Osr News

Not every vessel in the U.S. Navy is built for major combat operations on the high seas. There are large numbers of boats and service craft that provide essential services to the sea services, the nation and its partners.The U.S. Navy procures about 100 small boats per year. Some of these boats are based on commercial designs, procured to a Navy developed specification that tailors the requirements to the end user needs. They are procured and managed by two Naval Sea Systems Command program offices—PMS 300 and PMS 325.Compared to warships and auxiliaries…

Two new oil spill response barges were recently completed at ASL Shipyard in Singapore for Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC).The two 3,500 tonne barges, Sentinel 303 and Sentinel 304, will be delivered to WCMRC in October, with arrival in Canada by the end of 2022. The response barges will join WCMRC’s fleet of pollution response vessels stationed along the south coast of British Columbia.These new barges represent a significant enhancement to the pollution response capabilities already in place and will benefit the entire local maritime industry…

Weathernews Inc. Global Ice Center announced its review of Arctic Ocean sea ice conditions during 2021. Due to the cool summer temperatures in July 2021, sea ice did not see much melt and the minimum sea ice area for the year was the largest in the past seven years at 4.61 million km2.Weathernews Inc. Global Ice Center said Monday that both the Northeast (Russian side) and the Northwest (Canadian side) Passages of the Northern Sea Route remained closed. This is the first time in 12 years since 2009 that the Northeast Passage did not open.

Weathernews Inc (WNI) said it has joined forces with Vessel Performance Solutions (VPS) to integrate performance data from ship systems with its weather routing system to help improve voyage planning.The VESPER software platform by VPS records continuous performance data from the hull and propellers, main and auxiliary engines and boilers to determine speed, RPM and fuel consumption estimates that can be accessed within WNI’s Optimum Ship Routing (OSR) service.“This raises the…

Wärtsilä Voyage and Japan based weather routing provider Weathernews Inc (WNI) have signed a strategic partnership agreement enabling the integration of WNI’s weather forecasting data and Optimum Ship Routeing (OSR) service with Wärtsilä’s products and solutions. According to Wärtsilä, the move aims to increase navigational safety and support the decarbonization efforts of ship owners and operators.By automating navigation and route planning functions with weather avoidance technology, owners can reduce risks and allow seafarers to concentrate on other operational requirements.

The Navy is known for its big ships. It has a lot of smaller boats and craft, too—3,200 of them.The three primary stakeholders for these craft are the Surface Fleet, Commander Navy Installations Command and Navy Expeditionary Combat Command. Other stakeholders include Submarine Forces; Air Forces (which own the aircraft carriers); Naval Special Warfare; the Coast Guard; Naval Facilities Command and the Naval Warfare Centers.Boats and craft are procured and managed by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Program Executive Office for Ships (PEO Ships)…

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Our Singapore Reefs (OSR) have embarked on a three-year collaboration to promote the importance of Singapore’s marine biodiversity.As part of this partnership, underwater clean-up activities and public outreach events will be organised annually.To kick off the partnership, an underwater clean-up exercise involving 20 volunteer divers, was organised in the waters around Lazarus Island earlier this morning. About 140 pieces of marine debris weighing around 75 kg were retrieved and sorted for proper disposal.The data gathered on the types, sources and location of marine debris collected will be compiled and reported to Project AWARE’s global database under its flagship Dive Against Debris programme…

An e-navigation company from inception, NAVTOR started life as a challenger to traditional navigation methods. Now their freshly signed collaboration agreement with Weathernews of Japan keeps them on course to redefine navigation, moving beyond charts and chores and into the very heart of vessel operations.Weathernews Inc. (WNI), the world's largest privately listed weather service company, originates from a background of safeguarding sailors and protecting ships. Utilizing its…

In mid-February, Lamor Corporation demonstrated a new way to recover oil by deploying the Lamor Marine Oil Spill Sweeper LMOS 15 Speed Skimming system in Halifax, Canada in cooperation with their local representative, Griffin Engineered Systems, for Canadian response organizations and companies, represented by Eastern Canada Response Corporation (ECRC), Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Defense (DND), ALERT and RMI Marine. Despite the harsh weather conditions Halifax harbor that day…

Robert Allan Ltd. The new VectRA 3000 Class Tug is a high performance VSP Tractor tug designed by Robert Allan Ltd in close collaboration with Turkish ship builder Sanmar and Voith Turbo Propulsion. The tug is designed for maximum efficiency in the performance of towing, harbor ship-handling and escorting of large ships. Performance has been verified with extensive model tests at the commencement of the design cycle. The unique propulsion arrangement features high speed diesel engines connected to the Voith units via reduction gearboxes with integral clutches.

The 4th Edition of Oil Spill India (OSI) 2016 is all set to be launched at the JW Marriot Sahar, Mumbai. Keeping with the current trend and the government policy of "Make in India" the theme selected for this two-day event scheduled for 11th and 12th August 2016 is "Commitment, Synergy, Excellence. For the first time Mumbai will play host to this unique major event “OSI 2016”, whereas the first three editions had been successfully hosted in GOA. In year 2011, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), Directorate of General Shipping and the Indian Coast Guard, in association with iTEN Media recognized a need for an industry forum to deliberate & collaborate on response frameworks for Oil Discharges in the region, as same was on discount.

