SpecTec focused on optimizing ship maintenance. This joint accomplishment aims to reduce ship maintenance costs by enabling unnecessary maintenance to be deferred for shipboard equipment that is operating properly and identifying potential issues for action before a failure negatively impacts operations. By means of the integrated solution, onboard sensor data that is automatically gathered and analyzed by the Cat Asset Intelligence onboard predictive analytics platform…

ClassNK subsidiary ClassNK Consulting Service announced that JX Ocean Co., Ltd. has selected the machinery condition monitoring and automatic diagnostic system ClassNK CMAXS LC- A for use on 310,000 dwt tanker Eneos Spirit. ClassNK CMAXS LC- A is a solution that integrates sensor anomaly detection algorithm to analyze correlations between multiple sensor data in the engine room and detect any early signs of malfunction or potential damage to machinery. Also, the solution has a feature that automatically shows the optimum setting of the main engine, and troubleshooting instructions based on the results obtained by the analysis. The solution shows the condition of a wide variety of machinery in real- time…

The newly elected President of The Nautical Institute, Captain David (Duke) Snider FNI, has pledged to ensure the mariner’s voice is heard loud and clear within the maritime industry. Speaking at the Institute’s annual general meeting in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 9 June, Captain Snider said that one of his first roles as President will be to champion the new five-year Strategic Plan, which was launched in March. The plan, informed by responses from more than 1,400 members surveyed in a questionnaire, will see a renewed focus on human element projects aimed at building competencies for modern integrated ships. Command, manning and fatigue, mentorship and continuing professional development (CPD) were other themes identified for further development.

Capt Pradeep Chawla, Managing Director QHSE & Training, Anglo-Eastern Ship Management Ltd., Presented a paper at the Nautical Institute Hong Kong Branch Seminar – “Competencies of a Future Mariner” on 23 October 2015. This paper discusses the changes that are taking place in the maritime industry and their effects on the daily life of the seafarers. It further discusses the human factor competencies that will be essential for the future mariner. The last two decades have been extremely fast paced with respect to technology influencing every walk of life. Internet, Google, Facebook, Linkedin, smartphones, WhatsApp etc. and their effects on the way we communicate, interact and learn are well-known.

Capt Pradeep Chawla, Managing Director QHSE & Training, Anglo-Eastern Ship Management Ltd., delivered a theme address at the World Maritime Day symposium on "Shipping's future needs people: Is global maritime education and training on course?". Following is the Edited Abstract of his paper which discusses the strategies and efforts of a Ship Management company, to enhance competence of the seafarers through a comprehensive company training program. Competence is generally defined as ‘the ability to do something successfully or efficiently’. It is generally accepted that both knowledge and skill are required to be competent. IMO is the guardian of the maritime industry and has tirelessly worked since 1978 to bring about one common standard of training of the seafarers worldwide.

Thuraya Telecommunications, a Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) operator, said it has further extended its maritime product portfolio with the launch of Atlas IP, a feature-rich broadband satellite terminal. Thuraya Atlas IP is the second maritime-specific product launched by Thuraya in 2014 and is designed to complement the Thuraya Orion IP broadband terminal by offering a fully-featured voice and data product with additional functionality built in. Designed and manufactured for Thuraya by Addvalue of Singapore, Thuraya Atlas IP is capable of standard IP data transfer at rates up to 444kbps and asymmetric streaming capability of 16kbps-384kbps. Thuraya Atlas IP is available with Thuraya’s range of pricing plans.

Danelec Marine has published a White Paper that makes the case for using Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) technology to provide real-time access to data from shipboard systems and sensors. The White Paper, entitled “VDRConnect Bridges the Data Gap,” is available for free download at www.danelec-marine.com/news/white-paper-on-vdrconnect-remote-access-solution.aspx. “The shipping industry has been slow to embrace the telematics revolution that is transforming other transportation sectors, primarily because of the expense and difficulty in extracting data from shipboard equipment and transmitting it via satellite to ship managers ashore,” said Hans Ottosen, CEO of Danelec Marine.

In a anticipation of the growing need for deck officers and masters experienced in operating in ice covered waters and as evidenced by the relatively rapid increase in vessel traffic in areas of the Arctic Ocean due to the receding ice coverage, the Alaska’s Institute of Technology (AVTEC) in Seward, Alaska has developed a comprehensive course of instruction in Ice Navigation. This two week course is directed toward masters and mates without or with minimal experience in ice covered waters. The course of instruction is a combination of classroom lectures, case studies and simulation exercises, operating various vessel models in a myriad of ice conditions. The AVTEC Ice Navigation course of instruction is U.S.

The fourth National Security Cutter, Hamilton, successfully completed several days of rigorous acceptance trials Thursday to ensure the cutter meets its contractual requirements and is ready for delivery to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Hamilton, which will be home ported in Charleston, South Carolina, conducted the acceptance trials in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and at sea in the Gulf of Mexico by the Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey. Acceptance trials are the final significant milestone, or final exam, before the government takes ownership of a new cutter.

InfiNet Wireless has announced the deployment of its wireless solutions within the icy Gulf of Finland. InfiNet Wireless' solutions will be used to create a modern technological wireless network within the Gulf, with the project being carried out by communications experts Geyzer-Telecom. Operating within the Gulf is a fleet of 16 ice breakers, each with a length of 119 meters and an unlimited sailing range. The suggested network coverage area is in excess of ten thousand square kilometers as the ice breaking fleet not only have to travel to break ice measuring 1.5 metres thick…

The maritime industry faces a huge challenge with regard to timely and proper training of merchant mariners and other individuals within the industry. The industry is changing rapidly. These changes are driven partly by regulation, but more so through technological advances and economic pressures. Ships are evolving. The individuals who operate and maintain those ships must learn new methods of performing their duties in order to keep up. No government mandates the use of containers for shipment of cargo…

With the advent of ever faster, stronger maritime communication links and the influx of the next maritime generation, the first “internet native” generation, a proliferation of shipboard tools are under development that promise to change the very means in which floating assets are built and maintained. Imtech Marine is convinced that accelerated uptake of remote diagnostics and preventive maintenance for shipboard equipment will be built on performance gains that are straightforward and tangible.