Classification News

The annual ABS Joint China and Hong Kong Committee gathered Industry leaders to discuss global challenges facing the maritime sector. The group heard strategies to meet the IMO 2020 Sulfur Cap, as well as a look ahead to 2030, when vessel data will play a significant role in compliance management.“ABS has become the classification organization of choice for the Chinese shipbuilding and shipping industry, with a long track-record of working closely together on innovative projects in both marine and offshore.

Industry leaders from across North America met to discuss global challenges facing the maritime sector at the annual ABS North American Regional Committee.The group heard strategies to meet the IMO’s 2020 Sulfur Cap, as well as a look ahead to 2030 when vessel data will play a significant role in compliance management.“Thanks to our deep links with industry across North America, ABS continues to leverage technology to develop new ways of supporting our partners and members. As the leading classification organization in North America…

International Registries, Inc. and its affiliates (IRI) has announced that the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry will not follow competitors by levying surcharges and commissions on vessel documents and certificates issued on its behalf by the Classification Societies.The RMI Registry will continue to provide its clients with a transparent pricing structure for the issuance of key certificates needed by shipowners.Bill Gallagher, President of IRI, which provides administrative and technical support to the RMI Registry…

A pair of steel-cutting ceremonies held a week apart at separate Chinese shipyards initiated the construction of new workboats for Tianjin Port.Following the successful completion in 2015 of concurrent construction programs involving five vessels of three different designs, Canadian naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd. said it began developing two more designs, working closely with the towing branch of Tianjin Port.On August 23, the steel-cutting ceremony for the first of two ASD 40/35 pilot/tugboats was held at Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard in China.

ABS has granted Approval in Principle (AIP) for the LNG Jumbo, a new 175,000 CBM liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier design from Chinese shipbuilder Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co.The efficient, environmentally friendly design features the GTT MK III Flex Cargo Containment System developed in cooperation with ship designer MARIC.The LNG Jumbo design specifies a WINGD X-DF low-pressure, low-speed two-stroke dual-fuel main engine propulsion system promising enhanced propulsion efficiency and reduced fuel consumption, combined with additional energy saving devices.

BMT’s integrated navigation and maneuvering simulator suite REMBRANDT has been awarded Class A, B and C certification from DNV GL. The certification further builds on BMT REMBRANDT’s 30-year history as one of the maritime industry’s most recognized advanced project engineering support tools, supporting marine pilotage, ship operations, port design and risk management associated with complex transportation infrastructure systems.This classification award verifies BMT as a quality…

The international conference on maritime security and defense (MS&D), held for the seventh time in Hamburg during the SMM maritime trade fair, focused on current and future challenges to maritime security and defense. Twenty naval, industrial and science experts discussed topics such as how to protect international ocean trading routes, when and how to deploy naval forces on crisis missions, as well as cyber security issues.The welcome address opened the event with somber words as Rear Admiral Thorsten Kähler…

Nimble and quick, unmanned aerial vehicles have evolved into a valuable tool for marine and offshore applications.When a U.S. oil tanker conducts a Critical Area Inspection Plan (CAIP) as required by ABS, it is an onerous process. For example, each tank requires seven days of set up with scaffolding and staging. An ABS inspector and UDT technicians must access, and be carefully lowered into the tank with instrumentation and tools. Inspection points in far reaching places are surveyed.

ABS software supports designs across most vessel sectors. This pilot project focused on tug and barge designs, producing promising results.Jensen Maritime, the naval architecture and marine engineering arm of Crowley Maritime Corp, and ABS have completed a precedent-setting pilot project using three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) models to support plan reviews for class approval.In what is believed to be an industry first, the innovative pilot was not proprietary to specific brands of CAD software…

Customers of dry-docking project management tool VesselMan will now be able to access DNV GL’s Best Practices for dry-docking as part of their services.Dry-docking is an important part of a vessels mandatory maintenance regime and takes place regularly throughout the vessel’s life-cycle. However, without proper management and planning, ship-owners and operators can often experience cost overruns, lengthy dock stays, and lost opportunities.Responding to these challenges, VesselMan…

The Project Forward initiative led by Athens-Based Arista Shipping, with Wärtsilä as one of the participants, demonstrates that with LNG as fuel, an advanced hull design, and highly efficient propulsion machinery, it will be possible to meet the IMO’s target for a 40 percent reduction in carbon intensity by 2030.Model tests of the Project’s concept vessel indicate that the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) is well below the currently most stringent Phase III level. The EEDI reflects the CO2 emissions per transport work and is a measure of carbon intensity.

