Polaris News

Chicago Propeller Club celebrated being named International Propeller Club of the Year at its latest event.Guests from across the Great Lakes and Mid West maritime industry gathered for the reception, a Chicago River cruise aboard club sponsor Wendella Cruises vessel the Iris.Club President Chris Carr, managing partner of SBSB Eastham law firm, said winning the title at the International Convention in Tampa, just a year after restarting the club, following a 15 year hiatus, is…

Esgian provides an update on plans for Petronas to return to the deep waters off Mexico in its Week 35 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsMalaysia's Velesto said Monday it has secured a Letter of Award for its 350-ft jackup Naga 3 from Vietnam-based Thang Long Joint Operating Company (TLJOC).Dolphin Drilling’s Letter of Intent (LoI) with an undisclosed operator in the UK for its 1,500-ft semisub Borgland Dolphin has lapsed and the rig is now available for new…

Telemar, a provider of smart maintenance and remote access technologies, signed an agreement with GNV (Grandi Navi Veloci) to provide safety maintenance services on its growing fleet.GNV has awarded Telemar a contract for management and maintenance of GMDSS and navigation safety installations on its newbuildings GNV Polaris, GNV Orion and GNV Virgo, constructed at CSSC shipyard Guangzhou. These new ships, which will boost ferry services in the Mediterranean and beyond, mark a…

Esgian provides an update on the second round of jackup suspensions in Saudi Arabia in its Week 32 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsArabian Drilling has confirmed that Saudi Aramco has initiated discussions with the drilling contractor over the suspension of an additional leased offshore rig, following an initial round of contract suspensions that began earlier this year. Arabian Drilling has not stated which of its jackups is the target of the current suspension discussions.ADES does not expect new contract suspensions for its fleet by Saudi Aramco this year.

Dry bulk shipowner Diana Shipping announced it has entered into a time charter contract with Stone Shipping Ltd, for one of its Ultramax dry bulk vessels, DSI Polaris.The gross charter rate is US$15,400 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period until minimum June 1, 2025 up to maximum August 15, 2025. The charter commenced retroactively as of July 20, 2024.The Marshall Islands registered DSI Polaris, a 60,404 dwt Ultramax dry bulk vessel built in 2018…

Finland's 2023–2024 icebreaking season concluded on May 31, as Arctia icebreaker Otso returned to base in Helsinki.Finnish state-owned Arctia operates a fleet of vessels that provide icebreaking services for the Finnish Transport Agency during winter, clearing frozen shipping lanes and freeing any vessels that get stuck in the ice.Due to an exceptionally cold early winter that quickly lowered surface water temperatures, the icebreaking season began earlier than usual, starting in November for the first time since 2010.

Coden, Ala. shipbuilder Master Boat Builders on Monday announced it has delivered Tortuga, the latest tugboat to join Seaside LNG/Polaris New Energy fleet.Tortuga will connect with the barge Clean Everglades, delivered from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in 2023, to form a Jones Act compliant articulated tug and barge (ATB) for bunkering liquefied natural gas (LNG).The new tug has an overall length of 109 feet and features two Caterpillar 3512E main engines, EPA Tier 4 certified and each producing 2,000 horsepower.

Esgian reports that drilling contracts have been announced this week for operations in Brazil and the Philippines, and new discoveries have been confirmed in the UK and Namibia in its Week 11 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsCOSL Drilling has emerged as the winner for Petrobras' moored semisubmersible tender with the 4,600-ft Nanhai 8 (also known as Nan Hai Ba Hao).Noble has secured a high-dayrate drillship contract with Prime Energy in the Philippines.Drilling Activity and…

Thordon Bearings reports it has secured a second major Mexican Navy contract for the supply of its water-lubricated SXL wear rings for retrofit installation to the waterjet propulsion nozzles on 25 interceptor patrol vessels.The contract follows the success of extensive trials in which the SXL material replaced the use of other anti-corrosive coatings in waterjet impeller housings, resulting in increased resistance to cavitation induced corrosion.Rotary Parts, Thordon’s authorized distributor in Mexico, is supplying the housings for 25 Polaris and Polaris II fast patrol boats.

Seaside LNG announced its liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering barge Clean Jacksonville delivered fuel to Carnival cruise ship Carnival Jubilee in Galveston, Texas, marking the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering delivery along the U.S. Gulf Coast.The bunkering operation took place on December 30, 2023, after months of careful coordination with all parties involved, including the Port of Galveston, Seaside LNG said.The 2,200 cubic meter bunkering barge Clean Jacksonville, previously stationed in Florida…

Esgian's last roundup of the year for the Week 52 puts spotlight on new developments for Dolphin Drilling semisub, Seadrill drillships, as well as Shell’s plans for Australia and ONGC’s new tender for jackups in India.ContractsDolphin Drilling has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with an undisclosed operator for the 1,500-ft semisubmersible Borgland Dolphin to undertake a 500-day drilling campaign in the UK. The drilling campaign is planned to begin directly after the firm part of the contract period with EnQuest, which was announced in late November 2023.

