Class Services News

U.S. shipping company Crowley and classification society ABS have entered an agreement to jointly explore how to advance the use of augmented and virtual reality technologies for vessels and other marine environments.The ABS partnership agreement builds on Crowley’s new service network using augmented reality on select vessels. Crew wear goggle technology to provide real-time visuals of ship equipment to remote technicians to collaborate on solutions. The technology, developed by Kognitiv Spark…

Sanmar Shipyards delivered its first battery electric tug to ABS class for Canada-based HaiSea Marine, a joint venture partnership between the Haisla First Nation and Seaspan ULC.The HAISEA WAMIS harbor tug, the first in its ElectRA 2800SX series, will be part of a fleet of harbor and escort tugs providing services to LNG Canada’s future terminal in British Columbia and is equipped with two steerable, fixed pitch (FP), azimuthing, L-drive propulsion units powered by electric motors integrated on top of each unit.

Global shipping and logistics provider GAC Group is expanding its presence in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region by establishing a new office in Taiwan’s second-largest port, Taichung.The port has constructed several tailor-made wharves to serve the offshore wind energy industry as the country looks to become the leading provider of offshore wind power in the Asia-Pacific region. “By opening an office at Taichung Port, we can now be closer to our project sites and respond more quickly to the growing needs of our customers…

Norwegian shipping firm Odfjell SE has appointed Harald Fotland as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Fotland comes from the position as Odfjell's Chief Operating Officer, and will assume the CEO position on May 6, 2022."We are pleased to have an internal candidate take over the helm at Odfjell. The appointment was made after a process including external and internal candidates. Harald has excelled at leading innovative and transformative projects during his time at the Company.

The America Bureau of Shipping (ABS), one of the world's largest ship classification societies, is withdrawing all class services involving Russian vessels, assets and companies, over the Russian invasion of Ukraine."After careful consideration of the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea as well as the applicable sanctions, ABS has taken the decision to withdraw all Class services involving Russian vessels, assets, and companies," the company said Monday."The decision follows…

U.K.-based classification society Lloyd's Register (LR) has appointed Kevin Humphreys as its new Marine and Offshore President for the Americas. Humphreys, who has more than 30 years of maritime and government experience in commercial and operational roles, joins from Wärtsilä where he was General Manager for Market Innovation and Global Merchant Segment Shipping Sales.Succeeding John Hicks, who has taken up the role of LR Strategic Implementation Director, Humphreys has experience as an executive and manager in a variety of fields including private equity and venture capital backed start-ups…

Seaspan Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp. announced on Wednesday it has accepted delivery of two quality 8,500 TEU scrubber-fitted containerships on long-term charter with a global liner.Bing Chen, chairman, president and CEO of Seaspan, said, "Our creative customer partnership, executional expertise and operational excellence continue to drive quality growth as we provide market leading solutions to our customers. Global liners increasingly prefer Seaspan as the partner of choice through our reliable and scalable platform and consistent delivery of best-in-class services.

Maritime connectivity and IT solutions provider Marlink Group has obtained final regulatory approvals to acquire 100% of ITC Global from Panasonic. "The Marlink and ITC Global management teams are preparing for a swift closing of the transaction in the coming weeks, while remaining fully focused on providing best-in-class services to their customers across the world," Marlink said."Both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) have given their approval to the deal.

Sperry Marine and DNV GL signed a strategic agreement to enable vessels to securely share their navigation data for use in DNV GL's digital classification services and obtain real-time class status of the navigation systems.The agreement seeks to improve process efficiency for class surveys covering the core elements of vessel navigation, through co-operation on new digital solutions. It will help to streamline the class survey inspection process by giving DNV GL access to data from the ship’s bridge…

Thrustmaster of Texas, Inc. said it has been awarded a contract from Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) for the design, development and manufacture of the auxiliary propulsion unit (APU) on the U.S. Navy’s future guided missile frigate (FFG 62). Thrustmaster will be supplying the complete APU package consisting of the 1MW retractable azimuthing thruster, controls, prime mover electric motor, variable frequency drive and steering and retraction power unit. The APU package will…

Classification society ABS announced Tuesday it has updated its Shuttle Tanker Advisory, offering insights on shuttle tanker design and operation all over the globe, with particular focus on Brazil, the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.The Advisory explains how ABS optional notations complement class and statutory requirements to fulfill varying regional and operational requirements. As well as exploring new technologies having an impact on the sector, the Advisory identifies…

The name of the first ship in the U.S. Navy's new guided missile frigate (FFG(X)) class will be USS Constellation (FFG 62), Secretary of the Navy Kenneth J. Braithwaite announced Wednesday while aboard the museum ship Constellation in Baltimore.The warship will be the fifth U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name Constellation. Braithwaite said the name was selected in honor of the first U.S. Navy ships authorized by Congress in 1794: six heavy frigates named United States, Constellation, Constitution, Chesapeake, Congress and President.

