Wendy Laursen
Contributing Writer-
23 Oct 2025
Safeguarding Security on Nuclear-Powered Ships
No civilian maritime nuclear facilities have been commissioned in over four decades, but there’s been three major reports released this month on their future potential.DNV’s latest report, Maritime nuclear propulsion: Technologies, commercial viability, and regulatory challenges for nuclear-powered vessels, provides a regulatory perspective on security, one of the key challenges for future adoption. As it says: Safety, security and non-proliferation remain paramount.
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23 Oct 2025
Women Navy Divers Meet Same Standards as Men
On March 14, 1975, 22-year-old Californian woman Donna Tobias graduated from the US Navy Second Class Dive School to become the first woman deepsea diver in the Navy.Marking the 50th anniversary of women’s integration into the US Navy Diving community, the Association of Women Navy Divers highlights that over 300 women have now graduated from the Navy’s schools.The society recounts that this happened…
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16 Oct 2025
Innovators Tackle Cruise Hotel Loads With and Without Fuel Cells
The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) reported in September that the number of member cruise line ships with the ability to use shore power has nearly doubled since 2018.Today, 166 ships are able to plug in at port, a 12% increase from the prior year. These ships represent 58% of the fleet and 65% of capacity.By 2036, 273 ships that can connect are expected to be in service.As part of the EU’s Fit for 55 decarbonization regulations…
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10 Oct 2025
Energy Storage and New Fuels Work Together as One on Vessels
There’s an obvious fuel saving advantage, but partnering energy storage systems with new fuels brings other advantages too.There’s a new generation of vessels emerging which is exemplified by Grimaldi’s PCTC Grande Shanghai, claimed to reduce fuel consumption by 50% compared to previous-generation car carriers, and the NCL Vestland, a container feeder vessel similarly claimed to reduce energy consumption…
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09 Oct 2025
A Step Forward for Direct Air Capture
Like new fuels and onboard carbon capture, direct air capture (DAC) needs to be scaled up to become an effective decarbonization pathway.This week, German shipowner NSB Group demonstrated its willingness to step forward by entering into a partnership with Phlair, a German direct air capture company.The CO2 removal credits will be produced by capturing CO2 from the atmosphere at Phlair’s direct air capture facility “Dawn” and permanently storing it underground.
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02 Oct 2025
Mega Hydrogen Projects Could Make or Break the New Fuel Agenda
This week, RWE withdrew from a $10 billion Namibia green hydrogen project, the latest example of companies considering such investments.The German power utility said on Monday that it had withdrawn from Namibia's Hyphen green ammonia project because demand for hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives such as ammonia is developing slower than expected in Europe.The lack of new fuel availability for shipping…
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29 Sep 2025
Bent But Not Broken: Lighter Icebreakers
After developing the technique some five years ago, Aker Arctic has now completed the research required to get its new design methodology for icebreaker hulls accepted into the Finish-Swedish Ice Class Rules. The method has also been adopted to Polar Class rules of several Class Societies (LR, ABS, DNV).Although the research focused on vessels typically sailing the Baltic Sea, Aker Arctic has also used the methodology in many of its recent newbuilding designs including…
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25 Sep 2025
Better Together: United Nations Turns 80
The United Nations is celebrating 80 years this year, and this week’s general assembly is meeting under the theme: Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development, and human rights.The UN Charter was signed on June 26, 1945, and came into force October 24 that year.From its founding, the United Nations has been at the heart of global cooperation. Highlights include:• Universal Declaration…
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25 Sep 2025
Uncertainty Reduces New Oil and Gas Investment
Several news items this week highlight the potential consequences of uncertainty in the energy market.Fugro scrapped its annual outlook and announced further job cuts, citing an impact from project delays. The company said that projects in the offshore wind and oil and gas markets would be delayed into 2026 and their scope cut back, resulting in an estimated 100 million euros ($117.5 million) impact on its revenue."The previously anticipated 20% revenue growth is no longer realistic…
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19 Sep 2025
Hybrid Patrol Boats Offer More than Emissions Savings
Interest in hybrid government and patrol boats is growing as boat builders demonstrate their many benefits.Launched last year at Seawork, Sweden-based Marell Boats says its M17 Patrol was the star of the show with its hybrid powertrain from Scania and propulsion system by Marine Jet Power.Like others in the patrol boat market, Project Manager Mario Celegin is seeing increasing interest in hybrid patrol boats.
