USNS Comfort Leaves New York
The U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort departed New York harbor on Thursday, just a month after arriving to help ease the strain on overburdened city hospitals dealing with the novel coronavirus outbreak.The 1,000-bed Navy vessel, headed back to its home base in Norfolk, Virginia, never neared its capacity, even as the city quickly became the world’s epicenter for COVID-19 infections.The vessel, painted a gleaming white with red crosses…
FMC Launches Cruise Line Fact Finding Mission
Commissioner Louis E. Sola will lead a fact finding investigation and work with key industry stakeholders to identify commercial measures passenger cruise lines can adopt to mitigate COVID-19 related impacts to this sector of the maritime industry.The Federal Maritime Commission designated Commissioner Sola to serve as the Fact Finding Officer for Fact Finding 30, “COVID-19 Impact on Cruise Industry” in an order issued today.In the course of his investigation…
Valaris Says Rigs May Be Idle for Up to Two Years
Offshore drilling contactor Valaris, which is exploring a bankruptcy restructuring, on Thursday said it could take up to two years to reactivate idle equipment as…
LNG Carriers Build Up Around Virus-hit Europe
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes are piling up off the shores of Europe as the coronavirus pandemic severely disrupts gas demand, leading to delays in tanker discharges and a rise in the number of vessels used as floating storage, analysts said.Lockdowns due to the virus have led to a slump in industrial gas consumption worldwide, reducing demand for LNG and causing cargo deferrals, delays and cancellations…
Austal Wins Contract to Build Six Australian Navy Patrol Boats
Shipbuilder Austal Australia has been awarded a A$324 million (US$209.8 million) contract to design and construct six evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats (CCPBs) for the Royal Australian Navy.It is the largest contract for an Australian vessel construction program ever awarded to Austal in the company’s 30-year history.The six new vessels, to be constructed at Austal’s Henderson shipyard in Western Australia…
Fincantieri Wins $795 Mln US Navy Guided Missile Frigate Contract
Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard has been selected to build a class of up to 10 multimission guided-missile frigates (FFGs) for the Navy’s FFG(X) program, the U.S. Navy announced on Thursday.The Navy awarded a $795 million contract to the Marinette, Wis. shipbuilder for the design and production of one base ship plus nine option vessels, as well as post-delivery availability support, engineering and class services…
US Postal Service Sending Mail on Ships
The U.S. Postal Service is using ships for overseas transport as the number of commercial flights typically used to send mail abroad has plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The agency said on April 23 that a first mail shipment bound for Europe departed JFK International Service Center in New York three days earlier and is being transported on a containership scheduled to arrive at the port of Rotterdam on May 7.
MARAD Takes New Approach to Government Shipbuilding
Maritime Administration implements new way of doing business in government shipbuildingNot only is the Maritime Administration (MARAD) back in the shipbuilding business with the National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMV), the agency is using an innovative procurement method using an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) approach for these ships to be flexible for appropriation cycles.
MAN Engines Ordered for New Offshore Installation Vessel
China Merchant Heavy Industry (CMHI) has ordered 6 × MAN 12V32/44CR main engines in connection with the building of a new 5,000-tonne floating installation crane vessel – already christened ‘Les Alizés’ – for Jan De Nul Group.Delivering a cumulative output of 43,200 kW, the common-rail engines will each feature an enhanced, MAN-supplied SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system for IMO Tier III-compliance, and will also meet the even-stricter Euro Stage Vcompliant NOx-emission limit.
SHIPPINGInsight and CMA to Be Held Back-to-back
Two U.S. shipping conferences have joined forces to create the first ever North American Shipping Week, to be held October 12-16 in Stamford, Conn., organizers announced Thursday.SHIPPINGInsight will open the week on October 12, one day ahead of its orginal opening date, followed back-to-back by CMA Shipping starting on the afternoon of October 14. CMA Shipping, originally scheduled to be held from March 31 through April 2…
Seaspan Takes Delivery of Four 12,000 TEU Vessels
Seaspan Corporation has taken delivery of four 12,000 TEU vessels, each having commenced five-year time charters with a global liner, the ship owner announced Thursday.Three of the eco-modern containerships were built in 2018, and the other in 2017.Seaspan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp., announced last month it closed four flexible finance lease transactions with total proceeds of approximately $340 million.
