Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) has moved to retrofit its liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fuelled tugboat to run on ammonia fuel.
Yokohama-based Keihin Dock Co., part of NYK Group, will carry out the modifications on the Sakigake it built in 2015.
The vessel, which operates in Tokyo Bay for another NYK Group company, Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha Corporation, should be ready to operate on ammonia in 2024.
The initiative is part of the development of vessels equipped with a domestically produced ammonia-fueled engine, which was initiated in October 2021 by NYK and IHI Power Systems.
Earlier in July, the two companies obtained approval in principle from the Japanese class society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) for an ammonia-fueled tugboat.
“In the development process, there were various design challenges in using ammonia as fuel, but the two companies overcame these challenges without changing the size of the conventional tugboat,” NYK said.
Japanese shipowners, yards, and trading houses have been heavily involved in the development of the country’s ammonia (NH3) supply chain, including ammonia-powered deepsea ships expected to enter the market by as early as 2028. The government of Japan forecasts domestic ammonia demand of 3m tons in 2030 and 30m tons in 2050 and several owners have already contracted fellow shipbuilder Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) to build NH3 carriers alongside liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
NYK’s domestic rival, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), has also recently embarked on a project, through its harbour logistics business unit, Seagate Corporation, to roll out a new battery-powered tugboat in the first half of 2025.
LNG is the best fuel option for owners considering how to extend vessel life and secure CII compliance through retrofit, according to SEA-LNG, the multi-sector industry coalition established to demonstrate the benefits of the LNG fuel pathway for shipping decarbonisation. In a piece of analysis released today, the coalition finds significant benefits to a business choosing an LNG retrofit over fuelling with VLSFO or retrofitting an HFO vessel with scrubbers, based on a ten-year payback period.
Increasingly stringent environmental regulations will drive down the CII grades for existing ships and will have a detrimental effect on charter rates for those powered using fuel oil. The financial viability of vessels that are just a few years old will be under severe threat if significant action to reduce emissions is not taken, such as an alternative fuel retrofit.
SEA-LNG’s latest analysis looks at the investment performance of three 2-stroke propulsion options. These were evaluated to compare the most cost-effective solutions available for ship owners: a current VLCC sailing on VLSFO; a retrofitted VLCC sailing with scrubbers on HFO; a retrofitted VLCC sailing on LNG. The simple tool allows users a “Readers’ Choice” to compare fuel prices which generate the same investment returns for each possible investment decision.
“The climate emergency we face is a stock problem, and a flow problem. By choosing to retrofit their existing vessels, owners will be able to reduce GHG emissions now and over the remaining lifetime of the vessel, keeping GHGs from entering the atmosphere,” said Adi Aggarwal, General Manager at SEA-LNG. “Retrofitting vessels provides a faster and cheaper route to the lower emission fuels that are essential to reduce shipping emissions. As alternative fuels and regulations progress, it’s important that we re-evaluate previous investments. LNG retrofits now have a strong business case.”
The chart displays the IMO CII grade ratings for VLCC retrofit alternatives: HFO scrubber, VLSFO and LNG fuel.
Retrofitting vessels to use LNG fuel helps to future proof vessels, reducing costs and improving returns. For owners, modernising a ship through retrofit can be carried out more quickly than building a new vessel. New vessels typically take around two years to build. Accessing and scheduling work with a retrofit yard is often easier, as they have more capacity than newbuild yards. Retrofitting can also be arranged as part of a scheduled drydock call for a VLCC, meaning out of service time is reduced across the entire project.
Adopting LNG fuel on a VLCC improves CII ratings substantially, giving and maintaining a one to two grade improvement over alternatives throughout the remaining lifetime of the vessel. The gap in ratings between LNG and HFO scrubber or VLSFO retrofit options provides a commercial chartering financial advantage to owners who choose the LNG pathway.
LNG is a safe, mature, commercially viable marine fuel offering superior emissions performance, significant Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction benefits and a pragmatic pathway to a zero-emissions shipping industry. With drop in bio-LNG or synthetic LNG, the LNG-fuelled vessels are future proofed, enabling compliance with GHG reduction targets as the shipping industry moves towards its 2050 emissions goal.
Source: SEA-LNG
(SAN DIEGO) – General Dynamics NASSCO has received $1.4 billion in U.S. Navy contract modifications for construction of a sixth expeditionary sea base ship (ESB 8) and two additional John Lewis-class fleet oilers (T-AO 211 and 212). This award comes in addition to $600 million already received to procure long lead-time materials for the same ships.
