Infrastructure Solutions News

SWITCH Maritime announced plans to grow its U.S. fleet of zero-emission ferries following the completion of a $10 million in a Series A round led by Nexus Development Capital.Founded in 2018, SWITCH’s mission is to enable private and public municipal ferry operators to more easily replace their carbon-intensive, diesel-powered fleets while reducing operating and fueling costs over the lifetime of their vessels.The fundraise comes on the back of the completion of its flagship zero-emission vessel…

Telenor Maritime has entered into a collaboration agreement with Globetech AS in a move intended to strengthen potential for business development and provide greater market access for both partners.Globetech is a provider of ICT technology and services for vessels and floating offshore installations worldwide. Its expertise in delivering safe and reliable infrastructure solutions and ICT services for the maritime and offshore industries complements Telenor Maritime’s portfolio of connectivity solutions.

CapeOmega and Neptune Energy on Wednesday announced NoordKaap, a project concept for a cross-border CO₂ storage solution for industrial emitters across Europe. According to Neptune Energy, NoordKaap would involve transporting CO2 via vessels suitable for directly injecting the CO₂ at offshore locations and for terminal offloading. The two companies have signed a letter of intent with RWE to assess the possibility of shipping "green CO2" from RWE's biomass Eemshaven facility for offshore storage in the Dutch North Sea…

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced more than $703 million to fund 41 projects in 22 states and one territory that designed to help improve port facilities through the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program. Following is the full list of FY 2022 Port Infrastructure Development Grant Awards:ALASKANorth Extension Stabilization Step 1 Project ($68,700,000), Anchorage, AlaskaThe Project will reconfigure and realign the shoreline within the “North Extension” (the area north of the existing general cargo terminals) at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage, Alaska.

Engineering firm TECO 2030 unveiled a new product concept for its containerized fuel cells, the TECO 2030 Power Barge, designed to serve as a scalable multimegawatt solution for electricity production for shore power from hydrogen.The solution comprises TECO 2030 fuel cell modules, batteries, power electronics, safety- and automation systems, hydrogen storage, and a refueling solution.“The floating and mobile solution for shore power in locations with insufficient electrical grid…

Kongsberg Digital, a subsidiary of KONGSBERG, and Shell Marine signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together on new ways to accelerate decarbonization initiatives and assist the energy transition in the maritime industry.During the international maritime trade fair SMM this week in Hamburg, Kongsberg Digital and Shell Marine signed an MoU to strengthen their service offerings to the maritime industry by developing joint solutions, enhancing their service portfolios…

Italian oil major Eni announced it has signed a deal to to buy the Tango FLNG floating liquefaction plant from Belgium-based Exmar for use in the Republic of Congo. Under the agreement, Eni will acquire Exmar's company Export LNG Ltd, which owns the Tango FLNG.Tango FLNG, delivered in 2017, has a storage capacity of 16,100 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a liquefaction capacity of up to 0.6 million tons per year.The value of the transaction is in a range of $572 and $694 million, depending on the unit's performance during the first six months on site, Exmar said.

Classification society DNV said it has recently approved several projects for digital infrastructure solutions developed by COSCO, Kongsberg Digital and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI).According to DNV, digitalization of the maritime industry is set to radically enhance the operational efficiency, safety and environmental performance of ships, but right now is taking place in a fragmented way, with no pan-industry alignment on data infrastructure reliability and data quality in compliance with global standards.As ships get smarter and increasingly packed with sensors…

ION Geophysical Corporation announced its climate-smart, digital platform, Marlin SmartPort, has successfully fulfilled its role to help monitor greenhouse gas emissions in the Data-Led Emissions Management (D-LEMA) project.The D-LEMA project is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) launched in March 2021, funded by the Department for Transport, and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. As part of the CMDC, the Department allocated more than £23 million…

Eagle LNG marked a series of firsts when it fueled the 7,500-car carrier SIEM Aristotle from its Talleyrand LNG Bunker Station at the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) in Jacksonville, Fla. It was the first time SIEM has refueled the vessel from a landside bunkering facility and the first ship that Eagle LNG refueled of that size from the bunkering facility.SIEM Aristotle is the first deep-sea pure car, truck carrier (PCTC) equipped with dual-fuel engines, designed to operate on LNG and marine gas oil (MGO).

Vopak Moda Houston, LLC announced that its marine terminal in the Port of Houston is fully operational. Formed in 2016, Vopak Moda Houston is a joint venture between Royal Vopak and Moda Midstream. Located in Houston’s refining and petrochemical corridor and in close proximity to multiple ammonia, hydrogen and nitrogen pipelines, Vopak Moda Houston is the first greenfield terminal development in the Port of Houston in more than a decade.Designed to handle very large gas carriers (VLGC)…

German utility EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG  has launched its first green bond on the capital market, with an issue size of €500m ($570.8m), which was oversubscribed within hours, the energy company said in a press release.The bond issue, with a 15-year term to maturity, was oversubscribed within hours. The coupon is 1.875 percent.In contrast to conventional corporate bonds, the proceeds from a green bond must be used exclusively to fund climate-friendly projects. EnBW is among the first German companies to have launched a green bond of this size. Increasing numbers of institutional investors now prefer sustainable investments.“The transformation of our company towards renewable energies and smart infrastructure solutions is a core element of our strategy,” said CFO Thomas Kusterer.

Gunvor will lease the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for ten years from the Belgian gas tanker company Exmar. "Exmar is pleased to announce that it has executed a fully effective ten year charter with Gunvor for the provision of its FSRU (floating Storage and Regasification Unit) barge and related services in Bangladesh," stated a press release from the company. The Exmar FSRU barge is currently at Keppel Shipyard undergoing site specific modifications after having been delivered from Wison Offshore and Marine in December 2017. The FSRU barge is expected to arrive in Bangladesh in the fourth quarter of this year and start operations after its full commissioning. Currently the FSRU has been fully paid by Exmar and the financing of the unit is under discussion.

