[Event Wrap-Up] MarEx Reflects on Another Successful WorkBoat Show

Published Oct 16, 2013 8:03 AM by The Maritime Executive

The International WorkBoat Show 2013 was held last week in New Orleans with over 1,000 marine product and service suppliers exhibiting. With the Gulf of Mexico booming, the optimism throughout the show and the city was at a high.

Business seems to be up all around, and the explosion in the offshore sector could be extended for a while.

The Maritime Executive staff roamed the bustling convention center to find the latest scoops on product releases, business news, industry trends, and caught up with some innovative companies to get their perspective on industry issues.

Product Spotlight

As an industry leader in drive and control systems, Bosch Rexroth has an edge on advanced technology and equipment – along with the application experience and organization to package a project. The company establishes a direct relationship with its customers to develop a complete solution for needs in the maritime and offshore sectors. Joseph Dugal, Senior Sales Engineer, gave us a quick introduction to one of Bosch Rexroth’s latest products. The IndraDrive is a large electric drive that boasts liquid and air cooling, a modular filter concept, a charging module, kinetic buffering and a smart energy mode. “Our focus is to extend our existing electric drives to provide the performance needed by our customers for their marine applications,” Dugal stated.

Cummins Marine teamed up with Logan Clutch to host an informative mini-seminar on Fire Pump Applications, presented by Marine Application Engineer Greg Caldwell. The presentation provided an in-depth look at the product. The pump system is capable of transmitting a 4” diameter stream of water as far as 400 feet.

We also caught up with Rudolf Mes, Chief Operating Officer at AER Supply – a marine wholesale distribution company with a niche in technical systems. The products it was highlighting at the show included the MARINER OMNIPURE® wastewater system and Hella nautical lights, both of which provide benefits of low power consumption, low maintenance requirements and lengthy lifetimes. Mes noted that reverse osmosis water makers are becoming increasingly popular in the industry. They basically produce fresh water by pressurizing salt water and forcing it through a very small filter screen.

AER Supply distributes the only wall-mounted unit currently in the market, which is a huge benefit aboard vessels with substantial space limitations. It meets all upcoming regulations by being electro-catalytic, oxidizing water without adding chlorine or other chemicals. Orders for these products are already coming in from around the world, including Noble and Petrobras for oil rigs.

Company Spotlight

Dometic Marine recently announced a partnership with Livos Technologies. In terms of how this will benefit the maritime industry, Ed Todd of Dometic said: “We are just expanding on an already established relationship. Livos fits perfectly with the way we approach markets. We’re taking technical applied products and meshing them with philosophies to fold into the focus for shipbuilders.” Michael Murray, President of Livos, added: “We are a small business, so this partnership provides us with more opportunities and should yield tremendous growth quickly.”

From left: Ed Todd (Director of National OEM Sales, Dometic), Mike Murray (President of Livos Technologies) and Gustaf Hamrén (Marine OEM Account Manager Eastern Europe & Nordic, Dometic).

Caterpillar Marine always has a lot on its plate. With a never-ending goal of increasing uptime and lowering operating costs for its customers, Caterpillar unveiled a significant product milestone, introducing its comprehensive United States EPA Tier 4 power solutions for vessels with engines over 2,000 kW. They also let us in briefly on their completed acquisition of Berg, resulting in two new factories in Sweden and Singapore as well as a new propulsion line – the first in the world to monitor moisture content.

Did You Know? Caterpillar Marine spends 6% of its sales on research and development.

Chris Fischer, Founder of OCEARCH, announced the launch of a new digital education hub. Combining OCEARCH.ORG and the Global Shark Tracker, you can get double the information all in one place.

Industry Trends

The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006) that recently came into effect has been a main topic of conversation amongst mariners, and it has major implications for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and sanitation products aboard ships. Ed Todd of Dometic explains: “This has impacted our sector because it establishes guidelines for the comfort levels of crewmembers. They are guaranteed input, respect, and safety. We ensure crew retention the right way.” For example, Dometic’s BreatheEasy Air Purifiers are now becoming increasingly prevalent in the workboat industry. The product ensures that the air onboard ships is cleansed of bacteria, mold, smoke, etc. and has a nearly 100% kill rate – keeping mariners healthy and productive.

Siemens believes that diesel-electric propulsion and the fight to reduce ship emissions is at the forefront of the industry. After working on various offshore vessels, tugboats, and commercial fishing ships, Siemens’ ship propulsion systems have proven to cut emissions, save fuel and increase reliability and uptime. Together with the Norwegian shipyard Fjellstrand, Siemens has developed the world's first electrically powered car ferry. The 80-meter vessel can carry 120 cars and 360 passengers. The ship's batteries will be recharged in the breaks between crossings, a procedure which takes only 10 minutes.

Continuing down the environmental path, MarEx chatted with Mike Guggenheimer, President & CEO of RSC Bio Solutions. “With the regulatory intensity increasing, we help ship operators understand compliance while providing minimal disruption to their operations. We have over 10 years of experience with readily biodegradable, non-hazardous technology. Our products meet the U.S. EPA’s 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP) requirements, and we have firm evidence of our products working for various vessel owners. The new requirement for Environmentally Acceptable Lubes (EALs)* tells me that the maritime industry is pushing towards safety. We are a strong believer that educating the customer and having a strong technical pedigree reduces fear during the transition. You are really only benefitting yourself in being more environmentally compliant. You lower risks of any clean-up costs and experience more quality performance," he stated.

Houston-based Electronic Power Design (EPD) is a manufacturer and supplier of integrated power control solutions for a wide range of clients around the world. Among the principal industries it serves are the offshore marine, mining, and dredging sectors. EPD has become a global leader over the past 25 years by providing cost-effective, energy-efficient, turnkey power solutions to its customers. “We offer customized power control solutions from offices in the U.S., Brazil, China and Singapore,” said John Janik, EPD’s Chairman. “Part of our success has been being in the right place at the right time, and with our global footprint we have been able to grow along with our customers.”

Don't forget to mark your calendars for next year's show, December 3-5, 2014. We hope to see you all there!

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*The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires that all vessels use an “Environmentally Acceptable Lubricant” (EAL) in oil to water interfaces unless technically infeasible. The VGP revision also requires any above-water line hull cleaning or deck washdowns resulting in discharge to be conducted with “minimally-toxic” and “phosphate free” cleaners and detergents, and that all cleaners and detergents be non-caustic and biodegradable. The U.S. EPA’s revised VGP permit becomes effective for all vessels over 79 feet on December 19, 2013.