Marine & Maritime Gazette April 2017

MARINE & MARITIME

GAZETTE Commercial Marine & Renewables Worldwide

ISSUE 26

APRIL 2017

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A very warm welcome to the beginning of the busy season across the marine marketplace...

Welcome to the April 2017 issue of Marine & Maritime Gazette the monthly magazine aimed at Worldwide coverage of the commercial marine, shipping and water-based renewables markets.

In a month that sees many of us en-route to Southampton to visit Ocean Business,we look at a variety of topics affecting our everchanging marketplace including the news, views, trends and products that are affecting all of us.

In this issue, once again, we are covering a huge variety of topics, from ‘Power, Propulsion & Transmission’ starting on page 18 to ‘Dredging’ on page 26 and an extensive piece on Underwater, Subsea & Diving from page 34.

Moving on to page 14 you can find news from Damen Shipyards about the eight Interceptor 1102 vessels on their way to Panama, for use by their National Air & Naval Service.

Commercial Ma On page 16, you can read Ieuan Jones of rine & Renewabl es Worldwide Ashfords LLP, on ‘Cutting carbon emissions in shipping - The IMO and the EU in competing positions’.

Anyway, happy reading and if you have any news, reviews, product launches or anything else of interest across the whole marine market, please email it through to me at info@bljournals.plus.com for consideration in one of our forthcoming issues.

MARINE & MARITIME

GAZETTE

ISSUE 26

Arthur Peaches - Editor

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APRIL 2017

INSIDE: 11

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Cover story UK based Teignbridge Propellers to work with Energy Technologies Institute.

p18 Penguin WEC Wello Oy’s wave energy converter successfully installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, UK

p7 Aggregate dredgers Hanson invests heavily in two new 3,000m3 capacity suction hopper dredgers.

p30 Hi-tech submersible Unique new submersible vessel combining high speed on surface with an ability to submerge.

p36

EDITORIAL Arthur Peaches - Editor Tel 01322 352648 Email info@bljournals.plus.com

SALES & PROMOTIONS David Peters - Publisher Tel 01322 352648 Email info@bljournals.plus.com

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Bureau Veritas acquires Maritime Assurance & Consulting

The classification society, Bureau Veritas (BV), has acquired the company, Maritime Assurance & Consulting (MAC). Based in Aberdeen, MAC was established in 2010 and has 30 employees and 40 associates.

The transaction is in line with BV’s recent developments in the North Sea offshore sector, where it has reaffirmed its ambition to strengthen its local presence and increase its service provision capabilities for clients in spite of challenging market conditions.

MAC’s capabilities will be a great enabler to further develop Maritime Assurance services for BV clients worldwide, in particular in the offshore sector. Commenting on the acquisition, Paul Shrieve, BV Regional CEO North Sea Offshore Operations, said: “We are delighted to welcome the MAC team to the BV family. The team has very quickly established the company as a leading provider in the North Sea and beyond, and this acquisition supports our strategy of strengthening our North Sea presence and extending our scope of services’’ MAC’s principal market is in offshore oil and gas, in which it holds a number of significant frame agreements with leading operators and service providers. For more than 90 clients worldwide, MAC provides high quality support in Dynamic Positioning Assurance and Consulting, Engineering Assurance and Consulting, Marine Warranty, Marine Assurance and Consulting and Project Assurance and Consulting.

MAC will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary continuing to provide the continued level of service expected with the existing management team very much continuing in place.

Graeme Reid, MAC Managing Director, added: ‘‘Joining BV, MAC can quickly accelerate its growth through the global footprint of BV, supported by the resources to access this network. This provides growth opportunities for MAC and development opportunities for our employees.’’

Brian Wakefield - Advertisement Director Tel 01622 682667 Mob 07973 139959 Email brian_wakefield2003@yahoo.co.uk

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Although every effort is made assure the accuracy of the content of this magazine, Marine & Maritime Gazette and it’s Publishers can accept no responsibility for such.

All contents of the publication are copyright and remain the sole property of the publishing company.

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Damen ASD for Foyle Port

Damen Shipyards Group has delivered an ASD 2310 Tug to Foyle Port. The official handover of the new vessel – named Strathfoyle – took place at a short ceremony attended by the port’s staff, clients and stakeholders. Taking the position as most powerful tug at the port, the Strathfoyle marks a commitment to ongoing safe and efficient harbour assistance operations at Foyle Port.

Foyle Port is in the North West of Ireland. Located at the south-west end of Lough Foyle, the port’s primary cargos are bulk goods arriving at the Lisahally Terminal and oil products that call at the LSS Oil Terminal. Furthermore, Foyle Port serves as a destination for cruise vessel passengers.

Strathfoyle expands on Damen’s standard ASD 2310 design in certain key aspects. She has been equipped with an aft winch, to give her the potential to conduct salvage work outside the sheltered confines of Lough Foyle, and an additional deck crane to widen the scope of harbour duties that she can perform.

According to Captain Bill McCann, Harbour Master and Operations Director at Foyle Port, the new tug provides the port with increased flexibility in numerous ways: “With the oil terminal and the increasing numbers and size of bulk carriers at the port, we really need the extra bollard pull and manoeuvrability.

“As we are also expanding our Marine Services division, we installed a deck crane for even more all-round capability.

In this respect, she is more than a tug, she is a workboat too - a jack of all trades. Although the tugs main function is harbour towage the extra equipment also gives us possibilities to charter her out for coastal towage or harbour towage operations at other ports.”

Damen received the order for the new tug in December 2015 after a public tender process. Construction took place at Damen Shipyards Changde, with the Strathfoyle being delivered in the last week of 2016, considerably ahead of schedule.

“We have been operating the tug for six weeks; she is now 100% operational,” continues Captain McCann. “The feedback from the captains is excellent: they are very impressed. The pilots are also very pleased with her.”

While the Strathfoyle is small enough to be classified within the UK Workboat Code, she is still capable of a significant bollard pull, says Arjen van Elk, Damen Sales Manager. “She is a powerful vessel - packing almost 50 tonnes of bollard pull. This power combined with a compact design makes an ideal choice for ports of this size.”

The Strathfoyle joins a fleet of two other harbour tugs, one of which is the Damen-built Otterbank, a Stan Tug 1605 that was built and delivered in back in 1996.

“The Otterbank has proved to be a very reliable asset for the port. We are glad to hear that they are very happy with her,” Mr Van Elk goes on to say. “And now it has been really nice to work with this client again and continue our good relationship with the Strathfoyle.” www.damen.com

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$1 trillion USD for Iranian ports

According to the country’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) representatives of the Iranian Government have signed investment contracts with private entities worth USD 1 trillion to develop Iranian ports.

The contracts include investments of USD 10 billion in Mazandaran Province, USD 20 billion in Khorramshahr Port, USD 100 billion in Gilan Province, USD 70 billion in Amirabad Port

Cavotec MoorMaster for Port of Helsinki

Amirabad Port and USD 130 billion in Bushehr Province.

Moreover, some USD 45 billion will be invested in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, USD 210 billion in Khuzestan Province, and USD 350 billion in A state-of-the-art automated docking system has been installed in the new West Mazandaran Province, according to Terminal 2 at Helsinki, Finland and it will be used to speed up the berthing of the PMO. a new ferry.

The private investments are related to The MoorMaster system was developed in New Zealand and uses vacuum the construction of warehouses, storage

pads to hold the ship in its berth, removing the need to attach mooring ropes for berthing stops.

In addition to the installation of the MoorMaster system a new terminal building has been erected and the facilities at this passenger terminal upgraded in anticipation of the increased traffic resulting from the introduction of a new ferry on the route between Tallin and Helsinki. The new ferry, Megastar started operating on this route recently.

MoorMaster has become popular in those ports where vessels dock at the same pier several times a day and is popular with, but not limited to ferry operations. The Megastar will be arriving and departing six times a day, so the €2.5 million investment in this equipment is justified.

As the ship arrives in Helsinki, the captain will start the MoorMaster system from his control panel on board. Then, the MoorMaster units at the pier will complete independent test runs and send a message to the ship that they are ready to use. The MoorMaster units at the pier recognise the arriving ship and switch on their customised settings and the captain will moor the vessel to the berth giving the command to the MoorMaster units to attach to the side of the ship.

In the case of the Megastar, all six MoorMaster units will be attached to the side of the ship with each having a holding power of 400kN. The vacuum keeps the vessel attached to the pier, and there is no need to use ropes. If the ship is not in the exact position the MoorMaster can move it about 0.6m along the pier for the final adjustment.

“Docking the ship to the pier will be about 5 minutes faster compared to a traditional rope system,” said Antti Pulkinen, the Harbour Master. “This allows the engines to be turned off earlier and started later while at the port. This saves fuel, which reduces costs as well as environmental stress. On a yearly basis, the savings are considerable. The Megastar will only spend an hour at a time at the port, so the five minutes saved help a lot to stick to the planned schedules.”

“At the port it is also a matter of work safety. When the docking mostly happens automatically, I expect the number of work accidents related to rope handling to decrease,” Pulkkinen estimated.

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Khorramshahr Port

facilities and port equipment as well as development and capacity promotion of ports.

Following the lifting of economic sanctions, Iran launched a 2025 strategic economic plan aimed at doubling its USD 415 billion economy.

To achieve this mission in the next decade, the Iranian Government has to ease the current climate of economic recession, reduce unemployment and become the largest exporter and the largest economy in the region.

“Iran has to diversify from its dependence on oil & gas, enhance manufacturing in non-oil sectors, develop a knowledge-based sustainable economy, and attract investments to the tune of USD 1.5 trillion,” business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan commented.

