Nick Brown News

Norwegian shipyard Myklebust Verft has been selected to build a pair of innovative hydrogen-powered passenger ferries ordered by Norwegian transport company Torghatten Nord.The design, produced by The Norwegian Ship Design Company for operations in the challenging waters of the Vestfjordstrekninga fjord in the Arctic Circle, received approval in principle (AIP) in August 2022 from Lloyd's Register, who has signed on to class the first-of-their-kind vessels.At 117 meters long with a 120-car capacity…

Over the past year, H2 Energy and DFDS have worked together on a project to analyze the feasibility of retrofitting large ferries with a hydrogen propulsion system.The project, supported by the Danish Maritime Fund, has led to the publication of a hydrogen propulsion feasibility study.With support from the Danish Maritime Fund, DFDS, H2 Energy and Lloyds set out to uncover the technical and operational feasibility of hydrogen propulsion systems by analyzing the main aspects of…

The Lloyd’s Register (LR) Maritime Decarbonization Hub is collaborating with five leading shipowners as founding members in the establishment of a not-for-profit Athens-based global Maritime Emissions Reduction Center (M-ERC) that will focus on optimizing the efficiency of the existing fleet.The M-ERC is being created with the goal of removing technical, investment and community barriers for the uptake of solutions to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the existing global fleet…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate on various maritime digitalization and decarbonization initiatives.The LOI was signed by Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive of MPA, and Nick Brown, Council Chairman of IACS, at the sidelines of the 33rd session of the IMO Assembly in London this week.Under the LOI, both parties will consider the development of technical standards and unified requirements to ensure that new maritime solutions are safely implemented.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has joined as an associate member, bringing regulatory and technological expertise to further support MTF’s objectives.Today, the Maritime Technologies Forum (MTF), whose founding members include ABS, DNV, Lloyd’s Register, ClassNK, Japan’s Maritime Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Norwegian Maritime Authority and the U.K.’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency, welcomed the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) as an associate member…

The IACS Council met in Gdansk, Poland, last week for its 87th session (C87) and elected Roberto Cazzulo of RINA as the incoming Chair of IACS as from 1 Jan 2024.C87 IACS Chair, Nick Brown of Lloyd’s Register, congratulated Cazzulo on his election, and responding, Cazzulo said “It is an honour for me to be elected, and I look forward to building on the excellent work done by Nick Brown in ensuring IACS is well positioned to meet the environmental and technological challenges faced by shipping.”Decarbonisation was high on the agenda at C87.

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has appointed Chakib Abi-Saab to its newly created role of Chief Technology and Innovation Officer (CTIO). Abi-Saab, who was previously with Bahri (formerly known as the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia) as their Chief Technology Officer, joins LR with considerable expertise in technology and digital enablement from both maritime and the oil and gas industry. Before his time with Bahri, Abi-Saab held executive roles at ship management company OSM, offshore energy provider Bumi Armada and Oil and Gas Services provider Baker Hughes.

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has acquired OneOcean, a supplier of voyage compliance, safety and environmental solutions, from European mid-market private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe.The addition of OneOcean will expand LR’s existing digital solutions portfolio, which already includes fleet management (Hanseaticsoft) and vessel performance and optimization (i4Insight, C-MAP Commercial and Greensteam).OneOcean was created by the merger of ChartCo, in which Equistone first invested in 2016, and Marine Press in 2019.

LR and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop an autonomous ready ship design to support maritime digitalization and the growing demand for operational benefits of increased autonomy.SAS (Samsung Autonomous Ship) is an autonomous navigation system which integrates current navigation equipment, such as ECDIS with TCS (Track Control System), RADAR, CONNING, and remote controlled BMS, with SHI’s new SVISION system, using technology to eliminate human error which accounts for the majority of maritime accidents.

Lloyd’s Register Foundation announced the appointment of a new CEO to take the charity into its second decade.Dr. Ruth Boumphrey will take over from outgoing CEO Professor Richard Clegg following his retirement June 30, 2022. Professor Clegg was the charity’s first CEO and led the organization for 10 years.Dr. Boumphrey is currently Director of Research and Strategic Programs at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, the owner of Lloyd’s Register Group, where she leads its work on some…

Classification society Lloyd's Register (LR) announced Thursday it has acquired GreenSteam, a marine data intelligence company specializing in improving vessel efficiency through machine learning. The acquisition will be integrated and managed by i4 Insight, a subsidiary of Lloyd’s Register. i4 Insight, part of LR's Maritime Performance Services business, is a digital platform that allows shipowners, operators and charterers to access insights on vessel performance and fuel consumption across their fleets.

