ENGINE ADVANCES
Engine designers eye multiple paths to green Whatever future green fuels eventually emerge as shipping continues its decarbonization journey, internal combustion engines looking a lot like today’s will be able to burn them
MAKING THE RIGHT FUEL CHOICE
What are the available options for future fuels? Shipowners ordering vessels now must use technology available today and factor in the ship’s life of more than 20 years and the tougher regulations they will face as they age
CEO Spotlight: Kotug International 10 Minutes with Ard-Jan Kooren, President & CEO Over the last year or so, Kotug has worked on some interesting, cutting-edge projects to include a zeroemissions barging solution and an E-pusher tug
Just last week, DNV issued a roundup of 2022 orders for ships with alternative fuels using figures from its Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) platform.
The total number of ships with alternative fuels ordered in 2022 was 275 (excluding battery operated vessels). In addition, more than 50 LPG carriers have been ordered with LPG dual fuel systems.
LNG led the way with 222 ships or 81% of total orders. Seventy-four percent of these orders were for container vessels and pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs), while product tankers came in third representing 9% of orders.
None of this is surprising since LNG is widely accepted as the cleanest, lowest GHG fuel that is widely available right now. Additionally, as Nick Blenkey points out on page 12, by now, provided you make a sensible choice of builder and machinery, you can order an LNG-fuled vessel and reasonably expect to encounter not too many shipbuilding or operational surprises.
Total count of LNG fueled ships in operation and on order now stands at 876. A total of 104 new LNG fueled ships entered operation during 2022, representing a 41% growth within the on-water fleet.
Methanol was the second most popular alternative fuel choice, with 35 ships ordered, bringing the total count to 82 ships.
Something surprising, though, is that a total of 18 ships capable of running on hydrogen fuel were ordered, ranging from small crew transfer vessels for the offshore wind industry which are built to operate fully on hydrogen, to large cruise vessels installing hydrogen powered fuel cells that cover a smaller portion of the energy demand onboard.
Similarly to 2022, the great majority of ships ordered with alternative fuels in 2023 is expected to be LNG dual fueled.
The elevated price levels for natural gas will continue to delay the widespread adoption LNG as fuel in the marine industry, however from a big picture perspective, delivery times for newbuilds align well with when global gas and LNG prices are expected to cool down.
While the DNV figures mostly relate to deep sea vessels, here in the U.S. coastal and inland sector, we are starting to see interesting developments involving both methanol reformers and ammonia “crackers” being used to power hydrogen fuel cells.
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We are honored to be representing The Hellan Strainer Co., the preferred provider of strainers to the US Navy. Lisa Smith, JA Moody, President states “we are a flow control company and adding Hellan Strainers to our portfolio of Navy products complements our strengths and allows us to provide a more comprehensive package to our Navy customers.”
The Navy has selected the Hellan Strainer design as their “strainer of choice” for seawater cooling protection of critical electronic equipment, fire protection systems, and filtration of lube oil and propulsion fuel systems for all support and combat ships. These include carriers, cruisers, destroyers, tenders, plus the next generation of ship designs which will be delivered well into the 21st century.
Hellan Strainers remove all types of solids (such as algae, zebra mussels, sand, grit, debris, machine cutting chips, etc.) from various fluids. They are extremely popular due to their reliability, e cient operation and cost savings. Instead of trapping solids like conventional basket strainers (which necessitate frequent basket removal for cleaning), the Hellan Strainer discharges solids from the flow without disassembly. This reduces operational and maintenance costs and permits continuous flow of fluids.
The American Waterways Operators (AWO) says that the NDAA includes a few significant provisions that represent major victories for it and its coalition partners, including the American Maritime Partnership and Waterways Council Inc., on top industry priorities. Among other provisions, the legislation:
• Significantly tightens the Jones Act waiver process, eliminating the use of blanket waivers and requiring the determination that a waiver is necessary in the interest of national defense to be made by the president, not the Secretary of Homeland Security;
• Allows ATBs with automated engine rooms to retain previously approved crewing levels, reversing a Coast Guard interpretation that required these vessels to carry additional engineers;
The massive National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2023 (NDAA), now awaiting President Biden’s signature, serves as a legislative vehicle for several non-defense authorizations, with the Coast Guard authorization, Maritime Administration, and Water Resources Development (WRDA) authorization being tacked onto it.
Maritime trade associations seemed to like most of what they found in the 4,408 pages of the legislation.
“SCA applauds the passage of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which represents a critical investment into our national defense and domestic security,” said Matthew Paxton, President of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA). “The $4.7 billion increase authorized in the Navy’s shipbuilding account. as well as provisions that support our U.S. Coast Guard and fund opportunities for the expansion of the U.S. shipyard industrial base and workforce development, demonstrates that Congress recognizes the industry’s capacity and readiness to support the Navy fleet.”
However, while the SCA says the FY23 NDAA is a positive step toward national defense assets, it notes that the shipyard industry has been challenged by volatile fleet mix numbers and projected ship repair workloads for the Navy.
The Waterways Council notes that WRDA 2022, which remains on a biennial schedule in Congress, authorizes 33 Chief’s Reports and includes a policy provision that makes
permanent the 65% general revenues/35% Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) costshare for lock and dam construction and major rehabilitation projects, a win for Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) and its members. 65%/35% was established in WRDA 2020 as the cost-sharing formula that was set to expire in 2031, at which time the cost-share would return to the former formula of a 50%/50% split between the general fund and IWTF. The 65%/35% ratio would allow IWTF dollars to help finance more projects than under the 50%/50% cost-share.
In addition to removing the cost-share sunset provision, WRDA 2022 provided flexibility to manage the Houston Ship Channel Barge Lanes. Originally authorized at 12 feet, these barge lanes have presented navigation challenges for mariners on that part of the system. Through working with both committees and the Corps, WCI successfully included language in WRDA 2022 that will allow the Corps to dredge these channels to a depth deemed safe for navigation.
“Waterways Council, Inc. thanks the House and Senate for passing WRDA 2022 and appreciates its continued support of the biennial process for this important legislation,” said Tracy Zea, WCI President and CEO. “This final version comes months after negotiations to reconcile House- and Senate- passed versions, and WCI thanks the chairs and ranking members, as well as all committee members for their dedication to passing WRDA. The removal of the sunset provision is critical to the nation to ensure continued reliability of our inland waterways as a transportation conduit, moving products all Americans rely on.”
• Eliminates language passed by the House earlier this year that would have impeded the flexibility of vessel owners to use emergency response resources not listed in their vessel response plans;
• Eliminates language passed by the House earlier this year that would have impeded the flexibility of vessel owners to use emergency response resources not listed in their vessel response plans;
• Requires the Coast Guard to study the creation of a credentialed mariner database;
• Permanently changes the cost share for inland waterways infrastructure projects to 65% general Treasury-35% Inland Waterways Trust Fund; and
• Establishes a Corps of Engineers regional dredging pilot program sought by AWO to give the Corps more flexibility to respond quickly to changing river conditions requiring emergency dredging.
The bill also contains new regulations to prevent and respond to sexual assault and harassment aboard commercial vessels.
AWO says that it provided extensive input to ensure the new requirements are both effective and practical, but comments that “while the final language represents a significant improvement over earlier drafts, additional advocacy will be needed in the 118th Congress to address ongoing industry concerns about surveillance equipment requirements for oceangoing vessels with accommodations for more than 10 crewmembers.”
The Net Zero Navigator is a conceptual liquid hydrogen carrier that uses NASA-inspired technologies to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.
By supporting advanced vessel concepts like this, ABS is pioneering the maritime energy transition.
shows that healthy relationships can reduce the risk of diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and a lower risk of heart and lung disease. So, as a new year rises, whatever relationship challenges have been “pinned” for later may be worth considering for action now.
Using this new year to re-examine what we have allowed to linger in our bodies and minds can help remove the “pins” that may ultimately deteriorate our long-term health.
COVID-19 hit the world, causing quick and radical changes to how we work and live. Good triaging skills allowed us to continue work and play amidst significant challenges, but an infinite number of reminder “pins” were put in things that were not immediately necessary. With the new year upon us, it may be time to consider addressing some of these lingering “pins” to assure the long-term health of our bodies and minds.
