Marine and Maritime Gazette July 2021

MARINE & MARITIME

GAZETTE Commercial Marine & Renewables Worldwide

ISSUE 77

JULY 2021

INSIDE: 9

26

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So, is the future now a bit brighter?

With a little more optimism, do we now look to the ‘maritime future’

Editor

Welcome to the July 2021 issue of Marine & Maritime Gazette the monthly magazine aimed at Worldwide coverage of the commercial marine, shipping and water-based renewables markets.

With the industry now moving forward with a certain degree of optimism after the Pandemic, is it time to look for the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’.

Inside this issue, we are, as usual, covering a vast amount of topics, from ‘Navigation, Communication & Radar’ on page 20, to the ‘ins and outs’ of ‘Marine Civils & Construction’ from page 26. There is also a quick look at ‘Insurance, Finance & Legal’ on page 34 and from page 40 we also have a ‘peek’ at ‘Safety, Security & Fire Commercial Ma rine & Renewab les Worldwide Protection’.

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

MARINE & MARITIME

GAZETTE

Arthur Peaches - Editor

ISSUE 77 JULY 2021

INSIDE: 9

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Cover story Tritex NDT are established as one of the leading companies manufacturing ultrasonic thickness gauges and offering multiple echo gauges.

p18 Combat Support Damen Shipyards Galati hold keel-laying ceremony for Combat Support Ship Den Helder.

p8 Tug berth Inland and Coastal supply new tug berth at Port of Portland, UK, in record time.

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New London shipyard

The Port of London Authority (PLA) has an ongoing project with property developers, London & Regional, and the Royal Docks Team (RDT) to deliver the first new shipyard on the Thames for over a century.

Use of the River Thames is still under constant growth, with increasing passenger services, barge movements and more deepsea trade.

The planned shipyard forms part of Albert Island - the 25-acre multimillion-pound industrial regeneration scheme in the Royal Docks. The whole area is undergoing significant transformation as London’s only

p28 Minimising inspections Fugro minimises in-person inspections with new floating offshore wind real-time monitoring solution.

p40

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

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

PUBLISHING COMPANY

Enterprise Zone and presents a unique opportunity for a skilled maritime operator to develop dedicated facilities and highly skilled jobs for local people, serving the UK’s busiest inland waterway.

Development of a London shipyard is in line with wider Government moves to reinvigorate shipbuilding in the UK - an updated National Shipbuilding Strategy is due to be released later this year, which is expected to take in broader merchant and other vessels, alongside the current strategy’s focus on vessels for the Royal Navy.

PLA chief executive, Robin Mortimer, commented: “The Thames has been the centre of a river renaissance over the last decade, with continuing investment in new vessels and services of all kinds. This shipyard opportunity has major significance, as it will put the essential repair and maintenance facilities at the heart of the busy river. Once developed it will mean services can be provided more easily, saving operators time taking vessels to yards off the river and minimising downtime.” www.pla.co.uk

BL Journals, 3 Biddenden Way, Istead Rise, Gravesend, Kent DA13 9DE Tel 01322 352648 Email info@bljournals.plus.com @MandMGazette

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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Fugro’s Geo-data platform to accelerate delivery of Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind project

Fugro has completed the first phase of a 2-year contract with Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind (Atlantic Shores) to build and manage a centralised, cloudhosted Geo-data repository for the company’s lease development off the coast of New Jersey in the US. The web-based engagement platform was recently delivered and utilises Fugro’s Gaia technology to provide Atlantic Shores and their stakeholders with a single source of updated Geo-data and documentation. Fugro will maintain the Gaia solution until 2022 to help Atlantic Shores achieve streamlined decision making and an accelerated project schedule.

To develop the Geo-data repository, Fugro is integrating public datasets and historical project data with realtime field data, including information from Fugro’s ongoing metocean, geophysical, geotechnical and environmental programmes. The approach is facilitating realtime tracking of the site characterisation effort, along with an updated ‘digital twin’ ground model of the lease area. This information is accessible to project stakeholders 24/7 without the need for specialised software or GIS experience; it also includes a data deliverable portal for downloading post-processed datasets.

Deanne Hargrave, Geoscience Manager for Atlantic Shores, said: “Atlantic Shores is thrilled to leverage Fugro’s Gaia solution for visualising and sharing our wealth of geophysical, geotechnical and environmental data internally with our project team and externally with our stakeholders. Engineering decisions are facilitated, enhanced and expedited from the instant information access that Gaia provides to our team. This comprehensive data solution is advancing the way we work collaboratively and encouraging complete utilisation of the valuable datasets.”

Edward Saade, President of Fugro in the US, said: “We are pleased to expand our work with Atlantic Shores through this contract and look forward to demonstrating the value of truly integrated Geo-data products and services using Fugro’s Gaia technology for the offshore wind market. As a US industry leader, Atlantic Shores has the potential to make a significant impact to our country’s energy transition, work that aligns perfectly with our own purpose to help build a safe and liveable world.” www.fugro.com

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Port of Liverpool prepares for larger volumes

The Port of Liverpool will increase capacity and open its gates around the clock until at least Christmas 2021 to meet long-term demand growth and clear the backlog caused by the recent IT outage.

Establishing green ports in Scotland

Businesses in Scotland are being asked to note their interest in establishing fair and sustainable green ports around the Nation.

Recently, the Port suffered increased congestion as ships were left stuck at anchor due to understaffing and its IT system crashing.

Containers were delayed for several hours, which caused a knock-on effect across the UK supply chain.

David Huck, Managing Director, Group Ports, Peel Ports, commented: “Demand has put pressure on the Port’s infrastructure and workforce and it has taken steps to prepare it for greater volume numbers.

“We have provided additional resources to work through the backlog caused by these delays which have now been significantly reduced and service levels are now stable,” “In further response to growth and demand, we are also introducing measures that will strengthen our ongoing capacity,” he added.

New operators, who are finishing their ongoing training, will allow it to stay open for longer and process more cargo. These will be in addition to the 150 employees the Port took on at the end of last year.

Adapting the UK Government freeport proposals, the aim of Scottish green ports is to offer a package of tax and customs reliefs to operators and their beneficiaries who adopt fair work practices and contribute to Scotland’s just energy transition to net zero.

In a letter to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay, Trade Minister Ivan McKee outlined concerns from the Scottish Government and industry stakeholders that a delay from the UK Government is putting Scottish ports at a competitive disadvantage. Mr McKee also confirmed that while remaining committed to working with the UK Government to establish green ports, the Scottish Government is now seeking notes of interest from business.

Mr McKee commented: “This is a crucial time for business, trade and investment in Scotland and a key part of our recovery from the pandemic is pushing forward with an ambitious agenda of economic transformation. Green ports will help us create a sustainable economy that promotes good jobs and supports our important net zero commitments.

“The Scottish Government remains committed to working in partnership with the UK Government to ensure the benefits of green ports are equally felt by businesses across the UK. However, we have been frustrated at the lack of cooperation from the UK Government who appear to be unwilling to agree to our green port ambitions on fair work and net zero.

“We want to ensure businesses in Scotland receive the same level of incentives and assistance from the UK Government as those offered to freeports in England. I have therefore written to UK Ministers outlining our position and invited them to join us in meeting with industry leaders on June 30 where we can hopefully find a path forward that delivers for business and ensures a level playing field.

“By working together and galvanising the expertise of businesses, trade unions and workforces, we will seize Scotland’s economic potential and deliver greater, greener and fairer prosperity.”

Green ports would use Fair Work First criteria, which means no inappropriate use of zero-hours contracts, payment of the real living wage, action to tackle the gender pay gap, investing in workforce development and providing appropriate effective voice channels for workers, such as trade union recognition.

This informal expression of interest exercise will form part of the consultation on green ports and is not part of the formal application or selection process, which will follow, subject to agreement by the UK Government.

The Port of Liverpool will be open 24/7 for the majority of the year, which will make it more accessible over evenings and weekends and so enable customers to take advantage of the extra capacity and resources.