British professional services provider Lloyd’s Register (LR) has agreed to sell its business assurance and cyber security division to Goldman Sachs Asset Management as the company focuses on maritime activities, executives said on Tuesday.The deal is expected to be completed during the second half of 2021 subject to regulatory approval, the companies said.When asked about the value of the transaction, an LR spokeswoman said it “exceeds $100 million”.LR’s business assurance & inspection…

The International Association of Classification Societies has named Lloyd’s Register CEO Nick Brown as its Incoming Council Chair.Brown will take up the role on July 1 this year, marking the first time that the IACS Chair has been chosen by the Association’s Members and not by rotation, a move that follows governance changes announced in December last year. As part of those changes, Brown’s term of office will run until December 31, 2023.“I am honored to have been named Chair of the International Association of Classification Societies,” Brown said.

Among his first key appointments since taking the helm of Lloyd’s Register (LR) in January, Chief Executive Nick Brown has named three new members of LR’s executive leadership team: Mark Darley as Business Director, Marine and Offshore, Andy McKeran as Business Director, Maritime Performance Services and Philippa Charlton as Chief Marketing Officer.“LR recognizes that maritime stakeholders must rise to the demands of changing technology and the drive to decarbonize our industry.

An ammonia-fueled tanker design developed by South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has received approval in principle (AIP) from classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR).The project to develop the novel, emissions-slashing aframax tanker was announced in January as maritime stakeholders consider cleaner-burning ammonia and other zero-carbon options to meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) target to halve shipping’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2008 levels by 2050.Together…

After 14-years at Lloyd's Register (LR), including five years as group CEO, Alastair Marsh announced that he is stepping down from his role and will retire from the Lloyd’s Register group board on December 31, 2020. LR's board said that Nick Brown, currently Marine & Offshore Director, will succeed Marsh as group CEO and join the LR group board on January 1, 2021. “Alastair is an exceptional business leader who has transformed the company during his tenure, delivering on a five-year modernization and cultural change strategy," said LR Chairman, Thomas Thune Andersen.

LR has appointed Mike Holliday as Marine & Offshore president for South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa (SAMEA).In his new role, Holliday will lead LR’s Marine and Offshore operations across SAMEA, primarily based in Singapore, and be responsible for developing the business in current and emerging markets as well as identifying growth opportunities in the region including key gas, naval and offshore projects.Holliday’s remit will also include LR’s traditional portfolio such as classification…

As the maritime industry settles in on a COVID-19 induced ‘new norm,’ and long-range planning is dramatically shortened,, Nick Brown, Marine and Offshore Director, Lloyd’s Register, said that while much deserved focus must be paid to the current crisis, the industry cannot lose sight of another one looming just as large: climate change. “We strongly maintain that the climate emergency is an event of the same magnitude, just with a different time domain to COVID-19," Brown told Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently.

Remote vessel and equipment surveys have been available in the maritime world for years, but classification societies are seeing increased demand for these services as more firms turn to digital solutions to continue business during the coronavirus outbreak.Using real-time video communication tools, and even drones and robotics when applicable, surveyors are able to work with stakeholders to perform inspections without having to be on site, which is especially beneficial amid current COVID-19 travel restrictions.ABS…

Maritime industry partners striving to advance shipping's decarbonization efforts are working to develop an ammonia-fueled tanker, classification society Lloyd's Register (LR) announced.The joint development project (JDP) involving LR and shipping line MISC Berhad, builder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and engine maker MAN Energy Solutions aims to develop commercially viable deep-sea zero-emissions vessels (ZEVs) that would be operational by 2030, ahead of the International Maritime Organization’s 2050 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target.Nick Brown…

Stunned residents of the Bahamas surveyed the wreckage of their homes and officials struggled to assess the number killed by Hurricane Dorian, as the storm bore down on the South Carolina coast, threatening record flooding on Thursday.The United Nations said 70,000 people in the Bahamas needed immediate humanitarian relief after the most damaging storm ever to hit the island nation.Aerial video of the worst-hit Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas showed widespread devastation…

Lloyd's Register (LR), international provider of classification, compliance and consultancy services to the marine industry, has presented Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) with approval in principle (AiP) for a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) ‘eco-tanker’ design, capable of using a combination of volatile organic compounds (VOC) mixed with LNG as fuel and Norsepower’s rotor sail solution for wind-assisted propulsion.This development was the result of a joint development project (JDP) collaboration between HHI, LR and Norsepower.The VOC recovery system was developed by HHI and will allow the VLCC to use fuel produced from naturally-occurring vapor from the cargo tank during operation.

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has presented GE with an Approval in Principle (AiP) to ‘Digital Twin READY’, marking the first ever approval of a digital twin health management system for marine applications.At a press conference today during SMM trade fair in Hamburg, Germany, it was announced that Lloyd’s Register’s newly released Digital Compliance has been validated through a cocreation project with GE, resulting in an AiP to ‘Digital Twin READY’ for GE’s Predix Asset Performance Management…