One Technology

  • Last month Mike Petters, president and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII), was honored by the Coast Guard Foundation at the 35th Annual Salute to the United States Coast Guard, held in New York City. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently caught up with Petters – the man who leads America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of manufacturing, engineering and management services to the commercial and non-commercial oil, gas and energy markets – to discuss not only the honor, but the status and future direction of the business of building ships for the most powerful Navy on the planet.

    You recently were the spotlight of a Coast Guard Foundation Award in New York City. Can you share with our readers your connection to CGF, and provide perspective on how your participation has impacted you personally and professionally?
        The recognition was on behalf of corporate support for the foundation over the last three decades. Personally, I think that, even in my own life, even just a little bit of help along the way makes a huge difference. So I think that if people are going to sign up to serve our country, we should sign up to support them. It is a great investment in our national future.

    HII is obviously in the business of building Navy ships. Having spent nearly three decades in this business, how is it most the same, and most different, from when you first started.
        Navy shipbuilding will always be on the frontier of technological complexity; I think that was true 30 years ago, I think it’s true today, and I think it will be true 30 years from now. The pace of technological change has accelerated dramatically. Thirty years ago we could take technology and combine that with quantity and industrial base considerations to produce a navy that could be where it needed to be, when it needed to be there, to deal with the threats that were at hand. The change in complexity, the change in technology has made it harder, in that the systems and ‘things’ that go onto ship today are more complex; but the threats that they deal with are even more complex. The buzzword around this is asymmetric problems; it is kind of cheap to create a threat; it is pretty expensive to deal with the quantity of potential threats.
    When you think of the technology required to deal with the number of potential threats, it creates tremendous complexity in our platforms, and the expense causes us to reduce the number of our platforms.
    Dealing with the quantity of asymmetric threats is expensive. That becomes a real challenge, because in shipbuilding, the more repetitive we can be, the more we can move toward series production, the more we can make the next ship look like the last one, the better we can invest and the better our customers like it. .

    You lead an industrial organization in a country that many would argue has lost its industrial prowess. In your mind, what is the key to HII’s success?
        Every successful business starts with your people. We have nearly 40,000 employees around the world, and our primary assumption is that every day that they come to work, they want to do a good job. The challenge is to enable that. Whether it’s with tools and equipment, or its with training, or sequencing or planning … it’s all about making sure your people have their best chance to do their best work. If you’re able to that, you will be successful; if you’re not able to do that, you’re not going to last very long.

    Navy business, like many others, are cyclical. What is the secret to staying efficient as demands rise, fall and change?
        There are two parts. The first is customer intimacy; you’ve got to have a good sense of the challenges you customer has, and know the options your customer has to deal with those challenges. You are always learning. I was in the Navy and I’ve been in shipbuilding for 28 years, and I learn something new every day. I think it is critical that you continue to refresh your perspective on your customer and their challenges. The second part is asking: do you really know where technology is taking the processes that you use? How well do you understand that; how well can you lead that, so that you can create those technologies and processes that ultimately our customer will need to deal with their challenges. You’ve got to do both: you’ve got to be really close to your customer and understand what is driving them, and you’ve got to understand your craft, today and tomorrow.

    If you had to identify the one technology that has most enabled efficiencies in your business, what would that one technology be?
        Our ability to process data has become both our greatest tool and our biggest challenge. Decades ago, if we wanted to have a system on a ship to fight a fire, we would have a pump and a hose and a sailor. Today, we still have the pump, but instead of a hose we’ll have sprinklers. Instead of the sailor we have 2,000 electrical signals coming in from around the ship to a processor to let a computer know whether or not to turn on the fire suppression system. That’s an opportunity to improve the performance of the ship and help our sailors focus on the higher end part of being in the Navy. But it’s also a challenge of building and integrating that type of system. The management of information cuts both ways.

    What do you find most gratifying about your job?

