Page 35: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2014)

of facilities, equipment and costs down to water depths of 150m and may be a cost effective solution compared to a conventional subsea tie-back solution.

Kvaerner has already worked on devel- oping a cost-effi cient, standardized well- head platform concept called “Subsea on a stick.” The new wellhead platforms could both increase recovery and utilize the new generations of jack-up drilling rigs, as well as reducing development costs. The project is expected to be the fi rst in a series of new projects from

Statoil where unmanned wellhead plat- forms could replace a traditional subsea project solution within the applicable water depths. The work will be car- ried out by Kvaerner’s front end team in

Oslo, Norway, supported by the Jackets

Technology engineering team. The proj- ect has already started and will be com- pleted in November 2014, with expected concept selection by year end.

X-Stern

Ulstein Group introduced the X-

STERN, a design feature increasing ves- sel operability through positive effects on station keeping, wave response, com- fort and safety in harsh conditions. An

X-STERN vessel is designed to stay on position in harsh weather with the stern towards waves, wind and current. For vessels where the best possible motion characteristics are vital, positioning the

X-STERN towards the weather instead of the bow will be the captain’s natural choice. The X-STERN leads to reduced pitch and wave drift forces, as well as eliminating slamming. Positive effects are reduced power and fuel consumption while on DP, or the possibility of op- erating in a wider sector with the same power consumption.

The X-STERN has several of the same characteristics as the X-BOW, and ad- ditional ice operation capabilities. Its gentle displacement is designed to re- duce acceleration, pitch and heave, and it purports to improve comfort and safety.

In addition, the operational window is increased.

There will be no sea on deck, and re- duced ice build up in cold climates, due to the stern shape and enclosed nature of the aft deck.

LNG Barge

Bristol Harbor Group was awarded an Approval in Principle (AIP) by the

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the design of the 3,000 cu. m. Lique- fi ed Natural Gas (LNG) Transport Barge design on behalf of Conrad Shipyard of

Morgan City, La. BHGI has relationship with Conrad spanning more than a de- cade, a relationship that has traditionally focused on coastal liquid cargo barges from 26,000 BBL to 80,000 BBL. It is the 300-ft. version of these double hull oil barges that serves as the basis for this

LNG Transport Barge.

This new design will serve the purpose of primarily transporting LNG in blue water along the U.S. coastline. Storage containment consists of four Type C pressure tanks, all equally sized at 750 cu. m. The tank design offers suitable hold times for cargo transport without the need for reliquefaction. The design is focused on constructability and ensuring cargo safety.

BHGI has been actively involved in a number of marine related natural gas projects for a variety of clients. Recent- ly, BHGI has been awarded a contract to perform design conversion work for the

United States Army Corps of Engineers on one of their vessels from diesel to dual fuel.

Ethane

Carrier

Hartmann Schiffahrts Gmbh & Co.

KG, Jaccar Holdings, HB Hunte En- gineering and DNV GL signed a letter of intent for the classifi cation of fi ve

ECO STAR 85k very large ethane car- riers. Jean Labescat from Jaccar Hold- ings, Ulrich Adami, Technical Director of Hartmann Schiffahrts GmbH & Co.

KG, Frerk Brand, Managing Director of HB Hunte Engineering, and Torsten

Schramm, DNV GL Maritime’s COO for

Division Germany, Middle East & Asia, signed the agreement at the SMM trade fair. “This new series of ECO STAR 85K vessels will be the largest ethane carri- ers yet constructed, but it is not only

MR #10 (34-39).indd 35 10/1/2014 3:21:16 PM