The pandemic has impacted our ability to feel balanced between work and life. An article in the Occupational Health Science journal identified a shift toward higher levels of worklife conflict, poor job satisfaction, and lower well-being scores resulting from this workfrom-home scenario. In addition, sudden difficulties with boundary management, role demands, and space demands still challenge many households. Recalibrating our gauge to this new world may be helped by considering the concepts that integration and balance bring to this work and life space. Work-life integration refers to the integration of work and personal life. Its success lies in blending the two, incorporating personal interests and activities into work, or using work skills to pursue personal interests.
Employees who demonstrate this ability to bring their two worlds together report a higher level of worker satisfaction and engagement. Work-life balance refers to our ability to
allocate the appropriate amount of time and energy to the various aspects of professional and personal life. New tips on keeping both in balance include managing those secondary forms of communication and virtual workspaces. These can drastically impact our timing and scheduling of priorities due to the newer use of shared calendars and the constant stream of chats. Allocating blocks of time for specific priorities is one management tactic that can help bring balance. Another essential ingredient to this mix is discipline.
Managers and mentors have a role to play in demonstrating this balance and integration for their employees. According to the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology , 20(1), 82–92, employees with work-life-friendly role models were likelier to segment between work and home; they reported feeling more energy and engagement. “One may conclude that supervisors as work-life-friendly role models are highly important for employees’ work-home segmentation behavior and gatekeepers to implement a work-lifefriendly organizational culture.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted romantic relationships for better and some for worse. On the downside of the equation, couples already experiencing relationship difficulties were more likely to report increased conflict, domestic violence, and decreased relationship satisfaction during the pandemic. Negative long-term relationships can create a significant deterioration in health. Research
The pandemic has impacted our musculoskeletal systems in two ways. First, working from home has brought on a surge of garage, closet, and couch workers leading to a rise in medical care for neck pain, back pain, and wrist pain. Two studies conducted during the pandemic in the United Kingdom and the United States found that the number of people reporting musculoskeletal injuries increased by 20% and 26%, respectively, among home workers. Injuries are likely due to lousy ergonomics, a poorly designed home office setup, or sitting in a stagnant, slouchy, and compromised position for a long time. Additionally, allocating time between sitting, standing and movement is vital in assuring the body stays mobile and injury free.
The second impact of COVID-19 on the musculoskeletal system is the effect of the virus itself. Orthop Res Rev. 2021(13: 141–150) reported that “infection with the virus can cause a range of musculoskeletal symptoms such as arthralgias, myalgias, neuropathies/ myopathies, and potential bone and joint damage. Additionally, current therapeutics used in managing COVID-19 patients can also cause musculoskeletal effects that clinicians should be aware of.” In this study, the authors point out that rehabilitation can restore the musculoskeletal system and help regain mobility from damage left behind. However, the sooner restoration begins, the less likely one will experience long-term health effects.
Using this new year to re-examine what we have allowed to linger in our bodies and minds can help remove the “pins” that may ultimately deteriorate our long-term health.
The above information is for educational purposes only. Nothing in this article constitutes medical advice. All medical advice should be sought from a medical professional.
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Texas City is powered by a triple 800 hp Volvo Penta IPS-Pod 1050 system, featuring Volvo Penta D13, EPA Tier 3 marine diesel engines, each delivering 800 bhp at 2,300 rpm.
The Galveston-Texas City Pilots have taken delivery of the pilotage association’s fourth pilot boat from GladdingHearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation, Somerset, Mass.
The new launch, the Texas City , is equipped with a Seakeeper 30HD stabilizing gyro, which, according to shipyard officials, will reduce the vessel’s roll by up to 80%. According to the pilotage association, this is the first pilot boat equipped with a Seakeeper in the U.S.
With a length overall of 73.2 feet, beam of 23.3 feet and draft of 5.9 feet, the all-aluminum, high-speed pilot boat features the Ray Hunt Design deep-V hull. The vessel will burn 30% less fuel than the pilots’ two existing 70-foot pilot boats at the same speed, says shipyard co-president, Peter Duclos.
It is powered by a triple 800 hp Volvo Penta IPS-Pod 1050 system, featuring Volvo Penta D13, EPA Tier 3 marine diesel engines, each delivering 800 bhp at 2,300 rpm.
Top speed is over 33 knots and the vessel runs at 30 knots at 80% power.
The vessel will burn 30% less fuel than the pilots’ existing 70-foot pilot boats at the same speed, says shipyard co-president, Peter Duclos.
Humphree interceptors, with active ride control and coordinated turn and automatic trim optimization, are installed at the transom to automatically optimize the vessels running trim, and actively reduce pitch and roll at speed above 15 knots.
“The additional Seakeeper stabilizing gyro reduces roll at all speeds and will improve safety and reduce fatigue, especially while standing by for ships offshore and boarding pilots in a sloppy anchorage,” says Duclos.
The wheelhouse, mounted to the flush deck aft of amidships of the launch, features a center-line helm station, with a twin-lever control head and a three-axis maneuvering joystick.
The wheelhouse has heated forward
and side windows, six Norsap 1500 shock-mitigating seats and a settee with table. Two Phasor 21 kW generators produce electricity.
The forecastle includes a stateroom with two berths, head, hanging locker, small galley and dinette. HVAC in the wheelhouse and forecastle is supplied by six self-contained, reverse-cycle airconditioning units, totaling 80,000 Btu. Interior sound levels at full power are under 75 dBA. Outside the wheelhouse are wide side-decks and a flush main deck.
On the foredeck, aft of the wave break, are port and starboard boarding platforms. A Carlisle & Finch search light, with integrated NightFinder thermal camera, is located at the forward end of the wheelhouse roof.
A Harken TR-31 safety rail system has been installed on the wheelhouse handrails.
A control station is at the transom of the pilot boat, along with a winch-operated J-Basket rescue system and recessed stairs and platform for pilot rescue operations.
The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) held its 79th session from December 12-16, 2022, with a full agenda reflecting numerous issues of importance to the maritime industry. Chief among these were continued work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, lowering pollution to water and to air as well as discussions and decisions on pollution prevention.
The Committee received numerous submissions related to its ongoing revision of the Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships. Member States extensively discussed the revision of ambition levels of the IMO’s Initial Strategy, the 2030 and 2050 revised targets and additional intermediate checkpoints leading up to 2050.
The committee discussed the implementation of a “basket of measures” in the Revised Strategy, to support achieving the reduction goals. The revision of the Initial Strategy will continue to be discussed in the 14th GHG Intersessional Working Group in March 2023 and a Revised Strategy is expected to be adopted at MEPC 80 in July 2023.
That strategy is expected to include or address further enhancements to energy efficiency and carbon intensity; revision/ additional checkpoints for levels of Ambition in GHG reduction and proposals for additional formulations of levels of ambition.
Several delegations proposed that the carbon intensity of ships continues to decline through the implementation of further phases of the EEDI and that the CII be reduced 6–7% annually to ensure a 1.5degC-compatible improvement in carbon intensity.
While discussing the development of the revised strategy, numerous Member States expressed support for a basket of measures to reduce emissions, in which those short-term measures implemented earlier will serve to inform and target subsequent mid- and long-term measures.
Approaches to GHG reduction which are being considered for inclusion in this basket of measures include:
• Short-term measures already agreed (EEXI and CII);
• Voluntary measures already agreed
(Development of National Action Plans on GHG);
• Global fuel standards and support for uptake of low-carbon and zero-carbon fuels; and
• Market-based measures implementing a mandatory GHG levy.
The Committee adopted Resolution MEPC.361(79) establishing a new Emission Control Area (ECA) for the Mediterranean Sea, requiring vessels to utilize fuel of maximum 0.10%m/m sulfur content when sailing in the region. The amendments to MARPOL Annex VI will
discharge water represented a source of pollution and thus conflicted with certain obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, requiring States to prevent marine pollution and preventing states from transforming one type of pollution to another. Others maintain that EGCS technology can be used under MARPOL Annex VI, and any associated risks studied and mitigated. A more detailed consideration of this matter will be made at an upcoming session of the IMO Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR).
