Surveillance & Maritime News for October 2021

In recent months, COVID-19 has put incredible pressure on global supply chains. But it’s not just the pandemic that is causing unforeseen pressure on the UK supply chain. We have an ageing infrastructure, a chronic HGV driver shortage, record-high prices and record low space availability on sea freight options, new rules in trading with the EU, and in addition, a UK-wide shortage of warehousing capacity. While we have had to stay at home, online shopping has peaked and an increasing amou...

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group based in Yokohama, held a christening and launch ceremony on October 8th, for the second of two large ferries being built for Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (JRTT) and Meimon Taiyo Ferry Co., Ltd. The ceremony took place at the Enoura Plant at MHI’s Shimonoseki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The handover is scheduled for March 2022 following th...

Inmarsat is delighted to return as Official Communications Partner to The Maiden Factor, the round-the-world sailing campaign promoting equal access to education for girls from all backgrounds and countries. Spearheaded by iconic sailing legend Tracy Edwards, Maiden’s campaign began in 2018, which saw a rotating all-female crew sail over 33,000 miles around the globe, visiting over 23 destinations in 12 countries. However, they were forced to put their voyage on hold in 2020 becau...

Rolls-Royce has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy Brandenburg (MWAE) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to advance the research and development of hybrid-electric propulsion systems for the next generation of aviation in Brandenburg.   The partners agreed on the establishment of development, testing and production facilities, creating an industrial eco-system for hybrid-electric aviation propul...

Roughly half of the customers, who know that Maersk besides shipping containers across the oceans, also has a comprehensive inland offering, where they can transport the goods via train or truck. Customers know the numbers by heart: that Maersk yearly does upwards of five million inland transports for more than 25,000 customers, including the world’s largest and most recognised brands. And that we do it in 150 countries across the entire globe. Fewer brokers, less hassle Customers are...

Fleet Line Shipping is a Dubai-based logistics company and market leader in handling project cargo. Their expertise lies in handling Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC) or Out of Gauge Cargo (OOG cargo), owning in-house assets like a fleet of transport, ISO & QHSE certified lashing services, lifting equipment, and more in and out of the UAE. They have been an active partner of Maersk for 15 years, and we have together transported several Oversized Cargo and Breakbulk shipments across GCC. The c...

Backlogged ports, a shortage of shipping containers and not enough workers are among the factors contributing to supply chain disruptions that have led to shortages of various goods and are likely to impact availability of merchandise, during the upcoming holiday season. Demand is growing rapidly as the impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic have diminished. However, lingering consequences of the pandemic are continuing to impact the container shipping market. With each element in the system t...

Rolls-Royce’s Pearl® 700 engines have been selected by Gulfstream to power the company’s latest ultra-long-range business jet, the G800. The engine type was purpose-designed for Gulfstream and is on track to receive its certification next year. It is the most powerful product in the Rolls-Royce business jet propulsion portfolio flying and the exclusive powerplant for the all-new Gulfstream G700 and Gulfstream G800. With more than 3,600 business jets in service today powered by...

Rolls-Royce announces that Grazia Vittadini, former CTO at Airbus, will be joining as Chief Technology Officer, Designate, to succeed Paul Stein when he steps down next year after almost 12 years leading the pioneering research and technology efforts. Separately, Harry Holt, Chief People Officer, has decided to leave to take up the post of Chief Operating Officer at Vertical Aerospace. His successor will be announced in due course. Experience Grazia, who will join on 2 November 2021, spent...

MAN Energy Solutions has announced that its portfolio of two-stroke, dual-fuel engines have accumulated more than two million operating hours in total, running on LNG, methanol, ethane and LPG. The news comes on the back of the 470 engines the company has received orders for – with over 185 already in service – and all running on the aforementioned alternative fuels.   Bjarne Foldager, Senior Vice President and Head of Low-Speed, MAN Energy Solutions, said, “This signifi...

