Maritime Industry Top News
COSCO Shipping Ports, CMA CGM Ink Concession Deal with Zeebrugge Port
COSCO Shipping Ports , the world’s leading port operator, announced a signing ceremony was held today with Port of Zeebrugge in Brussels of Belgium for the concession terms of CSP Zeebrugge Terminal.
TORM Updates Fleet Status
Denmark shipping company that owns and operates product tankers and bulk carriers TORM exercised two options for the construction of two LR1 newbuildings for a total…
EU Shipowners Plastic Strategy at Ports
European shipowners welcome the Plastic Strategy adopted by the European Commission last week. The first-ever Europe-wide strategy on plastics, adopted today, is…
New Plan for Growth in the Danish Maritime Sector
The Government’s Plan for Growth in the Danish Maritime Sector positions the country to become a global maritime hub by 2025. The plan counts initiatives aimed at…
ESPO Focuses on Ship Waste Management
The European Commission published the new proposal on the revision of the Port Reception Facilities (PRF) Directive. ESPO welcomes in principle the new proposal…
US' Brand New Warship Will Spend the Winter in Montreal
The U.S. Navy’s newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, the USS Little Rock, will spend the winter stuck in Montreal due to worse than expected weather and ice in the St. Lawrence Seaway. USS Little Rock (LCS 9) was commissioned in Buffalo, N.Y. on December 16, after which the $440 million warship was scheduled to sail for its home port in Mayport, Fla. Instead, the Navy has decided to wait until weather conditions improve before allowing the ship to continue its voyage…
Celebrity Edge Floats Out at STX France
Celebrity Cruises’ newest cruise liner, Celebrity Edge, was floated out of dry dock for the first time at the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The ship is the brand’s first in a new class in more than 10 years. It will now undergo final outfitting before scheduled delivery in October 2018. Celebrity Edge will be homeported in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., making her first sailing November 21, 2018.
Rising Tide of Innovation at Davos to Keep Plastic out of the Sea
Technology that could avoid the equivalent of 100 garbage bags of plastic waste being created per second received a funding boost at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. The five winners of the "Circular Materials Challenge", which focuses on the 30 percent of plastic packaging that is too small or complex to be recycled and often ends up in the ocean, will share the $1 million prize to develop their solutions…
MarTID Message from WMU President Dr. Doumbia-Henry
January 31, 2018, the deadline for the first global survey for the Maritime Training Insights Database (MarTID), is quickly approaching. The mission of MarTID is to help ensure safe, efficient and sustainable maritime operations on clean oceans. It will do so by providing the maritime industry with objective and comprehensive data on how it manages and conducts training for shipboard competencies and the effects of drivers, such as technology, on this training.
Cargo Vessel Runs Aground off St. Thomas
A 223-foot cargo vessel has run aground near Charlotte Amalie Harbor in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders in San Juan where contacted at approximately 5 a.m. Tuesday by St. Thomas Harbor pilots who reported that the Togo-flagged cargo vessel Ocean Spirit I had run aground just off of the entrance of the harbor’s East Gregory Channel. There are no reported signs of distress or oil leaking from the vessel…
Danish Submarine-owner Charged with Abusing Journalist before Killing Her
Danish inventor Peter Madsen tied up and abused Swedish journalist Kim Wall before murdering her on board his home-built submarine, according to the indictment published on Tuesday. Madsen planned the murder by bringing items, including a saw and screwdrivers, which were used to hit, cut and stab Wall while she was alive, the prosecutors said. Wall, a 30-year-old freelance journalist who was researching a story on the entrepreneur and aerospace engineer…
Search Resumes for Malaysian Flight MH370
A U.S.-based company has begun searching for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, Malaysia said on Tuesday, as it tries to solve one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries. Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014 with 239 people, mostly Chinese, on board. Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it over the Indian Ocean.
Autonomous Vessels: Modern Ferries Evolve
Automated now; autonomous looms large in the center porthole. The word ‘autonomous’ is probably the maritime industry’s most frequently used term in the past year. The word, however, has a far different meaning than the similarly sounding “automated” – which means that certain processes are handled by machines, rather than by humans. Throughout 2017, industry thought leaders have been mulling over…
Assessing Skills in the Maritime Industry
Never easy, but always a critically important task. It is critically important that we assess the ability of our mariners to perform the skills required to safely and efficiently do their jobs. It happens to also be very difficult to do so objectively and at the level of detail necessary to ensure safe operations and continuous improvement. This is especially true in dynamic, team-based scenarios such as drills and complicated safety-critical activities.
State of the US Passenger Vessel Industry
PVA president Jeff Whitaker in December weighed in on his year as head of the nation’s passenger vessel advocacy group, where we are headed next, and what it will take to get there. The U.S. passenger vessel industry is looking forward to continued growth in the coming months. The past year was witness to solid economic conditions in the U.S., which added fuel to an already strong travel and tourism market, underpinning much of the U.S. passenger vessel industry.
New UK Sub Completes its First Dive
The U.K. Royal Navy’s fourth Astute class submarine, Audacious, has completed its first ever dive, marking a milestone on the path toward full sea trials later in 2018. The trim and basin dive took place over two days in early January in Devonshire Dock, at builder BAE Systems's site in Barrow-in-Furness. The operation, which saw Audacious submerge fully underwater for the first time, allowed a team from Royal Navy…
D-Day Ship Turned Ferry Repowered
As part of the June 6, 1944 Normandy landings, the USS LST-510 (landing ship for tanks) delivered 200 GIs, and 70 tanks and jeeps to Omaha Beach. She then anchored offshore to serve as an impromptu hospital ship for the over 150,000 Allied wounded. For three months following the invasion, she ferried injured soldiers back to England and supplies back to the front, evading German U-boats and dive bombers. She was awarded a Battle Star for her meritorious participation.
Baltic Index Rises on Firmer Rates for Larger Vessels
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index marked its strongest daily percentage gain in nearly three weeks on Tuesday as the capesize segment rebounded from its two weeks of declines, and the panamax rates climbed further. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels that ferry dry bulk commodities, climbed 28 points, or 2.48 percent, to 1,157 points.
C-Job Designs Amsterdam's New Ferries
C-Job Naval Architects said it has delivered the concept design of a series of five sustainable car and passenger ferries to the City of Amsterdam. The vessels will operate 100 percent on electricity, thus providing an emission-free urban transport solution. The fully electric ferries are designed to recharge their batteries during the unloading and loading of passengers and vehicles. In order to maintain efficiency of service and a quick turnaround…
NAVTOR Hires Holme as Chief Technology Officer
E-navigation specialist NAVTOR said it has appointed Anders Holme for the role of Chief Technology Officer. Holme will manage teams that work across offices in Egersund, Norway, Singapore, Japan, Sweden, Russia, the U.S. and U.K. NAVTOR’s main software development takes place at the company’s head office in Egersund and its dedicated base in St Petersburg. “There is a growing appreciation within shipping that new technology can unlock real operational advantages and business opportunities…
