Amogy to Test Maritime Ammonia-to-power Platform in Norway
Amogy Inc., developer of emissions-free ammonia power solutions, announced it has signed a letter of intent and a lease with Sustainable Energy Catapult Center to initiate testing operations for its 200kW ammonia-to-power platform at its recently-launched testing facility for new and sustainable energy solutions in Stord.Amogy announced the opening of its Stavanger, Norway headquarters and the appointment of Christian Berg as Managing Director of Amogy Norway in September 2022.
BAE Autonomous RIB Awarded LR Unmanned Marine Systems Certification
BAE Systems Autonomous Pacific 24 (AP24) Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) has been awarded Lloyd’s Register Unmanned Marine Systems (UMS) Certification. It is the first uncrewed naval vessel to achieve this certification, which verifies stringent safety and operational performance standards. The AP24 RIB was developed by BAE Systems for the UK Royal Navy under funding from the NavyX autonomy and lethality accelerator program, which aims to deliver new technology at pace.
Lack of Spotter Led to Crane Toppling Off Barge -NTSB
An incident involving a crane toppling off a barge in Virginia could have been avoided if a spotter was present to notice the crane being driven too far aft, and the cable system securing the crane to the barge failed, according to a recent report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).While working on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project near Norfolk on February 8, 2022, an onboard crawler crane fell off the construction barge Carolyn Skaves and into Willoughby Bay.
Supreme Court Sides With Offshore Worker in Overtime Case
An oil rig supervisor who earned more than $200,000 a year working for Houston-based Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc is entitled to overtime pay, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a decision with costly implications for the oil and gas industry.The court in a 6-3 decision authored by liberal Justice Elena Kagan decided that because the rig supervisor, Michael Hewitt, was paid a daily rate of $963 and not a salary…
Wilhelmsen Completes Vopak Agencies Acquisition
Wilhelmsen Port Services has completed its acquisition of Vopak Agencies first announced in October 2022.Vopak Agencies, which has now become a Wilhelmsen group company, is a specialist within both hub services and port agency in the tanker segments in Europe and has extensive experience within their field. As part of the transaction, Wilhelmsen has also acquired 50% of diize, a Vopak developed digital…
ABS Taps Koutsourakis to Head Its Sustainability Team
ABS has appointed Panos Koutsourakis to head its global sustainability team. Koutsourakis is an 18-year industry veteran who has key industry experience with shipping companies, classification, operations, design and new construction, decarbonization technologies and strategic planning.As Vice President, Global Sustainability, Koutsourakis heads-up a global network of sustainability centers in key maritime locations, including Singapore, Athens, Houston, Copenhagen and Shanghai.
Terminal Expansion Boosts Port of Vancouver Container Capacity
A recently completed terminal expansion project at Canada's Port of Vancouver is set to boost capacity amid projected cargo volume growth at the Canadian West Coast seaport.The Construction on the Centerm Expansion Project—delivered by the the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in partnership with terminal operator DP World—allows Centerm to handle 60% more containers by increasing the terminal footprint by 15%.
UK Royal Navy's Experimental Ship Starts Sea Trials
The U.K. Royal Navy’s NavyX trials ship, XV (eXperimental Vessel) Patrick Blackett, left Portsmouth Naval Base to undergo sea acceptance trials - ensuring the vessel and its onboard equipment is fully functioning and ready to support innovative experimentation.The ship will be used by NavyX innovation and autonomy team to independently test and trial novel technologies, including unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles…
U.S. Gov't Proposes First-ever Offshore Wind Lease Sale in Gulf of Mexico
The U.S. administration on Wednesday proposed the first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, as part of the government's plan to spur offshore wind deployment beyond the East Coast.The proposed sale is part of the leasing path announced by Secretary Haaland in 2021 to meet the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 and…
MGBW Workers Complete In-house Welding Program
Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW), a family-owned boat repair and construction facility, is pleased to announce that 30 of its boatbuilders recently graduated from MGBW’s in-house Welding Certification Program. The Welding Program was launched in 2021 with support from a Small Shipyards Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD). In total, $859,250 was spent to develop the curriculum…
Squire Patton Boggs Partners with The Baltic Exchange
Law firm Squire Patton Boggs (SPB) has partnered with freight market information organization The Baltic Exchange to provide a vessel sale and purchase (S&P) transaction closing service for the global shipping industry. The service will be led by SPB’s 30-strong Commodities & Shipping Group co-chaired by Chris Swart and Barry Stimpson, and will be underpinned by the Baltic Exchange’s independent Singapore…
Ukraine Wants One-year Grain Deal Extension to Include New Ports
Ukraine will ask Turkey and the United Nations this week to start talks to roll over the Black Sea grain deal, seeking an extension of at least one year that would include the ports of Mykolaiv, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday.The Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered by the UN and Turkey last July allowed grain to be exported from three Ukrainian ports. The agreement was extended in November…
Albania Seizes Tanker Carrying Oil Suspected of Coming from Russia
Albania has seized an oil tanker carrying 22,500 tonnes of oil suspected of coming from Russia and arrested the crew for breaching a Western embargo, Albanian police said on Monday. The Liberian-registered oil and chemical tanker was seized in the coastal town of Durres. "From the first steps of investigation it is suspected that this oil shipment is coming from countries under an oil embargo, especially from Russia," police said in the statement.
Belgium on High Alert as Russian 'Spy Ship' Detected in North Sea
Belgium said it is investigating the presence of a Russian "spy ship" in the North Sea, a day after its neighbor the Netherlands reported that Russia was targeting North Sea infrastructure.The ship was detected in the Belgian North Sea around mid-November last year, Vincent Van Quickenborne, the Justice and North Sea minister, said in a statement headlined "Russian spy ship off our coast in November".While the presence of Russian ships in the North Sea is not forbidden…
A Toll of War: Ukraine’s Dry Bulk Exports Plunge 77.8%
“On Friday February 24, 2023, one year has passed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. During that year, dry bulk exports from Ukraine have dropped 77.8% compared to the same period a year earlier, causing a decline in global dry bulk volumes. Seaborne exports have been restricted to agricultural goods and even those have been limited,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.Ukraine’s sea ports…
RWE, CapeOmega, Neptune Energy to Explore Shipping CO2 to Offshore Storage
CapeOmega and Neptune Energy on Wednesday announced NoordKaap, a project concept for a cross-border CO₂ storage solution for industrial emitters across Europe. According to Neptune Energy, NoordKaap would involve transporting CO2 via vessels suitable for directly injecting the CO₂ at offshore locations and for terminal offloading. The two companies have signed a letter of intent with RWE to assess…
