International News

Wärtsilä launches SmartPredict to provide safer ship manoeuvring guidance

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Wärtsilä is launching its latest innovation SmartPredict
Wärtsilä is launching its latest innovation SmartPredict

The technology group Wärtsilä is launching its latest innovation SmartPredict at this year’s Seatrade Cruise Global exhibition in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from March 13 to 16. Developed by the company’s Dynamic Positioning unit, SmartPredict is designed to provide safer and more efficient vessel operations by reducing the risks associated with manoeuvring.

The system displays the vessel’s predicted future position and heading, and uses proven dynamic positioning (DP) analysis algorithms to evaluate forces affecting the vessel, thereby providing advanced motion prediction. SmartPredict also features a configurable prediction time display.

Continue reading “Wärtsilä launches SmartPredict to provide safer ship manoeuvring guidance”

China delivers the largest drilling rig in the world

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China's largest drilling rigThe world’s most advanced and largest ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig has been delivered by China’s Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore shipyard.

The DP3 rig Bluewhale 1 has an operating depth of up to 12,000 feet (3,658 meters) and a drilling depth to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters), making it capable of drilling in any waters around the world. It is 387 feet (118 meters) high, equal to a 37-story building.

CIMC Raffles says the 42,000 ton vessel uses 10 percent less fuel than comparable rigs.

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Enclosed space deaths caused by semi-coke cargo says findings

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A man exiting an enclosed spaceThe Hong Kong Marine Department has issued an information note about a fatal accident that happened on a Hong Kong registered general cargo ship caused by semi-coke cargo. Two stevedores and one bulldozer operator were found collapsed inside the stair trunk after they entered the enclosed space without following the proper procedures. The cause of death was due to the oxygen depletion atmosphere inside the stair trunk.

This incident draws the attention of the shipping industry to the dangers associated with the characteristics of semi-coke cargo. Parties concerned should treat the space inside stair trunk to cargo hold as an enclosed space and take appropriate safety precautionary measures before entering such space.

Continue reading “Enclosed space deaths caused by semi-coke cargo says findings”

Power vessel navigates wave energy cost-effective devices

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A shipyardFlying deliberately under the media radar over the past decade, and in the meantime developing a giant 9MW wave energy cost effective device, American wave energy company GWave has recently lifted the lid on its well-kept secret by announcing the plans to deploy a full-scale device at the Wave Hub test center in Cornwall, UK.

Tidal Energy Today has talked to GWave’s Chief Executive Officer, Robert Stoddard, to learn more about this ‘dark horse’ of wave energy cost effective generation whose nameplate capacity of 9MW is larger than that of the biggest offshore wind turbine currently available on the market.

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New development to combat GPS jamming and spoofing

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3D visual of an satellite in spaceGPS is now recognised as being vulnerable to jamming either by accident or by design and despite a lot of talk from politicians there is no back up if the system goes down through jamming or spoofing.

A solution to this vulnerability now exists in the form of Satellite Time and Location (STL) signals. “STL signals provide the safest, strongest, most dependable backup to our GPS infrastructure and they originate from the Iridium satellites, whose beams are high-powered, location-specific, and incredibly difficult to jam.” commented American company Satelles who have developed the system. Their time and positioning system that uses the powerful Iridium signals as a means of propagating enhanced GPS information which is claimed to be much more reliable and powerful than the original GPS signals alone, which should combat GPS jamming and spoofing.

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New Zealand will apply Maritime Labour Convention next month

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Ship workers, talking amongst themselvesNew Zealand’s maritime safety authority (NZ) has announced it will implement the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) by early next month, in order to protect local and international seafarers. The move is also expected to improve the safety and well being of seafarers on board both foreign-flagged and New Zealand ships.

MLC was established in 2006, and mandates ship owners to bear the expense of shore-based medical care for seafarers who need hospitalisation or medical care while overseas on a ship.

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First purpose built LNG bunkering ship has been delivered

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Delivery is complete of the world's first purpose built LNG bunkering ship
Delivery is complete of the world’s first purpose built LNG bunkering ship

ENGIE, Fluxys, Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK have taken delivery of the world’s first purpose built LNG bunkering ship from Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction in Busan, Korea.

