Hi. There are some really interesting developments this week and next from the technical corners of the shipping world. Below are a few stories we sent to subscribers of the ShipTech newsletter. If you want to get this in your inbox, subscribe below.
On a digital front, there is the Source2Sea platform, which has secured container ship operator MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company as a client. Source2Sea has made it easier for ships’ crews to order their stores, particularly food, and it is all down to the faster cheaper broadband internet shipping can now access.
I like this sort of digital development because, as a former seafarer, I know how important decent food onboard a ship is to morale.
Also this week, Scandlines is looking to add methanol fuel to ships that already have batteries and Flettner rotor sails. And mentioning Flettner rotors, massive ones are going on a U-Ming Marine Transportation vessel.
Also, there are serious warnings about ballast water treatment technology not working and ships being at risk of detentions.
Craig Eason, technology editor
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This digital tool promises to keep crews fed and happy
Source2Sea is empowering seafarers with the one thing they probably cherish most apart from paying off — their food, according to the platform’s chief executive Mikael Weis.
The Danish digital platform, a division of ship supplier Wrist, is a system where shipboard staff can order stores, including victuals, for delivery to their ships in a way people ashore now take for granted.
The platform is, to put it simply, a digital catalogue similar to how you can order a food delivery from your favourite supermarket chain. It has images of food and other day-to-day stores such as safety equipment or sanitary and cleaning materials, providing a standardised and easy way for stores to be ordered.
“This was impossible before we had such fast internet on board,” said Weis when I met him at their Copenhagen offices just after the company revealed that all MSC container ships were now using the platform.
For someone living in a big city, Source2Sea could be seen as unexceptional, but for crews with a given day allowance for food costs, this is unique, he argued.
There are other digital chandlery or store replenishment platforms available for shipping, Closelink, ShipServ and Procureship for example, but this is the first to offer a catalogue for what should be easy to acquire, he said.
Weis should know, having spent 20 years at ShipServ and surviving the bursting of the internet bubble in the 2000s.
Source2Sea is an open platform, according to Weis. While its parent company, Wrist, is its biggest customer, he said it is available for any store supplier in any port to build up a catalogue and offer priced goods.
Usually, he said, the shipowners who use the system will come with their preferred supplier or chandler in a port and encourage them to build their product catalogue with Source2Sea, thus enabling their ships to order directly, albeit with some form of head office oversight.
Weis said the benefit of the catalogue approach is that there are no lengthy processes of issuing requests for quotes, getting offers for stores and then selecting the products.
Suppliers are also able to update their prices as they fluctuate he said but added that the company recognises that there are different prices in different ports.
A kilogramme of apples for example could be half the price in Rotterdam than in Dubai.
This is the next step for Source2Sea said Weis. The four-year-old start-up will aggregate port prices, allowing shipowner clients to choose the best port for delivering their goods.
There are also plans to use further automation to help shipowner clients manage inventory levels on certain provisions on board.
“This is all about shipping companies better impacting their bottom line and also getting happier crews,” he said.
Suppliers will even offer catalogues for bonded stores, he said, and there is talk of requesting special Christmas catalogues.
And in an age when crew welfare is a growing concern, the way to their hearts has always been through their stomachs and giving them the food they need and want is possibly a sure way to do that.
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Almost half of ballast water systems failing port state inspections, experts warn
Warnings have been raised about possible vessel detentions as ballast water treatment technology routinely fails port state tests.
Under the Ballast Water Management Convention, all vessels are expected to have functioning treatment technology that enables ballast water to be discharged almost free of potential invasive species. These are known as the D-2 standards.
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Huge U-Ming bulker to have giant rotor sails installed to tap wind power
Taiwan’s U-Ming Transport will install four giant rotor sails on a vessel as it steps into wind propulsion solutions to increase fleet efficiency.
The dry bulk operator said it would be fitting four 35-metre-high Flettner rotor sails from UK/Greek firm Anemoi Marine Technologies to the 324,963-dwt VLOC Gran Pioneer (built 2020) by the end of next year.
More details can be found here
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‘Monumental step’: CIP forges partnerships with BW and Faerder to develop ammonia carrier fleet
by Eric Priante Martin
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has teamed up with two shipowners and is in talks with more to develop ammonia carriers, ranging from handysize vessels to the largest class of ships.
CIP, a Danish fund manager, is partnering Faerder Tankers and BW Epic Kosan as part of a plan to develop end-to-end solutions to deliver clean ammonia as a fuel to shipping companies, an effort that includes a network of production projects around the world.
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Scandlines teams with Caterpillar to drive methanol fuel switch
Danish operator Scandlines is working with engineering giant Caterpillar to assess methanol as a fuel for its ferries.
If tests prove positive, it could retrofit engines on two ferries running between Germany and Denmark on the Rostock-Gedser route in 2027.
These vessels, the 22,300-gt Berlin and Copenhagen (both built 2016), already have marine batteries and Flettner rotors installed.
Read more about the vessels here
