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Used Ro/Ro Will Become Blue Origin’s Rocket Landing Pad

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Blue Origin, the space flight firm launched by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will follow SpaceX's lead and recover its first-stage rocket boosters on a vessel at sea. Its future landing platform will be the 2004-built, 11,000 dwt ro/ro Stena Freighter.

Historically, commercial launches departing Cape Canaveral have used disposable booster rockets. Depending upon where the payload is headed in orbit, flying the booster back to land after an eastward trip over the Atlantic is not always possible – but landing it on a vessel might be. This innovative approach allows for expensive first-stage boosters to be recovered and reused, thereby reducing the cost per launch. SpaceX has successfully landed its boosters in this manner on a converted, DP-equipped deck barge, and this is key to the firm's plans to keep down cost. 

In order to host its own at-sea landings, Blue Origin bought the ro/ro cargo vessel Stena Freighter in August. The ship arrived at the Port of Pensacola, Florida last weekend, and she is scheduled for drydock upgrades before her delivery.

Early reports indicated that the Freighter (left, courtesy Stena) would be used for the pre-launch transport of rocket components, but Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith recently confirmed to GeekWire that she will become a landing pad. Blue Origin plans to launch its first New Glenn orbital-class rocket from Cape Canaveral in 2021, giving time for shipyard conversion work.

The Verge notes that SpaceX was not the first firm to come up with the "landing-at-sea" concept. Blue Origin filed a patent for "Sea landing of space launch vehicles and associated systems" in 2010, well before SpaceX conducted its first booster recovery. However, SpaceX successfully challenged the patent claim by arguing that the idea had already been proposed by others in the past, making it unpatentable. 

Source:maritime-executive

In Djibouti, a major contract was signed then the Chinese arrived everything changed

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Under the terms of the contract, Djibouti granted DP World exclusive rights over port and free zone facilities within Djibouti, including container handling facilities

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, October 23, 2018/APO Group/ — When a major contract between DP World Limited and the Republic of Djibouti was signed, everyone seemed to be happy and satisfied with the business deal.

Both sides pledged to respect the terms of the agreement, and it seemed back then, that Djibouti, a tiny but important country located in the Horn of Africa, was trying to inject more professionalism and trust in the way it was building its infrastructure and conducting business with the world.

Under the terms of the contract, Djibouti granted DP World exclusive rights over port and free zone facilities within Djibouti, including container handling facilities.

DP World obeyed the terms of the contract, those familiar with the business deal told TODAY NEWS AFRICA in Washington DC.

The company constructed, developed, and managed a state-of-the-art container terminal at Doraleh jointly owned by DP World (33.34%) and a Djibouti state-owned entity, PDSA (66.66%). Everything seemed to be going well until the Chinese arrived in 2013.

That year, China Merchants bought 23.5% of PDSA from Djibouti, and the problems began almost instantly, especially as the Terminal proved to be a tremendous success, generating annual profits worth tens of millions of U.S. dollars.

"In violation of DP World’s exclusivity rights, Djibouti has in recent years partnered with China Merchants to construct, develop, and/or operate six new ports and free zones"

Under unclear advice, Djibouti sought to expropriate the entire Terminal for itself, including, in February 2018, by unlawfully seizing control of the Terminal and purporting to unilaterally terminate the agreements.

This led to several legal challenges and in July 2018, a tribunal at the London Court of International Arbitration ruled that Djibouti’s purported termination was unlawful and invalid.

In violation of DP World’s exclusivity rights, Djibouti has in recent years partnered with China Merchants to construct, develop, and/or operate six new ports and free zones within Djibouti.

China Merchants, despite its multiple partnerships with Djibouti and its ownership of PDSA, has taken no steps to prevent Djibouti’s unlawful seizure of the Terminal and unlawful purported termination of the agreements. 

With the illegality dragging, in August 2018, various subsidiaries of DP World sued China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited in the High Court of Hong Kong for unlawfully procuring and inducing the Republic of Djibouti to breach various agreements between Djibouti and DP World.

In the lawsuit, DP World is seeking damages, interest, and a declaration that China Merchants unlawfully procured and/or induced Djibouti’s breaches of its agreements with DP World.

A ruling is still being awaited. But the case is another example of how China’s growing influence in Africa is perverting business on the continent

New research to optimize floating renewables devices

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Research at HR Wallingford, in collaboration with the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL) in the US, has developed a toolkit which can be used to optimize the design of floating offshore renewable energy devices, by accurately simulating the response of these floating structures under realistic sea states, including extreme weather conditions.

