Electrical Systems News

The future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) completed acceptance trials February 4 after spending a day underway off the coast of Maine.INSURV inspected the ship during a series of demonstrations while pier side and underway. Many of the ship’s onboard systems, including navigation, damage control, mechanical and electrical systems, combat systems, communications, and propulsion applications, were tested to validate performance and met or exceeded Navy specifications.“Following an outstanding Combined Alpha and Bravo trials this past December…

Shipbuilder Metal Shark has delivered two of three new welded-aluminum “50 Defiant” monohull pilothouse fireboats to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR).Designed by Metal Shark’s in-house engineering team and built to Lloyds Registry Standard, the welded-aluminum monohull pilothouse fireboats “FB-21” and “FB-73” were acquired to boost MDFR’s maritime firefighting capability and will replace existing vessels in its fleet.Compared to MDFR’s outgoing vessels, the new 55’ x 17.5’ Metal Shark fireboats offer faster speeds enabling shorter response times…

Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries has ordered a Corvus Energy battery-based energy storage system (ESS) to integrate it into the zero-emissions all-electric propulsion and electrical systems aboard the “e5 tanker” under construction for Asahi Tanker.The battery-powered vessel was designed by e5 Lab Inc., a consortium of leading Japanese shipping and maritime services companies, including Asahi Tanker Co., Ltd., set up to build infrastructure services focused on electrically powered vessels.

This month MR dives inside the $60 million refit of RV Roger Revelle, a project which leverages a treasure trove of ‘lessons learned’ from recent refits in the academic research vessel fleet and highlights the value of slimming the vendor list.Research vessel (R/V) Roger Revelle is back at work after a midlife refit involving upgrades from top to bottom, bow to stern. The ship is owned by the Office of Naval Research and has been operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego since 1996. It is one of the largest ships in the U.S.

Australia’s newly completed icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, has left the Netherlands port of Vlissingen to commence trials in the North Sea.The start of the month-long sea trials, which had been pushed back due to delays stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, will be followed by additional weeks of deepwater trials involving the Australian Antarctic Division, ship managers Serco and shipbuilder Damen. Testing of the ship’s speed, noise, propulsion systems, steering, advanced electrical…

Marine electrical systems provider Vard Electro Canada’s said it is setting up new operations in Houston to serve the North American maritime industry. Vard Electro US Inc. will offer the same marine electrical engineering, procurement solutions, and vessel system integration as Vard Electro, a subsidiary in the Vard Group majority-owned by shipbuilding giant Fincantieri.Andrea Qualizza, general manager for Vard Electro, said, “Vard Electro has over decades served shipyards and shipowners all over the world.

The U.K.’s most advanced polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough left Cammell Laird shipyard Wednesday to commence two weeks of technical sea trials ahead of scheduled delivery to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in November.“Although the vessel’s construction is now complete, trials are a critical and final part of the program as they allow our engineers and the ship’s crew to put the vessel through its paces at sea,” said Linton Roberts, Director of Operations at Cammell Laird.

I don’t remember when I discovered that the first application of lightbulbs occurred at sea rather than ashore. But when I dug a little deeper into the subject recently, I came across an interesting set of coincidences that shows how innovation often relies on simply doing, rather than endlessly talking about it. After Thomas Edison managed to make sufficient improvements to the lightbulb concept to have it show commercial viability in late 1879, he ended up in a chicken and egg conundrum.The lightbulb might be great, but to get it to work would require an electrical power plant.

A new icebreaking tugboat built by Blount Boats in Rhode Island has been delivered to the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to work in the Niagara River to help alleviate shoreline flooding and reduce the likelihood of ice limiting the power production at large hydro plants along the Niagara River. The Breaker II joins a fleet of three boats that work every winter to install the Lake Erie—Niagara River Ice Boom—a series of 22 spans of steel pontoons that straddle the mouth of the…

Swiss-based technology giant ABB will provide electrical, control, and telecommunication solutions for Malaysia-based Yinson's new FPSO - Anna Nery. Once delivered, the FPSO will be deployed at Petrobras' Marlim 2 oil field offshore Brazil."Leveraging its ABB Ability System 800xA control system with Select Input/Output (IO), ABB will take responsibility for integration engineering in the project, integrating all the production modules onboard the vessel into a combined Integrated Safety and Control System (ICSS)…

Wärtsilä said it has been awarded a contract to design and equip two new zero-emissions ferries that will be built for Norwegian operator Boreal Sjö at Holland Shipyards in the Netherlands.The vessels are expected to commence commercial operations in autumn 2021, serving the Launes – Kvellandstrand – Launes, and Abelnes – Andabeløy – Abelnes routes in Norway.The two ferry designs are not identical. One is for a 30 meters long vessel capable of carrying 10 cars and approximately 100 passengers…

Geraldton-based Dave Perham, an operator from Australia’s Western Rock Lobster fishery, has taken delivery of a new lobster boat from Dongara Marine designed to have much lower fuel consumption than comparable vessels.Completed in late April 2020, some 12 months after contracts were signed, Force of Nature is a 22.4-meter Southerly Designs monohull which, like other recent Dongara Marine fishing and pilot boat newbuilds, combines an aluminum hull with a composite superstructure.The new boat is an upgrade from Perham’s current vessel…

Alewijnse Marine has completed the electrical fit-out of the Mexican Navy’s latest vessel; the Long Range Ocean Patrol (POLA) vessel ARM Reformador. Built at the ASTIMAR 20 naval shipyard in Salina Cruz, Mexico, with the Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards and its suppliers, it is widely regarded as the most advanced naval vessel afloat in Latin America.The scope of works covered all aspects of the ship’s electrical systems, including engineering, the supply and installation of equipment, project coordination and supervision, and commissioning.