As well as the increased demand and IT outage, Huck attributed the congestion to a combination of factors including the unexpected high stack density which affected turnaround times.

“We understand that any issues with the smooth running of ports are frustrating for customers and that ports and supply chains are under increased pressures following increased demand and the impact of external factors.” Huck continued.

Congestion has been a big problem for ports around the globe this year, with many highprofile problems arising on the US West Coast and more recently in the Port of Yantian, China’s biggest export gateway.

In some regions this has encouraged port expansion and technological innovation, and also hubs to rethink about their place on the global supply chain.

The capacity upgrade is the latest initiative from Peel Ports to improve container handling operations at the Port of Liverpool.

www.gov.scot

www.peelports.com

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World’s first foiling water taxi

Candela recently introduced their Candela P-12, the World’s first foiling water taxi, combining a supreme passenger experience with low operating costs The Candela P-12 is a 12-person water taxi that lets passengers experience the magic of electric hydrofoiling. With an electric pod motor, P-12 can cruise in almost total silence, without disturbing marine wildlife with wake or sound pollution. P-12 allows passengers to get up close and personal with the best nature can offer, while offering operators an 85% cost reduction over existing combustion engine vessels.

The electric, hydrofoiling Candela P-12 is the world’s first electric taxi boat with long range and high speed. Thanks to Candela’s innovative hydrofoil system, already market-proven in the leisure boat Candela C-7, P-12 flies silently above the water at speeds up to 30 knots.

With an endurance of more than 2 hours at 20 knots, P-12 is the first electric water taxi that can cover long routes at high speeds.

DC fast charging replenishes the battery in under one hour.

But P-12 also offers the passengers an experience unlike anything before. Flying in total silence, above the waves, it creates virtually no wake that would otherwise damage nearby vessels or harm marine wildlife. This allows you to go fast where others can’t, without disturbing the peace.

Whether you’re looking for a comfortable taxi boat, a thrilling rib or an economical sightseeing boat, P-12 will outperform the competition. Soaring above the chop at 30 knots without slamming or noise, it provides passengers a tranquil ride - even in rough seas.

Candela’s proprietary Flight controller and computer-stabilized hydrofoil system mean the P-12 offers a stable and smoother ride than any other vessel in its size.

The climate shell is designed for panoramic views and ensures passenger comfort in conditions ranging from sub-zero temperatures to tropical heat.

Both the main foil and the aft foil can be retracted for running in shallow waters, or when storing the boat on land.

Switching from a combustion engine to an electric boat shouldn’t be a tough decision and with the P-12, there’s no trade-off between economy and environment.

One of the big benefits of Candela’s hydrofoil technology and proprietary electric drive train is the low operating costs. P-12 consumes 80% less energy than conventional combustion engine water taxis, or in other words, less energy per passenger than a family car. This means that even in markets where fossil fuels are subsidized, P-12 will be considerably cheaper to operate than comparable combustion engine vessels.

Candela’s hydrofoil technology is tried and tested in their Candela C-7, the world’s first electric hydrofoil leisure boat, which currently is the best-selling electric premium boat in Europe.

The Flight controller, software and sensor suite have been extensively validated in serial production craft since 2019. So far, no other company has succeeded in bringing an electric hydrofoil boat to the market.

All components, from the control system to the carbon fibre hull, have been developed in-house by Candela’s 50-strong team of engineers and technicians based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Candela P-12 shares many components with its bigger sister, the P-30 ferry currently being developed for the city of Stockholm. P12 is available for pre-order at Candela.com and deliveries will begin in late 2022. www.candelaspeedboat.com

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Damen Shipyards Galati lays keel of Combat Support Ship Recently Damen Shipyards Galati has performed the keel-laying ceremony on the Combat Support Ship (CSS) Den Helder. This marks an important milestone in the construction of this new supply ship for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The keel laying ceremony was performed by the Director Defence Material Organisation (DMO), vice admiral Arie Jan de Waard and vice admiral Rob Kramer, Commander Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN).

The yard carried out the steel cutting for this new vessel in December last year.

Following the keel-laying, all the building blocks for the actual construction of the ship in Romania are now ready. The engineering of the CSS has been largely carried out in the Netherlands. Damen Naval division director Hein van Ameijden emphasizes that it is mainly the cooperation with companies from the existing naval construction chain that makes the innovative construction of Dutch naval ships possible: “More than a year after signing the contract for this ship, Damen Naval has concluded 116 purchase contracts, of which 82 are with Dutch suppliers. These are with companies coming mostly from the Rijnmond and Zeeland areas. It is this entire chain of companies that contributes to the construction of this new ship for the RNLN.” Besides emphasizing the close cooperation between all parties involved, the keel laying also has a traditional value. In the past, a coin was placed under the wooden mast for prosperity. Nowadays, with the ships made of steel, the coin is placed under the keel block. Both admirals performed this operation for the CSS, placing a coin from 1822 for the occasion. This was an important year for the RNLN, in which, after various plans and initiatives for fort building in the Napoleonic era, the marine establishment with drydock in Den Helder was transferred to their ownership.

The next important ceremonial milestone is the naming of the vessel, but not before the building of the ship is completed in 2023. After commissioning, testing and shipyard trials the ship will sail to Den Helder, where the accessories and the combat management system will be installed before the ship is transferred to the navy in 2025.

The ship was designed in close collaboration with the DMO and the RNLN. It is based on the Joint Support Ship HNLMS Karel Doorman, previously built by Damen.

The nearly 180-metre-long ship will have a 75-person standard crew and can take an additional 85 people on board. In addition to space for fuel and munition to supply other ships, there is room for several helicopters and twenty containers. www.damen.com

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Wartsila chosen to power

British Columbia’s most

environmentally

advanced escort tugs

The technology group Wartsila will supply the main engines and LNG fuel gas supply systems for two new LNG-fuelled escort tugs being built for Canada’s HaiSea Marine, a joint venture between the Haisla Nation and Seaspan Marine Transportation. The ships have been designed by Robert Allan Ltd. Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and are under construction at Sanmar Shipyards in Turkey. They are expected to be two of the most environmentally advanced escort tugs operating in the coastal waters of British Columbia in Canada. The order with Wartsila was placed back in April this year.

The two vessels will each be powered by Wartsila 34DF dual-fuel engines operating with LNG fuel. The engines will be fitted with Wartsila’s NOx selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to restrict emissions of nitrogen oxides. Wartsila will also supply its LNGPac fuel storage, supply and control system. The Wartsila equipment is scheduled for delivery to the shipyard in 2022.

“This project aligns closely with Wartsila’s efforts to develop and promote environmentally sustainable technologies, and to support the global decarbonisation of shipping. We are pleased to continue our strong relationship with Seaspan Marine, and are proud to have our solutions included in the Robert Allan RAstar design for this project,” commented Mark Keneford, General Manager, Sales, Wartsila Marine Power.

Wartsila has previously delivered similar equipment for two in-service ferries operated by Seaspan Ferries, another Seaspan affiliated company. The successful performance of these ferries and Wartsila’s lifecycle support capabilities in Canada, were cited as being important considerations in the award of this contract. www.wartsila.com

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First of 40 Concordia Damen inland waterway tankers launched

The first of 40 inland waterway barges that are being built by Concordia Damen has been launched at the casco yard in Serbia. Concordia Damen signed the contract for the environmentally friendly vessels late last year.

The vessels, known as the Parsifal Tankers, will be chartered by Shell and operated by the VT Group/Marlow. The vessels will be 110 x 11.45 metres and will feature low emission LNG propulsion and extreme shallow draft capabilities. They will carry mineral oils between Antwerp, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Rhine network. The VT Group is specialised in the inland shipping of minerals, chemical products, bio fuels and lubricants.

