GENERAL Archives - Page 38 of 68

Shipbuilding output was 20.85m dwt, dropping13.8%. As the end of July, orders on hand were 103.66m dwt, an increase of 15.6%.

Shipbuilding export volume was 17.95m dwt, dropping 20.8%; newly-received export shipbuilding orders were 23.59m dwt,declining 41.5%; export orders on hand were 92.15m dwt, growing 16.4%, accounting for 86.1%, 91.7% and 88.9% of national volume, respectively.

China’s shipbuilding output, newly received orders and orders on hand accounted for 44.4%, 51.1% and 48.1% in global shipbuilding market.

During the first seven months, 15 main ship repair yards had repaired 1,859 vessels, declined 0.8% year-on-year.

Affected by high temperatures this summer, production capacity at some yards in South China was reduced comparing with the same period of last year, however, the profitability of major shipyards improved. 75 major Chinese yards’ profits were RMB1.67bn for the first seven months, soared 94.2% year-on-year.

Source: https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/shipyards/newbuild-orders-chinese-yards-plunge-431-first-seven-months

ABB said Monday its digital technologies have enabled the harbor tug Maju 510 to become the first vessel in the world to receive Autonomous and Remote-Control Navigation Notation from ABS classification society, and first Singapore-flagged vessel to receive the Smart (Autonomous) Notation from MPA.

The notations acknowledge the breakthrough performance of the tug, demonstrating autonomous collision avoidance capabilities in trials conducted at Raffles Reserved Anchorage, off Singapore Island, in March 2022, ABB said.

Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) is the project lead for the autonomous solutions on the Maju 510, which is owned and operated by Keppel Smit Towage, a member of Rimorchiatori Mediterranei.

“The vessel has already distinguished itself as the world’s first vessel to secure the ABS Remote-Control Navigation Notation, following initial remote operation trials at the Port of Singapore in April 2021. The latest trials verified next level of autonomy, demonstrating automated situational awareness, collision avoidance, and maneuvering control provided by ABB Ability™ Marine Pilot Vision and Marine Pilot Control,” ABB said.

The 32-meter-long harbor tug demonstrated its ability to autonomously avoid collisions in various scenarios, such as when two other vessels approach simultaneously on colliding paths and when a nearby vessel behaves erratically. The trials were supervised by an onboard tug master.

“I had the pleasure of being aboard Maju 510 during the collision avoidance trials and experiencing how smoothly the tug performed in autonomous mode,” said Romi Kaushal, Managing Director, Keppel Smit Towage. “What I found particularly impressive was how the digital system identified one or several risks in the tug’s planned path and responded to set the vessel on a new, safer course. The vessel performed as if it was operated by an experienced tug master.”

Maju 510 Tug: Singapore’s First Autonomous Vessel Project Complete

By allowing the crew to focus on the overall situation rather than on performing specific maneuvers, the ABB Ability Marine Pilot product family enhances safety and efficiency in tug operations, which is particularly important in congested shipping hubs like Singapore, the world’s busiest container port. Furthermore, the systems can be upgraded to enable higher levels of autonomy depending on local regulations and the requirements of the vessel, ABB said.

“As the systems integrator, Keppel O&M collaborated with ABB on customizing the autonomous solutions to enhance the vessel’s operational safety and efficiency. By liberating the crew of time- and energy-consuming tasks and improving accuracy during critical maneuvers, our autonomous solution has proven its ability to increase safety in even the busiest of ports. The autonomous solutions are future-ready to handle the growing demand of tug operations in Singapore port”, said Aziz Merchant, Executive Director, Keppel Offshore & Marine.

“Through digitalization, enhanced connectivity, and integrating ABB’s technology, we are able to generate high accuracy positioning and maneuvering, with AI engines for marine object recognition and classification.”

“We are proud to build on our collaboration with Keppel Offshore & Marine and move yet another step closer to making autonomous tugboat operations a reality,” said Juha Koskela, Division President, ABB Marine & Ports. “Our autonomous solutions are designed to support the crew in performing their duties as safely and efficiently as possible. The same technology can be applied to a variety of vessel types including wind turbine installation vessels, cruise ships and ferries.”