Wärtsilä announced it will reorganize its marine business into three independent entities, with the objective to accelerate strategy execution and simplify the business structure.The new businesses, consisting of Marine Power, Marine Systems and Marine Voyage, will be operational as of July 1, 2020.The organizational structure change is a continuation to the shifts made in 2019, whereby Wärtsilä's equipment and service businesses were integrated to strengthen the focus on complete lifecycle solutions…

Subchapter M, the United States regulatory code dealing with towing vessels and requirements for towing vessel safety, has officially been in place since July 20, 2016, when the U.S. Coast Guard finalized Sub M rulemaking.Since the rules were finalized there have been a couple of important hammer dates. In spring and summer 2018 the first certificates of inspection (COI) were issued. COIs are central within the Sub M program. A vessel needs a COI to legally operate. (All vessels were required to comply with Sub M by July 20, 2018.

Damen Oskarshamnsvarvet in Sweden has won the public tender for a contract to undertake a major life extension program on the survey and research vessel S/V Ocean Surveyor, owned by SGU, Sweden’s national geological survey agency.“We are happy to let Damen Oskarshamnsvarvet perform the extensive conversion of the vessel and are confident that she will be ready for another 25 years of marine surveying prior to the field season 2021. Ocean Surveyor is a key platform for many marine surveys conducted in Sweden, not only for SGU, but also for other operators hiring the vessel’s unique surveying facilities,” said Björn Bergman, operations manager at SGU.Ocean Surveyor will undergo the life-time extension over the course of 12 months.

Alewijnse Marine has won the contract for the electrical fit-out of two additional Damen Combi Freighter 3850s currently in build at Damen Yichang Shipyard for delivery in January 2020.The contract is based around the design, build and delivery of the main and emergency switchboards that form the core of the vessels’ electrical systems including those for alarm monitoring, fire alarms and public address. Alewijnse personnel will also oversee the installation and commissioning of the systems undertaken by the yard’s technicians.Damen’s Combi-Freighter range is comprised of eco-friendly…

AMELS contracted Alewijnse Marine to perform the complete electrical systems installation on the first two vessels of its new range of Limited Edition AMELS 60 superyachts.The 60-meter long AMELS combines innovative naval architecture with hybrid propulsion technology.Alewijnse will deliver a total package of electrical installation and systems integration, encompassing an Integrated Bridge System, Audio-Video systems and IT network as well as the hybrid propulsion system.The electrical engineering phase is underway for the first AMELS 60.

The Coast Guard needs a ship that can do more than just break ice; it needs a multi-mission ship to provide for the nation’s security, asserting its sovereign rights, and protecting its long-term economic interests. That ship is the Polar Security Cutter.Since Russia cashed the check in 1867 for the purchase of Alaska the U.S. has been an Arctic nation. Today, it is one of eight countries that have territorial land or seas above the Arctic Circle or in the polar region (six of those countries have Arctic Ocean coastline or an exclusive economic zone above the Arctic Circle). The U.S.

Danish shipping giant Maersk will install a containerized 600 kWh marine battery system on board the 4,500 TEU Maersk Cape Town in December 2019 to improve vessel performance and reliability while reducing CO2 emissions.“This trial will provide a greater understanding of energy storage that will support Maersk in moving towards further electrification of its fleet and port terminals. Maersk will continue to facilitate, test, and develop low-carbon solutions on our journey to become carbon neutral by 2050,” explains Søren Toft, Maersk COO.Propelling marine vessels with battery power alone is still years away from being a technically- and economically viable option.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) completed her necessary repairs and extensive, accelerated upgrades over the last two years, following a fatal 2017 collision.The ship and her crew, now underway to conduct comprehensive at sea testing, will perform a series of demonstrations to evaluate onboard systems to ensure they meet or exceed Navy performance specifications. Among the systems that will be tested are navigation, damage control, mechanical and electrical systems…

The evolution of marine design is increasingly influenced by three drivers: New three-dimensional design tools, the increasing complexity of power systems, and new access to high-latitude shipping routes. While new digital design tools are a natural progression of the current Information Age, new propulsion energy requirements and Polar shipping routes are reactions to the legacy of the ebbing Industrial Age. Three-Dimensional Design WorkflowsA young naval architect recently stated…

Deltamarin, which provides ship design, offshore engineering and construction support for the marine and offshore industries worldwide, is strengthening its position as a trusted designer of ro-pax vessels with the latest contract signed with Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC).The contract covers basic and detail design services for Tallink’s new LNG-powered shuttle ferry set to operate between Helsinki in Finland and Tallinn in Estonia.Deltamarin’s commission covers basic and detail design services for the hull, machinery and electrical systems. The value of the contract with RMC is about €7.5M. The work will be carried out over a period…