Seaplant celebrating 20 years of partnership with Seawork!

Friday, 30th June 2017

From 13th-15th June 2017 Mayflower Park in Southampton became the hub for the largest commercial marine and workboat exhibition in Europe for its 20th year showcase.

Throughout all these 20 years, Seaplant has been working tirelessly alongside Seawork as its official media partner to promote our clients from all areas of the marine and offshore industry.

It was celebrations all round as we, currently in our 41st year of trading and recently becoming a second generation family business, took a greater presence with a stand of our own, a shiny new banner and goody bags galore!

For three full days, four members of our team enjoyed catching up with long standing clients, putting faces to people we had only previously chatted to on the phone, and spreading the reach of Seaplant to a whole host of new businesses eager to get onboard.

Blessed with beautiful sunshine each day, the quayside really was the place to be this year. We were lucky enough to be invited onboard several vessels by our customers and even managed to be a part of a naming ceremony!

Distribution for our clients is our main goal at these events but our favourite part is meeting so many friendly faces, receiving such great feedback from our clients and being constantly reminded how incredibly diverse yet intertwined our marine industry is.

Seawork is one of many exhibitions and conferences we partner with throughout the year, ensuring that our clients receive the best possible reach to the most relevant companies, but having supported them from their humble beginnings, Seawork will of course always be very close to our hearts.

What a fantastic show everyone, well done! See you next year!

New Product Launch – Ro-Ro Vessels, Vehicle Deck Operations Poster

Thursday, 29th June 2017

Once again, Maritime Progress has researched and produced a poster which has much bearing on a sector of the industry with which many of their customers will be familiar. Our poster is based on the guidelines for safe operations on vehicle decks as contained within the MCA Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seamen. Chapt. 32 and the IMO Code for Cargo Stowage (CSS Code). In completing this research and producing this poster, we are indebted to the shipping company which allowed us supervised access to the working areas where loading and discharge was taking place and to take into account the knowledge of the ship’s officers concerned.

Ro Ro Traffic is one of the chief forms of marine transport and, over the years, has had its share of accidents. This method of carrying vehicles and other cargoes is time efficient but sometimes includes the added risk factor of combining cargo handling with the presence of passengers in a noisy and somewhat confusing environment. In addition to moving traffic, the deployment of mezzanine decks and ramps can add to the risk laden atmosphere and it is vital that shipboard personnel are properly trained and adequately supervised to carry out their duties with safety constantly in mind. A rapid turnaround time is no excuse for the neglect of vital safe working practices.

Even outside the loading and discharge operations, bunkering, loading stores, the disposal of waste and routine repairs require much care and consideration. Accidents have happened where personnel have been injured or worse when tractor units and low loaders have commenced loading without warning or adequate supervision with their engine noises masked by the sound of the ventilation fans. A risk assessment of such operations and the introduction of appropriate safeguards is important.

We hope that this poster will act as a reminder about the issues which constitute risk and others which contribute to vehicle deck safety.

1000 days free from LTI-Lost Time Incidents – Â£1000 for Grimsby & Cleethorpes Sea Cadet Unit I

Thursday, 29th June 2017

Mainprize Offshore Ltd has achieved 1000 vessel days free of LTI (lost time incident) while providing services for end client Dong Energy.

Mainprize Offshore Ltd are providing guard vessels direct to Dong Energy and indirect through their sub-contractors. LTI is one of many key point indicators that companies use to determine and analyze a company’s performance.

“The 1000 vessel day milestone also equates to over 60,000 person hours and is testament to the management and crews of the vessels and the support given by the Dong Energy teams and I would like to thank everyone involved in Mainprize offshore success in achieving this milestone.” Bob Mainprize The purpose of the guard vessel is to ensure the safety of all persons in and around the site and to protect the assets of Dong Energy, this involves notifying vessels of the safety zone and any updates on vessel movements, restrictions etc. This is usually undertaken by the guard vessel transmitting security messages on marine radio channels at intervals determined by the level of vessel traffic, it is also to contact vessels and advise of the safety zones and updates.

