Wendy Laursen
Contributing Writer-
19 Jun 2025
You Cannot be a Leader if…
“You cannot be a leader if you don’t know what is going on,” says Rik van Hemmen, President of marine consulting firm Martin & Ottaway.van Hemmen, writing in the June issue of Maritime Reporter magazine, recounts of some of his experiences in oil spill response to demonstrate that it’s a truth that is not always recognized.On one salvage operation, a high-ranking government official was laughed out of the room after loudly proclaiming: “I am in charge now…
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12 Jun 2025
The Best First Step for Shipowners Interested in Electrification
Ed Schwarz, Head of Marine Solutions Sales for Siemens Energy in the US and Canada, says education is the best first step for any shipowner interested in electrification.“Talk to someone who’s done it. Go aboard a vessel. Visit a hybrid ferry. Owners love sharing their stories and their hard-won insights.”The June issue of Maritime Reporter magazine has an in-depth interview with Schwarz where he says…
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12 Jun 2025
Ice “Memory” to be Protected in Antarctica
The Ice Memory Foundation is preparing for the upcoming transport of ice cores from mountain glaciers to the Ice Memory Sanctuary in Antarctica.The announcement was made as part of the launch of the UN Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences (2025-2034) during the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice on June 8.Preserved in the Ice Memory Sanctuary at Concordia Station, the cores will be available for…
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11 Jun 2025
Maritime Propulsion: Expanding Options for Waterjets
It’s no surprise that waterjets are great for shallow-draft, highly maneuverable craft, but vessel designers are busting out of the old stereotypes.Vessel designer Aircat Vessels has developed a surface effect ship (SES) crew transport catamaran, AIRCAT 35 Crewliner, that can sail at over 50 knots and manage offshore transfers in 2.5-meter seas. The air cushion system from ESNA dynamically adjusts to sea conditions so the vessel can reduce transit times…
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09 Jun 2025
Video: ATBs Unlock Stranded Iron Ore Down Under
Australia’s unique enclosed self-discharging transhippers ensure a dust-free supply chain for the Onslow Iron project.Onslow in north Western Australia is a desert. It receives less than 10 inches of rain a year, and for much of the year temperatures reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s known for dust storms that can turn the town red.It’s iron ore country, but the lack of a deepwater port meant that…
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05 Jun 2025
Ammonia Gets Popularity Boost
Before MEPC83, Höegh Autoliners CEO Andreas Enge had decided to commit to ammonia as the company’s new fuel of choice. Speaking to reporter Charlie Bartlett in the Maritime Reporter Norway Supplement, he said: “Ammonia is more scalable and will be cheaper than methanol, full stop.”He’s not alone in thinking that. A Global Maritime Forum study released this past week indicates that under the parameters principally agreed within the IMO Net Zero Framework at MEPC83…
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29 May 2025
250 Tons of Electric Power
The electric ferry Ampere went into service in 2015. It was the world’s first electric ferry, and it has now sailed the equivalent of over 17 times around the equator.The 80-meter vessel boasts about 11 tons of battery system.This month, the world’s largest electric ferry built to date was launched at Incat in Tasmania, Australia. This 130-meter vessel boats 250 tons of battery system. The electrical…
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29 May 2025
Some Things Have Remained the Same
President of New Wave Media, Greg Trauthwein, spoke to Knut Ørbeck Nilssen, CEO Maritime, DNV, for the latest episode of Maritime Reporter TV.Asked about what has remained the same over his 30+ year maritime career, Nilssen said: “If I look to the maritime industry, it has really maintained a fairly stable regulatory environment over all these 30 plus years. We still have the IMO, as a global regulator…
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22 May 2025
Harvest Now Decrypt Later
The threat that AI and quantum computing pose to cyber security is already here, even before these technologies are mature enough to crack today’s encryption methods. Bad actors are taking a “harvest now decrypt later” approach to cyberattacks.Classical encryption methods like Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) rely on the difficulty of factoring large numbers or solving discrete logarithm problems.“Breaking these public…
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21 May 2025
Send in the Robots for High-Frequency Biofouling Control
The currents in Singapore can be so strong that divers cleaning fouling from a ship’s hull can feel like they are swimming in a river. There’s times when it’s just not safe for them to be there.The currents can be a problem for robotic cleaners as well, but for ship operators, the bigger problem is having to wait long after cargo operations have concluded while the hull is cleaned by either method.And yet…
