NYK Line, Nihon Shipyard (NSY), ClassNK, and IHI Corporation signed a joint research and development agreement for the commercialization of an ammonia floating storage and regasification barge (A-FSRB).
Specifically, the parties will work on the R&D of the world’s first barge equipped with a floating storage and regasification facility for ammonia. A barge is a flat-bottomed vessel designed to carry heavy cargo mainly in inland waterways and ports. Almost all barges cannot navigate by themselves because they are not equipped with an engine; they must be towed or propelled by a tugboat.
Since ammonia does not emit carbon dioxide (CO2) when combusted, it is expected to be a next-generation fuel that contributes to global warming countermeasures.
In Japan, technological development is underway for ammonia fuel mixed combustion power generation at coal-fired power plants as an innovative next-generation thermal power generation technology that contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions.
On the other hand, when using ammonia in existing thermal power plants, there are issues such as the problem of securing land for new onshore facilities including storage tanks and regasification facilities, and the large initial investment cost.
Advantages of A-FSRB
An A-FSRB is an offshore floating facility that can receive and store ammonia that has been transported via ship as a liquid, warm and regasify ammonia according to demand, and then send it to a pipeline onshore.
An A-FSRB offers the advantages of shorter construction time and lower costs in comparison to construction of onshore storage tanks and regasification plants. In fact, the A-FSRB is expected to speed up the adoption of ammonia fuel and contribute to its wider use as a lower-environmental-impact next-generation fuel.
In August 2020, NYK Line, Japan Marine United Corporation (which has a 49% share of NSY), and ClassNK started joint R&D of an A-FSRB. However, since the demand for fuel ammonia is expected to increase further in the future, the three parties have concluded a new joint R&D agreement with IHI, an ammonia-related equipment manufacturer.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Group (HHI Group) is speeding up the development of eco-friendly technologies ranging from ship fuel supply systems to auxiliary propulsion systems. With the International Maritime Organization (IMO) toughening environmental regulations in line with the global trend of carbon reduction, HHI is seeking to lead the global eco-friendly ship market by securing of eco-friendly technologies.
HHI obtained design approval of Hi-Rotor, a rotor sail of its own development, from the Korean Register (KR) on Aug. 26. A rotor sail is a wind power auxiliary propulsion device. The cylindrical structure is installed on the deck of a ship. It uses wind to generate additional propulsion, thus reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. A rotor sail helps a ship save its fuel by 6 to 8 percent compared to other ships.
HHI plans to conduct a Hi-Rotor demonstration on land in the second half of this year, and seek orders for the product.
In June, HHI Group developed a fuel supply system that can reduce LNG carriers’ fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and HHI developed Hi-eGAS, a next-generation LNG fuel supply system, and received a basic design certification on it from Norwegian and British ship classification organizations. This system recycles the heat discarded during LNG carriers’ fuel supply process. It can prune fuel consumption and carbon emissions by 1.5 percent, respectively, compared to other systems.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. has conducted a trial use of marine biofuel which was supplied by pioneering marine biofuel supply company GoodFuels on Supramax bulker “ALBION BAY” with the cooperation of JFE Steel Corporation.
“K” LINE signed a deal for marine biofuel supply with GoodFuels. The vessel completed the loading operation of Hot Rolled Steel Coils at JFE Steel Corporation West Japan Works on July 24th, 2022 and started navigation to discharging port at Pakistan. The marine biofuel was delivered to the vessel at off Singapore on Aug 3rd, 2022. After leaving Singapore, the vessel conducted the trial use of the marine biofuel and safely arrived at discharging port on Aug 16th, 2022.
Marine biofuel has the potential to become an environmentally friendly alternative fuel generally. Bio-diesel will be able to reduce CO2 by about 80-90% in the well-to-wake (from fuel generation to consumption) process without changing current engine specifications. “K” LINE conducts this trial by using marine biofuel blended with bio-diesel and fossil fuel.
In addition to this trial, “K” LINE is planning same kind of trial use of marine biofuel by cape size bulker for raw material shipment of JFE Steel Corporation.
