Technology Centers News

Classification society ABS unveiled its Global Ship Systems Center and announced the formation of its Hellenic Technical Committee in Athens. “This cutting-edge facility brings together industry-recognized technical leaders to support clients throughout the entire lifecycle of their assets,” said ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. Through a systems-based approach, the Global Ship Systems Center addresses the increasing complexity of mechanical and cyber-enabled systems onboard vessels.

The Rolls-Royce portfolio of equipment and services extends well beyond the engine room, leveraging decades of experience in myriad business sectors. The words ‘Rolls-Royce’ can roll right off your tongue, and when they do, the average person in the maritime space probably thinks first of big, powerful, and environmentally-correct marine engines. That might have rung true just two decades ago, but today, that visual doesn’t give justice to what the firm has evolved to become. That’s also where Jay McFadyen, Rolls-Royce Senior Vice President for Ship Intelligence, comes in. In a candid interview given at this year’s SMM Exposition in Hamburg, Germany, McFadyen laid out for Marine News not only what Rolls-Royce is up to today, but also where it is headed tomorrow.

An ambitious project to help mitigate the harmful effects of climate change has been kick-started by IMO with a call for formal expressions of interest to host centres to promote cooperation in the field of maritime technology. The joint IMO – European Union project, entitled “Capacity Building for Climate Change Mitigation in the Maritime Shipping Industry” will see five Maritime Technology Cooperation Centers (MTCCs) established, one in each of five target regions – Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific – to form a global network. The MTCCs will receive allocations from the €10 million European Union funding for the project.

University Partnership Symposium spotlights research that aims to contribute to sustainable solutions for industry. Classification society ABS has revealed technological advances at its recent University Partnership Symposium in Houston. ABS said the research it is funding through some of the top universities around the world will lead to disruptive technology that will impact the role of classification. Academic leaders from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Michigan, George Washington University and the State University of New York Maritime College presented at the ABS-hosted event, which engaged participants from academia and industry.

The Applied Technology Group (ATG) describes is a team established with the goal of providing expanding technology leadership capabilities, multidisciplinary consulting services, the development of engineering analysis software and specialized contract research services in Canada and globally across the Lloyd’s Register (LR) Group. The Lloyd’s Register Applied Technology Group consists of 50 people in two locations in Canada, - Halifax, Nova Scotia and in Ottawa. •Public Safety: The development and application of explosive modeling and structural response analysis to protect soldiers, civilians and critical assets. •Survivability: Supporting the safe and effective operations of complex integrated marine assets throughout their operational profile.

Alastair Marsh, current CFO at the Lloyd’s Register Group Ltd. (LR), has been appointed as the successor to CEO Richard Sadler who has decided to step down at the end of 2015. Sadler will pass the CEO role to Marsh on October 1, 2015 and commence a formal handover period until the end of December 2015. Simon Nice, currently Group FP&A Director, will take up the role of Interim Group Financial Director during the transition. Following Sadler’s decision to step down as CEO, the LR board of directors conducted a six-month internal and external review of potential successors…

Multi-pronged program promotes safe jackup operations. ABS, a leading provider of maritime and offshore classification services, is investing in research and development (R&D) that will provide industry-critical data to promote jackup safety. "The research work ABS is carrying out will be valuable to drilling contractors that are looking for guidance on improving the safety of their jackup fleets," says ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. Jackup issues constitute…

In 2013 alone, Rolls-Royce invested £1.1 billion on research and development while at the same time supporting a global network of 31 University Technology Centers, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research. Today, Rolls-Royce predicts that Ship Intelligence will be the next major transition for the shipping industry as ships become ever more complex. As that happens, managing high levels of data in order to operate on-board systems will be a big part of that reality. At first, says Roll-Royce, this will better manage propulsion and navigation systems. Later, it could potentially lead to autonomous vessels.

Lloyd's Register, an independent quality and risk assurance firm, highlighted the momentum seen by the company in India. Mark Stokes - Group Communications Director for Lloyd's Register and R.S. Sharma - Chairman shared the overall progress the company has made in India, the advancements in power and energy sectors and the "Water Matters" campaign for water management. Lloyd's Register also underscored its strategy to strengthen its position in the growing Indian power and the energy market. Lloyd's Register's chairman, R.S. Sharma, today shared the progress Lloyd's Register has made in the past six months since he joined as the Chairman. Lloyd's Register intends to double both the revenues and workforce in the country by 2015, reflecting the success of its global business model.

GE’s Power Conversion business unveiled a new power and propulsion system at OTC that they say reduces fuel consumption by controlling engine speed on platform support vessels. The Variable Frequency Active Front-End power and propulsion system, or VF-AFE, enables ship owners using conventional power system components to lower engine speeds when feasible, cut fuel consumption and reduce emissions and maintenance requirements, the manufacturer claims. “We are increasing efficiency of existing technology for the benefit of our customers,” says Paul English, marine leader of GE Power Conversion.

Speaking at the 150th Annual Members Meeting of the classification society on 24 April 2012, in New York, ABS Chairman Robert D. Somerville reported that every sector of the ABS enterprise “contributed to another year of record performance in terms of the size of the ABS-classed fleet and strong orderbook.” ABS will continue to use its experience and knowledge “to create the innovations that will shape the maritime classification,” said Somerville. ABS President and CEO Christopher J.

DeepGulf, a leading technical conference and exhibition focused on the offshore oil and gas industry, is set to be held at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, Dec. 5-7. New Orleans was selected as the host city due to its long history as a center for offshore oil and gas exploration and production and its now re-emergence as one of the world’s leading deep-water technology centers. 2007 marks the first year the conference has been held outside of Houston, Texas.

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) will celebrate the grand opening of its marine simulation technology center on March 26. The event will include a reception, entertainment, and continuous tours of the various technology centers including the full-mission bridges, the towing simulators, the 14-station computer lab, the vessel traffic, the All-Weather Navigation, and the new crane simulator. This is one of the largest and most sophisticated class A full-mission simulators in the world and it has been upgraded and integrated into two towing, six part-tasks, and one vessel traffic simulators. All simulators are equipped Automatic Identification Systems (AIS)…

China plans to limit foreign investment in the country's ship makers to no more than 49 pct, the Commission of Science Technology & Industry for National Defense said. Foreign investors seeking to form shipbuilding joint ventures in China will also have to set up their own technology centers and transfer their expertise to local partners, the commission said in a website notice. Foreign investment in the country's shipbuilding sector reached 220 mln usd in 2005, up 45 pct from a year ago, state media reported previously. Meanwhile the commission noted that the government wants local shipyards to produce vessels totaling 17 mln dead-weight tons a year by 2010, up from 12.1 mln last year.