Transmission Gears News

ProZero International, a workboat supplier in the Danish Tuco Marine Group, has been appointed as the exclusive distributor of the innovative American “Swamp Shark Drives propulsion systems” across Europe, West Africa, Kenya, and additional regions. This partnership brings a revolutionary solution to the maritime industry, particularly for operators in challenging environments such as mangrove areas, shallow waters, and debris-filled rivers.The Swamp Shark Drive is an advanced surface drive system engineered for seemless performance in demanding conditions.

Mobile, AL-based Blakeley BoatWorks has announced the completion and delivery of Hull 107, formally named M/V Claire Ellen, to Cooper Marine’s Louisiana operations.Designed by Farrell and Norton and built by Blakeley BoatWorks, the 70-foot long, 28-foot wide, 1,600 horsepower vessel is fully compliant with the latest United States Coast Guard Subchapter M regulatory requirements. The new pushboat is the sixth 70 foot workboat delivered by Blakeley to to Cooper Marine-Louisiana.

ZF has long offered propulsion products for hybrid and electric marine applications. Now, as the demand for green technology grows across many vessel segments, the company has recently rolled out a pair of new transmissions optimized for hybrid and electric propulsion systems in high-speed vessels like pilot boats, ferries and water taxis.ZF’s 3000 NRD PTI has been unveiled as a space- and weight-saving solution for hybrid propulsion in waterjet vessels, while the 3200 A/V PTI is a new down-angle transmission for hybrid drive systems.Based on the popular ZF 3000 series…

Power transmission technology company Twin Disc on Friday announced it has finalized its acquisition of Katsa Oy, a Finland-based, designer and manufacturer of gearboxes and power transmission components, completing a €21 million (approximately $23 million) all-cash deal that was first announced in March.“We are excited to welcome Katsa to the Twin Disc family of brands,” stated John H. Batten, President and CEO of Twin Disc. “Acquiring a well-established company with longstanding…

U.S. based power transmission equipment manufacturer Twin Disc announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Katsa, a Finnish-headquartered manufacturer of power transmission components and gearboxes for industrial and marine markets, in an all-cash transaction valued at €21 million (approximately $23 million).The transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2024, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval, Twin…

ZF Marine announced it has hired George Lewis as its new head of product line commercial-fast craft, North/Central America and the Caribbean, reporting to Wolfgang Schmid, ZF’s Industrial Division Head for North America.“ZF Marine welcomes George aboard and looks forward to the positive impact he will have upon the company’s sales across the Americas and Caribbean,” Schmid said. “With his deep industry knowledge and technical skill as a trained naval architect and proven sales leader…

Dr. Holger Klein, Member of the Board of Management responsible for the Asia-Pacific region, Car Chassis Technology Division, Aftermarket and Production, will succeed Wolf-Henning Scheider as Chairman and CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen AG at the end of 2022.At the same time, Dr. Peter Laier will join the Board of Management to lead the Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) and Industrial Technology divisions succeeding Wilhelm Rehm. ZF Chief Financial Officer Dr. Konstantin Sauer will leave the company by the end of 2022 after many years of service.

The latest in-line shaft generator from ABB is designed to enable ship operators to benefit from the multiple advantages of permanent magnet technology. The new generator brings flexibility and ease of installation to a wide range of vessels including bulk carriers, container carriers, liquid natural gas tankers and ferries transporting passengers and cars.The AMZ 1400 permanent magnet shaft generator is optimized for converter control and enables better efficiency than either induction or electrically excited synchronous machines at both full and partial loading.

Finland-based marine technology and equipment specialist Wärtsilä will provide a broad scope of its solutions for three new LNG-fuelled Ro-Pax vessels being built in China for Swedish ferry operator Stena RoRo.China Merchants Jinling (Weihai) Shipyard is building the vessels. They will operate with Wärtsilä engines and propulsion machinery when delivered in 2024 and 2025. The vessels, each around 200 meters long, are part of a series of E-Flexer class ferries ordered by Stena RoRo for European line service.

STADT AS and SH-Defence have signed a cooperation agreement and integrated their technologies to increase the modularisation of power generation and electric propulsion technologies.With its patented and innovative propulsion technology, STADT meets environmental requirements and can supply Zero-emission electric propulsion to Commercial and Naval vessels now, STADT said."To make sure that existing and new low and zero-emission power-sources like battery, fuel-cells and alternative fuels can be installed…

Kongsberg Maritime (KM) announced it has been awarded a contract with Finnish shipyard Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) to deliver propulsion and steering equipment for two new car and passenger ferries. The vessels will be operated by the Australian company TT-Line for the regular Spirit of Tasmania ferry service – a 10.5-hour journey across the Bass Strait between Melbourne, Victoria and Devonport, Tasmania.Each vessel will be fitted with two of KM’s Promas combined propulsion and steering systems…

With a milestone project for South America, the Brazilian towage group Starnav is setting sails to reach the IMO 2030 goals: Starnav has contracted Detroit shipyard in Itajaí, Brazil, for equipping four newly built tugs with SCHOTTEL RudderPropellers. One of the 32 meter long and 11.6 meter wide escort tugs will feature the SCHOTTEL patented SYDRIVE-M technology right from start; the other three will be configured to be SYDRIVE-ready. As a mechanical hybrid solution without the costly complexity of common hybrid technology…

Since the beginning of May, Royal IHC has been busy replacing the propulsion gearbox mountings on the HNLMS De Ruyter. This work is part of a maintenance program for the Air Defense and Command Frigates (LCF). Royal IHC will replace the mountings on all four LCF-frigates for the Royal Netherlands Navy.Annemieke Selbach, Head of Purchasing at the Royal Netherlands Navy, said, “Royal IHC has taken on an enormously challenging project in the replacement of the mountings on the frigates.

