Trimaran Aims to Break Westabout Around-the-world Sailing Record
Two award-winning skippers are attempting to circumnavigate the globe westabout against the prevailing winds and currents in 122 days to break the current world record.The Use It Again! duo, Romain Pilliard and Alex Pella, commenced their voyage from Lorient, France on January 4, setting sail aboard an 18-year-old refurbished trimaran, in an attempt to help promote and develop the circular economy.
ABB Expects Supply Bottlenecks to Ease in 2022
ABB expects supply chain bottlenecks to ease during 2022, the Swiss engineering group said on Thursday, after shortages of semiconductors hurt its ability to deliver increasing orders during the fourth quarter.The maker of fast chargers for electric vehicles and industrial drives for factories reported a 21% jump in orders as demand surged from machine builders, food manufacturers and general industry.But…
FPSO Explodes Offshore Nigeria
An oil production and storage vessel exploded off the coast of Nigeria early on Wednesday with 10 crew members on board though it was not yet clear if there were any casualties or how much crude might have spilled into the sea.Nigeria's Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL) said on Thursday that flames had engulfed the Trinity Spirit floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO)…
Historic Dutch Bridge to Make Way for Superyacht Reportedly Built for Jeff Bezos
The city of Rotterdam has agreed to remove a section of historic bridge in the Netherlands to make way for a superyacht, reportedly built for Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.A spokesperson for the city of Rotterdam said the mid-section of the century-old "Koningshavenbrug," know by locals as "De Hef", will be removed this summer to make way for a yacht with 40-metre (131-ft) masts, but declined to comment…
O&G Saturation Divers Complete Cross-Atlantic Row
A group of four saturation divers from the U.K. recently rowed across the Atlantic Ocean to tackle a challenge of lifetime while raising money for a local cancer charity.Chris Ayres, Lewis Locke, James Piper and Andy Taw—all employed by Helix Energy Solutions Group as deep sea saturation divers—took part in ‘The 2021 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge’, which saw the four men row 3,000 miles from La Gomera, the Canary Islands, to Antigua in The Caribbean to raise money for Wessex Cancer Trust.
Dry Bulk: Rates Across Vessel Segments Rise
The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index rose on Thursday, buoyed by an uptick in rates across vessel segments.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, rose 6 points, or 0.4%, to 1,425.The capesize index gained 11 points, or 0.9%, to 1,291.Average daily earnings for capesizes, which transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose by $94 to $10…
Freight Rates from North Europe to US East Coast Increase Three-fold
Spread between short- and long-term container shipping freight rates from North Europe to U.S. East Coast narrow with both increasing around three-fold.Rates from North Europe to the U.S. East Coast have increased dramatically over the past year, similar to any other main trade lane. With disruptions hitting container shipping globally, the non-major trade lanes have also experienced reverse cascading - ships heading back to main trades…
Solstad Offshore Offloads Anchor Handling Trio, Nabs UK Work for PSV Duo
Offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore said Thursday it had sold three anchor handling vessels to undisclosed buyers, and also secured work for two platform supply vessels in the UK North Sea.Haugesund, Norway-based company said Thursday it had sold the Nor Captain - owned by its subsidiary Solstad Offshore Singapore - and Far Sword and Far Stream, owned by its subsidiary Farstad Supply."Delivery of the vessels to the new owner took place today, February 3rd, 2022.
Euronav's Loss Deepens as Omicron Hits Tanker Market Recovery
Euronav deepened its quarterly net loss as the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus dragged on the recovery of the crude tanker market, the Belgian shipping group said on Thursday."We believe this is a temporary pause," Chief Executive Hugo De Stoop said in a statement, predicting a rebound in oil supply, restocking requirements of global crude inventory and consumption…
Giant Container Ship Mumbai Maersk Runs Aground Off German Island
One of the world's biggest container ships, the Mumbai Maersk, has run aground off the German island of Wangerooge in the North Sea, Germany's Central Command for…
Cranes: Mammoet Investigating Potential Patent Infringement by Huisman and BMS
Update (April 29, 2022): A court has ruled that Mammoet unlawfully accused Huisman of crane patent violation. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3y1bmeFDutch heavy lifting and transportation company Mammoet said Thursday it was investigating a possible violation of its intellectual property rights by Dutch crane maker Huisman and Danish crane specialist BMS. "The investigation concerns the recently announced series of land cranes, including a 3000-ton ring crane, by Huisman and BMS.