I’m standing at the edge of the Greenland ice sheet, mesmerized by a mind-blowing scene of natural destruction. A milewide section of glacier front has fractured and is collapsing into the ocean, calving an immense iceberg.
Seracs, giant columns of ice the height of three-story houses, are being tossed around like dice. And the previously submerged portion of this immense block of glacier ice just breached the ocean – a frothing maelstrom flinging ice cubes of several tons high into the air. The resulting tsunami inundates all in its path as it radiates from the glacier’s calving front.
Fortunately, I’m watching from a clifftop a couple of miles away. But even here, I can feel the seismic shocks through the ground. Despite the spectacle, I’m keenly aware that this spells yet more unwelcome news for the world’s low-lying coastlines.
As a field glaciologist, I’ve worked on ice sheets for more than 30 years. In that time, I have witnessed some gobsmacking changes. The past few years in particular have been unnerving for the sheer rate and magnitude of change underway. My revered textbooks taught me that ice sheets respond over millennial time scales, but that’s not what we’re seeing today.
A study published Aug. 29, 2022, demonstrates – for the first time – that Greenland’s ice sheet is now so out of balance with prevailing Arctic climate that it no longer can sustain its current size. It is irreversibly committed to retreat by at least 59,000 square kilometers (22,780 square miles), an area considerably larger than Denmark, Greenland’s protectorate state.
Even if all the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming ceased today, we find that Greenland’s ice loss under current temperatures will raise global sea level by at least 10.8 inches (27.4 centimeters). That’s more than current models forecast, and it’s a highly conservative estimate. If every year were like 2012, when Greenland experienced a heat wave, that irreversible commitment to sea level rise would triple. That’s an ominous portent given that these are climate conditions we have already seen, not a hypothetical future scenario.
Our study takes a completely new approach – it is based on observations and glaciological theory rather than sophisticated numerical models. The current generation of coupled climate and ice sheet models used to forecast future sea level rise fail to capture the emerging processes that we see amplifying Greenland’s ice loss.
How Greenland got to this point
The Greenland ice sheet is a massive, frozen reservoir that resembles an inverted pudding bowl. The ice is in constant flux, flowing from the interior – where it is over 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) thick, cold and snowy – to its edges, where the ice melts or calves bergs.
In all, the ice sheet locks up enough fresh water to raise global sea level by 24 feet (7.4 meters).
Greenland’s terrestrial ice has existed for about 2.6 million years and has expanded and contracted with two dozen or so “ice age” cycles lasting 70,000 or 100,000 years, punctuated by around 10,000-year warm interglacials. Each glacial is driven by shifts in Earth’s orbit that modulate how much solar radiation reaches the Earth’s surface. These variations are then reinforced by snow reflectivity, or albedo; atmospheric greenhouse gases; and ocean circulation that redistributes that heat around the planet.
We are currently enjoying an interglacial period – the Holocene. For the past 6,000 years Greenland, like the rest of the planet, has benefited from a mild and stable climate with an ice sheet in equilibrium – until recently. Since 1990, as the atmosphere and ocean have warmed under rapidly increasing greenhouse gas emissions, Greenland’s mass balance has gone into the red. Ice losses due to enhanced melt, rain, ice flow and calving now far exceed the net gain from snow accumulation.
Greenland’s ice mass loss measured by NASA’s Grace satellites.
What does the future hold?
The critical questions are, how fast is Greenland losing its ice, and what does it mean for future sea level rise?
Greenland’s ice loss has been contributing about 0.04 inches (1 millimeter) per year to global sea level rise over the past decade.
This net loss is split between surface melt and dynamic processes that accelerate outlet glacier flow and are greatly exacerbated by atmospheric and oceanic warming, respectively. Though complex in its manifestation, the concept is simple: Ice sheets don’t like warm weather or baths, and the heat is on.
Meltwater lakes feed rivers that snake across the ice sheet – until they encounter a moulin. Alun Hubbard
What the future will bring is trickier to answer.
The models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predict a sea level rise contribution from Greenland of around 4 inches (10 centimeters) by 2100, with a worst-case scenario of 6 inches (15 centimeters).
