Work Suspended for Day at Port of Oakland
All marine terminal work was suspended for the day on Thursday at the port of Oakland, California, as the dockworkers union and shippers continued talks aimed at settling a labor dispute that has disrupted cargo traffic along the West Coast waterfront for months. Union and port officials said the local chapter of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union chose to hold its monthly so-called "stop work" membership meeting during the day on Thursday…
DeepOcean to Provide MPV to Tullow Ghana
DeepOcean Ghana Limited, a Ghanaian company with 51% Ghanaian owned share structure, has been awarded a contract to provide the services of a multipurpose construction vessel (MPV) to Tullow Ghana Limited. The scope of work for the contract is inspection, survey and subsea construction on the Tullow operated deepwater Jubilee and TEN Fields offshore Ghana. The contract includes subsea tree and jumper installations in approximately 1,100 - 2,000 m water depth.
T&T Salvage Aids Charity’s Efforts Against Malaria
A small feeder container vessel ran aground off the coast of Papua New Guinea. A large part of its cargo consisted of 32 containers of mosquito nets owned by international…
Maersk, BP Agree to 5 Year Offshore Rig Training Contract
Maersk has signed a five year contract with BP to provide offshore oil rig training at the virtual reality training center the company is currently building in Houston, the companies announced today. Maersk Training will provide BP with advanced training programs for offshore drilling teams at the new center, located in north Houston, which Maersk says will be operational by the end of 2015. BP will train employees and contractors at the facility…
M&A Activity Subdued in Transportation, Logistics Sectors
Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the transportation and logistics industry remained steady during the fourth quarter of 2014 according to Intersections,…
New Riverboat to Homeport in New Orleans
Guilford, CT-based American Cruise Lines will introduce its second riverboat to be home-ported in New Orleans. The two new riverboats are the first new ships built specially for the Mississippi River in 20 years. Construction of the 305-foot, 150-passenger American Eagle was recently completed at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Maryland. The new riverboat is now repositioning to New Orleans and is scheduled to arrive later this month.
Crowley Aids US Military's African Ebola Mission
For the past six months, Crowley Maritime Corporation has provided critical logistics services in support of Operation United Assistance (OUA), the U.S. military’s mission to fight the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, the company announced today. Specifically, Crowley has supplied emergency shipping, warehousing, trucking, stevedoring, customs brokerage and other logistics capabilities, first to the U.S. Government’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and now to the U.S.
Desperate Times for US Coal Mean Desperate Port Proposals
It’s a spectacularly atrocious time for U.S. coal companies. Demand for coal domestically is not what it was—and likely never will be—so producers have cast their gaze abroad, where they hope Asian markets respond as domestic ones fail. It’s a long shot, though, because there’s too much supply and too little demand, and the strong U.S. dollar continues to keep exports of all kinds less competitive.
UK Shadow Energy Minister Visits Centrica, Bibby Offshore
Integrated energy company Centrica Energy and Bibby Offshore, an oil and gas industry subsea services provider, today hosted Tom Greatrex MP, the UK's Shadow Energy Minister, as part of an oil and gas industry fact-finding initiative. Greatrex, the MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, visited Centrica’s Aberdeen offices to gather information about the company’s new and existing developments on the UK Continental Shelf.
Propellers: One Size and Shape Does Not Fit All
Hydrocomp’s newest release of PropCad incorporates 3 years of enhancements. Propellers are surprisingly complex devices, especially considering most are a solid piece of metal with no moving parts. The variation in vessels and operational requirements leads to wildly different designs, from noise-sensitive propellers for luxury cruiseliners to wide-blade sets for tugs. With different combinations of diameters…
A Gift to US Inland Waterways
The nation and its inland waterways received a great gift at the end of 2014. On December 16, 2014, the Senate voted 76-16 to pass H.R. 5571, tax extenders legislation that included a 9-cent increase in the inland waterways diesel user fee. The increase will be effective April 1, 2015 and funds – around $40 million from industry levies – will be deposited into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund for the benefit of priority navigation project construction and major rehabilitation.
Avoiding Pitfalls on the Water
When a land-based contractor decides to work on water, risk can arise from unexpected places. It doesn’t have to be that way. In the past, companies involved in the marine industry, whether they were vessel operators, riggers, longshoremen, ship builders, repairers, or construction companies were, by and large, specialized and most companies focused on one niche aspect of the industry. Fast forward to 2015 and it is clear that our industry has changed.
Ledwidge Named CFO of Irish Continental Group
David Ledwidge has been appointed to the position of chief financial officer at Irish Continental Group Plc (ICG). A Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland and a Bachelor of Science graduate from Dublin Institute of Technology, Ledwidge joined ICG from accountants Deloitte in 2006. Ledwidge has held various financial positions within the group, first as group risk accountant followed by his appointment as Irish ferries financial controller…
Arctic Rescue Vessels Named in Wismar
After a construction period of around 17 months, two identically designed icebreaking rescue and salvage vessels have been named Beringov Proliv and Murman during a ceremony at Nordic Yards in Wismar. In addition to representatives of the customer Rosmorrechflot, other participants in the naming ceremony included Russia's Deputy Transport Minister Viktor Olerskiy. During the naming ceremony, Dr. Vitaly Yusufov…
Stolt-Nielsen Secures $250m Financing
Stolt-Nielsen Limited has closed a $250 million private placement with American International Group (AIG). The private placement has a term of 10 years and is secured…
Long Beach Cargo Dips with Congestion
Lingering congestion at West Coast seaports drove down container cargo by 18.8 percent in January at Long Beach compared to the same month last year, the port announced. Overall, 429,490 TEUs of containerized cargo moved through the Port of Long Beach in January. Imports numbered 213,667 TEUs, a 23.5 percent decline from January 2014. Exports slid 19.6 percent to 98,462 TEUs. Empty containers declined 7.6 percent to 117,361 TEUs.
WAGO Appoints Regional Sales Manager for Northwest Region
Electrical interconnect and automation solution manufacturer WAGO has appointed Jeff Zimmerman as Regional Sales Manager for the Northwest region, the company announced today. Zimmerman will coordinate WAGO’s sales and marketing activities in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. He previously held senior management and marketing roles at AOP technologies and Kinequip Incorporated. “We are excited to have Jeff join our growing sales team in the region.
Victoria Shipyards VP Barker to Retire
Seaspan’s vice president and general manager of Victoria Shipyards Co. Ltd., Malcolm Barker, will retire Spring 2015, following more than 21 years with the company. Barker began his shipbuilding career at the age of 16 and has been in the B.C. marine industry for nearly four decades. Formerly with Yarrows Shipyard in Esquimalt, he has spent the last 21 years with Victoria Shipyards, providing dynamic…
SGMF Releases First LNG Bunkering Safety Guidelines
The Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF) released the 1st edition of its LNG Bunkering Safety Guidelines yesterday. The goal of the document is to provide the bunkering industry with best practices in order to ensure that gas-fuelled ships are re-fuelled with high levels of safety, integrity, and reliability, the group said in a press release. The 82-page document was created by a working group featuring employees from the Swedish Marine Authority…
Moving Ahead With the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund
“How can we have a 21st century economy with a 20th century infrastructure?” Vice President Joe Biden recently posed this question to an audience at the American…
