Metal Shark Building Launch for Pascagoula Pilots
Shipbuilder Metal Shark said it is building a welded aluminum 55’ x 17’ pilot boat for the Pascagoula Bar Pilots Association in Mississippi, scheduled for delivery later this year.Designed in-house, the new 55 Defiant Pilot being built for Pascagoula Pilots incorporates the“faceted hull” design initially developed by Metal Shark for the U.S. Navy 40 PB program, and features an enhanced version of Metal Shark’s “pillarless glass” in a two-tiered…
Insights: Contracts are Overrated in Maritime
My company has been around since 1875, and today we actually still do things that were being done in 1875. We still get calls from underwriters to attend on disasters all over the place, and we are still asked to provide values on ships on a moment’s notice.Moreover, some of the companies that ask us to attend to those issues, in some form or another, also have been around since 1875.That results in a very smooth operational routine…
Container Shipping Capacity Down 11% in April -eeSea
A total of 302 of 2,693 containership sailings, or 11%, have been canceled in May on all the main line trades, according to the latest data from maritime intelligence company eeSea, revealing the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on global shipping.In the first six months of 2020, a total of 1,675 sailings have been canceled, or 11%; which comes out at 13% for 2M, 17% for Ocean Alliance and 17% for THE Alliance…
Russian Firms to Build World's Most Powerful Nuclear Icebreaker
Two Russian companies signed a deal on Thursday to build the world's most powerful nuclear icebreaker to help boost trade on a northern sea route crucial to forging closer links with Asia.Atomflot, a subsidiary of Russian nuclear group Rosatom, and the Zvezda shipyard, owned by a consortium led by oil giant Rosneft, said they would work together to build the Lider (Leader) icebreaker.President Vladimir…
Wärtsilä Designs New Cruise Ships for Amundsen Expeditions
Wärtsilä said it has developed a customized design for up to six new luxury expedition cruise vessels for owner and operator Amundsen Expeditions, targeted primarily at the Chinese market.Wärtsilä, which booked the design order in the third quarter of 2019, said its in-house ship design team worked in close cooperation with Amundsen Expeditions to develop the concept. Each vessel will be capable of…
Oil in Floating Storage More Than Doubles in a Month
The volume of key oil products held in floating storage around the globe has more than doubled in the past month to about 68 million barrels, according to data from oil analytics firm Vortexa.The figure, which includes gasoline, diesel and jet fuel as of April 22, compares with around 30 million barrels in the previous month, Vortexa said.With available space on land storage tanks scarce, traders around the world have been rushing to book tankers of different sizes to store oil products as lockd
Australian Exports Jumped 29% in March
Australia's goods exports rose sharply in March as the resource-rich country shipped more iron ore to China and more gold to Hong Kong and the UK, preliminary data on Thursday showed.The Australian Bureau of Statistics said exports of goods jumped 29% in original terms in March to A$36.1 billion ($22.79 billion), following declines in January and February.Exports of non-rural goods rose A$4.8 billion…
DP World Says Unclear When Global Trade Will Recover
The timing of a trade recovery from the economic crisis caused by the new coronavirus pandemic is uncertain, global ports operator DP World warned on Thursday.The Dubai state-controlled company just last month said it was seeing demand bounce back as Chinese factories restarted, though the global spread of the virus has since drastically worsened, forcing many industries to a near halt."The timing of any recovery is uncertain with trade expected to pick up as and when global economic activity no
Antwerp Port Trials Wristbands for Coronavirus Social Distancing
Workers in the port of Antwerp will next month begin testing wristbands developed by a Belgian technology company that could help guarantee the social distancing required during the COVID-19 pandemic.Rombit, also Antwerp-based, already supplies wearables resembling a sports watch that can warn workers if vehicles are approaching, provide an alert if someone falls into the water or control who uses…
Jaap de Lange Named MD at AEGIR-Marine
Jaap de Lange was appointed Managing Director of AEGIR-Marine, a stern seal and propulsion services company. He started his career in the Royal Dutch Navy, and was in consulting for 23 years in a variety of roles. Since 2009 he worked for Damen Shipyards in several senior leadership positions.“We are convinced that Jaap de Lange is the right man for the job in the present phase of our companies,” said Ruud Muis, owner of AEGIR-Marine.
