BLUE DANUBE

Hungary Sees Danube Cleared By Summer At Earliest

The debris blocking the Danube shipping route in Yugoslavia could be cleared away by the summer, but more likely not until November, a senior Hungarian foreign ministry official said. The Danube, one of the most heavily used waterways in Europe, has been blocked along a vital stretch in Serbia since NATO destroyed several bridges during its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia last year. This has caused serious losses to the mostly central and eastern European countries using the river. An obstacle hindering the process is that the cleanup of the debris involves the building of a bridge over the river. The U.S. supports the cleanup of the Danube but it does not want to see a bridge to be built in a Serbia ruled by President Slobodan Milosevic. The issue will be discussed at a two-day meeting of international donor countries of the Balkans Stability Pact in Brussels, starting on Wednesday.

Shippers Seek $90M In Restitution

The association of Romanian river shippers said it would sue the Romanian government and NATO over a total estimated loss of $90 million because of the Kosovo conflict. Association president Mircea Toader said the losses had been caused by the embargo on Yugoslavia after the Kosovo war and by the blockage of the Danube. Toader, who was speaking at the end of a meeting in the Danube port town of Galati, said the association -- representing 95 percent of Romania's river shippers -- voted to ask

Blue Marlin Serves as Floating Drydock for SemiSub

The first job of the recently jumboized heavy transport vessel Blue Marlin is the transport of the the Dai Hung I semi-submersible production platform of VietsovPetro from an offshore location to Hyundai-Vinashin's yard in Nha Trang, Vietnam, where the Blue Marlin will serve as a dry-dock facility. Dockwise was awarded the contract by Hyundai-Vinashin of Nha Trang in Vietnam for the transport and dry-docking of the 13,200 tons semi-submersible production platform Dai Hung I

Dutch Vessels Set Standard

By Alan Haig-Brown Following in a long tradition, the shipyards of the Netherlands continue to produce immaculate inland river vessels. In recent years these have tended to be built on hulls shipped from the cost-effective shipyards of China to be finished to the highest standards in Dutch shipyards.   Last year, the shipyard of De Groot in Dordrecht completed the MS Elja-V for Ellie and Jacob Van der Vlag. With 35 years sailing together this is the couples sixth vessel with the

Leading Austrian Shipyard Selects Paramarine For River Vessel Design

Portsmouth, UK – 29th March 2011 - QinetiQ GRC, the developer of Paramarine advanced marine design software, has been selected by Öswag, one of Austria’s leading shipyards to assist them in the design of river vessels. They will be using Paramarine for stability calculations and damage stability on inland waterway ships primarily for the Danube and the Rhine. Öswag is based in Linz, Austria, where they maintain, repair

Sunken Treasure Hunter Merges Businesses

Underwater searchers for treasure, Blue Water Ventures International, Inc., combines with SmartPay Express, Inc. As a result of these transactions, Blue Water Ventures will now be in the business of searching for and recovering historical cultural artifacts, intrinsically valuable cargo and treasure from shipwrecks, primarily in shallow water in the Caribbean and off the coasts of Florida, the business engaged in by Blue Water since 2005.

Slovakian Ship Catches Fire

Focus reported that a Slovakian ship, which caught fire near Russe, is in flames, the Regional Interior Ministry’s Department reported. Director of the Fire and Emergency Safety Service was headed for the site. The ship, which was transporting grain, was travelling in Romanian territorial waters when it caught fire. The Slokian Polana Ship sailed in the direction opposite to the course of the Danube River. The fire broke out in the engine room of the ship

Plan to Employ Veterans to Build Oil Spill Response Boats

On June 8th, 2010, Congressman Bob Filner (San Diego, CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, will announce a plan to create a program to hire unemployed Veterans to build specially designed boats with patented technologies designed for cleaning up oil spills, for help with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster. The technology is patented by a French company, ECOCEANE, which is connected to the family of actor David Charvet

WETA Awarded Blue & Gold Fleet Five-Year Contract

Water Emergency Transportation Authority Awards Ferry Operating Contract to Blue & Gold Fleet. At its October 6 Board of Directors meeting, the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) awarded Blue & Gold Fleet ("B&GF") a five-year contract for the operation of WETA's San Francisco Bay Ferry services. San Francisco Bay Ferry, which recently assumed operation of the Alameda/Oakland and Harbor Bay Ferries

Transas Adds Ukrainian Chart Folios to its TX-97 Collection

Transas TX-97 non-official chart collection now includes Ukrainian chart folios.   The agreement was signed between Transas Marine Ltd and the State Hydrographic Service of Ukraine in May 2012 allowing Transas to use official ENC’s and Inland ENC’s to create TX-97 folios.  New charts will be available for the users of Transas ECDIS and ECS. The uniqueness of this project is that it is the first time when Inland ENC’s were used to produce TX-97 folios