NAVANTIA, S.A.

The suspected hijacking of the oil tanker Nave Andromeda off the coast of the Isle of Wight has captivated the press. While the heroic efforts of members of the Special Boat Service in resolving the situation have been highlighted, little public attention has been paid to the seafarers working onboard the tanker who were caught up in the incident.At around 10 a.m. on October 25 the captain of the Nave Andromeda set off a security alert reporting that seven stowaways onboard had turned violent and were threatening the crew after the crew attempted to detain the stowaways in a cabin. The vessel was several miles off the coast of the Isle of Wight, and was scheduled to berth in Southampton.

British police were granted more time to question seven men arrested after hostile stowaways aboard an oil tanker in the English Channel prompted special forces to storm the vessel on Sunday.“Officers have been granted more time by Southampton Magistrates Court to question seven men as we continue to lead the investigation into the maritime security incident on board the Nave Andromeda off the coast of the Isle of Wight on Sunday 25 October,” police said in a statement.The seven men, who are all Nigerian nationals, were arrested on suspicion of seizing or exercising control of a ship by use of threats or force, and will remain in custody until the evening of Wednesday, October 28.

The American P&I Club and ABS have worked together to produce a new e-learning module on chemical tanker operations, brought to life by state-of-the-art animations by IDESS IT, a frequent contributor to the American Club’s loss prevention capabilities.The new e-learning module, entitled CHEMICAL TANK, has been developed in accordance with the IMO Model Course 1.03 Advance Training for Chemical Tanker Cargo Operations - 2016 Edition in compliance with the competency and knowledge requirements as contained in the 2010 STCW Code, Table A-V/1-1-3, Specification of minimum standard of competence in advanced training for chemical tanker cargo operations.

CSSC Marine Service Co (CMS), the worldwide equipment service subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC), has extended its range of services for WïnGD and RT-Flex two-stroke engines, with the introduction of an injection control unit (ICU) overhaul and testing service. The development marks the first time that OEM-authorized ICU overhaul and testing has been available in China.ICU overhauls are traditionally carried out in two key ports worldwide and often require international shipment of complete ICUs to and from the repair shop at great cost.

Touting strong RF performance, Intellian said its newly launched C700 Iridium Certus maritime terminal can deliver out-of-the-box uplink speeds of 352kbps and downlink speeds of 704kbps by default, with equally impressive low-elevation-angle RF efficiency thanks to its unique 12-patch phased array antenna technology. It will support three high-quality, low-latency phone lines simultaneously; and as a solid-state antenna with no moving parts inside, the C700 is especially robust, requiring no scheduled maintenance over its lifetime.