World Wildlife Day gives emphasis on underwater life

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March 4, 2019

UN member states and international organizations met at the United Nations Headquarters on February 1st to celebrate the UN World Wildlife Day, which takes place every year on March 3. This year's theme was: Life below water: for people and planet.

Until today, more than 240,000 marine species have been identified in the ocean, while scientists continue to discover about 2,000 new species every year.

However, marine wildlife experiences multiple threats including:

Climate change, causing ocean acidification, warming, and deoxygenation;
5 to 12 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean every year, threatening the health of countless species;
90% of large predators have already been taken out of the ocean by overfishing, some 30% of fish stocks are overexploited, and more than 500 hypoxic areas have become 'dead zones' uninhabitable for most species.

To reverse this, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is trying to find nature-based and technology-based solutions to protect our oceans, while also leveraging new opportunities to ensure community livelihoods and a sustainable economic activity.

This year's theme 'Life below water: For People and Planet,' aims to recognize the importance of a healthy ocean to human well-being and prosperity, and commit to a sea change in how we manage responsibly its precious and priceless resources, Achim Steiner, Administrator of United Nations Development Programme, said.

Source:safety4sea

Kawasaki Heavy to Build Ship in China

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March 4, 2019

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Japanese public multinational corporation Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has completed the construction of a new dock in northeast China, as the company streamlines costs amid competition from South Korean rivals.

According to a press note from the manufacturer of ship and offshore structure, KHI started construction of the first ship at this new dock at Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS) in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, China.

DACKS is jointly operated by Kawasaki and China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited (China COSCO Shipping), and the ship being built is a 61,000 DWT bulk carrier to be delivered to China's CMB Financial Leasing Co., Ltd.

This recently completed dock has been in planning since the founding of DACKS in 2007, and it was built to enable greater growth.

The No. 2 Dock has a length of 550 meters and width of 68 meters, and it is equipped with four cranes including two 800-ton gantry cranes. With its dual-dock configuration, DACKS is now able to more efficiently build large-size merchant vessels.

Moving forward, Kawasaki will further strengthen collaborative efforts with DACKS and Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. (NACKS), two of its joint-venture companies in China, to realize combined operations entailing joint purchasing and allotment of building operations.

In these ways, Kawasaki hopes to boost the competitive strength of its merchant vessel operations at Sakaide Works and other locations group-wide while meeting demand for the construction of diverse ships from around the world.

Source:marinelink

CMA CGM initiates $1.2bn cost saving scheme

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March 4, 2019

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Despite announcing record $23.5bn revenues for last year, France’s CMA CGM on Friday revealed it is initiating a $1.2bn cost saving scheme.

CMA CGM’s 2018 results show the liner, the world’s third largest containerline, carried more than 20m teu last year for the first time. The company said its recurring EBIT margin was “considerably above” the industry average but in a bid to improve profitability a $1.2bn cost saving scheme is being launched which will centre around the optimisation of lines and brands, and by further streamlining the liner’s processes.

Source:splash247

Fleet Performance Leaders Partner for Digital Solution

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March 4, 2019

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Risk management firm DNV GL has announced an agreement with StormGeo to consolidate the two companies’ fleet performance solutions under one banner.

According to a statement, DNV GL’s ECO Insight and Navigator Insight solutions will now be combined with FleetDSS and ship reporting platforms from StormGeo, creating a new industry leader in fleet performance management.

The complete performance portfolio offered by the partners will include route advisory, navigation and planning, and fleet performance management services.

In addition to this, a combined fleet of more than 12,000 vessels will receive a daily service from StormGeo in route advisory, weather intelligence, navigation and planning or fleet performance.

Per-Olof Schroeder, CEO of StormGeo, said: “Partnering with DNV GL enables us to accelerate the development of our fleet performance management offering by pooling the competence, software, and insight of both companies."

Bringing these solutions together will give our clients even more ways to enhance the safety, efficiency, and transparency of their operations.

Finally, it builds on our vision of establishing StormGeo as the leading provider of performance management solutions to the shipping industry.

The consolidation also creates the largest vessel performance data set and developer team in shipping, providing customers with analytics to enhance operational decision-making.

DNV GL will retain a strong connection to the new solution through its 26.4% share in StormGeo, as well as continuing technical support to ECO Insight customers.

Users will also be able to share data through DNV GL’s open industry platform Veracity.

