Products & services

Neva exhibition gains official status

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 22 November 2013 22 November 2013

The Neva maritime event in St Petersburg has gained an official status as the Russian Prime Minister has signed a decree to grant the event such a position, the Anglo-Russian organisers said in a statement.

"In a landmark and unique step the future of the NEVA Exhibition & Conference Programmes has been adopted permanently into the list of State Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation," they said.

"By Decree of the State Office of the RF Prime Minister, the NEVA Exhibitions and Conferences now form part of the above list."

"It is stated in the Decree that the Events will be held every two years in St. Petersburg, the historic maritime centre of Russia. It is also stated that the Ministries for Industry and Trade, for Transport and for Foreign Affairs and the Government of St Petersburg, will be active in the planning and promotion of the Exhibitions, whose profile includes Shipbuilding, Ship Equipment, Ports, Inland Waterways and Offshore Energy."

The will continue to be organised by the traditional NEVA founder exhibition companies since 1991, Dolphin Exhibitions UK and Transtec-NEVA Exhibitions ZAO, in Russia.

Wärtsilä to retrofit scrubbers to TT Line ropax ferry

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 13 November 2013 13 November 2013

Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading solutions and services provider, has been contracted by TT-Line, the German-Swedish ferry operator, to retrofit an exhaust gas cleaning system to its Ro-Pax vessel Robin Hood as part of TT-Line's Green Ship strategy.

The full turnkey project will be managed by Wärtsilä thereby minimizing downtime and risk, whilst guaranteeing performance and regulatory compliance. The contract was signed in October 2013 and delivery and installation will take place during summer 2014, the company said in a statement.

The vessel will be fitted with four Wärtsilä Hybrid Scrubber Systems designed to reduce harmful sulphur oxide (SOx) and particulate emissions from the ship's exhaust. The ferry operates in the Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) between Travemünde, Germany and Trelleborg, Sweden. The Wärtsilä systems will enable compliance with the SECA regulations, as well as with anticipated future legislation.

Wärtsilä's turnkey delivery responsibility covers full engineering, pre-fabrication, installation, classification, project management, and construction site management.

"Environmental responsibility is a key element in TT-Line's Green Ship strategy. The pilot installation of Wärtsilä exhaust gas cleaning systems on the Robin Hood is a significant step towards our goals in this respect. The retrofit project is co-financed by the European Union through the TEN-T MOS "Green Bridge on Nordic Corridor" project. We see advantages in Wärtsilä's turnkey supply, and we will benefit from having one single point of contact for the entire project," says Mr Hannes Conzen, CEO of TT-Line.

"We are delighted to have concluded this agreement with TT-Line. This contract is an important confirmation of the validity of our strategy and is indicative of the market confidence in Wärtsilä's retrofit capabilities. This is the first retrofit project for a large Ro-Pax ship where we are taking the full Engineering Procurement and Construction responsibility," says Mr Leonardo Sonzio, Director, Retrofit, Environmental Solutions, Wärtsilä Ship Power.

The system operates in either an open loop or closed loop mode using seawater to remove SOx from the exhaust. When operating in open loop, exhaust gases enter the system and are sprayed with seawater. The sulphur oxides in the exhaust react with the water to form sulphuric acid. Chemicals are not required since the natural alkalinity of seawater neutralizes the acid. When operating in closed loop, the natural alkalinity of seawater is boosted by an alkali.

Wash water from the system is treated and monitored at the inlet and outlet to ensure that it conforms to all applicable discharge criteria. It can then be discharged into the sea with no risk of harm to the environment.

Cargotec acquires Aker Solutions’ Pusnes mooring system unit

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 31 October 2013 31 October 2013

Cargotec, the Finnish material handling equipment maker, says it is to acquire Aker Solutions' mooring and loading systems unit to grow MacGregor offshore business .

Cargotec's MacGregor unit that focuses on maritime based solutions has entered into an agreement to acquire Aker Solutions' mooring and loading systems unit for an enterprise value of approximately €180 million. The unit, known by the Pusnes brand name, provides mooring equipment, loading and offloading systems as well as a wide range of deck machinery for the global offshore and shipping markets. This acquisition is highly complementary with MacGregor's existing offshore offering, including the earlier announced acquisition of Hatlapa, and positions MacGregor as a leading player in the offshore equipment market.

