The world’s first vessel, Neo Orbis, will be powered by a solid form of hydrogen — said to be much easier and safer to store than liquid or compressed forms of H2 — and is expected to get into operational trials at the Port of Amsterdam in June 2023.
The vessel — designed to sail in Amsterdam’s canals and the channel between the North Sea and the city — will be running on hydrogen produced from a salt named sodium borohydride (NaBH4).
This solid chemical is mixed with pure water and a stabilizer to produce a liquid fuel (non-combustible) with the dissolved form of NaBH4. It then reacts with a catalyst to produce hydrogen used to operate a fuel cell.
The Neo Orbis will be built by Next Generation Shipyards, a Dutch shipbuilder. It reportedly won a tender from the Port of Amsterdam and an H2Ships assignment co-funded by the EU.
The advantage of the hydrogen carrier is its high-energy density. It can be bunkered safely in several places. The vessel will pave the way for scaling up this technology for short-sea and inland shipping.
Per Galaxy FCT, a Malaysian firm that works on NaBH4 solutions, the stable solid can be stored at ambient pressures and temperatures and release 126kg of hydrogen per cubic meter — compared to 71kgH2/m3 for liquid hydrogen that needs to be stored below minus 253°C or 42kgH2/m3 for compressed hydrogen.
A long-term goal of the project is to form a closed-loop system wherein heat produced by the catalytic process can warm the Neo Orbis’ interior. At the same time, the water gets recycled, and the residual material or sodium metaborate (NaBO2) is transformed into new sodium borohydride fuel when in contact with water and any reducing agent like magnesium.
Sean Michael McDonald (39) was found guilty of two cases of manslaughter and one of endangering life in connection to a severe night-time boat crash near the Harbour House channel in the North Sound three years back.
Manuel “Manny” Brown (49) was a police officer from George Town. John Turner (70) and his business partner were aboard the Godfrey Hurricane. Both were killed in the incident. Shamilla Wright, who was on the boat, also suffered severe injuries.
Justice Cheryll Richards found that McDonald was responsible for the collision. She mentioned that he was driving too fast, not maintaining a proper lookout, and did not take evasive actions.
In a judge-alone trial she presided over in March 2022, Justice Richards gave her verdict on Tuesday and stated why she found McDonald “rash and negligent” while operating the boat to the extent that he was both responsible and guilty of manslaughter and endangering lives.
Image for representation purpose only
Even though the perpetrator’s passport has been seized, McDonald was permitted to continue on bail until sentencing, which is not expected to occur until November 2022, owing to multiple court-requested reports and the availability of attorneys.
Reading out a portion of the judgment over 100 pages, she explained how she was sure that McDonald’s was responsible for the collision. He initially denied the charges but failed to take the stand during his trial. However, his interview with police after the crash was provided as evidence, and a witness gave evidence on his behalf to refute a report on the reconstruction of the collision and other details produced by the crown’s technical specialist.
Neal observed that the Pepper Jelly reportedly struck the front of the smaller boat, mounted on it, and then hit the helm, rolling over the Godfrey Hurricane before capsizing. On being hit, reportedly, the Godfrey Hurricane moved in the water. It then smashed into a seawall. The evidence revealed that the Pepper Jelly was at throttle when the crash occurred, while the smaller boat’s throttle was placed at one-third to a half.
Crawford suggested that as there was no speed limit where the crash reportedly occurred, the speed issue was down to the captain’s judgment.
In his statement to the police, McDonald claimed he was doing no more than 20 to 25 miles per hour. However, the GPS recorded that the boat accelerated to 50mph before the collision.
McDonald admitted that driving his boat at more than 40mph gets scary, demonstrating that he was aware that this speed would present dangers to others, a point observed by Justice Richards.
McDonald had mentioned that he had observed no lights of any other ships as he approached the Harbour House Marina. He also did not see the Godfrey Hurricane until before the collision, when it was five feet away.
Whether the Godfrey Hurricane was improperly lit or otherwise formed a significant part of McDonald’s defence. CCTV footage from Harbour House Marina caught the crash on video, and even though it was impossible to see the collision completely clearly, it reflected a bright light on the Godfrey Hurricane. McDonald argued that it wasn’t necessarily visible to all on the Pepper Jelly.
Justice Richards, however, said that if McDonald maintained a “proper lookout”, as he claimed to the police, he would have been able to see the Godfrey Hurricane approaching even if the Hurricane’s lights were difficult to see.
