New Product: MESPAS Goes Mobile
One of the most difficult and time-consuming issues when carrying out inspections or maintenance jobs on vessels is recording information on the job, with crews working on machinery, taking notes and going back to their computers in the office and type in all the information. MESPAS claims to offer a solution with the launch of a maritime app for QHSE and maintenance tasks.With the MESPAS mobile app, data can be viewed or entered on the job.
Italian LNG Bunker Ship Gets Schottel Propulsion
Schottel was selected to supply main and auxiliary propulsion systems for an 8,000 cbm LNG bunkering vessel. Currently under construction at Chinese Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore and Engineering shipyard, it is the first LNG bunkering vessel ordered by Italy-based shipping group Fratelli Cosulich. After its delivery in summer 2023, the 5,300-dwt-vessel is intended to serve customers in the Mediterranean region.“Developing the LNG infrastructure is a key area for us…
Ten Years on, Costa Concordia Shipwreck Still Haunts Survivors, Islanders
Ester Percossi can still hear the screams, feel the cold and see the terror in people's eyes.She is one of the survivors of the shipwreck of the Costa Concordia, the luxury cruise liner that capsized after hitting rocks just off the coast of the small Italian island of Giglio on Jan. 13, 2012, killing 32 people in one of Europe's worst maritime disasters.Percossi and other survivors have returned to the island to pay tribute to the dead and again thank the islanders who…
U.S. Senate Set to Vote on Cruz's Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Sanctions Bill
The U.S. Senate will vote on Thursday on a bill being pushed by Republican Ted Cruz to slap sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in Europe, although it is not expected to garner enough support to pass.The bill is scheduled for a vote at around 2:45 p.m. ET (1945 GMT), according to Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff.Cruz struck a deal with Democrats last month to get a vote before Jan. 14…
Partners Group to Buy UK-based Offshore Vessel Firm North Star
Partners Group, a global private markets firm, has agreed, on behalf of its clients, to buy North Star, a UK-based operator of emergency response and rescue vessels, which has recently also dived into the offshore wind sector with several orders made for essential offshore wind maintenance services vessels, from Basalt Infrastructure Partners for an undisclosed price.Aberdeen-based North Star has a…
Indonesia Allows 37 Coal Ships to Depart as Export Ban Eased
Indonesia said on Thursday it would allow 37 vessels loaded with coal to depart, in the strongest sign yet that the world's biggest thermal coal exporter is relaxing its ban on shipments.A senior cabinet minister said in a statement the ban implemented on Jan. 1 had been eased for miners that have met a requirement to sell a portion of their output for local power generation, after the state utility…
MMA Offshore Upgrades Vessel to Support Taiwanese Offshore Wind Market
Australian offshore support vessel operator MMA Offshore has completed a subsea conversion program on the MMA Crystal vessel to support the Taiwanese offshore wind market.The new additions to the vessel feature subsea equipment including a work-class ROV, a 50Te A-frame, and a survey and positioning system.Following the conversion, the 70.5 meters long MMA Crystal is set to begin its journey to Taiwan…
Technology to Ship Hydrogen Ready by 2025, KSOE Says
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) expects to have the technology to transport hydrogen by ship by 2025, an executive said, targeting a breakthrough in supplying a fuel touted by supporters as offering a major source of clean energy.The development by KSOE, the shipbuilding arm of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, one of the world's biggest shipbuilders, comes amid growing global interest in rolling out hydrogen as a cleaner fuel alternative.