The contract modification also provides an option for the Navy to procure an additional oiler, T-AO 213, bringing the total potential value to $2.7 billion for the four ships.
USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4)
“NASSCO is committed to working together with the Navy to deliver these much needed ships to the fleet,” said Dave Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “As partners with the Navy, we remain dedicated to ensuring the success of both of these programs to help enhance and expand the Navy’s forward presence and warfighting capabilities while providing sustained growth for our workforce.”
Construction of the four ships is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2023 and continue into 2027.
In 2011, the Navy awarded NASSCO a contract to design and build the first two ships in the newly created mobile landing platform program, USNS Montford Point and USNS John Glenn. The program evolved, adding USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3), USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), the future USS John L. Canley (ESB 6) and the future USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7), configured as ESBs.
ESB ships are highly flexible platforms designed to support multiple maritime-based missions, including air mine countermeasures, special operations forces and limited crisis response. Acting as a mobile sea base, this 784-foot ship has a 52,000-square-foot flight deck to support MH-53, MH-60, MV-22 tilt-rotor and H1 aircraft operations. The future USS John L. Canley (ESB 6) and USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7) are currently under construction.
In 2016, the Navy awarded NASSCO a contract to design and build the first six ships in the next generation of fleet oilers, the John Lewis class. Designed to transfer fuel to U.S. Navy ships operating at sea, the 742-feet vessels have a full load displacement of 49,850 tons, capacity to carry 157,000 barrels of oil and significant amounts of dry cargo, as well as providing aviation capability while traveling at speeds up to 20 knots.
The first ship, USNS John Lewis (T-AO 205), was delivered to the Navy in July 2022. USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO 206), USNS Earl Warren (T-AO 207) and USNS Robert F. Kennedy (T-AO 208) are currently under construction.
An ugly spat between two maritime trade unions in Canada has gone public.
The president of the International Longshore Workers’ Union (ILWU) Canada, Robert Ashton, recently came out with online comments in which he stated the ILWU would either push Ocean BC, which is affiliated to the Seafarers’ International Union of Canada from their waters or “kill” it. Ashton described Ocean BC as a “predator in our waters”, saying it wanted to muscle out one of the ILWU’s chapters in British Columbia.
Responding, Jim Given, the president of the SIU, said: “Fabricating information and threatening another union’s membership is something no good labour union should do, and we view it as a sign of weak leadership.”
Given said that throughout the SIU’s history, the ILWU Canada has “raided, defamed and slandered” his union.
Citing the growing supply chain delays around the world and the need for greater digitalisation, COSCO Shipping Holdings, the Chinese state-run container shipping giant, has unveiled a corporate reorganisation.
In a release to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, COSCO, which runs the world’s fourth largest liner company, said the organisational overhaul would position the company as a “global digital supply chain operation and investment platform” with a core focus on container shipping, ports and logistics.
The corporate reshuffle sees the creation of a new supply chain logistics division as well as a capital operation division.
Comparatively quiet compared to its European peers at the top of the liner leaderboard during the pandemic, sources tell Splash that COSCO is gearing up for a series of new ship orders, which will feature a raft of green technologies and close the gap with France’s CMA CGM in third place in the global carrier rankings.
27 Per cent of vessels fail to arrive within 24 hours of their published estimated time of arrival but a new analytics tool from Lloyd’s List Intelligence is expected to change this.
A current lack of accurate AIS-based data puts pressure on ports, hampers logistics and pushes up costs. Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s Predictive Fleet Analytics is the first ever ‘air traffic control’ for the commercial shipping fleet. It combines near-real-time data collected from 3000 sources, resulting in over 327 million AIS vessel positions monthly across the global fleet. Specially designed advanced analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning transform this data into accurate estimated times of arrival into port (ETA), arrival times at berth (ETB), and times of departure (ETD) for key active commercial vessels, along with current and future estimates of port congestion.
Currently, over a third (36 per cent) of Automatic Identification System (AIS) messages are missing ETA data, while another 27 per cent of vessels fail to arrive within a day of their published ETA. Even destination data is unreliable, with 63 per cent of vessels publishing one port destination but ending up at another (source: Lloyd’s List Intelligence 2020 AIS message analysis).
Destination and ETA data gaps represent one of the most severe business challenges to the supply chain – impacting the ability of businesses to work efficiently, effectively and profitably:
· Financial losses: like demurrage charges, additional waiting and handling fees and invalid pricing
· Damaged customer relationships: from delivery misjudgements, schedule changes and reassignments
· Loss of sales: from a lack of visibility, reactive service delivery which have a negative impact on customer experience
Informed by over 100 customer and stakeholder interviews across companies and government organisations, Predictive Fleet Analytics has been built in response to these widespread industry challenges.
