Seacat Services Orders Two Crew Transfer Vessels
UK-based offshore wind farm support vessel operator, Seacat Services has ordered two more Chartwell 24 crew transfer vessels.The two vessels – to be named Seacat Sceptre and Seacat Sovereign – are designed by Chartwell Marine, and will be the first equipped with a new foil optimization and stability system (FOSS) designed by BAR Technologies. This system promises to enhance vessel stability, improving comfort for offshore wind technicians…
AqualisBraemar to Acquire LOC Group
Offshore energy and marine consultancy AqualisBraemar will acquire marine and engineering consulting firm LOC Group (London Offshore Consultants).Oslo-listed group AqualisBraemar, which offers consultancy services to the offshore energy industries, said Monday that the acquisition would create "a leading global independent offshore energy and marine consultancy."David Wells, CEO of AqualisBraemar, said: "Our strategy is clear…
Fincantieri Floating Dock Refit in La Spezia
Working with Italian partner Westeam Srl, Scanjet PSM has secured a floating dock refit project with the Fincantieri Group, one of the world’s largest shipbuilding groups with 20 shipyards across Europe, the Americas and Asia.Requiring very short delivery lead times, the companies were tasked to refit a ballast level gauging system for a floating dock in La Spezia. With a lifting power of 40,000 tons and with 32 ballast/double bottoms…
Mackay Marine Outfits Kitsap Transit's New Ferries
Mackay Marine said it provided marine electronics systems and technologies for Kitsap Transit's two new 250-passenger vessels built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB).Bremerton, Wash.-based public transit agency ordered the new vessels in December 2018 to provide expedient commuter services to downtown Seattle from both Kingston, Wash. and a planned Southworth, Wash. route.The bow-loading fast ferries, built by NBBB at its Whidbey Island, Wash.
Iran Says It Has an 'Aircraft Carrier'
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have added a warship capable of carrying aircraft, missile launchers and drones to its naval fleet, state media said on Thursday, at a time of high tension between Tehran and Washington.Antagonism between longtime foes Tehran and Washington has risen since 2018, when President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy.A U.S.
UK PM Johnson Outlines Plans to Build Europe's Most Powerful Navy
Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to restore Britain’s navy to its position as Europe’s most powerful maritime force on Thursday, highlighting that shipbuilding could also help heal divisions between the four nations of the United Kingdom.With repeated polls suggesting most people in Scotland now support independence, Johnson was keen to press the case for how England and Scotland can work together.He announced plans for 13 more frigates as well as committing to a new generation of warships…
Zvezda Cuts Steel for First Russian-built Icebreaking LNG Carrier
Russia's Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex has started building the first in a series of 15 icebreaking liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers ordered for year-round gas transport along the Northern Sea Route from the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia's high north. They will be the first such vessels constructed domestically.Shipbuilding, financing, lease and time charter contracts for the new ships were signed by SCF Group, NOVATEK Group, Zvezda and VEB.RF Group in 2019.
WTO Sees Trade Rebound, But Likely Year-end Slowdown
The World Trade Organization said on Friday global trade in goods had rebounded in the third quarter from COVID-19 lockdowns, but predicted a slowdown at the end of 2020.The WTO said its goods trade barometer had risen to 100.7 points from a record low of 84.5 points in August, driven by a surge in export orders. A reading greater than 100 indicates above-trend growth.“The latest reading indicates a strong rebound in trade in the third quarter as lockdowns were eased…
CMA CGM Sees Strong Final Quarter on Shipping Recovery
Container shipping group CMA CGM said on Friday shipping activity remained strong in the final quarter of 2020 after a rebound from initial coronavirus-related disruption boosted the French company's third-quarter profits.CMA CGM, the world's fourth-largest container shipping line, said its EBITDA margin rose to 21.0% in the third quarter from 17.2% in the previous quarter and 13.3% in the year-earlier period.Brisk shipping activity should allow CMA CGM to increase the EBITDA margin further in t
Iran Seizes Tanker for Alleged Fuel Smuggling
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have seized a Panama-registered vessel in the Gulf suspected of smuggling 300,000 liters of fuel and detained its crew of 10, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Friday.The agency did not give the nationality of the crew members or other details of the incident in its report.Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall of its national currency as it faces U.S.
