Fathom, the maritime eco-efficiency specialists, have just completed the gargantuan task of updating, re-writing and refreshing their flagship publication Ship Efficiency: The Guide. This substantial update, coming two years after it’s first publication, has revealed a significant change in the fuel and emissions savings technology market in shipping in the last two years.

First published in 2011, The Guide independently profiles and critically examines the entire  maritime fuel and emissions savings sphere and each technology provider offering clean technology solutions to the market.

The new edition of The Guide is almost double the lengrth of the previous.  Catherine McMillian, Editorial Director commented:

“Despite being immersed in the minutiae of shipping’s clean technology market on a day-to-day basis, the changes seem sometimes creeping. It is at moments like this however, when we hold the proof of the final version in our hands, that we are suddenly and starkly aware of the Guide’s growth in depth and volume; and thus just how much the industry has grown in the past two years since we wrote the first edition.”

“The maritime clean technology market has developed at such a formidable rate that we have had to go back to the drawing board for each technology sector and application and completely re-write every section! We have researched, investigated, interviewed, written, edited and re-written until our brains ached and our fingertips blistered (nearly!). ”

In order to make profits healthier, ship operators must work smarter, not necessarily harder- ‘efficiency’ technolgies are vital in supporting this. Operators need to cut costs just as much as regulators want emissions to be reduced.

The new Guide clearly shows an increase in technologies that have reached commercialisation and also a significant increase in trials of both new and existing technolgoies. However technologies, such as the Mewis Duct, that have seen a great change in upake in the last two years are still in a minority.

In many ways, the clean technology sector has never been so much in demand, or so drastically needed. However, it is also a sector without a global standard, a widely recognised ‘stamp of approval’ that owners and operators can rely on as proof of efficacy; this can be perceived by owners as offering a wide open door for larger-than-life promises and significant under-deliveries.

Suspicion can reign and uptake slowed as a result; a situation perhaps not helped a great deal by some of the technology companies themselves in earlier years.

The question for technical managers is how to sort the wheat from the chaff? How on earth can they find the time to research and assess all of the possible solutions that are mushrooming into existence in this booming industry?

“We know from the hundreds of hours that we put in to each edition of The Guide just how difficult this is.” says McMillan.

Clear and simple, yet highly detailed, the Guide is a fantastic roadmap to this complex market.

It is not just Fathom’s content however, The Guide is backed by contributions from BIMCO, Andreas Chrysostomou, and Howard Fireman of ABS, who share key insights and advisory information to and from across the industry.

Fathom describe its partners with the deepest respect and admiration for their work within this expanding sector.

“Our lead sponsor, ABS, walk as well as talk. Their support of the Guide celebrates the founding of a dedicated Operational and Environmental Performance (OEP) department to develop cost effective, fuel efficient measures for owners across the vessel lifecycle.”

Fathom’s Final Thoughts

So as the champagne flows in the office, Fathom are extremely proud to share with you a short sample from the newest Ship Efficiency: The Guide.

Cheers!

Click here to see an exclusive preview sample of our latest Guide.

The complete Ship Efficiency: The Guide, 2^ndEdition, is available now with a pre-order discount. See here for details.

John T. Rynd, Chief Executive Officer and President of Hercules Offshore stated, “The sale of our Inland rigs is consistent with our on-going efforts to rationalize non-core assets.  Market challenges in this segment have been significant over the past several years, making it difficult to generate a positive return from these assets.  We do not expect these challenges to materially abate.  The sale will generate cash proceeds that can be reinvested in higher returning assets that are strategic to our growth objectives.”

A message from gCaptain sponsor, Castrol Marine

Port availability of premium 80 BN cylinder oil from Castrol Marine is widened to account for growing demand.

”We have responded to increasing demand from our customers for wider availability of our Cyltech 80 AW cylinder oil by expanding the supply network from five to 35 ports in key regions,” says David Goosey, Castrol Marine’s Chief Executive and Sales Director. “The popularity of our premium 80 BN product has grown since being made available last year via our main regional distribution hubs.”