The Pusnes business was founded in 1875, and is headquartered in Arendal, Norway. In 2012, the unit had sales of approximately €130 million and EBITDA of €20 million. The unit employs about 370 people with main facilities in Norway, UK and Korea.

"The Pusnes brand has a strong position in large and growing markets with active relationships across diverse customer groups. It has a solid position in lifecycle services with a large installed base and service scope. The unit's flexible business model focuses on high-value activities and engineering competence with a dedicated management team. All this fits perfectly with MacGregor's operating model and makes us an even stronger team than before," states Eric Nielsen, President, MacGregor.

"We have highly complementary offerings with leading positions in broad range of market segments. The transaction creates exciting opportunities to further develop our activities, and it also offers new possibilities to our employees within MacGregor," says Leif Haukom, who leads Aker Solutions' mooring and loading systems business.

"With the previously announced acquisition of Hatlapa, MacGregor is now well on its way in executing its growth strategy having concluded two key cornerstone actions. Management will now prioritise the integration of both the Pusnes unit and Hatlapa into MacGregor where significant synergies are expected to be realised. Within Cargotec we will focus on strengthening our balance sheet and bring gearing back to below our 50 percent target," says Mika Vehviläinen, President and CEO of Cargotec.

Foreship Ltd. acquires Queo Consulting Ltd.

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 12 November 2013 12 November 2013

Foreship announces the acquisition of Queo Consulting Ltd., a highly-experienced electrical engineering company located in Mariehamn, Åland. Queo Consulting covers various areas of electrical design, ranging from feasibility studies to basic and detail design as well as site supervision. Turnover of the 2007 established company amounted to around € 1,0 million in 2012; the company’s 12 employees are based in offices in Mariehamn (Åland), Kaarina (Finland) and Miami (US).

"With this acquisition, we are extending our portfolio so we can offer our clients the entire range of services required in the area of ship design and engineering. We are very pleased that our long-standing partner relationship with the Queo Consulting team has resulted in Queo Consulting becoming a part of Foreship," says Lauri Haavisto, Managing Director of Foreship.

"We are very pleased to become a part of the Foreship family. Foreship is a very strong name in the industry and as we now join forces we can benefit from both parties customer networks, continue our common growth and work together in further strengthening the Foreship brand," says Mattias Jörgensen, Managing Director of Queo Consulting.

Survitec Group opens Miami facility

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 29 October 2013 29 October 2013

Survitec Group Limited, one of the global leaders in critical safety and survival solutions, has announced the opening of a new facility in Miami, strengthening its North American servicing capability.

Simon Withey, Survitec Group CEO, commented on the new business: Survitec Group has carefully chosen the Miami market as a strategic location to ensure we offer the highest quality service and a complete range of on board survival equipment, particularly in marine evacuation solutions, to our worldwide commercial marine and cruise industry partners.

Formerly part of Wilhelmsen Ship Services, the new Survitec Group Miami service station will provide inspection, servicing and sales of multi-branded lifesaving appliances including liferafts, marine electronics, lifejackets, immersion suits and boats. It will also service a large number of Marine Evacuation Systems (MES) for the local cruise and ferry industry, including SurvitecZodiac medium evacuation systems and slide (MIS), and the RFD Marin Ark.

Customers will be able to benefit from Survitec's new liferaft hire and exchange service, launched a year ago, as part of its new Global Services capability.

In the last two years Survitec Group has acquired the commercial marine businesses DBC Marine Safety Systems and Zodiac SOLAS. These acquisitions have expanded the global footprint of Survitec Group's services and product distribution centers, while increasing the volume and variety of products and services available to Survitec customers. It has also added Bremerhaven and Algeciras to its European network and more recently a joint venture with Servaux to cover Marseille and Le Havre, two main ports in France.

The Miami facility will form part of Survitec's North American operations, with further locations in Jacksonville, Florida; Sharon Center, Ohio; Delta, British Columbia and Houston, Texas. The new acquisition is part of Survitec's strategy to expand the services element of the business in key ports around the world, which has grown from 12, only two years ago, to the current total of 54 facilities where Survitec Group services are offered through their own personnel.