Field Service News

The MSC Foundation, the MSC Group and Mercy Ships International have joined forces to build a new hospital ship.On 8 April, the chairman of MSC Group and MSC Foundation, Capt. Gianluigi Aponte, MSC Group President and Member of the MSC Foundation Board, Diego Aponte, and Mercy Ships Founder, Don Stephens, finalized an agreement to kickstart the new project with a generous anchor donation from MSC Foundation.The new purpose-built hospital ship will expand the impact of Mercy Ships’ life-changing surgeries…

Maritime Developments (MDL) has assisted Saipem in progressing an LNG project offshore Greece, which included work on the connection of Gastrade’s Alexandroupolis floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) to the country’s gas transmission system.The project consisted of a FSRU and a mooring and pipeline system, connecting the floating unit to the Greek National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGTS).An MDL flex-lay spread was used for the installation of two flexible risers…

Chevron Marine Products said Tuesday that four-stroke engine operators could benefit from its new lubricating oil's versatility.HDAX 9700 was created to provide a solution for engines that run on multiple liquid and gaseous fuels and applications that require a low-sulfated ash lubricant, Chevron said.According to the company, the HDAX 9700t is also suitable for dual-fuel marine engines, as HDAX 9700 has successfully completed more than 20.000 hours of testing on a Wärtsilä dual-fuel power plant.“HDAX 9700 brings many benefits for operators of four-stroke engines.

Defense contractor Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management (Arcline), has acquired American Fan, a axial and centrifugal fan manufacturer based in Fairfield, Ohio.“Now more than ever, Fairbanks Morse Defense remains committed to expanding our growing array of OEM equipment to ensure that our fleet is always mission-ready,” said George Whittier, FMD CEO. “American Fan has a long track record of delivering high-quality products to the U.S.

Volvo Penta announced it has entered into a new partnership with SVF Panama, part of the SVF Group, to support its customers with marine services in Panama and Costa Rica.In recent years, Volvo Penta has steadily expanded its service and support network, partnering with companies that specialize in marine operations to provide technical support, field service, maintenance operations and parts supply for its customer base across the marine leisure and commercial sectors.“SVF is an ideal partner for Volvo Penta…

French ferry operator Corsica Linea has signed 10-year Guaranteed Asset Performance (GAP) agreement with Wärtsilä to help ensure optimal performance of the power systems onboard the company’s new liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled RoPax vessel A Galeotta, which will sail between Marseille and Corsica in France. The 206-meter-long ship was built at the Visentini yard in Italy. It features two Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel main engines and two Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines.The scope of the agreement includes scheduled maintenance of the main and auxiliary engines…

Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management (Arcline), is expanding its capabilities to serve unmanned marine vehicles (UXV) through a licensing agreement with DECK Marine Systems (DECK), a developer of systems to deploy and recover vessels and sensors. Through the agreement, FMD and DECK will co-develop an intelligent launch and recovery system (LARS) for use with UXVs, and FMD will have an exclusive license to sell and service DECK’s LARS…

Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management, is launching a 45,000-square-foot training and service center campus in Chesapeake, Va. The defense contractor will move its existing service center from Norfolk, Va., to the Chesapeake campus to add a state-of-the-art training facility and further expand advanced service support for its customers. The move represents a $13 million investment in the community.“We are excited to have Fairbanks Morse Defense as the newest member of our business community,” said Rick West, Mayor of Chesapeake.

Marine electronics company Furuno USA announced it recently hired Andrew Stradling as technical applications manager.Based in Seattle, Stradling will work alongside longtime Furuno USA representatives Alan Terry and Jon Closson for the overall promotion and sales of Furuno commercial fishery solutions in the Americas. In addition to managing Furuno’s specialty hydroacoustics product line, Stradling will contribute to the training of Furuno personnel, Furuno USA dealer personnel, and customers alike.

Elcome International on Tuesday announced that its Sri Lanka office, International Marine Services, has become an authorized sales and service provider of Koden Electronics products.Dubai-based Elcome, which has been a Koden distributor in UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia and India for more than 30 years, is now also providing field service and onboard support for Koden products from its Sri Lanka office inside the Port of Colombo.Headquartered in Japan, Koden offers a broad-based marine electronics product line including IMO-compliant and non-IMO radars…

An official naming ceremony was held in Bulgaria last Thursday for Yantra, a new cutter suction dredger (CSD) built to help maintain Danube water depths. Damen supplied the modular CSD 500 dredger following a European tender.The naming ceremony was performed by the Dutch ambassador to Bulgaria, Bea ten Tusscher. As Godmother of the dredger she stated that the task to be performed by the dredger – keeping the Bulgarian stretch of the Danube navigable – is an important one. Even more so as the ceremony took place in Ruse, the largest inland port of Bulgaria.

