Decision Support System News

North Star has secured a contract with energy utility giant EnBW to deliver a new hybrid-electric service operations vessel (SOV) on a decade-long minimum charter to service the He Dreiht wind farm off the coast of Germany.The agreement marks the company’s first offshore wind move outside the UK market, a milestone mark in its ambitious European growth strategy to add 40 new SOVs to its fleet by 2040.The newbuild is of VARD 407 design which has been tailored to meet EnBW’s specific…

RINA awarded an Approval in Principle (AiP) for a green retrofit package solution designed by Aurelia, in partnership with Econowind, Wattlab and Vertom, aimed to meet CO2 reduction targets in compliance with CII. The retrofit package can be applied to almost any kind of vessel and incorporates rigid sails, solar panels, batteries, optimized weather-routing, and a smart decision support system developed by Hydrographic and Marine Consultants (HMC) to dramatically reduce emissions of an existing Newcastlemax bulk carrier.

RINA has awarded an Approval in Principle (AiP) for a green retrofit package designed by naval architect Aurelia in partnership with Econowind, Wattlab and Vertom.The solution incorporates rigid sails, solar panels, batteries, optimised weather-routing, and a smart decision support system developed by Hydrographic and Marine Consultants (HMC) to dramatically reduce emissions on an existing 203,000dwt Newcastlemax bulk carrier.For the Newcastlemax bulk carrier, the challenge was to meet EEXI and the CII index for the reduction of CO2 emissions.

Commissioning Service Operation Vessel (CSOV) REM Power was named at a ceremony in Aalesund, Norway on Friday.The Rem Power, owned by Rem Purus, designed to offer services and maintenance operations at offshore wind farms, was named in the center of Ålesund in front of shipbuilder VARD’s headquarters.This is the first of two CSOVs VARD is delivering to Rem Purus.The REM Power is a CSOV of the VARD 4 19 design, developed by Vard Design. The vessel is equipped to provide services during both construction…

Kongsberg Maritime has launched EcoAdvisor, an intelligent and dynamic decision support system for optimizing a range of offshore vessel operations. "EcoAdvisor is an outcome of a joint ‘Intelligent Efficiency’ research project between Kongsberg Maritime, vessel operator DOF Subsea AS (DOF), Sintef, NORCE, and Innovation Norway, with the aim of developing technologies to monitor and reduce the GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions during vessel operations," Kongsberg Maritime said.It monitors the vessel operation and its environment…

Offshore vessel operator Rem Offshore has selected Vessel Insight from Kongsberg Digital to collect vital data from its three new offshore wind vessels, currently under construction.The first vessel will be completed at Green Yard Kleven in November, while the other two are under construction at Vard, with completion in 2023 and 2024, respectively.By installing the infrastructure service Vessel Insight, Rem Offshore will collect data from the vessels and enable the use of applications to optimize operations. "An important part of the delivery is two applications from Kongsberg Maritime.

Kongsberg Digital, BW LNG and Alpha Ori Technologies signed a strategic digitalization partnership to realize digital capabilities that enhance efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of LNG carriers (LNGCs) and floating storage and regasification units (FRSUs). The agreement encompasses several projects, including utilizing a common data management platform and developing a maritime digital twin and digital processing models to facilitate operational excellence.The…

Our COVID-19 maritime world continues to change as our perspectives on education and training with the availability of online learning and conferencing, an increased use of webinars, and the use of simulation technology must evolve if we are to be able to continue to train and maintain skill sets as we navigate the current and predicted restrictions on movement. Changes made now may eventually become fully integrated in to future iterations of training in many industries.An increasing…

Maritime software, services and data analysis provider NAPA announced a service and product agreement extension with Carnival Corporation, cruise company with a combined fleet of more than 100 vessels across nine cruise line brands. This covers comprehensive services for the Onboard NAPA Loading Computers, training certification for Carnival’s CSMART training facility, and a framework agreement for future deployments of NAPA solutions.Carnival’s commitment to the highest performance…

Maritime Blockchain Labs has announced the real-world testing phase for technology solution that enhances traceability and trust in bunker fuel supply chain. Maritime Blockchain Labs (MBL), a partnership set up between Lloyd’s Register Foundation and BLOC to explore the use of blockchain for the assurance and safety of critical infrastructure and drive new business models for the global maritime industry, announced today that its first demonstrator project, a fuel provenance register for the maritime sector that aims to provide trusted information about fuel origin…

The world’s first intelligent very large ore carrier (iVLOC), the DNV GL-classed Pacific Vision, was delivered by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard to China Merchants Energy Shipping Company.Norway-headquartered international accredited registrar and classification society said in a statement that the vessel is the world’s first VLOC to implement DNV GL’s SmartShip descriptive notation.To qualify for the notation, Pacific Vision has been outfitted with an integration platform, a smart navigation decision support system, a ship energy efficiency management and optimization system, and smart-vessel operation and maintenance system.“It’s a great honour to have worked with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard…

Blockchain Labs for Open Collaboration (BLOC), has won Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Solve’s Coastal Communities Challenge, for its work in developing shipping Emissions Monitoring Reporting (MRV) solutions.The Blockchain technology and governance specialist said in a press release that it was selected from 33 teams participating in the Solve Challenge Finals, which included a live pitch event at the UN General Assembly week in New York City.The Solver teams were selected by Solve’s Challenge Leadership Group judges as the most promising set of solutions tackling large-scale global challenges.BLOC’s Shipping Emissions Monitoring…

Supertankers entering the Port of Long Beach will use ABB’s marine software to produce real-time data of the keel-to-seabed clearance, improving the safety and efficiency of the operations. Sensors fitted to Tesoro vessels will send information to a Portable Surveyor Box (PSB), carried by the pilot, which will verify their route to the dock. In this specific case, the system is used to continuously validate (and improve) pre-calculated motions from the online decision support system PROTIDE, which is used to calculate safe transit time windows for large oil tankers to enter the port.

