Dredging Companies Keeping a Close Eye on New Infrastructure Dollars
For dredging company executives, the recently passed $550 billion federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) sits like the proverbial Horn-o’-Plenty, ready to disgorge billions of federal dollars for maritime, port, harbor, coastal, inland waterways and flood projects, many of which will require dredging. This is a really big deal because this new money will go toward existing projects, work that’s been on the books, so to speak, but, until now, couldn’t be funded.
US Army Corps Announces Spend Plan
The U.S. Army on Wednesday announced the Civil Works studies, projects and programs that the Corps would implement in Fiscal Year 2022 with the $22.81 billion in supplemental funding provided in two recently enacted laws — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; and the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.The spend plan supports the Administration hitting the ground running by focusing on current Fiscal Year 2022 spending.
WasteFuel to Launch Bio-methanol Marine Fuel
Low-carbon biofuels developer WasteFuel announced the launch of WasteFuel Marine, a renewable fuel solution for the shipping sector. WasteFuel Marine’s initial product will be bio-methanol for container ships.WasteFuel said it aims for its marine fuels to reduce CO2 emissions by 95% and nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional fuels.“Methanol has exceptional appeal as a renewable fuel - it can use existing logistics infrastructure…
DSC Dredge Hires Duplantis in IT Role
DSC Dredge announced it has welcomed Mitchell Duplantis as the newest member of its information technology (IT) team.As a former IT support analyst and helpdesk specialist, Duplantis brings experience in applying technical and problem-solving skills to improve both team and organizational performance and the ability to leverage existing technology with internal resources to facilitate DSC achieving its technological goals.
Tech File: Yara Birkeland Equipped with Survitec Fire Fighting System
Survitec’s advanced fire fighting system and safety equipment aboard Yara Birkeland – the world’s first fully autonomous containership – has successfully completed its first annual service ahead of the 3200dwt ship’s first laden voyage.The zero-emission, fully electric Yara Birkeland is preparing to carry its first fertilizer cargo on the Herøya-Brevik route in early 2022.The groundbreaking vessel…
Wozair Appoints New Group MD
Wozair appointed John Foley as Group Managing Director to the Board on January 1, 2022.Foley is an experienced senior executive who previously held positions as Managing Director, OTIS Elevator Co. in Norway and most recently, served as Managing Director Volution Ventilation, part of Volution Group PLC.Wozair Group are a designer, manufacturer and distributor of high integrity HVAC systems, specializing in applications operating in extreme environments…
American Cruise Lines Reveals Plan to Build 12 New Ships
U.S. river and coastal cruise shipping company American Cruise Lines announced plans for 12 new identical sister ships that will more than double the nation’s current capacity for domestic coastal cruises.The new U.S.-built fleet, announced as part of ACL's newly revealed Project Blue expansion plan, will operate exclusively in the United States, with a focus on small towns and close-to-home adventures…
Wärtsilä to Power Seven New Arctic Shuttle Tankers
Wärtsilä will supply the main and harbor engines for a series of seven new arctic shuttle tankers being built at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) yard in South Korea. The order, which is valued at more than EUR 100 million, was placed with Wärtsilä in December 2021.The 120,000 DWT vessels are Arc 7 classified and have icebreaking capability. The Wärtsilä engines are designed to operate reliably at temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees C.
