Maritime Research Institute News

DNV has presented HD Hyundai with a general approval for ship application (GASA) for a new high-strength composite hybrid support system for independent tanks on liquefied gas carriers.In a world-first, HD Hyundai’s concept is fabricated with a fusion of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) with a tensile strength 10 times greater than steel, significantly enhancing structural stability.The new system offers robust structural supports, enabling independent tanks to withstand upward force from floatation in case of hold space flooded.

ClassNK has signed a joint R&D agreement with Nihon Shipyard and IMC to ensure the safety and performance evaluation of anti-roll tanks (ART) installed on large containerships.Under the R&D agreement, Nihon Shipyard, IMC, and ClassNK will work together to expand the application of ART to large containerships.Utilizing the obtained data and knowledge, each party will collaborate to ensure the safer application of ART on an actual ship and performance evaluation.AS part of the partnership…

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, together with the state's Department of Transportation (WisDOT), announced grants totaling $5.3 million for seven harbor maintenance and improvement projects to promote waterborne freight and economic development.“From the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, Wisconsin’s unique geography provides our state opportunities to grow our economy and help our businesses reach markets worldwide,” said Gov. Evers. “These grants will help maintain our harbors and ensure our ports are secure and reliable…

Operating on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from day one in service, the MV George III, the first of Pasha Group’s two new ‘Ohana Class’, Jones Act-qualified containerships, features a state-of-the-art engine, an optimized hull form, and an underwater propulsion system with a high-efficiency rudder and propeller. George III is the first LNG-powered vessel to fuel on the West Coast and the first to serve Hawaii. The 774-ft. Jones Act vessel surpasses the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2030 emission standards for ocean vessels.

Classification society ClassNK has released its Guidelines for Direct Load Analysis and Strength Assessment (Edition 2.0), which clarifies the requirements for more rational structural design reflecting the latest structural strength assessment methods based on R&D outcomes.ClassNK’s Rules and Guidance for the Survey and Construction of Steel Ships and IACS CSR stipulate that hull strength assessment based on finite element analysis should be conducted, and the evaluation applying simplified formulae of the loads depending on ship type estimated from existing ships is required.

The Maritime Research Institute of the Netherlands (MARIN) will combine its defense-related expertize as of July 1 in a new Defense department. MARIN said the aim was to properly coordinate defense activities MARIN-wide with Dutch, NATO and EU Defence partners, to optimally contribute with MARIN's knowledge contributes to an effective navy of the future. Pepijn de Jong, currently team lead Navy in the Ships department, will lead the new and growing department.Bas Buchner, president of MARIN: "A good organisation of defense work fits in with our mission and strategy.

TenneT's investigation has shown that there is no major damage to the HKZ Beta jacket in the Dutch North Sea which was hit by a drifting bulk carrier in a storm in January. This means that the 3,950t topside can be installed on the jacket as planned, forming part of the Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) grid connection that connects the offshore wind farm zone to the Dutch mainland at the Maasvlakte. The wind farm is being built by Vattenfall. The incidentOn Monday, January 31, the freighter Julietta D.

In research prompted by the incident in the Dutch North Sea in January when a drifting bulk carrier hit offshore wind facilities, Dutch maritime research institute MARIN this week, with industry partners, tested three innovative barriers aimed at averting collisions between ships and wind turbines.The drifting bulk carrier Julietta D initially collided with a tanker before hitting a transformer platform and a turbine foundation for the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm currently under…

Delta Offshore Energy (DOE), a company working to develop the 3200 MW Bac Lieu LNG-to-Power Project in Vietnam, has said that model testing of the LNG receiving terminal technology has been successfully completed.As previously reported DOE Delta Offshore Energy (DOE) in September 2020 signed a technology license agreement with Stena Power & LNG Solutions, under which Stena agreed to grant DOE a license to use its Jetty-Less LNG receiving and regas technology for the offshore LNG…

As the marine industry moves toward decarbonization, partnerships that transcend technologies and borders will increasingly play a prominent role. In this regard, Alfa Laval and Japan’s National Maritime Research Institute (NMRI) today announced positive resultes on an innovative carbon capture and storage (CCS) test.Initiated by NMRI, the CO2 capture testing project was designed to provide real-world validation of results achieved in the lab. It required a full-scale hybrid scrubber system, and Alfa Laval's PureSOx was used..

In 2020, Damen signed a contract with Blue Amigo for the delivery of nine passenger vessels to operate between Rotterdam and the Drecht cities in the Netherlands in a service known as the Waterbus. Damen identified that six of the vessels – hybrid carbon fiber water buses that will operate fast, inter-city routes – would require a unique thruster solution, a fully azimuthing, 360-degree thruster to make docking easy and propulsion fast.“It’s actually the kind of thruster you would expect to see on a pleasure craft,” says Damen design and proposal engineer Ferries Jan van Ooijen.