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has confirmed the successful launch of two satellites, NovaSAR-1, a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, and SSTL S1-4, a high resolution optical Earth Observation satellite. The two satellites were launched into a 580km sun-synchronous orbit on board the PSLV launch vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India on 16 September at UTC 16:38 by Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation.Sir Martin Sweeting…

Newport Shipping Group has purchased 100 scrubbers from Chinese manufacturer Weihai Puyi Marine Environmental Technology Co, with options for an additional 100 units.Newport, which operates a network of 13 drydocks globally, said the bulk purchase aims to safeguard shipowners against any price hikes or production bottlenecks as demand for scrubbers is expected to increase ahead of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2020 sulphur cap deadline.Erol Sarikaya, Newport Shipping Chief Executive Officer…

The U.S. Coast Guard is known for saving lives at sea, but did you know the service plays a huge role in the economy, too?As a regulatory entity, the Coast Guard conducts marine inspections on vessels entering United States ports to make sure the vessels do not pose a safety, security, or environmental threat to the country. With 90 percent of U.S. imports and exports entering or exiting the country by ship, these inspections ensure there is fuel at the gas station, food in the store and presents at birthday parties.But even before a ship ever gets in the water…

There are thousands of vessels worldwide that still need to be fitted with ballast water management systems (BWMS), and regulatory deadlines are only drawing nearer.Owners and operators who have yet to bring their ships into compliance are better to do so earlier rather than later. This is the advice of classification society ClassNK, who analyzed the retrofitting status of its registered ships and confirmed that installation deadlines based on the Ballast Water Management Convention…

Thomas Chance founded C & C Technologies in his home in 1992. Today C & C is a global oil field surveying and mapping company with more than 550 employees in ten offices worldwide. C & C was the first company in the world to offer autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) survey services to the oil industry and remains a world leader in the field. In April of 2015, he sold C & C Technologies to Oceaneering International. Complementing the autonomous underwater vehicle business, Mr. Chance started Autonomous Surface Vehicles, Ltd., or ASV, in 2010.

Classification society ClassNK has released its Guidelines for Vehicles Carrier Structures, specifying the technical requirements specifically related to the structural strength assessments of vehicles carriers by using direct calculation.Vehicles carriers are designed with a minimum number of transverse bulkheads and partial bulkheads in order to increase cargo handling efficiency as well as to permit more vehicles to be loaded on board; this, however, means that the structures of such ships are fairly susceptible to racking deformation.

Reducing the amount of time ships spend waiting outside port and at anchor could significantly reduce ship emissions, according to studies carried out by members of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) GloMEEP Global Industry Alliance (GIA).Ships can spend hours or days waiting at anchor outside ports, but providing ships with regular updates about the availability of berths, especially in the last twelve hours prior to port arrival, can support significant reductions…

While waiting for the new Vessel General Permit (VGP) to be finalized, operators must file a Notice of Intent with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prior to December 18, 2018 in order for vessels to continue to operate under their current VGP also after this date.According to a recent Regulatory Update published by the classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the EPA has further delayed the release its new Vessel General Permit (VGP 3.0).The proposed…

Ballast water treatment (BWT) specialist Optimarin said it has secured a contract to supply 36 systems to Ardmore Shipping, one of the manufacturer’s largest orders to date.The Irish-headquartered shipowner will fit the three dozen units across 18 chemical and product tankers – two units in each vessel. Delivery is due to commence in February next year.Ardmore’s fleet ranges in size from 25,000 to 50,000 dwt. The firm transports petroleum products and chemicals worldwide with its modern…

Issued at the National Quality Steering Committee (NQSC) meeting on July 31, 2018, the American Waterway Operators (AWO) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) issued their annual report that benchmarks and further serves as the annual safety report card for the domestic towing industry. This year, it comes at a particularly timely moment, just on the heels of the deadline for the so-called ‘subchapter M’ towboat rules.The NQSC uses three measures to track overall trends in safety and environmental protection.

Classification society ClassNK has released ClassNK MRV Portal (IMO DCS), a software service for the reporting, monitoring and verification of shipping CO2 emissions in line with the IMO DCS regulations that will come into effect in 2019.The implementation of fuel consumption data reporting regulations has been ongoing in an effort to reduce GHG emissions and the EU-MRV (European Union - Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) regulations for ships operating in the EU area began in 2018. The upcoming IMO DCS regulations require all globally operating ships over 5,000GT to collect fuel consumption data and create an annual fuel consumption…

This month we caught up with Jeong-kie Lee, Chairman and CEO of the Korean Register and also the Chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), for his insights on the dominant trends moving the maritime industry into the future.The maritime industry has been challenged, to say the least. Today, where do you see challenge? Where do you see opportunity?The maritime industry is in a state of extreme upheaval, with private and public organizations having to deal with a wide range of ever changing…