China Sinopec Tenders to Sell Up to 45 LNG Cargoes for 2022
China's Sinopec Corp has issued a tender to sell up to 45 cargoes of liquefied natural gas for 2022 deliveries, in a rare sell tender of the super-chilled fuel to take advantage of high Asian spot prices, said traders who were invited to bid.Under the tender, Sinopec offered two to five cargoes each month between February and October on a delivered ex-ship basis.Prices will be linked either to Europe's Title Transfer Facility pricing or North Asian benchmark Japan Korean Marker.The tender closes
Shipbuilding Interview: Rusty Murdaugh, President, Austal USA
Austal USA has been investing mightily, more than $600 million to expand its repair and services business for both commercial and military customers; and in the opening of a state-of-the-art steel panel line in Mobile to complement its established aluminum shipbuilding operations. Rusty Murdaugh, President, Austal USA, discusses the rationale behind the investment as Austal USA drives quickly toward a $500m services model.Most of our readers know the Austal USA brand…
Germany Signals it Could Halt Nord Stream 2 Pipeline if Russia Invades Ukraine
Germany signaled on Tuesday that it could halt the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia if Moscow invades Ukraine, and Western nations rallied behind Kyiv over a Russian troop buildup that has stoked fears of war.Stepping up diplomacy after talks with Russia ended in stalemate last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Kyiv on Wednesday before heading to Berlin to discuss "joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine" with German…
Delfin Plans Louisiana Floating LNG FID in 2022
U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer Delfin LNG said it plans to make a final investment decision (FID) to go forward with its Gulf of Mexico floating LNG export project off Louisiana in 2022."This is the best macro-environment that the LNG business has ever seen," Delfin Chief Executive Dudley Poston told Reuters this week, noting he was "very confident" the company would make FID this year.Delfin…
Diana Shipping Secures Charter Extension
Dry bulk shipping company Diana Shipping announced that it has extended the time charter contract with CLdN Cobelfret SA, Luxembourg, for one of its Post-Panamax dry bulk vessels…
Rio Tinto Sees Soft Iron Ore Shipments in 2022
Rio Tinto forecast slightly weaker-than-expected 2022 iron ore shipments on Tuesday, citing tight labor market conditions and production delays from the new greenfields mine at Gudai-Darri project.The world's biggest iron ore producer said it expects to ship between 320 million and 335 million tonnes (Mt) in 2022 from the Pilbara region in Western Australia, a forecast with a mid-point below RBC estimate…
Torvald Klaveness Names Ernst Meyer CEO
Norwegian shipping company Torvald Klaveness announced that Ernst Meyer, currently serving as chief operating officer and managing director of Klaveness Ship Management, will succeed Lasse Kristoffersen as president and CEO of Torvald Klaveness from April 1, 2022.“As chairman, I am very pleased to welcome Ernst as our new CEO. Ernst has a wealth of experience from leadership roles at DNV and Klaveness and has been an important contributor to our current strategy.
Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico Project Moves Forward
On January 18, 2022, federal, state, and local officials gathered to mark the signing of a Project Partnering Agreement for the Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico project that was executed on December 28, 2021 to kick-off federal-led construction for the project.The Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico project aims to provide risk reduction for people and property as well as the remaining fragile marsh from hurricane storm surge in the vicinity of Houma, Louisiana.
Paper to Electrons: CBP Makes a Big Move
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) announced December 28 that it was moving to an all-electronic filing method for Form I-418 “Passenger List – Crew List.” I-418 is required from the “master or agent of every commercial vessel arriving in the United States” (emphasis added). Now that’s a change at scale. The Form I-418 process also has a Coast Guard component, tracking everyone entering and leaving U.S.
Alewijnse to Perform Electrical Refit of Den Herder Hopper Dredge
Systems integrator Alewijnse said it has signed a contract to deliver the electrical refit of Den Herder Seaworks' trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Swalinge.The 82.2-meter vessel is currently at Kooiman Hoebee Shipyard in Dordrecht for an extension of 37.1 meters, which will increase the cargo space by 1,300 cubic meters.Alewijnse is responsible for the complete engineering package on board the Swalinge…
ZIM Charters Three 7,000 TEU Containerships
Israeli shipping company ZIM on Tuesday announced a new eight-year charter agreement for a trio of 7,000 TEU liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel containerships to serve global-niche trades.The eight-year deal with a shipping company affiliate of Kenon Holdings is valued at approximately $400 million.The vessels will be constructed at South Korean shipyard Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and are scheduled to be delivered during the first and second quarters of 2024.Eli Glickman…
Three Sailors Killed in Explosion on Indian Naval Ship
Three Indian Navy personnel were killed in an explosion on a ship at a naval dockyard in Mumbai on Tuesday, the navy said.It gave no reason for the blast but said a board of inquiry would investigate."The ship's crew responded immediately and quickly brought the situation under control.