In an earlier successful demonstration of ABB’s autonomous technology, the ice-class passenger ferry Suomenlinna II was remotely piloted through the Helsinki harbor. Like Maju 510, Suomenlinna II had been retrofitted with ABB Ability Marine Pilot Vision and ABB Ability Marine Pilot Control.

“Most, if not all vessels could benefit from a higher level of automation for improved safety, efficiency and sustainability of operations. Optimized maneuvering helps to prevent accidents, enhance productivity and reduce fuel consumption and emissions,” ABB said.

Source: https://www.marinelink.com/news/abb-keppel-om-verify-nextlevel-harbor-tug-498900

The U.S. Department of Defense’s research and development agency is moving into the second phase of a project to to build and demonstrate a new seagoing unmanned surface vessel.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on Monday announced it is moving into Phase 2 of the No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program, which seeks to build and demonstrate a revolutionary new medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) that can go to sea and perform missions with unprecedented reliability and availability, while carrying a significant payload. The agency selected Serco Inc.’s design to move forward at the conclusion of Phase 1.

NOMARS took a clean-sheet approach to ship design, holding firmly to the requirement that there will never be a human on board the vessel while it is at sea – including during underway replenishment (UNREP) events. By eliminating all constraints and requirements associated with humans, NOMARS opened up the design space to novel ship configurations and capabilities that could never be considered for crewed vessels.

NOMARS is also pushing the boundaries on ship reliability. Because there is no crew on board to perform maintenance, NOMARS required new approaches for power generation, propulsion, machinery line-up and control schemes to ensure continuous functionality throughout a long mission in all weather, temperature, and sea states.

“NOMARS plans to demonstrate a next-generation completely unmanned ship that will enable entirely new concepts of operations,” said Gregory Avicola, program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office. “We will enable methods of deploying and maintaining very large fleets of unmanned surface vessels that can serve as partners, across the globe, for the larger crewed combatants of the U.S. Navy.”

In Phase 1, Serco developed a new Design Space Exploration (DSX) toolset that can evaluate spaces with a variety of parameters and outputs millions of ship designs to meet a diverse set of performance objectives and constraints. Serco used their DSX tool to create a set of ship designs ranging from 170-270 metric tons, then refined those into a single ship for the preliminary design review, which the company dubbed Defiant. In Phase 2, Serco will finalize ship design, build the ship, and work through a series of rigorous testing activities before taking it to sea for a three-month demonstration event. Serco is working with Beier Integrated Systems LLC, Caterpillar, DRS Naval Power Systems Inc., ICE FLOE LLC (dba Nichols Brothers Boat Builders), Metron Inc., Serco Inc. (div Maritime Engineering Operations), Submergence Group LLC, and Thrustmaster of Texas Inc. on the project.

Defiant will be the first of its kind. The 210-metric ton MUSV-class ship aims to maximize performance, reliability, and maintenance efficiency while still carrying significant payload at tactically useful ranges. The goal is to achieve ultra-reliability objectives by integrating distributed hybrid power generation, podded propulsors, and high-capacity batteries. A key philosophy of NOMARS is “graceful degradation,” which allows individual equipment to fail over time by having enough system-level redundancy to meet full system requirements at speeds of at least 15 knots after one year at sea. The major system components of the selected design are modularized, so repairs can be conducted with equipment typically found in yacht-yards worldwide. This maintenance philosophy supports rapid turnaround, allowing the ships to spend a majority of their lifetime at sea performing missions.

Source: https://www.marinelink.com/news/us-darpa-build-test-demonstrate-uncrewed-498920

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have repercussions in the Baltic. Already, Finland and Sweden have sought to join NATO. Now, long-time NATO member Denmark is planning to invest up to DKK 40 billion (about $5.4 billion) in naval shipbuilding and new warships.

“With Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the new European security situation, it is more important than ever that Denmark is able to defend itself. Here, security of supply plays a decisive role. It is crucial that the armed forces can obtain the material which is absolutely central to ensuring a strong Danish defense. This applies not least at sea, where Denmark is one of the world’s largest maritime nations,” said Defense Minister Morten Bødskov last week as he announced a new national partnership, charged with coming up with recommendations on how Danish industry can respond to the need.

“Within the next few years, the defense forces will have to replace a large number of ships. This means purchases in the region of DKK 40 billion. The new partnership will make recommendations so that the Danish maritime defense industry can share in these investments. For the benefit of the Danish defense industry, Danish jobs and not least for Denmark’s security,” said Bødkov.

