To stay up-to-date on changing regulations, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has launched a third edition of its Guidelines on the Application of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC). Among other things, the Guidelines now address provision of financial security in case of seafarer abandonment and prevention of harassment and bullying.

The Green Maritime Methanol consortium has selected nine vessels for research on the application of renewable methanol as a marine fuel. New designs, newbuilds and existing ships of Boskalis, Van Oord, the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) and Wagenborg Shipping have been selected.

Within ten months, Van Oord will reclaim twelve million cubic metres of sand to create 600 hectares of new land in Mexico. The land will be used for the new PEMEX (Petróleos Mexicanos) refinery in Dos Bocas, Tabasco.

Ships docking by themselves has become reality now that technology group Wärtsilä from Finland has booked its first order for SmartDock. This makes it the world’s first commercially available auto-docking solution and is a significant step towards the realisation of autonomous vessels.

The world’s most powerful Cutter Suction Dredger Spartacus has received its 2500-tonne cutter ladder. The installation was performed by Heerema’s deepwater construction vessel Aegir. Clearances during the installation process were at times no more than 24 millimetres.

Royal Huisman has revealed the first construction photos of Project Phi. The yacht will be over 55 metres long, but thanks to the Fast-Displacement XL concept, the yacht stays within the sub-500 GT category.

The Damen Shipyards Group has added a radically different design to its dredging portfolio: a twin-hulled, deep cutter suction dredger designated the DCSD500. This compact new dredger can operate at dredging depths that have previously been possible to reach only with larger dredgers.

At anchor, just as when underway, it is important to maintain close monitoring of the ship’s position and of the vessels in the vicinity. A shifting tidal stream or changing weather can easily result in a collision.

With the christening of the Lesse, Dutch Dredging from Sliedrecht, the Netherlands, has significantly expanded its fleet. The new trailing suction hopper dredger was built at the yard of MTG Dolphin in Varna, Bulgaria, under the supervision of Royal IHC.

Preliminary figures from the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MoU) show 2018 saw the lowest number of detentions since 2011. Yet, there is more work to be done. Among other things, the Paris MoU pleads for new inspection regimes and strict global enforcement of regulations.