Safety Life News

Just over the horizon, a new ‘Integration Strategy’ promises offshore safety and efficiencies. Kongsberg’s Walk-to-Work technology is just the beginning. Maritime technology has come on in leaps and bounds since the turn of the century. We have the technology to keep an offshore support vessel on station within a 0.5-meter radius, even in the most severe weather conditions and sea states. We have the technology to manage power output, and control drives and thrusters to the ‘nth’ degree, providing safety and reliability for all ship handling operations. And we have the technology to deliver gigabytes of data to shore without paying for a helicopter or a mid-ocean drop off of hard drives or DVDs. So, what’s next? Arguably, the ‘big’ topic is unmanned vessels.

DNV GL has issued a report on fire incidents in Ro-Ro spaces to address growing safety concerns in this segment and provide guidance to shipowners. DNV GL’s “Fires on Ro-Ro decks” has examined fires within Ro-Ro spaces on Ro-Pax vessels, vehicle carriers and general Ro-Ro cargo vessels and has identified 35 such fires between 2005 and 2016. A previous DNV GL paper on Ro-Ro fires, published in 2005, had counted 25 fires in Ro-Ro spaces between 1990 and 2003. “We would like to contribute with facts, as well as with our experience. Hopefully, this can be useful input to operators and legislators in order to focus on the relevant items and make the right decisions,” says Hans Eivind Siewers, Segment Director Passenger Ships & Ro-Ro at DNV GL – Maritime.

iPad In-App Environments Provide a Wealth of Safety and Assessment Capabilities Capannoli, Italy – NavPlay, an innovative manufacturer of iPad apps for boaters, announced today its full-featured notification system. Comprised of Alarm Manager which notifies boaters through their iPads if preset conditions are met, the Diagnostics environment which checks the status of instruments via a WiFi connection, Safety Life which automatically texts alarms to a mobile phone and AIS compatibility for enhanced situational awareness and collision avoidance, NavPlay’s new notification system provides boaters with a wealth of information to keep them apprised of their situation and avoid problems before they occur.

International classification society Bureau Veritas has worked closely with the towing industry to develop a set of Guidelines for Design, Construction and Operation of Tugs. The Guidance Note provides safety rules for tugs in an area of marine safety where there are many vessels not covered by international conventions, with no established framework. Gijsbert de Jong, Bureau Veritas’ Business Development Manager for offshore service vessels and tugs said, “Active involvement with industry stakeholders was vital to building these rules. Bureau Veritas has worked in close cooperation with several industry leaders, including Robert Allan Ltd…

NavPlay’s Interactive App Provides Easy Way to Enjoy Navigation & Share Experiences Capannoli, Italy – NavPlay, an innovative manufacturer of iPad apps, announced today a planning, navigation and social media app designed to enhance the navigation experience, NavPlay. A complete, easy-to-use navigation app for iPads, NavPlay allows boaters to plan routes and navigate on C-Map by Jeppesen charts and satellite imagery. The innovative product provides access to a wealth of WiFi-networked vessel information and control such as instruments readings, weather forecasts, autopilot operation, alarms, and AIS details for collision avoidance, to name a few.

ASRY, a ship and rig repair yard in the Arabian Gulf, is expanding its range of in-yard services by signing a Service Agreement with Solas Marine Services Group. The Agreement will allow Solas to build a 2,000-square-meter Service Center for Life Boats, Life Rafts and Fire Fighting & Life Saving Appliances in ASRY, which will not only expand ASRY’s services portfolio, but also bring new business opportunities to the Kingdom itself. This is the first development in a program of increasing ASRY’s technical resources, which will continue to roll out in 2014.

The International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (Intercargo) has  launched Benchmarking Bulk Carriers 2012-13, the latest edition of our annual publication. Now in its seventh year of publication, this edition contains statistical information and analysis relating to the world bulk carrier fleet, including an analysis of casualties during 2012 and Negative Performance Indicators such as collisions, groundings etc. This year’s report also highlights the tailing-off of fleet growth. For the first time, this edition also includes a copy of the Intercargo ‘terminal-problem reporting form’; The form, which invites Intercargo members and non-members alike to share their experiences of ports globally…

Bristol Harbor Group, Inc.(BHGI), of Bristol, RI, recently completed design plans for modifications to Trico Moon, a 210-ft platform supply vessel (PSV) for Trico Marine Services Company, Inc. of Texas. Trico Marine Services and Deep Ocean Engineering, Inc. performed the modifications in Mexico, which included the addition of a habitation module, as well as subsea equipment on deck. The installation/addition of the temporary habitability module to the port side of the cargo deck…

The new "Technical Committee on Risk Management" of Germanischer Lloyd was established to respond to the growing significance of risk-based approaches for the maritime industry. The new committee's main objective is facilitation and consolidation of industry's needs related to the application of risk-based methods for future profitable maritime business. The new "Technical Committee on Risk Management" comprises representatives from all stakeholders of the maritime industry, namely ship owners and operators, ship builder and maritime systems' suppliers, insurance and engineering service providers. Guido Schulte, Head of Concept Design and R&D Department Akeryards, was elected as chairman; further members of the Committee are Dr S. Gerhard (Allianz), Mr M. Guenther (Hamburg Süd), Mr M.