eLearning training provider OneLearn Global has launched the ‘Entry Into Enclosed Spaces’ course in response to sobering figures that show an alarming number of fatalities in recent years.

From 2015 to 2020, 83 crew members died while working in an enclosed space, with 53% of deaths attributed to oxygen depletion and 60% of all incidents taking place in the cargo hold, according to the International Group of P&I Clubs.

A 2019 report by the International Transport Workers Federation revealed 145 casualties in enclosed spaces dating back to 1999. Of those fatalities, 28 (16 dockers and 12 seafarers) occurred in the 16 months leading up to January 2018. The causes were asphyxiation, explosions or falls involving seafarers who passed out because of poor air quality.

“A lack of training can lead to costly, potentially fatal mistakes for seafarers working in enclosed spaces,” said Nigel Cleave, Senior Advisor at OneLearn Global. “To avoid further tragedies, it’s absolutely paramount that seafarers get the right training and education before heading into confined areas with numerous hazards. Being blunt, a course like ours could be the difference between someone emerging unharmed or losing their life.”

The new OneLearn Global course outlines the preventative and protective measures crew members should take before entering enclosed spaces on board. Its 10 learning objectives help seafarers to identify the confined areas throughout a vessel, recognise the associated hazards and understand the risk assessment procedure for entering potentially dangerous spaces.

All duties and responsibilities of involved persons, space entry safety requirements and rescuing a seafarer from an enclosed space are also covered.

Learners are taken through various animated or video scenarios to explore the potential risks and procedures facing crew members and to identify the mistakes made by the fictious characters. Moreover, crew members explore the subject through captivating infographics, imagery, concise explanations and bullet points.

The bite-sized learning course is divided into seven sections, giving seafarers the freedom to choose how much they complete when logging into OneLearn’s industry leading Learning Management System.

With the launch of VNO Elite, Satcom Global is empowering service providers to deliver high performance VSAT satellite communications services, including true bandwidth on-demand, with minimal investment and flexibility.

Claimed to be an industry first, the VNO Elite solution gives partners who collaborate with Satcom Global, the chance to move away from commoditised services with rigid terms and penalties, and deliver customisable offerings that really meet the evolving needs of their customers. Service providers will be able to operate their own VSAT service with true flexibility, making changes to their customers’ bandwidth with as little as 24-hour billing increments.

To complement the extensive functionality of the VNO Elite service, Satcom Global is offering free rental of the IPSignature 4 network management box and iDirect Modem, enabling ease of adoption for every customer. Furthermore, VNO Elite is available with no commitment contracts if end-customers already have KU-band antenna onboard.

Partners will be able to access the unique communications platform offering on-demand VSAT bandwidth, and redefining the way they view, access and control their customers’ vessel and fleet satellite communications solutions to meet changing demands. With VNO Elite, service providers will have the unlimited ability to upgrade, downgrade and even suspend their end customers’ service on-demand via a dedicated and secure portal.

Ian Robinson, CEO at Satcom Global, commented, “With VNO Elite, we have redefined the way partners purchase and manage their VSAT service. Our VNO Elite partners will have the power to adapt their offering to the needs of their end customers in a more fluid way without penalties or prohibitive lengthy contracts. We are breaking down the barriers and removing the traditional restrictions offered by our competitors, to empower our trusted and specialised network of service providers to offer a high performance VSAT service with true on-demand bandwidth.”

Following a professional onboarding process, Satcom Global partners can immediately offer the high performance and flexible maritime VSAT service straight ‘out of the box’ to their customers. Furthermore, a complete API suite is available for partners which enables seamless integration of the platform with their existing customer portals.  This ‘white label’ functionality allows partners re-brand the service with their own fully customisable web portal and support platform.

The VNO Elite one-stop management portal empowers partners to take control of the on-demand bandwidth, and also provides access to a range of useful network statistics and metrics, live vessel tracking, Ku-band coverage beams, and invoicing and management information.  Unlike existing VSAT solutions available for service providers today, VNO Elite dealers will not be penalised for lowering bandwidth or suspending their service, meaning they can pass on the flexibility and cost savings to their end customers.

A number of early adopters including Scandinavian Micro Systems are already providing the new maritime VSAT solution to their customers in the yacht market.

Scandinavian Micro Systems CEO, Oddbjorn Steinsland, said, “VNO Elite has tremendously enhanced our capabilities to deliver a solution where we can manage and support our clients’ satellite internet needs. In the superyacht market, our Charter yacht clients in particular are enjoying unparalleled flexibility and freedom which they have never had before. They can increase to a 20mbps service on-demand and then turn it back down once the charter is complete.  Scandinavian Micro Systems can now offer a wide range of custom solutions designed for the client’s benefit, not the service provider’s”.

