Marine Link
Friday, March 29, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Systems Center News

08 Feb 2023

VIDEO: Patrick Ryan Named CTO at ABS

ABS appointed Patrick Ryan as Chief Technology Officer. Image courtesy ABS

As Patrick Ryan assumes the top tech exec spot at ABS, Maritime Reporter TV interviewed him on the eve of the announcement. While shipowners face multiple technology challenges ahead, Ryan said a top priority is the bridging of technology from the fundamental phase into operational solutions. ABS appointed Patrick Ryan as Chief Technology Officer to support continued development of ABS as a maritime technology leader.Having served as Senior Vice President, Global Engineering and Technology since 2019…

01 Jun 2022

ABS Grants AIP to SDARI for Approach to Stern Tube Design

Illustration of the stern tube design awarded ABS AIP. (Image: SDARI)

ABS has granted Approval in Principle (AIP) to the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute (SDARI) for its vessel design with a novel aft layout, which eliminates pollution and promotes efficient vessel operations.The SDARI design, developed in cooperation with Thordon Bearings Inc. and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), introduces a new approach to the vessel’s aft layout, including removal of the stern tube casting, employing seawater for lubrication…

11 Feb 2022

Ship Emissions: MIT Takes the Lead Toward Net Zero

“Even if you’re not going to put hydrogen on ships, hydrogen may be involved in producing that synthetic fuel. We have a number of projects underway that are tackling the question of hydrogen, including a project we’re starting now looking at pathways towards gigaton scale, low carbon hydrogen production.”
Randall Field, Executive Director, MITEI Future Energy Systems Center Photo courtesy MIT/Randall Field

The MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) launched a new research consortium—the Future Energy Systems Center—to address the climate crisis and the role energy systems can play in solving it. Randall Field, Executive Director, discusses current research and the challenges ahead for the maritime sector.The reputation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is such that it can take mammoth issues — such as driving the world to net zero — head-on, and suddenly make the impossible…

11 Jan 2021

First Building Complete at HII's New Unmanned Systems Campus

The new site will be used to assemble hull structures for Boeing’s Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) program for the U.S. Navy. (Image: Boeing)

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) said Monday it has completed the first phase of its Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence with the construction of a 22,000-square-foot facility.The first of two planned buildings on the 20-acre campus in Hampton, Va. will be used to assemble hull structures for Boeing’s Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) program for the U.S. Navy.“We are thrilled to reach this critical milestone with the development of our Center of Excellence campus,” said Andy Green, executive vice president of HII and president of HII’s Technical Solutions division.

04 Jan 2021

HII Acquires Autonomy Business from Spatial Integrated Systems

Spatial Integrated Systems' unmanned systems solutions, including multi-vehicle collaborative autonomy, sensor fusion and perception, have been fielded for more than 6,000 hours on 23 vessel types. Image courtesy HII

In a move that further expands its unmanned systems capabilities, Huntington Ingalls Industries acquired the autonomy business of Spatial Integrated Systems Inc. (SIS) which has proven unmanned surface vessel (USV) solutions.SIS’s unmanned systems solutions — including multi-vehicle collaborative autonomy, sensor fusion and perception — have been fielded for more than 6,000 hours on 23 vessel types. They have supported multiple development projects and demonstrations advancing autonomy in unmanned systems in the maritime…

22 Sep 2020

Huntington Ingalls Industries Building Unmanned Systems Hub

Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and HII Executive Vice President and President, HII Technical Solutions Andy Green break ground on HII’s Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence. (Photo: HII)

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) is building a new hub for unmanned systems prototyping, production and testing to meet growing demand from the U.S. Navy for autonomous and uncrewed systems.The purpose-built Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence will include two buildings totaling over 150,000 square feet constructed on a 20-acre campus in Hampton, Va., the U.S.'s largest military shipbuilder said in announcing the center's groundbreaking on Tuesday.“With U.S. Navy’s increasing demand for UUVs and USVs…

30 May 2019

Greek Shipping Leaders Address Key Challenges

Leaders of the Greek Shipping Industry met to discuss decarbonization, capitalizing on data and digital technologies and vessel automation at the annual ABS Hellenic National Committee meeting.“We have deep relationships across the Greek shipping industry, which reflects our extensive investment in serving the needs of ship owners and operators here. Not only is our office in Piraeus the largest ABS office in Europe, but it is home to our Global Ships  Systems Center and an extensive team of experts on call 24 hours a day to assist with whatever challenges they face,” said Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and CEO, who actively participated in the Committee program.ABS…