Finnish companies have designed about 80 percent of the world’s icebreakers, and about 60 percent of them have been built by Finnish shipyards.Finland is home to a strong and vibrant maritime cluster, with a mix of large, medium and small shipyards, as well as a deep pool of marine engineering expertise and a broad network of vessel equipment suppliers.As one of the world’s northernmost countries, Finland is also home to a fleet of icebreakers that keep imports and exports flowing through its harbors, even during the coldest winter months.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. shipbuilder Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding (FBS) held a christening ceremony for recently constructed liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge Clean Everglades.The vessel is the sister ship to the LNG barge, Clean Canaveral, which was delivered by FBS two years ago and has made more than 65 successful LNG bunker deliveries. Similar in design and appearance, the articulated tug barge (ATB) will hold 5,500 cubic meters of LNG.“The previous FBS-built LNG barge was delivered on schedule during the global pandemic…

Concordia Maritime on Friday announced it has entered into an agreement to sell two of its product tankers. The vessels are the 65,200 dwt Stena Progress and the 65,200 dwt Stena Premium, built in 2009 and 2011 respectively.After repayment of loans and liabilities to related parties, the transaction generates a liquidity supplement of approx. SEK 100 million (approximately US$9.5 million), Concordia Maritime said. The remaining debts are current operating liabilities.“With the sale, we continue to take advantage of the strong market and the high prices for older vessels.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge Clean Canaveral completed its first barge-to-ship bunkering of a cargo vessel at Port Canaveral’s South Cargo Berth 4. JAX LNG, along with Polaris New Energy, handled the LNG refueling of the Damia Desgagnés on the ship’s inaugural call to Port Canaveral. The asphalt/bitumen tanker Damia Desgagnés completed her discharge of cargo and then JAX LNG proceeded with Desgagnés’s first barge-to-ship bunkering of LNG. The seafarers safely transferred approximately 400 cubic meters of LNG from North America’s largest LNG bunker barge…

An ABB study based on three years of operational ship data mounts a case for integrating battery power onboard modern icebreakers, writes Samuli Hänninen, who specializes in icebreaking vessels at ABB Marine & Ports. The maritime industry is still at the formative stage of realizing the gains available from batteries, but the ability to scale up to megawatt-hour levels is not the only attraction for the zero-emission technology. Evidence newly disclosed by ABB suggests that the…

Survitec has announced a new interactive safety management solution it hopes will substantially improve onboard safety.The Safety Management and Rapid Response Technology Interface (SMARR-TI) uses a graphical monitoring interface to integrate fire detection and fire suppression systems within one system.SMARR-TI, which Survitec developed in cooperation with Turkish shipyard Tersan and Norway’s Havila Voyages, is already in operation on a pair of 15,500gt passenger ships.SMARR-TI…

With the rise of China and her global ambitions, the military importance of Guam in the Indo-Pacific theater has become apparent. The force levels on the island had drawn down from a peak of about 26,000 at the height of the Vietnam War to a tenth of that—just 2,500 people in the early 2000s. Today, that's changing. Guam's defense posture is growing.Guam's proximity to major population centers in East Asia underscores its strategic importance. The island is just 1,400 miles from Tokyo, Manilla or Port Moresby. All of the armed services have a presence on Guam.

Concordia Maritime announced Wednesday it has entered into an agreement to sell its 13-year-old product tanker Stena Penguin to an unnamed European buyer.The 65,200 dwt Stena Penguin is scheduled to be delivered to its new owner during the second quarter of 2023.Overall, the sale is expected to have a positive liquidity effect of approximately SEK 215 million (about $20.9 million) after repayment of the remaining bank debt to Svenska Skeppshypotek, Concordia said.Concordia Maritime CEO, Erik Lewenhaupt, said, “We are now divesting another vessel with a good margin.

Seaside LNG announced the acquisition of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling barge the Clean Jacksonville from TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, LLC, a subsidiary of TOTE Group, LLC.Seaside LNG’s maritime transportation company, Polaris New Energy, has contracted to continue fueling TOTE’s Marlin Class LNG-powered containerships and other commercial customers with its fleet of LNG bunker barges. The Clean Jacksonville recently reached a significant milestone having successfully completed…

Houston-based investment manager Arroyo Investors announced it has closed an investment in Seaside LNG and its affiliated entities, an integrated shore-side liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and bunkering platform in the U.S. Financial details were not disclosed.Seaside LNG owns interests in two separate operating businesses, including a 50% ownership interest in JAX LNG, a small-scale (360,000 gallons/day) LNG liquefaction facility operating two trains in Jacksonville…

Diana Shipping on Monday announced it has taken delivery of the DSI Andromeda (formerly STH Tokyo), a 2016-built Ultramax dry bulk vessel. The 60,309 dwt vessel is one of nine modern Ultramax dry bulk vessels that the company entered into an agreement to purchase in August 2022.The company also announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with ASL Bulk Marine Limited, for one of its Ultramax dry bulk vessels, the DSI Polaris. The gross charter rate is $13,100 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum 18 months to maximum 20 months. The charter commenced on November 12, 2022.The DSI Polaris is a 60,404 dwt Ultramax dry bulk vessel built in 2018.

Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri announced it has delivered the first vessel for luxury cruise operator Viking equipped with an emissions reducing hydrogen fuel cell system.Identical to Viking’s other ocean ships, the 47,800 ton Viking Neptune is fitted with a small hydrogen fuel system, making it the cruise industry’s first ship to test the use of hydrogen power for on board operations. “We are especially proud to welcome this newest sister ship to our ocean fleet, as it also marks a significant advancement in testing hydrogen as a future fuel for our vessels…