Delivered as API data and integrated into the Seasearcher platform, Predictive Fleet Analytics helps customers gain greater certainty around estimated destination, arrival, berthing, and departure times, along with port congestion status and waiting times. This greater level of insight is key to more efficient voyages and port operations and the optimal use of vessels, fuel, port facilities and services, and the teams that operate them all, resulting in time and cost savings.
With analytics powerhouse partner SAS, a leader in AI, data mining, modelling and forecasting, Lloyd’s List Intelligence have developed this new method of calculating, predicting, and learning from vessel movements and behaviours in ways that were not possible before.
The AI and machine learning models predict destinations with an accuracy of 70 per cent, ETA to port within +/- 10 hours, and ETB to within 1-2 hours, catering for key vessel types in the commercial fleet operating to both fixed and non-fixed schedules.
“Predictive Fleet Analytics allows our customers to let decisions on scheduling and routes be driven by the best quality data, so that shipping companies can save on resources and costs,” said Parvin Conners, vice president of product and data for Lloyd’s List Intelligence. “This new level of prediction around destinations and arrivals helps ports to optimise their services and facilities and for maritime servicing businesses to run more smoothly. All of this is possible thanks to the strength of our data and analytics and how we use AI and machine learning.”
Back in April, we announced that we would be the first shipping company in the world to outfit all of its standard containers with technology for real-time data transmission. This will soon allow us to track our containers around the globe and collect data from them – to boost transparency for us and our customers.
Once the devices are permanently installed on our containers, they will be able to transmit data in real time and thereby make supply chains more transparent and efficient. For example, they will provide GPS-based location data, measure temperatures, and monitor sudden vibrations of the container. In the coming weeks, we will start to equip our container fleet with devices from the well-known TradeTech company Nexxiot AG and, as of the end of the year, as well with devices from ORBCOMM, a leading global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.
Credits: Hapag Lloyd
The mass installation of tracking devices in our depots worldwide will begin at the end of August 2022. Our Hapag-Lloyd LIVE product will become available for customers of standard containers in early 2023.Then, by end of 2023, we will be able to track our entire dry container fleet and thereby continue to advance the digitalisation of container shipping.
The new technology will offer us the advantages of being able to create visibility, detect delays earlier, automatically inform any affected customers, and initiate the appropriate countermeasures.
The quickest electrical ship of the world is prepared to set sail in Stockholm subsequent a year, slicing commuting occasions between some of the archipelagos in half.
The Candela P-12 is a “flying ferry” that has the capacity to host 30 passengers. The vessel has the ability to attain speeds of 30 knots. Even higher, the vessel is alleged to be the most energy efficient.
Candela has loved funding and aid from authorities in Sweden, with the agency collaborating with Stockholm for a nine-month passenger trial in the coming year.
The vessel boasts three carbon-fiber wings or hydrofoils, which allow it to rise out of the water when going at speeds beyond 18 knots.
As soon as airborne, the P-12 will be capable to have excessive speeds and journey lengthy distances owing to vital discounts in drag that come with flying above the water.
Candela’s technology is designed to lower energy per passenger kilometer by 95% compared to that of current vessels. The company has to say that the ship is going to be more energy efficient than even a hybrid bus. Besides, it will be able to recharge batteries in only an hour.
Candela collaborated with the Swedish National Traffic Agency, which has funded almost half of the vessel, with the firm funding the remaining half.
Credits: Candela
Slashing commuter times and environmental impacts
Stockholm is the ideal launch pad for P-12 owing to its multiple archipelagos and exclusive waterways. The City of Stockholm and Candela plan on deploying the vessel to connect the evolving suburb of Ekerö as well as the city center.
Residents of Ekerö residents have to take an almost one-hour trip via buses, subways, or conventional ferries. The Candela P-12 Shuttle is expected to cover the 15km route in about 25 minutes, saving almost 50 minutes daily.
The P-12’s flying abilities and lack of wake have permitted it to gain exemptions from Stockholm’s 12-knot river speed limit.
The near-zero wake is going to prevent wave impairment to sensitive shorelines, the environment, and other vessels, with P-12 producing less wake when at throttle than a traditional passenger vessel traveling at slow speeds.
As an added advantage, seasickness should not be an issue for P-12 passengers. Thanks to the computerized flight controller of the boat, its hydrofoils will get auto-adjusted up to 100 times every second to ensure that the ferry’s flying level is maintained.