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Floating

windfarm

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The floating demonstration wind farm designed by Swedish firm Hexicon, has now been granted planning consent by Scottish Government Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse.

The two turbine Dounreay Trì Floating Wind Demonstration Project will be located approximately six km off the Caithness coastline. It gets its name from the three float layout it uses to feather its two turbines into the eye of the wind.

The decision comes after the recent approval of the Kincardine Floating Offshore Wind farm and last year’s consent of the Hywind Scotland Pilot, which means Scotland has now agreed planning permission for up to 92MW of floating offshore wind, placing the country as a world centre for this innovative technology.

Mr Wheelhouse said: “Once operational, this demonstrator project will help to develop this pioneering technology and cement Scotland’s reputation at the forefront of innovation in the renewables sector. With the consent for this project, the Scottish Government has now approved a total of 92MW of floating offshore wind, enough to power almost 60,000 homes. This not only highlights our commitment to exploring this innovative technology, but offers real scope for the development of wind energy projects in deeper water, in Scotland and across the world.

“In addition, the 12 MW project will produce enough electricity to power almost 8,000 homes and will create jobs and investment across Scotland through the use of Scotland’s supply chain.

“The Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting low carbon energy is outlined in our draft Energy Strategy which sets out next steps and how we will continue to transition to a low carbon economy, with the offshore wind sector – developed with due regard to our natural environment - playing an increasingly influential role.”

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Green Marine installs Penguin WEC in Orkney Wello Oy’s wave energy converter (WEC) has been successfully installed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney as part of the CEFOW (Clean Energy from Ocean Waves) project.

This marks a welcome return to Orkney, with Wello having first tested at EMEC’s Billia Croo site in 2012. The installation was carried out by Green Marine, an Orkney based marine services provider.

Jason Schofield, managing director of Green Marine, oversaw the operations: “The successful installation of the Penguin at EMEC this weekend was due to careful planning and a close working relationship between Green Marine and Wello Oy,” he commented.

“The fantastic operational planning by the Green Marine team, utilising the weather windows at this time of year, allowed for a seamless operation.”

Funded by the European Commission’s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020, CEFOW is a five-year project led by Fortum to develop and prove Wello’s Penguin in real-sea conditions.

Mikko Muoniovaara, senior project manager at Fortum, added: “Deploying the Penguin in winter is an important milestone for us, providing valuable learning for both Fortum and Wello. Cost efficiency of operations and maintenance plays an important role in any renewables and Green Marine's achievement shows that these operations can be done safely outside the summer season if needed.”

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Software solves ‘bending’ problems A few decades ago, manufacturers did most of their own tube bending, relying on inhouse expertise. As bending knowledge spread and entrepreneurial sorts struck out on their own, jobs shops specializing in tube fabrication started to spring up more and more.

The shift from OEMs to fabrication shops continues to this day.

This arrangement frees OEMs to do what they do best - designing and assembling their products - and allows fabricators to concentrate on refining and expanding the knowledge of their specialty. The downside is that, as time goes on, tube and pipe bending knowledge gets further concentrated among specialty job shops and becomes increasingly rare among OEMs. The result is a tendency for design engineers at OEMs to develop components and assemblies that cannot be manufactured, at least not economically.

Desktop computers, tablets, smartphones, and the Internet, all of which assist in the spreading of information, haven’t helped to spread bending knowledge. In fact, one technology has actually made this problem much worse: Software. Specifically, computeraided design (CAD) software. For all the good this software has done, it has been the unwitting culprit in making many fabricators’ lives difficult.

CAD allows engineers to work up perfect designs. Common but unreasonable specifications include too-precise bend angles, end point locations with extraordinarily tight tolerances, and zero ovality in the bend zone. Most newly minted engineers would be surprised to learn that straight tube often has a bit of bow to it, round tube has a bit of ovality, and the wall thickness varies. As the saying goes, “Round tube isn’t round, and the hole isn’t in the middle.” Imperfect inputs lead to imperfect outputs, and this is what fabricators deal with every day.

Unaware that tube normally has dimensional shortcomings, designers and engineers press on, designing perfect parts. If perfectly fabricated tubular components were to occupy a geographic location, you’d find them in one of two places: The Land of Impossibilities or The Realm of Economically Unfeasible Projects. Nobody wants to design a component, assembly, or product that ends up in one of these places.

Fabricators who accept contracts without doing a proper application review might find themselves involved in a costly and time-consuming situation, trying to make something perfect from something imperfect.

Skilled tube bending applications engineers are both expensive and rare, so using the right tools to extract the data and provide detailed analysis and reports is one way of cutting the risks involved with dodgy specifications.

no bearing on the tools that the fabricator has on the shelf.

Straight lengths are impractical or simply nonsensical.

Parts collide with the machine that is supposed to make the part.

6. Part drawings are dimensioned in such a way that they provide no meaningful information to the fabricator. Head-scratching ensues, followed by substantial time spent on calculations, chewing up large quantities of the only irreplaceable resource (time) before manual programming begins.

These problems lead to high scrap rates, paperwork madness (reissuing work orders, issuing change notices, and ordering different material), delayed release of work packages, rework of components that don’t pass inspection, and recalls of components that have shipped by mistake.

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Where We Should Be Just as software contributed to this problem by making it easier than ever for an engineer to design the impossible, or at least the very difficult and very costly, software is coming full circle. Programs and apps are available these days that can alleviate these problems. Modern programs are available that extract the data, perform a detailed analysis, and generate reports that allow pipe shop fabricators to respond to the clients before they even consider bending the first tube.

Apps and software packages are available that allow users to easily extract, interpret, and manipulate tube data in CAD formats.

Also, many bending machine manufacturers now offer office versions of their control software, meaning programming and simulation are available without disrupting production.

Apps such as “Tube Bending Tooling Calculator Pro” (available for free from the Apple app store) need a couple of inputs, such as material and bend radius, to generate information about the required torque, tool setup, and bending difficulty. The app also estimates the bend difficulty and provides other handy information to help determine if the equipment can handle the task. This allows the fabricator to respond to a bid within minutes.

Software packages such as VTube-STEP and TubeWorks (an add-in for SolidWorks) can be mastered in as little as 10 minutes and allow fabricators to: • Extract tube specifications from imported tube models (round, square, rectangle, flat-sided oval, and standard oval) to find the outside diameter, wall thickness, and bend radii automatically.

• Build accurate XYZ/YBC/LRA data in just a few clicks.

• Check bend radii against the tooling database.

• Change bend radii to use existing tooling without altering overall part shape.

• Create technical drawings and reports to assist the production and quality departments.

• Flatten part shapes to understand cut lengths and other features within a part.

• Create CNC bend data outputs in industry - standard formats that can be read by most bending machine software.

Where We Are Now A scarcity of practical metal fabrication knowledge is accompanied by an abundance of poor part designs.

Often the part shape has no consideration for the equipment or tools that tube fabricators actually have at their disposal. Six problems come up repeatedly: 1. Bend radii are unnecessarily small, making the bending setup and runoff more complicated than they need to be.

2. The specified material - alloy and wall thickness - is too strong. The workpiece has a minimum yield strength that exceeds the bender’s maximum torque.

3. Bend radii fluctuate throughout the part. A closely related problem concerns bend radii that have

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These Windows-based applications are easy to use, reduce development time, and help fabricators respond to enquiries faster than ever before.

When a project reaches this stage, the next step is to send the bend data to a simulator to check for collisions between the part and the machine. Many simulators either are derived from CAD or are reverse-engineered representations of the machine, leaving little doubt about the simulation’s accuracy.

If the simulation is successful, the fabricator can accept the contract with confidence.

However, if the simulation isn’t successful, or if the software flags other concerns, the documentation generated by the software puts the fabricator in a strong, wellinformed position to discuss the issues with the OEM and helps to suggest part revisions.

Where We Are Going In the digital age, customers are demanding more for less. As a result, tube and pipe shops must streamline their working practices and eliminate rework to remain competitive while maintaining reasonable profit margins. The day when a fabricator can go from CAD to production more or less immediately isn’t far off. The process will require human input, but little more than a machine operator dropping the tools into the machine, loading a cut length, and hitting the start button.

This scenario is based on software that allows design engineers to cross-reference tooling databases and run simulations to determine which machine in the fleet is most suited to make the part as they design it, not after they design it. Such software isn’t yet available but soon will become a reality, and it will provide the designers much more control over manufacturing processes than ever before. They will be able to enhance and refine the processes by experimenting with just a few keystrokes and mouse clicks rather than using valuable shop time.

After developing a bending sequence, the designer will be able to try various tweaks to compress the cycle time, perhaps reducing a 90-second process to 60 seconds. Furthermore, a warning about the bend difficulty will allow the design engineer an opportunity to make the operators’ lives easier. Trying various combinations of material, wall thickness, and centreline bending radius based on a tool set that is easy to install, will allow the designer to reduce the likelihood of wrinkles and splits while keeping setup time to a minimum.

As bending simulators become even more sophisticated, the simulated cycle times will be accurate enough to use in the shop’s production schedule and in customer quotations. In turn, these capabilities mean that the fabrication shop’s production manager can release the work package to the production team knowing that the shop has the machines, tooling, and time to get the job done right, the first time, on time. www.unisonltd.com

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Herman Senior orders its 12th Damen vessel

The Dutch family-owned tug and workboat company Herman Senior BV has ordered its 12th Damen vessel, a Multi Cat 2712. Given the very short delivery time, the new vessel will already be officially launched and christened ‘Panda’ on March 23. Herman Senior has a tradition of naming its ships after famous bears.

Based in Dordrecht, Herman Senior serves the dredging market, offshore wind farms and the oil & gas industry, with services including towage, plough dredging, anchor handling, geotechnical services, diving support and salvage & anchor recovery, amongst others.

