Information Management Systems News

Norway's Kongsberg Maritime has signed a contract with Norwegian vessel operator Olympic to outfit two new Construction Service Operation Vessels with a technology suite. The contract is worth around NOK 64 million (around $6,4 million).Two KONGSBERG US 205 PM L FP L-drive azimuth thrusters will be situated fore and aft in the TWIN X-STERN double-ended hybrid-powered vessels."The KONGSBERG US thruster family has set the industry standards for decades being one of the company’s all-time best-selling propulsion products.

KONGSBERG’s ship-to-cloud data infrastructure service Vessel Insight has been qualified by technical advisor to the maritime industry DNV GL. Safety and cyber security were the critical parameters in the recently completed Technical Qualification.The subscription-based service is designed to help operators to begin standardizing their data collection and contextualization, leveraging KONGSBERG’s long history as a system integrator and provider of automation and information management  systems.

The cloud is for “device-agnostic young slashers,” said Trond Bjorseth, marketing manager, of Oslo-based cloud consultancy, Tieto. His company offers an information management tool for subsea projects and “repositories” for the shipping sector’s operations. With Tieto you can get “one big happy project room,” although he admits at least three suppliers offer something similar. For its own future “slashers,” Glasgow-based ship manager Norbulk Shipping opted instead for Google Cloud Technology Solutions…

Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT.L), and Cobham SATCOM today announced that their partner Beijing Marine Communication & Navigation Company Ltd. (MCN) has won the largest Inmarsat Fleet Xpress installation project to date, with Nanjing Tanker Corporation of China. Just two weeks after the launch of Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress service, the agreement brings always-on, next generation high-speed broadband capability worldwide to 70 ships; delivering ‘smart shipping’ connectivity to drive performance optimisation and a step change in crew communications and welfare for Nanjing Tanker Corporation (NTC) vessels. “Nanjing Tanker Corporation has been pivotal in China’s expansion in oil…

Inmarsat and Cobham SATCOM announced that their partner Beijing Marine Communication & Navigation Company Ltd. (MCN) has won the largest Inmarsat Fleet Xpress installation project to date, with Nanjing Tanker Corporation of China. Just two weeks after the launch of Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress service, the agreement brings always-on, next generation high-speed broadband capability worldwide to 70 ships; delivering ‘smart shipping’ connectivity to drive performance optimization and a step change in crew communications and welfare for Nanjing Tanker Corporation (NTC) vessels.

Expanded premises for the World Maritime University (WMU) were inaugurated on Monday, May 19, 2015 in Malmö, Sweden, by IMO Secretary-General and WMU Chancellor Koji Sekimizu. WMU is an international educational institute for the maritime community, operating under the auspices of IMO. At close to 6,000m2, WMU’s new facility is nearly double the size of the previous Malmö campus. It provides a new auditorium, multiple research laboratories, seminar rooms and video-conferencing capabilities for hosting international conferences.

For a second year, members of the Coast Guard Research and Development Center, based in New London, Connecticut, make their way to the large ice floes of the Arctic Ocean to conduct research and test new equipment and technologies with the aim of expanding our knowledge and enhancing our ability to respond to potential hazards and emergencies brought on by increased vessel traffic through the region. It’s a mission as big and as important as the Arctic itself and one they couldn’t do alone. When RDC members depart for the Arctic, they do so aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a 420-foot icebreaker homeported in Seattle, Wash., that serves as a perfect platform for conducting Arctic research.

Inlecom Systems Ltd (Inlecom), is presenting, for the first time, its Maritime Single Windows solution to an exclusive group of shipping experts at the Yachting Club of Greece, in Athens, Greece on May 27th 2014. At the event, Inlecom will describe the methodology that it has developed to enable maritime authorities and trade organizations to fulfil their obligation to deliver ship reporting formalities in electronic format via a Single Window. As such the showcase offers the…

Practical results from the SUPPORT (Security UPgrade for PORTS) project, coordinated by BMT Group Ltd. and part-funded by the European Commission’s FP7 Security Research Program will be demonstrated to key stakeholders at Stena Line’s ferry terminals starting at Masthuggskajen in the Port of Gothenburg on May 7-8, 2014. Comprising a collaboration of 21 European organizations, SUPPORT integrates legacy port systems with new surveillance and information management systems. It efficiently supports the complexity of a real port environment through a more integrated, holistic approach.

Dragutin Radobuljac, the Chief Electrical Engineer on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s mega cruise ship the Allure of the Seas, has described the new Kongsberg Information Management System (KIMS) as a “Revolutionary upgrade,” with significant influence on vessel operations. KIMS is a state-of-the-art, customized data management system that operates over a global, secure and highly scalable infrastructure. KIMS features a suite of applications within a single web portal providing high level vessel data access to engineers and management.