Mainprize Offshore Ltd have been operating on the Westernmost Rough and Race Bank offshore wind farms for some years. Mr Bob Mainprize of Mainprize Offshore Ltd commented that the high Health, Safety and Welfare standards that Dong Energy insists on is welcomed by Mainprize Offshore Ltd. “We pride ourselves in promoting the best practices and providing our clients with the best quality and safest possible service. We have therefore decided to award £1,000 to the Grimsby sea cadets, Grimsby sea cadets were chosen due to the marine nature and location of the Dong Energy hub in Grimsby. This I feel is a hand in glove approach that will benefit the local community and support the early training and development of the younger generation.”

On behalf of the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Sea Cadet Unit I would like to congratulate Mainprize Offshore on receiving this award and express our heartfelt thanks and gratitude for this generous donation.

The achievements of Mainprize Offshore limited in receiving this award will serve as an inspiration to our cadets and an example of what a career in the maritime sector can lead to.

Our unit currently has 56 cadets involved in marine training and engineering many of whom will hopefully gain employment in the maritime sector of which the renewable industry and DONG Energy in particular has grown rapidly in our area and have become very valued community partners.

This particular donation will go towards a major refurbishment of the unit due to start very shortly which will allow us to further increase our cadet numbers.

NI Water Awards Â£3.25m Water Improvement contract to Heyn Engineering

Wednesday, 28th June 2017

NI Water has awarded a major new £3.25 million contract to local Duncrue – based firm Heyn Engineering. Heyn will be supplying and maintaining essential safety and maintenance equipment to NI Water over potentially the next six years.

As NI Water marks a decade of delivering what matters, investing £1.8 billion in water and wastewater services over the past ten years, this contract will deliver essential health and safety equipment, which will help staff to safely access and maintain our water and wastewater network. The project will also assist in supporting a growing economy, with 7 people working full-time on the contract at the local firm.

Dean Campbell Category Manager, NI Water Operational Procurement team said: "NI Water are delighted to announce this major contract with Heyn, who will maintain, test and certify over 20,000 items of lifting & fall arrest
equipment such as cranes and hoists.

Heyn will also supply replacement equipment, which is essential for our company to maintain our vast network of Pumping Stations, treatment plants and reservoirs throughout Northern Ireland and continue to deliver what matters to our customers.

"Health and safety is a key priority for NI Water and this essential service supplied by Heyn will ensure that staff and contractors can safely get access to underground services and tanks to help us continue to deliver high quality water and wastewater services, as well as meeting our statutory requirements." Kevin Denvir Director of Engineering at Heyn added: "We are extremely pleased to have won a contract of strategic importance with NI Water. As a local Northern Ireland company and with Heyn Engineering’s expertise, skills and experience we will be able to fulfil this essential supply, maintenance, testing and certification contract to the highest possible standards.

"The contract has created additional jobs and improved job security amongst our engineering division. Being selected on a contract of strategic importance by such a high profile organisation such as NI Water, has also helped to raise the profile of Heyn Engineering in the industry. We look forward to working in partnership with NI Water."

Heyn Engineering Solutions offer a comprehensive range of materials handling solutions to leading industrial, manufacturing and warehousing sectors in the UK and Ireland.

Services range from traditional marine engineering to machinery installation, load testing, machinery moving, ship management to the provision of a comprehensive range of lifting equipment and accessories. Heyn Engineering are representatives in Ireland for a number of leading manufacturers including Demag Cranes & Components, SEW Eurodrives & Geared Motors, Reid Lifting Equipment and Tractel Lifting & Moving Solutions.

JFC Marine Aids to Navigation

Wednesday, 28th June 2017

JFC Marine with over 30 years’ experience manufacturing innovative plastic products, manufacture and supply a complete range of precision engineered navigation buoys complete with Atons systems. We offer an extensive range of aids to navigation equipment including lanterns, AIS systems, battery and solar powered solutions. JFC navigation buoys are used to mark out shipping channels, hazardous waters, aquaculture sites and a variety of other marine installations.

Designed for use for both inshore and offshore applications these modular designed buoys aim to set a new standard in floating aids to navigation. A member of IALA, JFC buoys and beacons are available in a wide range of IALA recommended colours and configurations.

