Panolin expands stern tube lube options for older ships

 

Older stern tube applications come with compatibility concerns. When upgrading to the new KEMEL or Wartsila Bio Seals, vessel operators can use Stella Maris, a stern tube lubricant based on 100 percent saturated synthetic ester technology with the most effective performance enhancing additives. But in the cases where customers don’t need to change seals or retain existing seal options, Panolin can offer Stella Maris NRT. This alternative formulation based on renewable technology meets additional Eco Labels along with a wider range of seal compatibility.

Panolin says that Environmentally Acceptable Lubricant HEES (synthetic esters or petrochemical esters) as a category has proven to be the most robust and technically advanced lubrication option. Panolin looked at all of the following factors: lubrication needs, water ingress, contamination/cleanliness, heat and equipment compatibility when creating Stella Maris and now the new Stella Maris NRT. Even though Stella Maris NRT is based on renewable esters, the performance characteristics do not vary much. For example, Panolin deals with the reality of water ingression with the same focus, regardless of what Stella Maris you choose. Stella Maris and NRT are not emulsifying lubricants. They readily separate from water. Emulsifying lubricating oil in an application where water and heat are major factors is a recipe for system failure. If water separation is happening with your stern tube lubricant, then the majority of your lubricating oil is still protecting your equipment. Your fluid can also be filtered and salvaged. Stella Maris and NRT are very polar and protect metal surfaces, even with water in the system. Water can also be drained from the system because of the separation capabilities.

Panolin says that the benefits of using Stella Maris or SM NRT are:

                                                                       

European owners want shipping back in COP21 text

European shipowners have joined the European Commission, Members of the European Pariament and various stakeholders in calling for shipping to be put back into the text.

The International Chamber of Shipping says it would be helpful for the new agreement to reiterate the vital role of the UN International Maritime Organization in the development of further measures to reduce shipping’s CO2 emissions. This would give extra encouragement to build on the global regulations IMO has already successfully adopted and which should reduce CO2 per tonne-km 50% by 2050.

However, says ICS, the absence of text is unlikely to inhibit the aspirations of governments – which are shared by the industry – for IMO to take further action.

“While text on shipping could be useful, the negotiators are now having to focus on the really high level things like climate finance to ensure the overall agreement is a success which is what everyone wants” said ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe.

ECSA Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven called the talks in Paris “a unique opportunity” to signal IMO member states to act decisively in order to further regulate CO2 emissions from ships on a global level.

“It would provide support for their ability to move forward and give new impetus to ongoing discussions, which we hope will very soon reach fruition,” said Mr. Verhoeven.

ECSA says that though the IMO has already made strides when it comes to the shipping industry’s carbon footprint, its work on CO2 emissions reduction is far from completed. It remains firmly on its agenda and will be considered again at the next meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in April 2016.

ECSA says the shipping industry supports the establishment, as soon as possible, of a mandatory system of data collection from individual vessels, understanding that the possibility of further market based measures might be revisited after an IMO analysis of the data submitted by ships.

“We firmly believe that deleting any reference to shipping and the progress needed at IMO level is a missed opportunity. The EU has already placed its faith in the IMO process by adopting legislation that will enable and support IMO in establishing a global data collection scheme,” said Mr Verhoeven.”An irreversible process leading to lower CO2 emissions from ships has started. Efforts at IMO and EU level can only be bolstered by a clear signal from the highest UN instance on climate change. We sincerely hope that negotiating parties will seriously reconsider and heed our call for shipping to be reintroduced in the final climate agreement.”

Esvagt orders new design wind farm service vessel

Situated 50 km off the Belgian coast the Nobelwind project, together with the existing Belwind 1 project, will require a purpose built service operation vessel (SOV) to support the technicians working in the wind park.

Norway’s Havyard Design & Solutions has been commissioned to design the vessel and supply an equipment to the shipbuilder, Turkey’s Cemre Shipyard. which is set to deliver the vessel in the second half of 2017.

The vessel’s Havyard 831 SOV design is based on a ship and service concept, developed by Esvagt in synergy with MHI Vestas & Havyard Design, that draws on several years of experience in servicing wind farms further offshore.

For the past five years, Esvagt has provided the base for MHI Vestas Offshore Wind technicians servicing the 165 MW Belwind 1 project, and the new contract continues that partnership.

