Mikael Makinen News

Kongsberg Gruppen ASA (KONGSBERG) today entered into agreement with Rolls-Royce plc to acquire Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine, a world leading technology business within maritime operations. The transaction is structured as an acquisition by KONGSBERG of the marine products, systems and aftermarket services businesses carried out by subsidiaries of Rolls-Royce plc. The transaction does not include Bergen Engines nor Rolls-Royce's Naval Business. The parties have agreed a value for Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine of GBP 500 million (on a cash and debt free basis and with working capital at an agreed level). The final purchase price, will be determined based on Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine's cash, debt and working capital at time of completion of the transaction.

Rolls-Royce’s new research facility in Turku, Finland provides a space for the company and its partners to develop technologies that will help shape the future of an increasingly more autonomous global shipping industry. Officially opened on January 25, the new R&D center, which Rolls-Royce calls the Research & Development Center for Autonomous Ships, will focus on projects relating to autonomous navigation, the development of land-based control centers and the use of artificial intelligence in future remote and autonomous shipping operations.

The first of Rolls-Royce’ series of ship intelligence experience spaces has opened to show customers, suppliers and partners how the latest digital solutions can transform the marine industry. Opened in Ålesund, Norway, the Intelligent Asset Management (IAM) experience space sets out to demonstrate how ship intelligence systems can harness the “power of data” to optimize fleet operations, reduce operating costs and improve maintenance procedures, Rolls-Royce said. The IAM space provides an area for Rolls-Royce customers to validate the advantages of using IAM systems…

Earlier this year in Copenhagen Harbor, the 28-meter-long tug Svitzer Hermod berthed alongside the quay, undocked, turned 360 degrees and sailed back to Svitzer headquarters before docking again, all under remote operation while the captain was stationed quayside at the vessel’s remote base at Svitzer HQ. Though a captain and crew remained on board throughout to ensure safe operation in the event of a system failure, the remotely controlled maneuvers demonstrated a “world first” for a commercial vessel, according to project partners Rolls-Royce and global towage operator Svitzer.

Norwegian explorer cruise line Hurtigruten is to build two new expedition ships using a new and environmentally sustainable hybrid technology from Rolls-Royce making fully electric propulsion on a passenger ship possible. The Rolls-Royce designed MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen, about to be constructed at Kleven Yard in Norway, will be packed with innovative Rolls-Royce technology. In addition to the hybrid power solution, the vessels will have the latest automation and control systems…

Rolls-Royce has signed a contract with Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) worth more than $41 million to deliver propulsion and deck machinery for 13 new tugs, including five which will have a direct bollard pull of around 150 metric tons. The 13 tugs are being designed and built at Chouest-affiliated shipyards in the U.S. with support from Damen’s Technical Cooperation program. The five most powerful tugs will be 45 meters long and 17 meters wide, making them the world’s largest of their kind to date.

The cloud is for “device-agnostic young slashers,” said Trond Bjorseth, marketing manager, of Oslo-based cloud consultancy, Tieto. His company offers an information management tool for subsea projects and “repositories” for the shipping sector’s operations. With Tieto you can get “one big happy project room,” although he admits at least three suppliers offer something similar. For its own future “slashers,” Glasgow-based ship manager Norbulk Shipping opted instead for Google Cloud Technology Solutions…

The Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA) project, led by Rolls-Royce, introduced the project’s first commercial ship operators: ferry operator Finferries and dry bulk cargo carriers ESL Shipping Oy. The announcement came at a conference presenting the findings of the initiative’s first year of research at Helsinki’s Finlandia Hall last week. The AAWA project brings together universities, ship designers, equipment manufacturers and classification societies to explore the economic…

Rolls-Royce is today announcing a new senior management structure as the first step in the wide-ranging restructuring announced on 12 November 2015. The move will simplify the organisation, drive operational excellence and reduce cost; ensuring Rolls-Royce is better placed to deliver long-term profitable growth. The current divisional structure of Aerospace and Land & Sea will end, removing a layer of senior management. From 1 January 2016, Rolls-Royce will operate as five market facing businesses, with the Presidents of Civil Aerospace, Defence Aerospace, Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems reporting directly to the Chief Executive. Our Civil Aerospace business will comprise of our merged Civil Large Engines (CLE) and our Civil Small and Medium Engines (CSME) businesses.

Britain's Rolls-Royce said it would cut an additional 400 staff from its marine business by the end of next year, its latest move to make the unit more efficient and cope with a fall in orders sparked by lower oil prices. The marine unit, which depends on oil and gas-related customers for about 60 percent of its business, has seen some of its orders cancelled in the past 16 months as the price of Brent crude collapsed to six-year lows. Rolls-Royce had already announced in May that it would cut 600 jobs in its marine business…

Rolls-Royce engines powered solely by liquefied natural gas (LNG) have completed 25 million hours of operation on land and at sea, since their introduction in 1991. More than 650 Bergen lean burn gas engines are in service today, with a power output up to 9,600kW. The engines are used for a variety of applications ranging from powering ferries, cargo ships and tugs to a wide range of land-based power generation throughout the world. Dr. Mikael Makinen, Rolls-Royce President Marine, added, “Achieving 25 million running hours in almost 25 years is something we’re extremely proud of.

British engineering group Rolls-Royce (RR.L) said it would cut 600 jobs in its Norwegian-focused marine business in response to the lower oil price, a move it said would have a "broadly neutral" impact on 2015 profits. Rolls-Royce is in the middle of a cost-saving plan in its aero-engines business and headquarters, axing 2,600 jobs, and the streamlining of its marine business comes after a year of profit downgrades and cancelled orders. The company said that from 2016, the job cuts in marine would help generate 25 million pounds of benefits.

Marking 50 years since the delivery of its first azimuth thruster, Rolls-Royce held an event in Rauma, Finland to celebrate the occasion. Azimuthing thrusters, which today are one of Rolls-Royce’s most successful marine products,  rotate through 360 degrees, providing propulsion and maneuverability, without the need for a rudder. Azimuthing thrusters power and position some of the world’s largest floating structures. The Pioneering Spirit, the world’s largest construction vessel…

Rolls-Royce has today confirmed its intention to sell its Michell Bearings business to British Engines Limited for a cash consideration of £12.6m. Subject to licence consents, the sale will be completed in the autumn. Michell Bearings has been part of the Rolls-Royce Marine business for the past 15 years and is a premium designer and manufacturer of hydrodynamic bearings for a wide range of marine and industrial applications. Michell Bearings consists of a business based in the UK, located in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and a 51% shareholding in Michell Bearings (India) Pvt Ltd, a non-wholly owned subsidiary company based in Bangalore. Mikael Makinen…

For decades the maritime industry has long-theorized of emulating the “airline model” in uniformity and technical capability of its own ship and boat integrated bridge platform. Enter Rolls-Royce and the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland which together have launched a ship intelligence system that it believes could be the next major transition for the shipping, able to gather, process and reasonably present increasing amounts of complex and high-level data from onboard systems to manage propulsion, navigation and potentially lead .to autonomous vessels.

Rolls-Royce, together with VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, unveiled its latest vision of Ship Intelligence, a bridge concept which it said could become reality by 2025. Rolls-Royce has worked together with VTT’s researchers and Aalto University to develop the new bridge, known as the Future Operator Experience Concept or ‘oX’. It offers the crew smart workstations, which automatically recognize individuals when they walk into the bridge and adjust to their own preferences.