Prime movers News

Swiss marine power company WinGD has reached a milestone in realising its X-DF-M methanol-fuelled engine design, running the first commercial engine at full load on more than 95% methanol fuel. The ten-cylinder, 92-bore 10X92DF-M engine was run on a testbed at CSSC-MES Diesel (CMD) in Shanghai in mid-December. Newbuild X-DF-M engine The single-fuel 10X92-B engines on earlier vessels in the series will be converted for methanol The engine will be installed on the fourth of a series of 16,000...

Kongsberg Maritime has secured a substantial contract to provide an integrated package of electrical, control, safety and propulsion systems for the Golar Mk2 Floating Liquified Natural Gas (FLNG) project. Valued at more than $25 million USD, this contract will see Kongsberg Maritime technology form a key part of the new onboard systems for a major rebuild project in which Golar’s LNG tanker Fuji LNG, will be lengthened by nearly 100 metres and converted to a FLNG vessel. The work is bein...

DNV has released a competence standard (ST) for methanol and a recommended practice (RP) for ammonia, to enable crew and shipowners to tackle the safety risks and challenges posed by the introduction of new alternative fuels and technologies through shipping’s decarbonisation. While new fuels and technologies are key to achieving maritime decarbonisation, their adoption necessitates robust safety and competence frameworks. DNV’s Insights platform The number of vessels typed with a...

Guy Hindley has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Baltic Exchange Council, with effect from 1 January 2025, following the leadership of Lord Jeffrey Mountevans who has held the position for the past two years. Guy Hindley, who has served on the Baltic Exchange Council since January 2019, has a long and distinguished career in the maritime sector, including his role as Managing Partner of Dry Cargo division at Howe Robinson, where he has been a key figure since for nearly four decades.&n...

Ulstein Verft is pleased to welcome BS Offshore back at the shipyard. This will be their first ULSTEIN SX222 CSOV. The hull arrival marks a significant milestone in constructing this state-of-the-art vessel, designed to support the growing offshore wind industry.  The SX222 design, known for its superior operational performance and seakeeping abilities, will ensure the vessel meets the highest efficiency and safety standards. New innovative offshore vessels The vessel is now po...

ClassNK has released guidance to assist in the safe evacuation of crew members from vehicle carriers in the event of a cargo hold fire. Additionally, the world’s first notation, ‘AMEVC(EV),’ has been established to indicate vessels equipped with additional measures to facilitate safe evacuation. Evacuation challenges Vehicle carriers often have accommodation areas and life-saving equipment, such as lifeboats Vehicle carriers often have accommodation areas and life-saving eq...

To support its 2025 aims, Hendrik Veder Group UK has appointed two key positions in strategic locations across the UK. Ahead of the new year, Hendrik Veder Group UK’s management team has explored options to strengthen its position within critical growth markets nationally and become an all-in-one service provider encompassing lifting, rigging, and towing. Through these two new appointments, the firm will optimise the support it provides its clientele in each service line while bolstering...

LGE business has been awarded a contract to deliver six cargo handling and fuel gas supply systems for Ultra Large Ethane Carriers in China. The new supersized ships have 50% more capacity than existing Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLEC), and at 150,000 m3, are a world first of this size. Transportation of liquefied gas The ships, being built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in China, will be fitted with cascade reliquefication plants to manage the Boil Off Gas (BOG), with the contract signalling a co...

U-Boat Worx is proud to be part of the ground-breaking HEXA, a 50-metre support vessel conversion that redefines the superyacht support experience. Born from hand-drawn sketches as a floating helipad, HEXA has transformed into a striking concept that seamlessly blends robust utility with high-end sophistication, setting a new benchmark for support vessels. With its distinctive hexagonal theme, extended entertainment decks, swim platform, and bold graphics, HEXA combines form and function in a w...

Rolls-Royce held a successful F130 engine Critical Design Review (CDR), clearing the way for final development, test, and production efforts to proceed and taking another step towards delivering the upgraded B-52J to the United States Air Force. This milestone is the culmination of over two years of detailed design work and close collaboration between teams at Rolls-Royce, the Air Force and Boeing. The engine testing program is on track to begin altitude testing in February 2025 at the U.S. Air...

