Intelligent Engineering News

The 127,500dwt Solitaire has completed some of the most challenging projects in which heavy pipe has been laid in very deep waters. Originally built in Japan as a mini-Capesize bulk carrier, the Lloyd’s Register-classed vessel was converted to lay pipe in 1998. She has full dynamic positioning and can carry a pipe payload of 22,000 metric tons. Recently, however, the vessel’s operator Allseas decided to repair parts of the 550m2 tank top in hold number 6 which had corroded. After a detailed assessment was carried out, Allseas opted for SPS technology instead of steel renewal.

Intelligent Engineering (IE) has supplied TNKC (UK) Ltd with SPS Citadel Access Protection doors for all nine of the bulk carriers in their fleet, with the last set being delivered in late February 2015. The bulk carriers which operate in high risk areas are now fitted with this innovative system which delivers protection against maritime piracy. Dimitar Dimitrov, Technical Superintendent, TNKC (UK) Ltd commented, “With minimal financial commitment, we have been able to achieve a safe haven for our crews - our most valuable asset. The system has been simple to install.

SPS Overlay has yet again been used for side impact protection on three FPSOs for a major player in the offshore industry. The work was carried out at Enseada do Paraguaçu S.A. Shipyards (EEP) in Brazil and COSCO (Dalian) Shipyard, China. These projects were undertaken during the course of 2014, with the final project being completed in December 2014. A total 2,824m² of SPS Overlay has been installed on the three vessels. Intelligent Engineering (IE) sought approval from the three vessels’ Class Society…

SPS Overlay has been used on three tankers to provide thermal insulation boundaries between two Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) tanks to successfully convert one of them into a Marine Gas Oil (MGO) tank. This was the first time that SPS Overlay has been used in this application; and was approved by Lloyds Register (LR). Carried out at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar by Intelligent Engineering’s partner, Clarkson Technical Services Offshore Marine (CTSOM), on behalf a global shipping company, each of the three ships had areas of 50m² of SPS Overlay fitted to bulkheads between two adjacent fuel tanks. This SPS Overlay modification delivers an effective thermal insulation boundary between HFO and MGO tanks…

Damen ARNO Dunkerque, part of the Damen Shiprepair & Conversion Group, has given a new set of feet to what they are caling the world’s first purpose-built offshore wind turbine installation and maintenance vessel, the 2003-built MPI Resolution*.The yard has carried out upgrades on the feet or spudcans of all the jack-up vessel’s six legs to give them the additional strength they need to withstand the huge loads to which they are subjected when spudding on rocky seabeds. The operation…

Award-winning technology adds to GAC's range of vessel protection solutions. GAC Maritime Security has added the award winning P-trap anti-boarding device to its range of non-lethal vessel protection solutions. A winner at the 5th Safety at Sea International Awards and a finalist in the Seatrade Awards and Lloyd's List Awards in 2011, P-trap is an engine blocking system that creates a security zone around the ship to prevent other vessels from approaching too close and attempting to board.

GAC Maritime Security has entered into a strategic partnership with Mobile Defense Systems LLC to provide PirateFence  anti-grapple razor wire to protect vessels from attacks by sea criminals. This marks the latest addition to GAC Maritime Security's expanding portfolio of protective solutions for vessel owners and operators seeking to put in place a non-lethal, multi-layered risk mitigation system. PirateFence  is a modular-based perimeter protection system with an innovative anti-climb and grapple-resistant component.

The current focus on armed support for vessels transiting high risk areas should not become the norm, GAC Solutions' Christer Sjödoff has told delegates from the shipping and offshore industries who gathered in London to debate long-term, effective ways to tackle the threat of sea crime. Speaking at the 'Lunch and Learn' event hosted by GAC Protective Solutions, Sjödoff said that sole reliance on private maritime security companies is not a long-term solution to maritime security threats around the world. GAC Protective Solutions - a strategic partnership between global shipping, logistics and marine services provider GAC and maritime intelligence agency AKE - detailed recent developments in sea crime across East and West Africa.

GAC Protective Solutions, Powered by AKE, has entered into two new strategic partnerships with the innovators of anti-piracy technologies to help protect vessels, cargoes and seafarers: Unifire's SEASERPENT Anti-Pirate Water Cannon System and Intelligent Engineering's (IE) SPS Citadel Access Protection. Unifire's SEASERPENT Water Cannon System is a unique, non-lethal protective measure using high-volume, remote control water cannons to rapidly flood pirate skiffs. By delivering a jet of up to 80 litres of water per second from a range of 80 metres…

Dry Docks World announced that Denis Welch has been appointed CEO of Drydocks World South East Asia and will be based in their Singapore Office. Following the recent acquisition of two significant ship repair, shipbuilding and rig building companies, based in Singapore and Batam, Mr. Welch will oversee the expansion of Drydocks World operations in the region. The South East Asian group now encompasses the ex-Pan United Maritime ship repair and ship building facilities in Singapore and Indonesia, and also the Ex-Labroy ship building and rig building yards in Batam. Work is also underway on Batam Maritime Centre, a large repair and ship building facility, which will be established on a 175 hectare plot on the island of Batam.

Changes in the international political and economic climate will add new urgency to the theme of the Shiprepair & Conversion 2001 conference in London in November — gaining the edge in a competitive global industry. Marking the 10th anniversary of the event, the conference takes place alongside the industry's leading exhibition in the Grand Hall, Olympia, on November 28-29. A new pick-and-mix booking format offers cut-price entry to one or more of the four morning and afternoon sessions — giving delegates, exhibitors and visitors more scope to take part in both the conference and trade show, which will feature a record 360 exhibitors.

