TOTE Services and Philly Shipyard yesterday celebrated the cutting of steel for the third National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV), which is set for delivery to Maine Maritime Academy by the end of 2024.

The event marked another major construction milestone for the MARAD NSMV program, designed to provide a purpose-built, state-of-the-art training platform for the state maritime academies in New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Texas, and California. In addition to their training role, the five NSMVs will be available to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in times of need.

“We’ve reached a historic milestone with the cutting of steel for this ship that will be used to train future cadets at the Maine Maritime Academy,” said TOTE Services President Jeff Dixon. “We’re grateful for the widespread, bipartisan support the NSMV program has received to help make this significant investment in the U.S. maritime industry possible.”

TOTE Services is MARAD’s Vessel Construction Manager (VCM) for the NSMV program. The innovative VCM contract structure enables the government to benefit from commercial best practices to design and construct vessels that are built by union labor in a U.S. shipyard with U.S.-made steel and U.S.-made engines.

The VCM model has allowed TOTE Services and Philly Shipyard to coordinate closely to meet critical construction milestones for MARAD’s NSMV program throughout the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, economic pressures, and other challenges.

In April 2022, TOTE Services awarded Philly Shipyard a contract to construct the fifth and final NSMV, fulfilling MARAD’s vision of recapitalizing the fleet of maritime training academies throughout the country.

“Just over two years ago, we received the initial order from TOTE Services for two NSMVs which officially ended our production gap and breathed new life into our shipyard,” said Steinar Nerbovik, President and CEO, Philly Shipyard. “Today, we proudly cut steel on a vessel destined for the docks of Maine Maritime and add a third ship to the active production lines within our yard. I want to thank everyone involved with this project to date and look forward seeing the cadets welcome their new training vessel in 2024.”

“This historic day has been years in the making and – thanks to the efforts of the Maine Congressional delegation – we’re proud to now celebrate the start of construction of the State of Maine training vessel – which will help elevate our nation’s maritime interests and readiness for global humanitarian assistance,” said Maine Maritime Academy President Jerry Paul. “We look forward to welcoming this world class, state-of-the-art vessel to its future home in Castine, Maine and its place in U.S. maritime history.”

Construction of the first two vessels is well underway with contracted delivery of NSMV I to SUNY Maritime College in 2023 and NSMV II to Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 2024.

Source: https://www.marinelog.com/shipbuilding/shipyards/shipyard-news/philly-shipyard-cuts-steel-for-third-nsmv/

The Interlake Steamship Company said its new vessel, the Mark W. Barker, departed from Sturgeon Bay, Wis. shipyard Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding last week for the first stage of underway testing.

The 639-foot-long vessel is the first new Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in the U.S. in nearly four decades.

The builders trial marks the first time the ship has sailed under its own power. Personnel from Fincantieri and Interlake are on board for the trials.

“This is the beginning of a process that has several stages. It’s the pretest to the test so to speak,” said Mark W. Barker, president of The Interlake Steamship Company and the vessel’s namesake. “There are multiple stages where the vessel will depart and return to the shipyard so necessary adjustments can be made. This is a normal process to prepare for the U.S. Coast Guard sea trials and to ensure that the vessel is truly ready to go operational on the Lakes.”

Once in service, the new River-class, self-unloading bulk carrier will transport raw materials such as salt, iron ore, and stone to support manufacturing throughout the Great Lakes region.

(Photo: The Interlake Steamship Company) 

(Photo: The Interlake Steamship Company)

Source:https://www.marinelink.com/news/first-modern-usbuilt-laker-begins-sea-497975

Report has emerged, that bulk carrier KHARIS TRINITY on Jul 7 suffered deck machinery cargo collapse in Arabian sea off western coast of India off Kannur, while en route from China to Mumbai. The ship anchored off Kannur, on Jul 8 moved to Cochin, to reload and secure cargo. On Jul 10 bulk carrier left port and anchored at Cochin outer anchorage, as of 1400 UTC Jul 11 was in the same position. Understood no cargo was lost overboard, it’s damaged but not lost.

Source: https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2022/38801/korean-bulk-carrier-deck-cargo-collapse/

Cargo ship ND 3525 with 2700 tons of limestone on board sank in Van Uc river estuary, Haiphong, Gulf of Tonkin, on Jul 11. Ship’s hold or holds were flooded by big waves brought by thunderstorm. 5 crew were rescued by Vietnamese Border Guard. The ship according to photos, is resting on bottom, remaining partially above waterline.

Source: https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2022/38809/vietnamese-coaster-sunk-thunderstorm/

Designs for what could become the world’s first ammonia-fueled tugboat received class approval overcoming the unique challenges that are associated with the cruise of ammonia. The vessel is being designed as part of a broad Japanese collation focusing on green technologies and they report that their goal is to demonstrate the tug at the port of Yokohama in 2024.

The Approval in Principle (AiP) was awarded by the Japanese classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) to NYK Line and IHI Power Systems Co. NYK is responsible for the hull design and overseeing the construction and certification of the vessel in the project. IHI developed the design for a 4-stroke engine and will build the engine for the tugboat.

“By using ammonia as a fuel for ships, it will be possible to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during voyages,” points out NYK while also highlighting design challenges for using ammonia as the vessel’s fuel. “For this AiP, NYK Line and IPS attempted a design to safely and practically install ammonia fuel-related equipment in a limited space on board by developing an ammonia fuel engine, selecting equipment, and devising the equipment layout in the design.”

The companies reported that they were able to overcome unique challenges to achieve the design for A-Tug, without changing the size of a conventional tugboat. The main design issues identified by the project when using ammonia as a fuel included the necessity to combust ammonia stably and operate the engine while increasing the usage ratio of ammonia, which is flame-retardant and has low energy density.

In addition, since the combustion of ammonia generates high levels of nitrous oxide (N2O) instead of CO2, it is necessary to control the combustion to prevent the generation of nitrous oxide. In addition, capture systems are required not to discharge N20 overboard.

Finally, the vessel also needs to have a design to prevent potential leaks of ammonia which is toxic when released in large quantities into the environment. Adequate safety measures are required in the event of a leak. Safety measures based on risk assessment are necessary to ensure the same level of safety as conventional vessels.

The project to develop the designs for A-Tug began in 2020 as part of the Green Innovation Fund project with Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).  This R&D is for the development of vessels equipped with a domestically produced ammonia-fueled engine. The engine designs were adopted in October 2021 and recently the partners reached an agreement with Yokohama as the location for the first demonstration of the tug.

The Japanese government is funding broad research into ammonia-fueled vessels and the development of the necessary systems in support of the shipping and shipbuilding industries.  In addition to projects focusing on domestically-developed engines, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Mitsubishi are involved in a project to design ammonia-fueled gas carriers which they hope to launch by 2026. Efforts are also focusing on ammonia-fueled bunker vessels while Sumitomo and Oshima Shipbuilding are working on ammonia-fueled bulkers.

Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/design-approval-overcomes-challenges-for-first-ammonia-fueled-tug