Keels Laid for Oman’s New Naval Ships
Austal Australia has completed the keel laying for two 72-meter High Speed Support Vessels (HSSVs) for the Royal Navy of Oman. The occasion was formally recognized at an event held today at Austal’s Australian Shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia. Keel-laying traditionally marks the first significant milestone in a ship’s construction. In old Maritime tradition, historically keel-laying was the “laying down” of the main timber making up the backbone of a vessel.
Austal Delivers Fourth Cape Class Patrol Boat
Austal Limited has delivered Cape Sorell, the fourth of eight Cape Class Patrol Boats being supplied to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service under a $330 million design, build and in-service support contract. Austal Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bellamy said it represented a significant milestone with half the Cape Class fleet now delivered, and continuing to be delivered in accordance with contracted timeframes.
White House Takes Aim at Illegal Seafood Trade
A White House task force on Tuesday issued proposals to tighten the grip on the illegal global seafood trade, which the group said causes billions of dollars in losses to the legal fishing industry annually. Under the plan, the United States would create a program to trace seafood entering its ports from the source to the shelves, to prevent illegal products from getting into the domestic market. The recommendations would compel Congress to grant several federal agencies the authority to search…
Gamma Builds Customized Yacht for Andrea Bocelli
Gamma Yachts has built its most customized Gamma 20 so far, with smart design from Vripack, to opera singer Andrea Bocelli. Gamma Yachts announced the delivery of 22.1-meter M/Y Libertas, the third in its Gamma 20 ‘mini’ super yacht series. With design by Dutch company Vripack, the yacht has impressive guest space for its length overall as well as excellent fuel efficiency, the builder said. Built and designed in Holland…
Canada West Coast Ports Offer Little Relief from US Delays
The gridlock at U.S. West Coast ports that has forced McDonald's to ration French fries at its Japanese restaurants and interrupted supplies to retailers such as Lululemon is unlikely to be alleviated by routing cargoes through Canada, whose Pacific ports face their own problems. Capacity is already limited at Canada's largest port, Port Metro Vancouver, which is also staring at the possibility of another crippling strike by container truck drivers.
DSME Returns for More Dual-Fuel Engines
MAN Diesel & Turbo received an order for four MAN B&W 5G70ME-GI engines in connection with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.,Ltd. (DSME) agreeing a deal with the BW Group to build two LNG carriers. The technical engine specification complies with IMO Tier II, with options to include remedies for Tier III compliance at a later stage. The 173,400 cu. m. vessels are scheduled for delivery in late 2017/early 2018 and will be built at DSME’s Okpo shipyard in Geoje, Korea.
Korean Fishing Vessel Sinks, 26 Still Missing
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) search and rescue crews were relieved by Republic of Korea assets on Saturday in their search for 26 crewmembers from the fishing vessel 501 Oryong that capsized Nov. 30, 2014, near Chukotka, Russia, in the Bering Sea. The USCG completed more than 24 searches covering more than 4,576 square miles utilizing two cutters, two helicopters, and multiple airplanes. Coast Guard crews…
Meet SFFD’s New Fireboat Technology
Surrounded on three sides by water with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Golden Gate Strait to the north, and San Francisco Bay to the East, the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) currently relies on two old and refurbished fireboats, the Phoenix (built in 1954) and the Guardian (built in 1951) to serve as fire protection assets for the waters around the City. San Francisco requires fireboats for a wide range of protective coastal duties.
Higgins Named CEO of Nichols Brothers Boat Builders
Gavin Higgins has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ice Floe LLC dba Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB), the company announced today. Effective immediately, Higgins replaces Matt Nichols, one of the company’s founders who has served as CEO of NBBB since February 2012, also serving as CEO for more than 35 years prior to the company’s sale in 2008. Nichols will remain with the company as its Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, and as a member of the board of directors.
