The Changing Face of Piracy
As the NATO and EU NAVFOR operations Ocean Shield and Atalanta continue their work in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Red Sea areas, one could easily be forgiven for thinking, well, that’s that. Tough luck, pirates, the world is on to you. Sadly, as anyone involved in international shipping knows, that is very far from the truth. The fact is that the areas patrolled by the world’s navies are vast and the chance of early interdiction of a pirate skiff or mothership by a naval vessel is small.
STUDY: Ballast Water Measures Are Falling Short
Invasive species have hitchhiked to the U.S. on cargo ships for centuries, but the method U.S. regulators most rely on to keep them out is not equally effective across coasts. Ecologists from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center have found that ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico are significantly less protected than ports on the West Coast. Invaders are frequently introduced across oceans and along coastlines through the ballast water in ship hulls…
Nagel Presented with the Breakbulk Lifetime Achievement
Jerry Nagel, Chairman of Rickmers-Linie (America), was presented with the 8th annual Lifetime Leadership and Achievement Award at a ceremony celebrating the opening of the 22nd annual Breakbulk Transportation Conference and Exhibition at the New Orleans Convention Center on 26 October. This is an event attended by more than 3,600 breakbulk and heavy-lift industry executives. Nagel, 62, has spent much of the past decade working as president and CEO at Rickmers-Linie (America) in Houston…
DryShips and OceanFreight Complete Merger
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) and OceanFreight Inc. (NASDAQ: OCNF) announced today that following approval by OceanFreight's shareholders at a special meeting, the companies have completed the merger and OceanFreight has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of DryShips. Under the terms of the merger agreement, OceanFreight shareholders will be entitled to receive $11.25 in cash and 0.52326 of a share of common stock of Ocean Rig UDW Inc.…
U.S. DOJ: Guilty Plea and Fine in Pollution Case
Oregon Governor’s Fund for the Environment will receive $375,000. U.S. Attorney S. Amanda Marshall and Oregon Attorney General John Kroger jointly announced that the owner and operator of a Cyprus-based ship pleaded guilty today to felony oil pollution charges. A.E. Nomikos Shipping Inv. Ltd. and Lounia Shipping Co. Ltd. pleaded guilty to one count each of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, and knowingly making false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard.
VideoRay and SeeByte Announce Partnership
SeeByte, the global leader in creating smart software technology for unmanned systems, and VideoRay the world leader in Inspection Class-ROV technology, have announced their decision to enter a partnership with the aim of developing solutions to improve value to their customers. The decision follows the success of SeeByte’s SeeTrack CoPilot integration with the VideoRay micro ROV which was demonstrated at VideoRay’s VIPS 2011 conference last month in Florida.
IMarEST Appoints ANZSPAC Executive Director
The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) has appointed Liz Hay as Executive Director of its ANZSPAC (Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific) Division. She will combine the position with her dual role as Chief Executive Officer of both the Australian Shipbuilders Association and Australian Ship Repairers Group, which are currently in the process of merging. Based on Australia’s Gold Coast…
Stratos and Segovia Selected by MSC
Stratos Government Services Inc. (SGSI) and Segovia, Inc., wholly owned subsidiaries of Inmarsat plc, today announced they have been awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract by the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) for the U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) Next Generation Wideband (NGW) commercial satellite communications (COMSATCOM) infrastructure and service.
Alaris' Gaffney Honored by USMMA Alumni
Michael P. Gaffney, Alaris Companies Executive Vice President of Engineering, received the Outstanding Professional Achievement Award from the Alumni Foundation Board of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point. Gaffney received the award at his 25th class reunion during the Alumni Awards Banquet on October 13, 2011. The Outstanding Professional Achievement Award is presented to graduates…
PD Ports Appoints Business Director
PD Ports has recently appointed Geoff Lippitt as Business Development Director. Geoff also joins the Company’s Executive Committee team, reporting to Chief Executive Officer, David Robinson. Geoff’s remit is to lead the commercial business development activities across the Company, which includes assuming responsibility for PD Ports’ commercial personnel reporting lines. In keeping with PD Ports’ core business strategy…
Interocean Awarded $28m Navy Deal
Interocean American Shipping Corp., Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $28,189,899 firm-fixed-price contract for the operation and maintenance of the Sea-Based X-Band Radar platform (SBX-1).
This Day in Navy History - November 3-6
1853 - USS Constitution seizes suspected slaver H. N. Gambrill. 1931 - Dirigible USS Los Angeles makes 10 hour flight out of NAS Lakehurst, NJ, carrying 207 persons…
BSEE Holds Workshop on Deepwater O&G Ops
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE) concluded a two-day workshop that brought together experts from the oil and gas industry, and drilling…
Pirates Seize Tanker off Nigeria
Pirates off the coast of Nigeria have reportedly taken control of an oil products tanker with about 25 crew members on board, part of a new wave of increasingly…
Siemens Ups Stake in Offshore Renewables
British tidal energy company, Marine Current Turbines Ltd, announced that Siemens is increasing its share in the company to 45%. “With this increase in its stake…
B&W Wins $115m Navy Nuke Refuel Deal
The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) said that its subsidiary Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) has been awarded a $114.7 million contract for the manufacture and…
Raymond Lord Named President of Donjon-Smit
Raymond Lord has been named President of Donjon-SMIT, LLC, effective November 8. A native of Houston, Texas, Mr. Lord has more than 30 years of experience within the marine salvage industry, most recently serving as Vice President and Operations Manager for SMIT Americas in Houston. “We are very happy to welcome Raymond Lord to Donjon-SMIT,” said John A. Witte, Jr., Director, Donjon-SMIT. “We look forward to a long and productive future with him at the helm…
Martek BNWAS for MOL
Mitsui OSK Line made a firm commitment to install Bridge Navigational Watch and Alarm Systems (BNWAS) on board its ships ahead of regulatory requirements. The company…
Veripos Appoints Scott as Regional Manager
Aberdeen-based Veripos, the leading supplier of GNSS positioning services to the world offshore industry, has appointed Angus Scott as Regional Manager of its Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) division. Reporting to company Managing Director Walter Steedman, he will be responsible for continued business development and operational aspects of the business on behalf of major operators of seismic, survey, DP, construction support and pipelay vessels.
MOL commits to Martek BNWAS
Mitsui OSK Line has made a firm commitment to install Bridge Navigational Watch and Alarm Systems (BNWAS) on board its ships ahead of regulatory requirements. The company has taken the opportunity of the drydocking of 17 of its vessels so far this year to install the Martek Marine Navgard BNWAS. MOL said it was likely that all of its existing vessels would be fitted with BNWAS before the end of 2011.