Jack van Dodewaard, Herman Senior Managing Director, comments: “The new Multi Cat 2712 has the big advantage that she is suited for deepsea work and can sail worldwide under her own keel. At the moment we have our vessels in Latin America, Australia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe so this new addition will add to our flexibility. “Our current Damen Multi Cat ‘Yogi’ has a working limit of 30 miles offshore. She has been active in South America for three years so in the first instance we had to go to the expense of transporting her over there.”

Coupled with this, Damen is aiming for a very fast delivery of just four weeks so the Panda will be ready for her first project, he adds.

The Multi Cat 2712 has a bollard pull of 32 tonnes and two 290 tonnes/metres cranes on board with a lifting capacity of 11.5 tonnes at 16.5 metres, so is suitable for a wide range of tasks. ‘Panda’ is largely a standard Damen vessel, which has been built for stock, although some extra navigational equipment has been added.

Mr van Dodewaard stresses: “Although we have a long history together, if Damen didn’t deliver the quality and service levels we expect, then we would look for another shipyard. A major advantage is that Damen understands our specific requirements. The drawings are automatically adapted each time and updated for the next vessel.”

Jos van Woerkum, Managing Director of Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld, says: “I have personally known Jack for more than 40 years when I was just starting my career at Damen. We are very pleased to be able to assist the company with its latest fleet expansion. It is great that he is still a satisfied customer all these years later. We have a relationship based on trust, they know if we promise to do something, we do what we say.” www.damen.com

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Metal Shark ‘splashes’ first two Citywide ferries The first two passenger vessels built by Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark for New York's new Citywide Ferry Service are now on the water, after being splashed at Metal Shark's Franklin, Louisiana shipyard recently.

At 7:30 AM on Friday February 24th, operators from Berard Transportation began the elaborate process of moving the first of two 86' x 26' catamaran-hulled aluminium passenger vessels from Metal Shark's final assembly building to the waiting cranes from H. Brown Crane Service, which hoisted the vessel and placed it into the adjacent Charenton Canal. By 3:30 PM, both vessels were in-water with Metal Shark crews resuming work on vessel fitout. Meanwhile, two more Citywide Ferries were being prepared for paint, and two others were taking shape in the welding shop, as work on the project continues.

Metal Shark is currently building six of the Incat Crowther-designed, 149-passenger, USCG Subchapter T passenger ferries for HNY Ferry Fleet LLC (a Hornblower company), operator of New York's CityWide Ferry Service.

"Today with the launch of these first two vessels we reached an important milestone on the CityWide Ferry project, which we commenced in July," explained Metal Shark CEO Chris Allard.

"We're on a rigorous schedule to get these boats completed and delivered on time. Fortunately we had planned the bulk of the logistics prior to the award of the contract, and we're happy to say we're right on schedule."

Metal Shark plans to deliver two of the New York ferries per month from March through May. “It is a massive undertaking and Metal Shark has and continues to showcase their experience and expertise in the craft of vessel construction,” noted Junior Volpe, Director of Special Projects for Hornblower. “The vessels constructed will become part of an impressive fleet operating on the East River in New York this coming summer.”

Meanwhile, site preparation was taking place at the yard as Metal Shark expands its operations to accommodate increased activity. The foundation for a new 200' x 80' fully enclosed large vessel assembly building will be poured within the next few weeks, along with a stand-alone, two-story office building with over 8,000 square feet of space for Franklin's engineering, program management, and administrative staff.

With CityWide Ferry construction now well underway and portion of an 18-boat foreign military patrol boat order recently completed, Metal Shark is preparing to commence work on a four-boat order of 88' passenger vessels for the Potomac Riverboat Company division of Entertainment Cruises, and a two-boat order of 105' passenger vessels for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. Beyond the passenger vessel market, the Franklin yard will be producing a range of orders including additional 45' patrol boats, a 45' pilot boat, a multi-boat US Navy contract for 50' high-speed vessels, a 70' supply boat, and a 158' catamaran. www.metalsharkboats.com

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Bibby WaveMaster 1

launched at Damen

Shipyards Galati

Port of Antwerp

Port Finance International returns to Amsterdam

Returning to Amsterdam for the 2nd year, from 11th to 12th of this month, PFI Amsterdam 2017 will bring port finance, maritime, transport, infrastructure and industrial experts together to look how key European port players are responding to recent global industry trends.

Major trends such as ongoing consolidation in the shipping sector, deployment of mega vessels, changing growth patterns and modern intermodal strategies will result in the need for port and terminal stakeholders to re-adjust their strategies, to harness new opportunities for growth and expansion in the coming years. How to successfully implement port projects in light of these developments is the core focus of this year’s PFI Amsterdam conference.

PFI Amsterdam 2017 will place a spotlight on developments and growth plans in the European region, by bringing together over 100 experts from all parts of the port value chain - government bodies, port and terminal operators, shipping lines, intermodal operators, investment bankers and logistics service providers.

The pioneering Bibby WaveMaster 1, the first of Damen’s purpose-built Service Operations Vessels (SOV) with Walk-toWork (W2W) capability, was officially launched at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania at the end of March.

When completed, Bibby Marine Services Limited, part of Bibby Line Group, will deploy the vessel to support forthcoming offshore wind construction and O&M projects in the North Sea. Stephen Blaikie, Chief Executive Officer, Bibby Marine Services Ltd, said, “This is an important key milestone in the delivery of the vessel. Sea trials will start soon and we will take delivery in August. We are very impressed with the quality of the build and the whole process has gone smoothly.”

Peter Robert, Director Business Development & Market Intelligence at Damen says, “I am honestly convinced that Damen has designed and built the best vessel for the tasks envisaged and which is going to be available on the market as of end of August this year. The combination of Damen and Bibby brings together a significant amount of knowledge, which has resulted in some impressive innovation. Carrying out the integrated HIL simulator analyses of the vessel +DP system + gangway system, in a time domain simulation with the actual controllers connected to it proves, in real life conditions, safe operations in the 2.5 metre Hs required by

The event will cover 7 key sessions, plus a focused workshop: • • • • • • • •

Impact of major alliances in the shipping sector on the port industry Mergers & Acquisition (M&A) as a response to today's market challenges in the port sector Consolidation trends between terminal operators Outlook for European port and terminal developments How to finance complex port projects Impact of mega vessels on port authorities’ port development strategies How to ensure bankability of large scale port project Workshop: PPP and port concessions

Speakers include: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Steven Bouckaert, Deputy General Manager, DEME Alex Brenninkmeyer, Member of the European Court of Auditors Lamia Kerdjoudj-Belkaid, Secretary General, Federation of European Private Port Operators and Terminals Tom Vermeiren, Senior Consultant Strategy & Finance, PwC Stephen Leeming, Partner, JLT Specialty Andrew Webster, Partner, JLT Specialty Tom Scheltjens, Maritime Economist, Projects Directorate, European Investment Bank (EIB) Anthony van der Hoest, Cluster Manager Logistics, Port of Amsterdam Authority Eleanor Hadland, Managing Consultant – Ports & Marine, AECOM William Holme, Vice President Port & Terminal Financing Group, DNB Bank Matthew Paul, Director, International Structured Finance, Banca IMI S.p.A Gavin Dow, General Manager - Strategy & Business Development, Modern Terminals Silvester Kasuku, Director General, LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority Bruno Valkeniers, Board Member Port of Antwerp International Alexander van den Bosch, Director, European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) Victor van Leengoed, Senior Manager, MTBS Alp Capa, Director, Arkas Port & Terminal Services Group Lars Nennhaus, Manager Sustainability Affairs, Duisport Wouter van Nus, Strategic Finance Management, Port of Rotterdam Authority Bas Kolenburg, Manager Business Development / Finance, Boskalis Johan-Paul Verschuure, Associate Director, Maritime & Logistics, WSP

www.portfinanceinternational.com/pfiamsterdam2017

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the tenders - the only vessel currently able to achieve this in fact. Based on this the shipowner can guarantee site specific vessel performance and safe operations.”

Bibby WaveMaster 1 is built specifically for the transfer and accommodation of offshore personnel and aims to maximise working time, technician comfort and safety. The design incorporates the philosophies of Damen’s E3 principle Efficiency in operation, Environmentally friendly and Economically viable.

Equipped with DYNPOS (AUTR) DP2, the 90 m LOA vessel has a motion compensated access system (Walk-to-Work).

During the construction process, Damen has continued to work closely with the client in customising the vessel in order to give it multi-sector versatility. This has included, for example, adjusting the design of the elevator to the W2W gangway. This now has six landings, meaning that technicians can directly access the gangway from the warehouse areas with a ‘stepless approach’. A helideck, daughter craft and CTV landings (with refueling) complement the vessel’s versatility.

Also upgrading the vessel’s workrole flexibility, Damen has increased the POB to 90, from the 60 envisioned by the standard design.

Taking into account the trend for wind farms to go farther from the shore in more challenging seas, the customised design provides fast, safe and comfortable access to turbines, and at a lower cost, including in worst case scenario severe Central North Sea conditions. This results in a vessel capable of providing turbine access up to 3.1 metre Hs. The Damen SOV is able to remain at sea for periods of up to one month at a time.

During the two-year design and build period, when Damen and Bibby worked very closely together, a lot of attention has been paid to crew comfort on board the vessel. www.damen.com

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Christening cere mony

Del Norte Technology Ltd

Del Norte Technology Ltd is an ISO9001 2015 quality specialised Hydrographic Survey and Dredge company that supplies, installs, trains to support the industry. Together with Hypack Inc Hypack, Hysweep and DredgePack software the whole hydrographic capability is taken care of.