    We are blessed to support this great country. One of our shipbuilders once said … ‘we build our ships so that when our sailors go overseas that they’re never going to be in a fair fight.’ When people see our platforms coming over the horizon, they see America at its very best. It’s great to have a very small part in sustaining that for four decades to come. I’m looking out my window at the Gerald R. Ford, which will be making history for the next 50 years. It will be a very important part of how the world evolves over the next 50 years, and frankly, that’s pretty exciting.

    Conversely, what do you find most frustrating?

        We just talked about a ship that will be making history for the next 50 years, but as a society I think we are falling into the trap of not thinking very long term. For me, it’s challenging to deal with institutions that can’t see past next week, next month, next quarter or next year when we are thinking about five decades from now. The hardest part for me is impressing on folks that real leadership in our country requires people to take a longer view.

    Every business has its challenges. What are yours?
        We are investing heavily in our shipbuilding enterprise to set the stage for the next 25 years. I call it a generational investment in shipbuilding, to transform both our nuclear and non-nuclear shipbuilding enterprises. At Ingalls we’re investing in facilities and process flow to reorient that yard toward the products we see that the Navy is going to need over the next 30 years. At Newport News, we are investing as we come through the building of Ford. One of the challenges of shipbuilding is that we build our prototype as our first production unit, so the Ford is the lead ship and the prototype. We have learned a lot on that program and now we can invest in areas of our yard that will drive efficiencies when building the remaining ships of the Ford class.
     

    (As published in the November 2015 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News - http://magazines.marinelink.com/Magazines/MaritimeReporter)

  • felt we could improve and position our fleet to better serve our existing customers, as well as new customers.   In your career, can you point to the one technology that has helped to make your operations more safe and efficient?  The one technology that has benefitted not only our operations, but the entire

  • been described by some as operating in the “stone age,” there are signs this is changing as cargo companies look to other industries for inspiration. One technology in particular that has had a big impact on business in the past ten years and is now causing big waves in the container shipping industry is the

  • will continue to be, DOE’s primary market. By world region, Asia, with its seemingly boundless infrastructure growth, presents oportunities What ONE technology has had the greatest impact on DOE’s ability to provided engineered solutions to the subsea market? Bergman: If I had to pick one technology

  • . It is equally important for leaders to be accountable for the systems that their people work under. In your career, if you could point to one technology that has best enabled the efficient, safe operation of ships at sea, what would that one technology be, and why? So much has changed over the

  • is helping to change the way the maritime industry looks at ‘rope.’ It hasn’t been too long since industry icon Tom Crowley, Jr. offered that the one technology that had the biggest impact on the safety and efficiency of [his company’s] maritime operations was, in a word: ROPE. The reasoning was simple

  • of our guests have never cruised before. So we are attracting new people to the all things Crystal experience.   Technology: If you could name the one technology that has most significantly transformed the cruising experience, what would it be? WiFi, because people cannot not be connected at sea. We had

  • I have to complement both the SIU and Operating Engineers unions who have been terrific partners through all this.What do you consider to be the number one technology/innovation that enables a dredger to do its work more safe, efficient and cost-effective?While there are many technologies and innovations that

  • subcontracted diving and marine environmental services, and into a more prime position with end users and facility owners. What do you count as the one technology that has had the greatest impact in terms of making your business safer and more efficient?     I do not necessarily have a great perspective

  • program instruction.   Marine Salvage is an intriguing business, literally an engineered solution as no two wrecks are the same. In your career, what one technology do you count as having the greatest impact on allowing salvage to be conducted more efficiently and safely? Unequivocally, it’s the improvements

  • have the expertise to do these calculations, and help the owner and the shipyard understand which are the best options. That is our job.   Is there one technology that you see taking the lead, looking at 2020? If I look at our reference list, those with SCR and those with EGR, it is roughly 50/50 right now

  • , I see Bourbon more towards as a services company focused on operational excellence and innovation, supported by data management.If you had to pick one technology that you see as the clear leader in making maritime operations more efficient, what would it be?Data management and process digitalization.New

  • MR Feb-24#48                        Website Phone#
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    Kingdom , UK , [email protected] ADVERTISER INDEX Page Advertiser Website Phone# C2 . . . . .ABS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.eagle.org/sustainability . . . . . . .