The Minister of Defense has appointed Anne H. Steffensen, managing director of the Danish Shipowners Association (Danske Rederier) as chairman of the partnership.

“We are a large maritime nation with a strong maritime industry both by virtue of our civilian merchant fleet and our navy, which have always had a close interaction,” said Steffensen. “In the coming years, we must strengthen the navy, as a crucial part of Denmark’s defense. A close public-private partnership is the right way to go. In Denmark, we have many competencies that can and must be used when new ships are to be developed and built. As chairman of the new partnership, I look forward to making recommendations on how we can best and on reasonable terms support the needs of the Armed Forces in the maritime area.”

Two of the objectives of the partnership make it clear that beefing up Denmark’s naval shipbuilding capabilities and capacity will be a key part of the strategy.

According to the Ministry of Defense:

The new, national partnership for the maritime area must ensure coordination across the state, industry, professional organizations and financial institutions. This applies, among other things, to the work to strengthen Denmark’s national shipbuilding capacity.

The partnership must prepare an analysis that results in concrete recommendations on how to best nationally support the Norwegian Armed Forces’ long-term needs for ship procurement – among other things by ensuring that Denmark has the skills to design, build and maintain warships.

Identifying the physical shipyard space needed for naval shipbuilding will be one of the challenges facing the partnership. The most recent additions to the Royal Danish Navy, its three Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates, were constructed in blocks in Estonia and Lithuania. These blocks were then towed to the Maersk Group’s Odense Steel Shipyard (OSS) where they were assembled. Following the delivery of the last of the trio in 2012, the shipyard was closed and became an industrial park dedicated to the offshore renewables sector.

That industrial park is not all that’s left of the shipyard. Consultancy OMT (Odense Marine Technology) was spun off in 2010 to take the OSS technology expertise and experience and evolve into a leading international maritime consultancy. It is part of the team selected by the U.K. Ministry of Defense to develop the Type 31 general purpose frigate, which just happens to be based on the Iver Huitfeldt-class.

Source: https://www.marinelog.com/shipbuilding/denmark-eyes-5-4-billion-return-to-naval-shipbuilding/

In case large amounts of water should penetrate the ship’s hatch covers, both ship and crew could be in danger but limited water ingress would normally not cause a safety problem for the ship.

However, from a cargo quality point of view, even small amounts of water can ruin a cargo
and cause commercial havoc. In general, one can say that the Class and statutory rules and associated inspections will mainly look to the safety of the vessel and crew. The industry (charterers, shippers, receivers, underwriters,…) will take statutory and class compliance for granted and will focus more on the commercial aspects of carrying goods by sea.

Whilst decades ago, only a few types of hatch covers were made, a wide variety of hatch covers were being developed to accommodate the requirements of specific ships, trades and cargoes. Nowadays, the most commonly seen types of hatch covers for general cargo ships, handysize, panamax and capesize bulk carriers consist of folding hatch covers (general cargo & handysize) and side rolling hatch covers (panamax & capesize). For container vessels we generally see that lift-away type pontoons are installed.

Ultimately it will be the shipowner who will decide, in concertation and dialogue with the shipyard, classification society, fl ag administration, customers,… which hatch cover type will suit the client’s business model best and eventually hatch covers that are right for the ship, trade and cargo will be developed around a number of key parameters. Items that may influence the design are amongst others size of hatches, carriage of deck cargoes, strength requirements, available crew for preparing hatches to go to sea, opening/closing methods.

Hatch cover designs have evolved from very basic and relatively lightweight designs to huge, heavy and moving pieces of equipment. Hatch covers are generally referred to as heavy-duty shipboard equipment and this is generally associated with material that can withstand rough handling and does not need constant care and maintenance. However, this is not true as modern hatch covers are high-tech equipment for which very small tolerances should be observed. Their maintenance is type-specific and their operation should be considered a risk. Therefore, having a good understanding of how hatch covers work, and how to maintain and operate them is very important.

Cargo should not only be carried and delivered in time and in good condition but should also be transported in an environmentally friendly manner. In view of the size and weight of
hatch covers, many types are still operated by hydraulic systems which, in case of failure
and associated spillage, have a pollution potential.