On display on our stand at trade exhibitions are all the Hypack software, Ceehydro systems product range together with Tritech Sidescan Sonar, sub-bottom profiling instruments and a surprise package for Multi-beam Hydrographic surveys.

Equipment commonly supplied apart from the Hypack Single Beam, Multi-Beam and DredgePack software are Tide Gauges from Valeport, Echo Sounders such as Cee Hydro systems Ceescope product range, Sub-bottom profilers from Syqwest, Mini Swath systems from Ross Industries, Novatel RTK and Hemisphere DGPS receivers with all associated parts and cables to suite. WAASP Mult-Beam system is a new addition to our product line.

We will advise only quality products but also supply what the customer requires to satisfy the system requirements and purchased from UK representative companies where required.

Call Laurie Smith +44(0)1803 844555, Mob +44(0)7836 741288, for a free consultation, advice and planning for you next project.

Tritech Starfish Sidescan Sonar

Mini SVP Profiler

Syqwest Strata Box

Ceescope DGPS Echo Sounder

Ross Mini Swath

Del Norte Technology Ltd 3 Douglas Avenue, Brixham, S Devon TQ5 9EL UK Tel: +44 (0)1803 844555 Email: delnorte@btconnect.com

www.marineandmaritimegazette.com

The National Air and Naval Service of Panama (Servicio Nacional Aeronaval - SENAN) has taken delivery of four Interceptor 1102 vessels from Damen Shipyards Group. The President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, performed the christening ceremonies of all four vessels back in February.

Coinciding with the vessel handover, SENAN also signed a second contract with Damen for an additional batch of four Interceptors. Both contracts include a comprehensive after-sales package that consists of training, spare parts and maintenance.

Talking about the inaugural contract with SENAN, Damen Sales Manager Americas Pieter Becker states: “We are happy and very proud to welcome SENAN as a new client. This is a very professional organisation with whom we are looking forward to building a strong relationship.”

SENAN will mobilise the four new vessels from its Fort Sherman Naval Base located at the Caribbean end of the Panama Canal. The vessels’ primary function will be to combat illegal drug-trafficking activities in the surrounding area. o this end, the Damen Interceptor 1102 is an extremely suitable choice of boat. Its low weight construction from fibre reinforced polymer composite materials combined with twin Volvo D6 engines deliver outstanding results. “This is an ultra-fast vessel,” highlights Mr Becker. “It can reach speeds of more than 55 knots.” Contributing to such high speeds is the vessel design: the single chine hull reduces the amount of impact in heavier seas and improves high speed manoeuvrability.”

Crew ergonomics and safety are also important aspects of the Interceptor 1102 design. Damen has carried out a substantial amount of R&D to optimise both these matters for the six persons on board (two crew plus four additional naval or security personnel).

Such specifications make the 11-metre long Interceptor also ideal for other maritime security operations like anti-smuggling, anti-terrorist, rapid response, surveillance and Special Forces operations.

Construction of all the Interceptor 1102 vessels is being handled by Damen Shipyards Antalya in Turkey. “We handed the first four vessels over to SENAN just 12 weeks after the contract became effective,” says Mr Becker, highlighting the benefits of Damen’s stock building strategy that can be seen in such short delivery times. “And now the after-sales phase begins - we will be providing SENAN with a broad service package comprising training, spare parts and our maintenance management system.” www.damen.com

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Ieuan Jones

Cutting carbon emissions in shipping: I N S U R A N C E ,

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The IMO and the EU in competing positions

by Ieuan Jones, Solicitor in Ashfords LLP's Marine Team

The cutting of carbon emissions across all industries has increasingly become the focus of legislation in recent years. Conventions such as the Paris Agreement, ratified in October 2016, seek to bring the global community together for this purpose. Measures that are due to be introduced include the purchase of carbon credits on the international or domestic markets to offset emissions and more emphasis on renewable projects. The goals of these agreements are wide in scope and set the bar very high - for example the agreeing Paris nations must peak their carbon emissions as soon as possible with "rapid reductions" thereafter.

The estimated total CO2 emissions by the shipping industry in 2012 accounted for 2.2% of all emissions for that year. Although this is, in fact, a reduction in emissions from the pre-2008 industry peak, it is still clear that shipping is a major emitter of greenhouse gases. Any legislation that seeks to control and reduce the amount of emissions must therefore include shipping as a key part of their considerations in doing this.

The IMO has been working with the industry and with individual states to formulate its own carbon reduction strategy. The IMO's Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) has approved a "Roadmap" for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, with a reduction strategy to be adopted in 2018. Considering the worldwide reach of the IMO and the commitments shown in the Roadmap, it had been thought that the industry may be left to regulate itself in these matters. Not so, according to the European Union.

In spite of the commitments of the IMO, there are some within the European Union who are expressing impatience that the shipping industry has not already set itself global reductions targets. This anxiety has been expressed, for example, by the European Commission's Climate Actions Directorate (ECCAD). It is not enough, according to them, for the IMO to call for a strategy, but the industry must be given a target.

As a sign of the seriousness with which it takes its position, the European Parliament recently voted to include shipping in the EU emissions trading scheme from 2023, in the absence of an acceptable alternative proposal from the IMO by 2021.

This has caused consternation, even exasperation, by many in the shipping industry, including not least the European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA). The industry's reaction via bodies such as ECSA is that the EU is seeking to force the hand of the IMO in its strategy, when it is already committed to regulation. ECSA has stated the European Parliament's vote "ignores and undermines" the Roadmap put in place by the MEPC, which had in general met with widespread approval in the industry. It has also been seen as counterproductive to the global dialogue institutions such as the IMO and the European Union should have in these matters.

To counter this, the ECCAD has stated that, far from undermining the IMO's efforts, it should seize the opportunity and take advantage of its own commitments by now committing to a firm target next year. In spite of what has been seen as an attack on the IMO's supposed lack of initiative on this issue, they believe that now is the time for these institutions to cooperate. This dialogue may take some time to develop, however - the European Parliament vote has still to be ratified by the European Commission and European Council.

Whatever the outcome of this fraught negotiation, it is clear that there is always a definite political angle when it comes to environmental matters. This is especially so in the shipping industry, where there are so many interested and competing bodies looking to have a say. Although the UK has decided to leave the EU, as it is still our major trading partner, the outcome will still most likely have a significant impact our shipping industry as well. .

www.ashfords.co.uk

www.marineandmaritimegazette.com

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Researching the future of marine propulsion

Teignbridge Propellers has commissioned the building of a purpose designed propulsion research vessel.

The vessel is part way through its construction and is due to launch in June this year and commence research work during the summer.

The vessel is being built for, and will be operated by, Duncan Research and Development Ltd., a sister company of Teignbridge. It is designed to be a platform for developing and testing a variety of marine propellers and propulsion equipment.

The vessel will operate out of Torquay in Devon in the UK, and testing will be carried out in Torbay and along the south coast where the waters are largely sheltered from the prevailing weather.

Vessel Specification: Type Construction Length Beam Engine Transmission

twin hulled catamaran with clear water between the hulls.

Aluminium 13.5m 5m 500hp Proteum MD 500 VGT Diesel Marine engine 4L80E six speed gear box

The vessel is capable of speeds from zero to 40 knots plus, and a range of shaft speeds that utilise the full engine power at different speeds. At the lower speed range it can test for bollard pull performance and energy recovery in tidal flow conditions, and at the higher speed ranges it can test for performance and cavitation avoidance.

Teignbridge has three initial projects planned for the vessel: 1.

To optimise the company’s high efficiency C-Foil Propeller.

2.

An Energy Technology Institute (ETI) £3m project to develop a high efficiency propulsion system for ships (HEPS).

www.marineandmaritimegazette.com

3.

A proposed Innovate UK project “Tidal Turbine Cost Reduction Through Ship Technology Transfer”

David Duncan for Teignbridge says: “The vessel is going to be a great facility for our research plans. It will allow us to optimise our propeller design and to develop new propulsion models that will provide our customers the very best of performance.”

“Teignbridge Propellers has a long standing reputation for high quality and reliable performance in the marine industry that the company need to protect, we cannot afford to introduce products into the marine industry without them being thoroughly tested and proved first. This vessel lets us do this.”

“We will be able to do comparative trials against other existing models and we will be able to provide accurate test results. We see a lot of highly exaggerated and false claims made on performance which can be put to the test. This vessel might help to keep some manufacturers more honest.”

ETI to work with Teignbridge Propellers International Limited (TPIL) on a £3m project to develop a High Efficiency Propulsion System for ships The ETI is a public-private partnership between global energy and engineering companies - BP, Caterpillar, EDF, Rolls-Royce and Shell - and the UK Government.

The role of the ETI is to act as a conduit between academia, industry and the government to accelerate the development of low carbon technologies.

Commenting on the ETI project David said: “We are highly delighted to have been selected for this research project, it fits very well with the company's research and development strategy and plans. Teignbridge Propellers has an excellent engineering design team and a background of design development. The project will be helped by the use of the dedicated research test vessel presently under construction for TP. The selection by the ETI is a recognition and endorsement of the company's abilities.” www.teignbridge.co.uk

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US-based NAMJet LLC, the advanced marine propulsion company, recently developed a new concept for the water jet propulsion market.

Their goal is to be recognized as the market leaders in water jet technology and, with the slogan ‘A Sea Change in Water Jet Technology’ as a mission, they are driving towards the company’s main theme of constantly moving forward.

