No 4 Dry Dock News

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell more than 12% after the operator's downbeat first-quarter revenue overshadowed a raise in annual profit forecast on Wednesday.Expectations for cruise operators have generally become high after strong booking trends and demand drove up their results and shares last year.Shares of Norwegian and its rival Carnival have seen their growth temper from those highs, in part due to concerns around cost pressures and their brands' exposure to the Middle East conflict.Meanwhile…

Dales Marine Services Ltd and Dales Marine Services (Greenock) Ltd (Dales Marine) are accepting applications for their apprenticeship program, with the aim to foster talent within the ship repair and marine industry.Dales Marine currently has 33 apprentices undergoing training across its dry dock sites and is this year offering 12 new apprenticeship positions in mechanical engineering, steelwork and fabrication at its Aberdeen, Leith and Greenock facilities.The four-year apprenticeship program entails two years of training…

The Austal USA Board of Directors has elected Michelle Kruger as Austal USA President. She has been serving as interim president since August 2023.Kruger joined Austal USA in 2022 as the vice president of global services and support. In that role she led Austal USA’s ship repair and warranty efforts including the development of business strategy and strategic alliances. She also oversaw the stand up of Austal USA’s San Diego repair yard including the delivery of a purpose-built 9000-tonne capacity dry dock.

Royal Caribbean Group raised its annual profit forecast for a second time and beat expectations for first-quarter profit and revenue on Thursday, with half of its growth coming from higher ticket pricing.Soaring demand for vacations at sea has given cruise operators ample room to raise ticket prices as the industry looks to close the pricing gap with land-based vacations and give their profits a lift."What transpired over the past three months was even better than our already elevated expectations," Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty said.

Austal USA earlier this month celebrated the start of construction on the first of three LCU 1710 Landing Craft Utility vessels for the U.S. Navy at the company’s Mobile, Ala. shipyard.Austal USA, a subsidiary if the Australian shipbuilding group Austal, was awarded a US$91.5 million (A$143.4 million) contract in September 2023 that includes three LCU 1710 vessels and associated support efforts.Austal CEO Paddy Gregg said the start of construction on Austal USA’s latest steel…

HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division has completed the dry dock portion of the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).Following the recent flooding of more than 100 million gallons of water into the dry dock, USS John C. Stennis was moved to an outfitting berth at the shipyard, where the remainder of the RCOH work and testing will be completed.During the dry dock phase of the RCOH, USS John C. Stennis received significant upgrades and began an extensive overhaul process, both inside and outside the ship.

Dry bulk shipping company Pacific Basin has decided to apply a sustainable graphene-based propeller coating XGIT-PROP, developed by Canadian company GIT Coatings, across its entire fleet.Following successful application and observing positive results on one of its Supramax dry bulk vessels, Pacific Basin has started the rollout of XGIT-PROP across 40 vessels scheduled for dry dock maintenance in 2024. This decarbonisation initiative marks the largest adoption of graphene-based propeller coating in the dry bulk segment.Sanjay Relan…

Armada Technologies has secured a hull lubrication contract with LNG carrier company Cool Company Ltd (CoolCo).Under the partnership, Armada will design, engineer, procure, and provide support for the installation and commissioning of its air lubrication system on a CoolCo vessel scheduled to dry dock in 2024. Once commissioned, CoolCo will conduct sea trials and provide documentation to Armada, following ISO or ITTC guidance, to measure the system's performance.Armada CEO Alex…

HII announced that Virginia-class submarine Massachusetts (SSN 798) was recently launched into the James River at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division.Shipbuilders transferred the submarine from a construction facility to the floating dry dock, where it was later submerged and moved by tugboats to a submarine pier at the shipyard for final outfitting, testing and crew certification.“Following the christening of this mighty submarine in May, witnessing Massachusetts launch into the river is a source of immense pride for our shipbuilding team…

The American Bureau of Shipping dominates the global market in the classification of Floating Production. Offshore Engineer recently sat with Matt Tremblay, ABS’ Vice President of Global Offshore Markets, at American Bureau of Shipping HQ in Houston for his insights on market drivers and technical trends in this dynamic market.Matt, big picture, how do you see the Floating Production market developing in the coming years?At a macro level, I think we're going to be supply limited over the next five years.