Trond Hodne, Senior Vice President at DNV GL – Maritime, commented: “Since its introduction in 2014, ECO Insight has grown into the largest performance solution in shipping, with installations on more than 2,000 vessels. In addition, already 22 industry partners connect their data and analytics to the solution."

ECO Insight has already been an outstanding success, and by combining it with StormGeo’s services we believe we can offer our customers a solution that not only gives broader functionality but taps into a richer data set.

This will give our customers new and exciting services and insights to boost their competitiveness. We look forward to seeing ECO Insight going on to further success as part of StormGeo.

DEME Offshore, SABCA Sign Drone Pact

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March 4, 2019

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Two Belgian companies – Aerospace industry supplier SABCA and DEME Offshore – have formed a partnership to use drones for inspection services in the offshore wind energy industry.

SABCA, a leading tier 1 aerospace industry supplier and DEME Offshore, a worldwide leader in solutions and services for the offshore energy market, have entered into a partnership for the development and deployment of Unmanned Vehicles to perform surveillance and inspection works in the offshore industry.

Complementing each other’s core experience and know-how, both companies are convinced that these innovative, advanced technologies have a game-changing potential to increase health and safety of their employees, lower the impact on the environment in the O&M phase of a project, and reduce the overall costs of these operations.

Moreover, in the future, it is expected that unmanned vehicles will continue to contribute significantly to lower the Levelized Cost of Energy.

“The DEME/SABCA partnership is a powerful combination, which is perfectly in line with our permanent search for strong technology partners. DEME’s understanding of marine technology and engineering expertise is uniquely complementary to SABCA’s drone developments for industrial applications in accordance with the highest safety and security aerospace standards. We believe this partnership helps to generate leading technology products and services for the offshore industry”, said Thibauld Jongen, CEO of the SABCA Group.

“We work closely with our renewable energy customers to offer reliable and cost efficient maintenance and repair solutions for their offshore assets. By adding drone services to our solutions we can provide detailed and highly accurate inspection data, while further increasing safety and reducing downtime and costs,” says Luc Vandenbulcke, CEO of DEME.

“More accurate data results in shorter response times, better availability and a higher electricity output. Also, as offshore wind turbines are getting bigger, the industry needs maintenance partners that can follow this trend. We look forward to joining forces with SABCA and to combine our know-how and experience in the offshore renewables market,” Vandenbulcke said.

Solutions needed as Arctic’s icecap is shrinking 12

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March 4, 2019

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Arctic’s icecap is shrinking 12% faster than it was a decade ago, and nearly all of its older and thicker ice is already gone. Nick Hughes, who leads the Norwegian Ice Service addressed the possibility that in 2045 all vessels might be able to sail straight over the top of the world.

When speaking at the Arctic Frontiers conference, sponsored by Bellona, Mr Hughes highlighted that when Russia tries to harness the Arctic sea passage, the shipping industry threatens to make the environment more fragile than it already is.

The challenges the Arctic environment faces today are high, as a large freight or cruise ship emit equal quantity to that spewed by one million cars in the course of an entire year.

However, the Kremiln's aim is to increase the cargo traffic that sails through the route to 80 million tons a year. For instance, the Russian Government officially has planned to construct an enormous nuclear icebreaker the Kremlin hopes will make it dominant in Arctic waterways.

In the meantime, the previous summer the Maersk line sent a container ship through the Arctic to test the warming waters, and while the world’s largest shipper isn’t adding any Arctic routes to its schedule just yet, it’s not hard to see a future when it will.

Climate change and warming in the Arctic is already causing serious problems, as the Polar Vortex.

As Bellona noted, a key solution to the climate change and its effect is reeling in the emissions produced by the global fleet, making them less damaging to the environment.

Hurtigruten, in light of its attempts to ban HFO as a potent pollutant is asking for regulations that would ban its use in the Arctic.

Therefore, the company announced that it will launch two new vessels, the MS Roald Amundsen and the MS Fridtjof Nansen that will both be powered by hybrid electric engines.

Source:safety4sea

BW Offshore moves to acquire Maromba field from Petrobras and Chevron

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March 4, 2019

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Singapore’s BW Offshore said it is contemplating to enter into agreements to acquire 100% of the Maromba field offshore Brazil from the current owners Petrobras (70%) and Chevron (30%).

The acquisition is still subject to approvals from the company’s board and The Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP).

The Maromba field, located off the Brazilian coast in the Campos Basin, has been a fringe asset of Petrobras. The Brazilian state-owned oil company and Chevron has been looking to sell their stake in the Maromba field since 2017.