The Navdec system designed to improve safety of passengers and freight and aimed to support navigators in collision situations was tested on board the ferry m/f Wawel and m/f Mazovia in 2016. This invention will also be installed now on m/f Baltivia sailing from Świnoujście to Ystad. Polferries decided to equip all ferries with Navdec system to improve safety of passengers and freight. Accordingly, an agreement to this effect was signed between Polferries and Sup4Nav on 8th of December 2016 in Kołobrzeg. The navigational decision support system NAVDEC is the first navigational tool worldwide that performs information functions as well as those typical of decision support systems.

A consortium of companies aims to develop an expert decision support system for improved ship efficiency and safer navigation via a two-year R&D project called iSea. Backed by funding from the Eurostars program, the iSea innitiative is led by Danelec Marine, with other participants including Vessel Performance Solutions ApS (Denmark), i-Marine Technologies and Research Inc. (Turkey) and Deniztekno Danismanlik Bilgi Teknolojileri ve Bilgisayar San. Tic. Std. Sti (Turkey). Set to commence the R&D program in January 2017, the iSea team will deliver a set of Expert Decision Support Systems (EDSS) for enhancing the performance and navigability of vessels.

ABB, a power and automation technology group, will supply its onboard motion monitoring and forecasting system to the Xiang Rui Kou heavy lift vessel, meaning the entire fleet of Cosco Heavy Transport now benefits from the software. The system that will be installed is a mixed software and motion measurement set-up that on one hand provides clear advice on how to operate the vessel and her cargo through heavy weather, and on the other hand gives clear warnings on the bridge when certain motion thresholds are exceeded.

Maritime innovation never stops, and 2015 was certainly no exception, as a number of “world firsts” hit the high seas. In its December 2015 edition Maritime Reporter & Engineering News (http://digitalmagazines.marinelink.com/nwm/MaritimeReporter/201512/) presented its “Great Ships of 2015;” MarineLink.com takes the process one step further, and here confer the “Top Five Ships” of 2015. With a gross tonnage of 168,666, somewhat smaller than the world's largest Oasis class vessels, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Retrieving an unreliable blowout preventer (BOP) is a necessary but expensive operation, costing upwards of one or two million dollars and easily the double in developing ultra-deepwater regions. It is also the main cause of downtime during drilling activity. DNV GL is introducing the BOP▪RDT, a real-time, risk-informed BOP retrieval decision support tool to enable operators to determine when to retrieve the BOP for repair after a detected component failure. Developed at DNV GL’s R&D Center in Rio de Janeiro, the BOP▪RDT tool provides the most comprehensive decision support system, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. It will assist the decision-making process by substantially reducing the degree of subjectivity.

As a developer of marine fuel efficiency and optimization systems, GreenSteam will showcase its fuel saving GreenSteam Optimizer in the Danish pavilion at SMM in Hamburg, September 2014. Making good decisions on board based on sound and accurate data is the basis for efficient operation of any vessel. GreenSteam Optimizer is an onboard decision support system that is an adaptive, data-driven solution, helping the master to make the right decisions. Ship owners are now facing their biggest industry challenge ever, with both fuel costs and legislative efficiency targets.

Ricardo and Kongsberg have signed a framework agreement that will see Ricardo support the development of the Kongsberg Wind Farm Management System (WFMS) as well as related condition monitoring systems for a range of other industrial sectors. The Kongsberg WFMS is a turbine independent decision support system. It surpasses the functionality found in wind farm supervisory control and data acquisition systems, and offers a modern and intuitive user interface based on Kongsberg’s wide ranging experience in automation and decision support systems for the defence…

Ricardo and KONGSBERG say that they have signed a framework agreement that will see Ricardo support the development of the Kongsberg Wind Farm Management System (WFMS) as well as related condition monitoring systems for a range of other industrial sectors. The Kongsberg WFMS is a turbine independent decision support system. It surpasses the functionality found in wind farm supervisory control and data acquisition systems, and offers a modern and intuitive user interface based on KONGSBERG's wide ranging experience in automation and decision support systems for the defence, maritime and offshore oil & gas sectors. KONGSBERG selected Ricardo to support the development of the WFMS not least due to the company's expertise in wind turbine drivetrains.

GreenSteam Optimizer is an onboard decision support system that is an adaptive, data-driven solution, helping the master to make the right decisions. Achieving maximum fuel efficiency means operating at the most efficient speed using as little fuel as possible. The optimal settings and parameters such as trim, draft are a vital in setting up the vessel, and depend on a range of conditions such as load, waves, wind, water depth and many other factors. By continually optimizing the trim and draft of the vessel based on data collected onboard the vessel…

Applied Weather Technology, Inc. (AWT), a provider of fleet optimization services and onboard voyage management software, today announced the latest version of its fully customizable fleet management system with the release of Fleet Decision Support System (FleetDSS) Version 2.0. In addition to being suitable for use within a company's IT network, FleetDSS has new tools, including an ETA confidence tool and a comparative vessel type performance graph, making it easy for operators to closely monitor the efficiency of their fleets.