Island News

Fire broke out on a Japanese warship sailing near the western part of the country, causing one crew member to be hospitalized due to smoke inhalation, while another was missing, Japan's navy said on Sunday.The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) said the minesweeper Ukushima was sailing off the coast north of Fukuoka in the island of Kyushu when the fire occurred at around 9:40 a.m. local time (0040 GMT).Admiral Akira Saito later said firefighting efforts were ongoing as of 8:30 p.m.

China summoned the Philippines' ambassador on Friday to express its objection to two new laws in the Southeast Asian nation asserting maritime rights and sovereignty over disputed areas of the South China Sea, its foreign ministry said.China made "solemn representations" to the ambassador shortly after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr signed the Maritime Zones Act and the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act into law to strengthen his country's maritime claims and bolster its territorial…

Taiwan's coast guard said on Friday it would offer rewards worth thousands of dollars for spotting Chinese activity at sea, including warships or submarines, saying it was harnessing "people power" to boost its own limited workforce.Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for the past five years of stepped up Chinese military activity, and the Taiwanese coast guard has increasingly been involved in patrolling sea areas.China's coast guard's involvement in these activities has grown, which Taiwan officials say is part of a "grey zone" strategy that stops short of war and

General Dynamics Mission Systems has been awarded a $15.9 million contract by the U.S. Navy to develop its Mining Expendable Delivery Unmanned Submarine Asset (MEDUSA) system.MEDUSA is a tactical, clandestine mining system using an expendable Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) that can be launched from a submarine torpedo tube. The U.S. Navy is developing MEDUSA to address the need for an advanced maritime mining system with long-range offensive mining capabilities.The scope of the newly awarded research and development effort includes the design…

Multraship Towage & Salvage has christened its newest tug, MULTRATUG 36, at its home port of Terneuzen in the Netherlands.The vessel is a Damen ASD Tug 3212, and represents the latest delivery from the order of three tugs Multraship placed with Damen to expand its fleet further to meet additional customer and project requirements.MULTRATUG 36 is a 32-meter tug, with a bollard pull of maximum 89.5 tonnes. This vessel is intended for deep-sea and coastal towage, salvage, and other operations.One of the upcoming projects the tug will support is the Princess Elisabeth Island project…

Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania laid the keel for the first two of four fully electric ferries for BC Ferries.The keel laying ceremony marked an important milestone in the third phase of construction of the Island Class Ferries, which will bring the total number of Damen vessels in the BC Ferries fleet to ten.During the recent second phase of the program, Damen delivered four hybrid diesel-electric ferries.These reduced emissions vessels were intended to pave the way to the development of fully electric vessels.Now…

An international team of scientists is reconstructing the impact of the 2008 Chaitén volcanic eruption on the marine environment following an expedition onboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too).After 9,000 years of dormancy, the Chaitén Volcano erupted without warning on May 2, 2008. Ash spewed 30 kilometers (18 miles) into the air and blanketed the landscape. Heavy rain in the following days triggered devastating volcanic mudflows known as lahars that cascaded down mountainsides and into the Northern Patagonian Sea.

New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has released an interim report into the grounding of the passenger ferry Aratere in Titoki Bay, Picton, on June 21, 2024, citing lack of knowledge about the steering system.The Aratere had been in service for about 26 years, and in May 2024, KiwiRail installed a new steering control system in four of the five command consoles on the bridge. It wasn’t installed on the autopilot console, which was part of the original track pilot integrated bridge navigation system by a different manufacturer.

Major cruise operators are steering their ships - and millions of dollars in investments - into their own private destinations packed with excursions, beaches, bars and restaurants.The phenomenon appears to have started with Royal Caribbean Group, which in 2019 opened "Perfect Day at CocoCay," an amusement park-like private destination in The Bahamas that has caught the eye of Wall Street.By operating their own private destinations on small Caribbean islands, Royal Caribbean and…

China's Ministry of State Security said on Tuesday that it had retrieved spying devices both on the ocean surface and in the depths of the sea, including underwater "lighthouses" that could guide the transit of foreign submarines.The ministry said it had uncovered devices that had been hidden on the ocean floor and were sending back information that could "pre-set the field for battle," in an article on its official WeChat account, China's most popular social media app.Recent…

Annapolis, Md. boatbuilder Ocean Craft Marine has delivered a pair of highly customized 9.5-meter dive/research boats to the ʻĀkoʻakoʻa Reef Restoration Program on the Big Island of Hawaii. ʻĀkoʻakoʻa is an inter-agency partnership integrating federal, state, university, and community organizations spanning science, education, management and law enforcement support elements.The specialized Dive Boats will serve as crucial tools in supporting the program’s mission to protect and rejuvenate West Hawaii’s coral reef ecosystems through scientific…