Ports where customers will be able to book supplies will now take in major trading centres, including Antwerp, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Marseille, Hamburg, Bremen, Kiel, Singapore, Port Klang, Busan, Ulsan, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Fujairah, Dubai, Jebel Ali and Khor Fakkan.

Castrol’s recommendation that owners adopt Cyltech 80 AW was initially prompted to address the implementation of slow steaming practices by operators of large containerships fitted with large bore 2-stroke crosshead main engines. However, wider availability reflects a direct response to increasing demand for other mainstream vessel types, including bulk carriers, for an OEM-approved product proven in diverse service.

Cyltech 80 AW is formulated for lubricating the cylinders of all types of crosshead engines operating on high sulphur residual fuel, typically above 2.5%. It is also especially recommended for ships operating under slow and super slow steaming conditions when main engines operate at reduced power, often below 60% of their full load capability.

Under such conditions cylinder liner temperatures are reduced and oil residence time is substantially increased. Both factors intensify demands on the cylinder lubricant to neutralise the acids formed as a result of combustion.

Another concern when slow steaming is that considerably less lubricant is fed into the engine and, under severe conditions, the prevailing lubrication regime moves from hydrodynamic to more boundary conditions; this may result in oil film breakdown and risk of mechanical wear.

Cyltech 80 AW can prevent reduced periods between unit overhauls that can occur with lower BN products by offering:

• Enhanced protection of liners against corrosive wear and scuffing, especially under slow steaming conditions and with optimised cylinder oil feed rates
• Excellent detergency properties, resulting in cleaner piston and liner conditions than lower BN products
• High levels of thermal and oxidative stability.

Low oil feed rates can be maintained even when slow steaming, helping to control annual lubrication costs.

“We know from field experience that Cyltech 80 AW provides improved neutralisation capacity and hence better corrosion protection across the fuel sulphur range while slow steaming than a mid-BN lubricant,” says Paul Harrold, Castrol’s Marine and Energy Technology Manager.

“By selecting the right cylinder oil for the right operating conditions, customers reducing their fuel bill by slow steaming, can be confident in the knowledge they are not risking damage to their engine; and that is why we recommend Cyltech 80 AW for many customers.”

For more information relating to Castrol Marine’s products and services, visit www.castrol.com/marine

(Press Release) Marine electronics specialist MARIS AS has completed an ECDIS (electronic chart data information systems) technical training programme to enhance support services covering North America and the Caribbean. The initiative is part of its commitment to the Global Distribution & Service Agreement with IMTECH MARINE.

Engineers in IMTECH MARINE’s service network covering US and Caribbean ports have been trained and certified by MARIS to install, commission and support the MARIS ECDIS900-series. IMTECH MARINE centres in New York, Jacksonville, Miami, Houston, Long Beach, Seattle, Point Lisas (Trinidad & Tobago) and Curacao now offer enhanced expertise in MARIS ECDIS to customers calling at US East Coast, Gulf Coast, West Coast and Caribbean regional ports.

The programme, undertaken at IMTECH MARINE’s Houston facilities, certifies support staff to service all vessels operating in US and Caribbean waters. Current MARIS clients making regular regional calls include tanker majors Torm and Stolt Tankers.

“Demand for the MARIS ECDIS900 continues to surpass expectations, and today 20% of the vessels in service worldwide that are fitted with ECDIS have MARIS technology installed,” says Willy Hansen, MARIS Director Special Projects. “The enhanced set up in North America and the Caribbean brings critical technical support for long-established customers, and ensures that the growing number of new customers can call on the same call-out response excellence.

“As mandatory ECDIS is phased in, completing this training initiative is a regional milestone in our global agreement with IMTECH MARINE. Comparable ECDIS training support has been delivered in Europe via IMTECH MARINE’s facilities in Rotterdam, while MARIS Singapore office trained IMTECH MARINE engineers centred in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.”

IMTECH MARINE recently bought MARIS spares and back-up equipment to enhance availability throughout its US and Caribbean network. Through the global agreement, IMTECH MARINE recognises MARIS as a ‘preferred supplier’ and co-ordinates spares support through sea, air and truck freight.

