Latest Piracy Analysis from OPINTEL
The latest US Maritime OPINTEL analysis and weekly report that follows covers the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. OMAN: On 6 March, three suspicious white skiffs approached a merchant vessel near position 22:27.1 N – 060:29.2 E, approximately 122 nm southeast of Muscat, Oman. The skiffs with two persons onboard each skiff approached the ship to within a half mile. After self protection measures were initiated by the crew, the skiffs moved away.
UASC Ups Mega-Container Ship Order to 17
United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) says it has taken up the option with Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for one additional 18,000 TEU vessels, bringing the total order to 17 ships including eleven 14,000 TEU vessels and six 18,000 TEU vessels. The 14,000 TEU and 18,000 TEU newbuildings are scheduled for delivery from late 2014 and from the first half of 2015, respectively. UASC hosted a signing…
Russia Setting Up Another Arctic Sea Defence Base
The Siberian Department of Spetsstroy of Russia has begun work on the construction of buildings and structures on one of the islands of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago…
Skating on Thin Ice: Great Lakes Coast Guard Remains Active
Two men are rescued after their snowmobiles crashed through the ice about a mile offshore on Saginaw Bay near Bay City, Mich., and meanwhile the Coast Guard continue their efforts to keep the users of the ice-bound Great Lakes safe by gathering ice depth data. Personnel at Coast Guard Station Saginaw River, in Essexville, Mich., received a night-time call from Bay County 911 dispatch stating that two people had broken through the ice.
Ingalls Shipbuilding Donates to Special Olympics of Mississippi
Huntington Ingalls Industries say they recently donated $25,000 to Special Olympics of Mississippi. The check was presented at an event in Jackson and will help with travel expenses for Mississippi athletes and families to attend the Special Olympics USA Games, which will take place in June in New Jersey. "Ingalls Shipbuilding fully supports the Special Olympics, and this donation will go a long way…
Fugro Report 2013 Growth in Subsea Services
An in-depth strategic review resulted in the updated strategy ‘Growth through Leadership’, which Fugro explains, builds on the same strategic drivers which are core to Fugro’s historic success. Fugro is targeting expansion of its activities in the strong Geotechnical and Survey divisions, leading to a step-up in investments in the vessel fleet in the next years. In addition, Fugro targets profitability improvement in the Subsea Services division…
Is This a Record? 93-Year-Old Medevaced From Cruise Ship
The U.S. Coast Guard inform of the medical evacuation of an injured 93-year-old male passenger (with his wife) from the cruise ship 'Grandeur of the Seas' in the Lower Chesapeake Bay. Grandeur of the Seas contacted Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads Command Center watchstanders via VHF-FM to request medical assistance for the elderly passenger who had suffered a head injury. A 45-foot Response Boat - Medium from Coast Guard Station Little Creek was despatched to assist…
Ocean Search for Downed Malaysian Airliner: Latest Update
A Vietnamese official news agency report informs that Singaporean vessels searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger plane have found debris or floating objects of some kind, located 100 km southwest of Tho Chu Island in the South China Sea, suspected to come from the missing Boeing 777 aircraft. A massive hunt involving dozens of ships and planes from more than half a dozen countries is under way for the plane…
State-of-the-Art Dredger Launched
IHC Merwede named and launched the 23,545 kW self-propelled cutter suction dredger ‘AL BAHAR’ C/D HUTA 12 in a ceremony on March 8, 2014 at the company’s shipyard in Kinderdijk, The Netherlands. It is building the innovative vessel for Huta Marine Works, which is based in Saudi Arabia. The ceremony was performed by Sylvia Wuebbens, the daughter of M. Wuebbens, the Managing Director of Huta Marine Works.
Crew Rescued from Sinking Ship
Falmouth Coastguard has been assisting a cargo vessel which had six people on board and began sinking 12 miles east of the Lizard. The Sea Breeze is an 87m Barbados…
Great Lakes Ice Cover Among Worst in 40 Years
The Great Lakes saw some of their worst ice cover in nearly four decades because of a frigid winter with months of below-freezing temperatures in large sections of the northern United States…
Petrobras Finds New Oil in Offshore Florim, Lara Fields
Reuters - Brazil's state-run oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said on Friday that it had discovered new, good-quality oil deposits in the so-called sub-salt region.
Kobelt Hires Business Development Managers
Kobelt announced today the hiring of Lance Lidstone and Sylvain Robitaille as Business Development Managers. Both will report directly to David Bockhold, CEO, and…
Struggling SNCM Ferry Operator to Order 4 Ships
Reuters - Loss-making France-Corsica ferry operator SNCM, which is partly owned by French water and waste group Veolia Environnement, plans to order four new ships, an SNCM spokesman said on Friday. The spokesman said the board had approved deals for four new ferries, two of them firm orders and two of them purchase options, to renew the fleet as part of a restructuring plan for the firm. He did not provide details on the vote or explain how the ferry operator plans to finance the purchases…
Hazmat Transported from Shipwreck for Proper Disposal
By Jesse Leon Guerrero, U.S. The U.S. Navy, in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard and civilian contractors, safely removed 49 55-gallon drums filled with hazardous materials from the grounded Japanese commercial fishing vessel Daiki Maru 7 at the Spanish Steps on Naval Base Guam (NBG) March 6. The Navy-led unified command consisting of representatives from the base, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam…
N.Sea Oilfield Plans 25 Days Maintenance
Reuters - Britain's biggest oilfield Buzzard will undergo 25 days of planned maintenance starting in late July, its operator Nexen confirmed on Friday. During this…
Court Approves Gold Recovery from Historic Shipwreck
Deep-ocean exploration company Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., has been awarded the exclusive contract to conduct an archaeological excavation and recover the remaining valuable cargo from the SS Central America shipwreck located approximately 160 miles off the coast of South Carolina. The ship, which was immortalized in the best-selling book, "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea," sank in 1857 with one of the largest documented cargoes of gold ever lost at sea.
Maritime Reporter @ 75: The Daily Cartoon
Maritime Reporter & Engineering News was founded by John J. O'Malley (1905-1980) in 1939, and today ranks as the world's largest audited trade publication in the world serving the maritime industry, with a circulation of more than 35,000 worldwide, including ship and boat owners, ship and boat builders, naval architects and marine engineers. Today Maritime Reporter heads a group of four print and 10 websites serving the global maritime, offshore and subsea sector.
Port of Erie Receives $1.52M for Dredging
The Port of Erie is located on the southeast shore of Lake Erie in a natural bay formed and sheltered by Presque Isle peninsula. Its harbor entrance channel is narrow and 29 feet deep.
Ukraine's Black Sea Gas Ambitions Seen at Risk over Crimea
Ukrainian plans for expanding Black Sea natural gas output have been thrown into doubt by Russia's seizure of Crimea, a region linked to most of Ukraine's offshore developments.
