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At a cost of around $95 million each Costamare has announced the conclusion of shipbuilding contracts and charter agreements for five newbuild containerships of about 8,800 TEU capacity, to be built at Sungdong Shipyard in Korea.The Post-Panamax sized vessels are expected to be delivered between the first and the third quarters of 2013. The value of the contract was not disclosed, but the unit cost was said by the company to be similar to three 9,000TEU vessels ordered in China, at a cost of around $95 million each. On delivery, the five newbuilds will be chartered to Evergreen Group companies.Costamare says that it has additionally secured finance from a major European financial institution for two newbuilding container ship contracts with Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering which were entered into in January 2011.The two newbuild containerships are expected to be delivered by the end of 2012, and will be chartered to Mediterranean Shipping Company for a 10-year period.Source: Motorship

Easier to see how routeing and weather affect vessel safety and fuel-economy A fleet management system has incorporated Google Earth technology to make it easier for owners to see at a glance how routeing and weather affect crew and vessel safety and fuel-economy.Applied Weather Technology (AWT),a specialist software developer has announced the launch of GlobalView, a fleet-management system that combines ship-routeing services and software with Google Earth technology.The combination, AWT said,can provide fleet managers with a more visual, easy-to-use system and in so doing can enhance vessel and crew safety, reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Intends to reduce costs associated with US shipbuilding and ship repair The National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP), co-sponsored by the US Navy, issued news release stating that it has awarded funding valued at approximately $14.6 million for six new research and development (R&D) projects intended to reduce costs associated with US shipbuilding and ship repair.To view the news release please click hereSource: National Shipbuilding Research Program

Warning for negligence of first principles It is a sad fact that virtually every new advance in navigation has brought with it a number of accidents which have been contributed to by inappropriate use of the new equipment, usually because of the neglect of first principles.The term "radar assisted collision" became well-known in the early days of commercial radar and in more recent years, the facility of inter-ship VHF, automated radar plotting aids and sophisticated integrated navigation systems involving computers have all contributed to expensive mistakes, often because of either complacency or inadequate training in the new equipment, which have permitted bad habits to form! The emergence of the Automated Identification System is, without doubt, a great advance, but here too, there is some evidence that its availability to provide useful information on the "other ship" can, like other equipment, lead to complacency. It is also a fact that while it may be a mandatory fixture aboard larger vessels, there are many small leisure and fishing craft which are not so fitted. A fatal accident in the North Sea last year, recently the subject of a report by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch, provides a salutary warning on the...

Offshore Technology Conference Severn Trent De Nora, a leading provider of electrolytic seawater disinfection systems, will showcase its line of water and wastewater treatment systems at theOffshore Technology Conference to be held May 2-5, 2011, at Reliant Park in Houston, Texas.The following products will be featured during the conference: The OMNIPURETM Series 55 marine sewage treatment system utilizes a unique electrolytic treatment process combined with electrocoagulation to provide safe and effective treatment of black and gray water.The certified treatment process provides wastewater effluent quality well below MEPC.159(55) requirements while eliminating the need to handle waste solids from raw, untreated influent.Along with a unique solids management system that removes concentrated solids automatically, in situ, the light-weight systems feature a small footprint and are easy to install and maintain. With an individual unit capacity ranging up to 17,280 gal/day (65 m3/day), OMNIPURE 55 systems can be combined for increased capacity.The systems have Bureau Veritas certification and USCG certification to IMO Resolution MEPC.159(55). A scale model of the OMNIPURE Series 55 will be at the booth for technology demonstrations.The SANILEC?electrochlorination system generates hypochlorite from seawater and has demonstrated reliable, economic and low-maintenance operation in installations throughout the world.When injected into the cooling water...