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15 May 2025
Naturally Quiet
The Arctic’s bowhead whales can live for over 200 years. Imagine what they might hear in that time: screw propellers were only just being used to power ships 200 years ago, and diesel engines appeared some hundred years after that.The underwater radiated noise of shipping has grown globally, but the Arctic is a special place. It has been partially shielded from shipping noise. Sea ice shields and diffuses underwater sound…
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08 May 2025
Quantum Sensing Beats GPS-Denied Navigational Challenges
The same error-prone sensitivity that has slowed down the development of quantum computers is being turned into an advantage for GPS-denied navigation.A new quantum sensing technology from Australia-based Q-CTRL has most recently caught the interest of Lockheed Martin and the US Defense Innovation Unit, but the company is already working with the Australian Department of Defence, the UK Royal Navy…
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08 May 2025
Geographical Gaps Limit Ballast Water Research
The US Coast Guard’s Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance recently released its U.S. Port State Control Annual Report for 2024 highlighting a 200% increase in untreated ballast water discharges compared to 2023.With this result, there’s still a risk of invasive species arriving in ballast water. And a review of research into the organisms found in ballast water published in March highlights just…
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01 May 2025
The Biggest Conservation Commitment in the World
At COP 15 in December 2022, over 190 countries adopted a framework for action in support of the Convention on Biological Diversity.The framework includes 23 targets aimed at reversing habitat and species loss. Target 3, known as “30x30”, calls for the effective protection and management of 30% of the world’s terrestrial, inland water and coastal and marine areas by the year 2030.Put simply, says the Nature Conservancy…
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24 Apr 2025
Just-In-Time Arrival: A Triple Win
There were 57 ships in the queue at the Port of Newcastle in Australia when the Pasha Bulker ran aground there in 2007.The coal ship was grounded for about three weeks before it was able to be towed away for repairs.The Pasha Bulker wasn’t the only vessel that had attempted to ride out the gale at anchor, and the majority of other vessels that did so also dragged their anchors.The port subsequently…
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24 Apr 2025
In Maritime Propulsion, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' DPS for Vessels
If the dynamic positioning (DP) system went down on an offshore supply vessel, it could result in a collision. On a dive support vessel, it could result in injury or death for a diver. On a drilling rig, it could result in a blowout with loss of life, pollution and fire.Built-in redundancy is key to avoiding failures, and this in turn determines the thruster, electrical and engine configurations that are designed to enable DP systems.“There is no single…
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16 Apr 2025
Op/Ed: Public Opinion on Nuclear Power has Deep Roots
Australia does not have nuclear power stations, and it does not have nuclear weapons.I remember having lessons and debates on it in high school, many years ago. My favorite science teacher was dead against either use of nuclear technology.One of the most interesting arguments I remember hearing was that the technology developments that make nuclear power more efficient would also help make nuclear bombs more efficient.Fiji is much the same as Australia…
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10 Apr 2025
Scaling Up Hydrogen Fuel Cell Demand
This past month Maritime Reporter TV has taken a close look at two hydrogen fuel cell projects: the new research vessel planned for Scripps Institution of Oceanography and e1 Marine’s methanol-to-hydrogen technology which is being adopted by STAX Engineering for its emissions capture barges.The Scripps California Coastal Research Vessel will feature a hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system that will…
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03 Apr 2025
The LNG Pathway
Aussies are reputed to be a nation of gamblers who would bet on two flies crawling up a wall. That might be anyone’s race, but when predicting what the most popular alternative fuel will be, the odds seem to be increasingly in favor of LNG.It seems there is now a clear pathway where previously LNG was considered more of a transition fuel that didn’t have a strong presence in 2050 shipping fuels. New…
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27 Mar 2025
Ammonia Beckons
The popularity of ammonia as a fuel for shipping is likely to benefit from a growing number of green ammonia production projects. Shipowner confidence in the availability of ammonia was displayed this week by Belgian oil tanker group CMB.TECH and charterers Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and MOL Chemical Tankers as they signed deals for nine ammonia-powered bulk carriers and chemical tankers.Green hydrogen and ammonia projects around the world have advanced over the last few weeks.
