Qinetiq News

British multinational defence technology company Qinetiq collaborates with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to investigate how drone technology can strengthen their Search and Rescue (SAR) missions.Small unmanned air systems are delivering disruptive change across the industry. Ten years ago what was predominantly a niche hobby, or military technology, has now found wide commercial success. Anyone can easily have an eye in the sky and recent publicity is changing the way organisations view their problems.The Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) oversees search and rescue operations in the UK. Their volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams respond to time-critical calls and work tirelessly to save lives.Funded by QinetiQ’s Internal Research and Development…

A consortium of British companies, academia and government  formally established a new national center for maritime innovation and technology (MarRI-UK). The center, offering  development opportunities for the UK’s $45B maritime sector, is based at the University of Strathclyde, with hubs to be announced across the UK. The center will provide a collaborative innovation vehicle to jointly tackle innovation and technology challenges.The first area of collaborative focus is Clean…

Shipbuilder Incat has launched the 110m vehicle / passenger ferry from the shipyard at Derwent Park in Hobart Tasmania. The ship will commence sea trials in mid January prior to delivery to her new owner Virtu Ferries for service between Malta and Sicily.Bearing the livery Saint John Paul II the vessel has been named in honor of the Pope who served from 1978 to 2005, so revered the Pope has often posthumously, but unofficially, been referred to by Catholics as "St. John Paul the Great".

The near-shore and inland workboat fleet is at the leading edge for autonomous vessel developmentWhile the advent of autonomous workboats are not exactly mainstream, you better believe that in the not-too-distant future they will be a reality on waterways in and around the U.S. Today there remain more questions than answers, particularly on the legal, logistics and insurance side of the coin. But the technology is evolving at record pace, providing many in the industry with mixed emotions. Excitement. Controversy. Curiosity. Skepticism. These are just a few of thoughts, and emotions that arise to any mention of the topic of autonomous vessels.It’s happening now.

Cohort plc companies MASS and SEA have been selected to form part of a new UK Ministry of Defense maritime research and development program being managed by defense technology company QinetiQ. QinetiQ has been awarded a contract by the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to manage the Progeny Maritime Research Framework contract to enhance the effect of technology in the maritime defense environment. Under the contract, QinetiQ will build and manage a community of interest who will contribute ideas to maximise the impact of science and technology for UK maritime defense.

BMT has appointed Guy Tomlinson as Group Capability and Strategy Director. Tomlinson joins BMT from QinetiQ where he led a 35-strong business development team as UK Sales Director. He brings to the role experience from across the maritime, defense, cyber and information and training domains, as well as leading on several sales and business development transformation programs. Prior to joining QinetiQ, Tomlinson served in the Royal Air Force for 23 years as an engineer officer, with operational tours in Iraq, Kosovo and the Falkland Islands.

The newly built containership MV COSCO Shipping Aries, recently delivered to COSCO Shipping Lines, is the first ever containership to receive Lloyd’s Register’s (LR) cyber-enabled ship (CES) descriptive note “Cyber AL3 SECURE PERFORM” for its energy management system. The 20,000 TEU ship was built by Nantong COSCOS KHI Ship Engineering Co., Ltd (NACKS). “MV COSCO Shipping Aries is the first 20K TEU level ultra large containership built in Chinese shipyard owned by COSCO Shipping Container Lines.

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has issued a global call for partners active in the area of innovative digital technologies related to the safety and performance of marine vessels. In 2016 LR set out to materially increase the role it plays in accelerating the development and safe adoption of digital solutions addressing the growing complexity and operational challenges facing the global shipping industry. The strategy focused on creating a network of innovation partnerships able to collaborate with LR clients to rapidly test new concepts and scale these to commercially ready solutions. To date, LR has successfully built a portfolio of investments and partnerships to tackle the challenges and opportunities of Industry 4.0.

BMT has launched VENARI-85, a new mine countermeasure (MCM) concept design said it be capable of clearing mines faster over a greater area and with less risk to the crew, while simultaneously providing broader utility to navies around the world. According to BMT, VENARI-85 offers a flexible platform that is capable of a spectrum of roles which is future-proofed and able to evolve as technology advances in the unmanned and offboard systems markets take shape. Combining BMT’s ship design pedigree with QinetiQ’s integration expertise…

As the global maritime market remains mired in a slump, Lloyd’s Register continues to expand rapidly in the Americas market where it sees green fields of opportunity. Mark Darley, President—Americas Marine for LR, recently sat with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News to explain the strategy to conduct business over a broader range of segments and services and grow LR’s presence in the Americas. Mark Darley, President—Americas Marine for Lloyd’s Register is an industry veteran with nearly two decades of maritime experience under his belt…

When BMT Group Ltd (BMT) current CEO Peter French retires in September, he will be succeeded by  Sarah Kenny, who joins BMT on August 1. “Sarah is well qualified to take on this role," said BMT’s Chairman, Sir John Hood. "She is ambitious for BMT and her extensive background in the marine and defence industries means she is ideally positioned to ensure that BMT’s research and development roots are cultivated and innovation nurtured. Kenny comes from QinetiQ where most recently she established and led the Maritime, Land & Weapons business as Managing Director, reporting to the Group CEO.