The latest larger sized additions to the range include the Seagull and Gannet Navigation Buoy varieties. These range in size from Ø1.5m to Ø3m sized buoys. JFC Marine have considered all aspects of the buoys life at sea which are designed and manufactured for the most demanding conditions using superior quality materials and considering ease of assembly both onshore or on deck of support vessels. They also boast excellent stability characteristics, power system versatility, and environmental credentials. By addressing key design criteria, JFC buoys can reduce costs and maximise service intervals. Safe access for maintenance personnel and ease of operation has been prioritised, as have all deployment, mooring, and retrieval requirements.

“With our new buoy design and with the advances in technology we are now capable of adding new technologies and sensors to our buoys to provide real-time information to pilots at sea, information such as wave height, wind speed and water currents” Colin Concannon Head of Sales JFC Marine.
For further information see www.jfcmarine.com, t: + 353 93 24066, e: info@jfcmarine.com

Damen’s UK Sales Manager receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Wednesday, 21st June 2017

Casper Vermeulen, who is retiring as UK Sales Manager for the Damen Shipyards Group, was last week presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Seawork International commercial marine and workboat exhibition held in Southampton, UK. The presentation was made by Andrew Webster, Managing Director of Mercator Media, the company organising the event.

After handing over the award, Mr Webster declared that: "Casper is a very worthy winner of the Seawork European Commercial Marine Lifetime Achievement Award. I was delighted to present it to him. For 20 years he has represented Damen Shipyards with integrity, selling more than 120 vessels into the UK and Eire, and for each of those 20 years he has attended Seawork. He will be greatly missed by all his colleagues and friends.”

Casper himself was unaware that he was going to the receive the award right up until he was introduced to the gathering at the event. Fortunately, as he was already on his way to a Damen-arranged party celebrating his long and illustrious career, he did at least have some suitable words prepared. “It’s the first time in my life I’ve had to give two speeches just ten minutes apart,” he said, followed by, “receiving this is a reward and an honour. It’s a little overwhelming.”

During Seawork Casper received many cards and gifts from members of the UK and Irish maritime industries with whom he has worked with over the years, as well as from many colleagues at Damen. These included the framed text of a speech he delivered some years ago on the delivery of the 80 metre semi-submersible, heavy lift barge Terra Marique to Robert Wynn and Sons, presented to him by Peter Wynn. The organisers of Seawork also gave him a large jug of Pimm’s No.1, a typically British way to celebrate such an occasion!

The Lifetime Achievement Award was a fitting conclusion to a long and productive career that has seen Casper sell Damen vessels to operators right around the coasts of the British Isles. “Given my many visits to Seawork over the years, this was a fitting way to celebrate the end of my time at Damen, in the lovely British Sunshine, enjoying a drink or two surrounded by friends and colleagues,” concluded Casper.

Damen’s sales operations in the UK and Ireland will continue, undertaken by Arjen van Elk, already in position for a number of years, and Frederik van der Linde, who has worked closely with Casper these past few months.

Valeport reports surge in sales of Tide Gauges

Tuesday, 13th June 2017

Valeport has reported a surge in sales of tide gauge equipment in its most recent quarter.

The UK’s leading manufacturer of oceanographic, hydrographic and hydrometric instrumentation said that sales of tide gauge equipment rose 22% over the same period in 2016. Valeport’s performance and reliability in tide gauges is well renowned and the firm confirm that sales across the portfolio of tide gauge instrumentation including TideMasters, Radar sensors and the TideStation are significantly ahead of forecast.

Valeport’s tidal observation hub, TideStation, optimizes performance of instrumentation and is designed to be flexible in its configuration and has Valeport’s industry leading tide gauge system at its core. The compact and robust TideStation unit offers pressure, radar and hybrid tidal observation techniques coupled with interfaces to other meteorological, telemetry and third party systems.

