Life on Hold for Many Philippine Seafarers
He had a visa and just the job—six months of work at sea and thousands in pay to send home. Then the virus struck.And like millions of other migrant workers who leave the Philippines to work abroad and send their earnings back to a myriad of dependents, a whole family saw its lifeline cut.“I was broke. Things were not easy for me and my family. I badly needed to go back to work at that time so I was looking forward to that trip…
Scientists Discover First Methane Seep in Antarctic Sea Floor
Scientists have discovered an active methane seep from Antarctica's sea bed that could shed light on the potent greenhouse gas trapped beneath the frozen continent.Marine ecologist Andrew Thurber first glimpsed what a colleague described as a "microbial waterfall" during a dive in the icy waters of the Ross Sea in 2012. What looked like a superhighway of white patches on the ocean floor were clusters of tiny organisms drawn to the methane leak."My first thought was 'wow…
Baltic Index Hits Over One-month Low
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index dropped to a more than one-month low on Thursday, dragged down by weakness across all vessel segments.The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, fell 85 points, or 5.8%, to 1,388, its lowest since June 17.The Baltic capesize index slumped 190 points, or 7.8%, to 2,236, its lowest in over a month.Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically tra
Navy Hires NASSCO for USS Bonhomme Richard Cleanup
A San Diego shipyard has been awarded $10 million to continue emergency firefighting support, dewatering, safety and initial cleanup efforts aboard the fire-stricken USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), the Pentagon announced. The award to National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) is a modification to a previous contract for repairs that had been underway when the blaze erupted aboard the 844-foot…
C-Job Naval Architects to Open Poland Office
The Netherlands based ship design and engineering company C-Job Naval Architects said it will open an office in Gdansk, Poland this July.The Gdansk office will pursue new markets particularly in the Baltic and Scandinavian region, with a particular focus on functional and detail design as well as retrofits and laser scanning, the company said. The new office will be spearheaded by general manager Slawomir…
Seaspan Buys Two 13,000 TEU Containerships
Seaspan has agreed to buy two containerships on long-term charter for around $146 million in cash, with delivery expected in the third quarter of 2020.The company, a subsidiary of Atlas, said Thursday that the transaction was expected to be "immediately accretive to Atlas' earnings per diluted share and increase long-term contracted revenue by over $150 million while maintaining a strong net debt to equity ratio of approximately 1.2x1."Seaspan said that the two 13…
China's Oil Port Congestion to Stretch On Well into August
Congestion at China's east coast oil ports that is adding to costs for shippers and importers is likely to run well into August, with crude shipments set to hit another record high this month, according to analysts and Refinitiv data.The massive inflows are straining offloading facilities, while refiners and port operators in Shandong province -- home to a quarter of China's refining capacity -- are…
Salvors Outline Plan to Recover Titanic's Telegraph System
Marine salvors on Wednesday outlined plans to recover the Marconi wireless telegraph from inside the RMS Titanic after being cleared by a U.S. judge in May to retrieve a piece of history from the world's most famous shipwreck.Originally scheduled to embark on the mission to recover the system this summer, the private company with exclusive rights to salvage artifacts from the ship announced it has…
Asian Piracy Incidents Double in H1 2020
The number of reported attacks against ships has doubled in Asia over the first half of 2020, elevating security concerns for mariners across the region.A total of 51 cases of piracy and armed robbery against ships (including 50 actual incidents and one attempted incident) were reported in Asia from January through June 2020, up from 28 incidents (25 actual and three attempted) during the same period for 2019…
Jones Act Does Not Raise Cost of Living in Hawaii -Study
The Jones Act has no significant impact on the cost of living in Hawaii, according to a recent report produced by economists from Boston based Reeve & Associates (Reeve) and Hawaii based TZ Economics.“The Impact of the Jones Act on Hawaii” also found that freight rates in the U.S. mainland-Hawaii trade lane have declined in real terms over the last 10 years, while the Jones Act has delivered positive and substantial economic contributions…
Congress Lines Up COVID-19 Relief for the Maritime Industry
New legislation passed through Congress aims to provide relief to the U.S. maritime industry during national emergencies such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or natural disasters.Introduced July 9 by the Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Chair of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.)…
TDI-Brooks' New Vessel Completes Its First Projects
TDI-Brooks’ newest vessel R/V Miss Emma McCall has recently completed its first projects for the U.S.-based marine data acquisition services company on behalf of Total and Cairn Energy offshore Mexico. TDI-Brooks has the vessel on a long-term bare-boat charter from Cameron Offshore Boats.The 2003-built Miss Emma is a multi-use oceanographic research vessel outfitted for a wide variety of oceanographic research duties for operations in the Northern/Southern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), U.S.