Wärtsilä Gas Solutions, part of technology group - Wärtsilä, continues to strengthen its market-pioneering position in small-scale LNG applications with its latest contract. A new 12,500 cbm LNG bunkering vessel is being built at the Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering shipyard in China, for global energy company - Vitol. It will feature Wärtsilä Cargo Handling and Fuel Gas Supply systems, the order for which was booked by Wärtsilä in Q4,...

Hefring Marine, a pioneer in intelligent marine technology, has been awarded a grant by the Icelandic Transport Authority (Samgöngustofa) to further critical research on injuries experienced by mariners aboard vessels. This prestigious grant underscores Hefring Marine's commitment to enhancing safety standards within the maritime industry. Building on extensive research conducted in 2023 with support from the Icelandic Student Innovation Fund, backed by Rannís (The Icelandic Centre...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Genesis Energias, S.A (“Genesis”) on the chartering of the ‘BILBAO KNUTSEN’, which shall be used as an LNG floating storage unit (“FSU”) for the loading, storage and discharging of LNG, as part of an LNG-to-power project in Honduras. The ‘BILBAO KNUTSEN’ is an LNG carrier built in 2004 and owned by Norway’s Knutsen Group. The vessel is to be converted into an FSU for the project by...

MAN Energy Solutions has announced the successful retrofit of the main engine of the ‘Maersk Halifax’ to a dual-fuel MAN B&W ME-LGIM unit. MAN PrimeServ, MAN Energy Solutions’ after-sales division, carried out the work, the first such project globally involving a VLCV (Very Large Container Vessel). The 15,000 teu vessel entered service in 2017 and was originally powered by an MAN B&W 8G95ME-C9.5 prime mover. The retrofit to an 8G95ME-LGIM Mk10.5 engine enables the Maer...

Syroco has developed and sells a software platform based on artificial intelligence, dedicated to weather routing (optimisation of routes by taking into account weather and sea conditions) and optimisation of vessel settings. It reduces the fuel consumption of merchant ships by more than 10% on average and up to 25% in certain situatiC’est ons.  Series A round The ROI for customers is attained in a few months. The impact of the solution is very high in terms of CO2 emissions avoide...

The EU’s Emission Trading System, EU ETS, is a policy instrument for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The system is based on the fact that companies that emit greenhouse gases must hold emission rights to cover their emissions. Emission rights are a limited resource that is sold on a market. Companies covered by the EU ETS must report their emissions to the authorities. Emission rights are an important part of the EU’s climate policy and the system has contributed to reducing gree...

  The government minister informed the Cabinet that the decision has been taken to prioritise the modalities of hydrogen and CO2  for the scope of the Delta Rhine Corridor (DRC). The Port of Rotterdam Authority is pleased with the government minister’s decision, given the importance of constructing the pipelines for hydrogen and CO2 as soon as possible. The decision is of great importance for the industry to achieve its goals of becoming sustainable. Investments...

Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised Globus Maritime Limited on their US$ 28 million sale and leaseback of newbuild bulk carrier m.v GLBS MIGHT with a Japanese leasing house. This is Globus' first sale and leaseback transaction, with the US$ 28 million being made available under a ten-year capital sale & leaseback arrangement. Athens-based Globus is an integrated dry bulk shipping company that provides marine transportation services worldwide with a current fleet of eight dry bulk ves...

Propspeed, a globally renowned innovator of underwater foul-release coatings, announced it has appointed Nautilus Yacht Equipment as its single-entry point for all Propspeed existing and future partners in Greece and Cyprus, effective January 1st, 2025. Focusing on yachting and light-commercial customers, Nautilus will act as importer, local warehouse, and a training and service centre for Propspeed in this growing market.  Nautilus's commitment Nautilus has been a trusted Propspeed part...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Industrial Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CIBFL”) on a leasing transaction for two liquified natural gas carriers. Upon delivery, the vessels will be bareboat chartered to a disponent-owner and sub-chartered to a Middle East charterer on a long-term basis. Delivery of the vessels Unlike conventional sale and leaseback transactions where the lessors enter into Memorandum of Agreements (“MOAs”) with the lessees...