Despite the quality of protection and commitment to maintenance, a certainty in the marine business is that metal structures eventually corrode and wear. Whether it is 25 months or 25 years, most all marine structures will enter a shipyard for some quantity of steel renewal throughout its life. While the process of removing and replacing steel, particularly decks, is at best a manual and laborious process, Intelligent Engineering (IE) is touting its innovative SPS Overlay structural re-instatement process as a means to help shipowners and ship repairers to save valuable time and money. What is SPS? SPS, invented by IE in association with BASF, is a patented system whereby two metal plates are bonded to a solid elastomer core.

Alan C. McClure Associates (ACMA), one of the industry’s premier naval architecture and engineering firms, recently completed strength analysis of the tank bottom plating of an FPSO for a large oil company. ACMA’s analysis focused primarily on the effectiveness of repairing corroded shell plating with Intelligent Engineering’s Sandwich Panel System (SPS). “Utilizing our advanced Finite Element Analysis (FEA) capabilities, we examined the vessel hull to evaluate repair alternatives to the corroded shell plating,” noted principal structural engineer Peter Marucci. “We loaded the model with hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressures that the…

Alan C. McClure Associates (ACMA) recently completed strength analysis of the tank bottom plating of an FPSO for a large oil company. ACMA's analysis focused primarily on the effectiveness of repairing corroded shell plating with Intelligent Engineering's Sandwich Panel System (SPS). "Utilizing our advanced Finite Element Analysis (FEA) capabilities, we examined the vessel hull to evaluate repair alternatives to the corroded shell plating," said principal structural engineer Peter Marucci. "We loaded the model with hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressures that the hull would experience from still-water and wave-induced bending moments." Because it's vital to examine all material and environmental variables to predict real-time performance…

innovations, shipyard practice and legal issues. shipyard safety on November 26. its home city and leading overseas repair centres. Group, Izar, Remontowa, Westfalia Separator, ABB and Kongsberg Maritime. participation in all aspects of the event. Intelligent Engineering. for 2005. manufacturers. sectors. breakdowns. extras. & Co, helped to draft. out. relying on their own terms. balanced without favouring any one party. amended if the owner goes to another yard. Italian classification society RINA. Input at the workshop sessions will come from across the industry. interest. guidelines in 2002. classification society viewpoint. ships.

Intelligent Engineering Ltd. awarded Keppel Shipyard, a license for its Sandwich Plate System (SPS) technology. The agreement, for an initial three-year period, allows Keppel O&M yards to use SPS technology for the repair and conversion of offshore and marine vessels and structures worldwide. Keppel O&M is one of the largest offshore and marine groups in the world. With a network of 16 yards worldwide, the organization offers total solutions to customers operating in diverse environments through leveraging their proprietary technology and engineering expertise.

As Intelligent Engineering (IE) prepares to carry out another drilling rig repair using its SPS Overlay technology in the reinstatement of the pipe-rack deck on board the Pride South Atlantic, a semi-submersible unit belonging to Pride International, the company's recent focus on the offshore sector is clearly paying dividends. Work on board the Pride South Atlantic, commencing in early July, is the latest in a series of new offshore contracts and will involve the reinstatement of a 490 sq. m. deck area to be carried out at the Maua Jurong facility in Niteroi, close to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Denis Welch. "One, a significant percentage of the world's mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) are 20 years old or more and require steel upgrades and reinstatements.

Lloyd’s Register, in conjunction with Intelligent Engineering, Ltd, has developed a set of provisional Rules for new construction and ship repair using steel sandwich construction. Entitled Provisional Rules for the Application of Sandwich Panel Construction to Ship Structure, the Rules were approved in early 2006 by a specially convened sub-committee of Lloyd’s Register’s Technical Committee, comprising independent experts drawn from across the industry. Sandwich Plate System (SPS) is a technology created by UK-based Intelligent Engineering Ltd in which two metal plates are bonded to a solid elastomer core. The elastomer provides continuous support to the plates and stops local plate buckling, eliminating the need for stiffeners.

Winners of the Lloyd’s List-SMM 2002 Awards for innovation in shipbuilding and marine technology were announced in the Hamburg Congress Centre last night (September 24) at a gala ceremony which brought day one of the world’s biggest maritime fair to a glittering conclusion. Several hundred leading industry figures gathered for the final stage of an initiative launched in March by Lloyd’s List and SMM organisers Hamburg Messe to recognise the technical advances which enable maritime commerce and defence. With 13 awards in three merchant and naval categories, the inaugural scheme attracted a massive wave of nominations for ships and support systems reflecting the cutting edge of ingenuity in improving performance, reducing costs and protecting the environment.

A&P Birkenhead has won a three-ship contract from P&O European Ferries for passenger/car ferries operating across the Irish Sea. The ships involved are the 14,426 grt European Pioneer, the 18,653 grt European Envoy, and the 12,879 grt European Leader. All three ferries will be drydocked over the coming weeks, the first due to arrive in Birkenhead on July 21. The principle work on all three is deck renewals using the "Sandwich Plate System", patented by UK's Intelligent Engineering. Other scheduled repair work will also be carried out, with the yard remaining very flexible over the requirements of P&O. Intelligent Engineering (IE) has designed and patented the revolutionary technology called Sandwich Plate System (SPS).