Barrier News

A bulk carrier came within 200 m of grounding in the Great Barrier Reef after a GPS unit onboard the ship began providing false information to the pilot and crew on board, an ATSB final report details.The near grounding occurred early on the morning of May 4, 2022, when the 225m bulk carrier Rosco Poplar was transiting Hydrographers Passage under the conduct of a coastal pilot.Unknown to the pilot and crew, one of the ship’s three GPS units began outputting incorrect positional data during the early stages of the pilotage…

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the Chamber of Marine Commerce, Canada (CMC), convened over 120 industry leaders from 90 organisations and nearly 30 different countries to the Shaping the Future of Shipping Summit on Thursday 13 June. The summit focused on the challenges and risks to global trade.During the closed-door summit industry leaders discussed the emerging concern of increased protectionism across the world.Emanuele Grimaldi, International Chamber of Shipping…

Advances in autonomous vessels – from R&D to regulatory policies to actual work – are moving rapidly. AVs include a range of vessel types and missions, from freight to law enforcement to research to defense. There are many acronyms. Some examples –AV stands for autonomous vessel.AUV is autonomous underwater vessel.MASS stands for “maritime autonomous surface ship.”NOMARS is a U.S. Department of Defense term for “no manning required ship.”Different…but maybe not so differentSurface…

New Zealand's government said on Sunday it would introduce legislation to remove a controversial ban on offshore petroleum exploration to attract investment to the country's oil and gas sector.The bill would end the ban, in place since 2018, on exploration outside onshore Taranaki, an energy-rich region on New Zealand's North Island, Resources Minister Shane Jones said in a statement.The bill will be introduced to parliament before the end of 2024, he said."As well as removing the ban, we are proposing changes to the way petroleum exploration applications are tendered and allocated, aligning t

French engineering company for liquefied gas storage GTT has secured approvals from Bureau Veritas and Lloyd's Register for its NEXT1 LNG cargo containment system.Bureau Veritas issued a Design Approval (DA), while Lloyd's Register granted a General Approval for Ship Application (GASA) to GTT.The two approvals, officially granted at the Posidonia 2024 maritime show in Athens, mark a major milestone for the company's NEXT1 technology.Through them, Bureau Veritas and Lloyd's Register confirm that the technology complies with all applicable rules and regulations…

RSC Bio Solutions has created ENVIROLOGIC® High-Tack Grease 2 as part of its high-performance grease product range.The biodegradable lubricant is designed specifically to seal out contaminants like water and debris in high-speed applications along with reducing industrial and equipment wear and friction.ENVIROLOGIC® High-Tack Grease is a VGP-compliant grease for use in cutter suction dredge and jack up boat applications. The grease was designed to adhere to metal surfaces using highly effective polymers developed specifically by RSC Bio Solutions.

China ended two days of war games around Taiwan in which it simulated attacks with bombers and practiced boarding ships, exercises that Taiwan condemned as "blatant provocation" on Saturday, detailing a surge of Chinese warplanes and warships.Chinese state television's military channel said late on Friday the drills had concluded. A commentary in the official People's Liberation Army Daily said they had lasted for two days from Thursday to Friday, as previously announced.China's defence ministry did not answer calls seeking comment on Saturday.China…

China's military carried out a second day of war games around Taiwan on Friday, with drills to test their ability to "seize power" and control key areas, exercises it has said were launched to punish Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te.The two days of drills in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands near the Chinese coast started just three days after Lai took office. Taiwan has condemned China's actions.China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and denounces Lai as a "separatist"…

U.S. regulators are investigating potential unfair trade practices within pending Canadian regulations governing ballast water management systems of ships in the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes trade.The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Tuesday said it launched the probe to determine if the pending regulations have a disparate effect on U.S. flagged vessels and constitute a Foreign Shipping Practices violation under 46 U.S.C. Chapter 423.U.S.-based companies operating ships in the…

Strong demand is driving development but emissions issues remain, writes René Sejer Laursen, ABS Director – Fuels & Technology, Global SustainabilityThe interest in ammonia stems both from its zero emissions when used as fuel and because its production isn’t dependent on biogenic carbon sources.To realize large-scale production of green ammonia to serve new markets, its production capacity, along with that of renewable electricity and green hydrogen, will need to grow tremendously.Current…

Long-term initiatives led by classification societies are building the foundation for future fuels uptake.About this time last year, ABS CEO Chris Wiernicki said: “When you look at where we are and the steepness of the curve ahead, the biggest risk is the unintended safety consequences of change.” Class, he says, is built for the intersection between technology, safety and regulations and must be prepared.Work is underway. China Classification Society (CCS), for example, has released…

