Technology Risk News

Financing and Bankability of Offshore Wind Vessels

In our first article we highlighted some of the key contractual considerations facing shipowners looking to construct and charter offshore wind vessels. In this article we explore some of the considerations concerning the financing and bankability of offshore wind vessels. We have seen a diverse group of financiers interested in financing vessels in the offshore wind sector and, while the nature of the financing available will depend to a large extent on the employment of the vessel…

Maritime Thought Leadership: Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS

The maritime industry has been challenged, to say the least. Today, where do you see challenge? Where do you see opportunity?It’s clear our business environment continues to change and we have a new definition of what normal means: nothing is normal. We are in era of rapid, disruptive and impactful change.The coming years will bring further turbulence, shaking out our industry and setting the course for the next 20 years and beyond. Market cycles will continue to evolve and will be impacted differently than they are today.For example…

Under the Sea: A Roadmap for Renewable Energy

Thanks to increasing levels of debt financing for climate-aligned projects, wind-generated power has become one of the fastest-growing green industries. Jessica Williams, an Infrastructure Analyst at S&P Global Ratings, considers the submarine technologies that are making this progress possible.Renewable energy is making an increasing contribution to the electrical grid. By the end of 2016, “green energy” sources accounted for almost a quarter of the world’s electricity supply, according to REN21.

ABS Head Wiernicki Outlines Maritime’s New Normal

Addressing industry leaders at the opening session of the Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA) Shipping 2018 conference, ABS Chairman, President and CEO, Christopher J. Wiernicki, detailed how global megatrends and shipping industry challenges, including digitization and connectivity, cyber security, efficiency improvements and optimization gains in operational performance, and emissions reduction are redefining the current world in which we work. “It’s clear our business environment is changing and we have a new definition of what normal means,” Wiernicki said.

Legal Limbo: Risk Management in a Modern Marine Economy

Technology helps maritime companies do more with less. But today, technological advances are outstripping legal developments. As a result, many marine-based businesses operate in a legal limbo with many lawyers and insurance professionals confused about what laws will apply to what claims. While sometimes philosophical, the problem of what law will apply becomes stark and very real when a worker is injured. We live in a golden age of maritime technological development as we learn to use our oceans, lakes, rivers and coastlines in new and unique ways.

IACS Focus on Education & Training on World Maritime Day

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has marked World Maritime Day by expressing its support for the efforts of the International Maritime Organization to promote the vital contribution made to the industry by its most important asset: its people. In selecting Maritime Education and Training as its theme for World Maritime Day 2015, the IMO is seeking to focus attention on a wide spectrum of maritime education and training as the foundation of a safe and secure shipping industry. These are resources which the IMO believes are vital to preserve the quality, practical skills and competence of qualified human resources and to ensure the industry’s sustainability.

Sener Wins Jury Prize

Sener was awarded the jury prize from Capital magazine in recognition of work carried out by the engineering firm in the city of Bilbao,Spain. Sener’s president, Jorge Sendagorta, received the award from general manager of Innobasque José María Villate Blanco during the ceremony at Bilbao’s city hall. These awards, which recognize the efforts of organizations and institutions in areas as diverse as innovation, sustainability, development or culture, aimed to reward Sener for its "ability to reinvent itself" and for its commitment to "technology risk"…

Primorsk Awards Ship Management 7 Vessels

Primorsk Shipping Corporation of Nakhodka, the Russian-based shipowner and operator has appointed V.Ships, Singapore as technical manager to seven crude/product and product/chemical carriers. V. Ships and Primorsk comment that the two parties have been in discussions for over a year about the possibility of Primorsk outsourcing the technical management and crewing of part of its globally-traded fleet. Alexander Kirilichev, president of Primorsk says that working closely with the world’s largest international ship manager will help establish a quality benchmark against which Primorsk will continue to work with all its fleet of 46 vessels.