The new RAPTORJet range of water jets now feature, for the first time, iNAV electric actuation which eliminates the need for hydraulic tanks, valves, oil, hoses, maintenance and potential oil leaks. NAMJet believe that they are the first water jet manufacturer worldwide to achieve this breakthrough in water jet technology. iNAV, or Intelligent Navigation & Control, which will also feature on their display at Seawork 2017 this June at Southampton, UK, is a comprehensive set of electronic controls from conventional throttle and joystick control through to glass helm operations.

The iNAV system can provide remote updates and upgrades with predictive maintenance and data logging capability.

Namjet have a 10m demonstration workboat called Raptor1 (pictured top of page) which has their newly designed RAPTORJet waterjets fitted - these will also be on show at Seawork 2017.

The vessel has the fully integrated iNAV - Intelligent Navigation & Control system on board so that potential customers can witness firsthand the power, the unrivalled thrust and ‘A Sea Change in Water Jet Technology’ This demo boat, RAPTOR1, has achieved a speed of 40 knots and has a massive bollard pull of at least 4.2 tonnes.

NAMJet LLC will be on Stand PO35 at Seawork 2017. www.namjet.com

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T S R I F D L R O GAW N I R U T A E F E R ANG OL R T N O C & N UATIO T C A C I R T C E EL

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Rolls-Royce

delivers 1000th

thruster to Damen

Rolls-Royce recently delivered its 1000th azimuth thruster to Damen Shipyards marking a milestone in a 30-year relationship with notable references in what has been a work in progress story set to develop further.

The 1000th and 1001st examples are US 255FP azimuth thrusters, each with a power of 2,525kW for a Damen ASD Tug 2913 under construction at the Dutch shipbuilder's Romanian facility.

The first Damen ASD tug with Rolls-Royce US thrusters was delivered in 1993 but the company’s relationship with Damen goes back much further. In 1983, before its acquisition by Rolls-Royce, Aquamaster supplied the first retractable thruster for the tug Damen Dragon Fly, specially built for the Easter Scheldt hydraulic engineering project. After several changes of ownership including as the Elizabeth for LH Visser & Zn, this particular tug is now listed as the Indian-owned Coromondel Supporter IV. The Damen ASD 2810 design shiphandling tug has been fitted with more than 420 Rolls-Royce thrusters since its introduction in 2002.

Aila Lainio, Rolls-Royce, marine area sales manager commented: "You can say that Damen has become part of our life now. Rauma has produced a wide range of azimuth thrusters for Damen’s various tug designs. The ASD design and the Rolls-Royce US-type azimuth thrusters make a unique combination."

"We have worked closely in cooperation with Damen over the years to develop the optimum azimuth thruster range for tugs. We have a very creative and talented team in Rauma. Whenever Damen presents new requirements, we accept the challenge of developing solutions that allow us to continue being Damen’s first choice for propulsion equipment. We continually invest in research and development to optimise thruster performance and environmental efficiency. Ultimately we endeavour to design the best propulsion solution for all of our customers."

Hinting at how Rolls-Royce is firming up its position in this specialist area of tug propulsion, Ronald Lindeman, Rolls-Royce, marine head of sales, central Europe West, said: "We are constantly developing our azimuth thrusters to reach the customers’ expectations. Rolls-Royce is investing £44 million in our production plant in Rauma to further strengthen our position as the leading supplier of azimuth thrusters. The work to transform the facility in Finland is underway and is due for completion in 2020."

The investment by Rolls-Royce at Rauma (Finland) is intended to consolidate its assembly and test capability and includes transfer of the two processes from two existing locations along with a ‘significant investment in new equipment.’ Thrusters from the facility are not restricted to tugs however with examples supplied to a range of typically offshore oil and gas industry vessels, two notable references being the Finnish icebreaker Fennica with thrusters weighing up to 190t and the twin-hulled decommissioning/pipelaying vessel Pioneering Spirit. www.rolls-royce.com

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Ecoshield for ZF thrusters

ZF Marine Krimpen is applying Subsea Industries’ Ecoshield hard coating to the nozzles and underwater components of its azimuth thruster units supplied to vessels operating in inland waterways.

The Netherlands-based company, a division of Germany’s ZF Group, is using Ecoshield on thrusters supplied to a number of US-based customers to reduce operational wear and tear in brown waters such as the Mississippi River.

Frank van der Vegt, Area Sales Manager, Commercial Craft Thruster Systems, ZF Marine, explained: “We were looking to improve the protection of the thruster’s underwater components against damage due to the debris, sand and silt common in shallow draught inland waterways, particularly the Mississippi, as well as to prevent damage due to cavitation and corrosion.”

The solution was found in Antwerp, in 2015, when ZF approached Subsea Industries to investigate whether its hard-coating could protect its thrusters from the effects of abrasive waters.

After a series of patch tests proved successful ZF Marine began applying the hard-coating to all underwater areas of the thruster. Since then, Ecoshield has been applied to the ZF 1000hp azimuth thrusters installed on 12 tow/pushboats operating in US waters.

Subsea Industries has more than 400 ship references for Ecoshield on rudders but is seeing a marked increase in application to thruster tunnels and gearboxes due to the operational savings it brings them.

Rolls-Royce for Italian Navy

UK-based Rolls-Royce has won a contract to supply engines and waterjets to power and propel two new high-speed vessels designed and built by Intermarine for the Italian Navy.

The construction of the two high-speed multi-purpose units (UNPAV) has recently begun at Intermarine’s Sarzana shipyard. The vessels are more than 40 metres long, 8 metres wide and powered by three MTU 2000 series diesel engines connecting to three Kamewa S4 water jets.

The UNPAV will be used by the Operational Incursion Group (Gruppo Operativo Incursori or G.O.I), the Special Forces of the Italian Navy.

The vessels will increase their capacity to strengthen maritime traffic control, combat human trafficking, undertake counter terror and antipiracy operations and evacuate personnel from crisis areas.

The GOI is constantly called in to undertake sensitive and difficult tasks in crisis situations of evident strategic importance, responding decisively to urgent operational problems with dangerous political implications. The GOI constantly search for the best equipment on the market, in order to put its personnel in a position to carry out any mission entrusted to them.

Don Roussinos, Rolls-Royce, President - Naval said: “We are proud to have been chosen to provide the best technologies for missions such as these. We invest to develop solutions best suited for just such complex naval operations as those undertaken by the GOI.” The collaboration between Intermarine and Rolls-Royce continues with minesweeper programmes, for which Rolls-Royce provides super-silent stainless steel controllable pitch propellers from Kamewa, driven by MTU engines designed to be anti-magnetic and highly shock resistant.

Rolls-Royce will also provide Tenfjord type steering gear.

www.rolls-royce.com

www.zf.com

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US stabilization system patent for Norwegian manufacturer

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Norwegian propeller and stabilizer manufacturer Sleipner has been granted a U.S. patent for its Side-Power Vector FinTM stabilization system.

The unique curve of Side-Power’s Vector Fin is an evolution of traditional stabilizer fins and, claims Side-Power US distributor Imtra, substantially increases the efficiency of the system while reducing common side-effects. Side-Power applied for and was granted U.S. patent number 14/438133.

"By directing the force the fin generates in a more vertical axis, Side-Power Vector Fin Stabilizers reduce the wasted horizontal force that results in the noticeable sway and yaw of flat fins,” said Phillip Whittaker, large yacht specialist, Imtra. “Owners want a boat that is stable, comfortable, performs well and is as fuel efficient as possible. The Side-Power Vector Fin system is simply the most efficient stabilizer available on the market. The new patent protects the innovation behind this achievement and allows for future development of the technology.”

Any effective boat stabilizer is designed to reduce roll regardless of whether a vessel is underway or at anchor. Side-Power Stabilizer Systems provide dramatic roll reduction that results in a comfortable, stable platform and ride at any speed.

“The curved fin design allows us to create lift at speed,” said Prentice Weathers, custom product sales, Imtra. “In most installations, generating lift will allow us to reduce any drag the fins produce. This means the vessel can be as fuel efficient with stabilizers as the boat would be without them, all without the space, weight and service challenges of gyro-type systems.”

While this is clearly big news in the superyacht sector, fin stabilizer systems are also seeing increasing popularity in the commercial crew transfer market. www.side-power.com

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Lombardini chosen for 19m steel landing craft Lombardini has been chosen to provide onboard power to the first steel landing craft built by Exeter Fabrication.

Lady Dee, designed by naval architect AG Salmon & Co of Argyll, Scotland, has been built for Loch Duart Salmon one of the UK’s leading salmon farmers.

Features of the 19m landing craft include a raised aluminium 360° glazed pilothouse giving increased deck area and working area from stem to stern and superior line of vision plus an extended bow ramp to give easier access onto the vessel.

In addition the hull has been increased in volume to give a 46 tonne deck capacity and crane capacity of 2 tonnes @ 10.5m. The hull has been designed and constructed to comply with category two of the Code of Practice for Safety of Small Workboats and Pilot Boats for the carriage of cargo and the vessel has been approved to MCA hazardous cargo regulations.

“We’re very pleased with the vessel,” explained Exeter Fabrication director Julie Pogson. “It’s a new sector for us and is our flagship in this market. There was huge engagement between the client and ourselves, almost on a daily basis and great attention to detail.

“We made several trips up to Scotland to carry out research and engage with the industry and designed their requirements into the vessel; we wanted a boat that we could repeat build.”

She added: “We took a proven design - AG Salmon has designed other vessels working in aquaculture in Scotland and bought it up to date, adding more compliancy and quite a lot of innovation.

“Alistair gave us a 2D drawing and we produced a 3D model.”

The vessel will be based out of the Port of Lochmaddy, North Uist and is registered to carry 12 crew.

The Lombardini single-phase generator is a LMG6000 6kVA model supplied by UK distributor Mermaid Marine.