RV Sikuliaq: Modern Electric Propulsion & Power Management
While ships have used electricity to help power vessels for a long time, new and sophisticated diesel-electric technologies are making serious gains in efficiency, noise and environmental impact, and is becoming the propulsion system of choice for some high profile names. A recent case is the diesel-electric powered, RV Sikuliaq (pronounced “see-koo-lee-auk,” an Inupiaq term meaning “young sea ice.”)…
Lifting Costa Concordia
The largest and most complex maritime salvage operation ever carried out was concluded this summer. The Costa Concordia parbuckling operation on the rocks of the Italian island of Giglio has been a success in many ways—not least for the objective to retrieve in one piece, such a massive vessel (117,000 tons) with minimal damage to the delicate marine environment on which it foundered. High performance ropes with Dyneema played a key role in the operation.
Dutch Container Terminal Signs on for Wind Power
APM Terminals has signed a two-year, €5 million ($6.23 million) contract with Amsterdam-based NV Nuon Energy for the supply of environmentally-sustainable wind-generated electricity to power the new APM Terminals Maasvlakte II cranes and container handling equipment. The new 2.7 million TEU annual capacity deepwater terminal, scheduled to receive its first commercial vessel call later this month, will reportedly be the world’s first container terminal with zero emissions on site and off site.
Westerhoud Steps Down as President of ECT
Jan Westerhoud, President of Europe Container Terminals (ECT), will step down and retire from the company effective January 1, 2015, the company announced today in a press release. This decision was made in consultation with main shareholder Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (HPH), ECT noted. A successor will be named in due course. Westerhoud has guided ECT through 10 years in which the industry has undergone tremendous changes.
Rolls-Royce Unveils Gas Turbine Service and Test Facility
Vice Admiral Simon Lister, Chief of Materiel (Fleet), Defense Equipment and Support, opened a new gas turbine testing center last week at the Rolls-Royce facility at Filton, Bristol, U.K. The Rolls-Royce Test Facility now includes a new WR-21 Test Cell, to support the maintenance requirements of the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers. This new facility will service and test both WR-21 and MT30 marine gas turbines and has the capability to test up to 40MW.
Focus: Heavy Duty Lifting
Safely, efficiently lifting and handling increasingly heavy loads takes a hefty dose of the latest heavy lift products and systems. Rolls-Royce is a ubiquitous and growing force in all matters maritime, inching toward the one-stop-shop premise. It is particularly well known in the deck machinery sector, and it recently signed a deal with Detroit Chile SA to supply offshore cranes to nine PSVs under construction at Detroit Brasil Ltda. shipyard, in Itajaì, Brazil.
Wärtsilä Acquires L-3 Marine Systems International
Wärtsilä Corporation is to acquire L-3 Marine Systems International from NYSE-listed L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. L-3 Marine Systems International (L-3 MSI)…
Royal IHC Launches Easydredge 2700
Royal IHC (IHC) has launched the first Easydredge 2700, the first vessel in its range of standard trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHD) to be delivered in summer 2015. The launch took place at the shipyard of IHC's partner, MTG Dolphin, in Varna, Bulgaria. The new vessel will be supplied with a "world-dredging package", which includes bottom doors, a bow coupling and a dredging depth of 25 meters.
Port of Cleveland Approves 2015 Investments
The board of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority voted today to accept an annual budget for 2015. The budget includes $20 million in capital investments to enhance maritime operations and sediment management. The port’s balance sheet also allows it to continue investing in its European liner service, Cleveland-Europe Express (CEE), which was launched in April. The port is expanding CEE service in 2015 to two sailings a month between Antwerp and Cleveland, as announced in September.
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.
Safety is Job One
Maritime safety products and systems can entail everything from a sophisticated integrated bridge system down to cleaning products for the galley. Here are a few recent introductions that appear particularly topical in the never-ending push for safer ships and crews. Under normal circumstances it would be hard to imagine a a mariner or rig worker who would want to be in the freefall lifeboat to the left, but in an emergency that blaze orange tube is likely the most beautiful ride at sea.