The Committee agreed in principle to the designation of the North-West Mediterranean Sea as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) to protect cetaceans from the risk of ship collisions, ship-generated pollution and to increase awareness of a critically important area for the fin whale and the sperm whale.
enter into force on May 1, 2024, with a 12-month grace period.
The Committee also adopted three Resolutions containing several amendments to MARPOL which allow States with coastline bordering Arctic waters to meet their obligations for providing adequate port reception facilities for disposal of ships’ wastes.
These amendments acknowledge the infrastructure limitations faced by ports in Arctic regions and provide the option for states to provide adequate reception facilities by means of regional resource sharing arrangements.
The implementation of such Regional Arrangements will require the development of a Regional Reception Facility Plan based on existing MEPC Guidelines.
The Committee received several submissions related to further considerations of risks presented by the discharge of Exhaust Gas Cleaning System wastes into the marine environment. Some Member states supported the view that the substances found in EGCS
The proposed PSSA is limited by the coastline of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain and includes areas under the jurisdiction of coastal States. The large size and high shipping traffic of this PSSA was acknowledged, but it was also noted that due to the significance of the ecological, socio-economic, and scientific values of the area, several existing national and international protective measures are already implemented in this area.
The Committee also considered several proposals regarding how compliance with the BWM Convention should be addressed for ships operating at ports where properties of the local water quality are not conducive to successful ballast water treatment by the installed BWMS.
The Committee also discussed how ‘challenging water quality’ should be defined, and whether the use of proactive measures should be required for ships planning to attend ports where water quality is historically known to be challenging to their specific BWMS.
In the months ahead, the IMO will continue to advance these and other environmental subjects at the Intersessional Working Group on Greenhouse Gas (ISWGGHG) and the PPR Sub-Committee, leading up to the next session of the MEPC in 2023.
In the months ahead, the IMO will continue to advance these and other environmental subjects ...
THEIR efforts to end their dependence on Russian energy supplies, Finnish stateowned natural gas transmission company Gasgrid Finland reports that the floating storage and regasification unit Exemplar , successfully anchored in the deep-water port of Inkoo today.
Gasgrid says the floating LNG terminal “turned out to be the fastest and most effective solution to phase out dependency on Russian gas in Finland and to ensure the continuity of gas supplies in Finland in different scenarios far into the future.”
The 150,900 cubic meter LNG capacity FSRU is on charter to Gasgrid, for a period of ten years, from Excelerate Energy Inc., headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. It arrived in Inkoo loaded with a partial
cargo of LNG that will serve as the initial commissioning cargo for the terminal.
“The arrival of the FSRU Exemplar at the port of Inkoo represents an important milestone for Finland as it prepares to enhance its energy security and bring essential energy infrastructure to the region,” said Steven Kobos, president and CEO of Excelerate. “This is a tremendous accomplishment for everyone involved, and we are proud to have partnered with Gasgrid on this opportunity.”
In addition to providing regasification services under the time charter with Gasgrid, Excelerate, through its recently formed Finnish gas marketing subsidiary, Excelerate Finland Gas Marketing Oy, has executed an agreement for the sale of commissioning volumes and regasification capacity rights during the commissioning
phase. Through this agreement, Excelerate Finland will be able to provide natural gas to downstream customers in Finland and other Baltic countries.
TheFSRU Exemplar departed dry dock in Spain on December 6 after completing winterization upgrades. The vessel subsequently procured its cargo from Excelerate’s global LNG portfolio via a ship-to-ship transfer with the FSRU Excelsior near Gibraltar.
The Excelsior recently completed its 10-year service in Israel and will go on charter to the Federal Republic of Germany in 2023.
The FSRU Exemplar is 291 meters long and 43 meters wide. Its storage capacity of 150,900 cubic meters of LNG can provide more than 5 billion cubic meters per year (bcm/y) of regasification capacity.
CATERPILLAR MARINE AND HARVEY, La., headquartered Jackson Offshore Operators LLC are to pilot an integrated hybrid energy solution aimed at reduction of fuel consumption and diesel exhaust emissions. The technology will be demonstrated on Jackson Offshore’s platform supply vessel M/V Thunder, with the parties jointly working towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time optimizing the systems’ performance.
The diesel-electric M/V Thunder, a 2015built GPA 675-J-design PSV, will be upgraded with a hybrid energy solution incorporating an energy storage system (ESS) to complement its power plant of twin Cat 3516 engines and twin C32 generator sets. The hybrid energy solution will be incorporated into M/V
Thunder with the expertise of Cat dealer, Louisiana Cat, who will oversee the installation and commissioning of the new equipment.
According to Brad Johnson, vice president of Caterpillar Marine, the vessel upgrade represents a unique chance to simultaneously collaborate with Caterpillar customers on a common environmental stewardship effort.
“Jackson Offshore is very excited to be partnering with Caterpillar in the development of an energy storage solution (ESS) for our offshore vessels (OSV),” said Lee Jackson, president and chief executive officer, Jackson Offshore Operators LLC. “The primary objective of this project is to generate long-term value to our clients as they seek to meet their carbon emissions reduction initiatives.Jackson Offshore is very
serious about reducing carbonemissions and as such we are committed to being a key part of our client’s effort in emission reduction goals. Through this collaboration with Caterpillar, we will be able to continue to provide our industry leading quality of service while meaningfully reducing fuel consumption and carbon emission.”
Caterpillar and Jackson Offshore will work together on the hybrid energy solution through 2023 to enable implementation of the fuel-saving and emissions-reducing technology. On completion of the upgrade, the performance of the M/V Thunder will be monitored closely by Caterpillar Marine and Jackson Offshore to further optimize energy use in dynamic positioning, transit and port operations.
Welcome to software that streamlines your operations and optimizes your uptime. Welcome to analytics that keep you in compliance and help you decarbonize. Welcome to maritime intelligence the way it should be.
Heavy lift vessels’ Wärtsilä hybrid propulsion system will feature a variable-speed Wärtsilä 32 methanol dual fuel main engine.
A WÄRTSILÄ METHANOL DUAL FUEL
hybrid propulsion plant is a key feature of a series of new-generation heavy lift ships ordered as part of German operator SAL Heavy Lift’s commitment to decarbonization. Called the Orca Class, they are being built at China’s Wuhu Shipyard under a joint newbuilding program involving SAL Heavy Lift and partner Jumbo Shipping of the Netherlands. The building contracts cover four firm, plus two optional, ships
If, as anticipated, green methanol becomes available in key ports towards the end of the decade, the Jumbo-SAL-Alliance says it will be able to offer its customers carbon-neutral transport solutions. Those customers include Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, whose global commodity manager – ports & transportation, offshore, Christian Johansen, says the Orca class ships’ ultra-efficient profile and carbon-neutral potential are “a perfect fit with our aim of decarbonizing our supply chain.”
The 14,600 dwt heavy lift ships measure 149.9 meters long by 27.2 meters beam. Despite their compact outer dimensions, the
vessels have a box-shaped single cargo hold with the largest dimensions in its class. If the hatch covers, with a capacity of 10 tonnes per square meter are not utilized for stowing super-heavy deck cargoes, such as 3,000 tonne cable carousels, the vessels can accommodate over-height cargo in the hold and sail with open hatch covers up to full scantling draft.
Ice class notation 1A, a Polar Code certification and the reduced design temperature of the hull and equipment allow the ships to safely operate in cold conditions.
Two 800 tonne, fully-electric, Liebherr cranes specifically designed for this ship type can handle cargo items weighting up to 1,600 tonnes in tandem.
The vessels will be the first methanol capable ships to employ a variable speed main engine. Their Wärtsilä hybrid propulsion system will feature a variablespeed Wärtsilä 32 main dual-fuel engine and includes an energy storage system, a PTO/PTI generator and motor, a multidrive converter, and the Wärtsilä Energy Management System for controlling and
optimizing the hybrid operations. The energy storage system will be based on lithium-titanium-oxide (LTO) batteries, which can handle higher amounts of deep cycles than normal lithium-ion based systems. The ESS will significantly reduce the fuel consumption and/or the necessary size of the port’s electric shore connection during crane operations while also providing fuel savings at sea by reducing engine load fluctuations in rough seas.