Weathernews Inc. announced that it has established a new Voyage Planning Service operations center in Denmark. Along with reinforcing the service team for European customers adopting Optimum Ship Routeing (OSR) service that supports voyages by appropriately matching the business objectives of each voyage, the new outpost in Copenhagen aims to improve the satisfaction of existing customers through close communication. The establishment of the Copenhagen Service Center completes a global three-zone service operations network comprised of the Oklahoma Service Center in U.S.…

New SeaHow skimmer systems – designed to collect both light and heavy oils efficiently – can be implemented in almost any work boat, starting with vessels only six meters long. SeaHow operates one of northern Europe’s largest fleets of oil spill response vessels, and its hands-on experience of more than 30 years was central to the three years in developing its own line of SeaHow skimmers. SeaHow skimmers are suitable for vessels from 6m long to the largest vessels used in off-shore OSR.

SeaHow has launched a new product line of skimmers aiming to address the challenges encountered by the oil spill response (OSR) organizations. SeaHow, operator one of northern Europe’s largest fleets of OSR vessels, said that over the 30 years that it has carried out OSR work, it has found several challenges with the existing equipment, leading the company to launch its own skimmer system product line. Launched after three years of product development, SeaHow skimmer product line…

Weathernews Inc. announced it has established a new operations center in the Philippines in response to the shipping industry’s demand for the company’s risk communication services. The company officially kicked off operations for their voyage cost-optimizing services this month from the new Manila Operations Center with a commencement event in the City of Makati last week. Weathernews aims to help the shipping industry reduce vessel fuel consumption while maintaining safety and punctuality for cost effective voyages.

In the three years since its launch GOL Salvage Services Ltd., having forayed into a domain traditionally commanded by global players has today become a force to reckon with. GOL Salvage’s Executive Director,Capt. Sandeep Kalia, gives a rare insight into the Indian salvaging scenario. ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread’ had been the deciding factor for most salvors in India, holding them back from entering the salvage business in earnest. But when GOL Salvage Services Ltd. entered the field in 2011, it became a game changer as it was the first fully indigenous salvage company making an entry into the field that was traditionally dominated by overseas salvaging giants.

Tests by Parat Halvorsen on oil spill response equipment (OSR) for offshore supply vessels reveal significant deficiencies with systems using hot water coils. Norway's Parat Halvorsen undertook a series of trials after a number of lower cost hot water coil alternatives came on the market the market. Any spilled oil is recovered by OSR-equipped vessels and stored in tanks until it can be delivered to recovery stations on land. The recovered oil has to be heated to maintain a sufficient viscosity for offloading. Parat Halvorsen offers a heating solution based on steam injection from a boiler onboard. It has supplied equipment to a significant number of OSVs delivered by yards including Havyard, STX Norway, Kleven and Ulstein.

Parat Halvorsen AS gathered key personnel from the maritime industry to a technical review and discussion of tank heating solutions for supply vessels with NOFO notation. Technical and operational persons from shipyards, shipowners, consultants and the NCA (Norwegian Coastal Administration) were present as practical tests were performed at the company fabrication and test facilities in Flekkefjord. The seminar also covered the basic background theories for the empirical tests. One important aspect being that oil has less than 20% of the thermal conductivity of water.

Two technical experts from Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) have flown to the U.S. at the invitation of one of the oil spill response companies assisting with the clean-up of the Gulf of Mexico spill. An oil spill equipment technician and a response planning officer from MNZ’s Marine Pollution Response Service (MPRS) have been seconded to support the Deepwater Horizon spill response. They will be working for Oil Spill Response Ltd (OSR), a company contracted to assist the US Government in its management of the spill. OSR, a United Kingdom-based organization, is part of the wider oil spill response network Global Alliance. MPRS Group Manager Nick Quinn said the pair would be tasked with supporting the spill response effort…

The Port Operations department (Port Ops) at Naval Station (NS) Guantanamo Bay, Cuba conducted training for oil spill response (OSR), and hazardous waste operations and emergency response Feb. 6-10. The annual training ensures NS Guantanamo Bay Port Ops Sailors and contract workers have the necessary skills to operate the installation's OSR boats, equipment, and other assets to quickly react to in-water oil spills on base. "Oil spill response is one of the primary duties for Port Ops," said Senior Chief Quartermaster Paul Bischoff, NS Guantanamo Bay Port Ops leading chief petty officer. "Unlike bases in the U.S., we don't have specialized on-call oil spill response teams available at the other end of a telephone.

Parat Halvorsen has been awarded a new boiler plant contract by Kleven Maritime. The ship will be built at Kleven Verft AS, NB 357, and is of Marine Teknikk design MT 6015, which is a combined Platform Supply- and Sub Sea construction vessel. The ship will be delivered to the owner, Myklebusthaug Management, in February, 2013. The Parat boiler plant consists of an electric 1250kW boiler, including heat recovery exchangers for various water consumers, and a complete system, including steam injection lances for ORO/OSR mobilization, which is a necessary part to meet and satisfy NOFO’s demands and regulations. The boiler will be powered on direct current voltage and not alternating current, which has been the standard solution.

The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is expected to adopt proposed amendments to the MARPOL Annex VI regulations to reduce harmful emissions from ships, when it meets for its 58th session from October 6-10 at IMO Headquarters in . The Committee will also continue its work on developing a mandatory regime to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping. The Committee has a packed agenda, which also includes the consideration of the draft ship recycling convention and issues relating to the implementation of the 2004 Ballast Water Management Convention. The draft revised Annex VI to the MARPOL Convention was agreed at the last MEPC session in April.

Russia is an energy superpower and the country has vast and rich natural resources. Besides gas and coal reserves (some of the largest in the world), Russia today is ranked as the world’s biggest oil producing nation accounting for well over 12% of the global output. Moreover, the country exports more than 70% of its oil to the world markets. That said, Russia’s output of oil amounts to a third of what collectively the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) produces. The country has relied on oil production for decades, however there has been a notable geographical shift.