Overpressurized Fuel System Led to Towboat Fire -NTSB
The engine room fire aboard a towing vessel was caused by overpressurization of the fuel day tank and a main engine fuel return system when a fatigued chief engineer inadvertently left the day tank overflow valves to the storage tanks closed, the National Transportation Safety Board said in Marine Investigation Report 22/17 released Wednesday.On May 18, 2021, the towing vessel Mary Lynn was pushing two barges near mile 176 on the Upper Mississippi River near St.
BIMCO Hires Damsgaard to Lead Its New Houston Office
BIMCO announced it has hired Thomas Damsgaard to head its new office in Houston, as the shipping organization expands its global reach to better provide services to members in the Americas.Damsgaard has extensive experience working in shipowning companies, agency business, and is engaged in training activities. The main part of Damsgaard’s career has been in the United States, including in the Houston area.
UN Security Council Calls for Crackdown on Gulf of Guinea Piracy
The UN Security Council last week called for greater action to prevent piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, a region posing significant danger for commercial shipping as a hotbed for maritime kidnappings and armed robbery at sea.The council unanimously adopted Resolution 2634 (2022), which calls upon member states in the region to criminalize piracy and armed robbery at sea under their domestic laws, and to investigate…
EU Bans New Insurance of Ships Carrying Russian Oil
The European Union's sixth package of sanctions against Russia, approved on Thursday, includes an immediate ban on new insurance contracts for ships carrying Russian oil and existing contracts are to be phased out over 6 months, an EU official said."It is a 6-month phase out for ship insurance. The six months are counted from the entry into force of the sanctions package, and it is only for existing contracts.
Hapag-Lloyd Acquires DAL's Container Liner Business
Hapag-Lloyd announced it has closed its acquisition of the container liner business of German carrier Deutsche Afrika-Linien (DAL), as the German liner shipping…
New Product: TruCare – Turbocharger Anomaly Detection and Predictive Maintenance-as-a-Service
Tru-Marine launches TruCare, designed to transform the technical management of marine turbocharger maintenance and repairs.“TruCare is a disruptive digitization approach in managing asset maintenance onboard vessels in a completely different way," said James Loke, Group Chief Executive Officer, Tru-Marine. "More importantly, it is our response to the urgency of decarbonization imposed by world maritime…
ADNOC L&S to Buy Three New 175,000m3 LNG Carriers
ADNOC Logistics & Services, UAE-based oil firm ADNOC's shipping and maritime logistics arm, said Thursday it would order three new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. "ADNOC L&S is the region’s largest shipping and integrated logistics company and the state-of-the-art new-build vessels will bolster the company’s capacity as it responds to the growing global demand for LNG," ADNOC L&S said.The new-build LNG vessels…
Greek Fleet Maintains Pole Position -Clarksons
Greek shipowners retain their preeminent market position with 16.4% of global GT (19% by dwt) despite recent years of crisis, operational challenges, dramatic market change and widespread disruption, according to recent analysis from Clarksons Research.Over the last four years, Greek shipping companies have added 29 million GT to reach 247 million GT / 41 million dwt on the water), the U.K.-based data and analytics firm said.A long term focus on tankers (26% global fleet share…
TankerTrackers.com Locates Seized Greek Tankers in Iranian Waters
Two Greek oil tankers seized by Iran last week are located in Iranian waters, monitoring service TankerTrackers.com said in a Twitter post on Thursday."We now have…
Norway's Hammerfest Plant Resumes LNG Production almost Two Years After Fire
Norway's Hammerfest liquefied natural gas plant has restarted LNG production following a fire almost two years ago, boosting the country's gas exports, operator Equinor said on Thursday.The company last week told Reuters the plant had completed repairs and was preparing to restart output. The plant had been offline since late September of 2020, and a restart was postponed several times while repairs…
Korean Shipbuilder Can't Accept New FSRU Orders as Capacity Full
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) has mostly filled its order book for the next 2-1/2 years as the pandemic drove demand for container ships, leaving little room to meet the needs of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, a senior company executive said.With U.S. LNG exports rising, more LNG carriers are traveling longer distances to customers in North Asia and Europe while European…
Rovco Charters Glomar Worker DP Vessel
Rovco, an offshore subsea and survey solutions provider, has chartered Glomar Offshore's Glomar Worker dynamic positioning (DP) vessel.The 60m long DP2 multi-purpose offshore support vessel will be put to work on the company’s growing number of secured subsea survey campaigns for major operational windfarms across UK waters.The Glomar Worker was built in 2008 with an extensive rebuild in 2020, providing…
Vane Brothers Achieves 100% Subchapter M Compliance
Baltimore-based Vane Brothers announced that its entire tugboat fleet has earned a valid Certificate of Inspection (COI) as part of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Subchapter M program.Subchapter M refers to federally regulated safety standards for inspected towing vessels. All applicable vessels are required to earn a valid COI by July.Vane Brothers president, C. Duff Hughes, said, “Vane Brothers appreciates the importance of safety to the company, our crews, and our customers.
ABS Grants AIP to SDARI for Approach to Stern Tube Design
ABS has granted Approval in Principle (AIP) to the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute (SDARI) for its vessel design with a novel aft layout, which eliminates pollution and promotes efficient vessel operations.The SDARI design, developed in cooperation with Thordon Bearings Inc. and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), introduces a new approach to the vessel’s aft layout…
Russia Says It Is Facing Difficulties Exporting Grain Due to Sanctions on Ships
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow is facing difficulties exporting grain due to sanctions against its ships."There are also problems with the export of Russian grain...
Kinder Morgan Says Tanker Rates Gain After Ukraine Crisis
Day rates for vessels that move oil and refined products between U.S. ports rose after the United States banned Russian oil and product imports this year, Kinder…
President Biden Instates Admiral Fagan in Historic USCG Change of Command
Adm. Karl L. Schultz was relieved as Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard by Adm. Linda L. Fagan during a military change-of-command ceremony presided over by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Wednesday, June 1, 2022, at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC. Fagan makes history not only as the first woman to lead the Coast Guard, but also as the first woman Service Chief of any U.S. military service.Immediately following the change-of-command…
Brendan Smith Takes the Helm as President, Seaward Services
Hornblower Group announced that Brendan Smith, formerly VP of Engineering, NYC Ferry, has been named President of Seaward Services, Inc. Smith replaces John Keever, who has retired after 50 years in the industry, and will report to Scott Thornton, COO of Hornblower Group’s Ferries and Transportation Division.As President of Seaward Services, Inc., Smith will oversee the operation and maintenance of both government and privately owned craft…
Marine Insurance: CyNav for Ports & Terminals
WTW has launched CyNav for Ports and Terminals, a cyber solution specifically designed to help address the escalating cyber risks faced by owners and operators in this strategically vital sector of the global maritime supply chain. The release of CyNav for Ports and Terminals is a direct response to growing calls from operators for a bespoke product that addresses the specific risks faced by their…
US Offshore Wind Segment Showing No Signs of Slowing Down
The U.S. offshore wind segment shows no signs of slowing on its journey to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030 and 110 GW by 2050. Based on current project activity we anticipate around 60 GW of offshore wind capacity to be installed by 2035.By 2035, we will see offshore wind turbines operating in the Atlantic and the Pacific and probably the Gulf of Mexico. We will also see an emergence of commercial scale floating wind farms around the end of the decade.
