Offshore wind installation company Seaway 7 said Monday there had been an incident during the construction of its Alfa Lift offshore wind foundation installation vessel, currently being built in China at China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu.

“Today, we have been informed of an incident involving the folding A-frame on the main crane of Alfa Lift, currently under construction in China.  No personnel have been injured and the unplanned movement of the folding A-frame is currently being investigated,” Seaway 7 said.

“The incident is a matter between the shipyard and crane vendor, and it is too early to indicate if this will have an impact on the delivery schedule of the vessel,” said the company, created recently through a merger between Subsea 7’s subsidiary Seaway 7 and Offshore Heavy Transport (OHT). No further details were shared.

OHT, now part of Seaway 7, ordered the Alfa Lift vessel, capable of installing XXL wind turbine foundations, on speculation in 2018, and has since secured contracts to install foundations at the world’s largest wind farm – the Dogger Bank in the UK.Alfa Lift render Credit: Liebherr (File Image)

According to available information, the A-frame mentioned by Seaway 7 in the incident report has been supplied by Liebherr. Liebherr is also responsible for the delivery of the HLC 150000 main crane.

Per Liebherr’s earlier statements, the HLC 150000 crane is optimized for future wind park installations with a maximum lifting capacity of 3,000 tonnes at 30 meters and 1,000 tonnes at 76 meters outreach, and its foldable A-frame reduces the height of the crane as needed.

Before the OHT/Seaway 7 merger completion, some three weeks ago, OHT said in a social media post that the installation of the Liebherr HLC150000 crane had been completed at CMHI and the installation of the monopile cradles had started in preparation for its first project.

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The autonomous tug Nellie Bly has completed what is claimed to be the world’s first 1,000+ nautical miles autonomous and remotely commanded journey of a commercial vessel at sea.

The journey around Denmark, aptly named the Machine Odyssey, officially started September 30, when the Nellie Bly departed Cuxhaven, Germany, (near Hamburg) for Denmark.

The news of the successful journey completion was shared Thursday, by Sea Machines Robotics, a Boston-based developer of autonomous command and control systems for the maritime industry which equipped the tug with autonomous systems.

The Nellie Bly completed its journey around Denmark in 29 operational hours over 13 days, and has docked in Hamburg after 1025.6 nm.

The program was commanded by U.S. Coast Guard-licensed mariners remotely stationed 3,000 miles away in Boston, many of whom are also members of the American Maritime Officers union.

“The completion of this voyage marks the catalyst for a new era of at-sea operations,” said Michael Johnson, CEO of Sea Machines. “Over the last two millennia, it’s estimated that around one-hundred million vessels have transited these same Danish waters. Though vessels, cargos, nations and destinations have changed, the way these great ships are commanded has remained virtually constant, with humans onboard making navigational decisions, undertaking manual control actuation, and communicating person to person. Only now are we revealing a new method of operation.

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Last May, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (CGA) announced that 240 new officers made up its 140th graduating class.

The Academy’s announcement referenced additional, important highlights. Women made up 34% of the Class of 2021, and 34% of the graduates were from underrepresented minority groups. Even more focused was the statement that 22 African Americans “walked the stage,” the largest number in Academy history, and 2021 included the second highest number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

To make the ceremony even more memorable, President Biden delivered the keynote address. Indeed, in his remarks, the President noted and commended the Academy’s diverse student mix. He told the cadets, “You’re joining the service that not only serves as America’s front line, it increasingly looks like America.”

The ideal that American institutions should proportionately reflect America’s racial and ethnic diversity is not new, but President Biden’s directives have surely recharged that goal.

This article takes a closer look at minority student recruitment and graduation at the Coast Guard Academy and the state maritime academies. All of the state academies were contacted – as well as the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, in Kings Point, N.Y. – but not all responded.

This report seeks to present a big-picture look within university-level maritime education, particularly among Black students, so specifically referenced within the CG’s graduation announcement. We asked colleges: How have recent recruitment efforts changed? Are future classes trending to reflect America’s mosaic of people and races?

Importantly, state school systems will largely reflect the demographics of the state. Black Americans, for example, make up 13.4% of the U.S. population (2019 U.S. Census estimates). State and regional statistics, however, vary. In Maine, for example, Black people make up 1.7%—about 22,000 individuals— of the state’s population of 1.34 million. With diversity and inclusion, numbers are not the whole story, but still critical for a big picture.

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Freight volumes in the port of Rotterdam increased 15% on a yearly basis in the third quarter as international trade continued to recover from its COVID-19 slump, Europe’s largest sea port said on Tuesday.

Trade flows to and from Rotterdam have been almost 9% higher in the first nine months of the year, with strong growth in almost all segments, the port said.

“These figures show that the economy is continuing its upward path. Factories, businesses and logistics are operating flat out again to meet increased demand,” the port’s Chief Executive Allard Castelein said.

Strong consumer spending has pushed container freight back to pre-pandemic levels, the port said, while transport prices rose sharply.

As a consequence, the number of containers arriving in Rotterdam increased faster than the total amount of goods shipped, as transport of relatively heavy, low-value goods declined.

The economic recovery also pushed up demand for bulk goods such as iron ore, used to make steel, crude oil and oil products.

Transport of coal almost doubled in the first nine months of the year, as the supply of wind power and gas was not nearly enough to cover Europe’s increasing energy needs.

