Tag: hull

Government asserts Louisiana company misrepresented hull strength of converted vessels The United States has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., against Bollinger Shipyards Inc., Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLC and Halter Bollinger Joint Venture LLC, the Justice Department announced. The suit alleges that Bollinger, which is headquartered in Lockport, La., made material false statements to the Coast Guard under the Deepwater Program.The government's complaint alleges that Bollinger proposed to convert existing 110-Ft Patrol Boats (WPBs) into 123-Ft WPBs by extending the hulls 13 feet and making additional improvements. As a result of Bollinger's misrepresentations about the hull strength of the converted vessels, the Coast Guard awarded a contract to convert eight Coast Guard 110 foot cutters to 123 foot cutters. The first converted cutter, the Matagorda, suffered hull failure when put into service.An investigation by the Coast Guard and the prime contractor, Integrated Coast Guard Systems, concluded that the calculation of hull strength reported by Bollinger to the Coast Guard prior to the conversion was false. Efforts to repair the Matagorda and the other converted vessels were unsuccessful. The cutters are unseaworthy and have been taken out of service."Companies which make false statements to win Coast Guard contracts ...

A Hong Kong registered container vessel lost 31 containers overboard Hong Kong Marine Department issues Merchant Shipping Information Note regarding Falling of containers causing hull damage.This Note refers to all Shipowners, Ship Managers, Ship Operators, Masters and Officers Containers on board a Hong Kong registered container vessel fell overboard and pierced the bunker oil tanks causing devastating oil spill. This information note draws the attention of the shipowners, ship managers, ship operators and officers the lessons learnt in the accident.The Incident1. A Hong Kong registered container vessel lost 31 containers overboard in gale force weather during cyclone off the coast of southeast Queensland, Australia. About 270 tonnes of fuel leaked into the sea as a result of the damage to the bunker tanks caused by the overboard containers. The oil spilled into the sea causing serious pollution.2. The investigation into the incident conducted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau revealed that the condition of the cargo lashing equipment was poor and its maintenance and inspection programme was inadequate.Lessons Learnt3. The maintenance of cargo securing gears is of vital importance to ship stability, safety of life at sea and protection of the marine environment. A maintenance and inspection progromme should be ...

It improves fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has adopted the use of a new low-friction ship-bottom paint to improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.The high smoothness of the paint, Seaflo Neo developed by Chugoku Marine Paint, reduces friction drag between the hull and the water, improving fuel efficiency by 3-5% compared to an identical vessel with a conventional hull coating.The new environment-friendly paint is also low in volatile organic compounds, a major source of air pollution.The paint was applied to car carriers Eternal Ace and Brilliant Ace.MOL moves aggressively to adopt various technologies that will contribute to reducing the environmental burden of its business activities, it said.Source: Seatrade Asia

Hong Kong Merchant Shipping Information Note Containers on board a Hong Kong registered container vessel fell overboard and pierced the bunker oil tanks causing devastating oil spill. This information note draws the attention of the shipowners, ship managers, ship operators and officers the lessons learnt in the accident.The Incident1. A Hong Kong registered container vessel lost 31 containers overboard in gale force weather during cyclone off the coast of southeast Queensland, Australia. About 270 tonnes of fuel leaked into the sea as a result of the damage to the bunker tanks caused by the overboard containers. The oil spilled into the sea causing serious pollution.2. The investigation into the incident conducted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau revealed that the condition of the cargo lashing equipment was poor and its maintenance and inspection programme was inadequate.Lessons Learnt3. The maintenance of cargo securing gears is of vital importance to ship stability, safety of life at sea and protection of the marine environment. A maintenance and inspection progromme should be established and implemented to ensure the condition of the cargo securing gears are properly maintained at all times.4. The attention of shipowners, ship managers, ship operators, master and officers of container vessels ...

Called "Primeship-HULL" ClassNK has developed and released advanced calculation software for IACS Common Structural Rules (CSRs) called "Primeship-HULL (CSR)".Rule CalculationsThe Rule Calculation Systems provide the necessary information and report outputs for CSR application. The Rule Calculation Systems can provide you with cross section calculations, hull girder strength assessment, local strength assessment, fatigue strength assessment and buckling strength assessment, etc. based on inputs of arrangements and gross scantlings of cross section as shown in the left hand figure below.Direct Strength AnalysisThis is a direct strength calculation tool that can conduct Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and provide strength assessment as shown in the right hand figure below. The system is based on MSC.Patran, and strongly supports structural assessment work by providing design loads, boundary conditions, etc. in accordance with the requirements of CSR to carry out a series of direct strength analyses.You can view further information, by clicking here.Source: ClassNK

Value for money Japanese company Chugoku Marine Paints (CMP) has introduced two new hull coatings at Nor-Shipping, which the company says will offer advantages to shipowners in terms of value for money.Like other paint companies, CMP has been looking for an anti-fouling that can provide similar value and performance to TBT. CMP believes that it has been involved in this quest longer than most; by the time the TBT ban became reality, its Seagrandprix 1000 silyl coating was already on the market, and similar technology has the since been adopted by other manufacturers. This paint has now proved itself over 20 years.Other CMP developments such as copper-free self-polishing ionomer based products have also proved successful, delivering, like Seagrandprix, up to 60 months in service.The first of the new products is Seagrandprix 1000 L, a development of the original TBT-free product. This too is a fully hydrolysing undiluted silyl, but with a more advanced formulation, which CMP says makes it economical in thickness required for long in-service periods, thanks to it being higher in volume solids and using high-quality raw materials.The other new coating, which the company describes as beyond silyl, is Seaflo Neo, which is the result of several years ...