Stevie Knight reports on a new towboat developed for American Commercial Barge Line’s Houston-New Orleans route, which uses a water and methanol feedstock mix to produce ‘hydrogen on demand’ onboard The launch of a methanol-to-hydrogen towboat developed by e1 Marine and Elliott Bay Design Group promises to turn a few heads – and assumptions. Unlike […]
Concordia Damen’s optimised hull design ready for low water levels Transport along Europe’s inland waterways is vital to trade, with the river Rhine one of the continent’s busiest waterways. Part of the Rhine-Alpine corridor, the 1,232km-long river runs from the Swiss Alps through Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands. In recent years the Rhine […]
When you climb into your car it doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to get to your destination. Thanks to your smart phone, and/or smart vehicle, you can plot a desired location into whatever satellite navigation system you have and, voila, off you roll. At sea, however, it’s a little more complicated. “Well, for […]
Much-maligned graphene could yet prove an effective shipbuilding solution Graphene may be relatively unpopular, but is it simply misunderstood? Stevie Knight finds out from a small band of marine adopters that knowing how and where to apply can make all the difference between success and failure Most people have heard that graphene is “200 times […]
Storm warning: digitalised platform could lighten the burden of heavy weather Climate change is causing issues for the shipping industry. Sea surface temperatures and sea levels are rising, becoming a catalyst for major weather events. Tropical cyclones, which carry the potential to develop into hurricanes and typhoons, are becoming stronger while precipitation is intensifying. Rising […]
Wind Propulsion 2023 conference brings together top speakers at IMO The Royal Institution of Naval Architects held its annual Wind Propulsion conference on the 16-17 February 2023. The event took place at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organisation in London, representing the first time that RINA has organised an event at this location. The […]
D-Marin’s autonomous litter bot promises good riddance to bad rubbish Marina operator D-Marin has recruited an autonomous bot to assist with the removal of floating litter and spilt oil from its marinas in Greece. The Jellyfishbot, developed by French AI and robotics specialist IADYS, comprises a 20kg unit fashioned from polyethylene and aluminium alloy. The […]
CFD enables Teignbridge to optimise design and performance of propulsion systems Founded in 1974, Teignbridge Propellers International is a world-leading designer and manufacturer of marine propulsion and stern gear products. With more than 65,000 square feet of floor space and over 100 employees at its headquarters in Southwest England, it is the largest producer of […]
By Jose Gonzalez and Guntars Zommers Stolt Tankers, The Netherlands Biofouling is a major contributor to energy efficiency reduction; the ships spend almost their entire operational life afloat favoring the creation of biological layers (biofilm) and macrofouling populations in different working areas of the ship. The consequence of this occurrence is mainly reflected in additional […]
German startup has disruptive ambitions for cloud-based 3D ship design platform As a notoriously conservative industry it probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that ship design and construction wasn’t exactly among the pacesetters when it comes to cloud-based collaboration. However, a German startup company is hoping it can seize the advantage where other […]
New digital technologies, supported by developments in connectivity and the ability to transfer data in greater volumes between ship and shore, promise significant gains for ship and fleet performance. However, the deepening of onboard and onshore interconnectedness and the mixing of shipboard IT and operational technology (OT) systems also opens up new avenues for security […]
Facing increasing pressure to reduce opex as much as is safely possible, offshore operators are warming to drone technology as a support tool for complex, dangerous and time-consuming tasks. While most AUVs are deployed in the oil and gas segment, where they are commonly used for seabed and pipeline inspections, demand for these bots is […]