International Report – Page 5 – Pacific Maritime Magazine

BMT Appoints New Regional Business Director to Expand Asia Pacific Presence

BMT Group, an international maritime-orientated high-end design house and technical consulting firm, has appointed Graeme Nayler as its Asia Pacific Regional Business Director, the company announced May 6. The appointment comes as BMT is set to make significant investments across the Asia Pacific market. Graeme joins BMT from Environmental Group Limited where he was a non-executive director, and Silentium Defense, where he was the chief strategy officer. Prior to joining Silentium, Graeme held senior executive roles in both Nova Systems and Babcock, and for over 15-years was an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force. “We are thrilled to have…

Maritime, Tech Companies Team Up to Design, Build All-Electric Tug in Asia Pacific

Vallianz Holdings Ltd. and its subsidiaries SeaTech Solutions International Pte Ltd. and Shift Clean Energy, along with maritime classification society the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), have formed a strategic alliance to combine their respective technical expertise and engineering capabilities for the construction of an all-electric, zero carbon emissions harbor tug. Vallianz has said that this would be the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region. Based on the “E-Volt Electric Tug” design by SeaTech, the e-tug would be driven by a fully-classed electric battery system provided by Canadian-based Shift. This follows a recent Memorandum of Understanding between…

Singapore-based Keppel O&M Completes Autonomous Vessel Development

Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine announced in April that it has achieved several industry ‘firsts’ with the successful completion of its maiden autonomous vessel project. Capable of autonomous vessel navigation as well as collision detection and avoidance, the Maju 510 tug, owned and operated by Keppel Smit Towage, is the first vessel in the world to receive the Autonomous Notation from ABS classification society, according to Keppel O&M. “The tug is the first in South Asia that can be remotely operated by joystick control,” Keppel said in a statement. “It can be controlled from the shore command center with a…

Russian Tankers Turning Off Tracking to Evade Sanctions: Reports

Russian tankers carrying chemicals and oil products have been concealing their movements since the invasion of Ukraine, which maritime experts say could be in attempt to evade sanctions imposed after the invasion. Various reports, including by business news outlet Bloomberg, say that Russian oil tankers have averaged 12 “dark activities” a week since the invasion of Ukraine, which is more than double the usual rate, according to predictive intelligence company Windward AI. “Going dark” is a term used to describe when vessels turn off their tracking systems. By turning off its location data, a ship can obscure its final destination…

Panama Canal Looks to Simplify Toll Structure

As part of what it says is its commitment to improve customer experience and reflect the growing value of the waterway, the Panama Canal Authority in April issued a proposal for a new simplified toll structure that the Authority says would “provide price stability for customers in years to come.” It would also, the Authority said, offer customers “predictability, establishing tariffs well in advance allowing them to plan their business decisions accordingly.” The proposed toll structure will reduce the number of tariffs from 430 to less than 60, with the simplified system minimizing unnecessary complexity and facilitate transactions by eliminating…