Mercy Ships announced that its newly built hospital ship Global Mercy has completed sea trials leading up to delivery, equipping, maiden voyage and launch into service to sub-Saharan Africa in 2022.The first-of-its-kind 174-meter vessel, designed by Finnish naval architect Deltamarin and built at the Tianjin Xingang Shipyard in China, is the world’s largest purpose-built civilian hospital ship. It has a beam of 28.6 meters, with a design draft of 6.15 meters and gross tonnage of 37…

U.S.-based ballast water treatment sysems manufacturer Ecochlor has appointed Zen Hong Oh as Regional Service Manager for Southeast Asia.Oh has more than 11 years of involvement in the maritime industry both in shipbuilding and in project management of vessel repairs and retrofits. Prior to Ecochlor, he was Field Service Manager at Emerson Process Management Marine Solutions. He also acted as Assistant Manager of Green Technologies for Sembcorp Marine with responsibilities that…

KVH Industries, Inc. announced that marine technical services firm Kilo Marine has joined the KVH Watch Solution Partner program and will offer KVH Watch connectivity as part of a wide range of marine services. In particular, the digital services that Kilo Marine offers via its V-Node platform will use KVH Watch to provide dedicated connectivity and on-demand Remote Expert Intervention, allowing Kilo Marine technicians to support their customer base anywhere around the world.

Fairbanks Morse, a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management, has acquired Ward Leonard Operating, LLC, a provider of motor and control solutions for military applications. This acquisition will expand the scope of power and propulsion equipment and aftermarket services that Fairbanks Morse provides to its core customers, including the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard."The acquisition of Ward Leonard expands the Fairbanks Morse product portfolio into complementary technologies, positioning us to serve as a power systems integrator to the U.S. Navy and U.S.

Power solutions provider Fairbanks Morse said it has named James "Jay" McFadyen as Vice President and General Manager of Aftermarket.McFadyen has more than 30 years of experience in the marine, defense and aerospace industries with leading global companies including Rolls-Royce, GE, and most recently as Vice President for Leonardo DRS-Naval Power Systems. Recognized as an innovator, McFadyen twice won GE’s award for Engineering Accomplishment of the Year and formed the first business unit at Rolls-Royce to be recognized as an Innovation Center of Excellence.

Mercy Ships' new hospital ship Global Mercy, nearing completion at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard in China, will be powered by four Wärtsilä 32 engines.When completed, the philanthropic organization's Global Mercy will be the world’s largest vessel of its kind, providing essential healthcare to patients in developing countries. Mercy Ships expects to take delivery in 2021, and the ship’s maiden voyage is planned later in the year to Africa where crew will provide vital surgical care at no cost.Wärtsilä…

Wärtsilä Corporation’s half year financial report through June 2020 was littered with bad news due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with order intake and order book both down – 19% and 12% respectively in the January to June 2020 period. But the bad news was countered with a report of stable net sales and strong cash flow.“The adverse impact of COVID-19 on both our own operations and those of our customers increased during the second quarter. This was clearly visible in the decrease in orders received across all businesses,” Jaakko Eskola, President and CEO, Wärtsilä.

Headset communications on board workboats in harsh marine environments are subject to a variety of challenges: background noise from loud engines and high wind turbulence around the microphone and the highly corrosive salt and spray in marine environments. On board rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) and high-speed craft (HSC) that pound through rough waters at 60 knots – including a variety of patrol boats and interceptor/interdiction vessels – critical communication can be rendered all but impossible.

MAN PrimeServ, MAN Energy Solutions’ service brand, has extended its ‘PrimeServ Omnicare’ concept from turbomachinery into the marine and power segments. This one-stop service solution now also focuses on maintenance that covers non-MAN as well as MAN machinery, including engines, turbochargers and related auxiliaries.In the marine and power segments, PrimeServ Omnicare provides a maintenance service with OEM (original equipment manufacturer) spare-parts, based on global agreements.

Finland's Wärtsilä on Tuesday missed expectations with a 45% drop in quarterly profit hurt by the coronavirus outbreak, sending its shares down more than 6%, despite order intake at the ship technology and power plant maker falling less than expected.CEO Jaakko Eskola said demand in the first quarter had remained reasonable given the market conditions but among Wärtsilä's clients the cruise ship segment had been severely affected and several energy project sites had been demobilized."In the energy markets, deteriorating macroeconomic conditions and the anticipated decrease in electricity consu

Everett Ship Repair (ESR) is a relatively new name in the U.S. ship repair business. Established in October 2019, the Pacific Northwest shipyard is owned by Ice Cap Holdings, LLC, which is also the parent company to another shipyard not too far away: Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB).Both ESR and NBBB are headed up by CEO Gavin Higgins, who is responsible for the development of new business opportunities and cultivation of new business relationships, including working with industry groups…

Telemar, the Marlink Group company, launched its BridgeLink solution.Telemar engineers will use the BridgeLink Smart Maintenance Application to provide pro-active support to reduce potential down-time and increase efficiency of Bridge Electronics hardware as well as associated software maintenance and repair.“BridgeLink will enhance our efficiency in servicing our customers’ needs in terms of bridge electronics maintenance,” said Giorgio Santantonio, General Manager, Telemar Italy.