Naval Architecture Firm News

Bourbon Mobility on Tuesday announced it has ordered six new crewboats from shipbuilder PIRIOU for scheduled delivery in 2025.These new Surfer-type vessels will enhance the fleet operating in West Africa, offering customers a balance between modularity, comfort and energy efficiency, Bourbon said, noting the newbuilds aim to reduce fuel consumption by 20%.With a length of 27 meters and a maximum speed of 30 kts, these Surfers will be able to carry between 50 and 70 passengers…

Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) has unveiled a concept for a first-of-its kind service operations vessel (SOV) that runs on liquid hydrogen.The French-headquartered company said it has been working alongside Norwegian naval architecture firm Salt Ship Design as well as main equipment suppliers, fuel providers, class and flag authorities, and others to produce the concept—with support from the European Commission.The groundbreaking SOV, currently in the concept design phase, would be able to operate 95% of the time with zero carbon emissions, only releasing water during standard operations.

The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) represented by BMW Oracle Racing and the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), the Americas Cup defending champion, represented by Team Alinghi were entwined in a 2.5-year legal battle over multiple court cases, including hearings in the New York Supreme Court and the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, prior to the 33rd edition of the race, due to take place in 2010.The parties disagreed about the location, format, and restrictions on boat design, all of which were changed by the courts prior to the race.

Norwegian-registered Hercules Supply has placed an order for a new multipurpose offshore support vessel (MPSV) from Chinese shipyard Fujian Mawei.Slated for delivery on in the fourth quarter of 2025, the newbuild—a Z 4423 MPSV design from Norwegian naval architecture firm Breeze Ship Design—will be 88 meters long and fitted with battery hybrid propulsion, moonpoool and accommodation for 60 people."With a focus on functionality and efficiency, this design provides flexibility to perform tasks within different offshore segments…

Naval architecture firm Glosten announced it has completed the design for the R/V Thuwal II, KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)’s new research vessel optimized for generalized oceanography and tailored to the Middle East’s hot climate.Once built, it will be the largest and most specialized research vessel based in the Red Sea, supporting everything from biology to geology.The new vessel will replace the existing Thuwal, which is more than 20 years old and has served KAUST scientists for as many as 220 days at sea per year since 2013.

MMS Workboats, a division of U.K.-based MMS Ship Repair & Dry Dock Co Ltd. (MMS), has launched a cutting-edge plastic and debris collection vessel: the Envirocat All-Electric Eco 8.5.Designed to make waterways cleaner and support sustainable industries such as fish farming and aquaculture, the 8.5 meter vessel can be operated by a single user, enabling efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly clearance of plastic and flotsam from the water’s surface.The vessel, developed in conjunction with naval architecture firm Rockabill Marine Design…

Dongara Marine has been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to build the Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's new large patrol vessel.The 24-meter fisheries patrol vessel will be built to a design from WA naval architecture firm Southerly Designs.The government is investing $13.7 million into the project to replace the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's ageing PV Walcott.The new patrol vessel will have a longer fuel range to conduct extended voyages…

Washington's Skagit County is inviting U.S. shipyards to bid for a contract to construct a new all‐electric car and passenger ferry.In 2017, Skagit County Public Works enlisted Glosten to design an environmentally friendly all‐electric replacement for the diesel‐powered ferry Guemes, which has serviced the half-mile route between Anacortes and Guemes Island since 1979.After some funding-related delays, the county approved the Seattle-based naval architecture firm's preliminary design in 2021…

Any commentator on the maritime business decarbonization voyage will offer something along the lines of "There will be multiple fuels…" With the International Maritime Organization (IMO) meetings of its Maritime Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) set for early July, it is likely that targets for emissions will be tightened. Whatever mileposts that the IMO actually establishes, there will be no prescriptions handed down on how to get there. By mid-2023, nearly two years after the late 2021 alternative fuels crescendo in the aftermath of the COP26 meetings in Glasgow…

President Joe Biden traveled to Philadelphia on Thursday to attend a steel cutting ceremony for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation's new offshore wind rock placement vessel, touting his administration’s clean energy agenda and job creation efforts as the U.S. builds up its offshore wind industry. "The clean energy future we’re building all across America will be transformational,” Biden said during the ceremony at Philly Shipyard. “Thousands of families will rely on good jobs these projects create…

New Canaan, Conn. based towage provider Moran Towing Corporation announced it has ordered another pair of tugs from Coden, Ala. shipbuilder Master Boat Builders for delivery through 2025.The newbuilds, developed by Moran in collaboration with Vancouver, B.C. naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd., are RApport 2800 escort tugs designed to provide more than 80 metric tons of bollard pull. At 92 feet and with a breadth of 40 feet, the tugs will rank among the largest and most powerful in Moran's fleet, slated to help handle the larger, deeper draft vessels calling ports along the U.S.

