ABS Renews R&D Partnership with Singapore's MPA

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ABS to renew its partnership in maritime research, development and innovation. The signing was witnessed by Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Transport and Foreign Affairs, at the Singapore Maritime Institute’s SMI Forum 2020 themed “Future of Port and Shipping”.Under this agreement…
Danish Consortium Developing Ammonia-fueled Engine

Innovation Fund Denmark, the Danish investment entity, has announced the establishment of a consortium to develop a two-stroke, ammonia-fueled engine for maritime shipping. It aims to specify and demonstrate an entire, marine-propulsion system that will pave the way for the first commercial order for an ammonia-fueled vessel.MAN Energy Solutions will lead the consortium that also numbers: Eltronic FuelTech…
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Moving Its HQ to Houston

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. announced Thursday it is moving its corporate headquarters to Houston, positioning the nation’s largest dredging services provider nearer to major regional projects and opportunities. The firm will also open regional offices in Jacksonville, Fla., and Staten Island, N.Y.The move to Houston from from Oak Brook, Ill., which stems in part from changing industry dynamics, places the company closer to key regional customers and new markets…
Bollinger Delivers 41st Fast Response Cutter to the US Coast Guard

Bollinger Shipyards delivered the USCGC Charles Moulthrope to the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West, Fla., the Louisiana-based shipbuilder announced Thursday. This is the 164th vessel Bollinger has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard over a 35-year period and the 41st Fast Response Cutter (FRC) delivered under the current program.The 154-foot USCGC Charles Moulthrope is the first of six FRCs to be home-ported in Manama…
Video: USCG Performs Rescue Drill on Wind Turbine off Virginia

As the U.S. offshore wind industry begins to build up, the U.S. Coast Guard is training to ensure it is prepared to respond to any potential emergency—even at 400 feet in the air.Last week, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, N.J., an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and several surface assets from the Virginia…
New Towboat Gets a Complete Thordon Propulsion Package

A 1,600-horsepower towboat delivered to Harvey, La.-based operator L&L Marine Transportation in June is now operational with a full range of Thordon oil-free and grease-free bearings.Designed by Entech, the 65-foot twin-screw towboat Amelia Ray is purpose-built by Rodriquez Shipbuilding in Coden, Ala. for the transportation of petrochemicals along all inland and coastal waters in the southern states of the U.S.In addition to newest towboat addition…
How is COVID-19 Influencing Passenger Vessel Design?

Not long ago, at the start of 2020, the market for passenger vessel construction was booming, with record orders rolling in across the size spectrum, from small passenger vessels all the way up to the world’s largest mega cruise liners.But then passenger vessels of all types and sizes began to empty out as COVID-19 spread. A large number of ferries were taken out of service or left operating with drastically reduced ridership (or in some cases…
Wärtsilä to Supply Engines for P&O Ferries' Newbuilds

Finnish tech company Wärtsilä revealed Thursday that it booked an order in Q1 2020 to supply engines for British ferry operator P&O Ferries' two new hybrid electric ferries on order at China's Guangzhou Shipyard International.P&OF has stated that the new hybrid-electric vessels, to be powered by powered by the Wärtsilä 31 four-stroke diesel engines, “will be the most sustainable ships ever to sail the English Channel…
Port of Little Rock Reports Best Month Since April

Grappling with slowed business levels caused by the ongoing pandemic, Arkansas' Port of Little Rock reports September was its best month since April of this year.Activity levels at the port's docks increased with 29 barges worked; 21 at the slackwater dock and eight at the river dock. More than 44,000 net tons of cargo was handled including the following commodities: aluminum ingots, sows, and tee bars…
Hurtigruten Cancels 20/21 Season Antarctica Cruises
Norwegian cruise ship operator Hurtigruten has decided to cancel the remaining of the Antarctica 20/21 season cruises - from January and throughout the first quarter of 2021…
Tech to Fight Container Fires

Fire safety has become a major concern in the container shipping industry, in particular, with vessels of 20,000-TEU and more entering the market. A fire in just one container can have catastrophic implications for the whole of the cargo. The very nature of container shipping means that the cargoes are in general finished goods of high value. Insurer Allianz gives the example of a March 2018 fire onboard the Maersk Honam southeast of Oman.
Overwatch: Advancing NATO’s Maritime Situational Awareness via Commercially Available Space-based Assets

“All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don’t know by what you do”Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonIt is hard to get past headlines painting the portrait of a world besieged physically and economically by a medical crisis on a global scale and a nation that has turned the national spotlight onto the fundamentals of its constitutional democracy…
Greece Calls for Tougher EU Stance Over Turkish Mediterranean Exploration
Greece urged the European Union on Wednesday to reconsider its customs union with Turkey in response to Ankara's continued gas exploration in contested Mediterranean areas…
Royston Wins UK Navy Engine Services Contract

Royston has won a multimillion pound contract to support and maintain small diesel engines onboard amphibious assault ships, mine hunters and other Royal Navy vessels, the marine engineering and propulsion specialist said Wednesday.The £5.5 million ($7.2 million) five-year Ministry of Defense (MOD) contract will see U.K.-based Royston responsible for providing diesel engine spares and technical support…
New Ferry Delivered to Sealink In Australia

Sealink Travel Group has taken delivery of Coolgaree Cat, a newly built passenger vessel developed specifically for the Palm Island and Magnetic Island runs, operated from Townsville in Queensland, Northern Australia. The new ferry was handed over from Australian builder Aluminium Marine earlier this month ahead of its official entry into service this past weekend.The 32-meter catamaran was developed…
USACE Approves Derecktor's Plan for New Megayacht Yard

Plans to convert the nearly 100-year-old Port of Fort Pierce into a full-service repair and refit facility for the global fleet of megayachts cleared a significant hurdle, Derecktor Shipyards announced.After 11 months of review, the engineering and plans for Derecktor Ft. Pierce’s new haul-out basin have been officially approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, paving way for construction to commence…
Video: Disabled Cargo Ship Rescued in Heavy Seas off Ireland

Three rescue craft came to the aid of a disabled cargo ship adrift in heavy seas and in danger of hitting the rocks off the Irish coast.The Antigua Barbuda-flagged general cargo vessel Lily B reported to MRCC Dublin Tuesday afternoon that it had lost power off the Waterford Harbor, southeast of Ireland.The Irish Coast Guard called upon three Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboats from Dunmore East…
Offshore Equipment Hydraulic Maintenance Tip-of-the-Day: Oil Cleanliness

Tip #3: Oil Cleanliness - Don't add regular filter changes to your maintenance scheduleMost filters have switches indicating when the element is full, and sometimes waiting for that may be too late. Changing filters on a regular service interval is a simple way to check the contamination level of a hydraulic system.The human body's organs and blood could be compared to individual components and the fluid within hydraulic/lubrication system.
Swan Hellenic Orders Third Ship from Helsinki Shipyard

Finnish shipbuilder Helsinki Shipyard said it has secured an order to build a third luxury expedition cruise vessel for British operator Swan Hellenic.The new vessel is scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2022, and like the two ships already on order, it is designed for the global cruise market, with an emphasis on high-latitude cruises, the shipbuilder said. Helsinki Shipyard said design work…
Hull Damage Not to Blame for 1994 Estonia Ferry Disaster -Report

An Estonian ferry disaster that killed 852 people in 1994 was probably not caused by hull damage to the vessel that was first revealed in a documentary this year, experts concluded after a preliminary investigation of the video footage.The sinking of the ferry Estonia in the Baltic Sea was the deadliest peacetime shipwreck in European waters for centuries. An official investigation in 1997 concluded that the bow ramp of the ferry had failed during a storm…