10 Nov 2017

ABS Conducts First Hellenic Technical Committee Meeting

ABS has hosted the inaugural meeting of the Hellenic Technical Committee (HTC) at its state-of-the-art Global Ship Systems Center (GSSC). “The Hellenic shipping community possesses a wealth of engineering knowledge and we are honored to assemble such a credentialed Technical Committee,” said ABS Europe Division Senior Vice President Vassilios Kroustallis. The HTC includes more than 20 key technical professionals across the maritime industry representing owners, operators and owner associations. The Committee brings together ABS and industry leaders to discuss key technical issues and developments as they pertain to ABS Rules. The HTC also analyzes technology trends, such as digitalization and cyber security, which are impacting the marine industry and vessel complexity.

12 Jun 2017

ABS Expands Greek Presence

Photo: ABS

Classification society ABS unveiled its Global Ship Systems Center and announced the formation of its Hellenic Technical Committee in Athens. “This cutting-edge facility brings together industry-recognized technical leaders to support clients throughout the entire lifecycle of their assets,” said ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. Through a systems-based approach, the Global Ship Systems Center addresses the increasing complexity of mechanical and cyber-enabled systems onboard vessels.

03 Apr 2017

NUWC Division, Newport Signs EPA with New Bedford Whaling Museum

Capt. Michael R. Coughlin, commanding officer of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division, Newport, and James Russell, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the New Bedford Whaling Museum (NBWM), signed an education partnership agreement (EPA) for undersea acoustic research during a brief ceremony on Friday, March 31. Under the EPA, NUWC Newport will provide research, expertise, and material on the Navy's historic and current role in marine mammal research in conjunction with the museum’s recently acquired collection of historic marine mammal recordings, photographs and collection equipment. The William A. Watkins Collection of Marine Mammal Sound Recordings and the William E.

30 Sep 2016

SeeByte Tapped for UK Navy’s Unmanned Warrior Exercise

Unmanned Warrior

SeeByte, creator of smart software for unmanned maritime systems, said it will demonstrate software solutions for unmanned systems as part of the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior exercise. The exercise will feature more than 50 vehicles, sensors and systems and aims to demonstrate never-seen-before capabilities in the field of autonomy and unmanned systems. SeeByte’s software forms the core components of the Hell Bay 4 and MCM Challenge elements of Unmanned Warrior. The aim of these exercises is to develop and push the capabilities of autonomous systems…

08 Apr 2016

Aussie Navy Opens Simulation Training Center

Official Opening of NTSC-R   (Photo: Australian Defense)

A state-of-the-art simulation facility has been opened in Sydney that will enhance training for Royal Australian Navy technical sailors. Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, AO, CSC, RAN, officially opened the $90 million Navy Training Systems Center at Randwick Barracks, and said the purpose-built facility would revolutionise how Navy prepares Marine and Electronic Technicians for their roles in the Fleet. “This next generation training facility will ensure Navy can fully utilize the extraordinary capabilities of both the Canberra class amphibious ships and the Hobart class destroyers…

17 Dec 2014

Breakthrough Capability Keeps Subs, Ships Safe

Interactive software that can dramatically cut the time it takes to plan safe submarine missions is crossing over to the surface fleet and is being installed this month on the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53), officials announced Dec. 16. Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the technology adds speed and precision the process of finding the best routes around hazards in waterways around the world. Sailors spend days or even weeks planning a successful navigation route for a mission. They collect maps and charts, analyze them, double check them and cross reference information that comes in various hard copy and digital forms.

10 Sep 2014

Date for Diary: BlueTech & Blue Economy Summit & Expo

The Maritime Alliance promotes the 6th Annual event Novemeber 12-13, 2014 at the McMillin Companies Event Center in San Diego, CA  as a unique opportunity to understand trends, network with leaders from the public and private sector, see innovative technologies by the exhibitors, and identify possible partners. Recent studies are helping us understand the size and dynamic nature of the Blue Economy and particularly the BlueTech sector that is enabling us to explore, measure and develop ocean industries like never before. And financial and strategic investors are recognizing the opportunity evidenced by an increasing number of M&A and financing transactions - four sizeable transactions announced in the San Diego BlueTech community in the last 120 days alone. Leaders from the U.S.