But that prediction is at odds with what field scientists are witnessing from the ice sheet itself.
According to our findings, Greenland will lose at least 3.3 percent of its ice, over 100 trillion metric tons. This loss is already committed – ice that must melt and calve icebergs to reestablish Greenland’s balance with prevailing climate.
We’re observing many emerging processes that the models don’t account for that increase the ice sheet’s vulnerability. For example:
– Increased rain is accelerating surface melt and ice flow.
– Large tracts of the ice surface are undergoing bio-albedo darkening, which accelerates surface melt, as well as the impact of snow melting and refreezing at the surface. These darker surfaces absorb more solar radiation, driving yet more melt.
In August 2021, rain fell at the Greenland ice sheet summit for the first time on record. Weather stations across Greenland captured rapid ice melt. European Space Agency
– Warm, subtropical-originating ocean currents are intruding into Greenland’s fjords and rapidly eroding outlet glaciers, undercutting and destabilizing their calving fronts.
– Supraglacial lakes and river networks are draining into fractures and moulins, bringing with them vast quantities of latent heat. This “cryo-hydraulic warming” within and at the base of the ice sheet softens and thaws the bed, thereby accelerating interior ice flow down to the margins.
The issue with models
Part of the problem is that the models used for forecasting are mathematical abstractions that include only processes that are fully understood, quantifiable and deemed important.
Models reduce reality to a set of equations that are solved repeatedly on banks of very fast computers. Anyone into cutting-edge engineering – including me – knows the intrinsic value of models for experimentation and testing of ideas. But they are no substitute for reality and observation. It is apparent that current model forecasts of global sea level rise underestimate its actual threat over the 21st century. Developers are making constant improvements, but it’s tricky, and there’s a dawning realization that the complex models used for long-term sea level forecasting are not fit for purpose.
Author Alun Hubbard’s science camp in the melt zone of the Greenland ice sheet. Alun Hubbard
There are also “unknown unknowns” – those processes and feedbacks that we don’t yet realize and that models can never anticipate. They can be understood only by direct observations and literally drilling into the ice.
That’s why, rather than using models, we base our study on proven glaciological theory constrained by two decades of actual measurements from weather stations, satellites and ice geophysics.
It’s not too late
It’s an understatement that the societal stakes are high, and the risk is tragically real going forward. The consequences of catastrophic coastal flooding as sea level rises are still unimaginable to the majority of the billion or so people who live in low-lying coastal zones of the planet.
Personally, I remain hopeful that we can get on track. I don’t believe we’ve passed any doom-laden tipping point that irreversibly floods the planet’s coastlines. Of what I understand of the ice sheet and the insight our new study brings, it’s not too late to act.
But fossil fuels and emissions must be curtailed now, because time is short and the water rises – faster than forecast.
New Zealand authorities are investigating the loss of a crewmember over the side of the bulker Berge Rishiri on Saturday. The man is missing and likely deceased, and Maritime Union NZ has called for the national government to look closely at the conditions on board to find any potential factors behind the incident.
The seafarer, a Chinese national, was last seen at 0800 hours at the end of his watch on Saturday morning. He was first noticed missing when he did not show up for duty at 1600 hours later that day. The ship notified Maritime NZ, and a search was launched; however, it was suspended after about one day, given the low likelihood of survival in the cold waters of the Southern Ocean.
Maritime Union NZ National Secretary Craig Harrison called on the government to do more to protect the welfare of international seafarers. He noted that globally, more than 500 seafarers a year go missing and another 500 are killed at sea (as of 2019). In a statement, he said that he would like Maritime New Zealand to investigate whether the crew were having adequate rest breaks, and that they were not required to secure any cargo while underway.
“We would like to know how long the seafarer had been at sea and on duty and have assurances they were not kept on the vessel longer than their contracted period, as we have seen huge mental health issues with seafarers basically kept captive on vessels for months and sometimes years,” Harrison said. “These crew members are in New Zealand waters, their work is essential for New Zealand, and in our view their rights and welfare are often overlooked.”