BAE Systems, Inc. will continue providing lifecycle sustainment, integration, and engineering services to support U.S. aircraft carriers after being selected for a five-year, $68.5 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract.   Under the Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems (ATC&LS) Engineering Products & Technical Services (EPTS) contract awarded earlier this year, BAE Systems will leverage decades of program history to develop, produce, equip, test, evaluate,...

Danfoss is looking forward to the possibility of meeting people live at Europort 2021, November 2-5th in Ahoy Rotterdam. The sustainability in the marine industry is at full speed. Not least because legislators, but also customers, are urging to sail cleaner and more efficiently. Danfoss supports the sector with its well-known sensors and by providing its standard frequency converters with new software to perform all facets of electrical energy conversion. By applying specific software the use...

This acquisition strengthens A.P. Moller - Maersk’s e-commerce Logistics products suite in line with its strategic business transformation. "With B2C Europe, we are closing the circle around our e-commerce logistics expansion. Our logistics product line-up growth continues to support our long-term plans to help customers sell through any sales channel, deliver in any way, and manage their supply chains seamlessly." "This year, by adding Visible SCM, HUUB and now B2C Europe´s capabi...

The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) has awarded a contract to Kongsberg Protech Systems USA to deliver Remote Weapon Systems (RWS) as part of the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) programme. The Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract has a potential value of $94 million and includes a series of Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) systems and full-rate production units. This production contract award follows a Sept. 2020 contract award from the USMC to KONGSBERG for test...

Today, BAE Systems marks its first day as part of the team that will deliver the five-year Future Maritime Support Programme (FMSP) alongside the Ministry of Defense (MOD) for the Royal Navy.   In March, BAE Systems was selected by the MOD to deliver the Ship Engineering Delivery & Management contract at Portsmouth Naval Base. A joint venture between BAE Systems and KBR, named KBS Maritime, was awarded the Hard Facilities Management (FM) & Alongside Services contract at Portsmou...

Babcock is pleased to have finalised the contract with the UK Ministry of Defense to continue the support spanning UK naval base operations at HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport, alongside UK submarine and surface ship fleet support.  The Future Maritime Support Programme (FMSP) is worth around £3.5bn and will run until March 2026, replacing the previous Maritime Support Delivery Framework (MSDF). This complex contract reinforces Babcock’s position as a foremost naval business wit...

In a world-first for the maritime sector, the containership, ‘ElbBLUE’ – owned by German shipowner Elbdeich Reederei and operated by charterer Unifeeder – has bunkered some 20 tons of green SNG (Synthetic Natural Gas) at the Elbe port in Brunsbüttel, Germany. MAN Energy Solutions held a ceremony to mark the event, which marks the first time ever that synthetic fuel – generated from 100% renewable energy via power-to-X technology – has been employed i...

Jotun achieved record high revenue of NOK 14 975 million in the first eight months of 2021. The operating profit was NOK 2 496 million, but high raw material prices put pressure on the operating margin. Sales in the segments for Decorative Paints, Performance Coatings and Powder Coatings have shown a positive development so far this year. In the Marine Coatings segment, Jotun has experienced a decline in sales due to reduced newbuilding activity for ships. The strong growth in the first eight m...

Inmarsat, the pioneer in global, mobile satellite communications, is enabling an acceleration in the digitalisation plans of long-term client Navigazione Montanari, after an agreement for the chemical and crude oil tanker owner to extend its use of Fleet Xpress to its entire fleet. The new agreement renews and extends Navmont’s use of Fleet Xpress services across 13 ships and envisages the transfer of five more tankers from competitor services to Inmarsat’s maritime broadband se...

Rolls-Royce's new mtu engines, new mtu ship automation system, and new mtu Go! tool for remote service has well and truly future-proofed the high-speed catamaran Avemar Dos run by Spanish operator Balearia. Four new-generation mtu 20V1163 M84 units replaced the previous 1163 units, taking the vessel to a new level of ecological soundness. Fuel consumption – and with it CO2 emissions – are 8% lower than with the previous propulsion system. Furthermore, the new Series 1163 units deliv...