McDonald, the owner of the firm that owns the boat, was an experienced ship captain and knew the North Sound quite well. The judge said that, given his experience and knowledge, approaching the channel at an unsafe speed at night and not keeping a proper lookout was breaching his duty of care to a criminal extent.
Bulk carrier IRVINE BAY ran aground in Napoli Port area while approaching berth, on arrival from Santana Brazil with cargo of grain, at around 1200 UTC Aug 4. She was refloated with high tide at around 0230 UTC Aug 5 with tugs assistance, and berthed. No damages, no leak reported, the ship reportedly rested on a sandy bottom.
Passenger ro-ro ship RICHARD WITH ran aground at around 0700 UTC Aug 5 north of Mongstad, Norway, while en route from Hareid to Bergen. As of 0750 UTC the ship was still aground, Norwegian SAR already responded, sending ship or ships to assist. So far, no water ingress, no leak reported.
Uncrewed offshore survey and inspection company Nauticus Robotics has reached an agreement with Shell on a program to develop and mature its systems for inspecting subsea infrastructure. Working with inspection tooling service providers, Shell and Nauticus will work on operational qualification for Nauticus’ Aquanaut and Hydronaut autonomous platforms.
Nauticus has ordered an initial production run of 18-meter uncrewed workboats (dubbed Hydronauts) which will support launch/recovery, comms, and charging for an onboard AUV system (Aquanaut). The autonomous, untethered Aquanaut is designed to perform survey, maintenance and subsea intervention work – without the cost and carbon footprint of a large crewed survey vessel. Most of this subsea work is carried out today by human-controlled Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), which are tethered and require a much larger vessel platform to launch and recover.
“Implementing our supervised autonomous method – one that has proven more robust and dynamic than most of its kind – is expected to provide our partner and future customers more than 50 percent cost savings compared to today’s methods of operation,” said Todd Newell, the SVP of Business Development for Nauticus.
Working with Shell, Nauticus will test out its uncrewed operating concept for the specialized task of subsea inspection. An initial feasibility study for the project was recently completed, and the team has moved into the operational qualification phase. This focuses on testing out the operation of the robotic Hydronaut/Aquanaut pair using supervised autonomy and tool control. Nauticus’ acoustic underwater comms technology enables tetherless operation while retaining oversight of the work.
“This project aims to fundamentally improve how we collect subsea facility data, through the combination of ‘AUV native’ tooling design, supervised autonomy, and recent improvements in remote communications,” said Ross Doak, Deepwater Robotics Engineer on Shell’s robotics team.
The robotic vessel/submersible combination is attracting multiple developers in the subsea space. Ocean Infinity’s Armada program plans for a fleet of 23 unmanned AUV carrier / survey vessels, and its first hulls are currently under construction at Vard Vung Tao. The Wilhelmsen/Kongsberg-backed Reach Subsea USV-ROV program is also comparable, though smaller in scale.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, which has already been actively pursuing wind-assisted propulsion and fluid dynamics for improved performance, will now join a joint research effort for the application of aerospace engineering technologies to improve the performance of wind-powered vessels. One of Japan’s leading shipping companies, MOL is proactively working to use technological developments to reduce GHG emissions from its vessels and achieve group-wide net zero emissions by 2050.
MOL working with MOL Tech-Trade and Akishima Laboratories is working on joint studies related to wind-powered propulsion and is developing a new ship design, ISHIN, which reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by using wind as a propulsive force. Now they will implement more advanced joint development aimed at optimizing the hull shape for wind-powered vessels, which adopts aerospace engineering technologies in the ISHIN ship design, in collaboration with Dr. Kota Fukuda, Associate Professor at the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Tokai University, Japan.
In the ISHIN ship design, the hull features a shape that reduces wind pressure from both the bow and the sides. It uses lift from diagonally opposite winds, in addition to ensuring a smooth, streamlined flow of wind to increase operating efficiency. Earlier this year, MOL ordered two 15,600 gross ton ferries that will be fueled by LNG and use the innovative hull design. MOL expects that the new ferries will reduce CO2 emissions by about 35 percent in comparison with ferries currently in service, by adopting the latest technologies.
Dr. Kota Fukuda, a noted researcher in fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, and flow simulation fields, and his group have carried out fluid dynamics research on the examination of flow phenomena around rockets and aircraft. They have also worked on the development of high-performance solar cars and solar unmanned airplanes, as well as other applications of their simulation technology. In this new project, they will expand their research field to ship engineering and ocean-going vessel development.