For each vessel, Wärtsilä will also supply the gearbox, the controllable pitch propeller (CPP), the bow and stern thrusters, air shaft seals, as well as the sterntube and bearings.
At a service speed of 15 knots the vessels will consume significantly less than 20 tonnes of fuel oil per day—like far smallersized and geared MPP vessels.
Alternatively, the vessels will be able to trade at a slow, ultra-efficient speed of 10 knots at 6 tonnes while still being able to reach a maximum speed of 18.5 knot for urgent deliveries—for example if a wind farm installation vessel is waiting for an urgent component delivery.
HAUGESUND, NORWAY headquartered offshore wind service company Edda Wind reported in late December that the CSOV Edda Breeze had been delivered from Spain’s Astilleros Gondán and the SOV EddaBrint from Astilleros Balenciaga and were in the process of having their gangway systems installed in Denmark.
AFTER A LOT OF LEGAL WRANGLING AND a congressional mandate, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held Cook Inlet Oil and Gas Lease Sale 258 on December 30, 2022, as directed by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The auction took under five minutes and generated one bid for one tract. The bid, in the amount of $63,983, was submitted by Hilcorp Alaska LLC.
The Cook Inlet lease sale terms include stipulations to protect biologically sensitive resources, mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species, and avoid potential conflicts associated with other inlet users.
Following the sale, the bid will go through a 90-day evaluation process to ensure the public receives fair market value before a lease is awarded, and a Department of Justice review of antitrust considerations. If a lease is awarded, it will be posted to BOEM’s website following the 90-day review.
Seapeak LLC reports that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Greenship Gas Trust and Greenship Gas Manager Pte. Ltd. and their subsidiaries (collectively, Evergas) from Jaccar Holdings in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of approximately $700 million.
With the acquisition complete, Evergas will rebrand and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Seapeak.
Seapeak is the rebranded Teekay LNG Partners L.P., which in January, was acquired by investment vehicles managed by New York City headquartered Stonepeak in a $5.3 billion deal.
“Based on evaluation of the progress and remaining work, Edda Wind estimates that there will be a delay in completing the installation and commissioning of the gangway systems compared to what has previously been reported,” said the company. “Both Edda Breeze and Edda Brint are now expected to commence their respective long-term charter contracts
during March 2023.”
“ C416 is currently under construction at Balenciaga, Spain,” added the company. “Based on progress reports from the yard Edda Wind expects a delay in delivery, and that the vessel will be ready for operations in Q3 2023. Edda Wind, together with the yard and suppliers, are working to minimize such delays.”
Among the many pieces of legislation tacked onto the massive just-passed National Defense Authorization Act was the Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act.
It is aimed at updating the Coast Guard’s Great Lakes icebreaking mission and increasing its icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes. It includes $350 million for the acquisition of a Great Lakes icebreaker and $20 million for the design and selection of icebreaking cutters for operation in the Great Lakes, Northeastern U.S., and the Arctic.
The Great Lakes icebreaker is required to be at least as capable as the USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB30), launched by Marinette Marine in 2005 and delivery on an accelerated schedule is called for. All of this appears
to be in line with proposals submitted by former U.S. Coast Guard commandant Karl Schultz in 2020 in response to a Senate request. The new legislation addresses a situation under which no statute has required the Coast Guard to break ice in the Great Lakes.
The act adds a new section to title 14 USC that:
• Codifies into law the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking mission in the Great Lakes. Requires the Coast Guard to break ice in the Great Lakes in accordance with the reasonable demands of commerce and standards set forth in the bill. Updating the standards will improve how the Coast Guard measures successful icebreaking, allowing Coast Guard to size its icebreaker fleet to handle the vast majority of ice seasons while limiting excess
capacity. The bill includes a onetime report on the operating costs associated with this new performance standard;
• Requires the Coast Guard to report to Congress on the icebreaking season. Requires an annual report of Coast Guard activities during the previous winter’s icebreaking activities, including the numbers of icebreaking operations performed by each country in three categories of Great Lakes waters;
• Requires the Coast Guard to coordinate with industry for icebreaking operations; and
• Defines “reasonable demands of commerce” as the safe movement of commercial vessels transiting ice-covered waterways in the Great Lakes, regardless of type of cargo, at a speed consistent with the design capability of Coast Guard icebreakers operating in the Great Lakes.
Whatever future green fuels eventually emerge as shipping continues its decarbonization journey, internal combustion engines looking a lot like today’s will be able to burn them. That’s certainly the case with the large slow speed two strokes that power most ocean-going cargo ships. A lot of development work is going on into burning ammonia—and hydrogen—in those engines, with methanol increasingly emerging as a nearer term option. In the meantime, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) still the primary alternative fuel being eyed by shipowners ordering vessels today, diesel designers are also paying a lot of attention to reducing methane slip.
While switching marine engines from oil to LNG has the potential to greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions, LNG is typically composed of 85–95% methane, which has a global warming potential 28 times greater than CO2. Across the entire supply chain, a small percentage of gaseous methane can escape unburnt. That’s methane slip.
The problem is least acute with large high
pressure, diesel cycle, two stroke engines. MAN Energy Solutions has managed to reduce methane slip in its ME-GI twostroke dual-fuel engines to a range between 0.2–0.3 grams per kilowatt hour. In a recent interview Gunnar Stiesch, now chief technology officer at MAN ES, said that, while “we can get that number even lower,” the company’s focus is addressing the engine types that have an inherently higher methane slip: Otto-cycle dual-fuel engines. “To minimize this as much as possible, we’re using our well-proven exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology on our Otto-cycle ME-GA engines,” said Stiesch.
Turning to four stroke gas engines, Stiesch explained that “the Otto cycle means that we’re mixing gas and air before the charge enters the cylinder. Then we compress this more-or-less homogenous mixture in the combustion chamber and ignite it with a small pilot flame. So, we have premixed combustion, and there are ways to improve this process.
“The most straightforward way is to look at the internal engine architecture and reduce the crevice volumes in the combustion
chamber—areas where pockets of unburnt methane can’t be reached by the flame. Or we can look at the overlap of inlet and exhaust valves and the timing of gas admission. Thus, in the last ten years we have already been able to halve methane slip from our four-stroke gas engines and we are confident that we can achieve another 20% by further improving the combustion process.”
“Furthermore, Otto-cycle gas combustion is characterized by a natural trade-off between methane slip and NOx emissions. For engines equipped with a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalyst for NOx abatement, this trade-off can be used to tune the combustion process towards lower methane slip and slightly higher NOx, which can then be easily reduced again by the SCR. This is fully proven technology and available today.”
Stiesch sees after-treatment solutions, especially oxidation catalysts (oxicats), as a particularly attractive option, as they allow for a roughly 70% reduction in methane slip. They are already used in a broad range of other industrial processes to remove hydrocarbons from the exhaust. MAN’s first pilot oxicat installation on board a vessel will start
in 2023. After the full tests, it is expected as a major technological solution for methane slip reduction, widely available roughly around 2025, including as a retrofit.
Otto behaves nicer with iCER Winterthur, Switzerland, headquartered WinGD introduced its Intelligent Control by Exhaust Recycling (iCER) technology to reduce methane slip emissions and cut fuel consumption in its Otto cycle X-DF dual-fuel engines in 2020. It has now introduced an onengine version of iCER system that enables the technology to be installed without impact on engine footprint.
The principle behind iCER is to minimize emissions by regulating air and exhaust gas flow. By cooling and recirculating exhaust back to the engine, more gases that can contribute to climate change are combusted without escaping into the atmosphere.
According to WinGD, the addition of iCER delivers a 50% reduction of methane slip in gas mode. Combined with better fuel efficiency, this reduces total greenhouse gas emissions by up to 8% in gas mode. Running on diesel, iCER improves the emissions performance of X-DF engines by 6%.
