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Marine news in brief
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Latest news in the marine industry
The world’s first autonomous commercial ship voyage in congested waters, powered by Orca AI, in partnership with the Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ships (DFFAS) and The Nippon Foundation, has been successfully completed after 40 hours of navigation, with full autonomy being activated 99% of the journey’s time.
The trial was performed by cargo ship Suzaku, a 749 Gross ton vessel chosen for the project by the DFFAS consortium, comprising 30 Japanese companies and led by NYK group company – Japan Marine Science Inc (JMS) and MTI Co Ltd.
During the trial, the vessel automatically performed 107 collision avoidance manoeuvres on the outbound voyage alone, with the program director at the consortium suggesting that the system avoided a total of 400 to 500 ships. The voyage, which started from Tokyo Bay – one of the most congested routes in the world – sailed towards the port of Tsumatsusaka in the Ise Bay.
Powered by AI and deep learning technologies, Orca AI’s safety navigation system was set up on the vessel to act as a ‘human watchkeeper’ and provide real-time detection, tracking, classification and range estimation on 18 onboard cameras, totalling a 360° day and night.
Orca AI’s algorithms were trained on data collected over a year from Suzaku to identify targets in the complex Japanese shorelines environment. The information from the cameras reflected to the fleet operations centre in Tokyo – hundreds of kilometres away.
Yarden Gross, co-founder and CEO of Orca AI, said, “We are honoured to collaborate with the DFFAS consortium led by NYK group to drive automation and autonomous capabilities in commercial ships in some of the most congested waters in the world. The world’s first commercial autonomous voyage is a significant milestone in this journey and we expect to see big shipping companies implementing advanced AI and computer vision technologies to materialise the autonomous shipping vision.”
Dr Hideyuki ANDO from NYK group company – MTI.Co, Ltd added: “With the great majority of Japan’s international trade relying on shipping, it’s been imperative for us to find technological solutions that can make shipping safer.
“We thank Orca AI for helping us find the ultimate computer vision solution to enhance situational awareness on ships, despite the obstacles the global pandemic has presented. Their successful delivery of the entire project, thousands of kilometres away from Japan and with complex hardware and software being shipped and remotely updated regularly, is a prime example of the potential technology has to transform the industry.”
Headquartered in Israel and founded in 2018, Orca AI provides an intelligent safety platform for the shipping industry to increase safety, efficiency and sustainability. Founded by two experienced naval technology experts, Yarden Gross and Dor Raviv, Orca AI’s technology helps ships get an accurate, real-time view of the environment by combining new sensors with existing onboard systems to aid crews in making more informed navigation decisions, improving safety in crowded waterways.
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SAAM Towage welcomes new tug for Canadian operations
SAAM Towage continues to fortify its fleet. Its latest acquisition is a new tug, the SAAM James Point, that arrived in Vancouver, Canada after completing its loading operation onto the cargo ship BBC Moonstone in Halong Bay, Vietnam.
SAAM Towage Technical Manager Pablo Cáceres commented: “This state-of-the-art Damen tug has technology that reduces environmental impact and is highly manoeuvrable thanks to its size, innovative hull design, manoeuvre winch settings and installed capacity, making it a true contribution to our operations in Canada.”
The new Damen 2312 tug is named after respected Musqueam Point Family Patriarch, James Point. Born shortly after confederation, he was a fisherman, who worked the Fraser River, and up and down the coast. He was a well know lacrosse player in his youth.
“The Point Family feel that honouring great leaders/servants of the Musqueam people, such as James Point, is a very respectful way for SAAM Towage to recognise Musqueam, to acknowledge our historical presence in the waters of our territory, including the Lower Mainland/Southwest corner of British Columbia, and to celebrate our successful business relationship with SAAM Towage,” stated Director of Business Development of the Musqueam Capital Corp, Jay Mearns.
Featuring an innovative Damen ASD2312 design, this tug was acquired from the Dutch company Damen and built at its Song Cam shipyards in Vietnam. Measuring 23 meters long and 12 meters in beam, it boasts 70-bollard pull capacity, Kongsberg azimuth thrusters and two CAT 3512C IMO Tier III main engines, which enable it to operate in emissions control areas (ECA).
“SAAM Towage is excited to add this innovative design to our Vancouver fleet. The characteristics of this tug design will complement the various berth configurations in Vancouver Harbour. We look forward to putting the tug to work with our local crews to enhance the marine safety system in Southern British Columbia,” said Vice President Operations and Indigenous Relations Officer of SAAM Towage, Mark Bingham.
Hapag-Lloyd joint venture to develop new container terminal in Egyptian port
Ajoint venture headed by shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd is building a new terminal in the port of Damietta, Egypt.
