Products & services

Blohm+Voss appoints Fred van Beers as its new CEO

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 14 January 2015 14 January 2015

Blohm+Voss appoints Fred van Beers as its Chief Executive Officer Management Board (CEO). As of 1 March 2015, Fred van Beers will take over from Dr Herbert Aly as CEO to lead Blohm+Voss' growth strategy. His focus will be on developing the luxury yacht business. He will also work to strengthen the leading position of Blohm+Voss in general repairs and conversions with a specific focus for cruise ships and vessels for the off-shore industry.

Fred van Beers (52) has held senior leadership positions in the maritime industry for more than 15 years. He joins Blohm+Voss from his current position as Vice President Services Northern Europe at Wärtsilä, the global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the maritime industry and energy markets with a presence in more than 70 countries.

Fred van Beers is a qualified ship engineer, went to sea for four years, and has led all stages of design, engineering, production and aftermarket services. He has a proven track record in delivering profitable sales growth. Throughout his career at Wärtsilä and his positions in various maritime industry organisations in the Netherlands and Europe, Fred van Beers built up an extensive international network within the community of yacht and ship owners, yacht designers, shipyards and the maritime supply industry. For the past 20 years delivery of systems and services for yachts has been part of Fred van Beers his responsibilities.

"I admire Blohm+Voss for having delivered some of the most iconic yachts over the last 80 years – ranging from the Savarona delivered in 1931 to the Graceful in 2014. I am committed to highest quality engineering and project management. I share Blohm+Voss' strategic vision and look forward to further developing the business with my new colleagues”, said Fred van Beers.

Dr Herbert Aly joined Blohm+Voss as a Managing Director in 2004 and became Spokesman of the Management Board in 2008. He successfully focused the business on the three areas: cruise ships, off-shore units and yachts. Dr Aly initiated the change of ownership in 2012 when Blohm+Voss’ civil business was acquired by funds advised by Star Capital Partners and the members of the management team. Under the new ownership and as part of the strategic development of the company, the product portfolio was expanded and the sales and services business further strengthened.

Ernst von Freyberg, Head of the Supervisory Board of Blohm+Voss, said: "We welcome Fred van Beers. He is an exceptionally skilled leader with a long track record in the maritime industry. As owners, we are committed to a long-term viable growth plan for Blohm+Voss. On behalf of the owners, the supervisory board and the entire team, I would like to thank Dr Herbert Aly for leading Blohm+Voss over the last years."

NIT secures large export order with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 10 January 2015 10 January 2015

Finnish maritime company NIT has succeeded in expanding its operations to Japan. NIT has signed two large contracts with Mitsubishi Heavy Industry (MHI) about turnkey interior projects to the cruise ships, which MHI is currently building in the Nagasaki shipyard.

NIT deliveries include main stairways and spa for two cruise ships, which will be operated by AIDA Cruises from Germany. The first ship AIDAprima will be ready to start sailing from Tokyo in October 2015.

"These orders from Mitsubishi Heavy Industry is NIT’s biggest single export deal ever," says CEO Jari Suominen.

"It seems that Mitsubishi has become our biggest customer, at least for the time being. We appreciate very much the trust they have expressed to us."

NIT is one of the most specialized companies for turnkey ship interiors and challenging technical installations. Its headquarters are located in Kaarina, Southwest Finland, near to the traditional Finnish shipbuilding center of Turku.

AIDA Cruises is a German cruise operator, which is owned by the Carnival Corporation. AIDA says that its new flagship AIDAprima has a new kind of hull design, which increases energy efficiency considerably – and it uses exhaust treatment technology, which reduces emissions (soot particles, nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide) by 90-99%. The length of AIDAprima is 300 metres and width 37,6 metres. It can accommodate approximately 3300 passengers.

NIT has recently expanded its operations also to Germany. NIT team is currently installing the conference center and concierge lounge for the cruise ship Anthem of the Seas, which is being built in the Papenburg shipyard owned by Meyer Werft. Anthem of the Seas will be owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International.

Metso to upgrade the ship automation for Stena Germanica

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 07 January 2015 07 January 2015

Metso has been awarded a contract to upgrade and expand the ship automation of Stena Germanica, a RoPax vessel owned by Stena Line, one of the world's largest ferry operators. Metso's contractual partner is Gdansk Ship Repair Yard Remontowa S.A.

Stena Line will have the vessel's main engines converted to run on methanol and marine gas oil as a dual-fuel concept. The project is to prove and showcase methanol as an innovative, safe and sustainable fuel for shipping, which consequently lowers the vessel's SOx and particulate emissions.

