SpaceX Rocket Survived Landing in the Ocean
After SpaceX launched its second Falcon 9 Rocket of the year, the company chose not to land the booster but instead dispense it into the ocean. Shockingly, it survived its fall and laid bobbing, fully intact in the Atlantic. SpaceX will now try to salvage the rocket by towing it back to shore, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Almarin Buoys Reach New Markets
Almarin navigation buoys are being installed in a growing number of markets both in Europe and further afield, proving the effectiveness of their simple reliable design with the use of high quality materials manufactured in Europe. In the Léman lake, border between France and Switzerland, buoys have been installed to mark a floating containment boom in the estuary of Rhone river, nearby Port Valais. The Balizamar buoys used in this case were adapted by the customer for this application.
Serious Questions Surround BWMS Testing
Serious questions have been raised regarding the testing of ballast water management systems (BWMSs). In order for a BWMS manufacturer to sell its equipment for use on commercial vessels operating in U.S. waters, the equipment must be tested in accordance with U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements and the equipment must then obtain a type approval certificate from the Coast Guard.
Essar UK to Buy More US Crude in 2018
Essar UK, one of Britain's biggest oil refiners, will buy more U.S. crude this year after testing it last year, showing how rising output from the United States is squeezing out traditional European suppliers from the North Sea and Africa. Essar took at least three cargoes U.S. crude in 2017 for its 200,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Stanlow oil refinery. "We will continue to take U.S. cargoes because we find value in them…
GSI Completes 13-vessel Series for Stena Bulk
The final vessel has been named in a series of 13 chemical and product tankers ordered by Stena Bulk at the Guangzhou Shipbuilding International (GSI) shipyard. The 50,000 dwt MR tanker Stena Impero was named on Wednesday in Guangzhou, China, completing a series of newbuilds ordered at Chinese shipyard GSI in 2012 for SEK 4 billion ($508 million). Erik Hånell, president and CEO of Stena Bulk, said…
PBES Powers Norway’s New Battery Electric Ferries
PBES said it has installedctwo 1MWh battery systems aboard the new electric ferries that service the E39 highway route on the 2 kilometer crossing between the Anda and Lote docks. The . Norway’s latest battery-operated ferries, the zero-emissions M/F Gloppefjord and Eidsfjord, are part of the ongoing push for zero and low emission public transportation in Norway. Each 106 meter vessel can carry 120 automobiles and 349 passengers on the eight minute crossing.
Baltic Index Stretches Losing Streak
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index extended its slide to a fourth straight session to touch a near six-month low on Thursday, as rates fell for all vessel segments amid a seasonal slowdown in demand. The overall index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, dropped by 38 points, or 3.3 percent, to 1,114 points, the lowest since Aug. 10, 2017. The index recorded a 15.66 percent decline in January, its biggest monthly percentage fall since May 2017.
Underwater Seal Repairs Avoid Drydock and Off-Fire Costs
Following a spate of stern tube seal failures, Antwerp-based Hydrex has reiterated its capability in carrying out repairs to stern tube seals during a ship’s routine port visit, saving the expense and loss of revenue of unscheduled drydocking. Stern tube seals can suffer undue wear or damage due to a variety of causes, causing water ingress and oil leaks. With ever-tightening environmental regulations resulting in heavy penalties for oil pollution, rapid and timely repairs are essential.
Wärtsilä See Increase of BWMS Retrofit Service
With entry into force of the ballast water treatment regulation now less than two years away, Wärtsilä BWMS and scrubber retrofit engineering services are seeing considerable increase in interest in their experience and risk reduction offerings. The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Convention for Ballast Water Management entered into force on September 8, 2017. To meet the IMO requirements…
A History of Marine Aids to Navigation
Today many of us take aids to navigation for granted, and until they need to be replaced, we don’t realize how much we depend on them. Most marine navigation aids only require a routine inspection and maintenance after installation. Then they effectively continue their job so that mariners, harbor masters and other seafarers have one less thing to manage. However, it wasn’t always that way. The first marine aids to navigation were very different.
Oil Shipments From Georgia's Batumi Port Down 34%
Oil and related shipments from Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi in January were down 34 percent from a year earlier, an official at the terminal, operated by Kazakh KazMunaiGas , said on Thursday. The official gave no reason for the fall, but state company KazMunaiGas continued to reroute some shipments to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline this year. January shipments of crude oil and refined oil products from Batumi totalled 108…
Interferry Main Event Heading Back to Australia
Global trade association Interferry has chosen Hobart, Tasmania, as the venue for its 45th annual conference in October 2020 – the third time that the ferry industry’s showcase event will have been staged in Australia following Sydney in 1995 and Gold Coast in 2002. Hobart was confirmed for 2020 during an Interferry board meeting in Atlanta, U.S. “We felt it was important to go back to Australia – we have a strong base of members there and they have always been very supportive…
New Fleet Boat for Waterfront Services
Alabama shipbuilder Master Marine said it has delivered the newly built M/V Tom Torretti to Waterfront Services Co. The 67’ x 28’ fleet boat is powered by a pair of Laborde Products, Inc. S6R2-Y3MPTAW Mitsubishi 803 HP tier III diesel marine engines to be operated at 1,400 RPM coupled to Twin Disc MG 5321, 5:1 gears, E300 electronic controls with RW Fernstrum, Inc. keel coolers. Electrical power was also provided by Laborde Products, Inc.
Japan LNG Imports at 5-year High on Colder Weather
Japanese LNG imports reach 8.7 mln T in January, pressuring regional LNG market with China also hoovering up cargoes. Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG)…
US Navy Commander Pleads Guilty in 'Fat Leonard' Scandal
A former commander has become the latest U.S. Navy official to plead guilty in a wide-ranging corruption and fraud investigation involving the foreign defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard”. In what has become the largest corruption scandal in U.S. Navy history, former U.S. Navy commander Troy Amundson pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy to commit bribery, admitting that he conspired with foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis, a.k.a.
Baltic Exchange Main Index to Drop Handysize T/C Average
The Baltic Exchange says from March 1, 2018, the Baltic Dry Index, its main sea freight index, which typically factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels…
Salvage Crews Working to Recover Sanchi's Bunker Fuel
Chinese salvage crews are still trying to remove 1,900 tonnes of bunker fuel, the heavy oil used in ship engines, from a sunken Iranian oil tanker, the Ministry of Transport said on Thursday, almost a month after it collided with a freight ship. If the fuel is not cleaned up, it could pollute the marine environment, the ministry warned in a release. Bunker fuel is noxious to marine organisms and difficult to remove from the ocean once spilled.
Croatia to Speed up Building of LNG Terminal in Adriatic
Croatia will pass a special law to speed up the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the northern Adriatic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday. Croatia produces more than half of its gas consumption, some 2.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year. Once the LNG terminal is built it hopes to be able to supply both its own market as well as central and eastern European countries.
Capital Product Partners Adds Two Vessels, Sells One
Greece-based international diversified shipping partnership Capital Product Partners announced the completed acquisition of the M/T ‘Aristaios’, as well as the sale…
ABS Excels in Marine Safety Standard
ABS announced it had zero work-related lost time incidents during 2017. The corresponding Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR) of 0.00 represents a significant milestone…
