Acquired Technology News

Odfjell Ship Management has selected Alfa Laval’s OceanGlide fluidic air lubrication system for installation on one of their tankers later this year.OceanGlide is newly acquired technology for Alfa Laval. The patented and class-approved system utilizes fluidic oscillators to generate an even layer of micro air bubbles across a vessel’s entire flat bottom, reducing friction and drag and therefore fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The fluidic technology creates streamlined sections on the vessel’s flat bottom, each with its own fluidic band that generates bubbles.

Singapore’s shipyards are looking to recent investments in capacity, design and newly acquired technology to combat order declines after a decades-long offshore buildup. Sembcorp and peer Keppel are making the most of partnerships in FLNG and showing signs they’ll be okay through the downturn, helped by their gas-hungry Australasian backyard and renewed ties with old charterer parties and suppliers. With drilling contractors unable to pay for the offshore rigs they’ve ordered, Singapore’s heavyweight yards have had to defer deliveries and become defacto rig owners.

A new entry to the EAL lubricant race emerges from RSC Bio Solutions. Deep roots, new technologies and familiar names create the basis for a different way of approaching marine lubricants. It isn’t surprising that RSC Bio Solutions, a provider of environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs) and cleaners, chose the SMM 2016 trade exposition in Hamburg, Germany as the platform to launch its newest product. That’s because SMM provided an appropriately large platform for a firm that has deep roots in the chemical and degreaser markets, but perhaps not the name recognition of its higher profile competition. With roots dating all the way back to 1924, and leveraging the acquisition of another now-familiar lubricants firm – Terresolve Technologies – this isn’t RSC Bio Solutions’ first rodeo.

IHC Merwede establishes IHC Tidal Energy and acquires Wave Rotor technology. On 30 May 2012, IHC Merwede signed an agreement to acquire Wave Rotor technology from Ecofys, which is renowned for its expertise in sustainable energy solutions. The official signing was made by Willem Steenge, Managing Director of IHC Tidal Energy, and Manon Janssen, Managing Director of Ecofys. Wave Rotor technology, which will be managed by the newly established company IHC Tidal Energy, enables IHC Merwede to further secure its position in the renewable market.