Metso will integrate the related control and monitoring functionalities within the vessel's automation system. The scope includes a new redundant process controller, I/O system and eight new data communication lines to the main engines' control system and methanol fuel pumps. With Metso's advanced automation solutions, the vessel will be able to efficiently control the fuel plant and meet the new exhaust gas emission regulations set forth by International Maritime Organization and the European Union.

The delivery also includes an upgrade of the existing Damatic XD automation system installed when the vessel was built in 2001. The control room stations and related communication network will be upgraded to the latest version of Metso DNA automation technology. Also included is a Metso DNA Trend & Event Archive with analyzing tools for process values and events. Additionally, the main engines' remote control system will be modernized with two new redundant process controllers, an I/O system and two dedicated touch screen user interfaces.

"Making life-cycle upgrades with Metso's technology is simple. There is no need to change everything; you can update only the life-cycle critical parts and enable the system operators to work efficiently with the newest version of Metso DNA user interface," says Per Syvertsen, Senior Technical Manager, Marine Automation Applications, Metso.

Delivery will take place in the first quarter of 2015. The order has been included in Metso's fourth quarter 2014 orders received.

Stena Germanica was lengthened in 2007 and upgraded in 2010. The vessel is 241 meters long, 29 meters wide and has a gross tonnage of 51,837 and 3,907 lane meters. There is accommodation capacity for 1,300 passengers. The vessel sails between Gothenburg, Sweden, and Kiel, Germany.

Carnival Corporation chooses MCP for cellular communication services

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 09 January 2015 09 January 2015

MCP has signed a long-term contract with Carnival Corporation to provide 33 cruise ships with advanced mobile cellular communication services. The agreement provides close to 130,000 people each day mobile voice, texting (SMS) and data (mobile internet) coverage while at sea.

In order to deliver outstanding mobile solutions to crew and passengers, Carnival Corporation has signed a multi-year contract serving six of the company’s nine brands. The agreement is a consolidation and extension of existing agreements and the addition of new ships. MCP will be the exclusive onboard cellular provider for 12 AIDA ships, 5 Costa ships, 3 Cunard ships, 2 Princess Cruises ships, 3 P&O Cruises (Australia) ships and 8 P&O (UK) cruise ships.

“Technologies and services like this showcase how Carnival Corporation is leveraging our scale to drive strategic advantages,” said Ramon Millan, CIO of Carnival Corporation. “The size of our company enables opportunities like this one, in which we can optimize services and technologies to enhance guest experience.”

“It is rewarding to be able to supply Carnival Corporation ships with solutions that empower crew and passengers with services that enrich their lives. This contract strengthens MCP’s position in the cruise market, and we especially increase our European ship-portfolio”, said CEO of MCP, Frode Støldal.

“We are excited about deploying new kinds of communication solutions with internet services that build a new digital future for all people travelling and working at sea. We believe that mobile internet is a catalyst for growth and that it should be accessible for everyone and everywhere. We are very optimistic about the new partnership and will strive daily to ensure customer satisfaction through delivering the highest quality on our services”, said Støldal.

Green Tech Marine changes name to Yara Marine Technologies

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 07 January 2015 07 January 2015

Since founded in 2010 Green Tech Marine AS with its compact SOx scrubber, has succeeded in becoming a world leading company within exhaust gas cleaning systems. The year 2014 has yet again seen the enterprise grow significantly, expanding sales to new segments such as ro-paxes and tankers. Our company has also rolled out a strong sales network which covers all major ship-owning nations in the world.

To further expand our activities and services while strengthening our international presence, we decided in April 2014 to enter into a partnership with a major international company, Yara International ASA. Within Yara we are a member of the company`s “Emission to Air” platform, which includes a portfolio of strong environmental technology companies, hereunder also marine NOx systems. The platform will enable us to pull on technical support and R&D resources, strengthening our competitive advantage in the scrubber market. The Yara Group had an annual turnover of USD 14,6 billion in 2013, an EBITDA of USD 2,3 billion, local presence in over 50 countries and sales in more than 150 countries worldwide.

As part of the partnership, we have decided to change the name of the company to Yara Marine Technologies AS. The name change is effective as of 01. January 2015. This to further integrate the two companies and to take advantage of the Yara Group’s strong brand name internationally.

The company management group stays unchanged, and we will offer support from the same staff as today, with improvements, as the company grows stronger in terms of numbers and quality.