BW Offshore currently operates a fleet of 15 owned FPSOs. The company executed the strategic shift initiated in 2018 by the acquisition of the majority stake in the Dussafu field offshore Gabon, representing the transformation from being a pure FPSO lease-and-operate company to a group also engaged in development of discovered oil and gas fields.

Source:splash247

Havila Shipping says almost half of its vessels are underperforming

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March 4, 2019

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Norway’s Havila Shipping says that 12 vessels in its fleet have failed performance tests, required as part of its restructuring.

Part of the restructuring agreement announced by the company in 2017 was the definition of its fleet into core and non-core vessels, where non-core vessels were sold.

For the 27 core vessels remaining in the fleet, performance tests have been carried out, and 12 vessels failed to generate an EBITDA of more than 2% of the vessel’s debt.

Havila has informed lenders and invited discussions on the matter, although it is not yet clear if the company will be forced to sell the vessels.

The vessels which failed to make the cut include the company’s entire AHTS fleet Havila Neptune, Havila Mars, Havila Mercury, Havila Jupiter and Havila Venus. Also included are PSVs Havila Aurora, Havila Borg, Havila Clipper, Havila Commander, Havila Foresight and subsea vessels Havila Harmony and Havila Subsea.

Source:splash247

MSC CIO calls for the containerisation of data communications

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March 4, 2019

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Last November Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and Ocean Network Express announced plans to establish a container shipping association to pave the way for digitalisation, standardisation and interoperability in the container shipping industry.

IT executives from the companies – among the largest liners in the world – have been discussing the creation of common information technology standards which shall be openly available and free of charge for all stakeholders of the wider container shipping industry.

MSC’s CIO Andre Simha, who’s also the association’s spokesperson, has explained why standardising data among liners is so important, in a blog post carried by MSC, the world’s second largest liner.

“It’s time for a containerisation of data communications,” Simha declared in his argument for standardisation.

Simha wrote that competing formats can lead to “friction and frustration” as information does not flow as smoothly as it could.

“In an industry with high degrees of interaction, standardisation is essential,” Simha stated.

Concluding, Simha maintained: “True change will only come when a critical mass within the industry are willing to implement changes that will benefit all.”

Simha, a 32-year veteran at MSC, told Splash last year that the idea for the new association came about from looking at other industries such as aviation and banking and questioning why liners were unable to offer similar initiatives.

The association has “genuine transformative potential” according to SeaIntelligence Consulting partner Lars Jensen, while another regular Splash writer, Kris Kosmala said the initiative was long overdue

“Carriers are finally getting serious about their existing data standards and the way they exchange that data with other participants in the maritime supply chains,” Kosmala said when interviewed last November.

Source:splash247

LNG-powered survey vessel ATAIR floated out at German Naval Yards Kiel

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March 2, 2019

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The worldwide first LNG-operated survey vessel “ATAIR“ has floated in Kiel after a building period of 16 months. The vessel was built on behalf of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH). General contractor is FASSMER shipyard. Hull and superstructure as well as parts of the outfitting were constructed at GERMAN NAVAL YARDS KIEL. The survey vessel is planned to be used for wreck search and underwater surveying, the shipbuilding firm said in its press release.

The German shipbuilder held steel-cutting and keel-laying ceremonies for ATAIR on Jan 31 and Dec 20, 2017, respectively.

The LNG-propulsion – known as the future technology in the shipping industry – is a very innovative feature on “ATAIR”. The vessel” will use Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) instead of usual Diesel, which is more climate-friendly than fuel. .

Harald Fassmer, Managing Director of FASSMER shipyard said: “The building of the vessel is very complex and large parts of outfitting works are still ahead of us.Therefore I am glad that we have reached this milestone in time. The towing of the ship to FASSMER shipyard is scheduled for middle of March, where installation and finishing works in all trades will be continued seamlessly.”

Jörg Herwig, Managing Director of GERMAN NAVAL YARDS KIEL, added: “We are very proud that GERMAN NAVAL YARDS KIEL has proven again its ability to build a complex and technically demanding vessel once more in due time and within budget. Especially if we consider the innovative side of the vessel, floating of the dock becomes a particularly emotional moment.”

Furthermore Herwig emphasizes the “extraordinary tight cooperation” with FASSMER. “We are pulling together in the same direction and this is for the benefit of the vessel’s quality.”

After successful finishing of all trials the new building is planned to be delivered to the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in spring 2020.