The MARIS support service training initiative has been spearheaded by Mr Hansen, who took on the role as part of his new brief as MARIS Director Special Projects last year, having formerly acted as MARIS Sales Director. [ENDS]

“This is the largest active heave-compensated MacGregor offshore crane that has been ordered,” says Frode Grøvan, Director, Sales and Marketing for Advanced Load Handling. “At a time when subsea modules are getting larger and heavier and operations are being conducted at ever greater depths, a sophisticated crane on this scale equips the new vessel to meet the ever increasing demands of the offshore construction market.”

Sealion Shipping, a UK-based offshore support company that manages and operates offshore support vessels for Toisa, describes the MOCV as a customised version of an Ulstein Deepwater Enabler design. It says: “The DP 3 vessel is designed and equipped for worldwide operations in the oil and gas sector, ultra deepwater installation and construction, flexible lay, pipe lay, cable lay and topside construction support, and will be built to the highest standards and with maximum flexibility and capability prioritised”.

The crane delivery is planned for the beginning of 2015, with the vessel delivery following shortly afterwards in July.

MV Blida

By AdvanFort

Washington, D.C.—The revelation this week that the owner of an Algerian cargo ship whose crew was held by Somali pirates paid them $2.6 million in ransom is yet another indication that the rewards these denizens reap for their illegal, lifethreatening work remain a serious stumbling block to ending maritime organized crime, AdvanFort Company President and COO William H. Watson said.

“Those ship owners and operators who have still not hired a highly-reputable private maritime security company (PMSC) continue to risk paying what amounts to an illegal tax in support of further organized maritime extortion,” Watson noted in a statement. “It is a cost that ends up being borne by all of us.”

Watson noted that the MV Blida, carrying 17 Algerians, six Ukrainians, two Filipinos, one Jordanian and one Indonesian, was overtaken by a gang of heavily- armed pirates on its way from Oman to Tanzania, with almost all the hostages freed after a bag full of cash was dropped from a plane to the captors.

“The fact that Rear Admiral Bob Tarrant, the Operation Commander of the EU Naval Force, has just issued a warning that Somali pirates still remain determined to get out to sea and attack easy targets should be a wake-up call for those still asleep at the helm of security for their companies,” Watson added.

“Tarrant’s observation that piracy’s threat in the Gulf of Aden and elsewhere is not over, but is merely contained for now, means that the costs associated with world-wide shipping remain burdened by a transnational security threat that carries with it an unnecessary tax that unfairly buffets the maritime industry and those consumers whose life depends on the free flow of commerce.”

“The silver lining in all those clouds on the horizon is the fact that those vessels protected by first-rate PMSCs remain outside the pirates’ greedy reach,” Watson said.

Rear Admiral Tarrant’s warning was issued after the EU Naval Force warship ESPS Rayo located a skiff with six men on board that was 320 nautical miles off the Somali coast. That the small, open-top boat was so far out to sea caused the Rayo to send a team to investigate.

As a result Tarrant said that he was “very concerned that seafarers and nations will lower their guard and support for counter piracy operations in the belief that the piracy threat is over. It is not; it is merely contained. We should remember that at its height in January 2011, 32 ships were pirated by Somali pirates and 736 hostages were held. It is crucial that we remain vigilant or the number of attacks will once again rise.”

Although the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean are now protected by a coalition of world navies, in 2011 pirates staged 439 violent attacks and held hostage 802 crewmembers. Although the ransom paid by the Saudi owner of the MV Blida was $2.6 million, the average paid to pirates that year was $4.97 million.

According to a recent report, the some $170 million in ransom payments to piracy made during 2011 was a more than 50 percent increase from the total of $110 million they received in 2010. During the period 2007-2011, it noted, the ransoms paid “have increased sevenfold,” with average ransoms increasing from about $600,000 in 2007 to some $5 million in 2011.

In February 2011, $13.5 million in ransom was paid to secure the release of a supertanker, the MV Irene, which carried 2 million barrels of Kuwaiti oil, estimated to be worth $200 million and destined for the United States.