The LMG6000 is equipped with the Lombardini 15 LD, single-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine that is compact and light thanks to the aluminium crankcase and cylinder head.

The generator is air-water cooled and is supplied with a remote control box. It also has an automatic shutdown in case of failure. The genset can work constantly at an inclination of 25° and intermittently at 30°.

VESSEL DIMENSIONS: Overall length: 19.1m. Length on deck: 19m. Beam: 6.5m. Depth: 1.85m www.mermaid-marine.co.uk

Italdraghe for Essex marina

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Yacht Havens Group, owner of nine yachting facilities in the U.K and the Netherlands, has taken delivery of a new Italdraghe MK III Marina Master 8000 Dredger at its Fambridge Yacht Haven location in Essex, UK. An exceptionally versatile and manoeuvrable dredger, the Marina Master 8000 has been designed and project managed by Goodchild Marine. It is a self-propelled unit, with a PD180 dredging pump, and it was built in the Italdraghe shipyard on the Italian Adriatic Coast.

The Mark III is perfect for precision dredging projects in marinas and waterways where disruption needs to be kept to a minimum and Yacht Havens have invested in this specialist dredger to dredge their 220-berth marina, Fambridge Yacht Haven, located on the UK’s scenic East Coast. With a 10-year dredging licence from the Marine Management Organisation, the dredger will focus on Stow Creek leading from the deepwater River Crouch into the Marina, its access channels and between the pontoons to allow for full-tide access.

Fambridge Yacht Haven will also take delivery of a new 40-ton boat hoist this spring, increasing their boat lifting capacity.

Marina Manager Danyal Adams is delighted to improve the quality of Fambridge’s offerings, saying, “A deeper, full-tide marina and a larger boat lifting capacity will allow many more boat owners to bring their boats to Fambridge. Our peaceful and pretty village location on the River Crouch is less than an hour away from London so we hope these new improvements will appeal to a wider range of boat owners looking to escape the city.”

This is the third dredger of its kind to be supplied to a UK marina owner and the second to this client, requiring versatile, easilymanoeuvrable, precision dredging equipment. A key feature of the dredger is its horizontally-hinged dredging boom manufactured in two sections with a central hydraulically-controlled vertical hinge, allowing the dredger to work under floating marina pontoons and finger piers without having to remove them.

It has the capability of manoeuvring into individual berths, cleaning them and then reversing out, there is no need for the marina owner to empty the entire marina prior to the start of the dredging operations. Only one or two moored boats need to be temporarily moved out at a time and, as each berth is dredged, these boats can be returned to their original mooring as the dredger moves on to the next berth.

Using this method, dredging can be consistently carried out throughout the whole year, even during the busier summer months. www.italdraghe.it www.marineandmaritimegazette.com

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Channel Islands harbour dredging completed The US Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District completed maintenance dredging at Channel Islands Harbour recently after beginning work late last year.

A US $9.45 million contract was awarded to Seattlebased Manson Construction, whose hydraulic cutterhead suction dredge, H R Morris, dredged 1.54 million cubic yards of sediment from the harbour entrance and sand trap. The material was then piped to and placed on nearby beaches.

"This project is vital to maintaining safe navigation in and out of Channel Islands Harbour and to maintaining the downcoast beaches that would otherwise be lost to erosion," said Jeff Cole, Corps project manager.

The Corps typically dredges every two years under legislation that authorized the small craft harbour and sand trap to be built in the early 1960s.

The harbour was designed to trap sand to prevent loss to the submarine canyon off of Port Hueneme and to provide dredged material for beach replenishment for downcoast beaches.

Channel Islands Harbour Director Lyn Krieger and Los Angeles District Commander Col Kirk Gibbs visited the operation on 14 February to observe the work. www.usace.army.mil

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New dredging vessel for WSV Germany

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German Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) recently took delivery of a 36.92m long and 11.92m wide floating excavator - Griep To II, which was built at the Schiffswerft Bolle in Neuderben. It has gone into service with the WSV’s Kiel Holtenau office, replacing and upgrading the services offered by its 54 year old, 24.98m long predecessor Griep To. The crane on the old Griep To lifted up to 13 tons, enough to meet most requirements. When more capability was needed it could be hired in locally The new Griep To II however has a Liebherr Type 8100 crane with up to 100 ton lift capability and a maximum height under hook of 20m above water.

The new boat will be a big advantage during extensive lock work due to begin next year in Kiel Holtenau. Costing €240 million it involves the demolition of the old locks and their replacement with new lock chambers. The two 125m x 22m chambers of Holtenau’s small lock will first be demolished down to their concrete bases and new ones built on the same spot. Then Holtenau’s big 310m x 42m lock chambers will be renovated.

Griep To II has two Deutz TCD 2015 V0M 8-cylinder Diesel engines and also three generators on board – a Hatz 4L 41 and Deutz 4 and 8 cylinder units – for a total 467kW. Top speed is 15kms/h or about 8 knots, enabling it to get where it is needed, quickly, anywhere along the waterway.

Like its predecessor, Griep To II will see service on the entire Kiel Canal and on the Kiel Fiord but will also be available to other WSV offices on inland waterways and in coastal areas. In addition to its excavation and dredging work it will be used to install and remove lock gate drive components.

The WSV also lists transport of construction materials, equipment and plant in locks and along the waterway as well as lock repair and canal bank and bed maintenance, the installation of pilings, towing and construction site supply among the future jobs for the versatile new workboat.

Its main task however will be to support operations and help maintain the more than 100 year old locks in Kiel Holtenau.

Together with the equally old locks at the southern end of the canal in Brunsbuettel, linking the waterway with the Elbe and also slated for renovation, they handle well over 30,000 ships a year. www.wsd-nord.wsv.de

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Hanson orders two new marine aggregate dredgers Hanson is investing €70 million in two new 3,000 cubic metre capacity trailing suction hopper dredgers for its marine aggregate fleet. They will be the first new aggregate dredgers to be commissioned by Hanson in the UK for more than 25 years.

Hanson UK chief executive Daniel Cooper said: “This significant investment is the first step in a strategic replacement programme for our existing fleet of eight dredgers which deliver marine aggregates into a network of wharves in both the UK and continental Europe. It is also a key part of our overall strategic plan. Marine dredged sand and gravel is critical to our UK business. It is used in around half of our ready-mixed concrete plants and is becoming more and more important due to the increasing scarcity of land-won sand and gravel, particularly around London and south east England.”

The new trailing suction hopper dredgers, which will enter service in 2019, will be equivalent in size to Hanson’s existing A-Class vessels, carrying up to 5,500 tonnes of sand and gravel.

The new ships, which will provide major improvements in fuel consumption, reliability and CO2 Offer for Rental & Sale emissions, will be built by the Dutch shipbuilder Barkmeijer at its yard at Stroobos in the Diver R.O.V. Crane Operated Dredging Systems Multipurpose & Mini dredging systems for the removal of Netherlands. fines, silt, muds, drill cuttings, sand, grit, gravel, shingle, Selecting the right partner took months of painstaking work by the Hanson project team, who shale & general debris. Suitable for confined space operations or locations where access is a problem. All on- visited shipyards in The Netherlands, Eastern Europe and China before making their final decision. shore civil applications. Shallow & deepwater offshore After drawing up a detailed design and specification for the vessels, the team homed in on a support operations. Renewables. Complete ready to use self operational systems available for use worldwide. Stillage shortlist of four whom they believed could deliver the project within a tight budget and timescale. packed & containerised deepwater units for Renewables & “We also had to be sure that our partner was capable of working to the highest quality Support operations. Long & Short term rentals. Wide scope of operation from a single package. New & used sales. standards and had a clear commitment to health and safety,” said Hanson procurement Lightweight stillage packed Road & Air transportable units director Jas Suman. available for all applications Worldwide.

Enquiries: Force Dredging Systems UK Ltd, PO Box “Barkmeijer is a world leader in the shipbuilding industry and ticked all the boxes.”

945, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England PO6 9DW The two-year build programme will be overseen by a dedicated project management team to Telephone: +44 (0) 23 92 47 27 10 ensure the design specification is followed and the timeline stays on track.

24hr mobile: +44 (0) 78 50 47 37 13 Email: fdsuk@btopenworld.com Website: www.fdsukltd.com Equipment available for rental worldwide

www.hanson.co.uk

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Valeport launches new sensor to the dredging market

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Valeport used Ocean Business17 this month as the launch event for a new sensor especially designed for the dredging community - the dredgeMATE. Valeport are recognized as world leaders in sound velocity technology and this latest addition to the range combines a new turbidity sensor with the SWiFT SVP (CTD) technology to create dredgeMATE - a very useful new profiler aimed at the dredging market.

Valeport will also introduce Connect, a new software platform for mobile and PC devices.

Product Manager, Jim Gardner, who hosted a training session on the first day of the exhibition, to present the new software platform which is designed for Bluetooth connectivity to interface, configure and download data from both legacy and new products. www.valeport.co.uk

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Next Geosolutions to survey North Sea Link Next Geosolutions has been awarded two survey contracts for the North Sea Link (NSL) project, the first electricity link between UK and Norway.

The first contract, due to start in April, will see Next Geosolutions provide cable protection survey work for Statnett, the Norwegian transmission system operator.

The two week work scope will involve cable inspections for the Skagerrak electricity transmission system and NorNed power cable interconnectors. The interconnectors will link the electricity transmission systems of different countries, with subsea cables utilized for the NSL, passing through Norwegian and British waters.

Carlo Pinto, Next Geosolutions’ sales and marketing director said: “We’re extremely proud to have the opportunity to contribute to the NSL electricity link which, once completed, will be the longest subsea interconnector in the world.”

