General News

In July this year when MENAS showed off its new multipurpose light tender vessel Relume in a naming ceremony at Damen Shipyards? Scheldepoort facility in Vlissingen, The Netherlands, it was apparent that…

Regulatory responses to marine casualties, which have dictated age limits for ships, have provoked vigorous debate about the issues of age and ship maintenance. While it has been argued that a well…

A DOR (Design, Operation, and Regulation) for Safety ? or in short SAFEDOR ? is the name of an ambitious initiative towards an integrated project within the 6th Framework Program (FP6) of…

Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), (RasGas) has signed a time charter agreements with Teekay Nakilat Corporation for the long-term charter of three 151,700m3 LNG vessels to be built at…

As one of five strategic programmes in DNV Research, nanotechnology is a new area of high interest and relevance for the classification society. "We?ve been aware of this for at least two…

Wärtsilä has launched Wärtsilä Auxpac, a new range of medium- and high-speed standard marine generating sets. Thanks to their modular design they can be supplied fast and at a competitive price, are…

Best4 is a new quality, environment, safety and social accountability integrated certification scheme being offered by RINA. "It is a measure of the business excellence of a company and its capacity to…

Germanischer Lloyd (GL) is introducing a system of electronic data exchange with shipyards, engine manufacturers and other suppliers in order to accelerate the plan approval of ships and their equipment. The international…

While most participants in the single-hull versus double-hull debate accept that a second hull is not a panacea, it is acknowledged that it is an acceptable and cost effective way of preventing…

Austal has secured a contract for a 67 metre high speed vehicle-passenger catamaran for Virtu Ferries of Malta adding to an already healthy order book for the West Australian shipbuilder. The new…

By now, most are aware of what exactly the new generation of classification rules for oil tankers are. The new Common Rules for Tankers are aimed at establishing a global standard, increased…

Kongsberg Maritime of Norway is launching a new vapour monitoring system designed to meet and exceed the SOLAS standards for cargo tank venting, purging, gas freeing and ventilation. The SOLAS regulation specifies…

Following on from the delivery of the 2,6000TEU boxship MV Manukai from Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard (KPSI) to the San Francisco-based Matson Navigation Company, as reported in The Motor Ship in October 2003,…

A&P Tyne has announced record sales in the first half of 2004 with turnover in excess of £30m, an increase of 50% on the first half of the previous year (2003). This…

Expert knowledge is said to be responsible for the increasing popularity of Bakker Sliedrecht?s diesel-electric propulsion systems. The company is acutely aware of the sharp increase in the application of electric drive…

The Wärtsilä 46F is the latest in the highly successful marine engine series launched in 1987 with the Vasa 46, as it was then called. Though visually similar to the original Wärtsilä…

The first of six innovative river cruise vessels is currently under construction at Neptun Stahlbau GmbH in Rostock-Warnemuende, a subsidiary of Meyer Werft Papenburg, and scheduled for delivery end of May 2005.…

QinetiQ scientists in the UK have developed a unique onboard decision aid computer software tool to help Royal Navy bridge officers operate their ships safely in extreme weather conditions. ORPHEUS (Onboard Risk…

Australian builder of high speed vessels, Austal, has launched what is said to be the largest aluminium ship ever built, the 127m trimaran ferry Benchijigua Express.As well as being a significant ship…

Shipyards in Scotland under threat were given hope after the defence giant BAE Systems said it was seeking to merge its Clydeside operations with rival facilities across the UK. The company said…

Wärtsilä Corporation has received orders from the Polish shipbuilder Stocznia Szczecinska Nowa for the ship power plants for four new 12,800 tdw multi-purpose Sto-Ro cargo vessels contracted by the Dutch owner Spliethoff's…

Important cruise and ferry industry forecasts emerged from the 21st Century Passenger Transport Conference held at London?s University of Greenwich. Delegates were told that, terrorism notwithstanding, cruise passengers will grow 50% to…