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Existing Technology News

15 Feb 2024

For Ferries to Go Green, Governments Will Need to Provide the Green

© jjfarq / Adobe Stock

Whether it is from international organizations or state government agencies, there is growing pressure on ferry operators to meet stringent goals to reduce the environmental toll from their operations.The California Air Resource Board’s Commercial Harbor Craft Regulation issued the most stringent of these policies, which requires all short-run ferries to achieve zero emission by January 1, 2026. But it’s not just California that wants this industry to clean up its act. The United


18 Jan 2024

Bahri Charters Methanol-fueled Tanker Pair

(Photo: Proman)

Bahri business unit Bahri Chemicals will charter two newbuild methanol-powered tankers under a five-year agreement with methanol producer Proman. The vessels, which were officially named during a ceremony hosted at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) in China in November 2023 where both ships were built, will be deployed to transport various products globally.The vessels are the final two of an initial six-strong methanol-fueled tanker fleet commissioned through the partnership between Proman and Stena Bulk.

13 Oct 2023

Connecting the Dots: From Remote Operations to Full Autonomy

Image courtesy Harvest Technology Group Limited

Realizing the full value of digital solutions far exceeds the capability of technology. The technology exists today to help offshore energy and maritime operators radically improve efficiency and cut costs in equal measure. The real trick to driving efficiencies is to take advantage of the latest technologies while at the same time negotiating the necessary culture change within individual organizations, to really reap the benefits.Harvest Technology Group is a relatively young and small Australian company that has caught the attention of a number of offshore and subsea industry heavyweights


06 Apr 2023

Interview: Jennifer Carpenter, AWO

Jennifer Carpenter (Photo: AWO)

Jennifer Carpenter has been president and CEO of The American Waterways Operators (AWO) in January 2020, but her time with the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry dates back to 1990. This month, she weighs in on top challenges and opportunities currently present in the industry, from difficult regulatory changes to the uptake of cleaner vessel technologies.What are some of the biggest and most important issues facing the tug, towboat and barge industry?Big picture, I feel like our industry has never been more relevant.

07 Jun 2022

Vessel Incidents on the Rise, Inmarsat Report Finds

Image courtesy Inmarsat

Tankers, fishing vessels and bulk carriers were the three highest sectors for sending distress signals between 2018-2021, Inmarsat's The Future of Maritime Safety Report 2022 reveals.Among the findings from the Inmarsat data was an abrupt spike in GMDSS calls in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which, according to the report, is likely to have been caused by “issues with crew change, rapid turnaround in ports and fatigue on board”.Peter Broadhurst, Senior Vice President of Safety and Security


15 Feb 2022

Tech File: Inside the Furuno ‘Future Bridge’

Augmented Reality: According to Matt Wood, a product that is just starting to emerge is Furuno’s AR100, an augmented reality device. AR100 merges multiple technologies: camera, ECDIS, radar, GPS, heading, satellite compass, doppler speed log and satellite doppler speed log ... merged into a heads-up display. Wood admits “it’s not a regulatory requirment, but there are companies that want to embrace it.” Furuno has intentially started small and inexpensive. “We’re looking at, ballpark, $25,000 to

With autonomous navigation and remote electronics management, Furuno is on a digital transformation journey to help revolutionize the maritime industry. Matt Wood, National Sales Manager, Furuno USA takes a deeper dive.In 1938, Kiyotaka Furuno founded Furuno Electric Shokai Ltd., the predecessor of Furuno Electric Company. Today Furuno is best known as a radar and navigation company with nearly 90 percent of its business in the maritime sector. “We are still principally a family-owned


19 Jan 2022

DSC Dredge Hires Duplantis in IT Role

Mitchell Duplantis (Photo: DSC Dredge)

DSC Dredge announced it has welcomed Mitchell Duplantis as the newest member of its information technology (IT) team.As a former IT support analyst and helpdesk specialist, Duplantis brings experience in applying technical and problem-solving skills to improve both team and organizational performance and the ability to leverage existing technology with internal resources to facilitate DSC achieving its technological goals. He joined DSC Dredge on October 26, 2021As IT specialist for DSC


28 Oct 2021

Performance Intelligence: The Key to Decarbonizing Maritime

Photo courtesy AVEVA

How technology can bring data to life, from design through to operations, helping improve efficiency and reduce emissionsOver the last year, climate change – or more appropriately climate action – has emerged as the critical issue impacting the future of global industries. Companies are under pressure to outline plans to transition to a more sustainable way of doing business – and the shipping and maritime communities are no exception.Transportation emissions – which typically include road, rail, air and marine – are responsible for an estimated 24% of the world’s carbon emissions.