About AdvanFort

AdvanFort specializes in maritime security, training, intelligence operations, and information security, with a specialty in providing armed security personnel and fleet assets in high-risk environments.

Anyone who’s ever operated a crane at sea, or worked as a roustabout or deck crew, can attend to the fact that operating cranes in a seaway is challenging at best, or downright deadly at worst.  To help mitigate the issue of vessel motions during crane operations, Barge Master BV, a Dutch company, has installed a motion compensation system developed by Rexroth to neutralize waves and enhance the usefulness and safety of offshore cranes.

Barge Master launched the BM – 001, its first operational motion compensation platform in December to provide stability and safety to offshore crane operations.  The moving platform utilizes a drive and control system from Bosch Rexroth to neutralize the roll, pitch and heave caused by waves and considerably expands the uses for standard floating cranes.

“Right now, standard floating cranes encounter difficulty with waves cresting at 30 centimetres. Safe crane operation can no longer be guaranteed,” said Barge Master Director Jan-Paul van den Bos.

Working together with Rexroth, Barge Master developed a comprehensive solution including all the necessary drive and control components to compensate for movements in three degrees of freedom.

Special sensors deliver motion data to the system, which calculates how the platform must move to compensate for the action of the waves. Three degrees of freedom (heave, roll and pitch) are compensated by three hydraulic cylinders that attach the crane to the hull of the ship. By measuring the motions of the vessel, and controlling the motion of the actuators, the cylinders’ movements can compensate for the waves.

The remaining degrees of freedom (surge, sway and yaw) are compensated by dynamic positioning of the vessel or traditional mooring systems.

The launch of the Barge Master platform will allow for cranes weighing approximately 400 tons to operate in swells up to five times greater than allowed by current systems. “With Rexroth motion compensation we have expanded the application window for the floating cranes – handling waves of up to 150 centimetres,” van den Bos noted.

The Barge Master system is suitable for all kinds of standard marine vessels, significantly expanding the utility of standard cranes, and drastically reducing the manufacturing costs and operating expenses for offshore projects.

As the major engineering partner to the Allseas Group, Bosch Rexroth has developed and engineered the drive and control system solution for the world’s largest mobile lifting mechanism for offshore installations. The special vessel equipped with this topside lifting system (TLS), “Pieter Schelte”, can lift and transport topsides of offshore platforms with a weight of up to 48,000 tons in one piece. Allseas thus considerably lowers the costs and risks for offshore assembly and disassembly. Pieter Schelte is currently being built in South Korea and will be ready for use in early 2014.

To disassemble topsides of offshore platforms, workers used to have to manually disassemble the structure into transportable individual parts on the high seas – work that is both time consuming and hazardous. In the future, the new special vessel from the Allseas Group will completely lift the platforms from their steel “jacket” and transport them onto land, making disassembly considerably safer and more cost-effective. The prerequisite for that decisive simplification is a topside lifting system (TLS), an innovation never before seen in such dimensions. The TLS can lift 48,000 tons, which is equivalent to 80 fully-loaded das Airbus A380s. As engineering partner to the Allseas Group, Bosch Rexroth developed and engineered the drive and control system solution and the major components for the TLS.  

For Allseas Group Owner Edward Heerema, the engineering is the heart of the project: “We had to lay the foundation for all of the ship’s functions here. That’s why nothing could be forgotten: all technical requirements have to be precisely met and all possible scenarios had to be run through.”

To make that happen, Allseas brought a long-term partner on board: Bosch Rexroth. Rexroth possesses comprehensive experience in designing and realizing challenging drive and control solutions for offshore installations and maritime applications. An international team made of industry specialists and technology experts developed a TLS drive and control system, based on the principles as provided by Allseas. “No comparable system has ever been created before, making this an exciting task, even for our experienced engineers,” as Project Manager Ron van den Oetelaar explains the challenge for Bosch Rexroth.

