NEW ON BOARD
INNOVATIONS FOR SHIPBUILDING AND
SPECIAL FASTENING SOLUTIONS
by: MERJA KIHL AND ARI MONONEN
A
lvars Ltd. is a Raisio-based Finnish engineering company pro-
viding innovative design project services and product devel-
opment. Founded in 2007, the company’s roots are firmly in the
shipbuilding industry.
”Throughout its first decade, Alvars has been involved in
a variety of demanding projects. Our recent projects include the
design of glass structures – such as glass canopies – for cruise
ships,” says Mr. Mika Laiho, CEO for Alvars Ltd.
The glass canopies aboard ships can be either unfolding or
fixed structures. In the case of the largest cruise ships, the glass
canopies may even be two-storied and cover the width of the one place to another. Such objects include huge pole structures,
entire ship. Therefore, they require highly accurate strength calcu- prefabricated blocks of ship hulls or offshore platforms, and
lations, as well as the utmost care in the preparation of the blue- other specialised parts. To ensure the safety for the seafasten-
prints for manufacturing and installation. ings and transports for such objects, carefully prepared calcula-
”Just recently we designed a large-sized glass structure for
the stern of a cruise ship. These kinds of specialised structures to
be integrated into the ship’s hull are part of our core expertise,”
Laiho mentions.
tions are needed, also for the approval of the maritime authori-
ties,” explains Laiho.
”Quite often, the fastenings of these types of special cargo
are directly welded to the ship’s deck. It will also be necessary to
In addition to designing glass and steel structures, Alvars Ltd. inspect the deck structures of the ship to be utilised for the trans-
is experienced in various types of marine engineering solutions, port, in order to ascertain that the structures have the necessary
such as the design of fastening solutions and supporting cradles durability to stand the transportation. We take safety issues seri-
for maritime shipments. ously.” n
”Ship transport is often utilised for moving the kinds of
objects that would otherwise be quite impossible to move from
More information: www.alvars.fi/en
ROLLS-ROYCE AND THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY TO
COLLABORATE ON SHIPPING’S DIGITAL FUTURE
R
olls-Royce and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed
The collaboration with the Rolls-Royce aims to develop and
a ground-breaking cooperation agreement aimed at pursu- validate new solutions for communication between vessel sys-
ing space activities in support of autonomous, remote controlled tems and shore based systems in addition to ship-to-ship com-
shipping and promoting innovation in European digital logistics. munication. This will enable the operation of commercial remote
The Memorandum of Intent (MOI) forms part of ESA’s wider and autonomous shipping, innovative cargo logistics, smart ports
strategy. Jan Wörner, ESA’s Director General stated that, “ESA has and future commercial marine vessels. The next generation of 5G
a long history of working internationally with our partners across communications will rely on seamless integration of telecom net-
Europe. This agreement is another demonstration of the posi- works and services, and ESA’s Satellite for 5G Initiative (artes.esa.
tive application of Space 4.0 and the desire for a United Space int/satellite-5g) exists to support the technical and supply chain
in Europe; maximising the integration of space into our econ- progress required, and follow through to support development
omy and society.” of the commercial services that this enables.
Karno Tenovuo, Rolls-Royce, SVP Ship Intelligence, said: “The “The current wireless carriers like satellite and associated
space industry has been operating assets remotely for many dec- infrastructure need to be developed to facilitate the develop-
ades. The information, software and satellite-based technologies ment of remote & autonomous ships, as existing configurations
the sector has developed are wholly relevant to the work Rolls- were not designed for this purpose,” said Tenovuo. Furthermore,
Royce is doing to make the remote and autonomous ship a reality.” “Rolls-Royce and the ESA will look at developing satellite-based
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