Irina Tabakina

  • A new method is available which purports to stop the spread of major oil spills in offshore areas. It involves a floating ring-like device called Protection Ring Offshore Environment (PROE) that encircles the drilling rig. It has a curtain suspended vertically from the ring bottom that is designed to retain the oil spill. PROE is self-propelled and is submersible, meaning it is able to ‘chase’ oil spills if necessary. When not in use it can be submerged 50-ft. below marine surface traffic. It may also be divided into several parts in case the spill accumulates in several areas. PROE was developed following the BP Macondo oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
    The American Energy Investment Group, a Houston independent oil company, reports it is implementing PROE, the oil spill retainer system shown in Figure 1. American Energy is the developer and owner of the PROE patent, which was issued in 7.5 months.
    PROE is assigned continuously to the rig during all drilling and completion operations. In the event of a blowout or other accident PROE is surfaced, the two ends are locked together to encircle the rig and the retainer curtain is deployed as shown in Figure 2. Set-up operations are estimated to require less than one hour. The azimuth thrusters provide the force necessary to move PROE into the correct position and maintain that location with the aid of GPS. Depending upon the circumference of the system and curtain height, PROE developers claim that it can contain in the order of about 2.5 to over 5 million barrels.

    (As published in the May 2014 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News - http://magazines.marinelink.com/Magazines/MaritimeReporter)

  • With consistent results of 2-5% fuel savings, Keppel Offshore & Marine’s subsidiary Blue Ocean Solutions (BOS) said that it has proved that emulsified fuel can bring significant fuel savings adding to the well established NOx reduction, if done correctly. The patented BOS Emulsified Fuel System (EFS) is

  • Mammoet employed the LR13000, reported to be the biggest crawler crane in the world, to install four platform legs on Van Oord’s newest wind turbine installation vessel, Aeolus. In 12 days the giant crane was assembled at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany. The first of the four 87m long steel platform

  • Rolls-Royce won a $31.9m contract to deliver deck machinery for four ocean going tugs, designed by Ulstein Design & Solutions, for Dutch company ALP Maritime Services. The vessels will be constructed in Japan by Niigata Shipbuilding & Repair. The vessels are being developed for towing large structures like

  • For Damen Shipyards, Bosch Rexroth developed and engineered both the hydraulic and electrical systems for the winches of a new tugboat. The Damen ASD Tug 3212 is a newly designed tugboat for assistance activities at offshore LNG and oil terminals and open sea loading stations for the mining industry.

  • Australian-based Northern Stevedoring Services (NSS) placed an order for a Liebherr mobile harbor crane, type LHM 420, to operate on Berth 3 and 4 in the Port of Townsville, Queensland. The operations of the stevedoring company span all of regional Queensland’s major port facilities, providing the full

  • Multi-beam sonar manufacturer WASSP Ltd . debuts its latest system – now for super yacht applications. WASSP-Wireless has been designed to address one of super yacht captains biggest concerns; underwater obstacle avoidance. Ideally suited to use when navigating in unknown waters or where marine charts lack

  • Danelec Marine introduced its third-generation marine Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), the Danelec DM100 VDR. The new unit fully complies with the new IMO VDR standard which comes into effect July 1, 2014. It also incorporates Danelec’s SoftWare Advanced Protection (SWAP) technology – a new approach to shipboard

  • ABB won an order from Spanish ferry operator Baleària to supply energy management systems for one of its largest vessels. ABB’s advisory software will be installed onboard the ferry Martin i Soler, with options for additional vessels. The package supplied is envisioned to generate a more than 2% savings in

  • Transas Marine launched its new liquid cargo handling simulator LCHS 5000 TechSim LNG which reportedly is the first one in the market to boast ship-to-ship transfer functionality. The new Transas LCHS 5000 TechSim product line includes simulators for LNG tanker, LNG terminal and LPG carrier. Ship-to-ship

  • SI-TEX Marine Electronics launched its new T-760 Series Radar, which offers features like touch screen control, AIS target tracking and standard MARPA (Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid). SI-TEX T-760 Series’ compact, slim case and vertically oriented, 7-inch (800X480 pixel) touchscreen color LCD display

  • Martek Marine released its unique ECDIS offering to the market: iECDIS, which the company claims is the first model to integrate a GSM modem, offering automatic download and installation of charts, updates and notices to mariners. The GSM modem uses a mobile network signal to keep iECDIS up to date anywhere