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18 Sep 2025
Batteries: Looking Beyond Spinning Reserve
Mia Elg, R&D Manager at Deltamarin, says there’s not many of the company’s new designs, no matter what the vessel type is, that don’t include batteries.Installing smaller battery capacity to a diesel engine driven vessel with electrical power train can enable spinning reserve. Here, an optimal number of engines can be kept online, and the batteries can work as a black out preventer. This can save, depending on the type of the ship and operation…
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11 Sep 2025
Ethanol as an Alternative to Methanol
This week MarineLink reported that the Global Ethanol Association (GEA) has officially launched as an independent, non-profit international organization headquartered in Switzerland.GEA’s first flagship program is the Marine Fuel Sector Initiative, an industry led effort to transform ethanol’s market potential into commercial reality and establish it as a cornerstone of the sustainable marine fuel mix.Sylvain Zurcher…
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04 Sep 2025
The Importance of Methane Number for Marine Engines
The current standards for LNG for marine use (ISO 23306:2020) don’t define limits for Methane Number even though it is an important fuel characteristic that can vary with fuel source and the addition of bioLNG into fuel blends.Power generation organization CIMAC’s Working Group 17 says Methane Number is like the Octane Number of gasoline in that it is a measure of the fuel’s resistance to auto-ignition or engine knock.In diesel engine combustion…
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28 Aug 2025
Robots are Getting Very Good at Understanding the Environment Around Them
The July/August issue of Offshore Engineer includes an update on patrolling robots. They are increasingly being used for inspection, maintenance and repair, and they are increasingly being operated, human-in-the-loop, in a cyber world that is a detailed digital twin of their offshore environment.Energy Robotics, for example, has built a software platform for operating all available oil and gas ATEX certified robots, including those of ExRobotics, Taurob, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
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28 Aug 2025
Biological Hydrogen Offers Alternative to Electrolysis
Biological hydrogen is a wildcard technology that could change what Roy Allegra calls the current hydrogen cold war.Allegra, based in London, is founder of RA Energy and Green H₂ Systems Modeling.He sees Europe scrambling to lock in alliances and signing deals in the Middle East and Africa to secure green hydrogen supply. These countries are aiming to lead production.Meanwhile, China is already leading in electrolyzer manufacturing capacity…
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21 Aug 2025
Making Hydrogen Work as a Fuel
Around 50 vessels have operated on hydrogen as fuel since the pioneering ferry Hydra set sail in 2000.Whether it’s used in fuel cells or combustion engines, its capex and opex are still much higher than an equivalent diesel system, and it’s expected to stay that way until at least 2040.But the real problem with using hydrogen as a fuel is that it takes more energy to make, compress/liquify, transport and store than it provides to a ship.The expectation is that technology will come to the rescue.
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15 Aug 2025
Asian Nations Battle for Shipbuilding Share
China’s share of the tanker orderbook rose from 32.4% in 2022, to 62.6% in 2023 and then 71.2% in 2024. Its share of the container ship orderbook has shown a similar growth trajectory. The nation has ranked first in the world for new orders since 2012. Labor costs are about half of what they are in Korea and Japan, and China is the world’s cheapest steel manufacturer.Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO…
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14 Aug 2025
One Bio-LNG Step Forward, One Back
This week, Van Oord’s trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Ariane completed its first bunkering of bio-LNG.The move follows the July news that NYK has started the continuous use of bio-LNG fuel on its LNG-powered car carriers.There’s been more firsts this year. In February 2025, Furetank conducted its first bio-LNG bunkering. In March, Titan and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) completed the first bio-LNG bunkering operation of a multi-year contract.
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14 Aug 2025
Wine Down Under
Brad Adams, co-founder of Subsea Estate in Western Australia, has just retrieved vats of his latest wine from the seabed just off the coast of Augusta.Partnered with wife and co-founder Jodee Adams and chief wine maker Emmanuel Poirmeur, he is creating a product unique in the southern hemisphere.For the last two years, Subsea Estate has produced Semillon and Shiraz that has undergone its secondary…
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07 Aug 2025
Algorithm Accountability
When the maritime trade union Nautilus International asked memberswhat they thought of AI at a forum in January, there was some positive sentiment:“We shouldn’t automatically assume there will be problems with AI, as we’ve adopted other tech over the years without it being too intrusive for crew.”Others were not so sure:“There are worrying issues around liability and culpability if an incident happens involving a vessel operated using AI.