The on-engine iCER offers the same advantages while simplifying testing, building and installation of the engine, as well as reducing the engine room space needed for emissions reduction equipment. The exhaust gas cooler and all exhaust gas flow control components are installed on the engine, offering significant engine room design flexibility.
The other major player in the two-stroke market is Japan Engine Corporation (J-Eng), whose UE engines, first launched in 1955, have achieved a cumulative production of 40 million horsepower and 4,586 units.
While J-Eng sees LNG, LPG and methanol as promising as a bridge solution, its target is very much on carbon-free fuels, and it is well advanced on developing engines fueled with ammonia and/or hydrogen. A design for an NYK Line ammonia carrier powered by an ammonia fueled J-Eng main engine has already gained approval in principle from ClassNK, while back in November 2021, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL), MOL Drybulk Ltd., and J-Eng signed an agreement to trial the world’s first low-speed, two-stroke hydrogen-fueled marine engine, to be developed by J-Eng, on an in-service vessel.
J-Eng’s ammonia-fueled engine will be developed by applying the company’s “stratified injection” technology. It says that the stratified injection with pilot fuel and post
fuel (ammonia) in multiple layers can realize an utmost combustion control and optimize a high suppression of N2O emission, which is said to have a high global warming coefficient, through improved mixed fuel burning ratio of ammonia.”
J-Eng says its first of these engines, a UEC50LSJA developing around 8,000 kW and with a 50 centimeter bore, will be completed in 2025.
Its hydrogen-fueled engine, the UECLSGH, will be developed by applying technologies developed for dual-fuel (DF) gas engines. The hardest technical challenge will be how to control hydrogen’s easy combustibility. “High-pressure hydrogen injection into the combustion chamber can bring stable combustion to solve this issue,” says J-Eng. Its first hydrogen-fueled engine, a UEC35LSGH developing about 5,000 kW with a bore of 35 centimeters, is expected to be completed in 2026.
While ammonia and hydrogen fueled engines may be not that far around the corner, designers and developers are putting a lot of emphasis on the fuel flexibility of the new engines they have most recently launched on the market, with methanol capability very much in mind.
Launched at last year’s SMM event in Hamburg, the latest addition to MAN Energy Solutions’ four stroke portfolio, the MAN 49/60DF can run on LNG, diesel and HFO as well as a number of more sustainable fuels including biofuel blends and synthetic natural gas.
Marita Krems, Head of Four-Stroke Marine & License, MAN Energy Solutions, said: “The MAN 49/60DF is making its debut at a time where—while the number of LNG projects is still growing— alternative fuels like methanol, ammonia and hydrogen are continuing their rise, albeit with none having established market dominance yet. Increasingly, it is crucial for new vessels to be driven by engines that provide options for emission compliancy over the vessel’s lifetime. Fuel flexibility and efficiency are the key features. In this respect, the 49/60DF distinguishes itself by offering a few various emission paths. It also has a level of efficiency that ensures best fuel costs in many applications, especially within the cruise, RoPax, RoRo, dredger, and LNG carrier segments.”
The 49/60DF is based on the 49/60 engine platform that features MAN’s latest technologies, including two-stage turbocharging, second-generation commonrail fuel injection, SaCoS5000 automation system and MAN’s next generation
Adaptive Combustion Control ACC 2.0 that automatically sets combustion to optimum levels. The engine also retains existing MAN technologies such as the gas-injection system, pilot-fuel-oil system, and MAN SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system.
The 49/60 can start in gas mode where it complies with IMO Tier III without secondary measures. In diesel mode, it complies with Tier III combined with MAN’s SCR system.
Soot emissions are halved in diesel mode due to MAN’s new common rail system 2.2, while the 49/60DF’s methane emissions also drastically reduced in gas mode compared to its predecessor. The engine’s benchmark efficiency and fuel-flexible design offers multiple paths to emission compliancy leading up to 2050, as per the current Fuel EU draft.
MAN Energy Solutions says it plans to introduce a pure diesel engine based on the 49/60 platform in 2023 that will inherently be retrofit-ready for running on methanol.
Wärtsilä’s methanol-fueled engines have powered the Stena Line ferry Stena Germanica since 2015 and the company has drawn on that expertise to offer a methanol version of one of its most widely used engine platforms the Wärtsilä 32. A variable speed W32 will be a key component of the methanol dual fuel hybrid propulsion plant that will power the new-generation heavy lift ships ordered as part of German operator SAL Heavy Lift’s commitment to decarbonization (see page 12).
In the high-speed sector, Rolls-Royce Power Systems is initially developing methanol engines based on its MTU Series 4000 and will launch them on the market from 2026.
Meantime, the current interest in methanol fueling really kicked into high gear when Maersk committed to green methanol for its new generation of containerships. The first of these is being built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and the methanol dual fuel genset engine for the first of them has completed its FAT (Factory Acceptance Test).
The engine is a Hyundai Heavy Industries – Engine & Machinery Division (HHI-EMD) HiMSEN model H32DF-LM.
According to HHI-EMD, the 5,400 bhp engine demonstrated excellent performance and quality in the tests at its Ulsan, South Korea, factory. It incorporates special materials to prevent corrosion and applies diesel cycle combustion and electronically controlled fuel injection methods in methanol mode to enable high-power operation in stable condition.
HHI-EMD has thus far booked orders for a total of 50 methanol dual fuel HiMSEN engines.
One day there will be abundant green electricity from renewables and the most attractive way to store it will be by using it to create green fuels. That’s called Power-to-X (or P2X) and it isn’t quite here yet. Meantime, shipowners ordering vessels today must use the tech that currently exists for ships today that they will have a life of upwards of 20 to 25 years. That takes us to 2043 or 2048 with some creaking into 2050.
For a large part of their lives, those ships will have to meet targets set not by IMO’s present GHG reduction strategy but by a revised, likely much more ambitious strategy now expected to be adopted at IMO’s MEPC 80 meeting in July 2023 (see our regulatory update on page 9).
Of course, owners have seen this coming and, according to Clarkson’s Research, the first half of 2022 saw a record 268 alternatefueled newbuilding vessels ordered, totaling 22 million gross tons and with a total contract value of $38 billion.
This constituted 61% of all newbuild orders in tonnage terms, 38% based on vessel numbers and 68% of overall contract value. Excluding LNG carriers, the number of vessels was 174, totaling 11.9 million gross tons with a total contract value of $18.4 billion (equating to 46% of gross tonnage, 29% of vessel numbers and 51% of contract value).
Steve Gordon, managing director at Clarkson’s Research, noted that more than half (59%) of these alternately fueled newbuilds (226 orders totaling 21.0 million gross tons) will be LNG dual fueled. Another 1.6% will be methanol fueled and 0.3% will be ethane fueled and 0.8% include battery hybrid propulsion. In addition, a further 16.3% of orders were “ammonia ready,” 0.8% of orders were “LNG ready” and 0.1% of orders have been “hydrogen ready.”
This all adds up to more than 100% of the alternative-fuels-capable total as there is an increasing trend for orderers to opt for multiple fuels/ fuel-ready vessels to provide future optionality.
By Nick Blenkey, Senior Editorial Consultant
Putting things in context, Gordon noted that in 2021, 31.7% of newbuild tonnage ordered was for alternative fuel capable vessels (459 units), up from 211 orders in 2020 and 46 orders in 2016.
The ordering trend towards LNG fueling is also not surprising as it is widely seen to be the cleanest, lowest GHG fuel widely available now. Additionally, by now, provided you make a sensible choice of builder and machinery, you can order an LNG fueled vessel and reasonably expect to encounter not too many shipbuilding or operational surprises.
LNG virtually eliminates sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions and cuts nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by up to 95%. In terms of CO2 emissions, its greatest promise is as a pathway. On a tank to wake basis, it can cut GHG emissions by up to 28%. Increasingly, though, it is not tank-to-wake but well-to-wake reductions that are seen as key. This is where the importance of LNG as a pathway comes into play and, according to the SEA-LNG coalition, the next step along that path is bio-LNG (liquefied
biomethane produced from sustainable biomass resources). A recent study commissioned by SEA-LNG says that in general bio-LNG can reduce GHG emissions by up to 80% compared to marine diesel if methane leakage in the production process and on-board methane slip are minimized.