Concordia Damen CEO Chris Kornet said, “We are pleased to have reached this milestone in this important project. The Parsifal Tankers represent a new generation of eco-conscious vessels that will play a significant role in the maritime energy transition. We are looking forward to continuing to develop this project in the coming months.” www.damen.com www.concordiadamen.com

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ISO 9001: 2015 accreditation

Approvals: ABS, GL, DNV, RINA & LRS

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Swathe Services expands its rental pool in latest collaboration with GeoAcoustics

UK-based, Swathe Services have recently expanded their equipment rental pool capability with a suite of GeoAcoustics products.

James Williams, Managing Director at Swathe Services said “Traditionally we have supported our customers’ survey requirements with pure Hydrographic equipment but with the acquisition of the GeoAcoustics suite of survey systems we can now offer a wider Geophysical support capability. There are also plans underway to integrate these systems into both the ‘Inception’ and ‘Accession’ class Unmanned Survey Vessel’s (USV’s) through our sister company Unmanned Survey Solutions which will give us the ability to provide turn-key solutions of pre-calibrated survey systems on a proven USV platforms to our existing customer base.”

Great Yarmouth based GeoAcoustics have been manufacturing marine survey equipment for over 42 years and produce world-leading sonar systems. The GeoSwath4 offers the industry's most efficient swath bathymetry and side scan seabed mapping system for shallow waters. The Pulsar side scan Sonar is designed for easy deployment and intuitive operation, acquiring high resolution acoustic images of the seabed. The GeoPulse Compact OTS is a technically advanced sub-bottom profiler with low power requirements and versatile deployment options.

"We're very pleased to be able to now offer a wider range of GeoAcoustics products to Swathe Services customers, and we look forward to working closely with both Swathe and USS in the future as we bring new and innovative products to the market" added GeoAcoustics General Manager Dr. Richard Dowdeswell. www.swathe-services.com

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Albwardy Damen recognised as

Best New Building Yard at

ShipTek Awards 2021

Albwardy Damen, a leading provider of shipbuilding and ship repair services in the marine, and oil and gas related industries in the Middle East, was recognised as the Best New Building Yard at the 14th edition of the ShipTek International Awards 2021, held in Dusit Thani Hotel, Dubai, on June 7, 2021.

The award was received by Willem Moelker, sales & marketing director, Albwardy Damen.

The ShipTek International Maritime Awards has established itself as one of the most distinguished events in the maritime, offshore and oil & gas sectors. The 14th edition of the awards recognised significant industry players who contributed to the sector's growth, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting market disruption.

Albwardy Damen aims to improve the efficiency of its operations and develop strong client relationships by providing high safety standards and excellent services in line with its promise and commitment to its customers. Its services include newbuilding of steel and aluminium vessels, as well as marine, and oil & gas asset maintenance and servicing. Its services are offered in all of the UAE's major ports and anchorages, as well as in the Sultanate of Oman. Moreover, it provides its clients all around the world with docking services, ship repair, conversion services, afloat and voyage repairs, 3D scanning, and new building.

Furthermore, the company's diving services and anchor recoveries division in Fujairah serves ports and anchorages across the UAE and provides services such as underwater hull cleaning.

Commenting on the company’s achievement at ShipTek 2021, Lars Seistrup, managing director of Albwardy Damen, said, “2020 was a very challenging year for all of us due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Having said that, it was also one of the busiest years ever for our newbuilding department. Our schedule was packed with the construction and delivery of two vessels of almost 100 metres length each. Having worked so hard over the past one and a half years of the pandemic, it is a great honour to be given this award” Albwardy Damen has state-of-the-art facilities for the construction of all types of modern and complex vessels. Damen Shipyards Group has built over 200 vessels for the Middle Eastern Market since 1969, many of which are still in service. The company employs over 1300 highly experienced and skilled professionals from 26 different nationalities and has an extensive engineering section devoted to repairing and construction of vessels to the highest technical and environmental standards. It is also certified by LRQA for ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 as well as API Q1.

“Albwardy Damen's primary goal has always been to provide the highest level of services to its clients. The company’s success over the last ten years is a testament to a never-ending pursuit of technological innovation and commitment to services tailored to our customers,” Lars added. www.damen.com

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Bathymetric surveys with a UAV and an echo sounder successfully conducted in Israel

Israeli drone service provider Erelis recently conducted a number of pilot projects using a drone equipped with a single-beam echo sounder in the Mediterranean and Dead Seas.

The data was validated by authorized local surveyors and reports from previous surveys of the same areas by ‘Michmoret Campus - Faculty of Marine Sciences’.

The ‘reference’ bathymetric data was collected using a manned boat and multibeam and single-beam echo sounders and demonstrated a good match between the results of new drone-based and traditional methods.

The bathymetric system consisted of a standard commercial DJI drone (UgCS SkyHub onboard computer and terrain following system with radar altimeter) and Echologger ECT400 single-beam echo sounder provided by SPH Engineering, Latvia. For data processing, the Eye4Software Hydromagic software package was employed.

“I was surprised by the manoeuvrability of the system and how easy it is to conduct bathymetric surveys using a UAV equipped with an echo sounder. Some of our survey areas were 400-500m away from take-off/landing positions and that means that the term ‘remote sensing’ comes to the world of hydrography and becomes available to any drone service companies,” commented Roman Kirsanov,CEO of Erelis.

“Good to see that applicability of our system with a single-beam echo sounder is validated in conditions outside of its initial focus on small-scale surveys of inland water bodies, first of all when possibility to do surveys without actual physical access to the area under investigation, as well as situations where it is not reasonable to employ traditional methods. Furthermore, thanks to our partner, we can now also recommend our system for small-scale surveys in coastal areas and virtually in any liquids - density of water in the Dead Sea is 1.24kg/L,” added Alexey Dobrovolskiy, CTO of SPH Engineering.

SPH Engineering announced the launch of a UAV drone, integrated with an echo sounder, as a new product for bathymetric surveys of inland and coastal waters in May 2020. This data collection method has since been used in a number of countries, including Denmark and the UAE. The method has proven to be both time and cost efficient and suitable for mapping, measuring and inspections, as well as environmental monitoring. This bathymetry solution is also synchronized with Hydromagic Survey software package. www.sph-engineering.com

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Damen and

Hydromaster develop new ferry thruster

for Blue Amigo

Last year Damen signed a contract with Blue Amigo for the delivery of nine passenger vessels. The ferries will operate services between Rotterdam and the Drecht cities in the Netherlands in a service known as the Waterbus.

Damen identified that six of the vessels, hybrid carbon fibre water buses that will operate fast, inter-city routes, would require a thruster that had not been seen before. What was needed was a fully azimuthing, 360-degree thruster that would make docking easy and propulsion fast.

“It’s actually the kind of thruster you would expect to see on a pleasure craft,” says Damen design and proposal engineer Ferries Jan van Ooijen. “On a passenger vessel, though, we needed something more manoeuvrable and robust.”

Damen approached the experts of Hydromaster, a company with decades of experience in the field of steerable propulsion. Renowned for their sturdy, fully-mechanical design, Hydromaster thrusters propel hundreds of ferries, ships, barges and pontoons every day, all over the world.

The two companies joined forces to develop this new thruster, as Hydromaster commercial manager Jan Terlouw explains. “We had already been working on something that would meet these requirements. A 375kW thruster, able to operate at speeds of up to and beyond 25 knots and durable enough to cover over 4,000 hours each year. But we had never built it. Once Damen signed its contract with Blue Amigo, we got the green light to go ahead.”

Before that, however, Hydromaster went to MARIN. The Maritime Research Institute Netherlands worked together with Hydromaster to develop the hydromechanics necessary to produce the thruster.

MARIN was able to provide the detailed calculations that would facilitate a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study and the finetuning of Hydromaster’s design.

Jesse Slot project manager ships at MARIN: “It’s always a challenge to strike a balance between efficiency and vibration. Because of the high speed required in this instance, to took us some time to get where we needed to be.”

Using its extensive experience and conducting a thorough assessment of Damen’s hull design, MARIN was able to come up with the solution , a propeller of 840mm diameter with a clearance of 23% diameter from the hull -reducing vibration to a minimum and allowing for increased efficiency.

