Skills - News

In celebration of the 108th anniversary of the Institute of Engineering, Décio da Silva, Chairman of the WEG Board of Directors, received the title of Eminent Engineer of the Year 2024 at the award ceremony held yesterday (10th) in São Paulo. The ceremony, organized by the Engineering Institute, celebrated his successful trajectory and contributions to the industrial sector. The event was broadcast live on the Institute’s website and YouTube channel. Largest international p...

Anthony Veder proudly announces the launch of two VentoFoils sails onboard of ethylene carrier, Coral Patula, delivered by Econowind. With this installation, Anthony Veder is the first worldwide to install sails onboard a gas carrier. Later this year sister ship Coral Pearl will be equipped with two similar sails. By retrofitting existing gas carriers, the company unlocks the potential of wind propulsion as a sustainable solution for the maritime industry. Net-zero emitter by 2035 Björn...

Maritime UK Week 2024 wrapped up with great success, showcasing the incredible advancements in the maritime sector and engaging thousands across the UK. Held from 7th to 11th October, this dynamic week featured a number of standout events, bringing together industry leaders, professionals, and the public to celebrate the maritime sector’s vital role. With a focus on cutting-edge innovation, sustainability, and exciting career opportunities, the week was a fantastic opportunity to explore...

In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) has announced a total contribution of $80,000 to the American Red Cross to help those in affected communities. In addition to the $30,000 it previously donated to the Red Cross to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts, it will match up to $50,000 more in public donations toward Hurricane Milton relief efforts. This contribution aims to provide immediate relief to the comm...

Connectivity, quality, safety and infrastructures. These are the strengths of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) in the international fruit and vegetable fair ‘Fruit Attraction’, which is being held at the IFEMA exhibition centre in Madrid from 8 to 10 October. Located in the stand of Puertos del Estado, Valenciaport has attended this event with a sales team led by Cristina Rodríguez, head of containers. Thus, during these three days, the PAV is highlighting its excellent i...

Now they’ve cut steel on HMS Formidable, the third of five Inspiration Class frigates they’re building for the Royal Navy at their Rosyth facility in Scotland, marking the official start of the ship’s build programme. Coming only 20 months after the steel cut ceremony for the second ship, HMS Active, this highlights the rapid progress being made on the Type 31 programme and the important sovereign defence capability being delivered at the world-class facility. Nearing structu...

Serco PLC has joined the UN Global Compact, the provider of services to governments internationally announced today. The Compact is an initiative where companies align their strategies and operations with ten principles related to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and take actions that advance society and deliver the UN’s sustainability goals. Greater environmental responsibility The move aligns with Serco’s purpose - to impact a better future for People, Plac...

Oceania Cruises, the world’s renowned culinary- and destination-focused cruise line, has unveiled details of its new culinary venue, the Crêperie, debuting on Allura™, its newest ship launching in July 2025. The Crêperie, located next to Baristas, the line's signature coffee bar, will offer a selection of tempting French crêpes, Bruxelles waffles and bubble waffles, alongside Italian ice cream sundaes, from mid-morning throughout the afternoon. The Crêperie...

2024 will go down as the year of peak energy emissions, according to DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook. Energy-related emissions are at the cusp of a prolonged period of decline for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. Emissions are set to almost halve by 2050, but this is a long way short of the requirements of the Paris Agreement. The Outlook forecasts the planet will warm by 2.2°C by the end of the century. Solar installations The peaking of emissions is largely due to p...

Norway-based maritime technology business, Shipnet, has strengthened its senior leadership team with the appointments of a new Finance Director and HR Director. Paula Summers, who joins as HR Director, boasts over 15 years’ experience within HR roles partnering with business pioneers in the retail, manufacturing and nuclear energy sectors. This includes Ethel Austin, Glen Dimplex Consumer Appliances (including brands like Stoves, Belling, Morphy Richards and Roberts Radios) and Caven...