ABS and Chevron Shipping Company LLC have embarked on a digital fleet management journey.As a first step, the Suezmax lightering vessel Pegasus Voyager has become the first vessel in Chevron’s fleet to qualify for the ABS maintenance optimization notation SMART-MHM (Machinery Health Monitoring), with more vessels expected to follow. The ship is also the first ABS-classed to receive the notation.ABS says this is just the beginning of the journey to condition-based maintenance for the Chevron’s fleet of 28 vessels.

ABS and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) are working together to deliver Korea’s first end-to-end 3D model-based class process, encompassing engineering and survey.The signing of a new joint development project (JDP) to develop 3D model-based surveys follows ABS and SHI’s development of a paperless 3D model-based design and review process, completing a previous JDP signed in September 2019. The project moves into the next phase now with pilot 3D model-based surveys of an liquefied…

Classification society ABS launched a new suite of fleet management and vessel compliance services powered by its smart functionality and advanced analytics which will also be available through a new mobile app.An enhancement to the ABS MyFreedom client portal, the new portal and digital tools are designed to simplify access to operational, technical and compliance fleet intelligence and all ABS Class services to manage fleet operating health and performance.New smart functionality launched today includes:The ABS Smart Scheduler…

Bureau Veritas (BV) has opened a new remote survey center in Singapore, with more new locations to follow, as the testing, inspection and certification (TIC) services provider continues its digital transformation and push to prove remote class services amid travel restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic. The newest site joins existing BV remote survey centers in Rotterdam, Piraeus, Istanbul and Dubai.Classification societies and other marine services providers have long striven to increase remote services in an effort to boost efficiencies and reduce costs.

The world’s largest container tonnage provider has become the latest vessel owner to benefit from classification society DNV GL’s remote audit capabilities, as the impact of the global COVID-19 crisis continues to spur the increased use of remote survey services globally.Under a Hong Kong flag special authorization, DNV GL, together with representatives from Seaspan Corporation, carried out a remote Document of Compliance (DoC) audit of the company’s Safety Management System (SMS).According to DNV GL, the Hong Kong flag administration gave the classification society the go-ahead to perform the Seaspan DoC audit on behalf of Hong Kong flag after having become familiar with its process and capabilities from a series of remote audits completed in recent months.“With more than 18…

As COVID-19 and a historically weak energy market wreaks havoc on maritime, Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO Maritime, DNV GL, tells Maritime Reporter & Engineering News in its May 2020 edition that this could be the beginning of a Renaissance period for the industry. "Everything will be looked at with new eyes, it’s going to be a renaissance for the maritime world and I think we’ll have a lot of innovation and new ideas," said Ørbeck-Nilssen. "Things that we’ve traditionally done for years simply will not hold up…

Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard has been selected to build a class of up to 10 multimission guided-missile frigates (FFGs) for the Navy’s FFG(X) program, the U.S. Navy announced on Thursday.The Navy awarded a $795 million contract to the Marinette, Wis. shipbuilder for the design and production of one base ship plus nine option vessels, as well as post-delivery availability support, engineering and class services, crew familiarization, training equipment and provisioned item orders…

For the sixth year running, Singapore has clinched the top spot among the world's maritime centers in the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index.The island city-state in Southeast Asia beat 42 other cities such as Hong Kong, which ranked second, as well as London, which ranked third.Based on the evaluation scores, Singapore shows strength in ship management and shipbroking services, while Hong Kong is benefiting from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and economic opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.London’s first-class services in shipbroking, legal and shipping finance were highlighted.

If global trade is the engine of economic growth, shipping is the cylinder oil that keeps the engine running. However, the people who make this – our – industry work are almost invisible, as they labour unseen beyond the horizon and out of mind.For this reason, the Day of the Seafarer should be applauded for encouraging us to pause and reflect on the importance of deck officers, engineers and everyone else on whom the industry relies to ensure cargoes are delivered safely and…

The Dubai-based Tristar Group announced that it has signed firm contracts for six new build 25,000 MT DWT, IMO Type 2 Oil and Chemical Tankers with South Korea shipbuilder, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.The vessels will be delivered between the middle of May 2020 till the first week of January 2021, said a press release from the fully integrated liquid logistics solutions provider.The vessels have been ordered on the back of long-term charter contracts with oil major Shell.“Our business model will continue to be built around the needs of customers and we are confident that if we continue to offer best in class services at competitive pricing there will be immense opportunity to leverage the brand equity that we have built over the years…

The ship classification society, Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) has secured a five-year contract from India’s largest shipping company, The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) – to undertake Emergency Response Service (ERS) for 33 vessels.The classification society’s ERS is aimed at providing round-the-clock technical support by way of speedy assessment of the intact/damage stability as well as longitudinal strength of any vessel involved in a major incident e.g. grounding, collision or fire. Issues potentially arising from such incidents include excessive trim/heel, loss of stability, progressive flooding, structural impairment…