Berge Rishiri put into port at Napier on Monday, where police planned to board her and interview members of the crew. A spokesman for Maritime NZ told Stuff.co.nz that the incident occurred outside of the nation’s territorial seas, so its jurisdiction is limited.
Berge Rishiri is a 35,000 dwt bulker built in 2017 and flagged in the Isle of Man. She has few recorded PSC deficiencies and none related to hours of rest or crew welfare.
The new terminal has received 6 Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes and 7 rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes from ZPMC. This was the last delivery of equipment before the terminal goes live, which is expected in November 2022.
The new, fully electric equipment arrived in Abidjan on a semi-submersible vessel and is expected to significantly reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions of the facility compared to a terminal running on diesel equipment. Thanks to a total investment of 262 billion CFA Francs (approx. 400 million Euro), CIT will, once completed, be equipped with 6 STS cranes, 13 RTG cranes and 36 tractors – all electric. This is fully aligned with APM Terminals’ ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2040 and a 70% emission reduction by 2030. As the next step, the terminal is also investigating the switch to green sources of electricity to power the equipment.
Koen De Backker, Managing Director of Côte d’Ivoire Terminal, said:
“The arrival of this equipment marks an important milestone for of our second container terminal, with the progress of the development of the container fleet estimated today at 95%. Arrival and commissioning of this equipment was the last element we were waiting for before we can start the operational testing phase.”
The new terminal aims to improve logistics services in Côte d’Ivoire and the countries of the sub-region and is expected to generate 450 direct and thousands of indirect jobs. It will contribute to development of skills and to training of young Ivorians in port operations and handling of next-generation equipment.
Hien Yacouba Sié, Director General of the Port Autonome d’Abidjan, said:
“We are pleased and proud to receive the latest gantries for container handling at Côte d’Ivoire Terminal. The arrival of these handling machines marks an important step in the finalization of the construction of the 2nd container terminal of the port of Abidjan. This project renews the Ivorian government’s commitment to the development of port infrastructure in Côte d’Ivoire and the increase of trade in the sub-region.”
Ships calling at American ports in 2018 carried almost 1601 million tons of international traded goods for a total value of $ 1.762 billion, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. Because of the quantities involved, ship cargo never has a low value, even if the vessel is small and the unit price of the traded commodity modest.
A 2020 report by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) about the causes of 1801 ship accidents in Europe within the 2014-2019 timeframe indicates humans were responsible for 54% of accidents. The primary factor was noncompliance with collision prevention rules issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The U.S. National Transportation Security Board reached similar conclusions. In “Safer Seas Digest 2020,” the board examined the causes of 42 major accidents in recent years within American waters or American vessels and concluded “those who do not attend (or attend to) accident lessons most risk paying a steep price—not necessarily only a financial one.”1
Paradoxically, the increased flow of information on the bridge provided by improved monitoring technology may increase cognitive stress and lead to delayed decisions by the officers on watch. Technology itself may trigger accidents it is supposed to prevent.
In the future, by ever-increasing vessel dimensions and sea traffic to a global scale, an intelligent, autonomous ship will be able to process information flows quickly enough to react accordingly and guarantee safe delivery of valued cargoes (see Fig. 1).
Efforts to produce a fully autonomous ship of IMO degree four, in which “the operating system of the ship is able to make decisions and determine actions by itself,” are underway in Scandinavia and other neuralgic maritime areas.
The four IMO degrees of autonomy are:
Degree 1: Ship with automated processes and decision support. Seafarers are on board to operate and control shipboard systems and functions. Some operations may be automated and at times be unsupervised, but with seafarers on board ready to take control.
Degree 2: Remotely controlled ship with seafarers on board. The ship is controlled and operated from another location. Seafarers are available on board to take control and operate the shipboard systems and functions.
Degree 3: Remotely controlled ship without seafarers on board. The ship is controlled and operated from another location. There are no seafarers on board.
Degree 4: Fully autonomous ship. The operating system of the ship is able to make decisions and determine actions by itself.