Global exploration and production (E&P) capex spending continues to show signs of improvement, underpinned by higher oil prices, says Sembcorp Marine Ltd (SembMarine). Offshore rigs utilization and day rates have stabilized, but rig orders recovery may take some time as the oversupply in most drilling segments has yet to re-balance. The production segment remains encouraging and we are responding to increasing enquiries and tenders for innovative engineering solutions. We continue to make progress in our efforts to develop and commercialise our Gravifloat technology for near-shore gas infrastructure solutions. Demand for repairs and upgrades, especially for LNG carriers and cruise ships remains strong.

DEME Group’s offshore marine engineering subsidiary GeoSea said that, following successful completion of the design, it also received the Notice to Proceed for fabrication and offshore installation of 16 wind turbine foundations and 1 Offshore Transformer Module (OTM) for the EnBW Albatros offshore wind farm, for which GeoSea is Siemens’ EPCI partner. This partnership enables Siemens to provide a full-scope project (offshore wind turbines and OTM, incl. foundations) to EnBW. The Albatros offshore wind farm is located in the so-called “exclusive economic zone” of the North Sea, in the  immediate vicinity of the EnBW windfarms Hohe See and He Dreiht, approximately 90 km north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea.

Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company (AG&P) and Hindustan LNG (HLNG) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to supply tolled gas to power stations in the East Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Under the agreement, AG&P will provide an integrated solution to deliver regasified LNG through a new LNG import terminal that AG&P will also design and build at the port in Andhra Pradesh. AG&P is a leading global integrator of LNG infrastructure solutions including LNG terminals and the supply chains that emanate from them. HLNG is a Hyderabad-based LNG import terminal development company. The MoU was signed at the Partnership Summit 2017 organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the signing was graced by Chief Minister Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu.

On July 8 2015, ESA authorized the delivery of KONGSBERG’s fourth generation SAT-AIS Receiver flight models, to the Norwegian Space Center; for integration into the NORSAT-1 satellite. With this delivery, KONGSBERG further strengthens its position as a supplier of space-based infrastructure in the maritime domain. NORSAT-1 is scheduled for launch in Q1 2016 and will be Norway’s fourth AIS capable satellite to embed an AIS Receiver from Kongsberg Seatex AS. The delivery is in line with previous payload models provided by Kongsberg Seatex…

Techno-Sciences, Inc. (TSi), the recently-acquired company of McMurdo Group, the end-to-end search and rescue (SAR) and maritime domain awareness division of Orolia (NYSE Alternext Paris – FR0010501015 – ALORO), announced that is has been selected by the Governments of Cyprus, Brunei, Argentina and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States to deploy their SAR network infrastructure solutions and next-generation MEOSAR (Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue) systems, totaling nearly $6 million. The wins fortify McMurdo Group’s global SAR leadership and include the deployment of a six-channel MEOSAR system in South America, a two-channel MEOSAR extension in the U.S. and Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) software for a European and Asian SAR authority.

Ports of Stockholm claims first in the world to provide infrastructure for liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel for large passenger ferries. A successful collaboration involving AGA, Viking Line, Ports of Stockholm and the appropriate government agencies has made an infrastructure for bunkering possible. "Our new passenger ferry, M/S Viking Grace, represents an environmental milestone, and the ability to provide LNG bunkering opportunities is a very important piece of the jigsaw in our environmental work. That is why we are very pleased that the solution for LNG bunkering is now in place," explains Viking Line's Technical Director, Tony Öhman.

American Commercial Lines Inc. (ACL) announced new demurrage terms for its portfolio of dry products. Beginning April 1, 2011, the company will standardize demurrage charges for non-grain bulk and non-bulk dry product shipments. Shippers of these product lines will receive five free days (Sundays and holidays excluded) for loading or unloading, after which they will be charged $300 demurrage per day for the next ten days and $400 per day for the following twenty days. After thirty billable demurrage days, a $500 charge will be assessed daily until the barge is released to ACL. These new charges will apply to all contracts executed on or after April 1, 2011.

Saab TransponderTech AB and Navielektro ky, the provider of state of the art VTMS solutions, decided to cooperate in promoting their products for the VTMS and Coastal Surveillance Systems market. The two companies will offer VTMS and Costal Surveillance systems for the Maritime Administration and Port Administrations of the world. The team has had a long co-operation in the field of AIS system Technology and was the first in the market to supply a system for fusion of AIS and radar tracks.

Because of budget constraints due to the sequestration, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Atlantic has cancelled their annual Industry Forum conference for 2013. The forum offered a chance for industry to network with NAVFAC Atlantic's top leaders and provided information on the latest policies, workload, standards, and initiatives within NAVFAC. Attendees normally would hear from NAVFAC leaders in the areas of acquisition, small business, environmental issues, engineering, design and construction, facilities support, and safety. The forum also provided an opportunity for interactive discussions on issues important to both NAVFAC and industry. NAVFAC Atlantic will reevaluate options later this year to determine the possibilities for a forum returning in 2014.

3sun Group, a specialist provider of products and services to the global energy industry, has appointed Andrew Elmes as Renewables Director. This is a new role which has been created to drive forward the company’s strategy for offshore and onshore wind turbine installation, operations and maintenance. Prior to joining 3sun Group, Elmes spent four years as Head of U.K. Projects with Siemens Energy Renewables, where he was responsible for establishing and leading the strategy, organization, profitability and resourcing of U.K. project delivery capabilities.