Maritime Business News

Norwegian offshore shipping company GC Rieber Shipping announced acting chief executive officer Einar Ytredal has appointed to the CEO role on a permanent basis. At the same time, Øystein Kvåle was named new chief financial officer (CFO) and Christoffer Knudsen was promoted to chief commercial officer (CCO).Ytredal was appointed acting CEO in mid-September 2018. He has been with the company since 2007, first as vice president finance and then as CFO since September 2011. Before joining GC Rieber Shipping, Ytredal worked at Deloitte.

UK shipping technology sector will grow to become a GBP 12.8 billion (USD 16.5 bln ) market by 2030 from the current level of  GBP 3.7 billion, revealed a study.A new report commissioned by UK venture fund and think-tank PUBLIC estimated the growth will be fuelled largely by digitalisation of the industry, with technologies such as big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence creating a new market for digitally enabled maritime services.For the purposes of this report,  shipping…

Schottel appointed Stefan Kaul as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & President Industrial Operations. The appointment follows the departure of Dr Christian Strahberger who has decided to leave the company after holding the top spot for about two years. Kaul joined the company in 1989 and has held several key positions in research and hydrodynamics. Since 2007 Kaul has held the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and was responsible for all engineering activities.At the same…

As industry efforts to make autonomous shipping a reality continue, Rolls-Royce and AXA Corporate Solutions have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to explore ways in which they can bring a new risk management offering to the marine market.The companies say they seek to utilize Rolls-Royce Ship Intelligence systems and equipment and AXA’s risk analytics capabilities to support current sailing and future vessels."Combining AXA’s Marine Underwriting expertise and Rolls-Royce Ship Intelligence will enable both companies to deliver higher customer value through continuous innovation…

Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, announced that Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) selected AWS as its preferred cloud provider to support its digital transformation.Samsung Heavy Industries is turning to AWS’s expansive infrastructure, unmatched performance, scalability, and industry-leading services to gain competitive advantage in the smart shipping industry.Samsung Heavy Industries leaves the heavy lifting of its infrastructure to AWS, the world’s leading cloud…

One-on-one with Suzanne Beckstoffer, an accomplished engineering leader and business woman, the first woman president in SNAME’s 125 year history.As the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2018, it will celebrate another historical milestone at the start of 2019 when Suzanne M. Beckstoffer takes the helm of SNAME as president, the first woman to hold this position in the association’s history. We met recently with Beckstoffer to discuss her distinguished shipbuilding career…

Iridium Communications Inc. announced today that KDDI Corporation, Navarino and NSSLGlobal Ltd., are the newest Iridium Certus service providers for the maritime industry. Iridium Certus will offer a L-band satellite broadband connectivity solution.With higher speeds, state-of-the-art small form factor terminals and competitive pricing options, Iridium Certus will offer a complete communications platform for all mariners and can serve as a primary service or VSAT companion solution.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, a family-owned and operated shipbuilder that is involved in both government and commercial vessel construction and repair, resumed operations at both of its two main shipbuilding facilities just two weeks after Hurricane Michael devastated Panama City Florida and the surrounding communities.The most powerful storm to ever make landfall in the Florida Panhandle, Hurricane Michael currently stands as the third most powerful hurricane to make landfall in the United States…

Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) praised the ‘Sea Dubai’ initiative launched by the Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA). He described the initiative as instrumental to leveraging the cooperation between key stakeholders in the maritime business in public and private sectors towards boosting the competitiveness of Dubai as a prominent global maritime leisure destination. Receiving Amer Ali…

Any maritime business relies on its workforce to innovate and adapt, often in tough and changing market conditions. In fact, people are the most important assets in the maritime sector and organizations must invest in bridging the talent gap or risk losing out to competitors, especially as there is a shortage of suitably qualified and experienced seafarers, onshore staff and shipyard workers worldwide. The pressure is on for organizations to find new ways to recruit their workforces and retain their valuable human capital assets…

A collaboration between Orange Business Services and BlueTide Communications aims to deliver comprehensive maritime communications, reaching almost every sea and ocean around the world. The combination of Orange’s global satellite network with BlueTide’s specialized maritime solutions will power the navigation, cyber security, voice and video, corporate applications and asset management for vessels in the workboat industry. Orange said it is providing BlueTide with managed global Ku band VSAT capacity, with the ability to switch to alternative satellite beams  for seamless global coverage. BlueTide can provide vessels with live video surveillance, cyber security and systems monitoring, all high-end solutions delivered on the Orange network for seamless availability on a global scale.

Eye-share and Eiger Marine form a partnership to offer the best invoice automation system to maritime customers in Greece and Cyprus. Eye-share partners with Eiger Marine. This partnership forms part of our strategy to partner and co-operate with leading providers of business process improvement solutions for the maritime sector in order to reach new, important customer segments. The alliance will offer customers in the maritime sector a complete solution for invoice and document automation with Eye-share’s main product; eye-share Invoice.