Beyond radar: electro-optical ship sensors
In 2015, Rødesth and Burmeister created a modularization scheme of components for the design of autonomous vessels based on the concept of an unmanned dry bulker of approximately 50,000 tons dwt.2 IMO recommended their Formal Safety Analysis (see Fig. 2).
(Image credit: Ø. J. Rødesth and H. C. Burmeister [2])
FIGURE 2. Schematic of an autonomous ship system proposed by Rødesth and Burmeister.
Several factors limit the identification of potential collision risks by radar and automatic identification systems (AIS). Radars have a blind spot and do not register smaller wood or fiberglass craft unless they carry a reflector. They are further subject to signal clutter in traffic-intensive ports or in access waters to ports. AIS is a passive type of sensor that provides information only on targets also carrying an AIS that must be switched on (not always the case).
Rødesth and Burmeister proposed integrating information from electronics with the input of electro-optical sensors: a visual camera and a FLIR camera in the far-infrared.
The specific advantages to seafaring of each IR waveband are:
MWIR and LWIR. A bit ahead of the times, the German Navy in WWII feared the Allies could track submarines on surface at night by the IR emissions of their diesel engines. Thermal emissions of a ship cause a temperature difference with its surrounding background of sky and sea that can be readily identified in darkness by thermal sensors—no external target illumination is needed. Some masters use thermal cameras to improve night navigation. Castaways, if alive, can be identified in darkness by the temperature difference between the sea and their bodies. Small craft, sail ships, buoys, or lost containers with little or no thermal emission are hardly perceived in the midwave-infrared (MWIR), but by residual temperature difference with the waters, it can occasionally be done in the longwave-infrared (LWIR).
SWIR and NIR. Signals in shortwave-infrared (SWIR) and near-infrared (NIR) are less influenced by scatter and allow more efficient long-distance sensing in adverse weather and visibility conditions (snow, rain, fog, haze, and smoke). Smaller craft and objects with temperatures similar to the sea background are more easily detected. SWIR cameras, like those in the visible, rely on reflected light via the sun, moon, or artificial sources. Data fusion is favored by analogous imaging of the two, and some NIR sensors perform down to 500 nm with a favorable overlap that enriches images in the visible.
Almost half of recent research on algorithms for ship detection focus on IR imaging, according to a 2021 survey by Liquian Wang and colleagues of Shandong University, with 20% dealing with the combination of visible plus IR.3 Because of the reduced atmospheric absorption, the majority of the researchers (68%) use LWIR. SWIR ship detection is primarily done via satellites in space.
Multispectral sensing, with information extraction from visible, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR images, provides comprehensive target detection and discrimination the shipping community needs for autonomous vessels. An intelligent system capturing and evaluating data in different spectral bands is more error-proof. The increase of contrast leads to more sensitivity—for instance, the advantage of blending visible and IR images (see Fig. 3).
(Courtesy of Groke Technologies, Finland)
FIGURE 3. Improved night vision of port and ship with thermal blending in the visible and the IR.
The three bands IR sensor
Four distinct cameras onboard a ship are located in strategic positions, which can be a rather cumbersome solution. More input sources complicate the data fusion algorithm and the detection process, but favorable developments of IR sensor technology may help in the near future.
Quantum well photoconductors (QWIPs) and sensors based on mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe; MCT) are available and feature dual-band IR detection. But QWIPs have a low response, and the use and production of mercury cadmium photodetectors face regulatory limits and cooling requirements that currently aren’t attractive solutions on merchant vessels.
Competing with MCT, a more ecofriendly antimonide technology, T2SL, may enable more flexible solutions. Research activity based on Type-II InAs/GaSb superlattices is targeting a new generation of IR imaging instruments with multispectral response. There is a further drive to reduce the cost of systems and increase their operation temperature to be more conducive to implementation on ships.
At Northwestern University’s Center of Quantum Devices, Professor Manijeh Razeghi is pursuing development of T2SL materials with “a remarkable tuning capability from SWIR to long infrared.”4 In 2020, Razeghi presented bias-selectable, multiband photodetectors based on indium arsenide (InAs)/gallium antimonide (GaSb)/aluminum antimonide (AlSb) and InAs/InAs 1-x Sb x type‐II superlattice that features a wide spectral response in the IR at temperatures of 77 and 150 K (see Fig. 4).
