Machinery Installation News

Elisabeth Cosmatos, Managing Director of Cosmatos Group, has been elected President of The Heavy Lift Group (THLG), an international association for specialised heavy transport companies.The appointment was made as part of the executive committee election during the 68th THLG Conference on June 5.Taking over from FOX Brasil’s Murilo Caldana, Cosmatos becomes THLG’s first female president. She is joined on the executive committee by Rhenus Projects’ Colin d’Abreo, Alessio Bianchi of DCS Liburnus…

The first Polar Ship Certificate was issued by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS). The document was released by Murmansk Branch on 22 December, 2016 in the port of Murmansk to the tanker Shturman Albanov, owned by SCF Group. In connection with the Polar Code entering into force, the compliance with the requirements thereof is a precondition for ships operated in the Barents Sea, Cara Sea water area south of 60 S and in other seas included in the polar water. The Polar Ship Certificate confirms the ship's compliance with the Code requirements related the safe navigation - for instance, the of the ship's hull to withstand severe temperature and ice conditions…

The meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council (STC) Presidium of Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) was held on 15 December 2015. The STC is one of the crucial components to ensure the RS activity on rendering the wide range of services in the area of marine transportation safety. The Council consists of the Presidium and 14 specialized sections and incorporates over 300 scientists and highly qualified specialists from over 30 scientific, design organizations, shipping companies, shipbuilding yards. Opening the meeting, RS Director General Konstantin Palnikov said, "The STC goal, first of all, is to promote the improvement and development of the RS rules and other normative documents.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) sets the standards passenger vessels, such as the Staten Island Ferry, must meet and then inspects the vessels regularly to ensure that they are in compliance. For large passenger vessels, the Coast Guard conducts four safety inspections each year. These inspections, at a minimum, include examination of the vessel structure, lifesaving equipment, machinery installation, navigation equipment, personnel, and vessel security. The Coast Guard also requires the vessels to be dry docked and internally inspected twice in a five year period.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced that the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) has put on significant weight in the dry dock at its Newport News Shipbuilding division with the installation of four 30-ton bronze propellers. At 21 feet in diameter, each propeller spins to push the aircraft carrier through the water. "Installation of the propellers culminates more than 10 months of focused work by numerous trades in support of installing the underwater shafting," said Rolf Bartschi, NNS' vice president, CVN 78 carrier construction.

Wärtsilä won a contract to provide propulsion plants for a pair of deep-sea tugs being built by Niigata Shipbuilding & Repair, Inc in Japan for the Rotterdam-based towage contractor Fairmount Marine BV. The 75-m long tugs will each be powered by a complete Wärtsilä propulsion system, comprising Wärtsilä engines, Wärtsilä gearboxes, Lips controllable pitch propellers, Lips high efficiency nozzles and a Lipstronic integrated control and manoeuvring system. The four Wärtsilä 6L32 diesel engines in each tug deliver a combined maximum output of 12,000kW at 750 rpm.

Wärtsilä won a contract to provide propulsion plants for a pair of deep-sea tugs being built by Niigata Shipbuilding & Repair, Inc in Japan for the Rotterdam-based towage contractor Fairmount Marine BV. The 246 ft. long tugs will each be powered by a complete Wärtsilä propulsion system, comprising Wärtsilä engines, Wärtsilä gearboxes, Lips controllable pitch propellers, Lips high efficiency nozzles and a Lipstronic integrated control and manoeuvring system. The four Wärtsilä 6L32 diesel engines in each tug deliver a combined maximum output of 12,000 kW at 750 rpm. The engines are connected to a pair of twin-in/single-out gearboxes with a secondary driven 1,200 kW power take-off for electricity generation at sea.

Far-reaching international maritime security measures developed and adopted by IMO enter into force on 1 July 2004. The security measures, which include the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code), are in the form of amendments to the 1974 Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention and are aimed at enhancing maritime security on board ships and at ship/port interface areas. They were adopted by a Conference on Maritime Security in December 2002. Other amendments to SOLAS entering into force on the same date include requirements for the fitting of water ingress alarms in holds, ballast and dry spaces on bulk carriers and requirements for radar transponders to be fitted in liferafts carried on ro-ro passenger ships.

As part of the drift of heavy industrial activity from Europe to the Far East, production of two-stroke diesel propulsion machinery has become the province of the leading national players in newbuild construction. However, close to the northern tip of Jutland, MAN B&W's Alpha Diesel division has restored a substantial Danish capability for low-speed engine manufacturing, to the extent that its Frederikshavn works has emerged as a bastion of European two-stroke production. The extension in the market reach of the already diversified plant, renowned for its integrated propulsion packages based on four-stroke drives, is a clear endorsement of the substantial investments made by MAN B&W in dedicated facilities in recent years. It is no less an expression of industrial and commercial will.

Northrop Grumman Corporation has finished installing the propellers on the nation's tenth and final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). The carrier is under construction at Northrop Grumman's Newport News sector, the nation's sole designer, builder and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The George H. from previous Nimitz-class carriers. but the blades are shaped differently to reduce wear and erosion. Northrop Grumman. and complex overhaul. Other new design features for the George H. and a new underwater hull-coating system. The George H. buoyancy to the forward end of the ship and improves hull efficiency. The ship's keel was laid Sept. 6, 2003. October 2006 with delivery to the U.S. Navy in late 2008.

In the first two months of 2006, Wärtsilä Corporation won orders for a further 16 Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines to power four LNG (liquefied natural gas) carriers contracted in Korea. In January Wärtsilä was awarded an order to supply two sets of four Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) of Korea. These engines will be installed in two dual-fuel-electric LNG carriers contracted by Bergesen Worldwide Gas of Norway, and are the first Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines to be ordered by DSME. In February Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries of Korea ordered two sets of four Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines to power two dual-fuel-electric LNG carriers for Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) of Japan.

Built by Hanjin Heavy Industries for the transportion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) between Oman and Korea, Hanjin Muscat is a 918 ft. (280 m), 68,524-dwt ship using Gaz Tranport's No. 96-2 membrane cargo containment system. The vessel was built with only four cargo tanks, contained within a complete double side/bottom/bulkhead/deck trunk structure, with top and bottom wing tanks. The side and bottom spaces from integral port and starboard water ballast tanks, divided by the duct keel. This double-hull structure not only protects the tanks from external damage, but insulates the outer hull against critical steelwork fractures cased by the low temperatures (-163 degrees C and atmospheric pressure) at which cargo is transported.