The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) accompanied Her Majesty the Queen on her official state visit to Ghana on 23-24 November 2017 to discuss current maritime challenges and maritime authority-to-authority cooperation. The Danish Maritime Authority took part in Her Majesty the Queen’s official state visit to Ghana on 23-24 November 2017 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the country’s independence; furthermore, the state visit served to mark Danish-Ghanaian relations. A major maritime delegation, including the Danish Maritime Authority, was also a part of the state visit.

The Foundation Det Norske Veritas (DNV) assumes full ownership of DNV GL and remains committed to Maritime headquarters in Hamburg. Stiftelsen Det Norske Veritas (The Foundation) and Mayfair announce the sale of Mayfair’s 36.5% shares in DNV GL Group AS to DNV Holding AS. The agreement regarding the leading quality assurance and risk management company DNV GL was signed on 8 December 2017. In 2012, Stiftelsen Det Norske Veritas and Mayfair agreed to build a global quality assurance…

Michael Hume, President & CEO, holds top marine distributor W&O Supply on a steady course. W&O has been a distribution leader in the commercial marine space for more than four decades for a number of reasons, but it all starts with stability at the top, in the form of the leadership of Michael Hume, President & Chief Executive Officer. Hume has been with the company since 1992, and on a recent visit to his office in Jacksonville, Fla., he discussed the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for his company.

When marine safety collides with environmental advocacy and non-maritime business interests, the discussion can be contentious, confusing and cumbersome. In June 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) opened a public comment period regarding new anchorage zones in the Hudson River; usually a rather low-key set of issues. This proved different. Opponents jumped on the proposal – initially suggested by three maritime organizations – as a backdoor way to facilitate a huge expansion in crude oil shipments on the Hudson.

MMA Launches Third Graduate Degree, M.S. Maritime Business Management. The Massachusetts Maritime Academy has announced the launch of their third Graduate Degree, the Master of Science in Maritime Business Management. MMA developed the MSMB over a four-year period as a campus-wide collaborative effort with the Academic Dean, the Dean of Graduate & Continuing Education, the undergraduate International Maritime Business Department faculty and input gathered from employers, prospective students, the Graduate Education Council, and MMA graduate and undergraduate alumni.

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, and an international maritime business platform, SeaFocus, have announced a collaboration agreement that will support the companies in creating new cooperation models to benefit maritime trade and drive industry innovation. "We are known for our innovative products and services," says Henri Paukku, Director, Cooperation and Funding, MacGregor. "We can see here the potential in the industry and an important partner for creating new ways of thinking and sharing best practises and to collaborate with universities and their students.

Hendry Marine Industries, Inc. (HMI) (along with its affiliated companies Gulf Marine Repair Corporation, Universal Environmental Solutions, LLC, and Anchor Sandblasting and Coatings, LLC) offers a broad range of maritime services in Port Tampa Bay, including commercial and government ship repair, steel fabrication, gas-freeing, tank cleaning, slop services, lead and asbestos abatement, brokered waste and blasting and coating. The Hendry family entered the maritime business in 1926 when Captain F.M. Hendry started a construction aggregate business and then later a dredging business.

Satellite 2018 marks the launch of Cobham SATCOM’s Sea Tel 9711 Triband maritime antenna system, which leverages unique technology and capabilities from global communications company Viasat Inc. The Sea Tel 9711 Triband is the world’s first and only 2.4m maritime stabilized antenna capable of delivering full 2.4m gain performance across any C-, Ku-, or Ka-band network to maximize high-speed, high-quality broadband connectivity for high-demand maritime segments, such as Cruise, Energy and Government.

With its “Film Instead of Paint” concept RENOLIT is exploring new horizons in the maritime sector, as the company now plans to enter the renewable energy market with its films. The first step has been made with the use of the flock-film RENOLIT SEAL for an innovative enterprise in Denmark, where the company Wavepiston has developed at similarly-named wave-powered energy generation project. A steel cable is stretched between two anchored buoys. Energy collectors developed by Wavepiston are attached to this cable at intervals of five to six meters.

A Maritime 2050 Call for Evidence has been launched by the UK government’s Department for Transport (DfT) to seek the views of both those within and outside the sector. "Maritime 2050 is a long term strategy to secure the future of the UK maritime sector. This call for evidence asks those involved in or who rely on the maritime sector to contribute to the development of Maritime 2050," said a statement from the government. It introduces a number of themes for respondents to consider.

Damen’s Head of Communications, Sylvia Boer, has recently been appointed President of the Netherlands chapter of WISTA – the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association. WISTA the Netherlands was founded in 2000 and currently has 140 members from across the maritime industry. WISTA the Netherlands focuses on a number of priority topics affecting the industry. Amongst these are sustainability, new technologies, big data, health & safety, cyber security, block chain, developing cultural sensitivity and last, but by no means least, clean oceans.