The United States Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Office of Environment and Innovation has selected ABS to establish and maintain the U.S. Center for Maritime Innovation (Center) under a five-year cooperative agreement. Decarbonisation and digitalisation Authorised by the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Center for Maritime Innovation is intended to support the adoption of clean energy on U.S. vessels through a wide-ranging program of research and development and training support. ABS Chairman...

WEG, a pioneer in industrial solutions, recently completed the overhaul and recovery of a vertical mill gearbox at Cimento Tupi in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The service was carried out at WEG's plant in Sertãozinho, São Paulo. The gearbox, weighing more than 60 tons, drives Cimento Tupi's main mill, which has a nominal capacity of 300 tons per hour of flour. This critical equipment operates 24/7, making regular maintenance essential for continuous and safe operation. Electrical and m...

The Panama Canal’s 2024-2025 cruise season began on October 7, 2024, with the northbound passage of the passenger vessel Brilliance of the Seas, which is navigating a 15-day itinerary between Los Angeles and New Orleans. This repositioning transit marks the start of more than 225 transits through the Panama Canal expected for this season. According to Albano G. Aguilar, Specialist in Market Analysis and Forecasting at the Office of Corporate Affairs, “An increase in transits is expe...

Robert Allan Ltd. is pleased to announce that the RAmparts 2300 tug SN Cariri was successfully delivered to Sulnorte Serviços Maritimos in August 2024. The RAmparts 2300 series tug was recently completed at Estaleiro Rio Maguari (ERM) in Belém, Brazil. As the seventh RAmparts 2300 built by ERM in recent months, it showcases the success of their tug construction program based on Robert Allan Ltd.’s designs. This design also marks an important milestone for both Robert Allan...

Eco Wave Power Global AB, a publicly traded onshore wave energy technology company announces that it signed an agreement for the sale of the first wave energy generation unit with I-Ke International Ocean Energy Co., a subsidiary of Lian Tat Company, a maritime engineering company, with the purpose of bringing Eco Wave Power’s wave energy technology to Taiwan. According to the terms of the agreement, I-Ke will be providing the full financing for the 100KW pilot project, by buying a turnke...

Bronze bearings in the stern roller of the Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) Vessel ES Kestrel have been replaced with grease-free SXL bearings from Thordon Bearings while the vessel remained afloat and operational. The replacement was undertaken in May 2024 by Thordon’s Dubai-based distributor Ocean Power International (OPI) for the AHTS owner Echo Cargo & Shipping of U.A.E. While typically checked during routine drydocking, the vessel’s stern roller was experiencing turning is...

Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) held a commemorative event of its Golden Jubilee celebrations at Visakhapatnam, on 3rd October 2024. The event was attended by a distinguished group of senior maritime professionals and stakeholders from the East Coast of India, with large attendance from the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard, shipyards, and shipowners, including representatives from Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Hyderabad and Chennai. This was the second celebratory event in IRS&rs...

Port of Rotterdam Authority and Swietelsky Rail Benelux B.V. have signed the contract for the construction of a bundle of six tracks suitable for 740-meter trains as part of the new Maasvlakte-Zuid railway yard. This project was developed in close cooperation with ProRail and with the use of a European Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) subsidy. Swietelsky starts construction in the spring of 2025, with commissioning planned for mid-2027. Efficient rail development Construction of the railway...

The delivery of the fourth Multipurpose Combat ship (PPA) “Giovanni delle Bande Nere” took place at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Muggiano (La Spezia). The ceremony was attended, among others, by Vice Admiral Andrea Gueglio, Director of the Italian Navy Military Personnel Directorate, by Admiral Chief Inspector Giuseppe Abbamonte, Director of the Naval Armaments Directorate - NAVARM, and Mr. Joachim Sucker, OCCAR Director, welcomed by Attilio Dapelo, Senior Vice President Oper...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised MET Group (“MET”) on its investment, by way of a partnership agreement with Celsius Group (“Celsius”), in one modern LNG carrier to be constructed by China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu). The LNG carrier is scheduled to be delivered in 2027 and will support MET’s growing LNG activities. The purchase supports MET’s strategy to enhance its ability to supply its customers with LNG from various sources...