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A U.S. Navy investigation released on Wednesday found that a fire aboard a warship last year, which was caused by arson, was preventable and that a series of failures after it started led to the destruction of the ship.

More than 60 people, including about 40 sailors, were treated for minor injuries during several days of fighting flames on the 844-foot-long (257-meter) amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard, which was docked for maintenance at its home port at U.S. Naval Base San Diego.

A U.S. Navy sailor was charged earlier this year with starting a fire which eventually destroyed the ship.

But an investigation found that after the fire was started, commanders in the Navy and sailors aboard the ship were responsible for a series of failures.

“Although the fire was started by an act of arson, the ship was lost due to an inability to extinguish the fire,” the investigation report said.

The report said that the crew on the ship lacked a basic knowledge of firefighting, there was ineffective oversight by commanders and the ship did not have proper heat detection capabilities.

On the morning of the fire, the report said, 87 percent of the ship’s fire stations were in “inactive equipment maintenance status”.

“The loss of this ship was completely preventable,” Admiral William Lescher, the vice chief of naval operations, said.

The report recommended that 36 people be considered for potentially some sort of disciplinary action.

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Israeli shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has revealed that during the month of October the firm acquired seven secondhand boxships in a number of separate transactions.

As informed, the secondhand vessels are built between 2007 and 2006. Five of them have the capacity of 4,500 TEU while the last two are 1,100 TEU containerships. The total value of the contracts goes up to $320 million.

“Since going public our focus has been to allocate capital to strengthen our commercial prospects and create long-term shareholder value. With the opportunistic acquisition of these much-needed vessels, we have drawn on … our agile approach to maintain and expand our operating flee,” Eli Glickman, ZIM President & CEO, stated.

“Going forward, we will continue to complement our primary strategy of chartering-in the vast majority of our vessels, by selectively acquiring second-hand tonnage when the appropriate opportunities arise.

“Last month, the company exercised its option to long-term charter additional five 7,000 TEU liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel container vessels from Seaspan Corporation.

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ZIM splashes $320 million on seven containerships

Belgium-based shipowner Exmar has joined forces with South Korean tech company Lattice Technology to work on the development of a new type of CO2 carrier.

As informed, the two companies will combine their individual expertise, Exmar’s knowledge of the design and operation of efficient gas carriers and Lattice’s knowledge of creating innovative tank designs for CO2 transport.

A study proved that the patented Lattice’s tank design, lattice pressure vessel (LPV), provides the best solution for large-scale CO2 transportation at low and medium pressures, according to the firm. The design and vessel size can be adjusted to meet all required transport volumes to ensure the most optimal logistical solution.

Specifically, the initial concept will include a 195-meter long Panamax beam vessel with a cargo capacity of 40,500 cbm. Such a vessel will be tailored to support CCUS projects with capacities ranging from 2 to 10 MTPA.

Additionally, a 3,000 cbm storage capacity for low CO2 emitting fuels like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ammonia or liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been foreseen.

“This project provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that the LPV technology will be a key enabler in making shipping greener with lower emissions and by providing important infrastructure for transporting and dealing with CO2,” Keunoh Park, CEO of Lattice Technology, stated.

“We are very pleased and excited about this joint venture with LATTICE as we strongly believe CCUS will be a major contributor in our efforts to decarbonize the atmosphere,” Jens Ismar, Executive Director Shipping at Exmar, concluded.

Back in July this year, Exmar signed an agreement with Canadian fertilizer company Nutrien to develop and build a low-carbon, ammonia-fueled vessel to reduce maritime emissions.

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Exmar taps South Korean firm to develop new type of CO2 carrier

Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has ordered the tank design for six new LNG-fueled container ships from the French LNG containment specialist GTT.

Each LNG fuel tank for SHI will feature Mark III membrane containment technology by GTT.

The French firm says this demonstrated that its technology is as attractive for mid-size container vessels as for large ones.

In addition to the engineering services, GTT will help the operator through its first LNG-fueled projects. This includes commissioning of the LNG tank, first LNG bunkering operations, as well as further specific LNG operations and maintenance of the vessels.

Moreover, GTT will provide LNG training for the crews, supported by its proprietary G-Sim training simulator. The simulator replicates the future LNG operations of the vessels. GTT will also offer its HEARS emergency response service with 24/7 technical assistance.

In addition, GTT will fit these six vessels with its GTT Digital platform; a “smart shipping” solution to monitor and optimize the operational performance of the vessels. It also further reduces their energy consumption and environmental footprint.

The new LNG-fueled ships will be ready for delivery between the third quarter of 2023 and the fourth quarter of 2024

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Samsung Heavy picks GTT tank design for 6 new LNG-fueled container ships

Dutch marine transportation service provider Future Proof Shipping has recently acquired two more container vessels to retrofit them with zero-emissions hydrogen propulsion system.

Therefore,  FPS Rijn and FPS Waal will join FPS Maas on the same journey to become zero-emissions vessels.

Previously, FPS replaced the existing internal combustion engines with hydrogen fuel cell technology on its vessel Maas. The retrofit process also included removing both the main engine and gearbox and installing a new modular propulsion system.

This will be used as a reference for other similar inland container vessels, the company said.

The 110-metre vessel recently received a recommendation from Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR) to use hydrogen.

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Future Proof Shipping to retrofit two more vessels to run on hydrogen