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December 2012www.marinelink.com 57Ocean Titan Heroism at Sea Officers and crewmembers of the Crowley Maritime Corp.-managed M/V Ocean Titan were honored with a 2012 Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) Mariners? Plaque for demonstrating heroism at sea during theUnited Seamen?s Service?s (USS) annual AOTOS awards ceremony in New York. The mariners were recognized for their Decem-ber 2011 rescue of the seven-member crew of the M/V Florece, which sank about 250miles southwest of Land's End in the Bay ofBiscay, near the United Kingdom following a collision with the tanker M/V Afrodite. Ac- cepting the award on behalf of the ship's of- ficers and crew was Capt. Christopher Hill, master on the M/V Ocean Titan. The account of the incident provided by the USS said the collision caused the Florece tosink to the ocean floor within an hour, caus- ing the crew of seven to take to lifeboats. Shortly thereafter, the crew of the M/V Ocean Titan received the distress call and, upon arriving on scene, launched rescue op- erations. The crew faced gale-force winds and 12- to 14-ft. seas, and had a full load ofcargo. To ensure the crew?s safety, Hill de- creased the vessel?s speed to prevent broach- ing as he approached, and then idled near thelife raft. He used the engines and rudder toblock the swell and minimize roll, moving close enough to pull the survivors on board from the raft using a heaving line. ?The Ocean Titan crew saved lives, while demonstrating proficiency and devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the sea," wrote the USS in its account of therescue.?On behalf of everyone at Crowley, we want to commend crew of the Ocean Titan for their truly heroic act,? said Mike Golonka, VP, ship management. ?Capt. Hill and his crew showed extraordinary skill to ensure the safety of their own lives while fighting through extreme weather to rescue their seven fellow mariners. Without the crew?s bravery, those men may not be alive today.? The M/V Ocean Titan crew involved in the rescue included Capt. Hill, Chief MateThomas Lisante, Second Mate Daniel Land-grebe, Third Mate Zachary Gray, Chief En- gineer John Vlahakis, First Assistant Engineer Sean Donovan, Bosun Magdy Balat, AB Hilario Rochez, AB James Lut- trell, AB Miguel Angel Matos, QMED Elec- trician Michael Kelly, GUDE Stephon Thompson, Steward Lawrence Winfield and ACU Steven Holmes. The M/V Ocean Titan is operated by Intermarine LLC through itsU.S.-flag affiliate, US Ocean LLC. cense its waterjet technology is a land- mark decision.Email: [email protected] ClassNK Certifies ECDIS Courses ClassNK has certified the type spe- cific ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) trainingcourses provided by the newly estab- lished ECDIS training center, Philip- pines-Japan Maritime Training Management Inc. (PJMTM). ClassNKExecutive Vice President Koichi Fuji- wara presented the certificates to PJMTM President Eduardo U. Maneseduring the center?s opening ceremony on 8 November 2012. Retlif To Help in Ballast Water Technology Retlif Testing Laboratories is part of a partnership to evaluate and test tech- nologies designed to treat ballast water on board ships against non-native aquatic species in American coastal wa- ters, lakes and rivers. The U.S. Coast Guard developed regulations to limit the release of live organisms and to re- duce the risks associated with thespread of aquatic invasive species. Retlif Environmental Laboratory Su- pervisor Scott Poggi commented thatthe 34-year old testing laboratory ?ispart of a collaborating relationship be-tween NSF International, an independ-ent public health organization, the Great Ships Initiative (GSI), and the Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC) to test and evaluate systems to the Coast Guard require-ments.? Ballast water management sys- tem manufacturers (BWMS) will apply to NSF International and the U.S. CoastGuard for testing, review and evalua- tions. NSF International will coordinatetesting between Retlif, the GSI and theMERC. Retlif will complete testing ofthe electrical and electronic compo-nents, including each alarm, controland monitoring device of the BWMS (Ballast Water Testing Requirements). BAE Sytems to Acquire Marine Hydraulics Intl.BAE Systems entered into a defini- tive agreement with American Mar- itime Holdings, Inc. to acquire MarineHydraulics International, Inc., a pri-vately held company that operates a shipyard, pier and waterfront facilities in Norfolk, Va. The proposed acquisi- tion would complement BAE Systems? support to its customers with enhancedreadiness and sustainment maritimeservices. MHI is a marine repair, over- haul, and conversion company serving the U.S. Navy, Military Sealift Com- mand, Maritime Administration and commercial ship owners and operators worldwide. The company employs ap- proximately 400 people and would be integrated with the BAE Systems Ship Repair business. Cummins Tier 3 Engines Available Cummins Inc. announced the avail- ability of its U.S. EPA Tier 3 certified QSK19 and QSK60 marine engines.Cummins Tier 3 solutions apply ad- vanced combustion technology to re- duce emissions in-cylinder without the need for aftertreatment. Cummins Tier 3 marine product line will serve as the platform for future, more stringentemissions in the U.S. and globally. Representing a 50% reduction in par- ticulate matter (PM) and a 20% reduc-tion in nitrogen oxides (NOx)compared to Tier 2 standards, the EPA?s Tier 3 marine emissions regulation went into effect January 1, 2012 for Cummins engines between 3.5 and 7.0liters per cylinder and continues through 2014. The QSK60 is the only engine in Cummins marine portfolio re-quiring EPA Tier 3 certification in 2012; the QSK19 is not required tomeet EPA Tier 3 until January 1, 2013. The Tier 3-certified QSK19 and QSK60 feature the same premium baseengine hardware and footprint as the existing MCRS product. Further, the lu- brication, cooling, air handling, fueland exhaust systems are the same de- sign as the current product ensuringminimum disruption for series-built vessels or replacement engines. As with Tier 2, Tier 3 engines will be available with Cummins C Command panels,CENTINEL Oil Management Systemand the ELIMINATOR filter to help monitor and reduce the cost of opera- tion and maintenance. The QSK19 has a Tier 3 ratings from 660 to 750 hp, and the QSK60 between 2000 and 2700 hpJeppesen: Deal with BP Shipping Jeppesen finalized a contract to pro- vide its optimization solutions to BPShipping, which will result in the in-stallation of Jeppesen?s Vessel and Voy- age Optimization Solution (VVOS) on 52 BP vessels carrying crude oil and LNG shipments globally. The contract also provides for integration of Jeppe- sen?s FleetManager shoreside compo- nent into BP Shipping operations.FleetManager will be used to trackBP?s owned and chartered vessels. www.jeppesen.com/marine ABS, CSBC Corp., Taiwan Sign Strategic Cooperation Agreement ABS signed a strategic cooperation agreement with CSBC Corp., Taiwan (CSBC). ABS agrees to support CSBC in vessel and offshore asset construc- tion. It creates an opportunity to formjoint development projects in such areas as design optimization, energy ef- ficiency management and design and fabrication of offshore support vessels, bulk carriers, oil tankers, ice-classed vessels and floating production units, and positions ABS as the preferred classification society for CSBC. Lawrence Donche-GayPoggiMR#12 (50-57):MR Template 12/4/2012 3:46 PM Page 57