This new joint research project is launching as MOL also continues to push forward with its efforts to demonstrate its rigid wind sail for bulkers. The company is working with the Oshima Shipyard on the Wind Challenger, a retractable rigid sail. The shipyard recently floated out the first bulker with the Wind Challenger installed and MOL expects to start demonstrations of the vessel later this year. MOL has announced partnerships to build several bulkers outfitted with wind-assisted propulsion. The company also recently said it would study combining its rigid sails along with the installation of wind rotors on a bulker.
On Thursday, China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force launched 11 ballistic missiles into the waters around Taiwan, according to U.S. officials. No damage has been reported.
Taiwan’s ministry of defense said in a statement that the missiles landed to the northeast and southwest of the island, consistent with previously-designated exclusion zones, and posed no threat to the public. The ministry released a photo of a Patriot anti-ballistic missile battery and said that its “defense systems have been activated,” but it gave no indication that it had fired any interceptor missiles.
According to Japan’s defense ministry, five missiles landed inside the Japanese EEZ, including one that passed over the northern tip of Taiwan during its flight. Japan controls several islands just east and north of Taiwan, and its EEZ abuts the Taiwanese exclusive economic zone.
The exercises could have an impact on marine operations. The southwestern drill area is located just 15 nm from the port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s biggest and busiest seaport. Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau has promoted the use of alternate routes in and out of Kaohsiung, Taipei and Keelung to account for the exclusion zones.
Fishermen in some affected areas have decided to stay in port to avoid the risk of an accident, according to Taiwan’s CNA news agency, and are taking an economic loss for the time spent in port. Otherwise, “all ports in Taiwan are functioning as normal and the traffic movement in and out of ports is not disrupted,” reports marine insurer Gard. Substantial vessel traffic levels were visible near major ports Thursday, based on AIS tracking provided by Pole Star, though primarily made up of smaller local vessels. Anecdotal reports suggest that some shipowners are delaying schedules or rerouting vessels around Taiwan to the east, avoiding the Taiwan Strait until after the drills are over.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen called the missile tests an “irresponsible act” and called for deescalation.
“We call on Beijing to act with reason and exercise restraint. Taiwan will not escalate conflict, but we will resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security and our democracy,” she said in a statement.
Speaking to MSNBC on Thursday, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the launches were “concerning.”
“One of the things that’s troublesome about exercises like this or missile launches like this is the risk of [mis]calculation, the risk of a mistake that could actually lead to some sort of conflict,” he cautioned.
The disruption may not be over yet, as China’s military drill warning extends through Sunday.
The efforts to restart Black Sea shipping are accelerating with Turkish and UN officials confirming that they expect additional ships to depart ports in Ukraine on Friday, August 5, while the first inbound bulker has also been identified. Based on the success at handling the bulker Razoni earlier in the week, and lessons learned during the proof of concept, they are now saying they are prepared for a second multi-ship proof of concept as they prepare for a steady flow of vessels in and out of the Black Sea to Ukraine. They are reporting that a total of 58,041 tons of corn will depart Ukraine through the maritime humanitarian corridor under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar released a statement today, August 4, reporting that he had met separately with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov to discuss grain shipments and the latest situation. Minister Akar stated that they continue to work with the authorities of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the United Nations for the smooth functioning of the system.
“As a result of intensive work and coordination at the center, three ships are planned to start sailing from Ukrainian ports within the scope of grain shipment tomorrow,” announced Akar. Ukrainian officials reported yesterday that 17 vessels were loaded and preparing to depart from the three ports under the UN-brokered humanitarian corridor.
After reports that the Razoni had been cleared to proceed by the inspectors in Istanbul, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters, “We will steadfastly continue to fulfill this agreement. It is beneficial to Ukrainian farmers, it is beneficial to the Ukrainian economy, and it is beneficial to the world.”
Late today, the JCC identified the three vessels that it has approved to depart Ukraine saying, “Drawing from lessons learned during the first movement of M/V Razoni, the JCC has authorized this movement as a second ‘proof of concept’, testing multi-ship operations in the corridor including an inbound ship. In addition, the corridor has been revised to allow for more efficient passage of ships while maintaining safety.”