The new purpose build SOV will be 58.5 m in length, with a beam of 16.6 m and will be able to support up to 22 technicians in single cabins. It will be equipped with Esvagt’s unique safe transfer boats (Esvagt STB) to transfer technicians, tools and spare parts to the turbines.
“The market for big service vessels for offshore windfarms is a relatively new one, and, in cooperation with Esvagt, we have entered this market at an early stage,” says Gisle Vinjevoll Thrane, Senior VP Sales, Havyard Design & Solutions. “The windmills used to be serviced by small, fast-moving boats that transported personnel and equipment daily to and from the shore. More and more wind farms are now serviced by bigger ships where the service personnel work and live on board for prolonged periods and access the windmills by means of a gangway installed on the mother ship or small boats launched from the mother ship. This is a safer and more profitable way of servicing the wind farms, particularly those far offshore.”

“The Havyard 831 SOV was developed to fill a new niche in this market, namely smaller wind farms,” says Mr. Thrane. “The new design is smaller than the ships built so far. It is compact and efficient, but at the same time has ample capacity to transport service personnel and equipment. This design will make it profitable to service even smaller wind farms, and we see a potential to deliver many designs to this segment.”

The Havyard 831 SOV has a spacious and comfortable interior with sufficient capacity to accommodate wind farm service personnel in addition to the ship’s own crew. It has also been designed with good storage capacity for equipment and tools below deck and for containers on deck.

The ship is equipped with three small boats that can be launched to transport service personnel to the windmills.

The diesel-electric propulsion system ensures economical and environmentally friendly operation, both in transit and when the ship is in position at the wind farms. The hull has been designed to ensure low fuel consumption and to move in a way that ensures maximum comfort for the crew and service personnel on board.

The ship has sufficient fuel capacity etc. for at least 30 days’ operation between port calls.

Havyard has a long relationship with Cemre Shipyard. The Turkish yard has delivered the hulls for more than 30 of the newbuilds Havyard has delivered since 2005. In recent years, the shipyard has also delivered completed newbuilds for Norwegian and other customers, including cargo vessels, fishing vessels and seismic support vessels.Havyard says that the close cooperation built with Cemre through the hull deliveries will continue and develop now that the yard is to build its first Havyard design vessel.

 

Evoqua and Drew partner on BWMS compliance solution

DECEMBER 4, 2015 — Evoqua Water Technologies and Drew Marine, have announced a partnership to provide a full compliance package for ballast water management.   The partnership will center around Evoqua’s SeaCURE

Tenneco SCR gets two DNV GL AIP certifications

The certificates cover key components of the system, including the complete dosing and control system, injectors, load sensors and the human machine interface (HMI) remote monitor, as well as catalyst and reactor hardware configurations for IMO Tier III applications.

“We’re pleased to receive this important classification. Tenneco’s high horsepower SCR technology is designed to meet IMO Tier III NOx reduction requirements that take effect in 2016 and this classification further demonstrates our readiness to deliver these solutions for ships or vessels anywhere in the world,” said Jay Kedia, Tenneco managing director, large engine.

Tenneco’s SCR aftertreatment system features a complete dosing control solution specifically designed for marine engine applications up to 7,500 kW or 10,000 hp. The system is designed to enable propulsion and auxiliary engines to meet U.S. EPA Tier 4 and IMO Tier III regulatory requirements and provide precise and reliable delivery of liquid urea via a proprietary, high-performance injector design, a precision mechatronic fluid delivery pump and customizable remote monitoring and controls.

In the past year, the company has conducted a series of validation tests to demonstrate how the system’s form, fit, function and performance capabilities can be easily integrated into a vessel’s engine and control architecture.

Most recently, through a partnership with the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, Tenneco conducted saltwater sea trials onboard the TS General Rudder in the Gulf of Mexico. Tenneco’s SCR system was installed on a 33-year old 800 horsepower, Tier 0 engine that was operational for the duration of the Academy’s summer cruise training period. Results demonstrated NOx reduction levels that kept the General Rudder compliant with today’s stringent U.S. EPA Tier 4 marine emission requirements under all operational conditions.

Tenneco conducted similar tests on a 224 ft\ training vessel in the Great Lakes in 2014. In a series of validation tests, including the ISO 8178 E2 cycle, when a similar engine was outfitted with Tenneco’s SCR system, the engine met all criteria for IMO Tier III, including NOx.
In addition to DNV GL classification, Tenneco’s high horsepower SCR system has been awarded product design classification from ABS, and is designed to meet the requirements of other major maritime classification societies including CCS, KR and Class NK.

SCR System Features

The SCR system’s modular design enables seamless integration for a broad range of engine sizes and works with electrically or mechanically controlled engines. It has been validated for durability and all components are easy to maintain and service without the need for special tools.

The fluid delivery system with dosing control software is capable of managing multiple injection points and sensors. The system can support urea flows up to 120 meters, which enables a wide array of installation options. Airless urea injection provides high dosing accuracy and consistency without the need for dedicated compressed air.