Only the combination of proper inspection, correct operation and regular maintenance of hatch covers will ensure that the goods loaded onboard ships can be transported in line with good industry standards.

Below you can download a Guide paper from the Japan P&I club, providing very useful information for Owners, Managers and Crew onboard Bulker vessels, discussing important aspects of Bulk Carrier Hatch Covers maintenance and claims:

Source: Japan P&I club

Lloyd’s underwriting syndicate has signed an agreement to gain access to the Risk Intelligence System, backed by operational intelligence support services, for use in managing risk in its insurance portfolio.

The Risk Intelligence System offers an overview of immediate, short-, and medium-term security risks for coastal areas, ocean, port, and landside threats. The analysis is focused on insurgency, piracy, organised crime, activism, terrorism, military conflicts, and any interplay between these parameters.

The deal includes Risk Intelligence’s MaRisk and PortRisk systems, which will assist in writing cover for war risks and other challenging areas. Risk Intelligence will also provide bespoke reports and monthly security risk briefs to the underwriting team.

“This is a great addition to our strong book of insurance clients,” said Jim Pascoe, CCO of Risk Intelligence.

“In welcoming our new client on board, we will be providing our maritime intelligence right into the heart of marine underwriting. It’s particularly pleasing as this was a very competitive process, and our previous delivery to this client secured Risk Intelligence the ongoing contract – once again proving the quality of our analysts and advisory teams.”

“I am very much looking forward to working with our new client, assisting them as they challenge the traditional ways of dealing with war risk cover and books of business.”

Source: https://smartmaritimenetwork.com/2022/08/09/lloyds-adopts-risk-intelligence-system/

Bourbon Marine Services Greenmar, the manning affiliate of the Bourbon Group, has agreed a deal to implement MarTrust’s E-Wallet system to digitally manage its crew payments.

Bourbon Marine Services Greenmar is responsible for managing over 1,000 seafarers on more than 100 vessels. The E-Wallet and pre-paid cards provided by Marcura subsidiary MarTrust will be used to optimise payment processes, enabling crews to receive and manage their funds using a mobile app or any web browser.

Cash can be accessed at any Mastercard-supported ATM around the world, and the card can be topped up in different currencies. Users also have the ability to transfer money to family and friends as they wish using the system.

“Our key goal is to attract and retain the very best seafarers and to actively contribute to their personal growth within our organisation. This means ensuring that all areas that impact their lives while at sea are at the highest level, from communication and sourcing of stores, health and safety, as well as how they are remunerated and receive their hard-earned salaries,” said Suraj Maharaj, Managing Director, Bourbon Marine Services Greenmar.

“We recently introduced an attractive pension scheme for our seafarers, as well as a digital signature platform for employment agreements, and now the E-Wallet is the latest digital development to ensure that they receive their wages safely and securely, and with the freedom and ability to do with it what they choose.”

Source: https://smartmaritimenetwork.com/2022/08/10/bourbon-implements-digital-crew-payments-system/

The Port of Long Beach reported July throughput numbers on Tuesday, showing its most active July on record despite a “cooldown” in consumer spending.

Dockworkers and terminal operators at the port moved 785,843 TEU in July, a slim 0.13% increase from the previous record set in July 2021.

Total throughput was boosted by rising empty export containers, offsetting a year-over-year imports decline. Imports fell 1.8% to 376,175 TEUs, while empty containers moved through the port rose 2.8% to 300,257 TEUs. Exports were down 0.5% to 109,411 TEUs.

Looking by month, July’s numbers came in about 6% below June, which capped the port’s strongest quarter on record in Q2 2022, marking two consecutive quarters of record setting cargo volumes despite headwinds from inflation and fears of a looming recession.

“We are continuing to seek solutions to improve efficiency as a record-breaking number of containers move through the Port,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero. “We hope to relieve some of the stress points by continuing to support a transition of the entire supply chain to 24/7 operations and ensuring our industry partners can track containers with our new Supply Chain Information Highway data solution.”

With July’s final numbers in, the Port of Long Beach has now broken monthly records in six out of the last seven months. Year-to-date, cargo volumes are up 4.6% compared to the same period in 2021, when the Port of Long Beach handled record cargo volumes of more than 9.3 million TEU.