She will run on LNG for her maiden voyage, after a few days of loading LNG delivered by trucks at the shipyard.

Zeebrugge in Belgium will be the home port of the vessel, which has been named ENGIE Zeebrugge accordingly. From there, the 5,000m3 LNG capacity vessel will supply LNG as a marine fuel to ships operating in Northern Europe.

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Peggotty was not sea ready revealed in MAIB report after she collided with Petunia Seaways

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The Pegotty before the IncidentAt 0450 (UTC+11) on 19 May 2016 the Danish registered ro-ro freight ferry Petunia Seaways and the historic motor launch Peggotty collided on the River Humber while in dense fog. As a result of the collision the motor launch suffered severe structural damage and began to take on water. The crew of a local pilot launch responded to Peggotty’s skipper’s VHF2 “Mayday” call and were able to reach the motor launch and rescue the skipper and the one other person on board before it sank. There were no injuries and no significant pollution.

Petunia Seaways’ bridge team remained unaware that the two vessels had collided until after they had left the river, when they were informed by VTS Humber.

Continue reading “Peggotty was not sea ready revealed in MAIB report after she collided with Petunia Seaways”

New DNV GL standard ensures reliable dynamic positioning capability assessments

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dynamic Positioning infographicDNV GL presented its new standard for assessing the station keeping capability of dynamic positioning (DP) vessels at the European Dynamic Positioning Conference which was held in London in February.

The ability to assess and compare the dynamic positioning capability of a ship equipped with DP technology is vital during the planning and design phases, and provides valuable operational decision support. The DNVGL-ST-0111 standard is the first to provide a unified approach to these assessments, ensuring verifiable results and increasing transparency in the market.

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IIMS extends its range of handy guides with two new publications

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Small craft Engine Surveys guideIn recent weeks, IIMS has released two new handy guides in the series ‘What a Marine Surveyor needs to know about‘ bringing the total number of publications to twelve.

What a marine surveyor needs to know about small craft engine surveys
Many marine surveyors consider the survey of the machinery to be outside the scope of a pre-purchase or insurance survey and simply ignore it. Small Craft Engine Surveys is designed to give the marine surveyor who has limited experience of machinery surveys sufficient knowledge and confidence to enable him or her to understand both what and the implications of what is involved.

Author: Elliott Berry
ISBN: 978-1-911058-11-3
Size: 168 pages Continue reading “IIMS extends its range of handy guides with two new publications”

Naval architects should adhere to accepted ergonomic bridge design is one of the recommendations in the latest MAIB report

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City of Rotterdam at port On 3 December 2015, the Panama registered pure car carrier City of Rotterdam collided with the Danish registered ro-ro ferry Primula Seaways on the River Humber, UK. Both vessels were damaged but made their way to Immingham without assistance. There was no pollution and there were no serious injuries.

The MAIB investigation identified that the outbound City of Rotterdam had been set to the northern side of the navigable channel and into the path of the inbound ferry, but this had not been corrected because the pilot on board had become disoriented after looking through an off-axis Continue reading “Naval architects should adhere to accepted ergonomic bridge design is one of the recommendations in the latest MAIB report”

AkzoNobel is developing drones for enclosed space surveys

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Shot of a droneTraditionally, enclosed space surveys have been carried out by crew, surveyors or independent inspectors. This acticity carries a significant risk and results in many casualties and fatal accidents annually. AkzoNobel, in conjunction with oil and gas tanker operator Barrier Group and DroneOps are developing a drone capable of remotely inspecting enclosed spaces, including ballast water tanks.

Michael Hindmarsh, Business Development Manager at AkzoNobel’s Marine Coatings business, explained: “Surveys of enclosed spaces and ballast water tanks are an essential part of routine maintenance and are increasingly critical for ship owners. Inspecting these areas thoroughly can require working at height, entering confined spaces and negotiating slippery surfaces that could be poorly lit, all of which are high-risk activities that the maritime industry is keen to address.”

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