Iran Says It Will Destroy US Warships if Threatened
Iran will destroy U.S. warships if its security is threatened in the Gulf, the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards told state TV on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tehran over "harassment" of U.S. vessels."I have ordered our naval forces to destroy any American terrorist force in the Persian Gulf that threatens security of Iran's military or non-military ships," Major General Hossein Salami said.
Malaysia Calls for Peaceful End to South China Sea Standoff
Malaysia called on Thursday for disputes over the South China Sea to be resolved by peaceful means, amid a standoff between Chinese and Malaysian vessels that a U.S. think tank said had been going on for months.U.S. and Australian warships arrived in the South China Sea this week near an area where a Chinese government survey vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi 8, has been operating close to a drillship under contract to Malaysian state oil company Petronas…
Subsea 7 Scores 'Substantial' Offshore Wind Deal in Dutch North Sea
Offshore installation contractor Subsea 7 has won a "substantial" contract for work on the first subsidy-free offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.The company has been tasked by Vatenfall to transport and install wind turbine monopile foundations and inner array grid cables for the Hollandse Kust Zuid 1-4 offshore wind farm project.Subsea 7 said the contract award was substantial, meaning its value is between $150 million and $300 million.Under the contract…
DEME Takes Delivery of New Dredger
Dutch company Royal IHC has delivered the newbuild trailing suction hopper dredger River Thames to Belgium's DEME.The dredger, designed and built by IHC, is based on the TSHD LESSE, delivered to Baggerbedrijf de Boer by IHC in 2019. The vessel is designed to maintain sea and inland waterways, as well as perform land reclamation. "The compact design of the TSHD is characterized by a small draught and can be deployed for projects in shallow water worldwide…
Italian Cruise Ship in Japan has 48 Coronavirus Cases
Nearly 50 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked for repairs in Japan's Nagasaki have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising concern about the strain on the city's hospitals if conditions worsen for those infected. Results on Thursday showed 14 more aboard, all either cooks or those serving food, were infected with the virus, an official in Nagasaki prefecture said. One patient who had been taken to hospital previously was now in serious condition and on a ventilator…
Keppel Delivers New Jack-Up Drilling Rig to Borr Drilling
Singapore-based offshore drilling rig builder Keppel Offshore & Marine has delivered a newbuild jack-up drilling rig to Norway's Borr Drilling.The rig, named Hild, was built to Keppel's KFELS Super B Class design. The Hild is the sixth jack-up that Keppel has delivered to Borr Drilling, out of the 11 that have been ordered. It is capable of operating in 400 feet water depth and drilling to 35,000 feet.
Saipem Unable to Offer Guidance after Coronavirus, Oil Collapse
Italian oil services group Saipem said on Thursday it could not offer new guidance for the year because of the highly unstable environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic and falling oil prices.Last week the group pulled its 2020 outlook saying the pandemic might trigger a sharp fall in demand and a delay in projects.On Thursday the company said it swung to a net loss in the first quarter of 269 million euros ($291.30 million)…
Autonomy on Trial
When discussing the arrival of autonomous workboats, many – especially those developing the technologies that enable them – say it’s is not a matter of if, but when. In fact, autonomous harbor tugs are already being put to the test in Singapore, where authorities hope to establish the technological infrastructure to enable fully autonomous ship operations. In the U.S., an autonomous vessel was shown to be able to respond to marine oil spills.But is autonomy really the future?
Trump Says USNS Comfort Will Return to Virginia
The U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) will soon return to Norfolk, Va., President Trump said Tuesday, less than a month after the ship was deployed to New York to support COVID-19 response efforts."I’ve asked [New York Governer] Andrew [Cuomo] if we could bring the Comfort back to its base in Virginia so that we can have it for other locations, and he said we would be able to do that," Trump said in a coronavirus task force press briefing.
Greensea Expands, Again
Greensea recently added key personnel to its engineering team in its Plymouth, Mass., office to support their hull robotics program. James Truman, Senior Robotics Engineer, is leading the development of Greensea’s latest technology, a hull crawling robot with precise hull-relative navigation and autonomy capabilities. Assisting James on the hull robotics program is Sam Fladung, Robotics Engineer.“James is one of the best engineers I know.
