Prime movers News

Maritime UK is joining the global maritime sector, in order to celebrate the inaugural International Day for Women in Maritime. The theme is ‘Training-Visibility-Recognition: Supporting a barrier-free working environment’. The day celebrates women in the industry. It is intended to promote the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen International Maritime Organization’s commitment to th...

Danelec Marine is preparing to roll-out out a digital upgrade across a fleet of 100+ vessels, following an order placed in March 2022. The ships will be connected to the DanelecConnect Cloud platform where a carefully selected package of performance monitoring applications will unlock operational insight to reduce fuel consumption and enable the customer’s extensive decarbonisation strategy. As one of the largest single DanelecConnect projects undertaken by the Danish marine safety and di...

Iridium Communications Inc. announces that Kay Sears has been elected to the Iridium Board of Directors, effective May 17, 2022. As a director on the Iridium Board, Sears will play a role in helping shape the strategic direction of Iridium's business. Sears currently serves as Vice President and General Manager of Autonomous Systems for the Boeing Defense, Space and Security (BDS) unit of The Boeing Company, which she joined in February 2022. At BDS, Sears oversees the development of cutting-ed...

Forto, a provider of digitised freight forwarding and supply chain solutions, announces the appointment of Thomas Eisenblätter as Vice President of Global Sea Freight Management, FCL. In his new role, Eisenblätter will oversee the procurement and business development of the Forto offerings for international Sea Freight. Eisenblätter brings more than 30 years of operational, business development and partner management experience to Forto. He joins the company after most recently s...

Babcock, the international defence, aerospace and security company has been awarded a 10-year contract to provide dry-dock maintenance for the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers. The new £30m contract follows a previous maintenance period where Babcock completed the first docking for HMS Queen Elizabeth at the Rosyth site in 2019 and includes all routine maintenance and repairs that cannot be done when the vessel is afloat. In addition to the scheduled dockin...

KONGSBERG has decided to move to Horten Industrial Park (HIP), in Horten, Norway, in 2025. A completely new building will be built there that can bring together the group’s operations in the city, which is currently spread over six addresses. “We are growing in Horten and today, we can rejoice that the board of KONGSBERG has chosen to invest further for the future here. A new sustainable building, at the water's edge and designed for our business is becoming a reality”, said E...

Tokyo Classification Society ClassNK has issued an Approval in Principle (AiP) for liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carriers developed by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line). Carbon dioxide capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) is attracting global attention as an effective mean for realising a carbon-neutral society. Underground geological formation It is a process that captures CO2 released from thermal pow...

Gard announces that Lars Lislegard-Bækken is appointed Gard’s new Chief Operating Officer (COO) with Ingvild Høgenes Nilsen taking over as General Counsel. Lislegard-Bækken has served as Gard’s Chief Legal Counsel since 2018. “Gard is growing and evolving. We have created this new COO role to make sure we are well-positioned and continuously able to deliver on our long-term strategy and goals. It’s about being fit for the future,” said Gard CEO,...

Maritime industry can achieve vast majority of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target through digital technologies, according to a major new report into decarbonising shipping. The maritime industry, which carries over 90 per cent of world trade, accounts for 2.5 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. To hit the target of a 50 per cent reduction in global shipping CO2 emissions by 2050, as set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), it is estimated that the sector...

The World Shipping Council (WSC) continues its work for a safe, secure and sustainable industry, and is excited to welcome a new member in Swire Shipping.  Headquartered in Singapore, Swire Shipping is a globally renowned provider of specialist customer solutions for a wide range of cargo and aims to provide a full suite of land and ocean solutions. Swire Shipping Swire Shipping celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2022 and for much of its modern history, the company has been actively inv...

Shipping special cargo is a work of art that A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) has been striving to perfect for more than four decades now. Maersk moved special cargo, even before containers were first introduced in the 1970s and they have been carrying out-of-gauge and breakbulk cargo across the company’s global network of ships, trains, trucks, and barges ever since. Special cargo needs customised solutions A.P. Moller – Maersk understands that no one size fits all. Every spec...