In late April this year, the OCCS system installed on Evergreen's neopanamax container vessel successfully captured CO2 from its exhaust gas emissions. The captured CO2 was offloaded to a shore facility and was recycled. ClassNK confirmed an amount of the offloaded CO2, and deducted the amount from the ship's annual CO2 emissions in CII assessment under the direction of the Flag Administration of the Panama Maritime Authority. This series of initiatives anticipates practical operations that ma...

ABS presented an approval in principle (AIP) to Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for its new design of an ammonia floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit. Called Samsung Ammonia Blue, the concept features advanced safety components with an expected production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum of ammonia. Class and statutory requirements ABS completed design reviews on the topside process, interface system and layout based on class and statutory requirements. “With o...

ABS issued an approval in principle (AIP) to pioneering Japanese companies at Gastech 2024 for two liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2) carrier designs with Type-C cargo tanks that do not require performing post-weld-heat-treatment based on the demonstration of an engineering critical assessment (ECA). ABS reviewed the drawings based on class and statutory requirements for the two designs, a 50K cubic metre carrier and a 23K cubic metre carrier, featuring Type-C cylindrical tanks made of carbon ma...

KR (Korean Register) has granted Approval in Principle (AIP) for the Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV), a passenger and cargo transport vessel dedicated to offshore wind farms, developed by MARCON, a Korean maritime service company. CTVs are widely used in Europe for transporting workers and equipment necessary for offshore wind farm construction and maintenance. However, the use of diesel engines has raised concerns about carbon emissions. Hybrid electric propulsion system The CTV that received AIP...

The International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference (IBEX), North America’s premier technical trade event for the recreational marine industry announced that it has hired Aaron Porter as Editorial Director. Porter is a Maine-based maritime journalist and sailor who was the editor of Professional BoatBuilder magazine for the last 14 years. Facets of the marine trades With a background reporting on fisheries and the boatbuilding industry in Maine and Maritime Canada, and sail...

Technology advancements have accelerated into the maritime ecosystem at breakneck speed over the past ten years fuelled by a glut of new money, eager to enter the maritime sector. From a time of on-premise solutions that enabled only a select number of users to interact with closed proprietary solutions with defined inputs and outputs, to where a plethora of companion applications have come onto the market. They’re designed to provide narrow answers to the big problems operators face, whe...

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has secured an order to supply cargo access equipment for 12 Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTCs), with an option for eight additional vessels. The vessels will be built at China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. (CMHI) for CIDO Shipping. The order was booked into Cargotec's third quarter 2024 order intake, with deliveries planned to begin in the second quarter of 2026 and to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2029. MacGregor's track record The s...

ABS and Hanwha Ocean Co., LTD, have agreed to explore cutting-edge technology projects together with the signing of an Offshore Technology Collaboration Agreement (OTCA) at Gastech 2024. The agreement is the foundation for collaboration on a succession of state-of-the-art projects leveraging each company’s core competencies under three broad themes: sustainability, digitalisation and artificial intelligence and operational technology cybersecurity. Clean energy solutions The agreement a...

An ammonia fuel supply system that can be retrofitted to existing vessels or installed on new builds has earned approval in principle (AIP) from ABS. The ammonia fuel supply system from Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases, part of Nikkiso Co., Ltd.’s Industrial Division, features high-efficiency pumps and an integrated fuel management system. ABS completed design reviews based on class and statutory requirements. New fuel supply system “The ability to retrofit is significa...

Hartnell Taylor Cook has announced that following a competitive tender, it has been re-appointed to manage the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) Estate Management Services contract.  The new contract period commenced in April, for up to a 5-year period, building on a long-standing relationship spanning over two decades. The contract was procured under the Crown Commercial Services framework (RM6168), where Hartnell Taylor Cook is appointed under a number of “Lots”....