Callan Marine Names Maldonado VP
Galveston, Texas based dredging and marine construction contractor Callan Marine said it has named Joey Maldonado as Vice President of Construction Estimating.A 25-year veteran of the construction and maritime industry, Maldonado has worked for Kingsley Constructors, Keystone Contractors, Orion Marine Group, and Russell Marine, serving as both a Project Estimator and Design Engineer. Maldonado graduated from Wharton College in 1999.“We are very excited to welcome Joey to our Callan work family…
Rescue Boat Resolve Pioneer Upgraded
Salvage, emergency response and marine services company Resolve Marine announced that its vessel the Resolve Pioneer has completed its ABS special survey and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) certificate of inspection following a drydock at Vigor Industrial in Portland, Ore. The drydock involved various technical upgrades, hull steel renewal, painting, overhaul and cleaning of the vessel.The 207-foot rescue…
Austal USA Cleared to Begin OPC Stage 2 After Eastern Withdraws Protest
Mobile, Ala. shipbuilder Austal USA has been cleared to begin the second stage of the U.S. Coast Guard's (USCG) Heritage-class offshore patrol cutter (OPC) build program following the withdrawal of an award protest filed by an unsuccessful bidder, the USCG said on Thursday.In June, Austal USA was awarded a $208.26 million contract for detail design and long lead-time material for one OPC, with options for production of up to 10 additional vessels.
Ingram Barge Declares Force Majeure Due to Low Mississippi River
Ingram Barge Company, one of the country’s largest barge shippers, said Thursday it was “providing formal notice of a force majeure event” as low water on the Mississippi River disrupted its operations on the major shipping waterway.The declaration would affect the portion of Ingram’s operating network at locations downriver from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Ingram Barge Chief Executive John Roberts said in an emailed statement. (Reuters - Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Sweden's Trafikverket Orders Autonomous Electric Ferries
Holland Shipyards Group said it signed a contract with the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket Sweden) for the delivery of up to four autonomous all-electric ferries. The vessels, which will be built for the agency's ferries unit Trafikverket Färjerederiet, will sail according to autonomy level 2, and will be controlled from the remote control center based in Stockholm.The signed contract includes the delivery of two ferries with four automooring facilities and two charging stations…
AVIKUS' Autonomous Navigation nears Commercialization
AVIKUS, HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation in-house startup, is nearly ready to bring to market its autonomous navigation solution for the pleasure boat market, and plans demonstrations later this month at the 2022 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS). There the company will introduce and showcase Neuboat, an autonomous phase-2 navigation solution for leisure boats featuring the Avikus Navigation…
Norway Limits Access for Russian Fishing Trawlers
Norway said on Thursday it would impose limits on Russian fishing vessels using its ports, in a further tightening of security following last week's suspected sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the nearby Baltic Sea.Russian trawlers will now only be allowed to visit three of several dozen ports along the Norwegian coast and must undergo security checks when they do, foreign minister Anniken…
Canadian Coast Guard to Test Biodiesel, Build Hybrid-electric Vessel
The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) announced a pair of initiatives aimed at reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, including the start of a biodiesel testing project and the launch of the next phase in the construction of the Government of Canada’s first hybrid electric vessel.Earlier this month, following the award of a contract to procure biodiesel from Windsor, Ontario based Sterling Fuels, CCG became Canada's first government agency to trial a 20% biodiesel blend in one of its vessels…
Nord Stream Gas 'Sabotage': Who's Being Blamed and Why?
Major leaks that suddenly erupted in the Nord Stream gas pipelines that run from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea have generated plenty of theories but few clear answers about who or what caused the damage.Here is what we know and what has been said so far:WHO IS BEING BLAMED?As probes by European authorities continue, the Swedish security police said on Thursday that suspicions of gross sabotage on the pipelines had been strengthened following a crime scene investigation.
Volvo Penta and CMB.TECH Partner on Dual-fuel Hydrogen Engines
Volvo Penta and CMB.TECH announced they are working together to accelerate the development of dual-fuel hydrogen-powered solutions for both on land and at sea applications.CMB.TECH owns, operates, and designs large marine and industrial applications powered by hydrogen and ammonia – fuels that it both manufactures and supplies to its customers. Volvo Penta is a manufacturer of engines and complete power systems for boats, vessels and industrial applications.
FPS Maas: Tip of the Spear in a Fleet of Zero-emission Inland Vessels
EST-Floattech is a part of the FPS Maas retrofit project from Future Proof Shipping and Holland Shipyards Group, both of which are working on sustainable projects, where HSG builds or retrofits the ships, and FPS, as the zero-emissions shipowner, offers sustainable marine transportation services.With the ‘FPS Maas’, FPS is en route to build and operate a fleet of 10 zero-emission inland and short-sea vessels.
TotalEnergies, BW LNG Partner with Nautilus Labs
TotalEnergies, signatory of the Sea Cargo Charter in 2020, identified the need for a better monitoring system that also allows to report and optimize GHG emissions for its LNG fleet. Reporting on emissions was a tedious, manual time-consuming process that was prone to error, and left little room for optimization. BW, the owner and operator of some LNG vessels chartered by the energy major, was at the…
Strategic Marine Delivers Fast Crew Boat to Malaysia's Blue Petra
Singapore-based shipbuilder Strategic Marine has delivered a new 40-meter Fast Crew Boat (FCB) to Malaysia-based Blue Petra.Blue Petra is a subsidiary of Great Ocean, a licensed Petronas contractor and a supplier to the Malaysian oil and gas industry. Blue Petra focuses on providing FCBs to provide support offshore operations in Malaysian waters.The Blue Petra 1 vessel is the first FCB delivered to Great Ocean.
'Unthinkable' That Russia Will be Excluded from Nord Stream Probe, Foreign Ministry Says
Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday it was "unthinkable" that an investigation into ruptures on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines would proceed without Russia's participation.Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the West was purposefully creating obstacles to the investigation and said the exclusion of Russia and Gazprom from the probe showed it had something to hide.President…
Birdon Wins Coast Guard River Buoy, Inland Construction Deal
The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded Denver-based Birdon America, Inc. a contract for the detail design and construction of its new river buoy and inland construction tenders.The deal is part of the Coast Guard's Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) Program to replace its aging fleet of 35 inland tenders that support the service’s aids to navigation (ATON) mission in federal inland waterways. The WCC fleet is approaching obsolescence…
Israel, Lebanon Closing in on Maritime Border Deal
Lebanon and Israel are closer than ever to signing a deal demarcating their maritime border, opening the door to new oil and gas exploration, after years of U.S.-brokered negotiations.While limited in scope, the agreement is set to ease security and economic concerns in both countries, whose shared history is rife with hostility. The deal will only resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern tip of the Mediterranean sea and does not touch on their land borders…
Container Shipping Market: Plunging Rates and Blank Sailings
Peter Sand, the chief analyst of Xeneta discuss recent trends in the container shipping market, from plunging spot rates to blank sailings.The container shipping market has enjoyed a prolonged historic, and somewhat unexpected bull run, as COVID-induced consumer spending broadly switched from travel and entertainment to manufac-tured goods. But as COVID restrictions fade and inflation rages, the tides are changing…