“Our waterfront workforce continues to ensure trade moves through the Port at a record-setting pace,” said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Sharon L. Weissman. “We continue to strengthen our partnerships with labor and industry to ensure our spot as a leader in trans-Pacific trade.”

The National Retail Federation said Monday it expects 2022 container imports into United States to surpass 2021 despite a “significant” slowdown over the remainder of the year.

Many retailers this year have brought in cargo early and shifted to East and Gulf Coast ports to avoid any potential disruptions related to ongoing contract negotiations between dockworkers and employers at West Coast ports. The NRF is predicting the slowdown to start in August and continue through the remainder of the year before deepening in 2023.

This West to East cargo shift has knocked the Port of Long Beach out of second place in the rankings of top U.S. container ports as Long Beach’s volumes now trail behind the Port of New York and New Jersey, which has not yet reported July numbers. The Port of Savannah has also been a benificiary of this shift, with the port reporting an 18% surge in cargo volumes in July compared to 2021.

Unfortunately, the shift has also contributed to growing backups on the East Coast, with most ships now arriving late. On the other hand, Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles backups have eased considerably from January’s peak, but with 25 ships still waiting in the queue as of Monday, they aren’t out of the woods yet.

Source: https://gcaptain.com/empties-lift-port-of-long-beach-to-new-july-record-as-imports-fall/

The cruise vessel, NORWEGIAN PRIMA, was delivered by the Italian Shipyard Fincantieri to the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) at Marghera, Venice. This 143,500 gross-ton cruise ship is the first of the six new ships in NCL’s Prima class delivered through 2027. The vessel will be christened and start its inaugural voyage from Reykjavik, Iceland, on 27th August 2022.

The vessel uses two 16.5 MW pod propulsion units and has a unique hull design that has seen a rise in recent cruise ship implementations over the past few years. Fincantieri has reported that the vessel exceeded the contract speed during its sea trials, reaching a maximum speed of 21.9 knots. It can accommodate 3,215 passengers in its 1,646 passenger cabins (double occupancy). And can go up to a maximum of 5,400 passengers, which includes 1,388 crew. The vessel features many tourist attractions, including the first and largest three-level racetrack for electric race cars, a ten-story high dry slide, and an outdoor sculpture garden.

Its sister ship, the NORWEGIAN VIVA, will be delivered in the summer of 2023. NCL has recently announced that the last of the 4 vessels in the series will see a revision in their design and they are to become a part of the Prima Plus Class. The revisions include increasing the passenger capacity to 3,550 passengers in double occupancy.

Two more grain-carrying ships sailed from Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port on Tuesday, Turkey’s defence ministry said, as part of a deal to unblock Ukrainian sea exports.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the agreement last month after warnings that the halt in grain shipments caused by the conflict could lead to severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world.

The Ocean Lion, which departed for South Korea, is carrying 64,720 tonnes of corn, it said, while the Rahmi Yagci is carrying 5,300 tonnes of sunflower meal to Istanbul.

The four ships that left Ukraine earlier are anchored near Istanbul and will be inspected on Tuesday, the defence ministry statement said.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine for what it calls its “special military operation”, the two countries together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.

The resumption of grain exports is being overseen by a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. personnel are working.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Yesim Dikmen; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Gerry Doyle)

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GENERAL Archives - Page 38 of 68 - SHIP IP LTD

Newbuild orders at Chinese yards plunge 43.1% in first seven months

ABB, Keppel O&M Verify Next-level of Harbor Tug Autonomy with Collision Avoidance Trials

US DARPA to Build, Test, Demonstrate Uncrewed Ship

Denmark eyes $5.4 billion return to naval shipbuilding

Maritime Loss Prevention: Hatch Covers Claims Vs Maintenance

Below you can download a Guide paper from the Japan P&I club, providing very useful information for Owners, Managers and Crew onboard Bulker vessels, discussing important aspects of Bulk Carrier Hatch Covers maintenance and claims:

Lloyd’s adopts Risk Intelligence system

Bourbon implements digital crew payments system

Empties Lift Port of Long Beach to New July Record as Imports Fall

World debuts for Sanlorenzo, Prestige and Beneteau Sail

Two more grain ships sail from Ukraine, Turkey says

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