“With the new terminal Hapag-Lloyd will significantly improve its transshipment operation in the East Mediterranean market as well as access to the local Egyptian trade,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.
The joint venture, called Damietta Alliance Container Terminal SAE, consists of three core shareholders: Hapag-Lloyd Damietta GmbH (39%), Eurogate Damietta GmbH (29.5%) and Contship Damietta Srl (29.5%). Two other partners, Middle East Logistics & Consultants Group and Ship & CREW Egypt SAE, will each hold 1%.
The new Terminal 2 at the port of Damietta is expected to start operations by 2024. It will have a final total operational capacity of 3.3 million TEU and serve as Hapag-Lloyd’s dedicated strategic transshipment hub in the East Mediterranean.
Thomas H Eckelmann, Chairman of the EUROGATE Group Management Board, stated: “With the Terminal 2 being operational in 2024, Hapag-Lloyd and its partners will be able to use a state-ofthe-art terminal with sufficient capacity, high productivity and a dense feeder network.”
Cecilia Eckelmann-Battistello, Chairman of the Board of Contship Italia, added: “We feel privileged and are extremely grateful for the support of the Egyptian government. The concession to operate the facility is granted to the joint venture for 30 years. This gives us and our respective customers a long-term perspective in the port of Damietta.”
The Egyptian Minister of Transport, Lieutenant-General Eng. Kamel Al-Wazir, commented: “This is a very encouraging, well planned partnership of international and Egyptian private sector in order to position Egypt as a global hub for logistics and trade. In this first phase we will establish the port of Damietta as an integrated logistics hub for containers, which will then be followed by the establishment of logistic corridors reaching to different manufacturing areas in Egypt by railway network.”
Latest news in the marine industry
Kongsberg Maritime signs technology contract for F-class installation vessel
Kongsberg Maritime (KM) has signed a new technology contract of around €28 million with Chinese shipbuilder COSCO Shipping (Qidong) Offshore for an F-class, foundation installation vessel. The vessel will have greater lifting capacity than previous vessels and will be delivered to Danish service provider Cadeler in 2025.
The agreement will see KM supply a comprehensive technology package for the F-class jack-up which will be able to transport up to six XL monopiles (weighing 2,300-2,600mt each) per round-trip, substantially improving efficiency over current vessels.
The F-class vessel also features a unique convertible design, allowing a simple refit process to convert its role from a foundation installation vessel to a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV).
This is the third contract KM has received for Cadeler installation vessels with KM’s Integrated Solution being crucial to the delivery and operation of all three vessels, which are destined to be among the largest of their type and capable of transporting and installing multiple sets of next- and future-generation wind turbines, and their foundations.
This well-proven suite of solutions combines KM’s optimised thruster package, electrical solution and dynamic positioning functionalities to maintain operability in all conditions and includes multiple digital tools to improve sustainability and reliability.
“Our vessels are designed to meet both the current and future needs of the offshore industry,” said Mikkel Gleerup, CEO at Cadeler. “So as the world needs more efficient offshore windfarms to help meet sustainability goals this requires larger turbines and larger, more efficient vessels to install them. Kongsberg’s innovative technology solutions are a key enabler in this.”
“This is a very smart vessel with a very bright future in the rapidly evolving offshore wind market,” added Egil Haugsdal, President, Kongsberg Maritime. “The bespoke solutions we have devised for the wind turbine installation vessels and this newly announced foundation installation vessel indicate how much thought and effort we devote to facilitating and encouraging sustainable marine operations.”
Cadeler is currently in discussions concerning a XL Monopile foundation installation contract in the North Sea, which will commence with this state-of-the-art F-class vessel.
World Shipping Council welcomes Swire Shipping as new member
The World Shipping Council (WSC) continues its work for a safe, secure and sustainable industry, and is excited to welcome a new member in Swire Shipping.
Headquartered in Singapore, Swire Shipping is a leading provider of specialist customer solutions for a wide range of cargo and aims to provide a full suite of land and ocean solutions. Swire Shipping celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2022, and for much of its modern history it has been actively involved in liner shipping in the Asia Pacific region.
“We are very pleased to welcome Swire Shipping to WSC. Expanding our membership broadens our perspective when representing the liner sector and we look forward to participation from Swire Shipping representatives in our councils and working groups,” said John Butler, President and CEO of the WSC.
Jeremy Sutton is Chief Operating Officer of Swire Shipping, and has been elected as a representative to the WSC Board, effective immediately.
“We are delighted to join the World Shipping Council and to share our knowledge and experience especially in the areas of safety, security and sustainability. We also look forward to learning from our peers and by so doing, contribute to building a vibrant, safe and sustainable industry for years to come,” said Mr Sutton.