“In the specific case of bio-LNG produced from anaerobic digestion of manure, if avoided emissions are considered, then bioLNG can achieve negative emissions ranging from ranging from minus 121% to 188% compared with marine diesel,” says the study.
This type of bio-LNG is sometimes referred to as renewable liquefied natural gas (RLNG).
So, what’s “e-LNG?” It’s another of those terms that needs careful scrutiny. It may simply mean that the liquefaction plant producing it is electrically powered. Today, most LNG plants feature a liquefaction plant with refrigeration compressors driven by directly coupled industrial gas turbines. What’s involved in switching to electric motors is not a simple proposition but does result in benefits in terms of lifetime GHG reductions and, from our perspective, enhances the well-to-wake rating of LNG as a fuel, especially if the electricity is green.
If you thought e-LNG meant renewable synthetic LNG, chemically identical to fossil LNG, but carbon-neutral, here’s what the SEALNG coalition says:
“In recent months, ‘renewable synthetic LNG’ has been referred to variously as carbon-based liquid methane, e-methane, eLNG, Synthetic Natural Gas, SNG, electromethane, green methane, liquid green methane, liquefied synthetic methane (LSM), and hydrogen-based LNG.”
SEA-LNG says it is committed to ensuring all its communications use the term renewable synthetic LNG.
Renewable: It is produced from renewable electricity, for example solar and wind, and carbon from sustainable biomass or captured directly from the air around us.
Synthetic: It is manufactured through established technological processes and is not based on fossil-fuels nor derived directly from biomass.
LNG: It is chemically identical to the fuel used in shipping for more than 50 years. Implicit in this is that it can be burned in existing LNG-fueled ships and utilize the existing network of supply infrastructure.
Most LNG-capable vessels currently in service are dual fuel and equally capable of operating on diesel fuel. Given LNG prices that have been pushed up following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many of them are
probably doing just that.
When Spanish ferry operator Baleària began the construction of a second fast passenger and cargo ferry with dual fuel LNG engines at the Armon shipyard in Gijón, Spain, it said that while the dual fuel gas engines “renew its commitment to this green energy as a transition fuel,” for a year now, it has been forced to reduce the use of LNG “due to the skyrocketing growth in its price.”
Another LNG pioneer, Norwegian cruise ferry operator Fjord Line AS, is to convert sister cruise ferries MS Stavangerfjord and MS Bergensfjord from single-fuel LNG engines to dual-fuel LNG/MGOengines.
“The energy crisis, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has led to extraordinary volatility and significant price increases in LNG—and the price increases have been far higher than for traditional and less sustainable energy sources at sea,” said the line.
Switching the two ships to dual fuel will be quite a significant undertaking. The original single-fuel Bergen engines will be replaced by dual-fuel Wärtsilä engines, and the ships will be out of revenue service at Fosen Shipyard for some months. Rebuilding of Stavangerfjord will start in January 2023 and will be finalized by the end of May 2023. Bergensfjord will be rebuilt during February to mid-June 2023.
More owners are following the lead set by Maersk and opting for methanol fuels. The big pluses for methanol are that it is plentiful and does not require expensive cryogenic equipment and specialized bunkering vessels. You can read much more about all that in an Op-Ed by Erik Hånell, CEO, Stena Bulk and Anita Gajadhar, managing director, marketing, logistics and shipping, Proman, that was posted on our website, www.marinelog. com, back in December.
Conventional methanol is derived from natural gas and offers a pathway to greenness that’s not dissimilar to that for LNG.
“Methanol made from natural gas can be blended with increasing quantities of very low carbon ‘blue’ methanol made using carbon capture and storage in the next 5-10 years,” write Hånel and Gajadhar. “In the next 15-20 years, much greater quantities of fully sustainable green methanol, made using renewable energy or sustainable biomass, will be available and increasingly cost competitive as economies of scale kick in.”
Maersk, of course, intends to operate on green methanol from the get-go. Last month it signed a Letter of Intent with Houston-based
SunGas Renewables Inc., that covers the production of green methanol from multiple facilities to be developed by SunGas in the U.S. from which Maersk intends to offtake full volumes of green methanol. The first facility is expected to begin operations in 2026 and have an annual production capacity of approximately 390,000 tonnes. SunGas joins eight other strategic partners working to supply the green fuel needed for the 19 methanol enabled container vessels Maersk currently has on order.
With bio-LNG and methanol from biomass on the agenda, let’s not forget that many owners are opting to green up their conventionally fueled vessels by bunkering with varying percentages of “drop in biofuels.” From a hard-boiled cynical perspective, here are the three basic questions to be considered:
• Will the manufacturer of your engine be happy about it?
•How much does the biofuel cost?
• Does the biofuel come with some plausible third-party certification that you can reasonably use in ESG reporting?
While some owners are ordering ships described as “ammonia ready” or “hydrogen” ready, we’re still a long ways off from seeing large ships operating on either of those fuels. Burning either one of them in engines is not the problem. However, getting green versions of them is.
As currently produced, ammonia is about as carbon intensive as it gets. About 175 million tonnes of it are produced annually.
“The traditional, cheap way of making ammonia is to strip hydrogen from natural gas using steam (producing CO2 as a by-product), and then combine that hydrogen with nitrogen from the air at high pressure and temperatures of hundreds of degrees Celsius,” noted Nicola Jones in a January 2022 article for the Yale Environment 360 online magazine. “This procedure, called the Haber-Bosch process after the Nobel Prize-winning chemists who invented it in the early 1900s, typically releases nearly two tons of CO2 into the atmosphere for every ton of usable ammonia.”
Green or not, issues that must be addressed in using either ammonia or hydrogen as fuels in ships include that ammonia is highly toxic and that hydrogen is “remember the Hindenburg” flammable. All sorts of steady progress on resolving those issues is being made, but that’s a topic for another occasion.
KOTUG INTERNATIONAL, BASED IN ROTTERDAM, has provided towage and related services to the maritime industry for years. Leading that family owned business is Ard-Jan Kooren, who joined Kotug in 1990 as an operations employee and worked his way up in 2002 to the rank of CEO, a role his father held before him.
Over the last year or so, the company has worked on some interesting, cuttingedge projects to include a zero-emissions barging solution and an e-pusher tug. We dive more into this and other important news coming out of Kotug in this exclusive interview with Kooren.
Marine Log (ML): First, can you tell us more about Kotug and its place in the maritime industry?
Ard-Jan Kooren (AJK): With roots going back as far as 1911, Kotug is a family-owned company and trusted voice and partner of leading companies within the worldwide maritime industry, offering a broad range of innovative towage and maritime-related
services. Kotug has always been committed to taking a leading role in the transition towards sustainable and safe maritime solutions. From the design and construction of the revolutionary Rotortug, to the first hybrid tug under class. In 2018, Kotug was the first company in the world to remotely operate a tugboat. Adding value through sustainability-focused innovations, Kotug provides a complete portfolio of services based on a combination of long-standing knowledge and advanced technologies. From designing, building, chartering and operating vessels to training people and providing innovative consultancy services. We are active in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, North and South America and the Caribbean and continue to expand our operations worldwide.
Since 2021, Kotug has been active in inland shipping with the introduction of the unique Kotug E-Pusher Series, a range of modular and scalable electric pusher tugs (Small, Medium and Large) powered by swappable energy containers, including a
smart AI-driven dispatch and route planning application. With this zero-emission logistic solution, Kotug aims to support the worldwide energy transition and the modal shift from road transport to waterways while meeting the growing demand for electricpowered vessels. With the E-Pusher we offer a solution that is not hung on one energy source; the swappable energy container can easily switch from batteries to stage V diesel to hydrogen etc. This enables a complete zero emission set up but also a gradual shift to completely zero-emission transportation in time. With the E-Pusher, Kotug supports companies that want to build more resilient and sustainable supply chains.
