Seaborne Coal Volumes Slip in Asia, and It's Not Just the Pandemic
One of the quirks of Asia's seaborne coal market is that volumes have held up remarkably well, despite the fuel being demonized for its role in climate change and the rising number of countries and companies spurning it.At least, that was the case for the past several years, but there are now signs that volumes are trending lower in the top consuming region.The amount of coal discharged at Asian ports has now dropped for 12 consecutive months…
TECH FILE: RIX Mobile Hydrogen Generation System for Marine Environments
RIX Industries offers a mobile hydrogen generation system, the M2H2-Series scalable family of Methanol-to-Hydrogen Power Systems, bringing green power to shipboard and marine environments. With the ability to generate hydrogen onboard and on demand, the RIX M2H2-Series also eliminates the heavy footprint of cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage. These highly efficient power systems provide marine shipbuilders…
Pauline Duclos, CFO of Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Dies at 87
Pauline Delia (Duperre) Duclos, age 87, wife of George Duclos, the former CEO of Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, died peacefully on April 24, 2021, surrounded by her family. The daughter of the late Jean Baptiste and Claire (Paradise) Duperre, she was born in 1933 in Warren, R.I. Pauline spent most of her life in Westport, Mass., enjoying summers on the Watuppa Pond and moving to the Pond permanently in 1960.Pauline is survived by her four children: John (Kimberly)…
What Happens When There Is an Oil Spill at Sea?
Clean-up crews worked on Wednesday to contain an oil spill in the Yellow Sea near the Chinese port city of Qingdao, a day after a tanker carrying around a million barrels of bitumen mix collided with a bulk vessel.While a preliminary study by Chinese maritime officials estimated about 500 tonnes (3,420 barrels) of oil had been spilled, it was still unclear as to the how much had been emptied into the…
WALLENIUS SOL Adds Sixth Vessel to Its Fleet
Swedish shipping company WALLENIUS SOL said it has added a sixth vessel to its fleet as it expands its service to meet increased demand from several of its customers.The 2001-built vessel, TransFighter, is 179 meters long and features high load capacity as well as the ability to combine container cargo, RoRo and StoRo, WALLENIUS SOL said. It will be deployed in a biweekly service on the Oulu – Kokkola…
MSC Rolls Out Electronic Bill of Lading Globally
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is introducing the electronic bill of lading (eBL) for its customers globally following a successful pilot phase of the independent blockchain platform.The eBL enables shippers and other supply chain stakeholders to receive and transmit the bill of lading document electronically, without any change or disruption to day-to-day business operations, potentially saving the industry billions of dollars…
Höegh Autoliners to Launch Ammonia-ready Car Carrier
Höegh Autoliners is setting out to build what it claims will be the world's largest and greenest car carrier vessel.The shipping company said it has entered a memorandum of understanding Chinese shipyard Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry targeting first vessel delivery by the end of 2023.Designed for 9,100 car equivalent units, the Aurora Class roll-on, roll-off ships will be the world's largest car carriers.
i4 Insight Integrates Optimal Bunker Planning Data Through BunkerEx
A new alliance will provide shipowners and operators with real-time price, location and availability data to reveal cost-effective bunker options.i4 Insight, creators of a platform that provides a single point of access for multiple data streams and applications offering a holistic view of fleet operations, has formed an alliance with BunkerEx to incorporate optimized bunker planning data into the…
Svanehøj Wins Pump Order for New Chinese MR Tankers
Svanehøj said it has landed two major P&C pump orders in China, most recently securing a contract with GSI Shipyard on a total of 96 deepwell pumps for four new MR Tankers.Svanehøj has manufactured pump systems for P&C tankers for decades, but the segment is now becoming a significantly larger part of the business. The Danish specialist in deepwell pumps for marine and offshore has a target of increasing…
Apprentice School Expands to Offer Academic Degrees
Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Wednesday that The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding was certified by the Council for Occupational Education to provide academic degrees in 26 educational programs.Starting in 2023, the school will grant associate degrees of applied science in maritime technology to apprentices who complete the required coursework and skills training, including maintenance electrician…
Maintenance Error Led to $2.2 Million Bulker Accident -NTSB
The incorrect installation of a single set screw led to the loss of propulsion control on the Canadian-flagged, 736-foot-long Atlantic Huron, causing the ship to strike a pier at 6.8 knots, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday.On July 5, 2020, the self-unloading bulk carrier made contact with a pier associated with the Soo Locks, in Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., resulting in $2.2 million in damage.