Paranaguá Port Resumes Grain Loading After Fire
The Port of Paranaguá, Brazil's second busiest for soybean and sugar cargoes, is gradually resuming grain export operations after a fire that affected conveyor belts at two terminals, according to a statement from the port authority on Wednesday.Operations remain halted at the two affected terminals, connected to berths 212, 213 and 214, which form part of an export corridor comprising 11 terminals…
ABS to Class First NA West Coast LNG Bunker Barge
The first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge on North America’s west coast, which is expected to serve shipping from 2023, is to be built to ABS class.Cryopeak LNG Solutions Corporation and Island Tug & Barge Ltd. (ITB) have developed a design for a 4,000 cubic meter capacity articulated tug and barge (ATB). The design utilizes one of ITB’s tugs to deliver LNG as a fuel to shipping companies…
Shipowners Struggle to Bring Home Crews Amid Coronavirus Chaos
Shipping companies are still struggling to get hundreds of thousands of crew members back home after many months at sea despite pledges by countries to ease transit restrictions for seafarers, industry officials say.Countries including the UK, the United States, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines pledged this month to boost efforts to help seafarers, many of whom have been on ships longer than the 11-month limit laid out in a maritime labor convention.Other countries…
Stowage Issues Cited in Ever Smart Container Loss
A combination of factors including stowage deficiencies likely led to the loss of containers from the U.K.-flagged containership Ever Smart off the coast if Japan in 2017, according to U.K. investigators.On October 30, 2017, the 300-meter, 7,024 TEU-capacity containership suffered a container stow collapse during a period of heavy pitching and hull vibration while on passage between Taipei, Taiwan and Los Angeles, U.S.
New York Launches Up To 2,500MW Offshore Wind Solicitation
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday announced offshore wind solicitation aimed at developing up to 2,500 Megawatts of renewable energy and complementary multi-port infrastructure investment.The solicitation includes a multi-port strategy and requirement for offshore wind generators to partner with any of the 11 prequalified New York ports to stage, construct, manufacture key components, or…
Rolls-Royce, MAN Partner on Fleet Management Platform
Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems, and Dr. Uwe Lauber, CEO of MAN Energy Solutions, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on mýa, the open asset-and-fleet-management-system enabling the integration of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), asset owner and operator data across the marine, power and energy industries, among others.Lauber said, “I’m…
Schottel Unveils New Azimuth Thrusters
Marine propulsion systems manufacturer Schottel introduced its new M-series azimuth thrusters, consisting of several medium-sized rudder propeller sizes covering a power range of 400 to 1,000 kW. The series' first propulsion units have recently been delivered and will soon be put into operation.With the M-series, Schottel says it aims to meet new challenges such as shifted engine power classes, updated ice class rules and an ever-increasing number of electric or hybrid-driven vessels.
Sea Machines Raises $15 Mln, Partners with Huntington Ingalls Industries
Autonomous vessel technology developer Sea Machines Robotics announced Wednesday it has closed a new $15 million financing round with significant participation by America's largest military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).The Boston-based tech company said it expects the investment and associated partnership with HII will accelerate the deployment of self-piloting technologies for unmanned…