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company on Friday held a naming ceremony for its new hopper dredge, Galveston Island.The newbuild is the first of two new 6,500-cubic-yard-capacity trailing suction hopper dredges (TSHD) being built by Conrad Shipyard for the United States' largest dredging contactor.The dredge is equipped with a direct high-power pump-ashore installation, dredging system automation, dynamic positioning and tracking, U.S. EPA Tier 4 compliant engines, and have capabilities of running on biofuel to minimize the environmental impact.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) led the 16th Joint Oil Spill Exercise (JOSE) on October 11 and tested new oil spill response technologies.Over 100 personnel from 18 agencies and companies participated in JOSE 2024, which included a table-top exercise and a seaward deployment exercise at the Western Anchorage, off Pasir Panjang Terminal.Terminal operators on Jurong Island and Pulau Bukom activated their emergency protocols and deployed craft to spray dispersants. Protective booms were also deployed.MPA also tested new technologies which could support oil spill response.

At least seven people were killed after part of a boat dock collapsed, sending at least 20 into the Atlantic waters off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia.U.S. Coast Guard ships were searching on Saturday night for missing people.The accident, which also caused multiple injuries, happened during a celebration of Sapelo Island's tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants, authorities said.A gangway crowded with people waiting for a ferryboat collapsed late on Saturday afternoon on the Georgia barrier island about 60 miles (100 km) south of Savannah…

UK-based offshore vessel owner North Star has secured its first contract for a commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) from EnBW, which will be deployed at 960 MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm in Germany.This award for the newbuild Grampian Kestrel CSOV of VARD 4 22 design, will precede the decade-long minimum charter contract the firm signed in February to provide a service operation vessel (SOV) for the German energy utility firm’s He Dreiht wind farm in the North Sea.Tailored for the commissioning phase…

Faced with an aging fleet, the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority has turned to converted offshore support vessels (OSV) to breathe new life into its ferry operations.The operator announced its purchase of the OSVs HOS Shooting Star and HOS Lode Star from Hornbeck Offshore Services in 2022, to replace its open-deck freight vessels Gay Head and Katama, and several months later, the operator exercised an option to acquire a third OSV, HOS North Star…

The Philippines' Bureau of Fisheries said a "Chinese maritime militia" boat deliberately sideswiped one of its two vessels that were conducting a routine maritime patrol in the vicinity of Thitu island in the South China Sea last Friday.The vessel had sustained dents in its starboard bow, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said in a statement issued late on Monday.China and the Philippines have been at loggerheads over a succession of confrontations near disputed features in the South China…

A U.S. and a Canadian warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait together on Sunday, less than a week after China conducted a new round of war games around the island, with Beijing denouncing the mission as "disruptive".The U.S. navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait around once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, also says the strategic waterway belongs to it.The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said on Monday that…

With clean energy projects maturing in U.S. waters, the nation’s offshore wind industry is poised to grow substantially, requiring a robust industrial base. A feedering model using domestic tugs and barges to transport turbines to offshore wind sites, is positioned at the heart of this emerging growth.Currently, the entire global fleet of wind turbine installation vessels (WTIV)—except for Dominion Energy’s Charybdis currently under construction at the Seatrium AmFELS yard in Brownsville, Texas—is flagged, owned and operated outside of the U.S.

SeaTac Marine Services announced it has completed an ocean transit move of 110 housing modules in support of HomeAid Hawaii and their partners for the Ka La’i Ola development in Lahaina, Hawaii.The homes are part of more than 400 that will help facilitate permanent housing for survivors of the August 2023 Lahaina Fire.This September, 110 of the homes were safely and securely transported by SeaTac Marine Services via barge and offloaded at the Port of Kahului. The units, manufactured by Factory OS/Harbinger, were loaded out of Mare Island, Calif.

Nine Indonesian nationals who pleaded guilty to illegally fishing in Australian waters at Darwin Local Court have had their vessel destroyed.On September 19, 2024, Australian authorities apprehended the them as they fished illegally for sea cucumber in the vicinity of Augustus Island, Western Australia.Authorities seized 350 kilograms of sea cucumber worth up to approximately A$30,000 ($20,000 or more than 300 million Indonesian Rupiah) along with 175 kilograms of salt (used for preserving catch) and a large quantity of fishing equipment.

Staten Island Ferry and NYC Ferry will begin testing renewable diesel fuel as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional diesel. This initiative is expected to slash carbon emissions by 60% or more, providing nearly 30 million annual riders with a cleaner way to traverse the city's waterways.The New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) is currently testing renewable diesel on the Marchi Staten Island Ferry, which will replace the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel now used in the fleet.

The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee MEPC 82 met from 30 September to 4 October 2024 and discussed a range of environmental matters, including proposed mid-term measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships, enhancing energy efficiency of shipping, tackling marine litter, ballast water management and underwater noise reduction.Tackling climate change - cutting GHG emissions from shipsThe Committee made progress on the development of mid-term…