Alaska Marine Lines Lowers Fuel Surcharge
Alaska Marine Lines has filed with the Surface Transportation Board to decrease the fuel surcharge from 31% to 29% on shipments to, from and within Central Alaska and Prince William Sound locations.
ClassNK Updates Laser-Arc Hybrid Welding Guidelines
ClassNK has announced that it has released Guidelines on Laser-Arc Hybrid Welding (Ver. 2). The updated version builds on the original guidelines which were developed in December 2009.
Art Contest Invites Students to 'Discover the Marine Industry'
Students in grades K-12 are invited to participate in a North American art contest sponsored by the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA), the U.S.
Lakes Defend US Build Requirement of Jones Act
An effort to remove the U.S.-build requirement from the Jones Act is being soundly rejected by Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, the largest labor/management coalition ever assembled to promote shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast. The Task Force said it sees no benefit to allowing foreign-built vessels to carry cargo between U.S. ports, but warns that nearly 60,000 jobs in the Great Lakes states…
Two Damen Patrol Vessels Built in Cape Town
Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) has completed the build of two FCS 5009 Patrol vessels, the first of their type to be built in South Africa. Another of the same class is already in operation with the Cape Verdean Coast Guard. “This continues our policy of building in Africa for Africa,” said Friso Visser, Sales Manager Africa for Damen, “and it makes us very proud to see our South African facility maintaining the Damen tradition of building technically advanced vessels to the highest standards.
Great Lakes: US Cargoes Surge on Milder Weather
With the vast ice fields of December 2013 a distant but still troubling memory, U.S.-flag cargo movement on the Great Lakes this past December rebounded significantly. Shipments totaled 9.6 million tons, an increase of nearly 35 percent compared to a year ago. Every commodity – iron ore, coal, limestone, cement, salt, sand and grain, registered increases ranging from 10 to 209 percent. “The increases…
Liberia Joins Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention
Liberia acceded to the Nairobi International Wreck Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007, on January 8, 2015, and thus becomes the largest flag state party to the convention. The Nairobi Convention covers shipwrecks that could have a potential adverse effect on the safety of lives and property at sea, as well as the marine environment. When it enters into force on April 14, 2015, it will fill a…
DNV GL Certification Helps Hapag-Lloyd Prepare for MRV
Hapag-Lloyd is preparing to become the world’s first MRV-Ready certified shipowner, working with classification society DNV GL on a verification program that will prove their readiness with incoming EU emission monitoring regulations for their entire own-managed fleet. MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification) are the incoming European Union (EU) regulations designed to progressively integrate maritime…
US Navy Renaming LCS Ships as 'Frigates'
U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on Thursday said the Navy would rename the modified Littoral Combat Ships it plans to build in coming years as "frigates," given their enhanced capabilities. "One of the requirements of the Small Surface Combatant Task Force was to have a ship with frigate-like capabilities. Well, if it's like a frigate, why don't we call it a frigate?" Mabus told the annual conference of the Surface Navy Association.
Massive J-Lay Tower Delivered to Saipem
The largest component of the 120-meter J-Lay tower for one of the world’s biggest crane vessels, Saipem 7000, has been delivered by tug Fairmount Expedition offshore Burgas, Bulgaria. The tower component was loaded on Saipem’s cargo barge S42. Oceangoing tug Fairmount Expedition towed the barge from Ravenna, Italy, nonstop to Bulgaria with an average speed of 8 knots. Subsequently, the Fairmount Expedition assisted during the offloading of the J-Lay tower.
Salvors to Board Hoegh Osaka
After holding Hoegh Osaka overnight, salvors are expected to board the vessel later today via helicopter and boat, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reported.
BMT to Support Hong Kong Government Ship Design
BMT Group subsidiaries BMT Asia Pacific and BMT Nigel Gee have been appointed to provide vessel design consultancy services to the Hong Kong government. The contract, awarded by the Hong Kong Marine Department following a competitive tender, includes provision for the design and specification of up to seven new composite patrol vessels for the Harbor Patrol Section. BMT said its experience in the design…
USCG’s New Cutter Powered by GE
National Security Cutter Hamilton (WMSL 753) was commissioned by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) on December 6, 2014, at its home port of Charleston, S.C. GE Marine reports that the vessel is powered by one GE LM2500 gas turbine and two diesel engines in a Combined Diesel And Gas turbine (CODAG) propulsion system. Constructed in Pascagoula at Huntington Ingalls Industries' Ingalls Shipbuilding division…
Ship Efficiency a Priority, Even with Low Crude Prices
Ship efficiency is just as relevant and important in a bearish oil market as when shipowners have to pay over $600 for a metric ton of heavy fuel oil, Newport Shipping avows. Hakan Ozcan, the Chief Financial Officer of Ecoships, the technical ship management arm of Newport Shipping Group, said, “With crude oil prices at their lowest since April 2009, the temptation is to put your foot on the gas and speed up a bit but this is not the way forward.
US Navy Sees Competition for Next Amphibious Ship
The U.S. Navy will insist on competition for the next U.S. amphibious warship despite a decision last year to base the ship on the LPD-17 ship designed by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc, Marine Corps Major General Robert Walsh said on Tuesday. Walsh, who is director of the U.S. Navy's Expeditionary Warfare Division, said the U.S. military owned the design for the LPD-17 class of ships and would launch a competition for the new warship program known as LX (R).
Scrubbers Installed on Newbuild Gas Carrier
The ECO VLGC Corvette, delivered from Hyundai Heavy Industries on January 2, 2015, is fitted with a Class and Flag State approved exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) provided by Clean Marine. The measurements of exhaust gas emission and washwater criteria are well below the required limits stated in the MEPC guideline 184(59). This ensures vessel compliancy with the 0.1% sulphur limit in ECAs, which has been in place from January 1 this year. The vessel is also compliant with the stricter U.S.
BP, Conoco Cutting North Sea Jobs
Oil majors BP and ConocoPhillips will cut over 500 jobs in the North Sea following similar moves by rivals to reduce costs in one of the world's most expensive exploration areas as oil prices tumble.
Libya Warplane Attacks Benghazi Bound Trawler
A Libyan warplane attacked a fishing trawler carrying gasoline to the port of Benghazi this week after the internationally recognised government suspected it of supplying Islamist militants…
Imtech Appoints Campbell to Lead Imtech Marine USA
Imtech Marine has appointed Fergus Campbell as the new Director of Imtech Marine USA. Fergus has worked for the Imtech Martine company previously (Radio Holland…
Pacific Basin Issues Profit Warning
Dry bulk shipowner Pacific Basin Shipping announced a total of US$132 million (HK$1 billion) impairment charges on chartered-in vessel contracts and bunker fuel swaps.