A new study, ‘A quiet revolution - the maritime innovation ecosystem in Japan’, explores the commitments to Internet of Things (IoT)-based ship and crew management already made by corporate Japan, then goes on to offer unique insights into the country’s emerging start-up culture.The report, sponsored by Inmarsat is the first in a series of in-depth profiles into maritime technology and start-ups in specific countries. It builds on ‘Trade 2.0: How start-ups are driving the next generation of maritime trade’…

The Secretariat of the Navy of Mexico (SEMAR) has held a ceremony marking delivery of the Long Range Ocean Patrol (POLA) Class vessel ARM Reformador. The delivery ceremony was attended by Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Durán, Secretary of the Navy and High Command of the Mexican Navy, in the company of Mr. Juan Carlos Atecas Altamirano, Municipal President of Salina Cruz Oaxaca. Damen Shipyards Group was represented by Executive Board member René Berkvens, President of Damen Shipyards Mexico Horacio Delgado, and POLA Project Director Frank Verhelst.

NAPA, a maritime software, services, and data analysis provider, has announced the appointment of Tor E. Svensen, Vice President, Marine Technology at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines to its board. Svensen has previously served as CEO of DNV GL Maritime, chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), and professor at the University of Strathclyde.As CEO of DNV GL Maritime, Svensen helped to outline a consistent vision of shipping's technology-enabled future, which achieved sustained, empirical improvements in safety, sustainability, and efficiency.

Four winning school classes attended  the prizegiving of the ‘design your ship for the future’ competition at MARIN (Netherlands Maritime Research Institute). The winning ship, with the shape of a sailfish, a retractable sail, a frictionless shark skin and a flexible moving tail was  tested in one of MARIN’s model basins.This competition started last year when MARIN tested its 10,000th  ship model. MARIN President Bas Buchner: “To celebrate the 10,000th model landmark we didn’t want to look, back but to look forward.

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä,  the Netherlands based Maritime Research Institute MARIN and Italian ship owner Grimaldi, have together successfully designed an Energy Saving Device (ESD), suitable for use by ships with Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPPs)."Following model tests, and subsequent sea trials with Grimaldi’s ‘Grande Portogallo’, a 165 metres long Pure Car & Truck Carrier, fuel efficiency gains of 3.5 percent were confirmed," said a press release from the engineering company. This translates into a pay-back period of only 1.3 years."The initial noon reports suggest a 5 percent decrease in the fuel consumption, but in order to get a more realistic value we need to record a wider range of data…

In Rotterdam, ships from around the world cruise in and out of Europe's busiest port, a bustling industrial hub that employs almost 200,000 people and produces 20 percent of the Netherlands' climate-changing gases.As Rotterdam tries to cut its emissions - in line with global goals to curb global warming - shipping emissions are a particular challenge, not least because many fall outside the targets set by the Paris Agreement to curb climate change.But the city's bustling port…

As the North American offshore wind model evolves, it is clear that fit-for-purpose, Jones Act compliant and Arctic ready tonnage will need to be part of the equation. If so, we’ve got that box checked, with a little help from Europe.As of September 2018, the Walney Extension off the United Kingdom is the largest offshore wind farm in the world at 659 megawatts. There are at least 70 major wind farms, each with hundreds of wind turbines, each generating as much as 10 megawatts in offshore England, the North Sea, Russia and China.

Japenese marine transportation company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that MOL, MOL Techno-Trade, the National Maritime Research Institute (NMRI), and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT) jointly conducted an assessment and feasibility study on advanced navigation support systems, using the NMRI-owned ship handling risk simulator, which has a horizontal view angle of 240°C.On watch-keeping during ship operations, mariners must first be able to see an object, and then judge whether that object poses a risk to the vessel. If that is the case, the vessel must take some action to avoid the risk, such as veering…

Dutch company RH Marine has started a three-year research in order to let ships sail autonomously in a safe way. The study aims to develop algorithms which enable unmanned self-propelled vessels to sail efficiently from A to B, which recognize dangerous situations and learn to avoid these dangers.The research is part of the larger European project Safer Autonomous Systems (SAS) under the direction of the KU Leuven (BE), in which the safety of various autonomous systems is being researched.

To say this book is a collection of research would be an understatement. “Contemporary Ideas on Ship Stability: Risk of Capsizing” is more like a preservation of knowledge covering the last nine years.Dr. Vadim Belenky, a naval architect in the Simulations and Analysis Branch at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, was the editor in chief for the book, the chapters of which are papers from engineers, naval architects and professors from around the world. Belenky himself co-authored four of the papers…

Netherlands Minister of infrastructure and water management Cora van Nieuwenhuizen visited Rotterdam on 28 January to meet Damen Shipyards Group and other Dutch maritime industry leaders.During the visit Minister of Nieuwenhuizen attended presentations on board a Damen ship, FCS 2610.The ship sailed from the head office of Hatenboer-Water in Schiedam, along the Nieuwe Maas, to the head office of Van Oord in Rotterdam.René Berkvens, CEO of the Damen Group, said: “We were happy to welcome Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen to Rotterdam, and we appreciate her continued interest in, and strong support of, our maritime sector. Face-to-face meetings like this help to inform the government policies…

C-Job Naval Architects has delivered the design for a wind-assisted general cargo vessel to Dutch shipping company Switijnk Shipping. The 8,500 DWT vessel will be equipped with two Norsepower Rotor Sails that will supplement the main engines and is expected to achieve fuel savings of approximately 14 per cent. C-Job was approached by Switijnk Shipping following its involvement in the European Union Interreg project S@IL, for which C-Job developed the earlier design of a 4,500 DWT Flettner Freighter. C-Job designed this smaller vessel with four Rotor Sails.