Being able to understand and predict the behaviour of offshore floating structures, under typical or extreme environmental loads, is central to being able to assess their viability. This is particularly important in the case of offshore renewable energy where devices are intentionally placed in highly energetic marine sites

A variety of concepts for floating offshore renewable energy devices is under development around the world, and each one presents its own challenges. This is not only due to the marine environments in which the devices may be placed, where they will frequently be exposed to significant wave forces, known as hydrodynamic loads, but also due to their respective operating methods.

While floating wind turbines aim to limit the response to wave loads, wave energy converters, for example, are tuned to have a high response to the most energetic waves.

"What our new research shows is that by combining open-source numerical tools, we have the potential to simulate with accuracy the response of complex offshore floating structures to environmental loads in the marine environment,"…said Tristan de Lataillade, Visiting Researcher at HR Wallingford through the IDCORE programme.

The toolkit consists of two main components: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) using Proteus open-source software, and Multi-Body Dynamics (MBD) using the Chrono open-source solver. Both models have been thoroughly validated separately and together.

"We have put a special focus on the fully dynamic simulation of mooring cables, as they can significantly affect station‑keeping and the overall response of the device, which in turn affects its energy extraction efficiency,"…added Dr Aggelos Dimakopoulos, Senior Engineer at HR Wallingford.

The research project has been sponsored by CHL and the Engineer Research and Development Centre (ERDC) and HR Wallingford, under a joint collaboration agreement. Additional support was provided by the IDCORE doctorate programme from the Energy Technologies Institute and the Research Councils Energy Programme.

Source:safety4sea

Sembcorp Marine wins Petrojarl Varg FPSO life extension contract

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Sembcorp Marine Ltd reports that its wholly-owned subsidiary Sembcorp Marine Rigs & Floaters Pte. Ltd. has signed an agreement with Varg L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P., for engineering, procurement and construction works related to the modification, repair and life extension of the Petrojarl Varg FPSO.

Once finalized, the contract is estimated to be worth US$166 million.

Scheduled for completion in July 2020, the work scope includes detailed engineering, fabrication, installation and integration of the topside process skid; overhauling of existing internal turret and power generation; and repair and life extension of the vessel’s hull, tanks and various systems onboard.

The Petrojarl Varg FPSO will be operated by Alpha Petroleum Resources Limited for deployment at the Cheviot field development and the Peel satellite accumulation, both of which are located within the U.K. Continental Shelf Blocks 2/10B, 2/15A and 3/11B in the North Sea.

The effectiveness of the agreement remains subject to Alpha Petroleum Resources satisfying certain conditions precedent, including finalization of debt facilities and approval by authorities of its final field development plan for the Cheviot Field.

Source:marinelog

JNPT mulls acquisition of 3 ports in Maharashtra

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The largest container port JNPT is mulling to acquire three ports in Maharashtra, as it targets to more than double its profits.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is also going ahead with its efforts to develop an offshore port at Wadhawan, north of the financial capital.

Container traffic

Union Shipping and Ports Minister Nitin Gadkari told PTI that the JNPT, which handles more than half of the overall container traffic, is looking to acquire Vijaydurg, Revas and Dighi ports.

It can be noted that of the three, only Dighi is an operational port while the other two are concessions held by corporations with little or no development on the ground.

Gadkari said the Revas port, where the concession is held by Reliance Industries, is “in problem” and a solution will have to be found in co-ordination with the Maharashtra government.

The minister also said that the port is in talks to acquire Vijay Kalantri-promoted Dighi Port in Raigad district, which is facing financial trouble and has been undergoing resolution in insolvency courts.

According to reports, the Dighi Port owes over Rs 1,600 crore to a consortium of banks led by the Bank of India.

While Gadkari did not elaborate on the Vijaydurg port buy, it can be noted that the port for which concession is held by BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar promoted Jupiter Capital will act as the home port for the proposed mega refinery at Nanar, to be built by state-run oil marketing companies.

Budgetary support

Asked if JNPT will be given budgetary support for the acquisitions, Gadkari said money is not an issue and the port, located off the financial capital, has enough reserves as it makes Rs 1,400 crore profits a year.

Gadkari said there are environmental and political issues with regard to the greenfield Wadhawan port development but added that the ministry is still going ahead with it.

Meanwhile, JNPT’s acting chairman Neeraj Bansal said the port is targeting to more than double its profits to Rs 3,000 crore in the next seven years and will take it up to Rs 2,000 crore in the next three years.