The system’s Human Machine Interface (HMI) can be accessed on the front of the fluid delivery box or remotely via a touch screen tablet. It features an easy-to-use interface to monitor and control all system parameters including but not limited to NOx reduction performance and urea concentration levels in real time. Onboard diagnostics are capable of monitoring more than 100 parameters including urea leakage, sensor faults and backpressure.

World’s greenest cruise ship to be unveiled at COP21

 

That’s the hope of the Japan based Peace Boat, an NGO that has Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN and serves as an official messenger for projects including the UNISDR Resilient Cities Campaign.

Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008, Peace Boat’s main means of taking its message to the world is through its ship, currently the chartered in Ocean Dream (which was delivered in 1982 as Carnival Cruise Line’s first newbuild, the Tropicale).

Since its establishment in 1983, and using a variety of ships,  Peace Boat has organized over 80 voyages, carrying more than 50,000 people to over 180 ports.

Now, though, Peace Boat has scheduled a briefing that will be held December 5 in Paris during the COP21 conference. It will reveal more details of the design for its Ecoship, which it says will be the  world’s “greenest” cruise ship, along with its plans for the ship’s maiden voyage in 2020.

The plans for the future-ready 55,000 ton Ecoship have been developed by a team of over 30 engineers, scientists and thinkers from the fields of shipbuilding and  eco-technology (including renewable energy, architecture, and waste management).

With a hull form inspired by the whale, the vessel’s ecologically friendly features include 10 retractable solar-paneled sails and retractable wind generators, as well as a future-ready hybrid engine.

Peace Boat says that with its energy efficiency and projected cuts in CO2 emissions its Ecoship will be the flagship for green technology in passenger shipping, serving as a model for cruise operators worldwide.

“Peace Boat’s 2020 launch of the Ecoship offers a vision for a climate-friendly future and can lead the way towards a green cruising model that can also impact the wider shipping industry. The industry must adapt to the planet’s needs,” says Yoshioka Tatsuya, Founder and Director of Peace Boat.

“We are delighted to see wind propulsion being used on this innovative cruise ship design. The Ecoship will be a front runner in the design of lower impact cruise vessels and we will be working with the industry segment to help bring more wind propulsion solutions into the mix,” says Gavin Allwright, Secretary of the International Windship Association (IWSA), “IWSA has recently welcomed Peace Boat onboard as one of our newest members, and we look forward to working together over the coming years, helping to spread the message of low carbon, sustainable shipping worldwide.”

Alfa Laval adds inline PureSOx exhaust gas scrubber

Alfa Laval PureSOx has more reference installations than any other single SOx scrubber technology, and is already a leading choice for SOx compliance in Emission Control Areas (ECAs).

“Through open-loop, closed-loop and hybrid arrangements, PureSOx can be suited to any vessel’s sailing profile,” says René Diks, Manager Marketing & Sales, Exhaust Gas Cleaning at Alfa Laval. “By adding an inline scrubber design to the already flexible PureSOx platform, we’ve made PureSOx even easier to adapt to individual vessel constructions.”

The inline scrubber design, or I-design, builds directly on the proven PureSOx technology. It provides an additional alternative for vessels with more complex structural needs, such as certain cruise ships and RoPax vessels.

“While inline configurations should not be seen as a default,” says Mr. Diks, “they can make it easier to accommodate the specific challenges of certain vessels.” 

An important consideration in creating an inline PureSOx scrubber was the water trap, which is not formed naturally as it is in the existing U-design.

“Because the absorber section is located atop the jet section in the I-design, no water trap is created between the two,” says Mr. Diks. “A key focus was eliminating the potential for water backflow, which is done by means of an internal water trap combined with overboard arrangements.” As with the U-design PureSOx scrubber, the I-design scrubber can be configured with multiple inlets. This reduces space needs and installation costs by allowing one scrubber to handle exhaust gas from multiple sources, including boilers as well as the main and auxiliary engines.

A further alternative for inline PureSOx configurations is reflux. This option is especially attractive for cruise ships, RoPax vessels and other vessels that carry passengers, as it reduces the risk of dirty water droplets discoloring the ship’s deck. 

Reflux involves the creation of two separate loops: one for the jet and a second for the absorber. In the jet loop, clean water is evaporated by means of the waste heat in the exhaust gas. The vapor is then recondensed as clean water in the absorber loop. As a result, the water in the absorber stage is significantly cleaner and the risk of deck discoloration is greatly reduced. Since the soot is concentrated in the initial jet stage, the water cleaning unit has a lighter burden as well.