Three of Five Converted VLOCs Are No Longer Operating -BIMCO
Converted very large ore carriers (VLOC) are increasingly becoming a thing of the past with the long-term freight contracts coming to an end as newer and more reliable ships replace them in the market. Since June 2017, 43% of the VLOC fleet have been sent to the scrapyards, while 18% of the fleet is idled or damaged.“The tragic Stellar Daisy accident brought the safety aspect of VLOCs into question.
Early Works Start for First Taiwan-built Offshore Installation Vessel
CDWE, a joint venture company between Taiwanese company CSBC and Belgian offshore contractor DEME, has initiated the early works contract for the very first floating heavy lift and installation vessel to be built in Taiwan.To be named ‘Green Jade’, the vessel will be built at CSBC in Taiwan for delivery in 2022 for deployment in the growing local offshore wind market.CDWE, Taiwan’s first offshore wind EPCI contractor…
Seafox Proposes to Take Over GMS
The Dutch owner of a fleet of offshore jack-up service vessels Seafox has made a non-binding proposal to take over the UAE-based jack-up specialist GMS. Both companies provide offshore service support jack-up units for hook-up and commissioning in the oil & gas and offshore wind industries.Seafox made the proposal on Sunday, April 26, citing "recent trading and share price volatility in relation to…
Dutch Government Gives Shipbuilder IHC $435 Mln Lifeline
The Dutch government said on Thursday it is providing ailing shipbuilder Royal IHC with a lifeline of up to almost 400 million euros ($435 million), enabling the company's takeover by a consortium of marine companies and investors from Benelux countries.IHC had been looking for fresh capital since the summer of 2019 as it grappled with mounting debt and heavy losses on tailor-made ships.The company is to be taken over by Luxembourg-based investor HAL Trust and Belgian peer Ackermans & Van Haaren
Hyde Marine BWTS Secures USCG Type Approval
The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Center issued the 30th U.S. Coast Guard Ballast Water Management System Type Approval Certificate to Hyde Marine, Inc., after a detailed review of the manufacturer’s type approval applications determined the systems met the requirements of 46 CFR 162.060.The treatment principle of the GUARDIAN-US consists of filtration and UV treatment at intake and UV treatment at discharge.
Hong Kong's Marine Department Resumes Services
Hong Kong's Marine Department will resume all services, with the exception of surveying outside of Hong Kong, from May 4 after a suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a deppartment spokesperson said Wednesday.Following the coronavirus outbreak, the department first suspended service on January 29 but resumed on March 2. Services were suspended once again from March 23.
Marlink Unveils IT Networks Monitoring Tool
Entry-level version of ITLINK management and monitoring software suite simplifies regulatory compliance for vessel and shore teamsMarlink has announced the release of a new stand-alone entry version of its ITLINK software, designed to improve transparency in monitoring and reporting of the status of IT networks onboard ships. The new monitoring tool enables shoreside teams or administrators to view the IT system status and availability…
Panama Canal Tweaks Payment System to Help Ships During Coronavirus
The Panama Canal said on Wednesday it would make a temporary change to the payment system for ships booking passage through the waterway in order to offer more flexibility to customers affected by the coronavirus outbreak."As of May 4, 2020, the interoceanic highway will implement temporary changes to the requirements for making reservations and the advance payment of reservation fees upon confirmation…
DNV GL Delivers Offshore Cyber Security Assessment Remotely
The widescale impact of COVID-19 had not hit when DNV GL Maritime Advisory (DNV GL) was contracted to conduct a cyber security assessment and penetration test for an offshore asset. Before long, however, travel had become a risk, and the parties were forced to evaluate alternative means of performing the related surveys, which resulted in the completion of DNV GL’s first remote cyber security test.Cyber…