For control of the thruster, Damen has developed in-house a single joystick controller that is intuitive to use and fulfills the circle of efficiency offered by the thruster.

Jan van Ooijen: “This is a compact installation that takes the concept of standardised shipbuilding and applies it on another level. The result maximises the performance of the vessel and offers the reliability required for a ferry service. We can see a future for this type of thruster.”

Jan Terlouw agrees, “We have already started to extend this range of High Speed Azimuth thrusters with a higher power output towards the 900 kW mark. We see a good potential for this type of thruster, not only for fast ferries, but also for example on crew transfer vessels for the offshore wind sector, supporting the production of sustainable energy, and other fast craft.” www.damen.com

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New navigation buoys for Port of Setúbal

The Portuguese Port Authority of Setúbal and Sesimbra have recently improved the marking of the central area in the North Channel in Setúbal with five navigation buoys and a marine sector light for Bela Vista windmill sightseeing point.

Grupo Lindley has supplied rotomolded polyethylene hulls of the Balizamar range, with its respective autonomous marine lanterns and moorings.

The improvements of the marine aids to navigation in the ports of Setúbal and Sesimbra are integrated in the Maritime Accessibility Improvement Project to ensure a safe navigation in both harbors and access channels.

www.almarin.es

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Tritex NDT leading the way in Drone Thickness Measurements

Tritex NDT have for many years been manufacturing ultrasonic thickness gauges and are now established as one of the leading companies offering multiple echo gauges. Multiple echo technology means that thickness measurements can be taken through 6mm thick coatings, only the metal substrate is measured. It doesn’t matter whether the coating is paint, epoxy or bitumen, it is completely ignored. This has huge advantages over having to remove coatings, both in time and money. It also has a big advantage when developing a gauge to mount onto a drone.

Taking thickness measurements at height has always been a requirement, and up until recently this has been done using scaffolding or rope access techniques. However, with the Tritex Multigauge 6000 dedicated Drone Thickness Gauge, first developed over three years ago, this is now a lot safer and cost effective than before.

Tritex NDT are leading the way in this application and are the only company worldwide with a dedicated thickness gauge to mount onto drones. In excess of 100 systems have so far been sold, with repeat orders coming from major petrochemical companies and class societies. The gauge and technology have been improved over three years of development in response to customer’s feedback and requirements.

The Multigauge 6000 consists of three parts, which includes the gauge, a gel dispenser and a probe holder for the correct alignment of the probe. The single crystal probe ensures accurate measurements on curved surfaces, such as storage tanks and pipelines. Thickness readings are transmitted wirelessly up to 500 metres, using its integrated RF transmitter, to a dedicated software that allows the operator to record measurements, set up templates and to remotely control the gel dispenser before touching the probe onto the surface.

The gauge can mount onto any ‘work class’ type drone, with the most popular being the DJI Matrice 210 or 300. Tritex NDT have also developed their own custom drone, the Multigauge 6500, specifically designed to provide a complete solution. The Multigauge 6500 ‘Flying Thickness Gauge’ has eight rotors to provide redundancy, as well as propellor guards so that it can be easily used inside tanks.

Tritex NDT is a leading manufacturer of thickness gauges and are at the forefront of using drones for high level inspections. All gauges are designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom and supplied as complete kits, ready to use, with a 3-year warranty and free annual calibration for the life of the gauge.

www.tritexndt.com

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Vessel antenna test

The team at ESVAGT need a reliable system of communication between ship and shore to ensure fast response in case of emergencies such as oil spill recovery and firefighting.

Working under pressure and in sometimes harsh sea conditions, ESVAGT’s mission to secure people, assets and the environment can only succeed with access to real time data and ship-to-shore communication. Increasingly, ESVAGT’s rescue capabilities not only depend on their experienced offshore crew but also on a robust always-on connectivity.

The company recently tested on their ESVAGT Innovator vessel a 45cm antenna powered by Intelsat’s FlexMaritime to deliver a consistent and dependable broadband connectivity performance.

With its ubiquitous service footprint, satellite communication is the best way to deliver broadband connectivity to ESVAGT’s vessels, regardless of their location. The ESVAGT fleet was already connected to a high bandwidth VNO (Virtual Network Operator) Hybrid Pool on a regional VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) service. However, the vessels’ rescue mission relies on consistent, dependable connectivity and a service interruption is not an option in situations where every minute counts to save lives. ESVAGT was, as a result, looking for a service that would be used for backup/failover to the existing VSAT solution.

Due to the critical nature of its activity, ESVAGT was looking for a robust solution that could deliver high speed connectivity even in harsh conditions and regardless of the location. The company operates in the Arctics amongst others and they needed the assurance of a 24/7 service in all conditions. The cost of the solution was another important element in their decision.

Small enough to hand carry aboard the vessel and easy to install, the lightweight 45cm antenna was easily connected to the Intelsat FlexMaritime network, which delivers unparalleled, multi-layered global coverage – ensuring connectivity wherever the vessel goes. Results were immediate and consistent throughout the test: the fast speeds of up to 6 x 2 megabits per second (Mbps) enabled the vessel to meet its needs such as ship-to-shore communications. The crew could also access their bank accounts despite rough sea conditions.

The high-performance Intelsat FlexMaritime network is claimed to deliver connectivity at a lower price than any other service providers, while the hardware and installation’s costs corresponded to ESVAGT’s budget. The flexibility of the solution was another element for selecting Intelsat as ESVAGT can use FlexMaritime’s 45cm service as stand-alone VSAT or BackUp/FailOver depending on their real time needs.

Lars Knudsen, IT Manager ESVAGT said: “An always-on connectivity is critical to our rescue mission and FlexMaritime’s 45cm service has consistently delivered high connectivity performance, helping us respond to our crew’s and operational needs. The ubiquity of Intelsat’s network, combined with the flexibility of the solution, its affordable cost and its ease of installation and use have made it an obvious choice for us, enabling short-term return on investment compared with other solutions on the market.” www.esvagt.com

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Real world testing for floating

Active- RTE and Passive Radar Reflectors ECHOMAX ACTIVE-XS dual band RTE with multiple visual and audible alarm functions and now with optional waterproof control box for RIBS or exposed mounting - Meets ISO 8729-2 - NATO stock No 5741-99-269-3512 - Our Actice RTE have been fitted to the Clipper Around the World Yachts for the last 5 years. Active XS, EM230 and EM230i were all mandatory fits on the 2018 Golden Globe Race Yachts.

wind project

CSignum Ltd.recently announced the testing of the prototype solution developed with Tfl Marine as part of the Floating Wind Technology Accelerator Competition (FLW TAC) was successful.

TfI have developed a unique Sea Spring to reduce snatch and fatigue loads on floating offshore wind structures. The Sea Spring incorporates CSignum’s HydroFi low frequency subsea wireless communication system which enables real-time autonomous full life fatigue monitoring. The TfI Sea Spring design includes piezoelectric ceramics embedded within the system to generate power for the CSignum wireless monitoring system. The tests, involving the TfI Sea Spring and CSignum HydroFi technology, took place under simulated real-world load conditions at Exeter University’s DMaC test rig.

Funded by the Scottish Government and managed through the Carbon Trust’s Floating Wind Joint Industry Project (FLW JIP), the FLW TAC awarded enabled CSignum and TfI Marine to manufacture and test their prototype solution to overcome the challenges of monitoring and inspection of mooring lines which have negatively impacted the commercialization of floating offshore wind.

The announcement came as Scotland prepares to host COP26 later this year and the Carbon Trust publishes the results of the floating wind technology development projects. In March 2020, CSignum and TfI Marine were recognized for their proof of concept: a solution which integrates mooring load sensing, power generation and wireless subsea communications into an existing spring to enable autonomous full life fatigue monitoring. Incorporating monitoring equipment into the mooring line spring reduces the need for physical inspection of mooring lines and enables a risk-based approach to monitoring. The spring also acts as a dampener on mooring lines and the monitoring equipment is powered by movement of the spring, using a piezo-electric generator, which removes the need for an external power source.

