shipbuilding

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.”

  • News

Algoma adds more Equinox newbuilds to order book

Today, Algoma said that contracts for two ships had been made effective with the delivery of refund guarantees by the shipyard, China’s Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.

“Our search for a shipyard in China to replace the now-bankrupt Nantong Mingde Heavy Industries (“Mingde”) led us to Yangzijiang,” said Ken Bloch Soerensen, President and CEO of Algoma. “We have been pleased with the professionalism and enthusiasm the yard has shown for our project and the quality that they have shown on work done for other shipowners.”

The announcement of the two ship order at Yangzijiang follows a November 25 announcement that contracts for three Equinox newbuilds with Uljanik d.d. of Croatia had become effective with delivery by the yard of security for the contractually required construction installments.

Algoma now has five Equinox Class ships under construction at the Uljanik Group’s 3Maj shipyard in Rijeka.All the vessels will have an overall length of 225.55 metres (740 feet) and a beam of 23.77 metres (78 feet), qualifying as Seaway Max size ships. The vessels will carry 29,300 tonnes at maximum Seaway draft.

The two most recently ordered at Uljanik will feature a boom-forward configuration designed to provide greater flexibility in certain delivery situations. The others will feature a standard rear boom.

The new Equinox vessels will have all of the features of the existing Equinox design, including the exhaust gas scrubber technology pioneered by Algoma on the Great Lakes in its first Equinox Class gearless bulk carriers.

With seven ships now under construction, Algoma expects to invest approximately $450 million in this phase of its fleet renewal program. It is also reviewing its fleet plan and considering the retirement of certain older vessels.

Canada to go ahead with box ship to oiler conversion at Davie

The project will see the Quebec shipbuilder continue with the conversion of a containership into an interim fleet oiler for the Royal Canadian Navy. Until now, Davie has been working on the basis of an letter of intent from the previous government.

Timely continuation of the project was put in doubt when rival Irving Shipbuilding wrote letters to members of the incoming cabinet asking that its alternative solution be considered. That move provoked a lot of unhappiness among the rest of the Canadian shipbuilding community.

Today, though, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy M. Foote and Minister of National Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan issued the following statement:

The Government of Canada was recently briefed on the interim auxiliary oil replenishment file. We know that this process commenced as a result of an expression of interest by Chantier Davie Canada Inc. We also know that the previous government made a decision to proceed with this proposal through a sole-source rather than a competitive process. The previous government also modified the long-standing procurement rules governing contracts for interim defence requirements.

We have taken time to assess all these facts and have also taken the following into consideration:The process is at an advanced stage. If we restarted this initiative by launching a competition, we would lose precious time in providing the Navy with a critical refuelling and naval support capability.

The ship has been purchased by Chantier Davie Canada Inc. and is in the shipyard undergoing conversion.

According to public reports, several hundred employees have already been hired.

Due to the structure of the agreement entered into by the previous government, we will be required to pay up to $89 million in expenses should we not proceed with this initiative.

After amassing the facts and carefully deliberating, The Government of Canada determined that proceeding with Project Resolve is the most viable course of action to provide the Navy’s at-sea oil replenishment capability until the Joint Support Ships, to be built by Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, are operational. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that competitions for major military procurements stand up to the highest standards of openness and transparency.

Furthermore, The Government of Canada will undertake a review of the process for sole-source contracts for military procurements, including looking at current regulations and policies and those regulations amended by the previous government.
vailability of RCN ships has increased in the immediate term with the completion of the first modernized frigates and now that the Victoria-class submarines have achieved a steady state level of readiness, and will further increase in the short-term with interim AOR capability and in the medium-to-longer term with the Joint Support Ships, Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships, and Canadian Surface Combatants that will be delivered as part of Government shipbuilding.

  • News

Torm returns to the newbuilding market

Today it entered into an agreement to purchase four fuel-efficient LR2 newbuildings from Chinese shipbuilder Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) with expected delivery in the period between the fourth quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2018. The agreement includes the option to purchase up to six additional vessels within the LR2, LR1 or MR segment with expected delivery in 2018 and 2019.

Torm expects to have a total CAPEX relating to the four firm vessels of approximately $200 million, including extra costs related to Torm’s design requirements and supervision. It says it is in advanced dialogue with potential lenders obtain financing for the newbuildings.

With today’s agreement, Torm has CAPEX commitments of $273 million, covering the remaining CAPEX on its remaining three MR newbuildings, one second-hand MR vessel and the four new LR2 vessels. Torm has a liquidity position of approximately $280 million including available debt facilities of $97 million.