The second contract is due to begin in May for a period of three months. It will involve Next Geosolutions carrying out offshore cable route survey, unexploded ordnance (UXO) survey and route preparation techniques.

Each survey will be performed with the same mobilization and demobilization delivered by Next Geosolutions’ DP2 multi-purpose supply (MPSV) vessel Ievoli Cobalt.

The vessel is currently fitted with a Schilling-ultra heavy duty (UHD) work-class remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and McArtney Focus 3 remotely operated towed vehicle (ROTV). www.nextgeosolutions.com

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Wallaby

Engineering and Subsea Tooling

Canada supports Kraken’s alliance underwater robotics program Perth-based Wallaby Kraken Sonar Systems said it will receive a non-refundable financial contribution of up to $1.47 million from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).

In addition to technical and business advisory services provided by NRCIRAP, the funding is being used to support the development of Kraken’s underwater robotics program, which involves development of a technology demonstration platform.

The first phase of the program will utilize the Fraunhofer Institute’s DEDAVE autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) as the base platform. The AUV will be enhanced with hydrodynamic, control system and payload upgrades.

Karl Kenny, Kraken’s president and CEO, said: “We sincerely appreciate the continued support and assistance from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) to help us further penetrate the $600 million AUV market. Over the past few years, AUVs have evolved from an emerging, niche technology to a viable solution and an established part of operations in both military and commercial applications. Given the recent shift in industry focus from AUVs being platform/hardware-centric to becoming sensor/software-centric, we believe there is significant potential for further growth. By combining our advanced sensor technologies with cutting edge artificial intelligence algorithms, it’s our objective to deliver a cost-effective AUV solution that is truly autonomous as opposed to being simply automated.”

Engineering has formed an alliance with UK-based Subsea Tooling Services (STS).

The formal agreement allows Wallaby Engineering the right to distribute and support the Subsea Tooling Services range of subsea dredgers.

“This is an extremely significant alliance for both companies, that will allow us to use our respective key strengths, developed through solid subsea experience across the globe, to further enhance the highly specialized services we provide to our valued global customers,” Wallaby Engineering.

STS operations manager Cameron Anderson added: “The agreement is an opportunity for our companies to combine our efforts and enhance response times, our range of services and ultimately the quality of subsea solutions available to our clients.”

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Delta partnership for Searov Offshore Recently, Searov Offshore has taken a significant part of the company capital and set up sales and services agreements with Delta ROV. With that strategic situation in the Philippines, Searov Offshore will benefit from the logistic capacity of Delta ROV to improve its responses and ensure efficient operations to their new customers in Southeast Asia.

In 2016, Searov developed an innovative and cost saving subsea cleaning tool that generated attention of new clients in Indonesia and Myanmar where they now run an office. By taking a part of Delta ROV in the Philippines, Searov is in good position to develop its activity in South East Asia thanks to this strategic situation.

Most recently, the French company has signed a sales agreement with Comex solution ORUS-3D. This is a 3D underwater survey and high resolution modelling solution, which claim to be the fastest and most precise automatic inline metrology system in the world. Designed in 2011, ORUS-3D is the result of a close collaboration between a French research unit and laboratory co-funded by the French state and the European development fund.

Comex has released ORUS 3D a high resolution measurement tool for all underwater inspection, control and monitoring needs. “Searov has achieved several significant milestones last year. These include the development of the patented cleaning tool, our first project done in Southeast Asia and renewal of long-term contracts in West Africa,� says Maxime Cerramon, founder and owner of Searov Offshore.

With these new partnerships with Delta ROV and ORUS-3D, Searov confirms its willingness to offer innovation and responsiveness to its clients. www.searov-offshore.com

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A GIANT LEAP WITH A SMALL FOOTPRINT Last year IHC announced its collaboration with Frames Separation Technologies for the development of a compact subsea separation system. The capabilities of the two companies bring together significant expertise – IHC with its technical knowhow of offshore vessels and subsea hardware, and Frames, a specialist manufacturer of oil and gas process equipment.

Subsea processing is becoming an increasingly attractive option for oil and gas operators. Moving technologies to the seafloor can debottleneck topside facilities, as well as increase production efficiency and recovery rates.

Bringing mixtures of oil and gas to the surface from subsea wells is a costly enterprise. Lowering equipment to the seafloor means separating the flow there, then boosting the separated phases individually to the surface, while keeping unwanted products subsurface. As a result, production can be increased without the need for complex multiphase pumps, power consumption is reduced and the system required is less complicated.

Recent developments in the market have also been drivers for subsea processing, such as operations in deeper water and more remote locations. “Over the next five to six years, a significant number of oil and gas fields will be developed in deep and ultra-deep water,” commented Daan Uiterwaal, Market Analyst at IHC. “We can make production more efficient by placing production equipment as close to the well as possible. This is a strong driver for the demand for subsea production equipment.”

The distance between the well and offshore production facility has also increased in recent years. “A longer tie-back distance means a lot of efficiency is lost in production. At the same time, this presents challenges in flow assurance. Subsea processing can mitigate those effects,” he added.

The current tendency in the offshore market, however, is to install large and heavy installations, in deeper and more difficult conditions – resulting in larger vessels and mission equipment. Subsea systems on the market are a development of conventional products, which are voluminous and this makes taking them subsea costly.

“The focus until recently has been on putting conventional technology on the seafloor,” says Daan.“Due to industry challenges, new technologies are required to enable lower opex production.” While the number of subsea trees (the valve systems on top of the well) have been growing rapidly since 1990, for shallow- and deep-water production, the installation of subsea processing equipment such as boosting, compression, separation and water injection is lagging behind. Traditionally active in offshore installation equipment, IHC realised there was an opportunity for it to become involved in the process of the oil and gas operators.

“Our collaboration with Frames has enabled us to downsize the production equipment, instead of upsizing the installation equipment, which brings numerous benefits to oil and gas operators,” he added.

SWIRLSEP TECHNOLOGY Frames’ SwirlSep – a compact controllable inline separator – enables handling of large variations in flow rate. It combines a special flow control valve, the SwirlValve, with an inline separator. Based on this technology, IHC and Frames have jointly developed a compact subsea separation system.

The SwirlValve is a low shear valve that can be utilised as a choke valve and/or (level) control valve. Similar to a cage valve – axial flow or angular – it has one distinct feature: the trim cage design enables a swirling flow, or vortex, to be created downstream of the valve.

The major advantages of the swirling flow compared to the intense mixing and chaotic flow created by conventional valves are: smaller pressure drop over the cage, reduced shear on the fluid, reduced droplet/bubble break-up, coalescence of droplets or bubbles, and minimised erosion. The system has extremely high separation efficiencies, even at extremely low flows.

A COMPACT SUBSEA PACKAGE IHC Concept, a specialist in the design and engineering of subsea production equipment, was responsible for packaging up this technology in a compact and lightweight system. The team was responsible for the development of the subsea structure, diverless field connections and interconnecting fluid handling package.

Business Unit Director Andy Eaton explained: “Our objectives were to limit the cost of installation and logistics – transferring it from topside and deploying it subsea.

We also looked at minimising downtime and reducing the cost of intervention and maintenance.”

The team at IHC Concept created a template, which carries the foundation structure and two modules each containing a SwirlSep assembly. Its modular design allows system configuration for project-specific selection of operational redundancy features, even allowing adaptation during field lifetime, and a multitude of geotechnical options (such as suction pile, skirts, ballasted).

The module incorporates two separators, providing the ability to switch between the units and hence providing 100% system redundancy. “The modular design allows both subsea intervention and, if required, full recovery of one separator, while leaving one unit in place to continue the separation process and thus providing a significant advantage of very limited downtime,” says Andy www.royalihc.com

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Gulf of Mexico

contract for

Subsea 7

Subsea 7 recently announced the award of a large contract by BP as part of the deepwater Mad Dog 2 development, located approximately 190 miles south of New Orleans, USA. The contract scope covers engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of the subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) and associated subsea architecture.

Subsea 7 has worked closely with BP to deliver a lump sum integrated solution from design through to supply, installation and commissioning. Also, by collaborating with OneSubsea, a Schlumberger company, the Subsea Integration Alliance partner that has been awarded the Subsea Production Systems (SPS) contract, additional areas of cost improvement have been identified to provide greater cost certainty and reduced risk. This has enabled the original cost of the Mad Dog 2 development to be substantially reduced.

Together the SURF and SPS contract awards are a significant endorsement of the Alliance offering and confirmation of the client's high level of interest in this approach, and in Subsea 7 as a key partner. This is also the first substantial project in the US to use Subsea 7's Swagelining polymer lining technology.

Project management and engineering will take place in Houston, Texas with support from Subsea 7's Global Project Centre in London, UK. Offshore installation activities are scheduled for 2019 and 2020.

Craig Broussard, Subsea 7 Vice President for the Gulf of Mexico, commented: "The Mad Dog 2 project is a significant award for Subsea 7. It combines Subsea 7's capability with our Subsea Integration Alliance value offering to reduce risk and provide lower cost solutions for BP. This project serves as a step-change of how we work in the region and in Subsea 7's ability to deliver superior value to the industry." www.subsea7.com

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A unique new hi-tech submersible vessel that combines high speed on the surface with the ability to submerge to significant depths has been developed in the USA. The HyperSub is 14 metres in length, is road transportable and it has been designed to be fully self-supporting with a range of over 200 miles on the surface.

It can be deployed without the requirement for a support ship which can greatly reduce the operating costs that are normally associated with operating submersibles.

The top speed on the surface is 31 knots reducing to a cruising speed of 25 knots.