CSignum provided the low frequency wireless communications solution known as HydroFi technology, which uses variable low frequency and ultra-low power consumption for subsea and bi-directional data transmission through the water-air boundary. HydroFi technology connects to most subsea sensors using standard communications interfaces. In this instance, the transmitter and data logger are below the water, integrated onto the spring, which is attached to the mooring line, automatically transmitting to a receiver mounted on the wind-turbine floating platform. HydroFi technology sends data more consistently and reliably in turbid, low visibility and choppy waters than other wireless solutions or fault-prone cable systems.

Hannah Evans, Manager, Carbon Trust commented: “We are really pleased to see the progress CSignum and TfI Marine have made in developing their novel mooring line monitoring system over the last year. This project has demonstrated the value of international collaboration between Scotland and Ireland to develop new technologies, and address challenges faced by the floating wind industry both in managing mooring line loads and monitoring mooring lines safely and cost effectively. We look forward to seeing this technology progress.”

“Existing load measurement solutions normally consist of a wired strain gauge on a load pin somewhere on the mooring line and wherever you place that pin, it is susceptible to failure,” added Noel Halloran CEO at TfI Marine.”The TfI Sea Spring provides CSignum with the ideal mounting platform for their technology, which provides real time-data transmissions on strain loads, battery life and power supply.”

“We worked closely with TfI in their labs to test the feasibility of the integration of the CSignum HydroFi Modem with the Sea Spring and then fabricated and tested a proof of concept under simulated real-world load conditions at Exeter University’s DMaC test rig and the University of College Cork’s LIR National Ocean Test Facility,” said Richard Adams, Sales Director, at CSignum.

“Now, instead of operators having to do costly maintenance on mooring lines and receiving infrequent updates on their operation status, we can let them see the actual data in real time, so they know when maintenance or replacement is warranted, reducing OPEX and driving down the cost of energy.”

“We are honoured to have received this recognition from the Carbon Trust and the FWP JIP,” said Chris Brooks, CEO of CSignum. “We aim to listen to the needs of the industries we serve and are proud that we have co-developed a practical solution for wind farm operators. This is a real-world example which underscores our mission: to provide dynamic data transmission for ocean monitoring, enable datadriven environmental management and accelerate sustainable ocean development.”

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ECHOMAX EM230/230BR Ships Wheel Mark passive radar reflector for Life Boats and Rescue Craft - Meets ISO 8729-1997 - Module B and D certificates available upon request.

Available in white, orange, yellow, red, green etc.

NATO stock number 5840-99-742-6193.

ECHOMAX EMAO3I Inflatable radar reflector for liferafts - Certified to Schedule 4, Part 4, Paragraph 1.1.14 of Merchant Shipping (life saving appliances Regulations 1986 - chapter III, Regulation 38.5.1.14 of the 1983 - (SOLAS) 1974). Suitable for stowage in liferaft emergency packs up to 36m above sea level as required by IMO Notice M.1485, 1991 - Certificate no. QQTAN-04/3-01.

EM325

EM325

EM230 Basemount

EM230 Basemount

All our passive-reflectors are also now available in red and green.

The base mounted EM230BM and EM325 with responses up to 86M2 and optional fittings for Sealite or Carmanah lanterns are ideally suited for pedestal or buoy mounted land or sea hazards

We are proud that all Echomax products are designed and manufactured in the UK and 60% of our business is export.

www.csignum.com

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Strategic navaid deployment

UK-based Hydrosphere has recently demonstrated how important strategic navaid deployment is for ships being able to navigate into ports safely.

The company’s navaid projects include supplying a Mobilis Jet 9000 navigation buoy, one of the largest buoys in their JET series, to mark an outfall at the Lune Deep, which provides the approach channel to the busy Port of Heysham, Fleetwood Port and Port of Lancaster.

“These ports' approaches are notoriously tricky with extensive sand and mudflats, fast-moving tides, and a narrow, extremely deep channel,” explained a spokesperson. “Previous buoys on single-point moorings at this location had often moved into the deep part of the channel, meaning the chain was always taut, and the buoy and mooring were prone to damage.”

A mooring study concluded a two-part mooring would be better suited to ensure the buoy could be placed right at the edge of the channel to safely mark the utility outfall and safe line of passage through the Lune Deep Channel.

Hydrosphere has also been working with Nemo Link, a joint venture between the British National Grid and Belgian company Elia to rent out several Mobilis JET 9000 and JET 2500 navigation buoys deployed in UK waters. These buoys were used to mark out certain points of the power cables between the UK and Belgium and were fitted with equipment to provide satellite monitoring capabilities to determine their position at all times.

During the project, a buoy moved out of position. However, the problem was identified and rectified, as the integrated Sabik M850 light with Lightguard Monitoring meant position alerts were received

by Hydrosphere. www.hydrosphere.co.uk

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Teledyne Optech

launches CZMIL

SuperNova, a

full geospatial

bathymetric

lidar solution

with industryleading depth

penetration

The CZMIL SuperNova boasts the best depth penetration in its class

Teledyne Optech and Teledyne CARIS, both Teledyne Technologies companies and global leaders in advanced lidar sensors and marine mapping software, have announced their next generation bathymetric lidar, the CZMIL SuperNova.

The CZMIL SuperNova is powered by Teledyne CARIS processing software for creation of seamless topo/bathy data products The CZMIL SuperNova boasts the best depth performance and the highest green laser point density in its class.

Introducing SmartSpacing technology for even and efficient point spacing, real-time processing capability for reduced post-processing time and configurable modes for maximizing performance in different water environments, the SuperNova provides a wide range of inputs for climate change modelling and is Ideal for inland water environments, base mapping for coastal zones and shoreline.

To complete the solution, Teledyne CARIS has integrated its BASE Editor software for seamless data processing capacity. Leveraging AI techniques for land/water discrimination and noise classification the CZMIL SuperNova bathymetric solution effectively delivers on marketplace demands for efficiencies in the processing workflow.

CZMIL SuperNova Product Manager Jennifer Aitken explained: “CZMIL SuperNova builds on over 30 years of experience with airborne green laser bathymetry. The ability to configure the system on-the-fly and optimize data collection for local conditions has significant benefit. We are getting plenty of signal at 600 meters altitude and even higher, so our coverage area is increasing without sacrificing depth penetration.”

www.teledyneoptech.com/en/products/airborne-survey/czmil-supernova/ www.marineandmaritimegazette.com

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Civils collaboration

Two UK-based marine civils support companies in the North East of the UK have announced a collaboration on several upcoming projects in the local nuclear energy industry.

Manor Renewable Energy (MRE) is currently working with North East Safety Boats in Hartlepool on several civils and marine projects supplying vessels, plant and personnel. Manor Marine (MM) is also working with North East Safety Boats, providing engineering support for the project including vessel maintenance, fabrication and mechanical engineering.

North East Safety Boats, MRE and MM will provide marine support services and expertise while concrete repairs are carried out on the Forebay Beam at Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station. This project includes the use of a mooring system specifically designed for the needs of Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station, involving mooring analysis and stability calculations.

Manor Renewable Energy and Manor Marine’s project scope includes the provision of a workboat for towing and support purposes, a welfare unit and a 2000 litre diesel bund. A separate welfare barge has been created using the NATO pontoon system, upon which the welfare unit and diesel bund will be installed. The welfare unit will accommodate personnel from North East Safety Boats over the course of the project, while the diesel bund will be used to refuel the plant, vessels and welfare unit.

The project is due to run until the latter part of this year.

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New tug berth in

the very

shortest

of time!

Over a very short time period, UK-based Inland and Coastal Marina Systems recently designed and manufactured a bespoke berth for a new tugboat at Port of Portland, UK. Following its purchase from Sanmar in Turkey, the vessel went straight into dry dock to be painted in the new company livery and arrived in Portland at the beginning of April.

As well as a lack of time, space was tight to prepare a berth for the 287 tonne tug. Portland Harbour Authority approached ICMS to design a bespoke solution. To accommodate the new vessel within the existing operational pontoons, and factor in its higher freeboard, ICMS manufactured a unique 21.5m heavy-duty pontoon with a tailor made 750mm freeboard.