The water cleaning unit is a vital component of any closed-loop or hybrid PureSOx system. When the scrubber is in closed-loop mode, the unit removes soot from the circulation water, thus protecting the scrubber and enabling compliant discharge of bleed-off. 

The PureSOx water cleaning unit uses centrifugal separation, an Alfa Laval core technology, that is completely unaffected by pitch and roll. This sets it apart from other cleaning systems on the market. Like the reflux principle, it is a patented solution unique to Alfa Laval. 

“The water cleaning unit is one of many aspects that make PureSOx such a reliable choice for SOx compliance,” says Mr. Diks. “The PureSOx platform is built on a solid foundation of Alfa Laval core technology and scrubber experience, and the new possibility of inline configurations will give even more shipowners reason to choose it.”

IMO ballast water convention set to enter force?

 

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says that the fixing of a definite implementation dategives shipowners some of the certainty needed to make important decisions about whether to refit the new mandatory treatment equipment or otherwise to start sending ships for early recycling.   

However, IMO has to finalize the much needed revision of its type approval guidelines for Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS).

The International Chamber of Shipping says that this revision is needed “as soon as possible, in order to ensure that shipowners can have absolute confidence that the expensive equipment they will soon have to install will be effective in treating ballast water conditions normally encountered during worldwide operations and be regarded as fully compliant during Port State Control inspections.”

In other words, the IMO Type Approval process currently in place doesn’t give absolute confidence that an IMO approved system will actually work. That, of course, is why the IMO approvals of BWTS have never been taken at their face value by the U.S., which has its own, tougher, approval system in place.

The International Chamber of Shipping has never been very happy about that and says that entry into force of the new IMO regime “does not resolve the extreme difficulties that still exist in the United States. There is still great uncertainty with respect to the more stringent United States approval regime for treatment equipment, which started to be enforced in January 2014 (the U.S. not being a Party to the IMO Convention). 

“The U.S. regulations require all ships that discharge ballast water in U.S. waters to use a treatment system approved by the Coast Guard. However, because no systems have yet been approved, ships already required to comply with the U.S. regulations have either been granted extensions to the dates for fitting the required treatment systems or else permitted to install a USCG accepted Alternate Management System (AMS), in practice a system type-approved in accordance with the current IMO Guidelines.  

“However, an AMS will only be accepted for operation for five years, after which time a fully USCG approved system must be installed.  But the USCG does not guarantee that an AMS will be subsequently granted full approval.  Hence shipowners that may have installed an AMS in good faith, at a cost of between  $1 million -5 million per ship, might then have to replace the system completely after only five years. This is a particular concern for operators that have installed ultra-violet (UV) systems.

“There are over 50 treatment systems approved under the current IMO regime, but worryingly fewer than 20 manufacturers have so far indicated their intent to submit their systems for U.S. approval.   The conflicting IMO and U.S. requirements, when combined with the complete lack of systems fully approved by the USCG, could produce an impossible situation in which some ships might not be able to operate in U.S. waters when the IMO Convention enters in force.”

Drank rum, lost situational awareness, ship grounded

It comes from the U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch and concerns the grounding of a vessel in which, according to the full report, “the inventory of the vessel’s bonded store records that it was regularly replenished with spirits, wine and beer, and evidence of significant alcohol consumption by the crew should have alerted the owner to the likelihood that its alcohol policy was not being observed.”

The full report also notes that “during the evening, while off duty in his cabin, the chief officer made a private telephone call which caused him anxiety, after which he consumed about 0.5 liter of rum.”

Here’s the summary:

On February 18, 2015, while on passage from Belfast to Skogn, Norway the general cargo vessel Lysblink Seaways [owned by DFDS] ran aground at full speed, near Kilchoan, Ardnamurchan peninsula, West Scotland.

The vessel remained on the rocky foreshore for almost two days during adverse weather. This resulted in material damage to its hull and the double bottom was breached, including some fuel tanks, resulting in 25 tonnes of marine gas oil entering the water. After the salvage the vessel was declared a constructive total loss and scrapped

The MAIB investigation found that [the chief officer, who was] the officer of the watch (OOW) – who was the sole watchkeeper – had become inattentive due to the effects of alcohol consumption. The bridge navigational watch alarm system (BNWAS) had not been switched on and an off-track alarm on the Electronic Chart System (ECS) had been silenced. Although a radar watch alarm had sounded every six minutes, the OOW was able to reset the alarm without leaving his chair.

Safety Issues

Download the full report HERE

USCG updates fuel switching safety alert

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 — The Coast Guard has updated a safety alert that it issued in March (see earlier story) on  making the MARPOL-required switch from conventional to ultra low sulfur fuel

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