Maritime Industry News

Ship data consumption is booming, and as digitalization and data trends increasingly drive the maritime world, Inmarsat celebrated a pair of milestones, hitting the 10,000 vessel mark on Fleet Xpress installations and launching its "Fleet Data Academy."Traffic DoublesAccording to Inmarsat, the growth in Fleet Xpress now includes the world’s leading container ship and tanker owners, such as MOL, K-Line and Hapag-Lloyd, offshore support giants like Bourbon, Tidewater and Maersk Supply, as well as growing numbers of yachts, passenger ships and fishing boats.

Ship management company V.Group has announced the appointment of Bjoern Sprotte as chief executive officer, Ship Management.Based in Hamburg and reporting directly to V.Group CEO René Kofod-Olsen, Sprotte replaces Franck Kayser, who has requested to refocus his overall responsibilities and will be assuming leadership of the Group’s activities in Denmark.Sprotte joins V.Group from OSM Maritime Group, where he spent four years in a number of senior roles, including chief operating officer…

Pete Buttigieg, President Joe Biden's nominee to head the U.S. Department of Transportation, has voiced his support for the Jones Act, a federal law that regulates maritime commerce in the United States.Buttigieg's comments came in response to questioning by Sen. Maria Cantwell (Dem.-Wash.) during a nearly three-hour confirmation hearing held by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Thursday."I am a big Jones Act supporter, and the state of Washington and the trade that we have related to the Jones Act to make sure that we have U.S.-flagged vessels," Cantwell said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Tuesday authorized the construction of two additional National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMV), marking a key milestone for one of America's most high-profile shipbuilding programs.The new vessels will replace aging training ships at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, and Texas A&M Maritime Academy in Galveston, Texas. MARAD previously authorized the construction of the first two NSMVs, destined for SUNY Maritime College in Bronx…

KVH Industries, Inc. announced Tuesday that GreenSteam, developers of vessel performance optimization solutions for a sustainable shipping industry, has joined the KVH Watch Solution Partner program and will offer the KVH Watch service as part of its enhanced performance platform for improved data mobility. KVH Watch’s dedicated connectivity will support GreenSteam’s core services, facilitating the movement of data from vessels to shore-based analysts more frequently and reliably in real-time.“The lifeblood of GreenSteam is data volume…

Business interruption, pandemic outbreak and cyber incidents -- three separate but 'strongly interlinked' matters -- lead the pack as the top threats to maritime in 2021, according to the 10th Allianz survey on risk in the maritime sector.The maritime industry, on its best day, is fraught with risk, as people, machinery and the bulk of world trade regularly traverses some of the most perilous conditions on the planet. According to the 10th Allianz Risk Barometer 2021 for the sector…

North America is increasingly adopting energy storage systems (ESS) to use in combination with combustion engines or as the sole energy carrier in fully electric-powered systems.We clearly see a transition from ‘consideration’ to ‘execution’ of hybrid and all-electric maritime projects. Stakeholders want to explore how to make vessels more energy efficient and less polluting. Corvus Energy has deployed over half of the ESSs aboard vessels globally, totaling over 300 megawatt hours (MWh).In North America, Corvus has deployed 24 MWh of energy storage capacity, and there are 13 vessels under U.S.

French naval engineering firm GTT announced it has obtained approval in principle (AiP) for the NO96 membrane containment system for liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel tank application for ultra large container vessel (ULCV) from classification society Bureau Veritas (BV).GTT said it worked with BV to review the compatibility and safe integration of the NO96 technology as an LNG fuel tank in a container vessel hull. Over the course of the AIP study, a liquid motion assessment of the tank configuration has been performed.Philippe Berterottière…

Bill Forslund recently joined naval architecture and marine engineering design consultancy BMT as commercial business development manager, concentrating on West Coast new business, passenger vessels, navy and commercial tug and barge projects. He will be responsible for actively engaging federal and commercial customer communities to identify and develop new partnerships and projects.Forslund spent the past 15 years as advertising manager for Philips Publishing Group, former publisher of several maritime trade publications.

Is neo-colonialism in the Gulf of Guinea the answer to West Africa’s maritime crime crisis?In October 2020, China’s transport ministry established an ad hoc workgroup to lay down precautionary measures for ships and seafarers passing through high piracy risk West African waters.The move came as China told its vessels to up vigilance and implement a series of precautionary measures to ensure the security of ocea-going vessels and seafarers amid rising attacks and a surge in kidnaps in the Gulf of Guinea.Plans outlined by Wu Chungeng…

Fluechem launched what it is calling "a revolutionary new system" that allows shipping owners to create their own Urea solution onboard.Launched at the end of 2020, the Urea Generator by Fluechem was born out of a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the shipping industry and in particular the challenges related to abating SOx, CO2 & NOx exhaust gas emissions through scrubber, additive and SCR based technology.The Urea Generator is a fully automated onboard Urea blending system…

Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and Tidal Transit have signed a contract for another Crew Transfer Vessel for the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, offshore France. The wind farm site is owned by Eolien Maritime France SAS.The order follows a similar order signed in December 2020, when  GE  ordered two such vessels from Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and Tidal Transit. As the first two crew transfer vessels, this third vessel will be designed by naval architect Mauric and built by French shipyard Ocea.