How have major events such as the U.S./China trade war, oil price fall and COVID-19 impacted Twin Disc’s commercial marine business to date, and what adjustments have you made in response?These are the three things that I’ve been highlighting in employee communications and with investors over the last few months. For us, COVID was just the third punch after the other two. China is typically our second largest market after the U.S., and we lost lots of orders to our competitors as the trade war started to affect us. It’s rebounding a little, but it definitely impacted our sales into China.

European transmission system operator TenneT has awarded VDL Network Supplies a contract to support the construction of half of the wintrack pylons (high-voltage pylons) for a new 380 kV high-voltage connection from Borssele to Rilland.The new pylons, which are some 60 to 80 meters high, will be produced by VDL KTI in Mol (Belgium). The high-voltage pylons will be supplied between early 2021 and late 2022 and erected on the TenneT route between Borsele and Rilland in the province of Zeeland.The high-voltage lines that connect the pylons will transport electricity originating from wind farms off the coast of Zeeland, which are due to be completed this year and next year.Project Manager Nicolien Vrisou van Eck from TenneT said: “We have every confidence in our partnership with VDL.

UK energy regulator, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), has selected Diamond Transmission Partners as the preferred bidder for the offshore transmission of the 1200MW Hornsea Project One wind farm in the UK.Diamond Transmission Partners  is a consortium of Mitsubishi Corporation and Chubu Electric Power. Hornsea One is an offshore wind farm is in 120km off the Yorkshire Coast. The project was commissioned in January when it became the world’s largest offshore wind farm.Diamond Transmission Partners has to establish the necessary arrangements to provide offshore transmission services for the wind farm, including having all relevant contractual…

With the ZF 5200 A/V PTI, ZF Marine is introducing the brand’s first hybrid transmission that can be installed in the ship in both V (V drive) and A (down angle) positions. Thanks to the wide range of transmission ratios and space-saving design, the ZF 5200 A/V PTI is suited for many different types of marine vessels.Ship designers currently face a wide array of challenges: In the leisure yacht segment, customers want as much living space as possible, while the boom in logistics and tourism requires ferries to make ever more space available for cargo.

European transmission system operator TenneT has announced plans to build two 2 GW offshore grid connections in the IJmuiden Ver wind energy area, having entered into a so-called 'innovation partnership' with its suppliers.Given the combination of the large distance to the coast and the size of the IJmuiden Ver wind energy area, a 2 GW direct current (HVDC) solution, based on 525 kilovolts, appears to offer most economical  advantages. It requires only one cable system per 2 GW, limiting the impact on the environment and the surroundings.To realise such an innovative direct current system, TenneT launched the design phase with five HVDC suppliers on the basis of an innovation partnership: ABB Power Grids…

The Irish power grid operator EirGrid has awarded NKT a service contract for the interconnector connecting Ireland and Great Britain.The cable and cable accessories supplier to the energy sector has been awarded a five-year service agreement by the Irish power grid operator EirGrid for cable related services including repair works for the East West Interconnector.The 200 kV HVDC power cable with capacity of 500 MW between Ireland and Great Britain is connecting the countries power grid ensuring the high transmission security needed to power modern life.For NKT, the agreement marks the first contract including the company’s recently launched 10 days vessel mobilization guarantee.

Stena Line’s "next-generation" ferry Stena Estrid has arrived in Holyhead after completing sea trials and a five-week, 10,000 mile journey from China to the Irish Sea where she will begin service early next year on her inaugural route from Dublin to Holyhead.Designed by Deltamarin and constructed at the China Merchants Jinling Shipbuilding Weihai Shipyard in China, Stena Estrid is the first of Stena RoRo’s nine next-generation E-Flexer Ro-Pax vessels in a series which include five for Stena Line and several additional vessels that will be on long-term charter for other ferry operators.

Prysmian Group, the major player in energy and telecom cable systems industry,  has has announced that it commissioned the 900MW DolWin3 high voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore grid link in the German North Sea.Prysmian had secured this project in February 2013, with a contract awarded by Alstom Grid (now GE Grid GmbH) on behalf of the Dutch-German grid operator TenneT.DolWin3, the third offshore grid connection in the DolWin cluster, links the offshore converter platform DolWin Gamma, located approximately 85 kilometers offshore in the North Sea, to the German mainland.As a one-stop-shop service provider, Prysmian was responsible for the supply…

Netherlands-based Damen Marine Components (DMC) will supply the rudders and steering gear for SunStone Ships' fifth Infinity-class polar expedition cruise ship.The 200-passenger vessel will be built by China Merchants Heavy Industries to an Ulstein design. The contract was awarded once again by propulsion specialist Brunvoll Volda, with whom DMC is working on this ongoing series.DMC will supply two Van der VeldenATLANTIC rudders and two Van der Velden COMMANDER rotary vane steering gear systems. The ATLANTIC is a full-spade rudder with a surface area of eight square meters and steering gear torque of 110 kNm. It delivers excellent course-keeping…

Energy regulator Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has been "unable to approve" plans for two huge subsea cables to take energy from the Scottish islands to the mainland.The transmission links from Shetland and the Western Isles were proposed by Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) to connect planned new wind farms on the islands to the national grid.In March 2019 Ofgem said it was minded to approve the estimated £709 million link.The proposal from SSEN for a 600MW transmission link was based on the largest planned project, Viking Energy Wind Farm, securing subsidies through the UK Government’s Autumn Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction.The award of these subsidies would have provided confidence that the wind farm is likely to progress…