Hoppe Marine to Present Smart Shipping Solutions

“Approximately one of every eight new ships built in the world is already equipped with at least one of our systems,” said Marc Rohde, Managing Director and proprietor of Hoppe Marine GmbH, describing the development of the company since being founded in 1949. From September 6-9,  2016, Hoppe Marine will present its products in the three major areas of focus: fluid management, motion control and ship performance, at SMM 2016, the world’s leading trade fair for the maritime industry held in Hamburg.

In the past decades, the family-managed company has been able to position itself even more broadly by the integration of well-known brands such as MAIHAK und FLUME and now has more than 150 employees, 100 of them in Hamburg. Other companies operate in Busan, South Korea; Shanghai, China; and Szczecin, Poland.

In classic fluid management, the measurement of tank content and the control of valves in liquid systems, Hoppe Marine now also offers cargo monitoring for tankers. In the field of motion control the company delivers tailor-made systems that keep ships on an even keel during transhipment and lifting operations or reduce their rolling motions at sea. In addition to roll damping systems on newbuildings, Hoppe also designs FLUME tank retrofits for large container vessels. One of the major customers in this area is Maersk Line, the Danish shipping company. “From our systems ships are now able to transport significantly more and heavier containers on deck and thus continue to gain in efficiency,” Rohde said.

The HOSIM motion sensor developed by Hoppe Marine is also now being used in the new Electronic Inclinometer being introduced at the SMM. In 2015 the use of such a device was recommended for mandatory installation by the flag states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). “We can offer our customers intelligent retrofitting solutions, which provide the added benefit of transparency and efficiency,” Rohde said.

Things are also happening in the area of ship performance. Under the MAIHAK brand, Hoppe Marine will show a software and database solution that records and integrates performance data from a variety of sources (sensor technology from Hoppe and sensors from third-party providers) on board. Analysis of this database then enables comprehensive conclusions to be drawn about the performance of each ship, for instance, in connection with the demonstration of efficacy of high-quality hull coatings in accordance with ISO 19030.

In the E.R. Schifffahrt fleet more than 30 ships have already been equipped with the MAIHAH system as part of a successful cooperative pilot project, which included Interschalt. Also, countless ships from Bernhard Schulte, Peter Döhle, Rickmers and other shipping companies have MAIHAK systems for monitoring performance on board. Hoppe Marine also allows the combination of different measuring systems – such as connecting the tank measuring system in the fuel system on board with performance and consumption data.

The bunker management software tried and tested on Hapag-Lloyd container ships, one of the exhibition’s highlights, will now also be installed by C.P. Offen. “Hoppe Marine is thus presenting itself as the leading data integrator on board,” Rohde said. “Our software is not only precise and reliable, it can also cooperate with a wide variety of downstream analysis systems.”

In its product portfolio, Hoppe Marine, whose customers include many of the world’s leading shipping companies and shipyards, continues to rely on vertical responsibility: “In each of our systems we design all of the components, manufacture them ourselves or buy them so they are perfectly suited for maritime operation, always giving us control over the quality of the overall system,” Rohde said.