Ship Design: Ammonia FSRU Concept Studied by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., in a joint effort with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL), completed a conceptual study on a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for ammonia, a study is aimed at promoting the use of ammonia as an energy source and the introduction of the ammonia FSRU globally.The Ammonia FSRU is a floating facility for receiving and storing ammonia which is transported in a liquid state from its production area…
California Pilots Announce Training Program Exam
The Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun (BOPC) announced that its next Pilot Trainee Training Program Selection Examination will be held in June 2022 at the California State University Maritime Academy in Vallejo, Calif. Applications are due no later than April 15, 2022.The BOPC typically conducts maritime pilot trainee training program selection examinations every two to three years, or when there is a need for licensed pilots.
Senior Surveyor Sean Murphy Joins ABL Boston
AqualisBraemar LOC ASA Group's (ABL Group) operations in the USA announced the new appointment of Sean Murphy as Senior Surveyor based in Boston, adding to ABL’s strengths in both the local maritime and offshore renewables industries.Murphy is a chartered naval architect and marine engineer, and a graduate of Webb Institute with a masters in engineering management from Duke University.He has extensive experience in marine casualty investigations for various interests…
Passenger Vessel Sector Faces Winding Path Back to ‘Normal’
The year just ended, 2021, might be described as being about “trying to get back to normal”, across the entire transportation spectrum, two years into the pandemic. During this time, the decarbonization and electrification waves have swept across maritime passenger transport. The passenger side of the business is dependent on multiple funding sources; increasingly, this money will be driven by environmental and social considerations.The long-awaited funding of “infrastructure”-related projects…
Vikand Launches Infection Control Officer Training Course
Maritime medical and public health specialist Vikand Solutions has launched an online infection control officer training course for the cruise and commercial shipping industries.The course equips crew from differing environments with an opportunity to learn more about infectious disease epidemiology and its application within the maritime sector.Taking approximately 30 hours to complete and consisting of nine modules with a final exam…
Venezuela's Oil Exports Fall to Lowest Since September
Venezuela's oil exports plummeted in January to the lowest level since September amid loading bottlenecks caused by returned and rescheduled crude cargoes, according to internal documents from state-run PDVSA and tanker tracking data.Even as the company and its joint ventures are receiving a stable supply of diluents from Iran that has allow it to increase production, they have struggled to export…
SCHOTTEL Unveils New Digital Products and Services
German propulsion specialist SCHOTTEL announced it is rolling out new digital products and services for optimizing ship operations. “Basically, we are creating a virtual image of the propulsion system on land, thus providing insights into the propulsion system. This information can then be used to plan operational and strategic deployments better,” said Alexander Neideck, Product Manager Automation & Digital Products at SCHOTTEL.A hub for data collection…
Europe Remains Top Destination for US LNG
Europe last month remained the top destination for shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to Refinitiv data, outpacing exports to Asia for the second month in a row.About two-thirds of U.S. LNG volumes went to Europe last month, compared to around 61% in December when sky-high European prices and demand drove U.S. LNG exports to a record, Refinitiv data showed.In both months, a lack of supply drove demand and led to cargoes being re-routed from other destinations.
Demand for Vessels Capable of Installing Giant Offshore Wind Turbines to Outpace Supply by 2024, Rystad Says
Offshore wind turbine makers have been working to build increasingly bigger turbines, and the likes of GE, Siemens Gamesa, Vestas, and MingYang have in the past two years or so unveiled designs for giant 14-16MW rated units.It has been said that larger turbines, while more expensive per unit, reduce the overall cost of large-scale offshore wind farm development due to their being more modern and efficient…