US Farmers Reaped Record Soy Harvest
The U.S. soybean crop that farmers harvested in the fall of 2021 was the largest on record, as yields were bigger than previously estimated, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.The higher U.S. production view comes as global demand for the oilseed soars and forecasts for South American harvests are cut due to hot and dry weather in key growing areas.Soybean futures briefly turned higher after the data was released."They lowered Brazil and Argentina…
EU Shipping Plan Leaves Millions of Tons of CO2 Unregulated
European Commission proposals to bring shipping into the bloc's carbon market contain exclusions for small commercial and military vessels that would leave millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions unregulated, an NGO study showed on Thursday.With about 90% of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions. So far, the industry has avoided the EU's system of pollution charges.Under proposals announced in July 2021…
Great Lakes Limestone Trade Up 11% in 2021
Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 29.5 million tons in 2021, an increase of 11% compared to 2020, according to trade group the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA). 2021’s loadings were also 4.8% above the trade’s five-year average.Loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 23.5 million tons, an increase of 11.4% compared to 2020. Shipments from U.S. quarries were also above their five-year average by 2.4%.Shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 6 million tons…
Kepler Launches Four New GEN1 Satellites
Canada-based satellite telecommunications provider Kepler Communications welcomed four new satellites into its constellation today, further expanding the active constellation to 19 satellites in total. These four satellites; KEPLER-16, KEPLER-17, KEPLER-18, and KEPLER-19 were launched via a Falcon 9 out of Cape Canaveral as part of the Transporter-3 mission at approximately 10:25 AM EDT. Once fully…
Suez Canal Targets 15% Share of Global Energy Trade by 2040
Egypt's Suez Canal aims to have a 15% share of global energy trade by 2040, up from 8% in 2019, the canal authority said on Wednesday.The increase would come from "adopting flexible marketing policies", it said in a statement.(Reuters - Reporting by Moamen Said Attalah; Writing by Mahmoud Mourad; Editing by)
Princess Cruises Pleads Guilty to Violating 'Magic Pipe' Probation
Carnival Corp.'s Princess Cruises has again pleaded guilty to violating its probation imposed as a result of its record $40 million criminal conviction for its "magic pipe" environmental crimes.The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday that Princess failed to establish and maintain an independent internal investigative office as required after pleading guilty to felony dumping and attempted cover-up charges in April 2017.
TOWT Orders Sailing Cargo Ship from PIRIOU
French shipyard PIRIOU said it has been award a contract for the design studies and construction of an 81-meter sailing cargo ship for sailing freight transport company TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT). Wind-powered sailing cargo ships are gaining interest across the maritime industry as shipping companies seek ways to limit their environmental impact.Guillaume Le Grand, chairman of TOWT-Transport wind transport…
U.S. Plans Record Offshore Wind Sale
The Biden administration on Wednesday outlined a range of measures to speed the growth of clean energy on the U.S. power grid, including the government's largest-ever sale of offshore wind leases in waters off the coast of New York and New Jersey.The announcement, which seeks to advance President Joe Biden's ambitious climate change agenda, comes as sweeping legislation to support those goals is stalled in Congress.
Callan Marine Commences Packery Channel Restoration Project
Callan Marine announced it has commenced operations as the prime contractor to the City of Corpus Christi for the Packery Channel Restoration Project, consisting of repairs to shoreline protection, sidewalks, bollards, storm drains, handrails and other damaged structures. The scope of restoration work includes the demolition and removal of damaged articulating block mat revetment, concrete walkway, and bollard/cable barriers.
ABS Publishes Guide for Methanol-fueled Vessels
Classification society ABS has published a new guide setting out classification criteria for the arrangements, construction, installation and survey of machinery, equipment and systems for vessels operating with methanol or ethanol as fuel.Methanol is widely regarded as one of the leading renewable fuel options that can provide carbon neutral fuel supply and support decarbonization within the maritime industry.
Ingalls Begins Combat System Tests on Destroyer Jack H. Lucas
America' largest military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) on Wednesday announced its Ingalls Shipbuilding division recently achieved the Aegis light-off milestone on the Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), marking the start of combat system testing as shipbuilders ready the ship for propulsion tests and eventually sea trials.“I am again very proud of our DDG 51 team and the work they have done…
DFDS' Newbuild Aura Seaways Arrives in Europe
Danish shipping company DFDS said its first newbuild vessel in 30 years has arrived in Europe following a long voyage from the Chinese shipyard Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI).The new ship, Aura Seaways, is the first in a series of two new roll-on, roll-off passenger ferries built by GSI for DFDS. The 230-meter-long vessel, officially handed over to DFDS in China in December, is the first newbuild passenger vessel contracted by DFDS since Scandinavia was delivered in 1982.Last weekend…