  • MR Feb-24#44   Holdings, has achieved a milestone as 
the  ?  rst company)
    February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 44

    many (Yanmar PT), a subsidiary of Yanmar on-site repair services. MarineShaft has a unique repair technique for putting Holdings, has achieved a milestone as the ? rst company in Japan to receive bent shafts and rudder stocks straight the Approval in Principle (AiP) for its with full-class approval

  • MR Feb-24#43  information on 
sonnel stationed in remote areas may  heath)
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    obtain, share, and monitor several released in 2024 and 2025. 2023 GAO found that Coast Guard per- types of data including information on sonnel stationed in remote areas may heath care access and the reasons for experience challenges accessing medi- medical provider recruitment and re- The Author cal

  • MR Feb-24#40  tanks  have two main divisions; one is maritime technology)
    February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 40

    reality of maximizing ef? ciencies on the current ? eet. “We fuels – suffer from a lack of power density, meaning fuel tanks have two main divisions; one is maritime technology, which must be larger, eating into a ship’s revenue generating space. is looking at future technology,” said Brindley. “We need

  • MR Feb-24#39  
els. When you start to add components 
center of the design)
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    TEU Containership the problematic area of adding carbon like you have with other alternative fu- “Safety has been at the els. When you start to add components center of the design, and into that, carbon is one of the most dif- it will continue to be so ? cult ones to add to a molecule or to when we

  • MR Feb-24#37 PTI/PTO
"In a typical LNG carrier, permanent 
magnet)
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    PTI/PTO "In a typical LNG carrier, permanent magnet technology improves ef? ciency by 2-4% compared to synchronous machines." – Dr. Jussi Puranen, Head of Product Line, Electric Machines, at Yaskawa Environmental Energy / The Switch The Switch’s shaft generators start from <1MW and range up to 12MW+.

  • MR Feb-24#36  
engine is running; a secondary one whenever the propeller)
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    , VP Strategy & Business Development, Kongsberg Maritime. For example, a primary shaft-driven PTO rotates whenever the engine is running; a secondary one whenever the propeller is rotating. “A secondary PTO/PTI is used if you want to run the propeller with only the electric motor (PTI) without using

  • MR Feb-24#35  at top speed. That purpose gone, 
PTI/PTO is making a new)
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    PTI/PTO 30 years ago shaft generators with PTI capability kept container ships sailing at top speed. That purpose gone, PTI/PTO is making a new comeback in more cargo shipping segments, this time for reducing emissions. By Wendy Laursen etro? tting a shaft generator is not an insigni? - the ef? ciency

  • MR Feb-24#33  FAMILY OF BRANDS
with fewer components than a conventional)
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    be inspected and maintained while the ves- sel is a? oat. Wärtsilä has also introduced EvoTube, a simpli? ed system OUR FAMILY OF BRANDS with fewer components than a conventional stern tube system, which is suitable for both oil and water lubrication systems. The inboard seal is mounted directly on the

  • MR Feb-24#32  This approach deviates from the one-size-?  ts-all 
loading)
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    in combination with hydrodynamic propeller loads in certain operating conditions can lead to aft end edge pitch angles. This approach deviates from the one-size-? ts-all loading. The most critical parameter for ensuring that doesn’t method commonly observed with other bearings and has led happen is

  • MR Feb-24#31 . 
ity should be increased one grade up from the design)
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    from 134 addition, on older vessels DNV recommends that EAL viscos- in 2020, to 118 in 2021 and 87 in 2022 – a noteworthy decline. ity should be increased one grade up from the design speci? - Ship repairs are the day-to-day concern of UK-based Ma- cations of the installation. rine and Industrial Transmissions

  • MR Feb-24#29  the amount was suf?  cient  ing one of the most pervasive challeng-)
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    in 2019, and at the time This synergy extends too when fac- or are we scoring it on tank to wake? Ebeling said the amount was suf? cient ing one of the most pervasive challeng- You can get different answers, and for its purpose. But with the Covid es facing any shipowner today: embrac- that’s