Exmar and Lattice Technology  have signed an agreement to jointly work on the development of a new type of CO₂-carrier. The joint venture allows the two companies to combine their individual expertise, Exmar as a leading player in the design, ownership and operation of innovative and efficient gas carriers and Lattice Technology in creating innovative tank designs for CO₂ transport.

With the global need to decarbonize the atmosphere and our world economy heavily relying on a secure energy supply, one of the promising fast-track solutions to cover both opportunities is Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). To achieve sustainable CCUS projects, there will be a need to transport CO₂ in an economical way and on a very large scale.

Exmar and Lattice Technology have signed a joint development agreement for the design of a 40,500 m³ CO₂ carrier, which is also suitable for LPG and Ammonia transportation. The Joint Development Company will combine Lattice’s innovative and efficient tank design for CO₂ transport together with Exmar’s strong knowledge and experience in design and operation of innovative and efficient gas carriers.

A study proved that the patented Lattice tank design, Lattice Pressure Vessel (LPV), provides the best solution for large-scale CO₂ transportation at low and medium pressures. The design and vessel size can be adjusted to meet all required transport volumes to ensure the most optimal logistical solution in the most cost-competitive way.

The initial concept is a 195m long Panamax beam vessel with a cargo capacity of 40,500 m³. Such a vessel will be tailored to support CCUS projects with capacities ranging from 2 to 10 MTPA. Additionally, a 3,000 m3 storage capacity for low CO₂ emitting fuels like LPG Ammonia or LNG has been foreseen.

The patented tank design will also provide the best storage solution for offshore CO₂ liquefaction or re-injection projects. The robust pressurised storage tanks can be made in an efficient shape fitting the ship hull and allowing for large storage capacity. An additional benefit for offshore storage is that the LPV design prevents sloshing problems even in the harshest environments.

With their experience in Floating Gas Infrastructure Solutions, Exmar will be the ideal partner for such developments. Jens Ismar, Executive Director Shipping at Exmar, said, “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. We believe the Lattice tanks provides the most flexible and economical way to accomplish this”.

Keunoh Park, CEO of Lattice Technology underscored the positive cooperation with Exmar and said,  “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”.

Sea Machines Robotics​​​​ has completed the world’s first 1,000+ nautical miles autonomous and remotely commanded journey of a commercial vessel at sea. Under the project name The Machine Odyssey, the autonomous tug Nellie Bly completed its journey in just 129 operational hours over 13 days. The program was commanded by US Coast Guard-licensed mariners remotely stationed 3,000 miles away in Boston.

“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. Remotely commanded autonomous vessels provide the marine industries with the platform necessary to be competitive in the modern world, delivering significant increases in productivity and operational safety, digitized ultra-efficiency and response speed, and will provide a new world of actionable operational data for improved planning and business practices. The Machine Odyssey signals the start of a new human-technology relationship propelling on-sea operations in the 21st century.”

The Nellie Bly employed first-of-its-kind AI-enabled, long-range computer vision and a sensor-to-propeller autonomy system, the Sea Machines SM300. Its technical features allowed for route-planning, active domain perception, dynamic obstacle, and traffic avoidance and replanning, depth sensing, and fusion of vectored nautical chart data. 96.9% of the 1,027 mile journey was accomplished under fully autonomous control and the SM300 successfully executed 31 collision-avoidance and traffic separation manoeuvres.

Using multi-sensor fusion, the system digitally perceived over 12,000 square miles of ocean space.  This successful autonomous operation demonstrates that with this technology the world’s fleets can ply the oceans in a more predictable and safer manner, while optimising the global supply chain by delivering a greatly more efficient and productive means of transportation than what exists today.

Throughout the voyage, the tug averaged a speed of 7.9 knots. Sea Machines garnered 3.8TB of essential operational data showcasing how the ships can readily connect as IOT systems into the cloud economy. The SM300 also provided the remote commanders in Boston with an active chart of the environment and live augmented overlays showing the progress of the mission, state of the vessel, situational awareness of the domain, real-time vessel-borne audio, and video from many streaming cameras.

“Autonomy is taking hold faster on the waterways than it is on roadways,” continued Johnson. “Our autonomous systems are already supporting vessel operations around the world in manned and unmanned capacities. We are rapidly retooling the marine industries with an advanced perception, self-piloting system, and connected vessel intelligence. The Machine Odyssey was a success and we believe we will soon see autonomy become commonplace.” ​