How Stockholm aims to make maritime travel more mainstream
Maritime traffic is Stockholm’s most popular mode of public transport, but it is served by a fleet of more than 70 inefficient diesel-operated boats.
Gustav Hemming, VP of Regional Executive Board in Stockholm, responsible for sea-bound public transport, refers to the P-12 as a path breaker compared to the existing options. He mentions that the requirement is for new technology that’s more useful for commuter ferries
The City of Stockholm’s County Council is keen to help as it decided on playing a more active role in supporting and testing new public transport technologies.
Candela has to say that in Stockholm, passenger vessels have on average a 17% occupancy rate indicating that a 300-passenger vessel carries 50 people mostly.
They believe that the smaller vessels operating on more frequent schedules will be able to better serve residents than these larger ones that depart less often.
On the Stockholm-Ekerö channel, Candela proposes to replace the pair of 200-person diesel vessels with five P-12 Shuttles. Instead of two departures daily, there would be a P-12 Shuttle that sets sail every 11 minutes.
Candela predicts that the plan is likely to result in a 60% reduction in costs compared to the current vessels, even though it claims that this is a conservative estimate.
Mikael Mahlberg, Candela’s head of communications, mentions that national and local politicians have championed the assignment.
He observes the irony that waterways are the oldest infrastructure in several cities, yet they are not being used effectively now, something he strongly believes that his firm can transform.
Could other countries get ‘flying ferries’?
While the P-12 will make its debut in Stockholm, it has plans to produce hundreds of vessels each year for international distribution.
Candela says more than 600 cities, vessel operators, municipalities, and urban developers have expressed interest in the shuttle.
While converting interests to orders is the ultimate test, the P-12 may bring about a green revolution in the world of maritime commuter travel.
The P-12’s green credentials are expected to be clearer if more places follow Stockholm in powering vessels from renewable sources.
Guilford, Conn., based American Cruise Line’s latest modern riverboat, American Symphony, completed sea trials late last week and is on its way to New Orleans for an on-time start to its inaugural season on the Mississippi River.
American Cruise Lines reports that it accepted delivery of the vessel from Chesapeake Shipbuilding as scheduled. The ship is the fifth riverboat in the Line’s ground-breaking new series and the 15th small ship built by the Salisbury, Md., shipyard for American.
The 175-passenger riverboat will immediately join the company’s expanding Mississippi River fleet. It is set to depart New Orleans August 27, and American Cruise Lines plans to christen it during its inaugural cruise, on August 30 in Natchez, Miss.
“American Symphony is part of our ongoing commitment to leading the U.S. river cruise market by introducing innovative small ships every year,” said American Cruise Line’s president and CEO Charles B. Robertson. “Smaller is better on the rivers. We look forward to American Symphony’s first season on the Mississippi, as well as the introduction of sister ship American Serenade early next year.”
Accommodating 175 guests, American Symphony has five decks and offers 100% private balcony staterooms, including suites and single rooms. The new riverboat has an elegant design with a stunning use of glass, allowing for unparalleled views throughout the ship, which also showcases American’s patented opening bow and retractable gangway, as well as a top deck skywalk with an ellipse that cantilevers dramatically over the café below.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is closely monitoring countries’ response to monkeypox and whether greater restrictions are imposed on seafarers travelling for work.
It is calling on seafarers to notify their national union if they are impacted by restrictions on shore leave or getting to and from work, due to monkeypox controls.
On 23 July 2022 the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared monkeypox a global Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
ITF maritime coordinator Jacqueline Smith said: ‘I sincerely hope that this declaration does not result in any restrictions for seafarers, and you can be assured that should this be the case we will argue robustly against any such measures.’
Seafarers are encouraged to let the ITF know via affiliates how the disease is being managed in the transport sector. Nautilus members should contact their Union official.
Currently, most reported cases of monkeypox are Europe.
WHO made a series of temporary recommendations for countries dealing with outbreaks of monkeypox and those currently with no history of the disease or not having detected a case in 21 days.
People with symptoms of monkeypox should avoid any travel, with certain exemptions – including emergency medical care or ‘fleeing from life threatening situations’, until they are determined to be no longer constituting a public health risk.
WHO advises against any additional general or targeted international travel-related measures other than those recommendations specified for international travel and contact tracing.
Monkeypox is a viral ‘zoonotic disease’, clinically resembling smallpox, which is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus. The virus typically presents clinically with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications. Vaccines used during the smallpox eradication programme also provided protection against monkeypox. Newer vaccines have also been developed of which one has been approved for prevention of monkeypox.
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