General News

European HOs are working through the folio of charts covering their own national waters to produce vectorised electronic navigation charts (ENC)s. The process of digitising the information is relatively fast, but then…

There are no technical reasons why 14-cylinder in-line versions of the K98MC-C engine cannot be built, says MAN B&W. This would give an output of 79,900kW (108,600hp), a weight of around 2,460t,…

The rapid growth both in numbers and size of ships shows the optimism of cruise operators, but there are still wars to be fought as each seeks to fill their ships.In an…

Siemens-Schottel has won a second contract for its propulsion pods (SSP)s - this time for two TT-Line ferries being built by SSW Fahr. Each of the 36,000g (2,685 lane-metre) ropax vessels will…

Software : Costing part manufacture Boothroyd Dewhurst has launched DFM Concurrent Costing 1.1. The software is designed to isolate the major costs associated with part manufacture and finishing. Used as an analysis…

Austal`s new company, Seastate, started trading on November 1 and is poised to build a multi-million dollar global business from selling ride control and possibly, at a future date, other high-tech specialist…

Described as the first of its kind by owners Conoco and R&B Falcon Corporation, Deepwater Pathfinder started a five-year work programme drilling in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year.The first vessel…

Contracts transferring Samsung`s engine building division to Hanjung remain unsigned some over two months after the target date, and past the time when the new joint venture company should have started operation.…

Many ship operators know the feeling. Analysis returns show that the water content of the stern tube oil climbed well above acceptable levels and suggests that the seal has started to leak.…

Alaska Diesel has introduced a soot trap and regeneration system (Stars) which can be fitted on any diesel engine up to around 200kW (268 bhp) output or 10 litres capacity.The unit requires…

Following the report by the EU Commission which concluded that some Korean yards were making losses of up to 40 per cent on some contracts, the EU Industry Council is to enter…

Valves : Latest valve range The G-Series valves from US company CPV are rated for up to 413 bar liquid or gas and function from -650F to 4000F, depending on the material…

Sixteen West and Central African States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Port State Control (PSC). This means only the Gulf area and the Black Sea remain uncovered by PSC…

Positioning : Cable layer gets auto track Alstom Drives & Controls has won an order for three dynamic positioning systems from DG Electrical, the electrical engineering arm of Cammell Laird, for three…

Lloyds Register is making over 400 people redundant at its UK headquarters and while both DNV and GL has instigated a number of cost cutting measures. The redundancies at LR come as…

Corrosion protection : BAC clocks up four years BAC Corrosion Control`s impressed current cathodic protection systems have now been operational on Stena Line fast ferries operating between the UK, Holland and Ireland…

Newbuilding orders rise In the quarter to June, newbuilding orders rose by 43 per cent to 6.5 million gross tonnes (mgt), says Lloyds Register.However, the world orderbook dropped by 1.7 mgt to…

Boilers : BDT equips two cruise ships Greens Division, part of the newly formed BDT Engineering, has secured a contract to supply six Diesecon exhaust gas boilers and two spanner boilers to…

No room for complacency During a three-month campaign member states of the Paris MOU detained eight out of 79 bulk carriers, above 30,000gt and over 15 years old, for structural deficiencies. While…

Safety : Surveillance system for doors Brath has developed a surveillance system for the locking mechanism on doors using hydraulic cylinders. The system has passed the environmental requirements for instrumentation and automation…