Saggas and Valenciaport have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in the identification of innovation and development projects linked to renewable gases and CO2. The agreement was signed by Rosa María Prieto, President of Saggas, and Mar Chao, President of the Port Authority of València (PAV). Through this memorandum, Saggas and the PAV undertake to work together to identify innovation projects to accelerate the development of storage, generation and logistics solut...

The port of Rotterdam faces major challenges and opportunities arising from the expected growth in container volume to and from the port. One of those is efficiently handling road transport. The most important stakeholders have signed a declaration of intent to join forces in the ‘sector-wide negotiations for container transport by road’. Within the sector-wide negotiations, the challenges are being tackled to improve traffic flow, safety and sustainability of road transport to stre...

WEG has achieved, for the second consecutive year, the Gold seal in the EcoVadis assessment. This year’s performance was even better, placing the company among the 2% best enterprises evaluated globally. This rating highlights WEG's dedication to sustainability, showcasing its performance in environmental care, ethics, human rights, and responsible supply chain management. With a focus on innovative solutions, WEG reaffirms its commitment to contributing to a more efficient and responsibl...

New Corsican 130 MW power plant to feature 8 × MAN 18V51/60 engines optimised to run on 100% liquid biomass fuel of plant origin. A consortium comprising MAN Energy Solutions and EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) specialist, Bonatti, has signed a contract with EDF PEI – a 100% subsidiary of EDF (Électricité de France SA) that builds and operates power-generation facilities in the French overseas departments and regions, and Corsica. The contract covers the...

Babcock has officially launched a new International Engineering and Technology Hub in Melbourne, Australia as part of their increased research and development efforts across global defence markets. The $3.5 million state-of-the-art Abbotsford facility will serve as a collaborative environment for engineers and technologists working in areas such as systems engineering, secure communications, autonomy, artificial intelligence and digitally-enabled asset management. It includes provision for sp...

Lloyd’s List Intelligence (LLI), a global provider of maritime data, insights, and analytics, and Siglar Carbon, a pioneer in maritime emissions performance analytics, announced a strategic partnership to drive greater awareness of vessel emissions performance across the maritime industry aligned to EU ETS and Fuel EU market frameworks. This collaboration will combine LLI’s deep understanding of the maritime market and its comprehensive Risk & Compliance, Insurance and Legal sol...

A £150m upgrade to an Ayrshire marine yard has been given a boost as it is awarded planning permission, paving the way for increased offshore wind power off the UK’s west coast. Peel Ports Clydeport has secured permission for the complete redevelopment of the Hunterston marine yard as it prepares the site for major renewables infrastructure. Upgrades to the marine yard The overall redevelopment of Hunterston is expected to attract £3.5bn in inward investment and create over...

OceanScore has identified persisting EU ETS pain points for shipping, such as system readiness, data anomalies, transparency and contractual responsibility, after assessing lessons learned from the first year of the regulation, with the clock ticking towards the initial settlement of emissions liabilities in 2025. “Fortunately, the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is now well understood by most players in the industry after a year of implementation, despite adding yet another layer of...

Wärtsilä Water & Waste has strengthened its strategic partnership with Fornovo Gas SpA, becoming Fornovo’s authorised Service Partner for the United Kingdom and Ireland. This enhanced collaboration empowers Wärtsilä to provide comprehensive support services, including genuine spare parts supply, commissioning, and specialised maintenance for Fornovo Gas compressors throughout the region. Encompasses compressor systems As the UK and Ireland service partner for For...

SAE is pleased to announce that, following the successful deployment of turbine 4, the globally renowned MeyGen tidal stream site now has all four turbines fully operational. This means that the site is now at full power for the first time, delivering 6MW of predictable, renewable power. Since deployment in 2016, the turbines operated by MeyGen have undergone several upgrades and enhancements to increase system efficiency and cost reduction. The site continues to support the innovation and deve...