Torm says it has utilized its long-term relationship with GSI and China State Shipbuilding Corporation to source today’s contract. Torm already has 16 GSI vessels in the current fleet and has good technical and commercial experience with them. The new vessels will be constructed according to Torm’s specifications in order to optimize trading.

Donjon Shipbuilding makes major lighting upgrade

Located on the Lake Erie shore, the over 200,000 sq. ft. shipyard facility has a 92-foot ceiling height on the main floor, plus a 125-foot high ceiling over a portion of the massive graving dock, one of only two on the Great Lakes able to accommodate 1,000-foot self-unloading vessels for construction, repair, conversion, repowering and maintenance.

With conventional metal halide fixtures, lighting maintenance was a major headache. Even with no fewer than 266 metal halide fixtures in place, fewer than 60 of the 1,000 W lights were typically in operation at any given time.

In addition to the notoriously short life of the metal halide lamps, the damp, harsh, high-vibration environment inside the open air facility took a major toll on both bulbs and ballasts. And the exceptional ceiling height was a major obstacle to easily changing bulbs and fixtures.

Without proper lighting, the sheer size of Donjon’s facilities made them appear cavernous and dark even on the brightest, sunny days. The lackluster color rendering of the metal halides even contributed to visibility issues with their unnatural orange glow. And, when it came time to turn on the lights at the start of their 24-hour, 5 day-a-week operation, the metal halides took nearly 20 minutes to come up to full output.

“The lighting was not sufficient enough to fully light the facility. There were places in the building where we had to use a flashlight, even when we weren’t inside a ballast tank,” said Caleb Hoffman, Electrical Lead Man. “A flashlight was on everyone’s required tool list. It was difficult to read a tape measure without one, and accuracy in measurement is very important in our work.”

The Solution: Dialight 60,000 Lumen LED

Aiming to end its lighting woes with an upgrade, Donjon began looking at vendor proposals. It didn’t take long to realize that LED was the way to go and Donjon opted to replace the metal halide fixtures with  60,000 lumen Vigilant High Bay LED fixtures from Dialight plc, an international market leader in LED lighting with North American headquarters in Farmingdale, NJ.

“We assumed LED is the latest and greatest technology, giving us the best bang for the buck,” Mr. Hoffman said. “We chose Dialight because it best suited our application, and the warranty was a huge factor.”

Dialight’s 60,000 lumen Vigilant High Bay is the first LED fixture of its kind to offer a true one-to-one replacement for conventional 1,000W high output fixtures. Delivering 115 lumens per Watt with the 480 V top hat transformer at half the power consumption of the existing metal halides, the high-output Vigilant provided more than enough light to meet Donjon’s needs, while also drastically reducing per-fixture electricity costs.

The new Vigilants are so bright thar Donjon was able to eliminate two-thirds of the fixtures in the facility, replacing 266 metal halides with  79 Dialight 60,000 lumen Vigilants.

At roughly half the weight of conventional fixtures, the Dialight Vigilants were easy for Donjon’s in-house electrical crew to install on the existing circuits. With an ambient temperature rating of -40°F to + 149°F and high-durability fixture design, the new Vigilants can easily tolerate the harsh Lake Erie weather.

The entire fixture is backed by Dialight’s 10-year, full-performance warranty, so Donjon is now guaranteed to have ample lighting with zero maintenance for a decade or more.

The clear, bright white output of the Dialight LEDs makes a difference in visibility that is like “night and day” compared to the old fixtures, according to Donjon staff. Flashlights are no longer required on the shop floor, even in the graving dock where the lights are 125-feet off the ground. The high-performance optics deliver directional light exactly where it’s needed, with no dark spots or harsh glare.

“We compared three different manufacturers, and Dialight was hands-down the best fit for our application,” Mr. Hoffman said. “One other company promised more hours on the fixtures, but couldn’t back it with a warranty. The 10-year warranty, ease of installation and energy efficiency―Dialight offered the whole package that was better for our situation.”

  • News

New U.K. defense plan adds ships, costs more

Notably, the buy of advanced Type 26 Global Combat Ships will be cut to eight ships from the previously announced 13. 

The Type 36 ships are intended to replace the Royal Navy’s current Type 23 frigates in their anti-submarine role and the cuts to the program aren’t going down well in Scottish shipbuilding circles.

Overall, though, the plan adds to the number of ships in the fleet.

“We will maintain our fleet of 19 frigates and destroyers,” says the review. “We will also launch a concept study and then design and build a new class of lighter, flexible general purpose frigates so that by the 2030s we can further increase the total number of frigates and destroyers. These general purpose frigates are also likely to offer increased export potential. We will buy two further new offshore patrol vessels, increasing the Royal Navy’s ability to defend U.K. interests at home and abroad.”