It might be easy to blame EALs, but the ongoing causes of stern tube damage are varied, and possibly declining.Environmentally Acceptable lubricants (EALs) gained market traction with the introduction of US VGP regulations in 2013. Since then, DNV has observed two major trends. The first, starting in 2013 was early life damage, either during sea trials or within the first five years of operation, where aft stern tube bearings typically failed under extreme load conditions. Then from around 2018…

Altera Infrastructure has hired DOF to install Voyageur Spirit floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit as well as one floating storage unit (FSO) at Eni-operated Baleine oil field offshore Ivory Coast.The project includes the complete installation of seabed mooring systems, flowline between the FSO – a converted shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia - and the Voyageur Spirit FPSO, along with their associated equipment.The contract for the redeployment of the FPSO and the FSO was secured by Altera back in October 2023.Voyageur Spirit is a cylindrical-shaped FPSO…

Last week, on January 31, the future USS Kingsville (LCS 36) returned pier side after successfully completing acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico for the U.S. Navy, Mobile, Ala. shipbuilder Austal USA announced.During acceptance trials, comprehensive testing is conducted on the ship’s major systems and equipment in order to demonstrate their successful operation and mission readiness. The U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey participates throughout the trials to validate…

Blake Powell, president at JMS Naval Architects, discusses his career, company and latest trends in naval architecture and marine engineering.Please give a brief professional bio, including education, experience and overview of current duties as president of JMS Naval Architects.I earned my degree in Naval Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where I attended on a Navy ROTC scholarship and was commissioned as a Diving and Salvage Officer after I graduated.

Houston based dredging and marine construction contractor Orion Group Holdings – Marine Group has become a member of trade group the Dredging Contractors of America (DCA).Orion has a near 100-year legacy and today ranks among market leaders in the provision of dredging services to keep waterways serviceable and to expand ports and other marine infrastructure throughout the United States, territories and Caribbean. The company works to create beneficial marsh habitats, dredging…

Seattle based Manson Construction Co. announced it has been selected as the contractor for the P-508 Floating Dry Dock Mooring Facility project.Awarded by Naval Facilities Command Southwest (NAVFAC SW), this $106.9 million project at Naval Base San Diego (NBSD) includes a new ramp pier, retrofitting the mooring wharf, and support facilities for Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) to directly support the operations and maintenance of a new floating dry dock.

Vigor Alaska, a Titan Company, successfully completed a dry dock and repair work solicitation on U.S. Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick this month, returning it to service ahead of schedule.The $3.65 million contract was awarded in September 2023 and represents the first non-emergent maintenance solicitation awarded to the Ketchikan Shipyard since 2011.USCGC McCormick is homeported at Coast Guard Base Ketchikan, only 3.5 miles from the Ketchikan Shipyard.This was also the first time a vessel of USCGC McCormick's class has been serviced at Ketchikan Shipyard…

Taylor Smith Shipyard (TSS), the oldest ship repair yard on Mauritius, has appointed Willy van Niekerk as new General Manager.van Niekerk knows the yard well and was Assistant General Manager since 2022. He has broad experience in the maritime and offshore industries, taking to sea at 14 as a school holiday job on a converted fishing vessel and deciding to study marine engineering as a result.Throughout the years, van Niekerk sailed on container ships and bulk carriers trading worldwide, becoming chief engineer in the process, before embarked on a shore based career.

Thordon Bearings and Wärtsilä have announced the formation of the Blue Ocean Alliance to develop and promote a stern tube-less ship concept.The Blue Ocean Alliance brings together Thordon Bearings, Wärtsilä, the School of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), naval architect SDARI (Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute CSSC) and ABS.The companies say that the concept of a ship design that does not require a…

Fincantieri announced on Monday it has reached a deal that will allow it to expand its shipbuilding footprint in the port of Ancona.The Italian shipbuilding company said it has signed a program agreement with the Port System Authority of the Central Adriatic Sea (ADSP) to develop the port’s current infrastructure, including construction piers, dry dock, technological and lifting facilities, for the construction of ships of greater size and tonnage, both in the cruise and merchant sector.The value of the investment is €80 million…

ABB announced it has secured a 15-year agreement covering service for Carnival Corporation brand vessels powered by Azipod XO electric propulsion systems.The deal aims to simplify service management of Azipod XO propulsion units, with ABB experts remotely available 24/7 to support the vessels’ electric engineering crew on maintenance, based on ABB Ability Remote Diagnostic System and ABB Ability Condition Monitoring for Azipod propulsion. The owner accumulates data about Azipod propulsion performance…

W&O Supply will add BROEN Clorius Controls' low-leakage valves to its portfolio of marine valves, actuated valves, pipes and engineered solutions.Engineered to helping vessel owners and operators in the international maritime industry to reduce their carbon emissions, the new product is an ultra-low leak three-way valve especially designed for HT-systems on 2-stroke main engines. It increases system efficiency, helping save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions.Compared to most valves…

Harland & Wolff has secured a contract with Canada-based Cenovus Energy for the mid-life upgrade of the SeaRose FPSO vessel. The base contract value is approximately £61 million (~currently around $74 million). The FPSO is expected to arrive at Harland & Wolff in Belfast in the first quarter of 2024 and will be in the building dock for a period of more than three months.The contract follows a letter of intent announced earlier this year, and a number of pre-arrival works have already started…