Main Unit News

After 2.5 months of engineering and logistics preparation, COLI Shipping & Transport successfully delivered a second hand shiploader and related project cargo from Hamriyah, UAE, to Rotterdam, the Netherlands.The project was handled by COLI’s Istanbul Team.The main unit, a 15.5 x 8 x 8.4 meter shiploader, was initially surveyed by a local team of engineers that the company deployed in the UAE to make sure all hydraulics and steering gear were in order.In two days, the cargo was moved from a laydown area located near Hamriyah Port and prepared for lifting and transport…

Danelec Marine and global distributor Mackay Marine are nearing completion of a Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) retrofit program for Diamond S Shipping’s fleet of 30 medium-range product tankers. Mackay is installing Danelec’s new-generation DM100 VDRs on the ships as replacements for the existing VDRs, which had been installed at construction. The original products were nearing the end of their service life and were becoming very expensive to maintain. The type-approved DM100 exceeds the regulatory requirements and incorporates new features not previously available in marine VDR systems…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has announced a joint success with Japan Radio  and JSAT MOBILE Communications in building a network that shares data recorded in Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) by using Fleet Xpress provided by Inmarsat, a high-capacity, high-speed satellite telecommunication service. Like the flight data and cockpit voice recorders on airplanes, VDR records data on vessel movement (position, navigation speed, main engine rpm, and so on), voice communication on the bridge, image data on nautical instruments such as radar, and the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS). An international treaty mandates that large-scale vessels and passenger ships that ply international waters be equipped with VDR…

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) have jointly developed a Large-scale Rectangular Marine Scrubber that efficiently removes sulfur oxides (SOx) from the exhaust gases emitted by marine diesel engines. The scrubber was developed based on MHPS's flue-gas treatment technologies cultivated through desulfurization systems for thermal power plants, leveraging MHI's expertise in marine engineering. The adoption of a rectangular box-shape configuration - said to be a world first - offers ease of installation in small spaces and superlative emissions treatment for high-output engines used on large-scale containerships.

Danelec Marine is rolling out its new DM700 series Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) for marine navigation at the SMM maritime trade fair in Hamburg, Germany, held from September 6-9. The DM700 ECDIS provides a basic ECDIS solution that fully complies with the new IEC and IHO performance standards which will be mandatory in all ECDIS ship installations beginning August 2017. Danelec Marine introduced its new-generation DM800 ECDIS in 2015. With the addition of the new DM700…

Danelec Marine is now offering a comprehensive range of conversion kits to facilitate replacement of existing shipboard Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs). The company has created packages to replace more than 30 different models of VDRs and Simplified VDRs (S-VDRs) across all major existing and legacy brands, making it easy and less costly for shipowners to upgrade to the new technology. “Many ships are still equipped with VDRs and S-VDRs that were installed more than 10 years ago to meet the initial IMO carriage requirements,” said Danelec Marine CEO Hans Ottosen.“These systems are nearing or beyond their projected service life, and some are no longer in production or supported by their original manufacturers.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. today announced that it has started demonstration tests of a new windshield for containerships, which has the potential to reduce wind resistance, save fuel, and reduce CO2 emissions. MOL jointly developed the device with MOL Techno-Trade, Ltd. Ouchi Ocean Consultant, Inc., Akishima Laboratory Inc., and the University of Tokyo. The project was backed by the “Joint R&D for Industry Program”, in which Nippon Kaiji Kyokai promotes wide-ranging R&D activities in cooperation with industry, government and academia. The new windshield was installed on the bow of the MOL-operated containership MOL MARVEL, and a demonstration test of its effectiveness in reducing CO2 emissions is under With today’s larger containerships…

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has developed a new series of centrifugal chillers, dubbed the "ETI-Z Series," adopting a new refrigerant, HFO-1233zd(E), that offers outstanding environmental compatibility. The various models in the new series will be progressively launched starting this September. The ETI-Z series marks the world's first small-size centrifugal chillers to adopt the new refrigerant. The ETI-Z Series carries on the fundamental product concept of the ETI Series: high performance combined with compact size. The ETI series with built-in inverter panel have been widely spread in to the market since the first models were introduced in 2008. Models in the new ETI-Z Series have a cooling capacity within a range of 80 to 700 refrigeration tons*1 (RT).

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has begun an onshore demonstration test of a new prototype sailing rig that they believe has great potential for reducing vessel CO2 emissions. MOL/ Akishima Laboratories (Mitsui Zosen) tests of the "Power Assist Sail" were started at the Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (MES) Oita Works in June 2013. The joint study of the Power Assist Sail, has produced the prototype for the demonstration test, which is large enough to use on an actual vessel.

Alfa Laval Aalborg to supply XS-TC7A auxiliary engine waste heat recovery (WHR) economizers to all 48 ships in the United Arab Shipping (UAS) Company fleet. With its small footprint and the lowest possible weight to output ratio, the Aalborg XS-TC7A economizer optimizes the use of waste heat from the auxiliary engine exhaust gases during voyage and port stays. When used in combination with a waste heat recovery system installed after main engine, the Aalborg XS-TC7A contributes to significant reductions in the oil consumption on the oil-fired boiler under most load conditions.

World’s First: Reducing Workload and Improving Safety during Bunkering. President: Koichi Muto) today announced that MOL and Musashino Co., Ltd. have jointly developed the world’s first portable liquid-level gauge for vessel fuel tanks, which reduces workload needed to measure a ship’s fuel level during bunkering and enables more accurate measurement. This will reduce the crew’s workload, and help prevent incidents such as fuel spills from overfilling. (1)  Compact main unit (24cm wide x 37cm high x 31cm deep), lightweight (about 4.5kg) / Power source of the main unit is 9V dry cells.

The ultra competitive Greek ferry market has not only proven to be a fertile breeding ground for advanced marine technology, it has served as a role model for the direction of shipping services in both the region and the world. The Greek market has provided the collective builders and suppliers of advanced fast and conventional ferries a rich environment for business over the past few months, a trend that seems likely to continue. Specifically, Greek owners and operators have been at the forefront of an international buying binge for large, fast passenger, vehicle and cargo carrying craft. Driven by the need for speed, many owners are turning to advances in marine electronic and propulsion systems to ensure that the multi-million dollar investments are kept running safe and efficient.

Last week in Oslo at Nor-Shipping 2005, Saab TransponderTech introduced a new family of integrated DGPS and AIS solutions based on Saab’s highly successful R4 technology. The redundant DGPS package, aimed at high-end non-SOLAS applications, consists of two R4 control and display units and two DGPS sensors. Waypoints, routes and other navigation information is replicated between the two units. Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) status is constantly output from each unit, and the second DGPS will take over immediately if the main unit fails or delivers incorrect position information. The combined AIS/DGPS package comprises an R4AIS transponder, R4 DGPS sensor and a shared R4 control and display unit.

SAM Electronics, an L-3 company, has introduced a new low cost IMO-compliant, type-approved S-VDR designed for retrofitting to cargo vessels of all types and sizes, the SAM 4330. Simple to install and featuring a flash disk embedded operating system for optimum reliability, the compact modular assembly is user configurable via a terminal computer. Its Protected Data Unit (PDU) has a standard recording capacity of 2 GB which can be downloaded via an Ethernet link in 15 minutes; data can also be retained for more than 10 years without power supply. Including a port for AIS data, the pre-assembled 16-channel Main Unit (MU) provides for 9 microphone and 3 VHF input interfaces together with up to 4 video source inputs for Radar and Ecdis, or CCTV.