The Valeport TideMaster provides an accurate, versatile and easily deployed tide gauge for use in short or long term survey operations. TideMaster is compatible with a wide range of hydrographic software and tools. A control/display panel, Bluetooth, SD card memory and an optional weather sensor provide unrivalled functionality. Low power consumption and a user selectable sampling regime allow for up to a year of autonomous operation, whilst optional telemetry packages extend the capabilities for real time operations.

Radar sensors developed by Valeport such as the VRS-20, which is a pulsed k-band radar level sensor, are designed to work seamlessly with the TideMaster tide logger and to operate standalone with optional integrated GPRS telemetry or interface to a third party data logger. Versatile and simple to install, the VRS-20 addresses a number of the issues traditionally associated with water level measurement. The non-contact technology removes the installation, corrosion and fouling issues of submerged sensors, while simplifying datum control. Accuracy and performance are unaffected by changes in water density and atmospheric conditions.

The positive sales performance for the tide gauge portfolio follows a similar rosy picture across all Valeport product sectors as Kevin Edwards, Valeport sales and marketing manager, commented:

“We’re at the half way mark in our financial year and we’re delighted to see such an acceleration in sales, we’re ahead of target and production is extremely busy. Not only are we seeing our tide gauge products being incredibly popular at the moment, with us working at full capacity to meet deliveries, but we’ve also seen a significant step change in sales to the oil and gas sector – with SVX2s, IPS and Altimeters reporting strong sales.”

Valeport is the UK’s leading manufacturer of oceanographic, hydrographic and hydrometric instrumentation. See www.valeport.co.uk

Ferry contract for Damen’s Swedish repair yard

Tuesday, 13th June 2017

Damen Oskarshamnsvarvet has won a contract for the refit and repair works of a Swedish ferry from Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration). Awarded after a public tender process, the contract refers to the Castella, a 77-metre long Ro-Ro ferry. Damen Oskarshamnsvarvet, part of Damen Shiprepair & Conversion, will complete the works between November 2017 and March 2018.

Trafikverket (the Swedish governmental body responsible for national infrastructure) operates over 40 different ferry routes that mobilise more than 60 ferries. These enable 21 million passenger and 11 million vehicle transports per year; demonstrating the vital function that ferries contribute to Sweden’s transport system.

Extending range of ship repair
"We are proud to have been awarded this contract after the public tender process," comments Damen Oskarshamnsvarvet Managing Director Flip van der Waal. "The Castella is due to arrive here on 7 November, and leave for resumption of active service in March next year."

Damen Oskarshamnsvarvet is the most northerly located yard within the Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) network of worldwide ship repair yards. Its location on Sweden’s Baltic Sea coast serves to extend DSC’s scope in Northern Europe.

Unique facilities
The scope of work required on the 1980-built Castella includes replacing the existing wheelhouse with a new aluminium wheelhouse. "We will complete all works for the new wheelhouse here on site. This includes fabrication, finishing and installation," adds Mr Van der Waal. "By performing all these actions under one roof, we can guarantee the highest levels of quality at a competitive price."

The yard will also be handling the design, construction and installation of a new integrated automation and alarm system (IAS). Additional works consist of renewal of the vessel’s four propulsion engines and installation of a new control system for the rudder propellers which will be supplied by the owner.

Mr Van der Waal continues by saying that the Castella contract also consists of overhauling and painting the vessel ramps as well as painting of the decks and internal hull. "Damen Oskarshamnsvarvet is very well equipped for this project. The combination of a dedicated production hall for steel works and a separate painting shed is actually unique in the region."

Mainprize Offshore WFSV at Seawork

Tuesday, 13th June 2017

The fruit of a ground-breaking WFSV build partnership between Aluminium Marine Consultants (AMC) and Mainprize Offshore Ltd will be on the quayside (berth VB32) at Seawork International this year.

With unique features such as a dedicated three-point mooring system, fuel transfer system and a draft of only 1.4m, the 23m WFSV MO4 has been designed and built to operate in shallow water conditions and take windfarm service vessels to the next level.

“We chose AMC because of its flexibility and the company’s attention to detail and workmanship, coupled with its willingness to meet the tight deadlines the client required,” said Bob Mainprize, manging director, Mainprize Offshore Ltd.
He pointed out that from the keel being laid up to the handover, the build time for the MO4 has been less than nine months. This has meant a build time saving of almost four months reducing build finance cost and risk.