In complex co-simulations, Rexroth reviewed the design and dimensioning of major components with a continuous focus on adhering to high safety standards. The company-owned software takes both mechanic strengths as well as specific hydraulic characteristics into consideration. In addition to engineering products and services, Rexroth also supplies the five-megawatt central hydraulic power unit as well as numerous key components and subassemblies for the TLS. The new special vessel is currently being built in a South Korean shipyard and is set to begin disassembling the first offshore platforms in early 2014.

-via Bosch Rexroth

GAO’s review of the pilot test, which was launched in 2009, aimed at assessing the technology and operational impact of using the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) with card readers. The results of the review showed that the pilot test’s results were incomplete, inaccurate, and too unreliable to inform Congress on developing a regulation about the readers.

The report cites challenges related to pilot planning, data collection, and reporting affecting the completeness, accuracy, and reliability of the results.

Specifically, pilot data collection and reporting weaknesses cited in the review included:

• Installed TWIC readers and access control systems could not collect required data, including reasons for errors, on TWIC reader use, and TSA and the independent test agent (responsible for planning, evaluating, and reporting on all test events) did not employ effective compensating data collection measures, such as manually recording reasons for errors in reading TWICs.
• TSA and the independent test agent did not record clear baseline data for comparing operational performance at access points with TWIC readers.
• TSA and the independent test agent did not collect complete data on malfunctioning TWIC cards.
• Pilot participants did not document instances of denied access.

The GAO recommended that DHS components implementing the pilot–TSA and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)–develop an evaluation plan to guide the remainder of the pilot and identify how it would compensate for areas where the TWIC reader pilot would not provide the information needed.

TSA officials said challenges, such as readers incapable of recording needed data, prevented them from collecting complete and consistent pilot data. As a result, TSA could not determine whether operational problems encountered at pilot sites were due to TWIC cards, readers, or users, or a combination of all three.

GAO recommended that Congress halt DHS’s efforts to promulgate a final regulation until the successful completion of a security assessment of the effectiveness of using TWIC.

The full report can be found HERE.

Washington, DC (Press Release) – The Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.) is proud to represent U.S. Merchant Mariners on the only U.S.-flagged and U.S. crewed cruise ship, the Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) PRIDE OF AMERICA.

Recent media coverage concerning the cruise line industry has highlighted the lack of qualified ship’s officers in this industry. However, the coverage has not addressed the skill and professionalism of the crew of the PRIDE OF AMERICA, a U.S-flagged cruise ship. This vessel and its mariners have an outstanding safety and environmental record. In fact, it isthe best in the industry; exceeding all the requirements and regulations set in place by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the International Maritime Organization.

In addition to the Pride of America, there are M.E.B.A. members serving aboard other NCL vessels that are registered in the Bahamas. These mariners also hold USCG licenses and, therefore, are trained and tested to the same high standards as all US deep-sea mariners.

Throughout the world’s oceans, they are considered to be of the highest caliber in terms of education and training.

The M.E.B.A. welcomes all opportunities to expand current job positions for our U.S. mariners in the cruise industry. We have experienced members who are ready and willing to crew these highly sophisticated vessels servicing the cruise industry. An important element in maintaining this condition of readiness is the training conducted at the Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School (CMES). Since its founding in 1966, CMES has assured that M.E.B.A. Deck and Engineering Officers are prepared with courses unique to the service requirements; including those of the cruise ship industry.

If there were more opportunities for U.S. mariners, the M.E.B.A. could help further ensure the safety of U.S. citizens, our national defense, and our economy. While other U.S. maritime unions may call for further job opportunities, the M.E.B.A. is the only organization that actually has U.S. officers who work in and can give an accurate portrayal of the state of the industry.

About the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association
The M.E.B.A., America’s oldest maritime labor union, supplies U.S. Coast Guard-licensed deck and engineering officers in both the U.S. domestic and international trades. The Union was established in 1875. Its members serve aboard containerships, tankers, cruise ships, tugs and barges, research vessels and ferries. In wartime, M.E.B.A. members have sailed in virtually unarmed merchant ships delivering critical defense cargo despite attacks from enemy aircraft,submarines and warships. In times of peace, our members still face dangers such as piracy on the high seas in order to serve their country.