Women and male allies from across rail, aviation international, transport, and maritime have joined forces to learn from each other and drive progress on diversity and inclusion. Following their first summit during London International Shipping Week (15th September), the industries have agreed to regular dialogue and yearly meetings on gender equality focusing on progression and retention, careers, mental health, and ethnicity and race. Led by Maritime UK, this marks the UK’s first cross-...

In a world-first for the marine industry, Unifeeder-operated vessel, ‘ElbBlue’ was fuelled with liquefied SNG for a trial voyage, in a major boost for the shipping industry’s efforts to reduce its carbon emissions. Carbon-neutral liquefied SNG The liquefied SNG, produced at Kiwi’s Power-to-Gas facility in Werlte, Germany, is a synthetic form of LNG that is carbon-neutral and generated from 100% renewable energy. With the European Commission releasing a proposal this ye...

Maersk Kanoo, UAE (part of A.P. Moller - Maersk) has partnered with Danish Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai that opens its gates next month. Maersk will be present at the Danish Pavilion, throughout the six months of Expo 2020 Dubai, to welcome and interact with the visiting customers, and businesses that are curious to know more on how Maersk transports goods around the world. Expo 2020 Dubai Expo 2020 Dubai revolves around three key themes – mobility, sustainability and opportunity. Maersk...

CMA CGM has advised that in order to recover schedule reliability on SAFRAN service, connecting Europe with East Coast South America, the Le Havre call suspension will be extended for a further eight-week period. Le Havre call suspension extended The service change is effective m/v CAP SAN AUGUSTIN voy. 0EWAHS1MA, starting her rotation in Rotterdam ETS, on October 20th, 2021. SAFRAN's rotation will be temporarily adjusted as follows: Rotterdam (Thu/Fri) - London Gateway (Sat/Sat) - Hamburg (...

Inmarsat, the world renowned company in global mobile satellite communications, has secured a contract for its new Fleet LTE service, covering the connectivity needs of several Solstad Offshore North Sea vessels.  Offshore vessel operators commonly buy LTE and VSAT connectivity separately, using LTE when within range of shore, rigs or wind farm networks then relying on crew to switch manually to VSAT beyond 4G coverage limits. Costs can be hard to control where services are billed separate...

Globally renowned container logistics company, A.P. Moller - Maersk (Maersk) signed an agreement, on Monday, September 27, 2021, to sell its reefer manufacturer, Maersk Container Industry (MCI), to China International Marine Containers Ltd. (CIMC), which is headquartered in Shenzhen, China and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Maersk Container Industry (MCI) will become part of a market renowned company in the container equipment industry. CIMC will take over...

BAE Systems. has successfully completed the management and delivery of planned overseas support for the UK’s Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21). The carrier group sailed from the UK in May and has been supported by BAE Systems throughout its deployment. BAE Systems engineers and technicians have overseen the maintenance of aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elisabeth, Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond, and Type 23 frigates HMS Kent and HMS Richmond, in a number of countries a...

Maersk with its partner is launching its second dedicated warehouse in South Africa, trading under the name of Precool Cold Storage. The Cold Store is a part of its existing warehousing and distribution site in Hammarsdale, in Kwa-Zulu Natal, and is expected to be operational in early January 2021. Increasing the capacity of the existing cold store operations, which can handle temperatures from ambient to -25C and has dedicated sections for frozen and chilled cargo thereby serving the fruit,...

At an event at the China Classification Society in Beijing, A.P. Moller-Maersk signed three separate cooperation framework agreements with the China Classification Society (CCS) to join hands with CCS on its decarbonisation journey. Mr. Jens Eskelund, Managing Director of Maersk China Limited signed the agreement with Mr. Sun Feng, CCS Vice President in witness of Mr. Thomas Østrup Møller, Danish Ambassador to China, and Mr. Mo Jianhui, CCS Chairman & President. Technologic...

Signatories of the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonisation urge pioneers to align shipping with the Paris Agreement temperature goal. The private sector is already taking important steps to decarbonise global supply chains. Now governments must deliver the policies that will supercharge the transition and make zero-emission shipping the default choice by 2030. Full decarbonisation of international shipping is urgent and achievable. This is the clear message from Unifeeder and more than...