Asian Maritime Battle Heats Up
New satellite imagery reveals Chinese advances in ongoing land reclamation project in the South China Sea, reports The Australian. Intensifying concerns about Beijing’s territorial ambitions…
Japan, China to Resume Maritime Talks
Japan and China plan to resume security talks with focus on maritime issues as early as April after a four-year hiatus amid simmering tensions over territorial disputes, AFP reports.
Gail Scraps $7-billion LNG Ship Tender
Gail India Ltd has scrapped a tender that would have led to the construction of three massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers at Indian shipyards. After postponing…
Japan-EU Ties for Anti-Piracy
Japan and the European Union are strengthening antipiracy cooperation in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, helping an international mission to reduce the number of attacks…
Norway-India Partnership in Polar Research
India and Norway closer to one another in questions related to Polar Research and a new proposal for polar research co-operation is on the anvil, reports Press Trust of India.
Colombian Ports Mull Expansion
The container and gross tonnage handling across all Colombian ports will undergo expansion in 2015, cementing a return to growth following a 2013 downturn, says BMI’s Colombia Shipping Report.
Grounded Cargo Ship Leaks Oil
A major recovery operation has been launched to recover a leaking cargo ship which ran aground on Scotland's west coast. Salvage vessels were called to Kilchoan…
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.
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…