The two new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy, that will enter service from 2018, will also get added punch with an increase the number of F35 Lightning aircraft being bought. And one of the two carriers will be enhanced to support the amphibious capabilities of Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade.

Three new logistic ships will be built to support the fleet, in addition to four tankers that will enter service from 2016.

BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBS WILL COST MORE

Not too surprisingly, Britain’s 20 year plan to replace the Vanguard Class of nuclear-armed submarines with a new class of four submarines, currently known as Successor, is starting to look a lot more expensive, going up from a previously estimated ›£25 billion to £31 billion, with a further £10 billion being budgeted for contingency.”The revised cost and schedule reflect the greater understanding we now have about the detailed design of the submarines and their manufacture,” says the review.

Download the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defense and Security Review HERE

Australian shipbuilding acquisition in the works

Today, Civmec revealed that it is poised to acquire the Forgacs shipbuilding business.

Forgacs is Australia’s largest privately-owned engineering and shipbuilding company and part of the team building the Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers (AWD) for the Royal Australian Navy, manufacturing 37 of 93 AWD blocks at its indoor modular shipbuilding facilities.
Singapore listed line with Civmec said today that it has agreed to enter into a due diligence phase for the acquisition of certain Forgacs assets and the Forgacs name.

The proposed acquisition includes a purpose-built shipbuilding site. Forgacs Shipyard – Tomago is located 14 km from the Port ofNewcastle, NSW on the Hunter River. The 17 hectare site has 535 meters of river frontage with two ship basins. The acquisition also includes plant and equipment currently located at the Forgacs Hexham heavy engineering workshop and at the Forgacs Gladstone heavy engineering workshop.

Forgacs’ products’ business, Forgacs-Broens Pty Limited, does not form part of the sale and will continue to operate from its Ingleburn, NSW and Elizabeth, SA facilities.

Civmec says it believes that “the considerable opportunities in the infrastructure sectors on the east coast as well as the long-term outlook within the defense, oil & gas and metals & minerals sectors justifies the investment.”

Civmec CEO Pat Tallon said, “This is a very exciting opportunity for our company to extend our multi-disciplinary operations to the east coast of Australia and to gain a long established foothold in the defense shipbuilding industry. It will also give us the opportunity to acquire in-house submarine building and technical expertise. We will be well positioned to capitalize on the significant infrastructure expenditure planned for the east coast and our increased capacity will allow Civmec to deepen our relationship with existing blue chip clients nationally, as well as bringing on board new regional clients.”

Peter Burgess, Chairman of the Forgacs Group commented, “Forgacs has more than 50 years’ experience in the heavy engineering and projects business and entered the naval ship repair business in 1990. It has grown its naval involvement progressively, undertaking major naval programs including the conversion of HMAS Manoora and HMAS Kanimbla into Amphibious Helicopter support ships; hull modules for the ANZAC frigates and most recently the AWD program. The Tomago shipyard has built some of Australia’s iconic ships such as ice breaker Aurora Australis, HMAS Tobruk and hull sections of Collins Class submarines. Our shipyard is ideally positioned for Civmec’s future plans.”

Subject to satisfactory due diligence, necessary stakeholder approval and the finalization of the sale and purchase agreement, Civmec expects to complete the transaction in December 2015.

Quite how, if at all, this fits in with Civmec’s submarine building ambitions remains to be seen. When it unveiled those plans it said that it had the capability to be the in-country builder for whoever won the submarine contract and that it would add a new dedicated facility for building submarines at its Henderson, Western Australia, facility — which is quite some ways distant from the Forgacs shipyard.

Just to add to the confusion, Australian media reported today that the Australian Government has yet to decide whether to build eight or twelve boats and that the French, German and Japanese bidders for the program had agreed to build them at the ASC facility in South Australia.

Ingalls Shipbuilding christens NSC 6

NOVEMBER 15, 2015 — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (NYSE:HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division christened the company’s sixth U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter (NSC), Munro (WMSL 755), November 14 in front of nearly 600

NSRP looks at shipbuilding cost management software

NSRP is an industry-led, Navy-sponsored collaboration of U.S. shipyards working together to reduce the cost of building, operating and repairing Navy ships by improving productivity and quality through advanced technology and processes. Its various panels strive for the discussion of best practices and overlapping challenges.

The CostFact software that will be in the spot light at next month’s San Diego has been developed in close cooperation with naval shipyards such as ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and incorporates a number of best-practice methods.

The meeting in San Diego offers the opportunity to look at selected CostFact features. Case studies will demonstrate the application of CostFact at naval shipyards. The integration of CostFact with the CAD software ShipConstructor will also be shown.

MORE

 

LOAD MORE