A new barge has been designed to transport rockets for spacecraft launch service provider United Launch Alliance (ULA).Naval architecture firm Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. (BHGI) said it was recently selected by ULA to design a river and oceangoing manned roll-on / roll-off barge for the transportation of its Vulcan Centaur rockets. The barge will be supported by an operations and cargo monitoring crew.In support of ULA’s competitive solicitation for ship fabrication this summer…

Brazilian shipbuilder Estaleiro Rio Maguari (ERM) has delivered the first in a series of six new tugs for Svitzer Brazil.The vessel, Svitzer Arthur, is a a RAmparts 2300-ERM tug designed by Canadian naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd., who said the design is optimized for maximum efficiency in ship-handling operations in harbors.With an overall length of 23.2 meters and 11.4-meter beam, the tug features a raised fo’c’sle deck for safer operations in heavier weather. Operational requirement are met with a single drum hawser winch from Ibercisa Deck Machinery…

Robert Schluter served as an officer as part of the marine engineering team on board the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Mahan DDG-42 out of Charleston before transitioning to the business world and “general, corporate type work”. Today he serves as managing director at the third startup he’s helped build, e1 Marine.The company, a joint venture between Louisiana-based marine equipment lessor Maritime Partners, Irish tanker owner Ardmore Shipping and Schluter’s second startup…

The Grimaldi Group announced it has exercised its option for the construction of five additional ammonia-ready 9,000 CEU car carriers from China Merchants Heavy Industries Jiangsu, part of China Merchant Industry Holdings (CMI).Grimaldi announced its initial order for five new pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) vessels from CMI in October. The 10 vessels are scheduled to be delivered between 2025 and 2027 and will be deployed on voyages between Europe, North Africa, and the Near and Far East.Grimaldi said it developed the vessel concept in collaboration with naval architecture firm Knud E.

British naval architecture firm Steller Systems said it has been awarded a contract from the U.K.'s Defence and Security Accelerator to develop an innovative damage control system for ships.Changes to platform design and operation, steady reductions in crew numbers and the accelerating move to uncrewed, autonomous vessels mean that new approaches are required to ensure that damage control measures can continue to be successfully achieved, the company said.Under its recently awarded contract…

Seattle-based naval architecture firm Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) announced it is working with Miller Marine, a marine metal fabrication shop in Deltaville, Va., to design and construct a fully electric truckable tug.The versatile vessel is designed as a multi-functional utility boat servicing marine construction sites, tending dredges, tending buoys, short range ferry operations and other near shore operations such as crew transportation or line handling, the designer said.EBDG will incorporate an electrical propulsion system into Miller Marine's proven truckable tug design.

The Lake Superior Research Institute (LSRI) at the University of Wisconsin-Superior has commissioned naval architecture firm Incat Crowther to design a new low-emission battery hybrid research vessel.The aluminum-hulled vessel will be built by Louisiana shipbuilder Midship Marine for expected delivery in spring 2024.Described as a ‘floating classroom’, the 65-foot USCG-certified catamaran will support the university’s on-water education and research and features proven parallel…

Tanker owner/operator Ardmore Shipping Corporation on Wednesday announced the planned departure of its current chief financial officer Paul Tivnan and appointment of new CFO Bart Kelleher, effective September 28, 2022.Anthony Gurnee, Ardmore's chief executive officer, said, Kelleher and Tivnan will overlap and work together from September 1 to "achieve an orderly and well-planned transition".Kelleher brings to the role more than 25 years of progressive experience in the maritime, finance, energy and industrials sectors, having most recently served as chief executive officer of Chembulk Tankers. He previously served as both Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the firm, and prior to that, was the chief operating officer of Principal Maritime Management.

Christopher Deegan, former president and chief executive of the venerable naval architecture firm Gibbs & Cox, has passed away, the company shared on social media."It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of our former president and chief executive of Gibbs & Cox, Christopher Deegan’s passing. Chris joined Gibbs & Cox as the vice president of engineering in 2013 after an outstanding career as a Navy civilian program manager and senior executive service leader. In 2016, Chris was selected to be the ninth president and chief executive of Gibbs & Cox.

PowerCell Sweden AB will provide fuel cells to power Hydrogen One, the world’s first methanol-fueled towboat, one of the project partners e1 Marine announced on Wednesday.Hydrogen One is being developed by Maritime Partners LLC, using e1 Marine's methanol-to-hydrogen generator technology. Other project participants include naval architecture firm Elliott Bay Design Group as well as ABB, who will supply electrical power distribution and automation systems. The first-of-its-kind…

Shipbuilder Manor Marine UK Ltd. announced it has signed an agreement with naval architecture firm Chartwell Marine Ltd. to jointly develop vessel designs and pursue shipbuilding contracts in the offshore wind industry.The U.K.-based companies, which have worked together on various projects previously, said their recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) demonstrates a further commitment to work in tandem on innovative and sustainable concepts and designs."Collaboration…

Australian naval architecture firm Incat Crowther said it has been commissioned to design and deliver a new boutique liveaboard cruise vessel for Tasmanian luxury wilderness expedition cruise operator On Board. The 24-meter vessel, named Odalisque III, is currently being built by Richardson Devine Marine in Hobart and is scheduled for delivery in early 2023.Designed to provide guests with a luxurious wilderness escape in the pristine south-west Tasmanian wilderness, the aluminum-hulled Odalisque III can host up to 12 guests in seven stylish and flexible cabins…