The State of California and the Port of Los Angeles are providing $12 million in funding to AltaSea, a nonprofit corporation, to fund the construction of a new blue economy ocean research and development centre.

Berth 58 – the site of the initial 60,000 square feet of the planned 180,000 feet of the Center of Innovation at AltaSea – will be the first fully renovated structure on AltaSea’s 35-acre campus at the Port of Los Angeles.

The centre will house ocean-focused businesses specialising in sustainable aquaculture, offshore renewable energy, and underwater robotics. Construction is expected to commence by mid-2022 and be completed in the first half of 2023.

AltaSea’s signed anchor tenants include the University of Southern California, the Southern California Marine Institute (made up of 23 universities, colleges, and institutes), Braid Theory, Holdfast Aquaculture, Montauk Technologies, and Pacific Mariculture.

Also among the tenants is the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) and the research vessel Nautilus, which docks at AltaSea. OET has plans to build a 10,000 square foot interactive research and educational centre at AltaSea.

“AltaSea’s focus on the rapid growth of the blue economy adds a new dimension to our pursuit of sustainable solutions and expands the diversity of jobs across our port ecosystem,” said Port Executive Director Gene Seroka.

“The blue economy will not only provide workers with pathways to sustain and grow their professional and personal lives, but these jobs will allow them to be a crucial part of the solution to some of the world’s most challenging issues, including climate change.”

A remotely operated harbour tug developed by Keppel Offshore & Marine has become the first such vessel in the world to receive the Remote Control Navigation Notation from class society ABS.

A trial of the 65-metre tug, controlled from a remote location at the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s Maritime Innovation Lab, was successfully performed in April 2021. The second phase of the project, scheduled for late 2021, will see the vessel perform autonomous collision avoidance tasks while under remote supervision. The Maju 510 tug is owned and operated by Keppel O&M’s joint-venture company Keppel Smit Towage.

“As the overall system integrator, Keppel O&M is able to provide technology solutions and integrate best-in-class systems to offer customisable remote and autonomous functions for vessels,” said Tan Leong Peng, Managing Director (New Builds), Keppel O&M.

“With the offshore and marine sector evolving rapidly, we are leveraging our engineering expertise and harnessing advanced technologies to stay at the forefront of the industry. In line with Keppel’s Vision 2030, we are also collaborating with the Keppel ecosystem of companies, such as M1 with its connectivity solutions, to enhance our value add.”

ABS recently published its Guide for Autonomous and Remote-Control Functions, which introduced the REMOTE-CON notation and another recognising autonomous functions. The Guide sets out a goal-based framework for the implementation of these technologies on vessels and offshore units.

The Guide’s goal-based framework also covers interactions with relevant stakeholders such as port authorities and other vessels, using a risk-based approach to determine the requirements for the assessment and implementation of autonomous and remote-control functions.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has been awarded a CyberSafety Product Design Assessment (PDA) for its DS4 Smart Platform by classification society ABS.

“We are pleased to have earned the ABS CyberSafety PDA to demonstrate the security of our DS4 Smart Platform. Digitalisation of fleet data is of benefit to owners and allows for condition-based maintenance strategies to be developed without increasing cyber security risk,” said Choi Dong Kyu, DSME Executive Vice President.

The DS4 Smart Platform collects data from equipment and systems on board a vessel for processing and visualisation to provide operational information to the ship operator. The ABS CyberSafety PDA process included a review of the system’s vulnerabilities listed in the vendor report and verification of mitigation measures undertaken during type testing.

“Increased levels of connectivity and reliance on more digitally-enabled systems introduce risks into the maritime supply chain and downstream owners,” said John McDonald, ABS Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

“Addressing risk in the supply chain allows the owner to mitigate potential negative impacts when that equipment is integrated on board vessels or offshore asset. The ABS CyberSafety PDA gives the owner installing the system confidence that the known vulnerabilities can be managed to minimise the impact on the vessel’s cyber security posture, while providing useful operational information.”

Jan De Nul Group has moved its entire fleet of 82 vessels and jack-up barges to a new connectivity set-up, rolling out VSAT from Castor Marine with Iridium L-band back-up following the agreement of a long-term contract.

The Group managed to successfully migrate 98% of the fleet within three months of signing the deal, with up to six migrations taking place per day, the companies said.

The vessels have implemented a tailored VSAT system, with quality of service specified on the VLAN level. Bandwidth can be scaled up as required, based on ad hoc demands from each vessel.

Along with the VSAT and Iridium services, Castor Marine delivered 15 new Sailor 900 VSAT antennas and Sailor 4300 Iridium Certus antennas to replace existing hardware onboard. For the newbuild offshore jack-up installation vessel Voltaire and the offshore heavy lift vessel Les Alizés, Castor Marine supplied a set of antenna systems from the recently launched Sailor 1000 XTR VSAT range, including below deck equipment.

“It is nice to work with an agile and technically advanced partner. Flexibility is very important to Jan De Nul to cater for temporary project upgrades and downgrades. Castor Marine monitors these developments and communication lines are very short. We attach great importance to mutual trust. So far, everything is going as desired with our new Ku- and L-band supplier,” said Nils Crabeel, Communication Manager at Jan De Nul Group.