Transfer Equipment News

Heavy lift and transport services firm Mammoet said Monday it had secured contracts for two large offshore wind projects for undisclosed clients in the United States, both of which begin in 2023. Together, the two contracts cover a range of port scopes, including the load-in, load-out, handling, and temporary storage of XXL monopiles, plus the pre-assembly of turbines in a US marshaling port."Mammoet’s vast experience in offshore wind, presence in the USA, and long track record in supplying specialized equipment as well as tailor-made solutions have proven decisive to confirm these awards.

Dutch offshore crew transfer equipment specialist Ampelmann said Tuesday it had signed six new contracts in the offshore wind market in the United States for 2023, 2024, and 2025.The contracts set for 2023 have been secured for work on two new offshore wind farms being built off New England's coast."In the coming year, Ampelmann’s motion compensated gangways will assist with the hook-up, cabling and commissioning of turbines on Vineyard and Southfork wind farms, two of the first commercial offshore wind farms in the USA that will provide clean energy to the region…

Biofuels are a current and accessible fuel option that can help maritime decarbonize, and Alfa Laval becomes the first to offer biofuel-optimized separators and separator upgrades.Biofuels like HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) and FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) can be used by diesel engines without major engine modifications. They can be a carbon-neutral alternative if produced from the right biomass, but they must still be cleaned effectively to prevent performance issues and expensive engine wear.

Alfa Laval on Monday announced it has signed an agreement with Swedish steel company SSAB to develop the first plate heat exchanger made using fossil-free steel.Alfa Laval’s heat exchanger portfolio includes plate heat exchangers that are suitable for both traditional and alternative fuels. The partners aim to have the first unit made with hydrogen-reduced steel ready for 2023.“Our marine plate heat exchangers are already key to decarbonizing on board, thanks to their superior level of energy efficiency,” said Peter Nielsen, President, Alfa Laval Marine Separation & Heat Transfer Equipment.

Alfa Laval and Swiss engine designer WinGD have established a joint program in which Alfa Laval will develop the fuel supply system for WinGD methanol engines. The agreement was signed on September 8 at the SMM exhibition in Hamburg, Germany.To support shipping decarbonization, WinGD has announced that its engines will be able to run on methanol as of 2024. In making that promise reality, the company has turned to Alfa Laval for the development of a fuel supply solution. Alfa…

Alfa Laval said its FCM Methanol will be the low-flashpoint fuel supply system (LFSS) on six 1170 TEU containerships ordered by Eastaway, a member of the X-Press Feeders Group. The new vessel series, to be built at Chinese shipyards Ningbo Xinle Shipbuilding Group Co., Ltd and New Dayang Shipbuilding Co., Ltd, will have two-stroke MAN B&W ME-LGIM engines that can run on methanol as well as conventional fuels. The FCM Methanol deliveries will begin in June 2023.Peter Nielsen, President…

The Nordic energy company Gasum said its LNG bunkering vessel Coralius has successfully performed its 200th ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation.The vessel receiving the LNG fuel was Fjord Line’s MS Stavangerfjord. The bunkering took place while Stavangerfjord underwent periodical maintenance at the Fayard yard in Odense, Denmark.“We normally supply LNG to Stavangerfjord by a loading arm on a regular basis directly from our LNG plant in Risavika,” said Gunnar Helmen, Sales Manager at Gasum.“It’s great to get this opportunity to supply the cruise ferry with LNG in dock in Denmark. Having been fueled with fresh LNG, Stavangerfjord will return to her regular Stavanger-Bergen-Hirtshals route.