On the surface the HyperSub is powered by a pair of 480 hp Yanmar diesels of type 6LY3-ETP. A snorkel exhaust system allows the craft to operate just below the surface with the diesels running either for propulsion or for battery re-charging. Below the surface the propulsion is by Innerspace electric motors with two 60 hp units which give a speed of 5.5 knots. Two further Innerspace thrusters of 10 hp each are used in a vertical mode to maintain depth.

HyperSub is based on a trimaran hull with the outer hulls having the planing surfaces necessary for speed. The craft comprises two main components, the sea frame and the dry chamber. The sea frame consists of four main components, the ballast chambers, the engines, the batteries and the dive chamber. This is the functional base unit of the HyperSub responsible for its surface and submersible operations.

The dry chamber is the crew compartment and adjustments can be made to the cabin to accommodate more passengers, cargo, crew, battery payload and any number of options designed to meet specific criteria for the end-user. Once on location the transition into a submarine is achieved through activating a few switches.

A feature called Hyper-Buoyancy controls and compartmentalises the 30,000 lbs of lift inherent in the design. This can be accessed on demand which it is claimed gives the craft unmatched safety features. These include the lift separated in 8 different compartments allowing the craft to return to the surface, in a controlled way, even in the event of total systems failure plus a very rapid ascent capability if needed in an emergency. The craft can return to the surface even if the cabin is completely flooded.

The life support system operates for 12 hours and an emergency system extends this out to 96 hours. With a steel cabin fitted the craft can submerge to 366 metres and with an acrylic cabin the depth capability is 150 metres. In standard form the HyperSub has a number of features including a periscope but the design can be adapted to meet a wide variety of specialised applications in the offshore sector. These can include pipeline surveys, hull and platform inspections and search and rescue in addition to harbour and littoral patrol. ROVs can be operated from the craft. www.hypersub.com

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Norway's Aquaculture gets second Falcon Abyss Aqua, a key provider of services to the Norwegian aquaculture industry, has bought a second Saab Seaeye Falcon, one of the world’s most successful electric underwater robotic systems of its class.

They have added the deeper-rated 1000 metre version of the Falcon to their extensive fleet of underwater vehicles.

"We decided to go for the Falcon DR, not only because of its reliability, but also its price,” says ROV manager, Hans Christian Myhre. "We already have one Falcon ROV and we are very pleased with the performance and ease of maintenance.”

He explains that the Falcon will support them in the wide range of services they provide for the Norwegian aquaculture industry.

"This includes installing, changing, inspecting and cleaning nets. Also mooring work, towing and transport, along with cleaning and disinfecting fish breeding equipment.”

The Falcon has been successfully deployed in the aquaculture sector internationally for over 12 years.

Its winning concept comes from having the power and precise control to operate around large and deep nets in high currents.

A wide range of equipment for many different tasks can be easily added and changed and the system is simple and easy to operate.

The Falcon’s success comes from having packed five powerful thrusters and an intelligent distributed control system into a small, easily manhandled 1 x 0.5 x 0.6 metre versatile system that has been proven worldwide since 2002. www.seaeye.com

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Ghana gets new deepwater service centre GE Oil & Gas has opened a new facility in Takoradi Port, Ghana. The company has committed to deliver more than 45,000 training hours for Ghanaian personnel over the next five years.

The facility, which will be the primary service center for deep-water offshore projects in Ghana, has a 1,600 square meters indoor test area with capability for testing three subsea trees (XTs) simultaneously, and 4,000 square meters of indoor and outdoor storage.

This new infrastructure is already supporting the installation for Eni’s Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) project - for which GE Oil & Gas is supplying subsea and turbomachinery equipment - and will support the local community by helping to provide direct employment opportunities.

It will also provide welcome support for the local supply chain, and for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Lorenzo Simonelli, president & CEO of GE Oil & Gas, said: “The opening of the GE Takoradi facility demonstrates our commitment to developing local partnerships and capacity building to deliver effective and efficient solutions for our customers.”

“Localization supports growth in the communities in which we work, while increasing our productivity. As a global company, GE is uniquely-placed to have a well-rounded economic impact on the regions where we operate. We are committed to partnering with Ghana to help support building critical skills and developing infrastructure for the country’s future growth.”

Along with committing to delivering a comprehensive training program for the local workforce, GE Oil & Gas has recruited more than 30 Ghanaian staff to work at the new facility, including two fully-trained field service engineers who are now working offshore to support the installation phase for the OCTP project.

GE Oil & Gas partnered with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Ashesi University College in a two-phased approach to local capacity building, including education and skills development, and a small to medium enterprise (SME) development program. The partnership is helping to develop the next and future generations of the oil and gas workforce, providing them with practical learning opportunities and access to technical expertise, locally.

Ado Oseragbaje, president and CEO Sub-Saharan Africa, GE Oil & Gas, said: “Ghana has decades of development potential and we are excited to provide support to a project that will act as an important energy source for the country for many years with minimal environmental impact, while also driving the development of local infrastructure and capacity-building. We have the strength and scope to be able to stay close to our customers, work where they work, and invest in the training and facilities required to reduce complexity, provide faster turnaround of equipment deliveries, support our partners and build a solid talent pipeline in-country.” www.geoilandgas.com

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Navigating around the marine renewable

energy sector

by John Caskey, Managing Director, Hydrosphere With a number of new developments and investment announced in recent years, the UK marine renewable energy sector is an exciting place to be. Offshore wind farms are no longer the ‘new kids on the block’, with the UK offshore wind sector meeting approximately 5% of demand (predicted to grow to 10% by 2020); and wave, tidal and current sectors all gaining ground - or water.

Aids to Navigation are a key component of a successful marine renewable energy project. Not just a safety requirement, but also a way of tracking and monitoring what’s happening out at sea, and providing essential data for managing operations and maintenance.

Here we outline how to ensure you get the right aids to navigation in place, in time:

Marine renewables construction phase

Our first tip is to make sure you don’t fall foul of regulations before you even start construction. Navigation buoys need to be in situ denoting the perimeter of the site, four weeks before construction begins. This is to provide sufficient time to raise awareness of the site and ensure local shipping is forewarned before construction starts.

We introduced a rental service for navigation buoys and lights in 2013 to address construction requirements like this. Temporary aids to navigation can be used to mark the perimeter of the site before and during construction; hiring these is an affordable way to manage this phase of the project.

Hydrosphere has come to the rescue on more than one occasion when project managers have overlooked the four-week rule! We’ve rented navigation buoys to developers to plug the gap between the start of this period and when construction starts, in cases where they have failed to ensure that aids to navigation will be delivered on time.

As well as the deployment of buoys to mark the site, an important use of navigation lights during the construction phase is when foundations for wind turbines are first installed. As many foundation types, such as mono piles and gravity foundations, only stand approximately 1 metre above sea level and must be illuminated prior to the turbine being installed.

Many aids to navigation during the construction phase of an offshore renewable energy project are temporary by their nature. However, they must be compliant with IALA recommendations and local lighthouse authority guidelines. We’re seeing offshore renewable energy developers investing in navigation buoys and lights, such as the Mobilis JET 9000Q, by purchasing them outright for use on multiple projects. Other users may find it more cost effective to rent temporary navigation buoys and lights for the duration of the construction phase of their projects.

Permanent Markers

Trinity House (General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar) require that all aids to navigation meet category 1 availability requirements. This means they must be working 99.8% of the year.

It is therefore essential that the permanent navigation markers used on any offshore renewable energy project be fit for purpose.

Key areas to consider are: • Illumination of signage, for example night-time ID marking on wind turbines • Illumination of towers and superstructure • Navigation markers and lights for underwater structures, cabling etc.

• Detectors and fog signals, such as the FW 1 0.5NM omnidirectional foghorn • Data buoys and monitoring: need to know whether it’s safe to get maintenance crews out to an offshore facility?

Data buoys can provide essential information such as wave data to help manage operations and maintenance efficiently.

Reliability and 99.8% ‘uptime’ can only be achieved when navigations aids are monitored and correctly maintained. This is why we supply remote monitoring systems using GSM or satellite to ensure that any issues are addressed quickly.

Furthermore a system of planned maintenance is always the best option, avoiding expensive casualty response, and ensuring that all systems are performing at their best.

Hydrosphere has a worked with many offshore renewable energy developers, since the first offshore wind farm was installed in 2003.

www.hydrosphere.co.uk www.hydrosphererentals.co.uk

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For sales and enquiries, contact sales@nautilusrigging.com

www.nautilusrigging.com

Tel: +44 1224 772323

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Ocean Scientific International Ltd. (OSIL) will introduce the next generation of their Small Field Buoy at the Ocean Business show in Southampton, UK, this month.

The platform, which is now a more manoeuvrable 55cm in diameter, also offers an improvement to the high visibility profile of previous platforms, meaning it is better suited to frequent redeployments in high-traffic coastal and port areas, OSIL said.

The buoy is suitable for all applications, including scientific studies, water quality monitoring, coastal engineering projects, harbor and coastal monitoring, and maritime traffic control. “The Small Field Buoy has been designed to be easy to handle, deploy and recover with an integrated grab ring, a total weight of around 35kg and 1.8m in length. The central structure safely houses sensors with excellent water flow, while providing protection from collision damage,� the company said.

The buoy can accommodate four 14W solar panels with battery back-up, datalogger and telemetry system(s), including UHF/VHF, GSM, GPRS and Satellite, with 60kg net buoyancy.

OSIL produce integrated systems for environmental monitoring in all marine applications. Specializing in instrumented buoy platforms, current and wave measurement systems, dredge monitoring, oil spill detection, berth management and sediment corers, OSIL offers support for systems, including instrument calibration. www.osil.co.uk

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