Rope ladders are often used to take the outboard draughts on large vessels, and pose a serious risk. Past incidents highlight the importance of following work procedures and using a personal flotation device (PFD). Yet, using a small boat instead of a ladder may prove the safer option.

Overall confidence in the shipping industry fell over the past three months. This is largely a result of ongoing concern over trade wars and increased regulation, according to accountancy and business advisory firm BDO’s latest Shipping Confidence Survey.

Luxury cruise line Seabourn has ordered two expedition cruise newbuilds suitable for exploring polar regions. To enable these polar cruises, Kongsberg will supply an integrated bridge system with dynamic positioning (DP) functionality and ice radar.

A toolbox meeting should cover all aspects of a job, even something as simple as tightening bolts. Two deck crew recently learned this the hard way as they were injured after being struck by an emergency towing arrangement’s motor coming off its mounting.

Damen has begun construction of its Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 7011 Crew Change concept. The vessel can carry larger numbers of personnel – up to 250 – over greater distances – over 200 nautical miles – at speeds of up to 40 knots.

Van Oord and Mammoet have entered into a partnership with scale-up Verton to develop a new lifting method for installing wind turbine blades. The method is to shorten installation cycle times and make installation safer for operators.

With another nine-second fast lift, Allseas’ heavy lift and pipelay vessel Pioneering Spirit has removed the 25,000-tonne Brent Bravo topsides from the North Sea. The move took place last week at the Brent oil and gas field located 186 kilometres off the northeast coast of the Shetland Islands and was recorded on film.

During a test run on the Dutch IJsselmeer for the World Championships in Monaco, one of the hydrofoils of the newest boat of the TU Delft Solar Boat Team has broken off. With nine days to go before the team leaves for Monaco to prepare for the race, their participation is now in jeopardy.

Dutch shipowner has expanded its fleet to 38 ethylene, LPG and LNG carriers with the addition of five gas carriers from GATX Corporation. The vessels will start trading in the company’s gas pool as per June 2019.

Damen Shiprepair Dunkerque (DSDu) has converted the 117-metre, 8500-cubic-metre trailing suction hopper dredger Samuel de Champlain to dual-fuel LNG/MGO propulsion. It is the first time such a conversion has been carried out in Europe.