Lloyd’s Register (LR) said it has made a significant investment in Hamburg-based ship management software provider Hanseaticsoft. Hanseaticsoft provides modern fleet management software solutions to optimize workflows in shipping companies, offering new perspectives on processes and increasing business performance. Clients including NSC, Peter Döhle Schifffahrts KG, Rigel, Atlantic Lloyd and UASC already rely on the portfolio of solutions offered by Cloud Fleet Manager – a flexible and intuitive software suite to manage and organise your entire fleet…

Incat has been selected by Virtu Ferries of Malta to design and build a 110 meter vehicle passenger RoPax ferry. The new wave piercing catamaran will become the 15th fast ferry Virtu has acquired, it will be the largest high speed catamaran in the Mediterranean and with a service speed up to 38 knots it will complete the crossing from Malta to Sicily, berth to berth, in around 90 minutes. “Virtu Ferries is amongst the oldest, most respected and most discerning fast ferry operators in the world…

SeeByte, creator of smart software for unmanned maritime systems, said it will demonstrate software solutions for unmanned systems as part of the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior exercise. The exercise will feature more than 50 vehicles, sensors and systems and aims to demonstrate never-seen-before capabilities in the field of autonomy and unmanned systems. SeeByte’s software forms the core components of the Hell Bay 4 and MCM Challenge elements of Unmanned Warrior. The aim of these exercises is to develop and push the capabilities of autonomous systems…

Haven Marine Services informs it has signed a five year contract with Svitzer which will see the yard service the requirements of Svitzer’s vessels within the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea areas. Haven Marine Services’ Managing Director, Steven Arnold, stated, “This commitment reinforces Svitzer’s faith in the capabilities of the facility, based on exemplary service during the past two years. In addition to the Svitzer fleet, further confirmed dockings, include Hanson Aggregates vessels, the Arco Dee and the Arco Dart, and P&O Maritime’s research vessel the Prince Madog.

The Next Generation Marine Power & Propulsion event was held in the Grand Harbour conference venue looking out over the Port of Southampton where cruise ships, oil tankers and the world's largest container vessels ply their global trade. The event brought together a broad and unique marine industry group from the UK, EU and US. A dynamic program, including three keynote speakers and 20 presenters, highlighted the latest technology and opportunities for the maritime sector worldwide – and the future for next generation marine power certainly looks bright.

Global engineering, technical and business services organisation, Lloyd’s Register (LR), has announced the appointment of Mary Waldner as Group CFO. Mary is currently Group Finance Director at FTSE 250 listed defence, security, transport and energy company Ultra Electronics and replaces Alastair Marsh’s as LR’s Group CFO following his appointment as CEO of the Lloyd’s Register group in October 2015. Mary has a broad range of experience in a variety of sectors and an excellent track record of delivery throughout a number of senior financial roles with major public limited companies. After graduating from Oxford University with an MA in Physics, Mary started her career at Coopers & Lybrand Management Consultancy Services, before working for Vauxhall Motors Ltd.

International manufacturer of panoramic infrared thermal imaging systems HGH Infrared Systems was selected by the British Navy to incorporate its Spynel-S 3500 into an integrated Compact Combat System (C2S) for situational awareness and ship-based protection against small fast inshore attack crafts (FIACs). The system has already been tested in trials in the U.K. and will be used in part toward securing war ships in perilous locations. Leading the project is U.K.-based Qinetiq…

Global Marine Technology Trends 2030, released today, is the culmination of a collaborative project between Lloyd’s Register, QinetiQ and the University of Southampton looking at the future for: commercial shipping – without which world trade would cease; for navies – so vital for security; and the health of the oceans – the vital resource that defines the future wellbeing of the planet. In asking ‘what’s next’ GMTT 2030 is an aid to business, policy makers and society in trying to understand the future for the maritime industries and the oceans. Assessing 56 technologies and then focusing on 18 specific areas of technology, GMTT 2030…

A group lead by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, a global asset manager, had reached an agreement to buy the Australian port and railroad operator Asciano for about $8.8 billion in cash and stock, and that it was shopping for ports farther afield in a push to expand, reports NY Times. Brookfield says the acquisition of Patrick terminal will lay the foundation for a global container terminal presence, building on its facilities at Teesport, U.K., and the Port of Los Angeles. The company also hopes to leverage Patrick’s experience with automating port operations.

“Britannia rules the waves” paid a glowing tribute to the maritime past of the United Kingdom. Over the past three centuries as the sun began to set on the British power, resilient U.K. with its pioneering characteristics began its voyage of transformation to become a world-class maritime services center, with one of the largest clusters of marine insurance, ship finance, law, classification societies, ship broking, education and consultancy organizations. Significantly, two factors were responsible for this change. The first being marine transport, since it was the only point of access to the British Isles, and the second was the maritime trade and naval power that have had a great impact on the maritime sector influencing the country’s economy for several centuries.

The 2014 Maritime Innovation Award, given jointly by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and QinetiQ, has been presented to Subsea Industries for the product Ecolock. The Maritime Innovation Award is presented to an individual or organisation in recognition of outstanding scientific or technological research in hydrodynamics, propulsion, structures and material which offers the potential to make significant improvements in the design, construction and operation of marine vessels and structures. Increasingly, offshore vessels such as FPSOs, FSOs, FLRSUs and others used for offshore oil and gas exploration, drilling, storage and transport need to stay out of drydock for 15, 25 even 40 years.

QinetiQ’s ship and submersible design software, Paramarine, has been used by Mojo Maritime to design an offshore construction vessel for the marine renewables sector. The Hi Flo 4 (HF4) is a dynamic positioning vessel capable of operating in extreme coastal and continental shelf environments, designed with the support of InnovateUK (formerly the Technology Strategy  Board). Mojo Maritime recently won the Best Tidal Industry Collaboration Award at the 8th International Tidal Energy Summit for its leadership of the HF4 R&D consortium…