Fleet Maintenance News

Each year, as we prepare for the largest U.S. based maritime industry conference in New Orleans, we tend to look back on the state of the industry and initiatives that were announced from the conference that took place the year before. 2023 provided us with plenty to talk about. In September of 2023, while the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the global shipbuilding industry were fixated on “emissions” and alternative fuels, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro held the opening meeting of the Government Shipbuilders Council.

U.S. Navy leadership held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 30 to celebrate the modernization of Berth 6 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The $35 million project marks a milestone in the ongoing Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP), aimed at upgrading facilities to support the Virginia and Los Angeles-class submarines.Originally constructed in 1903, Berth 6 has undergone extensive repairs and upgrades to its dockside utility services. Enhancements include a fenced electrical substation yard…

Kongsberg Maritime announced it has won a contract to provide the design and equipment for two powerful salvage tugs being built by Alexandria Shipyard as main contractor on behalf of the Suez Canal Authority. The tugs will be based on Kongsberg Maritime’s UT 722 CDT Design.The UT 722 tugboat design has a length of 71.6 meters, bollard pull of approximately 200 tonnes, and it can operate independently for up to 35 days.Egypt’s Alexandria Shipyard successfully bid on this contract with the Suez Canal Authority in cooperation with Kongsberg Maritime…

The U.S. Navy's engineering systems command has awarded a $2.8 billion contract for the construction of a new concrete dry dock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF).The $2,839,880,250 firm-fixed-price task order, which falls under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract, was awarded by Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Pacific to a joint venture between Dragados, Hawaiian Dredging and Orion. Four…

Fincantieri Marine Systems North America (FMSNA) has been awarded the maintenance contract for the U.S. Navy’s “Avenger”-class minesweepers. The program has a combined value up to more than $78 million.The Navy operates eight “Avenger”-class vessels, which are homeported in Bahrain and Japan. All of the vessels have diesel engines produced by Isotta Fraschini Motori, another Fincantieri’s subsidiary, of which FMSNA technicians are experts. All of the “Avenger”-class vessels were made in Marinette and Sturgeon Bay…

BC Ferries revealed the name of its latest Island Class Ferry this week at a naming ceremony at its fleet maintenance facility in Richmond, B.C. Island Kwigwis is the newest vessel to join the fleet and will begin service in the spring of 2022, allowing for two-ship operation on the Nanaimo Harbour – Gabriola Island route.The name Kwigwis, which means "eagle of the sea," was selected with support from the 'Na̲mg̲is First Nation and celebrates the beauty of the journey and the important connection to coastal communities.

Foss Maritime announced the permanent closure of its Seattle shipyard located in North Queen Anne, effective October 30, 2021.“The difficult decision is a result of Foss Maritime’s regular evaluation of business lines and follows the company’s diligent effort to improve the viability of the Seattle shipyard over many years,” the company said in a press release, noting the closure does not affect any other area of its operations.“While the closure of the Seattle shipyard is a strategic decision for the future of Foss…

RINA announced it has acquired the entire share capital of Denmark-based software company Logimatic Solutions, in line with Italian classification society’s plan to boost its digital solutions knowledge and offering.The company, with a turnover of about 6 million euros, will be fully integrated within the RINA Group, and its nearly 50 employees will continue in the current structure from its offices in Denmark, Singapore and Chile.For RINA, the move will add the SERTICA fleet management solution to the RINA portfolio of maritime offerings…

RINA acquired the entire share capital of Logimatic Solutions, a Danish software company with a turnover of about 6 million Euros that will be fully integrated within the RINA Group. Its nearly 50 employees will continue in the current structure from its offices in Denmark, Singapore and Chile. This acquisition is in line with RINA’s strategic plan and will boost the company’s knowledge of digital solutions.The move will add SERTICA to the RINA portfolio of maritime offerings, while INEXTIA, FOTODOK and RENOMATIC will complement RINA’s businesses in the energy and industry sectors. SERTICA is a fleet management solution, which integrates a wide range of functions…

Industries are adapting to an increasingly digitalized landscape. The floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) industry is no different. As concerted efforts are made to improve project economics Matt Tremblay, ABS Senior Vice President, Global Offshore, discusses how digitalization can increase safety, reduce costs, and build robust technical and operational capabilities.No one could have predicted what a challenging year 2020 would become. Offshore production activity fluctuated dramatically with changing market economics and a global pandemic…

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released guidance to help state and local jurisdictions and the private sector identify and manage their essential workforce while responding to COVID-19.The Dredging Contractors of America (DCA) helped the federal government develop this first-of-a-kind guidance on Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers.“This is why Government Coordinating Councils and Sector Coordinating Councils are so important.

New TechGuide maintenance app from MAN CEON represents new generation of instructional material.As the global maritime community embraces new digitalization technologies aimed at reducing costs and enhancing safety onboard ships, MAN CEON, which is MAN Energy Solutions umbrella brand for all its digital products, comes to the fore for TechGuide, and augmented reality maintenance platform.The new generation of instructional material with augmented reality features a mix of different multimedia.

