Report: Drop in U.S. Steel Imports
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that preliminary February steel imports were $2.6 billion (2.9 million metric tons) compared to the preliminary January totals…
Coast Guard Responds to Plane Crash Near Brunswick, Ga.
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) said in a news release that USCG boat and air crews are assisting the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in a search for survivors…
Another Mammoth Gas Ship Ordered for MHI
The U.S. Shale Gas Revolution continues to drive orders for some of the world’s largest, most sophisticated tonnage. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) received an order from Astomos Energy Corporation for a very large liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier. The LPG carrier on order is identical to a vessel ordered to MHI by Astomos Energy late last year. Completion and delivery of the ship are scheduled for the first half of 2016.
After Concordia: HAVEP Report Exposes Passenger Vessel Deficiencies
- Two passenger ships were detained over the 12 month period as a direct result of the HAVEP for deficiencies related to operation control and emergency preparedness.
BASS Launches Fleet Management System
BASS, a global provider of fleet management software for ship owners and ship managers as well as operators of rigs and floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) and offshore units, introduced the BASSnet 2.9 Fleet Management System during the 13th edition of the Asia Pacific Maritime event in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. In its latest offering, BASSnet 2.9 now features new modules such as environmental management, port forms management and Excel forms management.
High-Tech Fishing Vessel Delivered with MAN Propulsion
Norwegian company Herøyhav AS has taken delivery of a 69.95-m trawler/purse seiner from Karstensens Shipyard, Denmark, equipped with a propulsion package supplied comprising a MAN 9L27/38 engine and a two-speed reduction gear that drives a MAN Alpha 4,200 mm diam. ducted propeller. The propeller nozzle is a customized MAN Alpha AHT design. MAN Diesel & Turbo also supplied its Alphatronic 2000 propulsion control system, including the ECO Speed Pilot for optimal voyage planning and speed setting.
HK & Taiwan Launch Cruise Line Subsidy Fund
The fund, which will take effect on April 1st, 2014, and run for three years, will be made up of contributions from participating ports and used to subsidize cruise companies to develop and market their cruise products. A major requirement is that cruise lines must deploy vessels to at least two participating ports or territories in a single itinerary. HKTB Executive Director Anthony Lau said, "The launch of the fund marks a significant step towards regional cruise co-operation…
Global Forwarders Favour Index-Linked Container Contracts
Index-linked contracts between shippers and carriers, and between shippers and forwarders, appear to be increasing for valid reasons, according to the latest edition of Drewry's Container Insight Weekly. According to Freight Investor Services, which specialises in helping contracting parties soften market volatility through hedging, shipper interest in Index-Linked Container Contracts (ILCCs) has increased significantly during the past 12 months.
Black Box Inventor Remembered in Defence Building Naming
Australia's Assistant Minister for Defence, Stuart Robert, has announced that the Canberra headquarters of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO)…
Important China Dual-Fuel Diesel Engine Order for Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä inform that its new low-pressure, 2-stroke, dual-fuel engine (DF), the 5-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex50DF engine, together with the gas valve unit and other relevant equipment, has been ordered for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier vessel being built for the Chinese ship owner and operator, Zhejiang Huaxiang Shipping Co.Ltd. The Qidong Fengshun Ship Heavy Industry Co., Ltd in China is…
MOL Philippine Maritime Students Graduate
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) inform of the graduation of 126 students in the third class of the “Third Year Program,” which targets new seafarers from among third-year students at seven partner maritime schools in the Philippines. MOL explains that it provides education and training at the Magsaysay Institute of Shipping(MIS), its training center in the Philippines. The program received accreditation…
Security at Sea on Agenda at Upcoming SMM Hamburg
At the forthcoming SMM maritime trade fair in Hamburg in September 2014 experts will present new security concepts for sea routes. Security at sea is improving: In recent months, pirate attacks on commercial ships have been repelled successfully with increasing frequency. One of the reasons is the EU-led Operation Atalanta providing military protection in the Gulf of Aden. Since 1, February 2009 commercial ships have been able to use a Transit Corridor established there.
Grand Circle Cruises Buys 'MV Corinthian'
Vince Cook, CEO of Grand Circle Cruise Line, informs that the company has acquired the 'M/V Corinthian', a 98-passenger, ocean-going vessel that currently operates in Antarctica. They had chartered the ship for the past year and intend to expand the Corinthian's operations with the launch of three new small ship cruise itineraries in 2015. The ship was acquired for an undisclosed price from Travel Dynamics International…
Latest Texas City 'Y' Incident News: Port of Houston Remains Closed
The Port of Houston remains closed as the Unified Command continues to assess the situation with oil in the channel to determine when vessel traffic can resume, advises the US Coast Guard. There are 46 outbound vessels and 47 inbound vessels in the queue for transit in the Port of Houston. The Port of Texas City has 5 inbound and 3 outbound vessels in the queue awaiting transit. Once the channel has been determined safe to navigate…
SatCom Firm Narrowed Down Lost Flight MH370 Location
Inmarsat informs that the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mr Najib Razak, has stated that new analysis of satellite information from Inmarsat, validated by the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth. The Prime Minister added: “This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites.
Update: Texas City Y Crash Incident
A Port Coordination Team call was held today to discuss industry concerns and priorities and to share the Incident Command's status with regard to the Texas City Y Incident, GAC said in a report.
Saving Coral Reefs – One Shipwreck at a Time
In the summer of 1991, a 121 foot long Taiwanese long line fishing vessel, the HUI FENG #1, ran aground on an atoll in the middle of the Pacific. With a footprint of just 4.6 square miles Palmyra Atoll forms the most northern vegetated island in the Northern Line Islands, lying some 1,000 miles south of Honolulu. The atoll has a long storied past and is now a national monument and wildlife refuge, cooperatively managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and The Nature Conservancy.
Macro Sensors Gauge Tank Volume Changes
Configured with a float, Macro Sensors HSIR Series LVDT Linear Position Transmitters are serving as level sensors to measure liquid level changes from a few inches to several feet in gauging tank level volumes. In this LVDT level sensor configuration, a stainless-steel float coupled to a nonmagnetic stainless-steel rod is attached to the high-permeability, armature core of the LVDT. The 4 to 20-mA loop-powered LVDT position transmitter senses the position of the core and…
NRL Hosts Shipboard Fire Robotics Consortium
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research (LASR), partner in the Navy's Damage Control for the 21st Century project (DC-21), recently hosted robotics research teams from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to demonstrate the most current developments of advanced autonomous systems to assist in discovery, control, and damage control of incipient fires.
Maritime Reporter @ 75: The Daily Cartoon
Maritime Reporter & Engineering News was founded by John J. O'Malley (1905-1980) in 1939, and today ranks as the world's largest audited trade publication in the world serving the maritime industry, with a circulation of more than 35,000 worldwide, including ship and boat owners, ship and boat builders, naval architects and marine engineers. Today Maritime Reporter heads a group of four print and 10 websites serving the global maritime, offshore and subsea sector.