The E-Pusher S, also known as CityBarge , has already become a proven concept for silent and emission-free commercial transportation of (construction) waste and construction materials in several cities in the Netherlands. It is the answer to the severe restrictions of heavy transport in inner cities and the worldwide trend to build liveable and green cities. As we speak, the Kotug E-Pusher type M is being assembled in Rotterdam.
ML: It was announced earlier this year that Kotug is working with a third party to provide a zero-emissions barging solution for Cargill. Can you tell us more about this project and where it is in development?
AJK: KOTUG will deploy the KOTUG E-Pusher type M and four electrified barges for zero-emission barging of cocoa beans from Cargill between the Port of Amsterdam, the largest cocoa import port in the world, and their cocoa facilities in Zaandam. Cargill will be the first company in the world with this fully electrified industrial setup for inland shipping. The swappable battery energy containers will come from a third party.
The E-Pusher is modularly built, which is different from traditional shipbuilding. The design consists of a frame, a patented & recyclable floating body, a propulsion system, a containerised energy source, and accommodation. The parts are ordered/ built simultaneously by carefully selected suppliers, brought together to one location, and assembled into one vessel. Altogether, this lean process results in significantly lower costs (-25%) and shorter delivery times. Parts can be replaced easily, and the design can easily be changed per vessel. Finally, the E-Pusher is fully recyclable and doesn’t need antifouling.
ML: In May, Kotug and the Seamen’s Church Institute here in the U.S. partnered to offer maritime training across the United States. How did this partnership come to be and what sort of training are you offering together?
AJK: Kotug is firmly committed to the highest industry standards of health, safety, environment, quality and security. With ports and vessels growing bigger and bigger, safety and the adequate deployment of assets have become a risk for safe and efficient operations. Back in 2000, Kotug started offering a high-quality training system. We believe extensive training and simulation are the key solutions to mitigating these risks. Why? Because we see in our daily operations how captains that are only trained on the job significantly reduce the capacity and potential of the assets they work with. This is often, and very unfortunately, due to ignorance, leading to unsafe an inefficient operations that also endangers the environment.
Our comprehensive tug master training is a potent combination of knowledge, theory and practice. Delivered by experienced tug masters with first-hand expertise across the full range of tug types, our methods are based on in-depth tug operation knowledge combined with extensive towage experience in all conditions and environments. Because a new type of tug influences manoeuvring procedures on board ships, influencing a pilot’s job, we also offer joint pilot and captain training. Comprising the total procedure of ship handling based on the new type of tug and its capabilities and limitations, taking into account port characteristics, ships calling at the port and environmental conditions.
Training takes place in simulator centers across the globe, in classrooms and live on real ships. Since 2019, Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), Riben Marine, and Kotug have performed training for ship pilots and tug masters—-prior to conducting feasibility studies for new docks and waterway projects–along the Texas Gulf Coast. As a logical next step, this year, Kotug entered into a strategic partnership to offer exclusive training of (tug) masters, ships’ crews, river barge shippers, and pilots by certified Kotug trainers at SCI training facilities across the United States.
In May this year, this partnership came together during the first Basic Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) Tug Class for Moran Towing Corporation, among the largest tow and tug fleet operations in the United States. SCI also
uses Kotug’s unique assessment app, allowing them to objectively measure the success of their training in support of their drive to deliver the highest training standards to their customers. Not only the app measures the effectiveness of the training, but it also generates a detailed reporting suite.
ML: Do you provide or offer other services to the U.S.?
AJK: The company’s expertise is divided across a number of related pillars:
• Towage (Harbour, Offshore and Terminal Towage, Inland Towage, Chartering and Salvage);
• Training and Consultancy, Intelligence (OptiPort, Analytics and Reporting, Drone Line Transfer);
• Subsea (SPM Operations and Maintenance, Asset Integrity Management); and
• Maritime Excellence (Ship Management, Innovations, Projects & New Building, Fast Crew Transportation).
We have several clients across the U.S. who use Kotug OptiPort; our Artificial Intelligence-based planning tool. OptiPort unlocks operational capacity by smarter planning, leading to asset optimisation and more sustainable operations over the entire nautical value chain, by significantly reducing fuel consumption of the tugs and other nautical assets. From tug scheduling to port activity reporting, crew planning, port optimi z ation and inland towage. Lastly, our expert advice can be applied to all situations involving tugs, from designing port and terminal layouts to determining procedures for sustainable waterborne transport projects.
In addition, we have a partnership with
Seabulk Maritime, Kotug Seabulk Maritime. In this partnership, we deploy four tugboats, a line handler, a crew tender launch and a bunker barge to execute all terminal towage operations, including bunker barge assistance for Buckeye Partners L.P. at their Buckeye Bahamas Hub in Freeport Bahamas.
ML: Finally, can you tell us more about your milestone projects that came online this year and what can we expect from Kotug in 2023?
AJK: An absolute highlight this year was the acquisition of Seaways International in September. Seaways was a reputable owner and operator of stateof-the-art Offshore Support Vessels providing offshore marine services to the global energy industry. The acquisition is an important milestone for Kotug to strengthen our leading position in global offshore markets and is part of Kotug’s strategy to expand its business in assisting worldwide floating facilities such as FSO, FPSO, FLNG, FSRU and SPM Terminals.
In 2023, we will continue to focus on supporting our clients in making their operations more sustainable with new products and services and improving our existing services. For instance, the Kotug Drone Line Transfer, using a drone to connect the towline to an assisted vessel— drastically improves the safety margin of tug operations as this avoids the need for manoeuvring in the so-called danger zone. Furthermore, we will focus on rolling out the E-Pusher and further consolidate the leading position of Kotug in global offshore markets after the acquisition of Dubaibased Seaways International.
After 11 years at the helm of A. P. MØLLER – MÆRSK A/S, SØREN SKOU stepped down as CEO on January 1. He will be succeeded by VINCENT CLERC , currently CEO of the company’s Ocean & Logistic business. He will remain on the company’s executive board.
Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. announced that FRANK DE COSTANZO will step down as CFO, and then serve as a special advisor to the board through the end of 2023. De Costanzo will be succeeded by COSTA TSOUTSOPLIDES, who currently serves as Eagle’s chief strategy officer. The transition will be effective April 1, 2023.
HELENA LENNERSTEDT has been appointed CEO of trim and stabilization system specialist
Humphree. She succeeds HANNES NORRGREN who has taken up the role of senior vice president for business unit industrial at Volvo Penta, which holds a majority stake in Humphree
The Shipbuilders Council of America has named FRANK COLLINS as senior defense advisor, overseeing the organization’s national ship repair and security, as well as industry workforce development and education, initiatives. He has over 36 years of public and private sector experience in the ship repair industry.
In changes to the executive board at MAN Energy Solutions SE , effective January 1, DR. GUNNAR STIESCH is to head the technology department, which was previously headed by CEO DR. UWE LAUBER in a dual role. He will also join the board as the new chief technology officer.
Silversea Cruises president and CEO ROBERTO MARTINOLI transitioned to the role of senior advisor to Royal Caribbean Group president and CEO JASON LIBERTY on January 1. BARBARA MUCKERMANN, currently Silversea’s chief commercial officer, will become the cruise brand’s next president and CEO, and will join Royal Caribbean Group’s executive committee.
The Biden administration’s just announced plans to jump-start U.S. offshore wind will generate a boom in demand for specialized Jones Act-compliant vessels and services. To help give you the insights needed to meet the needs of the new market, we have launched a new weekly newsletter, Marine Log Offshore.
Marine Log will also host a podcast and webcast series focusing on the latest in offshore wind farm development, policy and regulation and the implications for U.S. shipyards and vessel operators.
HAVE BEEN PROPOSED as offering a future option for marine nuclear propulsion, that seems yet a while away and an earlier application of the technology could well be in power barges. Bureau Veritas (BV) and nuclear power technology developer ThorCon have entered an agreement for the technology qualification and the subsequent development of a 500 MW molten salt nuclear power barge for operations in Indonesia.
The concept developed by ThorCon is a molten salt fission reactor. Unlike current nuclear reactors, the ThorCon reactor would operate at low pressure and use liquid fuel. The liquid fuel enables much higher operating temperatures, leading to greater efficiency while also enabling completely passive safety (requiring no action from the operator nor intervention on the power source to stop the reaction).