The role women play in ensuring maritime safety will be celebrated worldwide by the IMO on this year's International Day for Women in Maritime. Observed globally each year on May 18, International Day for Women in Maritime aims to promote the recruitment, retention and empowerment of women in the sector, as well as a barrier-free work environment.Ahead of the day, the IMO will host an international symposium on Friday, May 17 at IMO headquarters in London, under the theme ‘Safe…

The Philippines on Tuesday accused China's coast guard of harassment and of damaging two of its boats in a disputed area of the South China Sea, rejecting Beijing's position that it had expelled those vessels from the hotly contested shoal.The Philippines' task force on South China Sea issues said a coast guard ship and a fisheries vessel were damaged by water cannons used by Chinese coast guard ships, as the vessels headed to Scarborough shoal to assist Filipino fishermen in the area.The fisheries vessel was rammed thrice both by the Chinese coast guard and maritime vessels…

The Methanol Institute (MI) and SEA-LNG, key representatives of the methanol and LNG industries respectively, have expressed their deep concerns following the recent announcement by the European Commission impacting the trade of biomethane and biomethane-based biofuels such as biomethanol.The Commission has noted the intention to exclude the automatic certification of biomethane and biomethanol-based fuels produced through mass balance chain of custody in third-party countries outside the EU gas grids within the Union Database (UDB)…

The collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge has highlighted what engineers say is an urgent need to better protect the piers holding up spans over shipping channels as the size of cargo ships has grown in recent decades.Federal authorities continue an investigation into why a massive cargo ship lost power and crashed into a pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday, bringing down the structure and killing six workers who had been filling potholes atop it.The Maryland Transportation Authority did not respond to questions about what…

It might be easy to blame EALs, but the ongoing causes of stern tube damage are varied, and possibly declining.Environmentally Acceptable lubricants (EALs) gained market traction with the introduction of US VGP regulations in 2013. Since then, DNV has observed two major trends. The first, starting in 2013 was early life damage, either during sea trials or within the first five years of operation, where aft stern tube bearings typically failed under extreme load conditions. Then from around 2018…

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) in December issued a final rule updating its financial requirements for the Federal Ship Financing Program, commonly referred to as Title XI. While the move applies to the U.S. maritime industry as a whole, it is seen as especially helpful for players looking to serve the U.S. offshore wind sector.Designed to promote the growth and modernization of the U.S. merchant marine and U.S. shipyards, Title XI provides for a full faith and credit guarantee by the U.S. government. The program essentially aims to encourage U.S.

Big data, advanced computers and AI are allowing vessel designers to prepare models that leave essentially nothing to chance.“Lastly, it may be of considerable importance to form from the draught a block model of the vessel from which a still more accurate judgment may be formed of the fitness and beauty of the body. And should any defect be discovered, farther alterations must still be made, till the draught and the model are perfectly approved of. These different alterations and repeated calculations may appear very tedious…

ClassNK has awarded an approval in principle (AiP) for the design of a prismatic ammonia fuel tank (IMO Type B independent tank) for containerships developed by Planning and Design Center for Greener Ships (GSC).The Type B tank developed by GSC has been designed to ensure safe storage of ammonia and to minimize the reduction in the number of cargo containers due to the placement of fuel tanks in consideration of operational needs.Furthermore, the shape of the storage space for the tank has been simplified from the typical bench corners for container carriers…

Technical inquiries to SRC Group ramped up after it received Approval in Principle (AIP) for a concept which ‘reinvented methanol fuel storage’ on board ships. Delivering the answers has seen technical talk converting into project discussions        ‘Green’ methanol has the ability to one day run vessels almost emission-free, and commercial shipping increasingly investigates. Derived today principally from natural gas, methanol is nonetheless available, relatively easy to handle and predictable.

Chinese state media unveiled new images of China's most advanced aircraft carrier yet, including next generation launch tracks that can catapult a wider range of aircraft from its deck.First shown to the public in June 2022, the Fujian was entirely designed and built domestically.Yet to conduct its first sea trials, the aircraft carrier is larger and technologically more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted domestically.On state television late on Tuesday…

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) has recently announced an amendment to the Federal Ship Financing Program, commonly referred to as Title XI. The amendments have aligned the program’s financial requirements and tests with common current federal credit and maritime lending best practices. In particular, the amendments aim to move away from inflexible static metrics and Title XI’s limited amortization requirements. The amendments respond to concerns that previous terms acted as a barrier to some companies seeking to apply for Title XI support.

Shipping’s journey of digital transformation is as much about cultural change - from the boardroom to onboard vessels - to adapt to new ways of working with data collaboration at the core as it is about technology adoption, according to a new Bureau Veritas-backed research study.Digital transformation of the industry “demands a systemic shift in how we work together,” Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore’s VP Digital Solutions & Transformation, Laurent Hentges, said in the foreword to the report by research firm Thetius…