New LNG-powered ferry launched at Ferguson shipyard, UK
Clyde Blowers Capital unit, Ferguson Marine Engineering (FMEL) launched the first of two new liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered ferries at its shipyard at Port Glasgow in Scotland.
This environmental friendly vehicle passenger vessel is named MV Glen Sannox, now designed and built in the UK. It is owned by Caledonian Maritime Assets (CMAL).
Maersk Line closes the €3.7bn acquisition of Hamburg Süd
Danish shipping company Maersk Line completed the €3.7bn acquisition of German container line, Hamburg Süd, after receiving the final regulatory approval.
The transaction was initially agreed in December 2016 and was under a regulatory approval process in 23 jurisdictions.
The process granted approval for the acquisition by the Korea Fair Trade Commission.
Pirates abduct six personnel from German ship offshore Nigeria
Pirates kidnapped six crew members, including the captain, from a ship owned by German-based Peter Döhle Schiffahrts off the coast of southern Nigeria.
Reuters reports on the casualties as said by the Ukraine’s foreign ministry and the Philippines’ department of labour that one of the abducted individuals was Ukrainian, while four were Filipino nationals.
Also, one Hungarian national was among the crew members kidnapped during the recent incident.
Rolls-Royce teams up with Google to further develop autonomous ship solutions
Rolls-Royce ventures with Google to further develop its intelligent awareness systems, which makes existing vessels more safer and also assist in the development of autonomous ships.
The arrangement will see Rolls-Royce make use of Google’s Cloud Machine Learning Engine to provide additional training to its artificial intelligence (AI) based object classification system, which is used to detect, identify and track objects that a vessel on course might encounter at sea.
The Google Cloud Machine Learning Engine is designed to use the same neural, net-based machine intelligence software that powers many of Google products, including image and voice search.
Abu Dhabi Ports to receive $299m investment from China
UAE-based Abu Dhabi Ports entered an investment cooperation agreement with China’s Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company (JOCIC) to bring an investment worth AED1.1bn ($299m) into the Khalifa Port Free Trade Zone (KPFTZ).
This new 50-year musataha agreement will see a new UAE-based company established by JOCIC known as the China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation (Jiangsu) Construction Management Co., Ltd..
It will occupy and develop around 23.7ft² of KPFTZ space for companies from the Chinese province of Jiangsu.
The proposed investment will require roughly 2.2% of the available free zone space in Khalifa Industrial Zone, which is Abu Dhabi’s (Kizad) newly allotted KPFTZ area.
Trafigura places $1.35bn order for up to 32 new tankers
Trafigura Group, a global commodity trading company, disclosed its involvement in an order to purchase up to 32 new crude oil and product tankers at a combined value of more than $1.35bn.
The order was placed by one of the company’s financial partners in Asia. These newbuild ships are to be leased to Trafigura, with options to purchase at a later date, if required.
Trafigura placed a firm order for 22 crude oil and product tankers with options for ten additional vessels, including Medium Range (MR) tankers, LR2s and Suezmax tankers.
Damen collaborates with industry partners to develop 3D-printed ship propeller
Damen Shipyards Group joined the cooperative consortium which includes the Rotterdam Additive Manufacturing Lab (RAMLAB), Promarin, Autodesk and Bureau Veritas to develop a 3D-printed ship propeller.
This proposed 1,300mm propeller is named, WAAMpeller and is set to be approved world’s first class 3D-printed material of its kind.
It is developed upon a Promarin design, which is typically found on a Damen Stan Tug 1606.
Damen R&D department’s project engineer, KeesCusters says, “Three students from Delft Technical University were investigating the potential of 3D printing for us. They brought us into contact with the other members of the consortium.”
Norway to build $315m ship tunnel to ensure safe navigation of vessels
The Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) announced its plan to build the world’s first ship tunnel with an investment of around Nkr 2.7bn ($315m).
The proposed tunnel will allow vessels to navigate more safely through the Stad Peninsula mountains.
It is a part of the Norwegian National Transport Plan (NTP) and is set for development during the period 2018-2029.
Around Nkr1.5bn ($174m) of the total Nkr 2.7bn invested, is already earmarked for use in the first phase of the NTP, which will run through 2018 to 2023.
FSDEA to invest $180m to build deepsea port in Angola
Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA), a Angola’s sovereign wealth fund, unveiled its plans to invest $180m into the development of a deep sea port in the region.
The proposed investment is from the FSDEA’s $1.1bn infrastructure fund, and as part of its first phase, will facilitate in the construction of a 630m-long terminal linked to the shore via a 2km-long connection bridge.
The expected water depth of the terminal is 14m, while that of the access channel is 15m.
Wärtsilä tests wireless charging system on hybrid ferry
Wärtsilä, a Finland-based technology group, tested its new automatic wireless induction charging system on MF Folgefonn, a hybrid coastal ferry in Norway.
MF Folgefonn became the world’s first commercial ferry to charge its batteries with high-power wireless charging capability as a result of this initiative.
MF Folgefonn is owned by Norwegian ferry operator Norled. It has a length of 85m and is electrically powered.
Did you subscribe for our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Ship Technology
