Damen Shipyards has embarked on a project to build three shallow-draught multipurpose support vessels at Albwardy Damen shipyard in Sharjah, UAE. The shipbuilder, which has a strategy of building for stock, does not get have clients for the vessels. But this approach enables standard vessels to be adapted to meet customers’ needs during construction relatively quickly and has proved successful many times before.

Swiss clean technology company, Bcomp, and Croatian boatbuilding specialist, Marservis, have announced the start of ferry services in the Adriatic Sea using a solar-powered ferry party constructed with natural fibre composites. The vessel, partly built with Bcomp’s flax-fibre composite, ampliTex^TM, is the result of 30 months of collaboration between the two companies.

The German Government and the state of Lower Saxony have stepped in to rescue the 225-year-old shipbuilder, Meyer Werft, which has teetered on the edge of collapse in recent weeks. Despite an order book worth around EUR 11 billion and work extending until 2031, the company had run out of cash. The crisis was blamed on the consequences of the pandemic, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and soaring commodity prices.

Turkish shipyard, Uzmar, has been chosen by Svitzer to build what is claimed to be the world’s first battery-methanol tug. It will be based on Svitzer’s TRAnsverse design with a 6-MWHh battery and dual-fuel methanol-powered engines for back-up and range extension.

The classification society DNV has awarded Approval in Principle (AiP) to HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) for the design of an 80,000m3 liquid hydrogen (LH2) carrier at Gastech in Houston this week.

The AiP is part of a…

UK-based offshore wind companies, Rovco and Vaarst, have merged into a new brand, Beam.global. The high-tech companies have both focused on automating offshore wind development to improve efficiency and cut costs and their unification will create ‘an unrivalled offering’, according to a statement.

MAN Energy Solutions is to supply a propulsion package for three fleet solid support (FSS) ships to be built for the UK Navy’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The ships will be built by Team Resolute, comprising Navantia UK, Harland & Wolff and BMT.

Ålesund-based Seaonics, a specialist in offshore lifting, handling and logistics, is to launch an offshore charging system for service vessels operating in offshore energy installations. The Ocean Charger paves the way for support vessels of the future to operate on electricity most of the time.

Amid the hundreds of technology developments evident at SMM in Hamburg last week, DNV has highlighted three of its own. Ocean Infinity, Avikus, and Reach Subsea have been identified by the classification society as worthy of mention.

Ocean Infinity,…