Benefitting from the new pontoon’s Glass Reinforced Fibre (Work Surface) decking, the tugboat’s crew will have a durable, anti-slip surface to board the tug from, ensuring safe access all year round, whatever the weather.

“Our heavy-duty pontoons are specifically designed for this type of application as they can be adapted to suit a customer’s specific needs, the location and existing infrastructure,” commented ICMS sales manager, Jon Challis.

“Once we’d found the solution and the design was agreed, we worked closely with the Portland Harbour Authority to deliver the new berthing facility on time and on budget, ready for its new tugboat’s arrival.” he continued. www.inlandandcoastal.com Tel: +44(0) 2392 472710 Mob: +44(0) 7850 473713 E-Mail: info@fdsukltd.com Web: www.fdsukltd.com

F.D.S. Offer for Rental & Sale Diver R.O.V. & Crane Operated Dredging Systems. Multipurpose & Mini dredging systems for the removal of fines, silt, mud’s, drill cuttings, sand, grit, gravel, shingle, shale & general debris. Suitable for confined space operations or locations where access is a problem. All on-shore civil applications. Shallow & deepwater offshore support operations.

Renewables. Complete ready to use self operational systems available for use worldwide. Stillage packed or deepwater offshore containerised units. Long & short term rentals. Sales. Wide scope of operations.

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Essex flood prevention

Essex County Council, UK, has awarded BMT a project to assist with the development of flood alleviation measures from surface water flooding within three Critical Drainage Areas (CDA) identified by BMT within the County.

BMT will use the advanced modelling functionality from their proprietary Tuflow technology and will provide critical information to be used in support of flood alleviation measures for each impacted area within the County.

This will include appraisal, hydraulic modelling of a preferred mitigation, economic assessment of the preferred mitigation and a Partnership Funding Calculator (PFC) to assess the FDGiA funding potential associated with each area.

BMT’s environmental consultancy business has invested in developing long term relationships with its customers and has a long history of collaboration and partnering with Essex County Council on sustainability issues and flood modelling work. www.bmt.org

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Armed to the teeth. t

Our CSD range comprises a robust, no-nonsense e fusion of efficiency, output and maximal uptime, suited to operations anywh ere in the world. Our dredgers don’t mess about, they just sink their teeth in and get the job done.

DAMEN.COM

Your partner for Ship Maintenance, D

Over thirty years of specialist service With roots dating back to 1987, Dales Marine has been servicing the shipping, oil and gas, chemical, and power generation industries with bespoke engineering services, within the shortest lead time to the highest standard.

Providing specialist shipping solutions in dry dock and steelwork, maintenance and ship repair, Dales Marine is located within major Scottish ports and provides unrivalled access for clients 24/7, 365 days a year.

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VESSEL MOB/DEMOB VESSEL MOB/DEMOB Dales Marine provides an extensive quayside service with regards to vessel mobilisation, including man hire and Dales Marine provides fabrication an extensive quayside service withequipment regards hire. to vessel mobilisation, fabrication including man hire and equipment •hire. We offer onshore and offshore fabrication and installation services.

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Dales Marine is one of the leading UK DalesRepair Marine&is one of the leading UK Ship Maintenance companies, Ship Repair & Maintenance companies, operating 5 drydocks providing operating 5support drydocks providing dedicated to the global Marine dedicated support to the and Oil & Gas industries. global Marine and Oil & Gas industries.

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Marine insurance costs could be lowered using AI Orca AI, Petredec and North P&I Club have announced a partnership to revolutionise marine insurance pricing and claims through an enhanced data model for ships that more accurately reflects their risk profile.

The insight is based on Orca’s AI navigation and collision avoidance system which has been installed on Petredec vessels: Earth Summit, Silvio, Dancing Brave, providing improved visibility in difficult conditions, preventing human error, and helping crews make informed decisions.

The platform provides insights into a ship's pattern of behaviour and risk profile which allows the crew to improve their handling of potential future incidents as well as share this data with insurers allowing more accurate assessment of vessel risk profiles.

Mr. Neil Giles, Fleet Technical Manager at Petredec Holdings: “The installation of the system was simple, straight forward and appears easy to use. We foresee a significant potential of this system when it comes to improving real time navigational awareness and more importantly, learning from the difficult navigational situations that occur day to day.

Our hope is to further increase our safety record by improving on our crews navigational skill set and reduce our operational risk profile in the process.”

Nearly 4,000 maritime accidents occur annually and are caused by low situational awareness in congested areas, lack of office visibility regarding misses and risk patterns and insufficient data available for handling potential incidents.

Orca AI’s system supports ships in difficult to navigate situations and tackles this rising rate of accidents by supplementing its existing onboard sensors with vision sensors and Thermal cameras, as well as AI-powered algorithms which constantly analyse the environment and alert crew to dangerous situations.

Mr. Colin Gillespie, Director of Loss Prevention at North P&I Club said “We’re excited to be part of this transformational project and are supportive of any initiative that improves the risk profile of entered vessels within the Club’s membership and helps reduce the number of incidents on the water.” www.orca-ai.io www.petredec.com www.ukpandi.com

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Digital crew payments A unique partnership will enable the introduction of digital payment solutions for all crew wages.

Maritime Payment Solution (ShipMoney), a global provider of payment solutions for maritime companies, will facilitate the Thome Group’s crew payments.

Peter Schellenberger, vice president supply chain, at the Thome Group, commented: “The COVID-19 pandemic has markedly accelerated the need to switch to card and digital payments, as the industry moves away from the old fashioned cash-to-master system and searches for more convenient digital solutions. This is the first step for Thome in its aim to move towards the ‘cashless vessel’ and I look forward to working with the team at ShipMoney to make this a reality.”

All Thome Group seafarers can now benefit from ShipMoney’s comprehensive Everard are a forward thinking marine insurance broker oker,, offering platform of digital payment comprehensive, cost effective insurance packages for the shipping industry. solutions, including all crew Specialising in every aspect of marine insurance for over 40 years, we pride ourselves on our professional and independent advice and in-house claims service 24/7. payroll payments, For more information please get in touch with Gareth Evans or Justyn Lemar. international remittances, E: gareth.evans@everardinsurance.co.uk | T: 01732 224 681 money transfers, mobile E: justyn.lemar@everardinsurance.co.uk | T: 01732 224 698 tops-ups, payroll advances, and onboard expenses.

The Thome Group provides a comprehensive range of integrated maritime services to the international shipping and offshore industries with a global crew pool of around 12,000 seafarers. It manages a fleet of more than 400 vessels, providing a mix of full third-party ship management or crew only managed services.

ESTABLISHED, INDEPENDENT, PROFESSIONAL

www.thome.com

everardinsurance.com Everard Insurance Brokers is a trading name of James Hallam Limited who are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority – 134435

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‘Green’ finance for

the shipping market

The maritime marketplace is definitely moving towards a global green ship finance market with a major demand expected for retrofit funding, this will obviously help with future sustainability across the sector.

Speaking at a DNV green ship webinar last month, Stephan Vetter, Vice President, KfW IPEX-Bank, laid-out evidence that the green loan market was becoming global and that the same applied to shipping finance.

Vetter stated that : “The green loan market is becoming global. The first green loans were closed in Europe, now more and more green financings are visible in Asia, especially Singapore, and with election of Biden and the new environment strategy of the US the American green loan market is also gaining traction.”

“Institutional investors look for green investment opportunities and for companies investing in green projects, also driven by regulatory requirements. Corporates are aware new green projects are demanded from their investors so they are searching for green investments, which then banks are interested to finance, and their shareholders are then asking for it.”

Relating to whether a similar trend was being seen in ship finance, Vetter commented: “We are getting more and more calls and requests for green financing from lines from all over the world, especially since autumn last year.”

“We are moving to a global green ship finance market,” he added.