Globally renowned company in manned submersibles, U-Boat Worx is excited to announce the launch of a completely new class of submarine – one that has been designed to host the most prestigious and memorable events on the planet. UWEP autonomous submersible The ‘Under Water Entertainment Platform’, or UWEP for short, is a completely autonomous submersible with capacity for up to 120 guests, excluding crew. Guests will experience diving to depths up to 200 metres in comfort and...

Over the next months, the European Union (EU) is introducing a range of policy and regulatory proposals related to the shipping industry as part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package. The package is aimed at achieving the decarbonisation goals set out in the European Green Deal. The newly published Getting to Zero Coalition Insight Brief – 'How EU Contracts for Difference can support zero-emission fuels' – outlines how the EU could use shipping-related Emissions Trading System (ET...

United European Car Carriers (UECC) is the provider of sustainable short sea solutions in Europe, and the carrier has through a long time offered a North Sea service route connecting the ports of Zeebrugge, Gothenburg and Drammen on a weekly basis. Now, Esbjerg has been added to the service. Zeebrugge is the hub of UECC, and from here cargo can be shipped with other regular UECC services to additional network. Regular UECC services In April this year, UECC called at Esbjerg Port carrying prim...

For over 30 years, Thales Australia (Thales) has been a trusted partner of the Royal Australian Navy, onboard and onshore. Australian capability, above the water and below the water, is at the heart of everything Thales does. From designing, manufacturing and integrating advanced sonar and autonomous underwater systems, to successfully maintaining the Royal Australian Navy’s critical assets, so they are available whenever and wherever they are needed, Thales carries out all tasks effi...

Tokyo - Leading classification society, ClassNK has released its design support system – ‘PrimeShip-HULL 2022’. PrimeShip-HULL 2022 design support system complies with the recent comprehensive revision of ClassNK’s Rules for the Survey and Construction of Steel Ships Part C and provides extensive support for ship-building design that combines safety and rationality. PrimeShip-HULL series software for strength evaluations PrimeShip-HULL series is software for strength e...

GRAMMY Award-winning artist and superstar Kelly Clarkson has announced that she would join Norwegian Cruise Line, in celebrating and rewarding educators, as part of the ‘Norwegian's Giving Joy’, annual recognition programme, hosted by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the innovator in global cruise travel. In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week (May 2 – 6, 2022), the songstress and TV host and producer concluded a week-long on-air celebration recognising educators on her criticall...

MAN Energy Solutions’ Two-Stroke Business has announced that it has surpassed 2,000 orders for IMO MARPOL Annex VI NOX Tier III-compliant technologies for its portfolio of MAN B&W two-stroke engines. The new milestone occurs just over a year after the company announced the passing of the 1,000 milestones in January 2021. Prioritise environmental considerations Bjarne Foldager – Senior Vice President and Head of Two-Stroke Business – MAN Energy Solutions, said: “Thi...

The maritime industry’s most forward-thinking sustainable technologies will be on exhibition at the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Final Showcase on 24th May at Portsmouth International Port. Zero-emission shipping In March 2021, the Department for Transport (DfT) launched the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC), which allocated over £23 million of research and development funding to 55 projects across the UK supporting the design and development of zero-emiss...

Norway-funded Carib-SMART Preparatory Phase Programme will enable Caribbean SIDS maritime sector to build-back better, post the COVID-19 pandemic. A new programme to develop and implement a Sustainable Maritime Transport (SMART) system in the Caribbean has begun in a preparatory phase, aimed at supporting the small island developing states (SIDS) of the Caribbean region, in order to build-back better from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the maritime sector. Carib-SMART Preparatory Phase...

