Rep. Granger Visits Newport News Shipbuilding
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) hosted Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, on February 23 for a tour of the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. Newport News Shipbuilding President Matt Mulherin accompanied the congresswoman on the shipyard tour, which included progress updates on the aircraft carriers Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), as well as the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) refueling complex overhaul and the Enterprise (CVN 65) inactivation.
Vigor to Build 2 More San Francisco Ferries
Vigor said it was awarded the contract to build two additional ferries for WETA (the Water Emergency Transportation Authority) in San Francisco, Calif. The shipbuilder started constructing the first two WETA ferries in this class in spring 2015, said Tim Kolb, General Manager of Vigor Ballard. Under the latest contract, the two new hulls will be constructed at Vigor Ballard (formerly Kvichak) and the superstructure at Vigor’s Harbor Island shipyard.
Voices: Todd Roberts, President, Marine Group Boat Works
"As a kid, I worked for our sister company, Flagship Cruises (formerly San Diego Harbor Excursion),” said Roberts. “I wanted to be a deckhand on the ferry but I was told that I was too young, so I started out sweeping the floors in the boathouse, and doing just about anything, from loading the boats to hauling line. Going to work for me was like other kids going to the Little League field. And so starts the story of Todd Roberts’ maritime career some three decades ago.
IBIA in Attack Mode
![Bunker fuel company staff supervising supply operations at port [Photo: ©2016 Patrick King Photo for GAC]](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w100h1500/bunker-fuel-company-staff-supervising-71002.jpg)
The IMO’s MEPC 70 proposals for a marine fuels sulfur cap of 0.5% to be in place by 2020 have attracted severe criticism from several major stakeholders in the maritime sector, including the International Bunker Industry Association, the organization that defends the interests of bunker fuel suppliers. The IBIA has stated that several unknowns remain about the proposed limit and has asked whether assumed…
China Sells Ships Online
Chinese Maritime Court has sold five vessels of bankrupt Wenzhou Shipping, subsidiary of Zhejiang Shipping Group, through online auctions on Taobao.com for a a total price of $22.81m.
VT Halter Marine Names Socha Senior VP
U.S. shipbuilder VT Halter Marine, Inc., a subsidiary of Vision Technologies Systems, Inc. (VT Systems), has appointed Robert A. Socha as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Estimating, effective January 30, 2017. In his role, Socha is responsible for overall management and leadership of the company’s business development and estimating departments. He will work closely with other corporate functions…
Fugro’s Heine Joins IMCA Board
The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has confirmed the appointment of Mark Heine to its governing board. Heine is a senior executive with Fugro.
Fire Breaks Out Aboard US Car Carrier
A fire has broken out out aboard the U.S. car carrier Honor in the English Channel while the vessel was en route to Baltimore from Southampton on February 24. “The…
New Interferry CEO to Make Funding Call at European Shipping Week
Mike Corrigan, the incoming CEO of global trade association Interferry, is to advocate greater European Union involvement and investment in the ferry sector during…
Spain's Government, Port Unions on Collision Course
Spain's cabinet passed a draft law on Friday to end closed-shop hiring at the country's ports, putting the government on a collision course with unions which have…
ICS Chairman Outlines Plan for CO2 Reduction
Esben Poulsson, Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping, has set out what the industry would like the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to achieve as part of its CO2 reduction strategy for the shipping sector. Speaking at The Economist’s World Ocean Summit in Indonesia, Poulsson said that unless IMO makes significant progress the industry could be vulnerable to regional action, not…
US Detains 2 Panama-flagged Bulkers
Two Panama-flagged bulk carriers were detained in the U.S. on February 23, 2017, after substandard safety issues discovered during routine exams aboard the vessels…
Asia Tankers-VLCC Rates to Slide Further
Around 30 VLCC charters in Feb so far, versus 50 last month. About 40 refinery facilities to close for maintenance. Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs)…
Asia-North Europe Box Rates Up 7 pct
Container spot freight rates from Asia to Northern Europe rose 7 percent to $961 per twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index showed on Friday.
Baltic Index Rises on Broad Demand
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Friday on stronger demand across all vessel segments.
Songa Offshore sees Daewoo Arbitration Lasting into 2018
Rig firm Songa Offshore's CEO Bjoernar Iversen expects the company's arbitration case with DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) to last throughout 2017 and into 2018.
TGS, Schlumberger reimaging central GOM
TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company (TGS) and Schlumberger today announced a new multi- and wide-azimuth (M-WAZ) multiclient reimaging program in the highly prospective Central U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
St. Louis Regional Freightway, New Orleans Port Sign MoU
The Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans and the St. Louis Regional Freightway today entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to exchange market…
Aussie Navy Trains to fight
More than 17 ships and aircraft are descending on the Western Australian coast for one of the largest maritime warfare exercises held by the Royal Australian Navy.
Hathon is Director Exploration, Cairn
Cairn announced the appointment of Eric Hathon as Director of Exploration. Dr Hathon, who has more than 25 years experience in the international oil and gas industry…