ThorCon says that its technology is a straightforward scale-up of the successful United States Oak Ridge National Laboratory Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE), which concluded in 1969, and that a full-scale 500 MW ThorCon
prototype could be operating under test within four years.
In the project underway with BV, the 500 MW fission power plant will be integrated within a floating barge hull and then towed to a shallow water site before being ballasted to rest on the seabed. The technology will then deliver energy to the power grid to meet land-based energy needs. ThorCon plants will be designed to be mass produced, which will support the transition to carbon free and reliable energy.
BV has been selected to support ThorCon through its technology qualification process, both for the nuclear reactor itself and for its encapsulation (enclosed safe compartmentalization allowing the replacement of depleted fuel) and integration with the hull systems.
At this stage, it is anticipated that the Technology Qualification process will take a minimum of three years and if successful, the deployment phase would require an additional two years.
“New technologies, such as molten salt reactors, open opportunities for the deployment of nuclear energy, with power generation in the marine environment
being an example,” said Laurent Leblanc, senior vice president technical & operations at Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore. “This project is very exciting as it can be a steppingstone to other applications such as the generation of hydrogen offshore and even nuclear ship propulsion.”
Dave Devanney, CEO of ThorCon, commented: “ThorCon has developed a fourth-generation advanced nuclear reactor design that solves the most perplexing problem of conventional nuclear power: excessive cost. ThorCon is initially implementing its technology in Southeast Asia where the need for low-cost dispatchable carbon-free energy is urgent. Providing a practical clean solution to Southeast Asia’s growing energy needs will significantly slow global warming and climate change.”
Devanney, who holds a BS and MS in naval architecture, previously served on MIT’s faculty of Ocean Engineering and has a history of designing and managing the fabrication and operation of ships. He conceived the idea of building the MSR, the steam turbine-generator and all associated assets into a large hull which can then be floated to the site where the power is needed.
Marinfloc 1.5-cubic-meter/h treatment unit handles both bilge water and EGR bleed-off water.
TWELVE 16,200 TEU METHANOL-FUELED containerships under construction in South Korea will each be fitted with MAN B&W 8G95ME-C10.5LGIM-EGRTC main engines that use exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to meet IMO Tier III NOx reduction requirements.
The EGR process will generate
bleed-off water that must be treated to <15 ppm, which is also the requirement for bilge water.
To meet this requirement, the 12 newbuilds will each be equipped with a D5.0 EGR system from Varekil, Sweden-based Marinfloc that treats both the EGR bleed-off water and the bilge water.
By combining the two treatment systems, says Marinfloc, there is a reduction not only in capital expenditures (CAPEX), but also in operating expenditures (OPEX), as maintenance, spare parts and training are needed only for one unit.
The flocculation technology utilized by the Marinfloc treatment unit is effective in terms of both treatment efficiency and cost, regardless of the type of fuel utilized.
This delivery is the company’s first for methanol-fueled vessels but several of the D5.0 units have been delivered to date for conventionally fueled vessels, with the first vessel in operation since early 2022.
Many shipowners are hesitant to use EGR solutions because of the additional treatment unit that must be put onboard the vessel.
By adopting the Marinfloc system you will take advantage of all the benefits with EGR without adding an extra treatment unit.
Even lower Operating Expenditures can be achieved when the Marinfloc system is used in combination with the MAN-ES ECO EGR.
Marinfloc’s WhiteBox is included as standard to segregate the waste streams, eliminate cross-contamination and record vital parameters, including processed, volumes for the EGR record book and oil record book.
Marinfloc specializes in systems for wastewater treatment on ships and offshore units. Bilge water, drill slop, black and grey water and oily sludge are all treated by our equipment.
BOSTON-BASED SEA MACHINES
ROBOTICS INC. has installed its new AI-ris computer vision product onboard a 270-foot U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Famous-class Medium Endurance Cutter ahead of an upcoming deployment.
AI-ris uses artificial intelligence to identify and track visual targets of interest. Installation on the cutter was made possible under an ongoing Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Sea Machines Robotics and the USCG Research and Development Center to evaluate how computer vision systems can be utilized
for autonomous navigation, collision avoidance, and target detection. The deployment of AI-ris provides the USCG a new tool for maritime domain awareness and allows Sea Machines to refine its computer vision technology with feedback from the USCG across a range of environmental conditions and operational scenarios.
The collaboration between Sea Machines and the USCG began in 2020 following the USCG Research and Development Center selecting the Sea Machines’ SM300 remote command and autonomy product for its 29-foot
research vessel.
“The close collaboration between Sea Machines and the United States Coast Guard Research and Development Center extends deeply into their mission-oriented service,” said Sea Machines CEO Michael G. Johnson. “The USCG is a branch of the armed forces, a law enforcement agency, a regulator, a member of the U.S. Intelligence community, and a first responder. Sea Machines’ goal is to lead with new technologies that advance on-water operations and support the Coast Guard in the many missions they serve.”
What is safety? Safety can be defined as a noun, a verb, or an adjective. However, the most powerful and effective definition of safety is a combination of the above—it’s called culture.
A safety culture is an avenue that can pull resources from virtually anywhere. It is not solely material items (personal protective equipment, machinery, etc.), qualitative data or even quantitative data. Is it possible to simply describe a company’s safety culture in a procedure or policy or even a mission statement? Is a safety culture something that is posted and comes into effect over night?
Let’s use a traditional spider’s web as an example. It has lines extending outward from the center at every angle with circles beginning at the center and growing in diameter the further away from the center they get. In a short period of time, a masterpiece is created, and it is magnificent. But how do we use it?
The center, or core value, of a safety culture is you. It is you, your supervisor, your co-worker, your employees. It is very simply a person. When safety is focused on the individual level, the atmosphere of a company shifts. Morale increases with positivity, accidents decrease, equipment runs smoother, a job becomes a career, and a company becomes more successful.
Focusing on an individual from a safety aspect is knowing what hazards will be present during that person’s daily task. Potential
hazards or obstacles may range from physical, mental, or spiritual. We want to provide the appropriate tools, proper PPE, adequate training, healthcare/insurance, and available resources to obtain the assistance someone might need. All are examples of the lines and circle of the spider web mentioned before.
industry. From the beginning, the foundation for Golding Barge Line has been the health, safety, and care of its mariners. With this focus and support coming from ownership, care and safety has become a key part of every department, decision and action. Incorporating safety in all decisions is what created our safety culture. Without it, Golding Barge Line would not be as successful.
As for others, the COVID-19 pandemic created turmoil for Golding Barge Line. One of the lessons we learned is to not take your way of business for granted. We were devastated to eliminate gatherings and personal connections such as lunch in the galley, vessel visits, even customer and vendor meetings. That hurt our core. With this disconnect, we began to see a shift in safety—minor incidents, focus wasn’t 100%, morale turned to nerves and worries. Thankfully with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, cell phones and other communication avenues, we were able to reach out and fill the voids we were beginning to experience.
Weekly calls, more personal conversations, and fleet wide support. As a company, we saw how much we truly needed each other to make what we have successful. Safety is not solely based on the incident-free transit from point A to point B. It also includes the care and safety of our mariners during that transit. We have learned that even with safety, health, and care as a part of Golding Barge Line’s foundation, it can’t become lost in the routine. They should be a priority, consistent, and sincere from all employees. This is a safety culture.
Safety is a necessary and very important priority for everyone throughout our industry. We are required to have, and need, policies, procedures, and guidelines to navigate successfully. With this being the very beginning of 2023, as an industry, let’s make our atmosphere shift: Apply your company’s safety focus on your people and create a safety culture. With that, the maritime industry becomes safer and employees return home the same way they came to work—healthy and whole.
These are our resources that we can pull from to keep a person safe. When a company applies this type of safety to every one of its employees that is when its safety program becomes a safety culture. Safety then becomes a part of your company’s core values.
Golding Barge Line is a family owned and operated business that has been built from many years of experience in the maritime
Safety is not solely based on the incident-free transit from point A to point B. It also includes the care and safety of our mariners during the transit.