Swedish technology major Alfa Laval has signed an agreement worth SEK 210 million (USD 22.25 million), for the supply of Alfa Laval PureBallast systems to an alliance of Turkish shipowners.The orders will be booked in the Marine Separation & Heat Transfer Equipment unit of the Marine Division in the third quarter, while deliveries will be spread over a five-year period, from 2019 to 2024. The interest in signing fleet agreements for Alfa Laval’s PureBallast water treatment system has gradually increased since the beginning of 2018. The deal was signed in Istanbul on July 4, at a ceremony with the Turkish Shipowners Ballast Water Treatment (BWT) Group - an association of about 50 shipowners.The systems will go to a variety of small vessels…

Optimized for use as an LNG vaporizer, the robust DuroShell provides higher thermal efficiency than conventional plate-and-shell designs, as well as market-leading fatigue resistance. Thanks to new research into glycol freezing, it can now be used in even more compact and cost-effective installations.“The continued rise in the number of vessels sailing with LNG is one of the most significant trends in today’s marine industry,” says Jonny Hult, Head of Marine Heat Transfer Equipment at Alfa Laval.

Nordic energy company Gasum said that its liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker vessel, Coralius, made its 100th bunkering on February21. Coralius is operating on behalf of Gasum (former Skangas) and the vessel mainly operates in the North Sea and the Skagerrak area.The LNG bunker vessel Coralius celebrated a milestone at the end of February, as she completed her 100th bunkering operation in just 18 months. Coralius delivers LNG through ship-to-ship bunkering at sea and in port. This has significantly increased Gasum’s flexibility and responsiveness to vessels that require LNG but are unable to visit a terminal or a port. By making LNG more accessible to vessels…

In 2018,  Shell's huge floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) Prelude, the world's largest vessel, will begin its job of extracting and processing gas at sea, reported CNBC. The 488-meter-long and 74-meter-wide floating facility left the shipyard in South Korea in late June and reached the Australian waters in late July. Currently, the vessel, which is almost one-third of a mile long with a deck longer than four soccer fields,  sits at its first location, Shell's Prelude gas field, around 125 miles north off the Western Australian coast. The Prelude facility weather vanes 360 degrees around a turret, moored in 248 meters of water. Three…

The fatal explosion in the pump room on the Brazilian FPSO Cidade de São Mateus in February 2015, demonstrated the potential for major accidents on this type of unit. Although there has never been an explosion in the oil storage tanks of an FPSO, there is a potential for such an event and offshore operators should assess the risks of such events to design against them. It is therefore imperative that risk assessments of FPSOs address this type of event. For this, they need to estimate its annual likelihood of occurring.

Coralius, the first European built LNG bunker and distribution vessel was named Monday, May 22, by Johanna Lamminen, Chair of the Board of Skangas and Chief Executive Officer of Gasum. The 5,800 cbm vessel was commissioned by owners Anthony Veder and Sirius Shipping in 2015 and was built by Royal Bodewes. This new vessel will offer LNG bunkering services for Skangas, a subsidiary of Gasum, mainly operating in the North Sea, the Skagerak area and the Baltic Sea. With this new bunker feeder, LNG as a marine fuel will become more accessible for the Scandinavian region. The 1A Ice Classed Coralius is designed to safely discharge large quantities of LNG to its receiving vessel in a short period of time.

Ampelmann, provider of offshore access to the energy industry, has unveiled its latest walk to work system which has been specially designed for operation in extreme cold conditions. The N-type, nicknamed Icemann, was officially launched in front of 200 guests on Thursday, April 20, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Designed to safely and efficiently transfer crew in extreme icing and temperatures as low as -28C (-18F), the fully enclosed and insulated system is operational in sea states up to 3.5 meters significant wave height and comprises active motion compensation.

This being the “Yearbook” edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News, it would be remiss to not have coverage of LNG, one of the hottest fueling trends in maritime circles, particularly in North America. For a unique insight on a rapidly evolving market, MR caught up with Edward Scott, COO, Excelerate Energy, which is making big strides in the LNG Regasification sector, and recently received on the of the world’s largest and most capable units, the FSRU Experience which he touts as the world’s largest and most capable FSRU.