At the SMM Hamburg's Offshore Dialogue online conference on February 2, international experts will discuss current trends in the offshore wind farms segment, technical challenges facing tidal and wave energy conversion, and innovative ocean monitoring technologies."About 70% of our planet is covered by water. The Earth's oceans play a key role in shaping the global climate. The more important it is to gather and evaluate as much information as possible about the composition of this ecosystem and how it changes.

Classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) announced the industry experts who have joined the advisory panel of its Maritime Decarbonization Hub, a dedicated center of excellence launched in October that aims to accelerate the safe, sustainable and cost-effective decarbonization of world shipping in support of delivering greenhouse gas reduction targets.The panel is made up of representatives from across the industry and includes Ole Graa Jakobsen, VP Head of Fleet Technology at AP Moller-Maersk…

In 2001, George Burkley, a maritime educator, wrote a look-ahead article for Maritime Reporter and Engineering News, presenting the benefits and real-world payoffs from using simulators in maritime education. In the late 1990s, new tech and software advances were creating scenario programs that moved a student closer and closer to the realities demanded by, well, reality. “The future is here, and we are ready to simulate it,” Burkley concluded.Burkley is now executive director at the Maritime Pilots Institute in Covington, La.

IMO2021 came into effect on January 1, and it is vital that ship owners and managers continue to monitor the systems and processes in place to ensure vessels remain cyber secure. Mike McNally, Commercial Director at GTMaritime discusses what shipping companies can do to ensure cyber security and that they remain compliant with the new regulations.The IMO2021 guidelines on maritime cyber risk management provide the basis for a safer, more secure and resilient cyber space for shipping operations.

While the maritime industry steams toward alternative and dual fuel solutions, much of the focus, rightfully so, remains on the main movers as well as the overall vessel design and logistics considerations. Here we look at the SERO PumpSystems’ SHPmarine side channel pump, a pump integrated into the “Secondary Fuel Supply Systems” (SFSS) of hybrid ship propulsion units pumping LPG (propane) to the main shipboard engine. According to the manufacturer, it is the first pump of its kind to be both Lloyd's Register accepted and DNV GL type approved for maritime dual fuel propulsion systems.

Robert Allan founded Robert Allan Ltd. in 1930 when Allan commenced private practice as a consulting Naval Architect after serving as Technical Manager of a local major shipyard. In the 90 years that have passed, the organization has evolved from a one-man shop to a global powerhouse in the business of naval architecture and marine design. Following the founder into the business were his namesake son and grandson, with the company in recent years passing to an employee-owned model led by Mike Fitzpatrick. Robert G.

Most people these days are aware of risks inherent in our increasingly electronic maritime industry. There is malware, ransomware, and spear phishing to name a few. But a new one has been recently identified – cosmic rays.Cosmic rays are high-energy protons and atomic nuclei which move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the sun, from stars outside of the solar system, and from distant galaxies. They are capable of penetrating and passing through almost any material.

“…We have built our reputation job by job, boat by boat, and tow by tow, and we intend to continue to do so.”The Great Lakes Towing Company (GLT) and the Great Lakes Shipyard are core businesses within The Great Lakes Group of Companies, based in Cleveland, on the Old River, a shipping channel that runs west from where the Cuyahoga River meets Lake Erie. Company towing operations extend from Buffalo, N.Y. in the east to Duluth, Minn. in the west. Great Lakes Towing owns and operates the largest U.S.-flagged tugboat fleet on the Great Lakes, serving more than 35 ports in all eight U.S.

Congress on Monday approved $390 million to fund construction of a fourth National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV). The state-of-the-art ship will be assigned to the Texas A&M Maritime Academy at Texas A&M University at Galveston, serving as a training platform for future merchant mariners and offer a critical disaster resource in the Gulf Coast.Scheduled for delivery in 2025, the new NSMV for Texas A&M is the fourth in a series of five ships to replace the aging and outdated fleet of training vessels currently used by state maritime academies.

Matson has taken delivery of Matsonia, the second of two new Kanaloa Class combination container / roll-on, roll-off (con-ro) ships built for the U.S. carrier at General Dynamics NASSCO's San Diego shipyard. Weighing in at over 50,000 metric tons, Matsonia and Lurline are each 870 feet long, with 114 feet beam and a deep draft of 38 feet. The sister ships have an enclosed garage with room for approximately 500 vehicles, plus ample space for rolling stock and breakbulk cargo. Lurline…

Finnish maritime technology firm Wärtsilä and Grieg Edge, the innovation hub of Norwegian shipping group Grieg Star, are working on a joint project to launch an ammonia-fuelled tanker producing no greenhouse gas emissions by 2024. With Norwegian government support worth 46.3 million NOK (4.4 million EUR), the partnership aims to build what will be the world's first green ammonia fuelled tanker."The MS Green Ammonia project is the result of a Nordic industrial collaboration group founded from the Zeeds (Zero Emissions Energy Distribution at Sea) initiative…