21 Oct 2021

Stena Partners with Proman to Develop Methanol Retrofit and Supply Solution

(Image: Stena)

Shipping company Stena is working with methanol producer Proman to develop a retrofit and supply solution that will allow both Stena’s vessels as well as third party vessels to operate on cleaner-burning methanol fuel.The plan builds upon the previously announced joint venture between Stena Bulk and Proman for three methanol-ready tankers. The first of these vessels, the 49,900 DWT Stena Pro Patria will be delivered in early 2022, with a further three Proman-owned but mutually


23 Sep 2021

BV Approves Design for World's Largest Gas Carrier

(Image: CSSC Group)

Classification society Bureau Veritas said it has issued novel design approval for what will be the world’s largest very large gas carriers (VLGC).The new 93,000-cubic-meter (CBM) capacity Panda 93P VLGC design has been developed by Jiangnan Shipyard, part of the CSSC Group (China State Shipbuilding Corporation), as an evolution of of the shipyard’s Panda gas carrier series, featuring optimized hull-form to allow increased cargo capacity without significant increases in fuel consumption.

29 Jun 2021

BIO UV Unveils New BWTS Series

(Image: BIO UV Group)

BIO UV Group said it has designed a new series of BIO-SEA ballast water treatment system (BWTS) compatible with flow rate requirements of up to more than 2,100 cubic meters per hour (m3/h).The new M-Series BWTS incorporates a novel reactor arrangement designed to increase the flow rate capacity of existing technology without the need for any manifolds.“This is a huge development in ballast water treatment,” said Xavier Deval, Business Director – BIO-SEA, BIO-UV Group. “With the M-Series we see a significant benefit in terms of size, capacity and installation simplicity.

26 Apr 2021

Missing Submarine Found Broken Up, 53 Dead

(Photo: Indonesian Navy)

A missing Indonesian submarine has been found, broken into at least three parts, at the bottom of the Bali Sea, army and navy officials said on Sunday, as the president sent condolences to relatives of the 53 crew.Rescuers also found new objects, including a life vest, that they believe belong to those aboard the 44-year old KRI Nanggala-402, which lost contact on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill."Based on the evidence, it can be stated that the KRI Nanggala has sunk and all of its crew have died


17 Mar 2021

As Defense Cuts Loom, Reimagining Maritime Security Could Help Reform Defense Spending

© Wojciech WrzesieƄ / Adobe Stock

It is widely expected that cuts in defense and security budgets are coming as governments across the world grapple with the fiscal fallout from the COVID-19 crisis. To ensure that these cuts do not undermine global security, policymakers should approach their defense budgets with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.In navigating the tough choices that lay ahead, government decision-makers should pursue spending reforms that enable states to operate both leaner and smarter, without sacrificing their vital security interests.The maritime security domain offers an exemplary case study.

07 Oct 2020

Damen Delivers Harbor Tug to Con.Tug in Italy

(Photo: Damen)

Damen Shipyards Group has delivered a newly built harbor tug to Con.Tug in Italy. The vessel, named Gioia Star, will operate in Gioia Tauro, one of the most important transhipment ports in the Mediterranean.Con.Tug – a joint venture between Scafi and TIL – ordered the new tug from Damen in January. The speed of the delivery has been facilitated by Damen’s practice of building standardized vessels in series and keeping them in stock, ready for order.Though a standard ASD Tug 2813 model


25 Mar 2020

EPA Tier 4: Difficult and Contentious, 12 Years and Counting

© JinnaritT / Adobe Stock

When it comes to complying with EPA’s Tier 4 emissions regulations, there’s no shortage of creativity emerging from America’s maritime engineering firms. Companies such as Hug Engineering are offering flexible, customized aftertreatment-based control systems that can assemble almost in modular like fashion. Other companies, such as ABB Group, offer battery-hybrid power sources to complement combustion power and avoid threshold diesel emissions. Engine manufacturers, such as Cummins


04 Dec 2019

AWT, Blount, Chartwell Sign Offshore Vessel Deal

U.S. offshore wind farm support company Atlantic Wind Transfers (AWT) has signed a multi-million-dollar, market-first order for two state-of the-art Chartwell 24 Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs), developed by Chartwell Marine.The vessels, to be deployed in support of new wind farms off the East Coast, will be built by Blount Boats, with delivery scheduled for 2020."Meeting the demands of U.S. offshore wind developers and asset owners - many of whom have a background in the European sector - requires domestic supply chain firms to capitalise on existing technology, lessons learnt and best practice, while responding to the unique requirements of operating in American waters