China's Fuel Clampdown Curbs Its LCO Imports
China’s imports of light cycle oil (LCO) are set to fall in coming months as authorities crack down on its illicit trading and sales in South China, dealing a blow to the $10 billion market and to refiners in top supplier South Korea.China’s imports of the cheaper but more pollutive diesel blending fuel nearly doubled to record levels in 2020, but a clampdown in top oil consuming Guangdong province has curbed demand.The amount of South Korean LCO…
Smalts Designated SNA's 'Old Tar'
The Surface Navy Association’s (SNA) "Old Tar" designation, honoring the U.S. Navy Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) serving on active duty with the earliest qualification date, has passed to Fleet Master Chief Bill Smalts. Smalts is currently assigned as the Fleet Master Chief, Commander, United States SECOND Fleet, Norfolk, Va.Smalts is now the 14th individual to receive the Old Tar honor having relieved Force Master Chief David B.
Market Signals Fast Rebound in Floating Production Orders
The deepwater market is rapidly returning to pre-COVID-19 activity levels, and the recovery appears to be gaining strength, according to a recent in-depth analysis completed by International Maritime Associates (IMA) and World Energy Reports (WER).“Lots of green shoots have appeared,” says Jim McCaul, head of IMA/WER. “Oil inventory has been brought down to seasonal average, crude remains in the mid-$60s…
Clean-up off Qingdao Continues After Oil Spill from Ship Collision
Clean-up work continued on Wednesday near the Chinese port city of Qingdao, a day after a yet-to-be determined quantity of oil spilled into the Yellow Sea after a tanker carrying around a million barr
US Navy Ship Fires Warning Shots After Run-in with Iranian Vessels
A U.S. military ship fired warning shots after three vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came close to it and another American patrol boat in the Gulf, the United States military said on Tuesday.Such incidents have occurred occasionally over the past five years, though there has been a relative lull over the past year.While officials said it was too early to discern the exact motivation of the Iranian forces…
CMA CGM Adopts Container Firefighting System
French shipping company CMA CGM has tapped VIKING Life-Saving Equipment to supply the HydroPen drilling and spraying solution for container firefighting duties on board 85 of its vessels.Where conventional firefighting solutions dowse containers on the outside, the HydroPen is attached to a standard hose as a combined drill and spray unit that penetrates the container door before extinguishing the fire with water, foam or CO2.
Responders Working to Salvage Capsized Lift Boat Seacor Power
The U.S. Coast Guard is working with the Seacor Power's owner to salvage the lift boat that capsized earlier this month in the Gulf of Mexico.A unified command including representatives from the Coast Guard and Houston-based Seacor Marine engaged in-person for the salvage and wreck removal, including the removal of fuel and oil from the overturned vessel, the Coast Guard said on Tuesday.The 234-foot Seacor Power capsized in heavy seas and winds approximately 8 miles south of Port Fourchon…
Alexander Cairo Port Completes Project Labor Agreement
The construction of a new inland port at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers took another step forward on Tuesday as the Alexander Cairo Port District completed a project labor agreement (PLA) with the Illinois AFL-CIO. The project labor agreement ensures that more than 500 jobs created by the construction of the Cairo port will be filled by local Illinois union workers.The Alexander-Cairo port represents one of the largest investments in Southern Illinois in decades.
InterManager to Source Vaccinations for Seafarers
Frustrated by the lack of progress and slow pace of international efforts, ship management trade group InterManager said it will work separately to obtain COVID-19 vaccines to protect the world’s more than 1.5 million seafarers and thereby keep international trade routes open.InterManager president, Mark O’Neil, said, “Global organizations have talked their way round in circles and still we are no…