A seminar focusing on crew transfer contingency planning is to be held in Aberdeen on Monday (September 2) organized by specialist transfer and lifting companies Reflex Marine and EnerMech. The event, which is free and open to everyone with an interest in the subject, has been organized in response to a high level of inquiries from people keen to learn about alternative means of transferring crews offshore. Reflex Marine CEO Philip Strong said, “Crew transfer is obviously at the forefront of thought in the oil and gas industry at the moment. Following the seminar there will be a demonstration of transfer equipment and advice on practical aspects of operations.

USNS Montford Point (MLP 1) departs San Diego  for Naval Station Everett, Wash. Montford Point is the Navy’s first mobile landing platform, delivered to the Navy in San Diego May 14 and expected to be fully operational in fiscal year 2015. The ship, crewed by 33 contract mariners working for a company under charter to Military Sealift Command, will perform system tests during the voyage to its temporary layberth. Montford Point is scheduled for final contract trials in September, with its core capability set installed later this year.

In his newly published book, industry expert Nigel Draffin answers the key questions about LNG bunker fuel. The publishers, Petrospot, say that Nigel Draffin answers the key questions about LNG bunker fuel in his usual informative and lucid style. He looks at the properties of methane, gas-only and dual fuel engines, tank design, fuel and safety systems, as well as onboard and onshore storage and safety issues. Potential problem areas in the use of LNG, such as weathering, sloshing and methane slip, are sensibly and clearly analysed. Liquefied natural gas is poised to become a viable and widely used alternative to conventional marine fuels.

Safety alert: Working over water – Lloyd’s Register’s Golden Rules and Instructions for health and safety. Applicabilty: Owners, operators, shipyard managers and site controllers. The Lloyd’s Register Group has published a set of Health and Safety Golden Rules which our employees must follow to keep themselves, and those people around them, safe. Some of these Rules, together with our Instructions, are related to working over water, in particular the conduct of boat transfers. We would like to bring these to your attention so you can appreciate the requirements we are placing on our surveyors.

Each year millions of offshore crew transfers take place and, whether by helicopter or vessel, the transfer process is one of the areas of greatest risk for personnel in global operations. Offshore transfer specialists, Reflex Marine are bringing safer crew change to the Campos Basin off Brazil in the shape of its FROG personnel transfer capsule. The volume of personnel transferred by crane is estimated to be similar to that transferred by helicopter. In many areas of the world crane transfer is the primary means of crew change.

ClassNK (Chairman and President: Noboru Ueda) has announced the release of new amendments to the ClassNK Rules on June 15, 2012. ClassNK constantly reevaluates its Technical Rules and Guidances in order to respond to requests from the maritime industry, incorporate R & D results and feedback from damage investigations, and address new regulations as well as amendments to international conventions and IACS unified requirements. The full text of these amendments is available on…

Oceanteam Shipping forms a joint venture with WIND B.V. offering a complete range of submarine cable storage & handling solutions. OceanWind Cable Storage Solutions joint venture provides, at its cable facility in Velsen, The Netherlands, submarine cable storage and handling services for cable manufacturers, contractors and operators. WIND B.V. is an all-round shipping company, founded in 1990, focusing on the transport and handling of submarine cables and specialising in worldwide transport of project cargoes. Oceanteam Shipping ASA is an offshore shipping company. Oceanteam's business is the owning, chartering and managing of Deepwater Offshore Construction Service and Pipe Lay Vessels and Fast Support Vessels.

High-speed ferry ships MV Huakai and MV Alakai are preparing to sail to Haiti in support of Operation Unified Response to provide disaster relief following the Jan. 12 earthquake there. Huakai and Alakai were originally built to serve as passenger and vehicle ferries in Hawaii but were turned over to the Maritime Administration's custody when the ferry service went bankrupt. The ships will be under operational control of the Military Sealift Command during Operation Unified Response. The ships' main tasks will be to transfer equipment and personnel in the region. They are configured for the mission to each hold 450 tons of cargo and 500 passengers and can travel at a sustained speed of 33 knots. On Wednesday, Jan.