AIS Marks Hazardous Reefs Following Oil Spills
Vesper Marine has been awarded the contract to provide Virtual Automatic Identification System (AIS) Beacons to mark seven reefs hazardous to shipping in the Bay of Plenty, as well as provide a coastal monitoring capability. The beacons will alert ships’ crews and the local government’s Regional Council that a vessel is heading towards a charted danger or entering the no-go zone around each hazard.
Florida DEP Approves Port St. Joe Dredging
The Port St. Joe Port Authority has been issued a permit by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to allow for the dredging of the port’s navigational…
Ingalls Starts Fabrication on NSC Kimball
Huntington Ingalls Industries' (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has officially started fabrication on the U.S. Coast Guard's seventh National Security Cutter (NSC), Kimball (WMSL 756). "We continue to increase our learning on this shipbuilding program, fully capturing the affordable benefits of serial production," said Ingalls' NSC program manager, Jim French. "While the official start fab requires 100 tons of steel to be cut for this ship…
Lougheed Joins Willard’s Engineering Team
Willard Marine, Inc. has appointed Mark Lougheed to its engineering team. Lougheed brings more than 25 years of experience in naval engineering and project management to Willard Marine. Lougheed was most recently at Coast Dynamics Group as an Engineering Project Leader developing technology for SHOXS Seats. He was also the Senior Research and Development Engineer at Zodiac Hurricane Technologies, a division of Zodiac MilPro in Canada…
BP Asks for Lower Fine in Gulf Spill Trial
BP Plc, citing low oil prices, tried to whittle away at $13.7 billion in potential fines under the Clean Water Act on Tuesday as the penalty phase started in its…
CMA CGM Adds New Orleans to Weekly Service
Shippers will soon have new direct weekly options to Europe from the Port of New Orleans. CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container carrier, will add the Port of New Orleans to its Victory Bridge Service. The service is scheduled to launch February 2 with the arrival of the CMA CGM Jamaica at the port’s Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal. “We are thrilled to have France-based CMA CGM add the Port of New Orleans to their Victory Bridge Service,” said Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange.
Cargo of UK Rapeseed to Ship to Turkey
A cargo of 25,000 tonnes of British rapeseed will be shipped to Turkey next month, farmer-owned grain merchant Openfield said on Tuesday. Openfield said it would…
W&O Opposes McCain Amendment
W&O announced its opposition to the McCain Amendment (amendment #2) to S.1, which it said would cripple the U.S. shipbuilding industry by striking the U.S. build requirement provisions of the Jones Act. “The amendment Senator John McCain has put forth would devastate W&O’s business and others operating in the maritime industry. The ripple effect of this legislation would also impact companies and individuals outside our industry…
UNDP and IMO Chiefs Meet
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark met International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu at IMO Headquarters on January 20, where the two highlighted common commitment to sustainable development and discussed the important role of maritime transportation in building the economies of developing countries. The leaders noted the two multimillion…
Salvors Reduce Hoegh Osaka’s List
Salvage work continues at the site of car carrier Hoegh Osaka, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said, reporting that salvors have reduced the vessel’s list from its original 52 degrees to 39 degrees on the evening of Monday, January 19. Operations to remove clean water from the vessel’s lower car decks continue as the weather on scene remains favorable, MCA said. The vessel will stay at Aplha Anchorage until the list has been reduced to around 15 degrees…
Fishing Vessel Sinks Off Alaska
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Juneau personnel are responded to the sinking of the 80-foot fishing vessel Eyak approximately 13 miles south of Sitka Harbor, Monday. Sector…
Slow Economy Growth Offers No Respite for Shipping
A limited economic growth potential and a slow recovery pace of the global economy only ease the pain in the global shipping industry somewhat, BIMCO reported, adding that while the industry continues to suffer from oversupply in the freight market, the IMF now projects the demand side to be even less accommodative than previously assessed. In the just released January World Economic Outlook update…
Innovative Financing Increases Infrastructure Unvestment
Last July, President Obama announced the Build America Investment Initiative, an Administration-wide effort aimed at boosting private investment in our nation’s infrastructure. And Friday, Vice President Biden announced new steps that federal agencies are taking to bring private sector capital and expertise to bear on improving our nation’s roads, bridges and broadband networks. These actions and announcements…
The Deepwater Sector's Perfect Storm
The drop in oil/gas prices and ongoing implosion in Petrobras have combined to create a perfect storm in the deepwater sector. More than 170 projects involving oil production floaters and 35 floating liquefaction projects are in the planning stage. But oil company capital budgets are being trimmed to offset the downturn in revenue and investment decisions are being deferred until oil pricing rebounds…
GTT, Conrad Shipyard Ink Deal for LNG Barges and Bunker Tanks
Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) announced that its U.S. subsidiary, GTT North America, has signed a Technical Assistance and License Agreement (TALA) with U.S. shipbuilder…
Two Executive Changes at HII
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced that William Ebbs has taken on the new role of vice president, federal policy, and Andrew Hicks has been promoted to vice president, legislative affairs. Both will report to Mitchell B. Waldman, corporate vice president, government and customer relations. "Will and Andrew have been important members of our legislative team and have tremendous experience working with Congress and the executive branch of the government," Waldman said.
SSI Webinar: ShipConstructor PipeLink
SSI will host a free technical webinar intended to introduce end-users to its new product, ShipConstructor PipeLink, on Wednesday, January 21, from 8:30-9:30 a.m. PipeLink allows the piping systems within a ShipConstructor project to be used within other business processes and applications such as ISOGEN integration for Isometrics and pipe bending machine automation. The webinar session will be comprised of a short introduction and live demonstration.
Five Airlifted from Sea after Fishing Vessel Sinks
The U.K. Coastguard was notified of a fishing vessel in distress just before 11 a.m. this morning. The Iuda Naofa, a 23-meter Irish fishing vessel, was taking on…
ABS Awards AIP for Next-generation Drillship
ABS has awarded approval in principle (AIP) for Hyundai Heavy Industries' next-generation HD12000 heavy duty, wide beam drillship design. The drillship, which can accommodate a 20,000-psi blowout preventer system, has been designed in full compliance with the ABS Guide for the Classification of Drilling Systems (CDS Guide) and other applicable ABS Rules and industry standards. The HD12000 drillship will be capable of operating in 12…
Sustreanu Named COO of FleetPro Group
Christine Sustreanu will join FleetPro Group June 1, 2015 as its new chief operation officer (COO), the company announced in a press release. Sustreanu, who presently serves as general manager at Uniworld Boutique River Cruise collection, will replace Robert Heijlands, cofounder and COO of FleetPro, who decided to resign when handing over the COO role to Christine Sustreanu. “Robert Heijlands has been instrumental in the successful growth and high client satisfaction of former River Advice…