Stena Line proudly announces that the winners of the company’s Propeller Prize 2022 are Life Finder Systems International and Cetasol. Life Finder Systems International won in the category of digital communication technology, while the jury chose Cetasol as winners in the field of maritime technology. The companies are awarded with a prize money of 100.000 SEK each. Life Finder Systems International produce intelligent alert systems that integrate seamlessly into workers everyday safety r...

The May Crew Change Indicator records a tiny increase in seafarers onboard vessels beyond their contract expiry since April, but overall does not indicate that the fears of a re-escalation of the crew change crisis due to the war in Ukraine have been fulfilled. May Indicator The latest Indicator shows that the number of seafarers onboard vessels beyond the expiry of their contract has increased slightly from 4.2% to 4.5% in the last month, while the number of seafarers onboard vessels for over...

Coldplay is partnering up with Neste to take steps towards the band’s target of reducing CO2 emissions from the Music Of The Spheres World Tour by 50% compared to the band’s previous world tour. Neste will provide Coldplay with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help reduce emissions from air travels, while the company’s renewable diesel will help cut emissions from the band’s tour transports and stage power generation. In 2019, Coldplay pressed pause on their touring un...

Danfoss Power Solutions’ Editron division is partnering with Baltic Workboats to supply the electric propulsion system for the Estonian shipyard’s new hybrid passenger and bicycle ferry. The Ferry 19 Electric will be delivered in 2023 to DAB Vloot, the Flemish governmental fleet operator. The hybrid ferry is designed to transport up to 50 passengers and 25 bicycles at a time. The vessel will primarily operate in fully electric mode only, which will help the Belgium government achiev...

The Mersey Maritime Exchange will take place on Thursday 23rd June 2022, both online and in the magnificent surroundings of Liverpool Town Hall, a Grade-I-listed building in the heart of the city. The conference is being organised by Mersey Maritime in partnership with Maritime UK and will discuss the progress of the UK Government’s Maritime 2050 report, which sets out the future of the sector over the next three decades. Key industry representatives The conference comes three-and-a-hal...

The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) has developed an approach to integrate human factors into its activities. A core human factors principle in support of the company’s focus on reducing risk is the acceptance that people make mistakes and that mistakes become more likely under conditions that make work difficult. Crises such as the current conflict can have a direct and indirect impact on the well-being of personnel. Emotions such as uncertainty, fear, anxiety or sadness...

The World Ocean Council (WOC), the City of Barcelona and the Port of Barcelona are partnering to develop the leading global hub for the Blue Economy, which will now include the headquarters for WOC, the global Blue Economy Business and Investment Organization. The World Ocean Council’s events and activities will complement the Blue Economy efforts in Barcelona, Spain and its port, as well as strengthen the city’s leadership commitments. WOC’s Blue Economy events To celebrate...

Babcock’s Vehicle Support Team (Operations), part of the DE&S Organisation, has won a Minister for Defence Procurement Acquisition Award for supporting the deployment of British troops to Mali on Operation NEWCOMBE, which was a collaborative effort involving Army HQ, DE&S, Babcock and other industry partners. The team, comprised of both military and civilian personnel, is responsible for the in-service support of the land vehicle fleet on operations and training worldwide. Urgent...

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is where energy professionals meet to exchange ideas and opinions to advance scientific and technical knowledge for offshore resources and environmental matters. Celebrating 50 years since 1969, OTC’s flagship conference is held annually at NRG Park (formerly Reliant Park) in Houston, Texas, USA. OTC has expanded technically and globally with the Arctic Technology Conference, OTC Brasil, and OTC Asia. Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2022 The...

OceanWise’s Shane Djokey, who started with the team in September 2020 (slap bang in the middle of the global COVID-19 pandemic!) has been awarded a distinction in his apprenticeship as ‘Software Development Technician’. Shane Djokey has been working with the Technical Team at OceanWise, under the guidance and support of the company’s Managing Director - Caroline Levey and the Line Manager - Steve Bourne, as an Information Systems Apprentice.  ‘Software Develo...