Source:hellenicshippingnews

SEALNG Submits Open Comment On Draft SEIS For Puget Sound Energy LNG Facility

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SEALNG recently submitted a letter to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency in response to its draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), relating to the LNG facility at the Port of Tacoma, and LNG’s use as a maritime fuel.

The draft SEIS is an extension of the Air and Cumulative Impact sections related to greenhouse gas emissions in the “Final Environmental Impact Statement” (FEIS) issued by the City of Tacoma.

The purpose of SEALNG’s letter is to provide insight into the national and international importance of shipping, the maritime industry’s effort to reduce its environmental impact, and the role Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plays in helping to clean the air we all breathe.

Many among the general public do not realise that roughly 90 percent of global trade is transported by ships, nor that ships provide the most cost and energy efficient means of transport. Due to the scale of their carriage capacity, there is no better transport solution from an efficiency or an environmental standpoint.

The maritime industry’s efforts to further reduce the environmental impact of its operations have been led by the International Maritime Organization, an arm of the United Nations, and supported for years by the United States and the vast majority of countries around the world. The environmental benefits of LNG as a marine fuel are increasingly being recognised by the shipping industry, ports, and port communities world-wide as part of this drive for improved sustainability and reduced air quality emissions.

LNG offers the shipping industry a credible, safe, competitive, and environmentally beneficial fuel. Compared to existing alternatives and other unproven technologies, LNG provides the only currently available means to address key environmental issues today. LNG also provides major air quality benefits which are highly relevant and especially important for port communities such as Seattle and Tacoma.

As the SEIS notes, the use of LNG will “result in an overall decrease in GHG emissions in the Puget Sound Region” and “the greater the replacement with petroleum-based fuels with LNG, the greater the overall reductions in GHG emissions”. Combined with the superior air quality benefits LNG is known to deliver, the proposed action is a highly beneficial step forward for the Puget Sound region.

Source:marineinsight

Vineyard books New Bedford base

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The developers of the 800MW Vineyard Wind offshore project are leasing the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal for 18 months as the primary staging and deployment base for the wind farm off Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) constructed and operates the 12-hectare terminal, which is designed to support the assembly and deployment of offshore wind projects, as well as handle bulk, break-bulk, container and large specialty marine cargo.

It is the first port in North America specifically built to support the staging and deployment of offshore wind components.

The lease agreement is valued at $6m a year.

MassCEC chief executive Stephen Pike said: “The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal provides Massachusetts with an important piece of infrastructure that will be critical in helping the offshore wind industry to establish operations in this new American marketplace.”

“MassCEC is pleased to welcome Vineyard Wind as the first offshore wind developer to utilise this one-of-a-kind facility as we launch offshore wind in the US.”

The final acceptance of the Vineyard Wind contract is conditional upon regulatory approval by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, which is expected to be completed in early 2019.

Vineyard Wind also requires permitting approval from state and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Vineyard Wind chief executive Lars Thaaning Pedersen said: “Vineyard Wind has made the Port of New Bedford and the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal a centre piece of our proposal to build and operate an 800MW wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts because we truly understand the importance of the excellent port infrastructure and an existing supply chain that’s available right here, ready to help make offshore wind a lasting success.”

Vineyard Wind’s initial investment and the Commonwealth’s commitment to clean energy will pay enormous dividends, in particular creation of a robust, sustainable supply chain that will stimulate new jobs and economic activity here on the South Coast.

Vineyard Wind is jointly owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables.

Source:renews

Testbed created for Internet of Ships Open Platform

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On October 18, a testbed was set out for an Internet of Ships Open Platform (IoS-OP), while NYK provided an onboard IoT platform that has been developing with MTI Co., and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). NYK will use the IoS-OP to improve safety and reduce environmental loads.

The IoS-OP consortium was launched in June 2018 by ShipDC, a ship data center that aims to establish a platform to use data collected from vessel operation.

When carrying out the test by satellite for transmitted and received data between onboard data-collecting equipment and equipment onshore, many limitations exist. A testbed for IoS-OP aims to solve this.

NYK had previously worked to gather operation data from 2008, and managed to reduce fuel consumption and detect engine failure at an early stage.

What is more, NYK has also cooperated with NTT Group to develop an onboard IoT platform by adding a new system that enables the remote distribution and management of onboard applications from land offices.

NYK will now use the IoS-OP to improve safety and reduce environmental loads.