He also commented that a recent analysis by law firm Stephenson Harwood that green and sustainable models were taking a 10% share of new ship financings seemed realistic when applied to the bank’s own recent transactions and pipeline.

Last year saw KfW IPEX Bank involved in a $889m green financing deal with Hapag-Lloyd for six large containerships it has on order. “In our view this transaction outlines that if bankers, shipowners and advisors work together we can achieve a lot in green finance.”

While the most prevalent product in the market today are the green loans, as well as sustainability linked loans and corporate finance, for shipping a growing demand for retrofit financing is expected to be seen so that existing vessels can meet CO2 targets.

“Also, we at KFW believe that retrofit finance will be one of the most demanded products in the next few years as CO2 reduction targets cannot only be achieved with newbuildings. The existing fleet needs to contribute to overall reduced CO2 fleet emissions,” Vetter added.

Deals done for scrubber retrofit financing were seen as a potential model for green retrofit financing. Vetter stated: “One can argue whether the installation of scrubbers is sustainable, however, the scrubber financing structures serve as a good example how the investment need for further retrofitting can be mastered.” www.kfw-ipex-bank.de

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Instrument manufacturer expands undeterred by the pandemic Leading oceanographic and hydrographic instrument manufacturer, Valeport, has continued to innovate and expand by launching a new company dedicated to providing highly accurate, innovative instruments to the Water industry.

The new company, Valeport Water Ltd, will leverage the expertise and manufacturing capabilities of its sister company, Valeport.

Although this expansion of the Valeport brand was born out of the pandemic, the marine tech firm which has served the subsea market for decades, also has a long history serving the hydrometry and hydrology markets. Indeed the first Valeport product was a Braystoke Impeller Flow Metre used for the Thames Barrier project in 1969.

“No doubt 2020 was one of the strangest years ever, but it has also been one of our busiest. Expanding the Valeport brand to serve the water market, is something that we had planned before the pandemic”, Matt Quartley, Valeport Group managing director commented.

“Although for many years Valeport has worked in the Water industry, it has been pretty much under the radar. We do have a long-standing relationship with an international water cycle management company, developing for them insertion flow technology for water distribution networks and acoustic doppler technology for sewer flow.

“However, as Valeport’s marine product portfolio continued to grow with our expertise in optical measurements and environmental monitoring, we began to see opportunities for using this technology with the inland water sectors. Not just hydrometry and hydrology where we already had a presence, but also the drinking water and water treatment sectors.

The pandemic has allowed us to push ahead with this expansion and launch a dedicated new offer”, added Matt.

The launch of Valeport Water, which will sit alongside the original Valeport marine instrument business and a third company, Valeport Service, is part of the firm’s ambitious growth strategy as it targets market leadership in the environmental sensors sector.

Valeport Water is drawing on the manufacturing capabilities of the original Valeport company and the firm has restructured and expanded its HQ base to facilitate the growth of Valeport Water.

Products in the Valeport Water portfolio including flow metres, fluorometers and turbidity sensors, loggers and telemetry systems are designed and manufactured at the firm’s riverside HQ in Devon, UK. All Valeport Water products, like the marine technology, come with a three-year limited warranty, extendable perpetually with regular servicing.

“Valeport Water will bring highly accurate, reliable and easily accessible data to new audiences in the drinking water, surface water, waste water, irrigation water and industrial water industries, as well as strengthen our presence in the hydrological and hydrogeological communities”, concluded Matt. www.valeportwater.co.uk

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Fugro minimises in-person inspections with new floating offshore wind real-time monitoring solution A Fugro-led consortium that includes AS Mosley and the University of Strathclyde has designed a mooring line fatigue tracker that safely and cost-effectively monitors offshore floating wind turbines, thanks to innovation funding from the Scottish Government. The consortium won the funding to develop the tracker, which fuses the motion and position measurements of floating hulls with a simulation model to monitor fatigue, in March 2020 through the Floating Offshore Wind Technology Acceleration Competition (FLW TAC), which was run by the Carbon Trust’s Floating Wind Joint Industry Project. Having already demonstrated the technology in a relevant environment, Fugro and partners are now identifying opportunities to work with floating wind developers on precommercial projects to trial the solution offshore.

As a future part of the UK’s green energy generation portfolio, floating offshore wind farms will need to operate reliably and minimise in-person inspections to reduce HSSE risk exposure and remain cost-effective. Drawing on their existing satellite positioning, structural and metocean monitoring systems, Fugro worked with AS Mosley and the University of Strathclyde to combine a physics-based simulation model with state-of-the-art fatigue analysis to develop a cost-effective and streamlined methodology. Instead of the current conventional 5-year subsea inspection regime, mooring line fatigue will be tracked so that inspection activities – which require vessels and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) – are only carried out when necessary. Another benefit is that the monitoring is continuous and can be used to detect any problems or failure scenarios, such as anchor drag or trawler snagging, as they happen for quick resolution.

Hannah Evans, Manager at the Carbon Trust, said: “We are really pleased to see the progress Fugro, AS Mosley and the University of Strathclyde have made in developing their mooring line fatigue tracker over the past 12 months. This project has demonstrated the value of collaboration between industry and academia in Scotland to deliver innovative solutions, and addresses challenges faced by the floating wind industry to monitor mooring lines safely and cost-effectively.”

Stuart Killbourn, Fugro’s Structural Monitoring Project Manager, said: “Working with AS Mosley and the University of Strathclyde to repurpose methods and expertise from the oil and gas industry for offshore renewable energy has been incredibly exciting. Over the coming decade, efficient and reliable remote monitoring systems will be vital for the deployment of floating wind farms, which in turn are so important for meeting net-zero carbon targets for a safe and liveable world.” www.fugro.com

www.marineandmaritimegazette.com

@MandMGazette

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Viking signs contract for

five more Hellenic Coast

Guard ambulance boats

Viking Life-Saving Equipment has reached agreement to supply additional ambulance boats to the Hellenic Coastguard, after a formal contract signing with Greece’s Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy.

The latest deal, signed by Minister of Shipping and Island Policy Mr. Giannis Plakiotakis on May 28, covers delivery of five Viking Norsafe Munin-S1200 boats to support emergency services for Sporades, Samothrace, the Saronic Gulf and the Ionian Islands. It follows on from Viking’s previous delivery of three identical boats, which are stationed in Naxos, Rhodes and Leros in the Aegean sea.

“The Hellenic Coast Guard carries patients by ambulance boat almost every day and plays a decisive role in saving lives,” says John Georgiadis, General Manager for Viking in Greece. “It is critical that these boats meet the exacting requirements of the National Center for Emergency Health Care (EKAB) and the Coast Guard for high-performance and low-maintenance to ensure Emergency Support operations day and night, in all weather conditions.”

Manufactured in Greece, the Munin-S1200 is the largest boat currently offered by Viking and has capacity to carry 10 persons, all seated. Its 1,150-litre fuel tank supports a range greater than 350 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 35 knots. The S1200 is equipped with twin sterndrive Volvo Penta diesel engines supplies a combined 760hp to enable a top speed of 45 knots at full load.

Certified by RINA (Registro Italiano Navale), the boat operates safely up to Beaufort force 8 and at a wave height up to 4m. It also features latest generation, Lowrance-branded navigational equipment from Navico.

“The Viking Norsafe Munin-S1200S is a flexible boat chosen for performance and manoeuvrability by a wide variety of users,” says Mr. Georgiadis. “In this application, its installed shock mitigation technology is proving especially important in ensuring safe patient transport and allow high-quality medical services to be provided in transit. Viking is delighted that the S-1200 is playing a central role in healthcare provision for the Greek islands.”

www.VIKING-life.com www.marineandmaritimegazette.com

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4HE NEW &# 3 FEATURES INCREASED COMFOR T ÛEXIBILIT Y DECK SPACE A N D A C C O M M O D A T I O N ! N D W I T H A N E X T R A M E T R E I N H E I G H T F O R I M P R O V E D SEAKEEPING THIS 3EA ! XE IS TRULY A CHOPPER SUITED TO CHOPPY SEAS DAMEN.COM

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Damen delivers FCS 1605 to Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit Recently Damen Shipyards Group delivered a Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 1605 to Allseas to support the Pioneering Spirit, the largest construction vessel in the world. The FCS 1605 will perform fast crew and personnel transfers to and from the vessel.