“This means that MO4 will start to pay back four months earlier than any other builder can offer,” Mr Mainprize added.

MO4 is fitted with twin Caterpillar C32 diesel engines driving fixed pitch propellers that gives the vessel a service speed of 26 knots, even when fully loaded.

The vessel has been designed with huge amounts of deck space both fore and aft and has been designed for shallow water work with a 1.4m draft. It can carry up to 30,000 litres of fuel or 20,000 litres of water and has provision for 4 x 20′ containers and 30t of deck cargo.

Mainprize’s MO4 will be put to work straight away in the German windfarm sector on an eight-year contract with Deutsche Windtechnik on the Nordergründe windfarm. There it will perform crew transfer, cargo and equipment duties out of the port of Hooksiel.

Mainprize has built up a four-and-a-half-year relationship with Deutsche Windtechnik working on Vattenfall’s DanTysk and Butendiek windfarms, where it has more than upheld its proven track record in achieving reduced weather down time and almost zero hours’ maintenance and breakdown rates, resulting in increased cost efficiencies for the windfarm operator.

Quote from Mr Bob Mainprize, Mainprize Offshore Ltd

Mainprize Offshore Ltd are proud to present the MO4 at Seawork’s 2017, This is the first time Mainprize Offshore Ltd have been able to present one of our vessels at seaworks.

In fact the MO4 is a vessel of many firsts, this is due to the foresight and vision of Mr C Richardsen CEO of deutsche wind technik. With a very testing requirement Mainprize Offshore Ltd were awarded the contract against some very strong competition to design, build and operate the vessel. The MO4 is unique in many ways been 23m LOA and 9.6m beam the vessel has a huge working deck area of over 120m2 this is 30 to 40% greater than some much larger vessels, this continues with a fuel capacity of 30,000L, water capacity of 20,000L, cargo – payload of 30T, planned 3 point anchor mooring, inbuilt sonar system. The vessel fitted with twin Cat C32’s, ZF 3055 Gearboxes and a Clements stern gear package, the MO4 also has an unconfirmed bollard push of 15T and a unique operational draft of 1.4 meters,. This gives our client a much greater operational window in the tide restricted port. Several companies were involved in the designed including Mainprize Offshore Ltd, Walker Marine Design Ltd and Offshore Ship Design with the end result been a truly astonishing vessel.

Built at AMC – Aluminium Marine Consultants located on the Isle of White and delivered in less than 8 months from order to the highest standards we look forward to proving her credentials. We expect that the MO4 will be of interest to clients based and operating from shallow ports due to the power, bollard push, payload capacities, multi-use, shallow operational draft and operational flexibility. We look forward to welcoming visitors on to the MO4

Damen delivers RoRo ferry to the Gambia more than a month ahead of schedule

Wednesday, 7th June 2017

Damen has delivered a road ferry to a client in the Gambia more than a month ahead of schedule. The ferry was built entirely in the Netherlands to a very tight deadline, with the hull constructed in just 70 days at Damen’s subsidiary Niron Staal in Amsterdam. The outfitting was then carried out at Damen Shipyards Gorinchem.

Operating from Banjul, the Gambian capital, to Barra, across the mouth of the Gambia River estuary, the passenger and vehicle ferry is designed with a very flexible layout where it can be reconfigured from passenger and vehicle transportation to passenger only – with a maximum of 2,000 persons.

This function makes it ideal to facilitate passenger transport during local celebration days.

Damen Sales Manager Africa, Peter Post comments: “This special ferry has been designed in close cooperation with the client and this has resulted in a safe, fuel efficient and maintenance friendly vessel built to the latest standards in Shipbuilding. The ferry is built under BV class. We are also providing an extensive training package and a long-term maintenance agreement. The vessel will sail under the Gambian flag.”

The ferry was transported via a heavy lift vessel from the Netherlands and arrived safely over a month ahead of schedule, enabling the client to commence operations before the end of Ramadan and in time for associated festivities.

Month: June 2017

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