Japanese company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has entered into a twenty-year agreement with Airseas to supply Seawings for their vessels. Seawing is an automated kite based on parafoil technology which provides wind propulsion to commercial ships and can reduce CO2 emissions by up to twenty per cent.

Becker Marine Systems has delivered two prototype units of its LNG PowerPac to HHLA’s container terminal Burchardkai in Hamburg for 24-hour test runs. Together, the two units generate three megawatts of clean energy as shore power supply for ships in port.

Cruise operator RCL, technology group Wärtsilä, and classification society DNV GL have worked together to prevent engine room fires. The result is a new fire prevention notation which includes several safety barriers that are to manage the most significant risk factors, including leakages of flammable liquid and hot surfaces.

Ulstein has developed a range of X-Bow vessels for the RoPax market based on the company’s “compact concept”. Equipping the vessels with an X-Bow improves their seakeeping behaviour while reducing costs.

Large shipping losses are now at their lowest level this century having declined by over fifty per cent year on year to 46 in 2018. Still, the number of reported shipping incidents overall (2698 in 2018) shows little decline – less than one per cent year-on-year. Although machinery damage causes the most incidents, fire damage is on the rise.

DEME Offshore’s newest heavy-lift jack-up Apollo underwent a refit to install a moon pool installation. The process involved creating an opening right through the centre of the vessel, from the main deck down through the engine stores and finally through the hull.

Seaspan will add two 149-metre RoRo ferries with LNG and battery powered propulsion to its fleet. The vessels will be built at Damen Shipyards Mangalia in Romania.

Shipping losses have declined over the last decade. Yet, challenging markets, demanding environmental regulations, and new technologies threaten to pull the industry’s focus away from marine safety.

Norwegian maritime magazine Skipsrevyen has selected the world’s largest plug-in hybrid vessel, Color Hybrid, as “Ship of the Year 2019”. With a battery package of 4.7 MWh, the Color Hybrid can travel 12 nautical miles on battery power alone, and is charged with shore power in Sandefjord.

If body parts are to be close to machinery that can potentially move during any maintenance or repair task, lock out-tag out (LOTO) procedures should be employed. Failing to do so, recently caused a crew member to get his fingers crushed during a greasing job.