The ships that have been authorized to depart for Turkey are the Polarnet, a Turkish owned bulker (12,200 dwt) which President Zelenskyy visited last Friday in Chornomorsk, which will depart with 12,000 metric tonnes of corn bound for Turkey. The Rojen, a 41,500 dwt bulker registered in Malta will also depart from Chornomorsk with a cargo of 13,041 MT corn destined to the UK, while the Navistar, a 38,243 dwt bulker registered in Panama, will depart from Odesa with a cargo of 33,000 MT of corn heading to Ireland.
The next test of the system will be moving vessels into Ukraine to continue the exports once the ships trapped in the ports since February are finally able to clear the ports. On Wednesday, Minister Akar confirmed media reports that an empty ship is expected to move to Ukraine after being inspected in Istanbul.
Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian government in Odesa, initally identified the first inbound bulker as a Turkish-owned ship, the Osprey S. Registered in Liberia, the 30,500 dwt bulker is currently in the Tuzla anchorage south of Istanbul. A spokesperson for the Joint Coordination Center however reports that they would be boarding another vessel, the Fulmar S (14,415 dwt) registered in Barbados for an inspection on Friday before it proceeds to the port of Chornomorsk.
The bulker Razoni, laden with a cargo of corn from Ukraine, left the Turkish anchorage this morning. She is proceeding to Tripoli where Ukrainian officials said she is expected to start offloading early next week.
Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/three-ships-to-depart-ukraine-as-first-inbound-ship-awaits-inspection
Unionized workers aboard the decommissioned FPSO Petrojarl Foinaven have safety concerns about their last labor action. 50 workers are planning to go on strike while the Foinaven is under tow to Hunterston, Scotland, and union Unite accuses the operator of doing too little to ensure their safety during the voyage.
The workers aboard the Foinaven plan to go out on strike over the terms of their severance pay. Staff involved in the decommissioned platform’s operations will be laid off this month, and the union claims that shoreside employees of the operation are getting a much larger severance package.
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The trade union has slammed Altera, the vessel’s operator, for maintaining what it calls a ‘wall of silence’ over the safety of the 50 workers who intend to go on strike Friday. During the strike, Foinaven will be under tow from the Foinaven oil field west of the Shetland Islands to Hunterston, an industrial terminal on the Firth of Clyde. The FPSO is expected to reach the port by early next week.
Unite claims that Altera has refused to respond to safety concerns raised over the emergency services provisions for the vessel if it comes into distress or if a fire breaks out, as the workers will remain onboard while on strike. The workers include crane operators, electricians, deck crew and production technicians.
A fire incident onboard the Foinaven occurred in April, prompting the temporary evacuation of 30 nonessential staff.
“We remain deeply concerned for the safety of the crew during the tow, which is likely to involve around 50 people, for the Foinaven itself, the towing vessels and the wider environment should anything go wrong,” said Vic Fraser, Unite industrial officer.
Fraser said that Unite had asked Altera if it had been in touch with regulators and other parties involved in the tow – like Maersk, the towing provider – to make sure that all were aware of the implications of the strike.
Fionaven is owned by a Teekay subsidiary and operated by Altera on behalf of field operator BP. The oil major ended the contract for the vessel after suspending production from the Foinaven field in 2021.
The FPSO is set for decommissioning after decades of operations in the harsh environment west of Shetland. Following redelivery, Teekay will be responsible for its recycling, which will be carried out at an approved shipyard in compliance with UK regulations.
The 12-metre vessel, which had set sail from Portugal’s capital Lisbon, sent out a distress signal late on Monday evening from the Atlantic Ocean.
Spanish coastguards found the upturned boat, but the sea was too rough to rescue him – so the sailor had to wait until morning.
The man’s survival was “verging on the impossible”, said coastguard divers.
His boat sent a distress signal at 20:23 local time on Monday, 14 miles (22.5 km) from the Sisargas Islands, near Spain’s north-west Galicia region.
A rescue ship carrying five divers as well as three helicopters set off to find and rescue the man, who has not yet been named.
A diver was winched onto the ship’s hull to seek signs of life and the man responded by banging from inside.
The sea was rough and the sun had gone down, so the rescue team attached buoyancy balloons to the boat to stop it from sinking and waited until morning.
The next day, two divers swam under the boat to help the sailor out, who they found wearing a neoprene survival suit and submerged in water up to his knees.
The man then jumped into freezing water and swam under the boat towards the sea’s surface.
In a tweet, Spain’s Maritime Safety and Rescue Society said: “Each life saved is our biggest reward.”
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