(Image credit: M. Razeghi, A. Dehzangi, and J. Li, Res. Opt. (2021); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rio.2021.100054)
FIGURE 4. Bias-selectable, multiband photodetectors based on indium arsenide (InAs)/gallium antimonide (GaSb)/aluminum antimonide (AlSb) and InAs/InAs 1-x Sb x type‐II superlattice, featuring a wide spectral response in the IR at temperatures of 77 and 150 K.
The system consists of three layers grown on each other for the LWIR, MWIR, and SWIR, respectively. Activation in sequence of each absorber depends on the applied bias voltage.
IR eyes on the seas: an example
Situational awareness systems for ships are designed to support and eventually surrogate humans in the key functions of organizing object detection, identification, classification, and tracking.
Finland is a pioneer in situational awareness systems for autonomous ships. A system designed by Groke Technologies is an example of IR cameras using the sensor pack for ship detection and identification in darkness. Mitsubishi Corp. is one of the main investors in the company, and Groke has a strong presence in Japan. Groke is participating in an R&D initiative led by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., JRC Ltd., and YDK Technologies Co. Ltd. Fujitsu is expected to develop the AI segment.
The goal of this R&D project is to design a system to prevent serious maritime accidents, such as ship collisions and groundings. The project aims to meet degree one of the IMO standard of autonomous ships development.
Groke has tested two awareness systems: the AS Lite is a pilot installation working on a fare in Japan, and the AS Pro, which has been in trials since March 2021 on the Ship Polaris VG on the route from Rauma in Finland to Rostock in Germany.
Data from AIS receivers, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), and onboard inertial measurement units (IMU) are fused with those of a visible and thermal camera for measuring the position of the vessel and monitoring the sea surface.
“When we started at Groke, we evaluated the different technologies and we decided to go with the combination of daylight and thermal cameras,” says Iiro Lindborg, co-founder and VP of Groke; he is the former general manager of remote and autonomous operations at Rolls-Royce. “The unique part of this solution is the so-called ‘thermal blending,’ where we combine both visible and thermal image. We get the color from the camera in the visible and the thermal signature from thermal camera, and we join them together in our user interface.”
For data fusion, “our system uses data fusion by comparing the data from multiple sources, like AIS and camera detections,” Lindborg adds. “And then, if they are defined to be information on the same target, it is fused and only one object detection is shown. For that object, we can then provide details based on all the available sources.” The sea situation can be checked in real time on a bridge and from any location on the ship via handheld devices.
Groke had to develop its own IR sensor as well. “In the AS Pro, the 180 thermal camera is possibly the first in the world with such a field of view and performance,” says Teemu Helenius, hardware development lead at Groke. The situational awareness system developed by Groke will be installed on all company vessels owned by Tsurumi Sunmarine Co., Ltd, a chemical/clean tankers operator.
In 2018, the car ferry “Falco” of Finferry was the first vessel ever to navigate completely autonomously on a voyage from Parainen to Nauno within the Finnish archipelago. Rolls-Royce designed its situational awareness system, and Konghsbergs Maritime acquired Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine in 2019.
In 2020, the world’s merchant fleet consisted of 119,999 ships.5 Sooner or later, this expanding fleet will need some form of autonomy or at least more sophisticated sea-awareness systems. Supplying this promising market with broadband IR sensors based on antimonide technologies is the future task of the photonics industry.
(Seychelles News Agency) – Officials involved in search and rescue operations, disaster management and maritime assistance services in the Western Indian Ocean are meeting in Seychelles to produce better coordinated efforts in tackling maritime disasters.
At a four-day workshop at the Story Hotel on the main island of Mahe, participants from the Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG), Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCCA) and Disaster Risk Management Division (DRMD) are meeting the colleagues from the Comoros, France, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius and Mozambique to build a collaborative Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) maritime safety and security framework.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is providing its expertise in the “table-top exercise” which the Australian government is funding.