Damen signed the contract for the vessel, named Ricochet, back in March. The delivery was fast as a result of Damen’s practice of building its vessels in series for stock. When Allseas placed its order with Damen, the FCS 1605 was already built. In order to prepare it for delivery, Damen has fitted the vessel with the latest in lightweight fender technology.

Damen has also supplied Allseas with the cradles with which to live the vessel aboard the Pioneering Spirit, ensuring that she is able to operate wherever the larger vessel is undertaking a project.

Ricochet will replace two older vessels that currently perform her role. She features waterjets that enable her to sail quickly, up to 30 knots, and to manoeuvre well at low speed.

The FCS 1605 will join a Damen Pushy Cat 804, named Nutshell, already aboard the Pioneering Spirit. This vessel performs a number of duties in support of the vessel, including line handling.

Marius Huige Allseas’ head of technical services, said, “We needed a vessel with sufficient seats that could move at high speeds and yet be fuel efficient. The lightweight aluminium design of the FCS 1650 takes care of this. What’s more, due to Damen having the vessel in stock, we were able to take delivery very quickly.”

Damen sales manager Benelux Joost van der Weiden said, “We are very pleased to deliver this vessel to Allseas to support the work of the iconic Pioneering Spirit. The FCS 1605 has proven to be a strong and successful design and I have every confidence that it will meet Allseas’ requirements perfectly. On behalf of Damen I wish Allseas all the best with Ricochet.”

Pioneering Spirit was designed in-house by Allseas for the installation and decommissioning of offshore structures. Capable of lifting platform topsides up to 48,000 tons and jackets up to 20,000 tons in a single piece, the twin-hulled vessel is 382 metres long and 124 metres wide. www.damen.com

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Major Gulf Loop Current study using Sonardyne’s PIES completes

Oceanographic instrumentation developed

by Sonardyne to monitor ocean currents has been acquired by the University of Rhode Island following its successful use in a US$2 million project in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Recording Sonardyne’s PIES, from 3,500 m water depth to the back deck of the RV Pelican, after a successful deployment in the US Gulf of Mexico. Photo by Maureen Kennelly, Marine Research Specialist at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography

The project, led by the University of Rhode Island (URI), saw an array of specialist sensors, including Sonardyne’s Pressure Inverted Echo Sounders (PIES), deployed for two years, to monitor the hugely disruptive Gulf Loop Current.

Sonardyne’s PIES were installed in waters down to 3,500 m depth early in 2019, to help better understand the current. Following successful wireless acoustic data harvesting campaigns from the instruments in 2019 and 2020, their deployment was extended to the end of May, this year.

Funding for the project, from the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), was also extended, allowing URI to purchase the Sonardyne PIES used on the project outright, as well as a Dunker 6 telemetry transceiver, for wireless data harvesting from the instruments when they are on the seafloor. This will allow URI to use the instruments on its future projects.

The Gulf Loop Current system is a highly energetic ocean circulation feature that influences all ocean processes in the Gulf and is characterised by disruptive Loop Eddy events that have serious impacts on a wide range of human and natural activities, from oil exploration to coastal eco-systems. However, knowledge of its underlying dynamics has been limited, leading to this study, led by Kathleen Donohue, Project Director and Professor of Oceanography at URI. PIES work by transmitting an acoustic pulse from an instrument on the seabed upwards. The pulse is reflected off the water-air boundary at the sea surface and returns back down to the seabed where it is detected by the PIES. This enables an exact measurement of the two way signal travel time to be calculated. At the same instant, an accurate measurement of depth is made using highly precise internal pressure sensors.

Combining data from an array of PIES instruments and near bottom current meters with historic water profile data can be used to calculate currents throughout the full water column over an extended area – in this case totalling over 50,000 sq km. For this project, Sonardyne enhanced the instruments with an integrated single point current meter, tethered above the units, leading to a modified designation as CPIES. Randy Watts, Professor of Oceanography at URI, says, “The ability to receive the full time series of measurements plus engineering-performance checks via acoustic telemetry in 2019 and 2020 shows that the data are of high quality. The impressively low battery drain meant we could leave the CPIES untouched on the sea floor for the duration of our experiment. With the additional funding, we were also able to extend our observational window to nearly two years. This is important because each Loop Current Eddy formation is unique.”

“The Loop Current encounters different pre-existing eddies and different bottom topography in different locations with different inflow from the Caribbean and different wind fields,” says Professor Donohue. “These events inside the ocean are dynamically analogous to ‘weather’ and ‘storms’ in the atmosphere – and every bit as varied. Observing these many events and observing the full water column is highly valuable information to guide the forecast models.”

“Looking to the future, the telemetry capabilities of Sonardyne’s CPIES offer us an established way to collect the data at more frequent time intervals using an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) and report it ashore to enable real-time forecasting of the entire Gulf of Mexico Loop Current System,” adds Professor Watts.

Geraint West, Business Development Manager – Oceanographic, at Sonardyne, says, “URI have long been recognised as a leading proponent of using PIES to undertake large scale studies of ocean currents. Our collaboration with them has consequently taken our PIES technology to a new level, which we’re pleased to see being used in this important study. We look forward to continuing our close relationship with URI, including supporting more autonomous harvesting of their data.”

URI’s LCS study is being funded by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Research Programme, which was founded in 2013, as part of the legal settlements with companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The long-term objective is to improve forecasts of the Loop Current in order to increase the safety of operations in the Gulf. www.sonardyne.com

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Amphibious Energy and Corrosion join forces

to launch the ICCP-POD

Corrosion and Amphibious Energy today announced the launch of the new ICCPPOD, an environmentally friendly alternative to using diesel generators to supply energy during the construction phase of wind turbines, and sacrificial anodes to protect turbine foundations against corrosion.

The ICCP-POD combines two advanced technologies. The EnergyPod, developed by Amphibious Energy, is an easy-to-transport autonomous energy plant that uses sun, wind, batteries and intelligent electronics to provide sustainable energy during the 18-month construction of wind turbines, meaning that costly and environmentally unfriendly diesel generators are no longer required.

To protect against corrosion during this construction phrase, Corrosion developed compact ICCP (Impressed Current Cathodic Protection) units. By using an electronic current supplied by the EnergyPod, these represent an innovative eco-friendly alternative to sacrificial anodes, which discharge large quantities of metals and heavy metals into the water. When the wind turbines are installed and gridconnected, the energy supply for the ICCP system is switched from the EnergyPod to the wind turbine itself.

“Corrosion was the first company in the world to develop a cost-effective, easy-to-maintain and environmentally friendly anti-corrosion solution for wind turbines foundations,” said Niels Ros, Manager Offshore Wind at Corrosion. “We are delighted that through this partnership with Amphibious Energy, we are also able to offer the same sustainable protection solutions during the construction phase of wind turbines.”

“By partnering with Corrosion, we are able to bring two unique technologies together, which will drive down the costs for the offshore industry to protect their installations from corrosion in a 100% green way.

This represents a big step forward in achieving net-zero operations for the offshore industry,” said Willem van der Merwe, Director at Amphibious Energy.

The ICCP-POD delivers substantial cost savings compared to a diesel generator. In addition, further savings can be realized in other ways. For instance, by installing uncoated foundations, foundations with a single base coat or utilizing less carbon steel (corrosion allowance), depending on customer needs and design boundaries.

In terms of environmental performance, Corrosion's ICCP unit provides major benefits. Over a 25-year period, Corrosion’s systems discharge approximately 1.5 million times less aluminium into the sea that traditional sacrificial anodes. Furthermore, the EnergyPod is also completely recyclable and can be re-used several times over a period of 5 to 10 years, so that the costs will decrease even further. www.amphibiousenergy.com www.corrosion.nl

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