In Focus: Talking Workboat Safety with AWO's Brian Bailey
Brian Bailey, Director of Safety and Environmental Stewardship for the American Waterways Operators (AWO), was recently named a 2020 Rising Star of Safety by the National Safety Council (NSC), a nonprofit public service organization promoting health and safety in the U.S. Marine News spoke with Bailey about workboat safety and the AWO’s mission to protect industry workers, assets and the environment.Please…
BW Offshore, New Zealand Gov't Reach Umuroa FPSO Settlement
FPSO operator BW Offshore has reached a settlement with the New Zealand government over the FPSO Umuroa, which has been stuck at the Tui field, around 50 kilometers off the coast of Taranaki, for months.BW Offshore has been unable to remove its FPSO from the Tui field following the contract termination, client liquidation, and the country's court and environment regulator intervention.Client Tamarind Taranaki in October 2019 said it wouldn't extend the FPSO contract after December 31…
Charging Ahead: Brent Perry & his Sterling PBES Team Drive Maritime Battery Tech
Brent Perry, CEO of Sterling PBES is a 40+ year veteran of the marine business, and one of the pioneers in delivering battery solutions to boats and ships at sea. Please give us a by the numbers look at Sterling PBES today?Right now we are sitting in a position where we had anticipated delivering somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-21 million worth of product, which is about 35 megawatt hours. And we’re scheduled to blow past that to almost $40 million.
Video: In Offshore Wind, Size Matters
The offshore wind industry has made great strides to become a cost-competitive option for grid and off-grid energy solutions. And today, the industry is growing faster than ever before, both in the well-established European market and in newer ones such as in China, Taiwan, Japan and the U.S.As the industry keeps growing, projects and turbines do too, says Philip Lewis, director of research at World Energy Reports."Offshore wind is becoming more mainstream…
SeaMar Group Nets Long-Term Charter with MMT in U.S. Offshore Wind Space
Swedish marine survey company MMT has awarded a long-term contract for SeaMar Group's Deep Helder offshore support vessel.To contract comes following the recent six-month deal previously awarded for the vessel for work on the east coast of the U.S.The contract extension has a duration of two years firm, plus 1-year option. Work is expected to start in direct continuation of the vessel’s previously agreed scope.
Lebanon Hires German Firm to Remove Dangerous Material from Beirut Port
Lebanon's authorities signed a contract this month with a German company to clear dangerous material stored for more than a decade at Beirut port, the site of a seismic blast in August that killed about 200 people and wrecked swathes of the capital.Combi Lift, which signed the contract three months after a huge quantity of poorly stored chemicals erupted in a mushroom cloud, will remove "flammable and highly reactive" chemicals from 49 containers at the port…
A Group of Villagers, a Migrant Boat and a Deadly End in Senegal
Seven neighbors from a village in western Senegal boarded a fishing boat crammed with migrants just after midnight on Oct. 26. Their destination: Europe, 1000 miles away over open ocean.Two of them are now missing, presumed dead, after the boat carrying dozens of people capsized in a collision with the Senegalese coastguard.One can barely walk from his injuries. Another is haunted by the memory of…
UN's IMO Approves Ban on Heavy Ship Fuel in Arctic after July 2024
The United Nations shipping agency on Friday approved a ban on the use of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic region in a move criticized by green groups which said loopholes will allow many vessels to keep sailing without enough regulatory control.Antarctic waters are protected by stringent regulations, including a ban on heavy oil fuel (HFO) adopted in 2011, even though no cargo moves through the turbulent southern waters.
Jo-Kell Promotes Executives Parkinson, Kelly
Electrical distributor Jo-Kell Inc. said it has promoted Kristin Parkinson to Chief Operating Officer and John Kelly to Chief Corporate Officer.Initially hired as the head of the company’s Jacksonville branch, Parkinson took charge immediately and led the Jacksonville team to more than 500% revenue growth over her tenure. She was promoted to Executive Vice President of Operations and relocated to Jo-Kell’s corporate office in Chesapeake, Va.
Thyssenkrupp Expects Consolidation in European Warship Sector
Thyssenkrupp is in intense discussions with European peers about consolidation in the warship sector, Chief Executive Martina Merz told analysts on Thursday.Thyssenkrupp has said that it is exploring partnerships for its Marine Systems division, which builds frigates and submarines, and Merz said developing the unit as a standalone business within the group was not the most likely scenario.Sources…