German solution provider to the marine and energy sectors, MAN Energy Solutions (MES) has signed a Global Key Account Management contract with Hong Kongbased Wallem Group.The contract covers the supply of spares and services to MAN main engines, generators and turbochargers aboard vessels managed by Wallem, the provider of technology-driven maritime solutions.According to a press release from Augsburg-based MES, the global agreement covers all offices of the Wallem Group and provides access to a dedicated global and local key account manager from MAN PrimeServ, MAN Energy Solutions’ after-sales division. MAN PrimeServ will manage the contract from Hong Kong in close cooperation with a network of over 100 global PrimeServ hubs.Wallem currently has over 200 vessels under asset management…

Singapore-based offshore marine services provider PACC Offshore Services Holdings Ltd (POSH) and the maritime logistics solutions provider Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL) have selected ABS Nautical Systems  (NS) fleet management software to support their digitalization strategy.Both PCL and POSH are part of Kuok Singapore Limited (KSL) Maritime Group of companies, with competencies extending across offshore marine services, commercial shipping and marine engineering. Both POSH and PCL operate a combined fleet of 245 vessels including tankers, bulkers as well as offshore support vessels.The deal is for multiple NS modules to support the digitalization of workflows including fleet maintenance, purchasing and compliance.

In what can be construed as another positive sign for the turnaround of the offshore energy markets, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) said it has set up a new business unit to focus on the oil and gas and offshore energy renewables markets.“This segment is focused on special operations and driven by different rules, so we decided to establish a dedicated expert team to specifically attend to the needs of the offshore market,” said Matthias Mueller, Managing Director of BSM…

Foss Maritime will centralize fleet management and operations with Helm CONNECT. The announcement comes as Foss progresses to better organize and streamline operations across core business units and wholly-owned subsidiaries along the U.S. West Coast, and in Hawaii and Alaska.As part of the agreement with Helm Operations, Foss will centralize its vessel dispatching, billing, maintenance, compliance and personnel management in the Helm CONNECT software platform.“At Foss, we’re constantly looking at new ways to improve our business.

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced that Australia’s Department of Defence has awarded a contract to Naval Shipbuilding Institute (NSI), a joint venture between HII’s Technical Solutions division and Kellogg Brown and Root’s (KBR) Government Services division, to establish and manage Australia’s new Naval Shipbuilding College. This effort is in support of Australia’s mission to recapitalize its shipbuilding and maritime sustainment industry over the next several decades. In announcing the request for proposals in 2017, Minster of Defence Industry Christopher Pyne emphasized that the Naval Shipbuilding College is a unique organization…

ACO Marine has been awarded contracts to supply its wastewater treatment technology as retrofit solutions to river cruise vessels operating on European waterways. The 232-passenger capacity sisters Ukraina and Moldavia, undergoing refit work at the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company’s fleet maintenance base in Izmail, Ukraine, will each be retrofitted with a Maripur NF 250 unit. In a separate agreement, a Maripur NF 150 unit will also be supplied to Linz Shipyard for retrofit to the 150-passenger capacity river cruise vessel Carissima. Due to space limitations aboard all these vessels, ACO Marine will use the ships’ existing holding tanks as a bioreactor in the first stage of the treatment process.

The next critical area of consideration for the use of Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants is on deck. What’s leaking into the water from your cranes and winches? Vessel fleets face an increasing number of environmentally-focused regulations, adding complexity to their operations and creating urgency around compliance. These regulatory requirements, however, do not offset an operator’s need for products that perform consistently well. With the right Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants (EALs)…

The Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, today announced the appointment of 10 Board Members to the Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board, chaired by Professor Donald Winter. “The establishment of the Advisory Board is an important milestone in the Government’s naval shipbuilding strategy, ensuring expert, independent advice to Government on all aspects of this historical national endeavour,” Minister Pyne said. Mr Martin Bean, CBE – Vice Chancellor and President of RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia and former Vice Chancellor of The Open University in the United Kingdom. Mr Mike Burgess – After leaving the position of Chief Information Security Officer for Telstra, he is now a Strategic Cyber Security Adviser and Consultant.

Kongsberg Maritime has developed a new Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) application for its K-Fleet suite of Marine Fleet Management Software. K-Fleet MRV has been assessed as meeting the requirements of new EU-regulation 2015/757, which is a result of the EU calling for a global approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. Entered into force on July 1, 2015, the regulation will be fully effective on January 1, 2018…

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Camber Corporation and formed a new operating division, HII Technical Solutions. The new division will be led by Andy Green, who will serve as an executive vice president of HII and president of HII Technical Solutions, reporting directly to HII President and CEO Mike Petters. “The acquisition of Camber and the consolidation of our existing service businesses into a dedicated division provides the breadth and scale necessary to successfully pursue numerous growth opportunities,” Petters said. “Camber brings a broad array of capabilities to the HII team, and we are excited about the possibilities of growing the combined businesses.

In line with the Subchapter M waterways rules which are due to come into effect in 2016, Helm Operations will introduce the full capability of it’s latest Maintenance and Compliance solution, Helm CONNECT, at this year’s International Workboat Show (IWS). As in previous years, the crew at Helm will offer another fun challenge to delegates to “get fixed up”, in order to gain insight into the seamless operation of the Maintenance feature. IWS is North America’s largest commercial marine trade show and conference.