02 Apr 2014

Lockheed Martin Awarded Contracts Two GPS lll Satellites

GPS Satellite: File image

Lockheed Martin inform that the U.S. Air Force has awarded it more than $245 million in contract options to complete production of its seventh and eighth next-generation Global Positioning System satellites, known as GPS III. “With eight GPS III satellites now fully under contract, the GPS III program is moving from development into recurring production,” said Mark Stewart, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Navigation Systems mission area. GPS III is an important program for the Air Force…

31 Mar 2014

GPS lll Progress Report Update From Excelis

GPS lll image courtesy of Excelis

Exelis says it has successfully completed and fully tested six transmitter assemblies, which are integral payload components for the first in a series of the next generation of GPS III navigation satellites. The navigation payload transmitters carry high-powered GPS signals from space to Earth, benefitting military, commercial and civilian users. To ensure the space vehicle navigation payload meets performance requirements over the mission life, Exelis subjected the transmitter assemblies to a rigorous test program which includes random vibration…

16 Jan 2014

Alion Opens New Facility in Charleston

Keeping warfighters connected at all times is essential to mission success and is the driving force behind the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) and Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic (SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic). Alion Science and Technology, a global engineering, technology and operational solutions company, supporting SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic in several high-priority projects, has opened a new Charleston, S.C. office to improve access to Alion resources. An official ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Monday, November 18, 2013 to unveil the facility located at 2442 Remount Road, Suite 200 in North Charleston. Chairman and CEO Dr.

21 May 2013

Metron Get Navy R&D LDUUV Contract

The Department of Defense award Metron Inc. a contract for development of a large displacement unmanned undersea vehicle (LDUUV). Metron, Inc., of Reston, Va.,is being awarded a $7,287,619 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract  to include in-lab integration and testing of autonomy and mission planning software with bench test hardware selected for deployment on the LDUUV. This one-year contract includes two, one-year options which, if exercised, would bring the potential, cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $18,317,018. Work will be performed in Reston, Va., (80 percent), and Alameda, Calif.(20 percent), and work is expected to be completed March 26, 2014. If options are exercised work will continue through March 2016.

03 Jun 2013

Dolphins Find Rare Navy Torpedo

Howell Torpedo Received: Photo credit Navy NHHC

The Marine Mammal Program's trained Navy dolphins, of the Space and Navy Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SPAWAR), found the century-old torpedo off the coast of San Diego. Naval History and Heritage Command's (NHHC) Underwater Archeology Branch (UAB) at Washington Navy Yard recently received the crated remains of a historic and rare Howell Torpedo. "The Howell torpedo was very important in the development of submarine warfare," said Alexis Catsambis (PhD), NHHC UAB archeologist and cultural resource manager.

20 Sep 2013

GPS Spoofing and the Potential Perils to Ships at Sea

Simple annoyance or potential security threat? Spoof is defined as “a hoax or swindle.”  In the world of electronic networks, a spoofing attack is a situation in which one program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying data and thereby gaining an improper advantage. We have all heard of, and possibly fallen victim to, fraudulent card readers (often inserted on self-service fuel pumps). The fraudulent card readers copy security information from the credit card, which is then used to clone an illegitimate credit card and incur improper charges on the victim’s credit card account.

06 Nov 2013

HII & Northrop Grumman Awarded Navy Contracts

In the latest announcement of US Department of Defense, Navy, contracts, Huntington Ingalls Inc. and Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $7,319,933 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-12-C-2101) for planning and design yard functions for standard Navy valves in support of nuclear-powered submarines. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to be completed by September 2014. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Charlottesville, Va., is being awarded an $8…

27 Nov 2013

Navy Unmanned Helicopter Wish-List Getting Real

Pilotless Fire Scout Helicopter: Photo credit PD-USGOV-MILITARY-NAVY.

Northrop Grumman Corporation has delivered the second MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter to the U.S. Navy after completing final assembly at the company's unmanned systems center in Moss Point, Miss. The aircraft is joining the first one delivered to Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, Calif., to conduct flight testing before using the system for operational missions in 2014. "Since 2006 we have conducted final assembly of the earlier MQ-8B Fire Scout aircraft from our Moss Point facility…

19 Dec 2013

GPS lll Satellite Build Contract Goes to Lockheed Martin

Image courtesy of Lockheed Martin

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin more than US$200-million in contract options to complete production of its fifth and sixth next-generation Global Positioning System satellites, known as GPS III . Lockheed Martin explain that the GPS III improves capability to meet the evolving demands of military, commercial and civilian users. GPS III satellites will deliver three times better accuracy; provide up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities; and include enhancements which extend spacecraft life 25 percent further than the prior GPS block.