The table-top exercise will mainly involve practical aspects of training, “even though there will be theory, it will be mainly visits and exercises,” explained the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority (SMSA) head, Captain Joachim Valmont.
The Indian Ocean is a major transit area for international trade as half of the world’s container ships, one third of the world’s bulk cargo and two thirds of the world’s oil shipment passes through these waters annually.
Speaking to the press at the official opening of the workshop, Seychelles Coast Guards (SCG) chief, Jean Attala said the size of the Seychelles’ EEZ is one that “poses a challenge to the country”. The island state has an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 1.3 million kilometres.
“There are different types of local and foreign vessels passing through our seas, and there are times that accidents happen,” he explained.
“Gathering concrete information as to where an accident has taken place as well as the coordination of a search and rescue mission is one that is relatively hard,” he said.
Valmont further added that due to the vast EEZ, “if we are to hold a major search and rescue operation, we will need the support of countries in the region”. Furthermore, the country has very limited aircraft capacity for such operations, effectively just one plane.
The meeting in Seychelles is the first in two IORA is holding – the second will be for the Eastern Indian Ocean countries of Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives and Singapore.
Through both workshops held for the different regions of the Indian Ocean, those taking part will be able to identify ongoing mechanisms that they may later adopt to address the gaps and areas for improvement
in regional maritime safety and security arrangement.
Following very solid crowd funding and the backing of some big French corporate names, TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT) is proceeding with the construction of two sailing cargo vessels, adding to France’s leading position when it comes to the building and operation of these ships that hark back to a bygone era.
The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in late 2023, in Concarneau in northwest France, while the second will be delivered in spring 2024.
The ships are 80 m long, capable of carrying more than 1,100 tonnes of cargo equivalent to nearly 50 semi-trailers or over 100 containers, with 12 passengers onboard, two masts, and nearly 3,000 sq m of sails.
The two vessels will ship cargo on behalf of over 50 committed clients at speeds of about 10 knots.
“With TOWT, we have shipped by sail in a very practical and decarbonized way thousands of tons of goods since 2011. Sail cargo has a huge potential of drastic decarbonisation of maritime shipping,” commented TOWT CEO, Guillaume Le Grand, who said plans were already being drawn up for “dozens” more vessels based on client demand.
France has been providing global shipping with many leading wind-assisted projects in recent years with a host of shippers such as tyre manufacturer Michelin, automaker Renault and cognac maker Hennessy committing to move a portion of their products on new sail cargo ships under construction.
HAV Hydrogen, part of Norway’s HAV Group, is set to launch a deck-based containerised hydrogen energy system for ships. The solution is described as a stand-alone, scalable power supply where all support and safety systems as well as electrical power management are included.
Based on 200kW hydrogen fuel cell modules, the system can be set up with a 1,000 kW output from standard-size 20-foot containers, HAV said, noting that by using larger containers or combining several containers, larger capacity energy systems will also be available. Installed effects can be used for the main propulsion systems or for additional power supplies on board the vessel.
“The containerised, deck-based system is our response to shipowners who want a retrofit option that represents significantly lower cost and risk for vessels that have not already been prepared for a conventional retrofit installation below deck. Whereas for newbuild vessels, it can be a solution that reduces risk and complexity for a technology that is new to most shipyards,” said Kristian Osnes, managing director at HAV Hydrogen.
The Fosnavåg-based HAV Group was formed last year, when HAV Design, HAV Hydrogen, Norwegian Electric Systems and Norwegian Greentech joined forces to collaborate on forward-looking energy-efficient solutions.
The containerised H2 solution is based on HAV’s hydrogen-based energy system with a liquid hydrogen tank below deck, developed as part of the FreeCO2ast project in collaboration with Sintef Ocean and Prototech. Earlier this year, the Norwegian Maritime Authority and DNV granted preliminary approval for this system.
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In August 2021, rain fell at the Greenland ice sheet summit for the first time on record. Weather stations across Greenland captured rapid ice melt. European Space Agency