  • MR Feb-24#25  introduction of 
such fuels. One example of this is the)
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    deck and fuel system) of the engine when transitioning to low carbon fuels if and when our customers operations support the introduction of such fuels. One example of this is the single cylinder and combustion model- ing research and development we are conducting with Oak Ridge National Lab and Argonne

  • MR Feb-24#24  of its Evolution-series  where one application might be more)
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    for EPA and IMO, able to learn across both applications to make them better Wabtec developed a marinized version of its Evolution-series where one application might be more extreme from another, Engine, known as the 250MDA & MDB products. When EPA so we can take the most robust design proven

  • MR Feb-24#22 R&D
MATT HART 
Matt Hart, Manager & Platform Leader)
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    R&D MATT HART Matt Hart, Manager & Platform Leader, Marine & Stationary Power Systems, Wabtec, offers insights on how the megatrends of decarbonization, energy transition and autonomy all inspire Image courtesy Wabtec and impact the marine power solutions from Wabtec. By Greg Trauthwein Matt, to start

  • MR Feb-24#20   such as methanol and ammonia. One exciting development 
to)
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    . duction and storage of low and zero emission energy carriers, In all, 18 countries in West and East Africa are expected such as methanol and ammonia. One exciting development to receive new FPSOs, FLNGs and FPUs between 2024 and leverages Generation IV small modular nuclear reactors to 2030. Africa

  • MR Feb-24#17 METHANOL STORAGE
provals from other classi?  cation)
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    METHANOL STORAGE provals from other classi? cation societies are ongoing, said Lilp, – including accommodation.” although he acknowledges that journey from AiP to full class ap- As of September 2023, methanol had been speci? ed for 216 proval is substantive. In an area where the regulations underlying

  • MR Feb-24#16  methanol has the ability to one day run  involved laboratory)
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    fuel storage’ on board ships. Delivering the answers has seen technical talk converting into project discussions reen’ methanol has the ability to one day run involved laboratory testing of the polymer core material for vessels almost emission-free, and commercial chemical resistance - including

  • MR Feb-24#15  costs. Hull cleaning costs money. 
All other things being)
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    recognized through fuel savings. Bio? lms and microfouling increase hull resistance and thus fuel consumption and fuel costs. Hull cleaning costs money. All other things being equal, as long as the fuel savings are greater than the cost of cleaning, there is a positive return on investment. When

  • MR Feb-24#13  Interruption at 21% falling one spot 
from the 2023 rankings)
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    returning around Somalia. Business Interruption Rounding out the top ? ve risks for marine and shipping companies is Business Interruption at 21% falling one spot from the 2023 rankings. While companies may be con? dent that the worst of two key disruptors of recent times, the pandemic and the energy crisis

  • MR Feb-24#12 Maritime Risk 
Top Marine Business Risks in 2024
By Rich)
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    Maritime Risk Top Marine Business Risks in 2024 By Rich Soja, North American Head Marine, Allianz Commercial yber incidents such as ransomware attacks, data linked to several large ? re incidents at sea in recent years. breaches, and IT disruptions are the biggest worry Regularly assessing and updating

  • MR Feb-24#11  and costs.
that issue. One may argue that one human)
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    down to a smaller size, and especially a smaller width relieves waterfront infrastructure footprints and costs. that issue. One may argue that one human with a bigger truck These 5-foot wide units will zip through the city much faster can deliver more cargo than one human with a smaller truck, and

  • MR Feb-24#10  
is effectively based on only one standard: 8 feet wide.)
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    boggles the mind that the success of the ISO container to the width of two horse’s asses) there is a relatively obvious is effectively based on only one standard: 8 feet wide. Today answer for micro cargo too. That width is roughly two human there are other standardization bits and pieces, but they

  • MR Feb-24#9 Simulation is a great example. This  addressing the)
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    Simulation is a great example. This addressing the challenges of cultural novation, and a dedication to continuous technology offers a great avenue for and language barriers in training, the improvement, we can ensure a safer and improvement, providing realistic train- industry can not only improve