ABB as won an order from Statoil for the upgrade of safety and automation systems at the important Heimdal platform in the North Sea, off the coast of Norway. ABB’s scope comprises a new Human-Machine Interface (HMI) for the control system, control room modifications, simulator, fire and gas detectors, integration of telecommunication in the control room and information management systems (IMS). Heimdal field has reduced its own production and the platform is now primarily a hub in the central North Sea for the processing and distribution of gas.

The Port of Pittsburgh Commission (PPC) is building an innovative wireless broadband network along the rivers in Pittsburgh and is seeking partners to explore new applications for transportation, safety, security and environmental monitoring, according to James R. McCarville, Executive Director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission. The project, called Wireless Waterways, consists of both the Network System Infrastructure (NSI), which will be scalable and expandable, and an Interoperability Test Bed (ITB). The project has been under construction for nearly a year by the PPC’s contractor, CONXX, Inc., from Johnstown, PA. The PPC will begin to conduct experiments within the Test Bed in June.

Aveva announced that CSC Jinling Shipyard in Greater China has signed a new contract for Aveva Net software, upon which an integrated design information management system will be deployed. CSC Jinling Shipyard has grown over recent years, extending its operations across multiple sites. To optimize these distributed and complex operations, Aveva Net was selected to integrate information from engineering, design and enterprise resource management systems across all of its geographic locations. Using Aveva Net, CSC Jinling will benefit from more efficient design and construction, higher quality across the entire business process, and significantly reduced delivery times and costs.

D.F. International logistics service provider D.F. Young, Inc. has announced the relocation of its headquarters office from New York City to Jersey City, N.J. in the first quarter of 2001. The company is leasing 14,000 sq. ft. at 1 Journal Square in Jersey City, after operating from downtown New York for most of its 97-year history. "When this company was started in 1903, all the shipping companies and banks were located in downtown Manhattan," said Thomas Mosimann, president of D.F. Young. "But the port has moved, and most of the other forwarders have followed it to New Jersey over the last 10 to 15 years. D.F.Young already has its Marine Department located in Port Elizabeth, N.J., as well as offices across the U.S. in Jamaica, N.Y.

Boatracs, a business unit of Advanced Remote Communication Solutions, Inc., has appointed new personnel to better service clients, and expand sales coverage in the Pacific Northwest. In newly created positions, Robert Trainor joins the company as Sales Engineer, managing activities for the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and western Canada, and Steven M. Bryan, Sr. as Manager of Projects, Design and Development. Both positions report to Charles J. Drobny Jr., Chief Operating Officer of Boatracs. Trainor is responsible for expanding Boatracs' regional coverage by delivering products and services that improve safety, integrate information, manage data, and facilitate fishermen's ability to obtain the best price for their catch while at sea.

AVEVA announced that Rob Glasier has been promoted to Executive Vice President effective July 2, and will serve as the Head of The Americas for AVEVA; where he will be responsible for all of AVEVA's software and services business across all the Process, Power, Marine and related industries in the Americas region. Prior to this appointment, Rob has been responsible for AVEVA Americas’ Marine business for the shipbuilding and offshore industry, as well as its asset and information lifecycle management business. Prior to AVEVA, Rob was Head of Business Development, and an Owner of RealityWave Inc., which was acquired by AVEVA, and whose technology is a component of AVEVA’s NET Portal, VNET. Rob has extensive experience in sales, marketing, development, and senior management.

Young Brothers Ltd. announced it will spend $186 million over 10 years on a new fleet of barges, tugboats, shipping containers, lifts and other equipment. The 106-year-old company is Hawaii’s largest interisland cargo line. The company's first new barge, a car-carrying roll-on/roll-off barge that can transport 500 vehicles, is scheduled for delivery late this year, sources said. The vessel, which is enclosed to protect cars from sea spray and salt air, is now being designed by Glosten Associates Inc. of Seattle, a naval architecture firm. The company now has 11 barges and eight tugboats, but plans to begin retiring some of those in the coming years. The new fleet of eight barges and six tugboats will replace the old vessels with more efficient ones.

Addressing a projected increase in waterborne commercial vessel traffic that is expected to double or triple over the next 20 years, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater issued a major report, An Assessment of the U.S. Marine Transportation System, outlining recommendations to meet the growing challenges to the nation's marine transportation system (MTS). The recommendations include improved vessel traffic management to ensure safety and greater focus on operational efficiencies, research and intermodalism, and better coordination and development of adequate financing mechanisms to ensure the growth of seaports and waterways. "The MTS is the lifeline that links American producers, farmers and manufacturers to global markets," said Secretary Slater.

Addressing a projected increase in waterborne commercial vessel traffic that is expected to double or triple over the next 20 years, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater issued a major report, An Assessment of the U.S. Marine Transportation System, outlining recommendations to meet the growing challenges to the nation's marine transportation system (MTS). The recommendations include improved vessel traffic management to ensure safety and greater focus on operational efficiencies, research and intermodalism, and better coordination and development of adequate financing mechanisms to ensure the growth of seaports and waterways. "The MTS is the lifeline that links American producers, farmers and manufacturers to global markets," said Secretary Slater.