Source:safety4sea

Maersk Drilling lands one-well extension for Maersk Resolute

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Petrogas E&P Netherlands B.V. has exercised an option with Maersk Drilling to extend the current contract of jack-up rig Maersk Resolute.

The contract extension is for one well, A15 on the Dutch continental shelf, with an expected duration of 21 days. The exercised option extends Maersk Resolute’s confirmed work scope into March 2019. 

The high-efficiency jack-up Maersk Resolute, which was launched in 2008, re-started operations in the Dutch sector in June 2018, after it was originally reactivated from warm-stacking and worked in the sector from June to December 2017.

Maersk Resolute is currently on a rig-share contract between Petrogas E&P Netherlands B.V., TAQA Energy B.V. and Dana Petroleum Netherlands B.V. There are now two remaining options in the contract – one with TAQA Energy B.V. of approximately 72 days, and one with Petrogas E&P Netherlands B.V. of approximately 90 days.

Press Releases

Crowley Christens LNG ConRo El Coquí

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Crowley Maritime Corp. on Saturday christened its Commitment Class combination container/roll on-roll off (ConRo) ship El Coquí, which is among the first of its kind to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Jones Act compliant vessel is the first of two built as part of Crowley’s Commitment Class project and a key new component in the company’s supply chain transformation in the U.S. mainland-Puerto Rico trade. Sister ship Taíno is in the final phases of construction and testing at VT Halter Marine’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. and is expected to be delivered later this year.

El Coquí, which arrived in San Juan on her maiden voyage July 30, is 219.5 meters (720 feet), 26,500 deadweight tons (DWT), and able to transport up to 2,400 twenty-foot-equivalent container units (TEUs) at a cruising speed of 22 knots. The ship can accommodate containers in a wide range of sizes and types – including 53-foot by 102-inch-wide, high-capacity containers and refrigerated containers. Within the ship is an enclosed, ventilated and weather-tight Ro/Ro deck that can protectively carry cars and larger vehicles. This type of shipboard garage is offered exclusively by Crowley in the trade, enhancing supply chain solutions for customers.

A crowd of more than 350 people, including White House officials; U.S. congressional members; local officials; representatives from shipbuilder, VT Halter Marine, and Eagle LNG joined Crowley employees, vessel crew members and other industry and union representatives to celebrate the christening. Crowley Board of Directors Member Christine Crowley, spouse of Chairman and CEO Tom Crowley, served as sponsor, breaking a champagne bottle over the ship’s hull at the JAXPORT Cruise Terminal in Jacksonville, Fla.

“It’s a culmination of many, many years of hard work, many, many years of transition for this company,” said Chairman and CEO Tom Crowley, who applauded the company’s employees and partners for their success designing, constructing and operating the ship.

“It’s remarkable to see the transition. Whether it’s going from Ro/Ro to Lo/Lo, the LNG fuel, putting a car house on the back of a containership, you name it, you go through the transition of what we did to build a ship and create a supply chain that nobody else can match. And it’s here today,” continued Crowley.

Alexander B. Gray, Special Assistant to the President for the Defense Industrial Base, lauded the commitment by the company and U.S. maritime industry to lead an innovative new era of maritime and supply chain services that support economic and national security.

“El Coqui represents not just the $3 billion investment that Crowley has made in this industry in recent years, it really is the future of the maritime industry itself,” Gray said. “The vessel is powered by liquefied natural gas … it’s the cleanest fossil fuel available. It will serve as a shining example of the technological innovation that’s going to allow this industry to remain a global leader for decades to come.”

The Jones Act ships are U.S.-built, -owned and -crewed. They are part of Crowley’s $550 million investment under the Commitment Class project, modernizing its supply chain solutions serving diverse customer needs in Puerto Rico, including three new gantry cranes; a new 900-foot pier; and an enhanced terminal operating system at the Isla Grande Terminal in San Juan. In Jacksonville, Crowley partner Eagle LNG constructed an LNG bunker fuel station to fuel the new ships that is among the first of its kind, too.

“Many people may talk about amending the Jones Act or taking it away, but they’re not living on the island,” said Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón of Puerto Rico. “And they don’t need that supply on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, and have it reliable like we receive it today – and that’s the reason I support the Jones Act.”

The christening ceremony also included remarks by U.S. Reps. John Rutherford and Ted Yoho, both of Florida; and Augustin "Augie" Tellez, Executive Vice President, Seafarers International Union.

Source:marinelink

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