29 Oct 2019

Panama to Modernize Greek Ship Registry

A delegation of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) led by Panama’s Minister of Maritime Affairs and Administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority Noriel Arauz, visited Greece where it was received by the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Island Policy Ioannis Plakiotakis.The ministers reviewed the excellent relations between the two countries and discussed issues related to maritime affairs and shipping.Minister Noriel Arauz, who was accompanied by Panama’s new Ambassador to Athens Ms Julie Limberopoulos and his technical team, met with the Greek Shipowners’ Association, its president Theodore Veniamis and George Angelopoulos, vice


27 Sep 2019

JFD Wins Submarine Rescue System Contract

James Fisher and Sons said its subsidiary JFD has been awarded a multimillion dollar contract for the design and build of submarine rescue equipment but no further details are yet available. The company recently completed the delivery of a range of saturation diving products rated to a depth of 500 meters for a leading offshore service provider, a world first. The products were developed as part of a saturation diving system and include environmental control systems, gas reclaim and life support products


23 Sep 2019

Business Ambition for 1.5°C: Our Only Future, Says DNV GL

A global movement of companies taking ambitious climate action aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C is emerging, states a new report released by the United Nations Global Compact, DNV GL, and Sustainia on the sidelines of the UN Climate Action Summit.87 companies, with a total market capitalization of over US$ 2.3 trillion and annual direct emissions equivalent to 73 coal-fired power plants, have joined the “Business Ambition for 1.5°C — Our Only Future” campaign. The companies have promised to scale up their climate ambitions by setting science-based targets aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.The report


10 Sep 2019

2/3 of Electricity by Solar PV, Wind by 2050

Share of electricity in the final demand energy mix will more than double from today’s level to 40% in 2050, with two thirds of that electricity provided by solar PV and wind, said DNV GL.Electrification will transform how energy is produced and consumed. By midcentury, 40% of final energy demand will be met by electricity (up from 19% in 2017), 63% of which will be generated by solar PV and wind, said the third edition of the Energy Transition Outlook (ETO) by DNV GL.Electrification is also having a dramatic effect on road transport and by 2032 half of new car sales globally will be electric. The intrinsic efficiency of electric engines means that despite a 75% expansion of the global vehicle fleet by 2050


27 Jun 2019

NorShipping 2019: A “Koselig” Event

"Koselig" is a Norwegian adjective used to describe situations that give a feeling of comfort, warmth, and relaxation. The NorShipping exhibition and conference, one of the largest in northern Europe, could definitely be described as koselig. Occurring in Oslo, Norway between June 4-7, 2019, the conference featured close to 1,000 exhibitors from around the world. With the prominently featured Blue Economy Hall, terms such as marine sustainability and environmental ocean awareness held the center stage at a number of the events. In true Norwegian fashion, most of the major press announcements were delivered in semi-intimate gathers with copious amounts coffee by maritime CEOs and VPs who enjoyed being called by their first names.

15 May 2019

Global Problem, Local Action: IMO/EU Initiative

Photo: IMO

A new IMO video puts the spotlight on how an IMO/EU initiative is helping cut maritime emissions in the Solomon Islands as part of a global project to help tackle climate change.When the solar-powered LED lights go on at night in the port of Honiara, Solomon Islands, they are helping the port meet IMO maritime security requirements.But these lights are also a shining example of how a global project, through regional centers, can help individual countries' ports and shipping sectors improve energy efficiency, cut emissions and clean up local air quality.

17 Dec 2018

Maritime Autonomy: Sea Machines Gets a $10M Investment

"I think this investment sends a strong signal on the types of technologies that will come to define the maritime industry in the future," said P. Michael A. Rodey, senior manager, A.P. Moller-Maersk. In the first quarter Sea Machines will initiate testing of its perception and situational awareness technology aboard one of A.P. Moller-Maersk's new-build ice-class container ships. Image: Sea Machines

While there remains much debate as to what an autonomous future looks like in the maritime sector, one company, Sea Machines, is helping to pace the field with product development, partnerships and investment.Sea Machines Robotics announced today that it had closed a $10 million Series A investment led by Accomplice VC, with participation from several corporate titans including Toyota AI Ventures; Brunswick Corp., through investment partner TechNexus Venture Collaborative; Eniac Ventures