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Roberts News

18 Mar 2024

Port NOLA Bests Container-on-barge Record

(Photo: Port NOLA)

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) said 2023 was a record year for container-on-barge shipping.During the last calendar year, Port NOLA marked 20,500 container moves by barge, the highest since launching the container-on-barge network—the nation's largest—in 2016 with the Port of Greater Baton Rouge and Ingram Marine Group. Container-on-barge moves containers by water rather than by truck on roads to reduce air emissions; moving an average of 30,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year between New Orleans, the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, Memphis and St. Louis.

04 Feb 2024

Ingram Forms Material Handling and Supply Chain Subsidiary

© steheap / Adobe Stock

Nashville-based Ingram Barge Company announced it has formed a new material handling and supply chain solutions subsidiary, Ingram Infrastructure Group.The move, fueled by the company's acquisitions of Inland River Transport Holdings (SCF) and NexStar Solutions, is intended to enhance Ingram's end-to-end supply chain solutions capabilities.Ingram acquired integrated river transportation and logistics services provider SCF from SEACOR Holdings following the signing of a purchase agreement last October.Ingram currently operates across more than 4,500 miles of the U.S.

25 Oct 2023

SEACOR Sells Its Inland River Business to Ingram

© Danita Delimont / Adobe Stock

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. based SEACOR Holdings Inc. announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its inland river transportation and logistics business to Ingram Barge Company LLC, a division of Nashville-based Ingram Marine Group.Part of the SEACOR family of businesses for over two decades, Inland River Transport Holdings LLC (SCF) includes more than 1,000 covered dry cargo hopper barges, eight 6,000-plus horsepower towboats and a network of terminal and fleeting infrastructure along the Mississippi River.“I am extremely pleased to enter this transaction with Ingram…

30 Aug 2023

ioCurrents Partners with Hornblower

Will Roberts, ioCurrents CEO, courtesy of ioCurrents.

ioCurrents, Inc. has partnered with Hornblower Group to help optimize vessel operations in Hornblower’s role as operator of NYC Ferry.ioCurrents has been employed as part of a series of robust measures implemented by vessel operator Hornblower Group to keep the NYC Ferry fleet running reliably and efficiently, minimizing vessel downtime across the fleet.Using AI and machine learning programs that analyze onboard data in real time, ioCurrents can predict equipment failures so corrective action can be identified and quickly implemented to prevent serious malfunctions or equipment damage.

28 Jul 2023

Grafmarine Solar Energy Cells Tested on Carisbrooke Vessel

(Photo: Carisbrooke Shipping)

An international shipping company will install revolutionary solar cells on its vessels to manage and store renewable energy following successful trials in Equatorial waters.Carisbrooke Shipping Ltd, which operates a fleet of multi-purpose vessels from offices in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, signed a letter of intent with Anglesey and Manchester-based Grafmarine to utilize the cutting-edge NanoDeck AI Solar tile management solution.The companies have worked in partnership over the last 12 months…

17 Jul 2023

Insurers Reviewing Black Sea Ship Cover After Russia Quits Deal

© Andriy Danilyuk / Adobe Stock

Insurers are reviewing whether to freeze cover for any ships willing to sail to Ukraine after Russia on Monday quit a U.N.-backed deal that allows the export of grain through a wartime Black Sea safe corridor, industry sources said.The agreement, brokered by Turkey last July, aimed to alleviate a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blocked by Russia's February 2022 invasion of its neighbour to be exported safely."Due to the collapse of the Black Sea corridor deal, most shipowners will now refrain from calling Ukrainian ports…

26 Apr 2023

Canadian Government Approves Vancouver Terminal Expansion

(Image: Port of Vancouver)

The Canadian government has approved a marine container terminal expansion project in Delta, B.C., following a environmental assessment process that started in 2013.The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project includes building new land and a new three-berth marine container terminal near existing port terminals at Roberts Bank in Delta, B.C., about 35 kilometers south of Vancouver. The project will incrementally deliver an additional 2.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of capacity…

23 Feb 2023

Supreme Court Sides With Offshore Worker in Overtime Case

© W.Scott McGill / Adobe Stock

An oil rig supervisor who earned more than $200,000 a year working for Houston-based Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc is entitled to overtime pay, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a decision with costly implications for the oil and gas industry.The court in a 6-3 decision authored by liberal Justice Elena Kagan decided that because the rig supervisor, Michael Hewitt, was paid a daily rate of $963 and not a salary, an overtime pay exemption in federal wage law for highly paid workers did not apply to him.The justices affirmed a 2021 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S.

22 Feb 2023

MGBW Workers Complete In-house Welding Program

(Photo: Marine Group Boat Works)

Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW), a family-owned boat repair and construction facility, is pleased to announce that 30 of its boatbuilders recently graduated from MGBW’s in-house Welding Certification Program. The Welding Program was launched in 2021 with support from a Small Shipyards Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD). In total, $859,250 was spent to develop the curriculum, secure an instructor, equip the welding classroom and…

17 Feb 2023

Ingram Christens New Towboat Steve Alley

Steve Alley in New Orlean (Photo: Ingram Marine Group)

Ingram Marine Group this week held a christening ceremony in New Orleans for Steve Alley, the fifth new towboat in the series of 10 ordered by the Nashville-based operator.The four-decked, welded-steel, USCG Subchapter M-compliant towboat was designed by Ingram Marine Group, Louisiana shipbuilder Main Iron Works, and naval architect Ashraf Degedy, PE.The 78-foot-long, 32-foot-wide newbuild is outfitted with twin Caterpillar Marine tier 3 diesel engines and Reintjes gearboxes, John Deere generators, and 76-inch Michigan special propellers.

15 Feb 2023

Aberdeen's James Hutton Institute Hosts Green Hydrogen Tech Start-Up sHYp

Jennie Morrison, director for sHYp BV in Scotland - Image supplied

Green hydrogen technology start-up sHYp has moved into offices and laboratory space at The James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen with plans to expand to five staff on site by summer.The move gives sHYp access to the institute’s specialist analytical equipment and expertise. This will help it develop what could be the first electrolyzer able to produce hydrogen from sea water without the need for desalination, which traditional electrolysis techniques need. According to sHYp, its technology…

11 Nov 2022

US Inland Waterways: Looking for Rainmakers

(Photo: Ingram Barge Company)

As 2022 moves into its final months, low water levels and drought form the basis of the news impacting inland waterways operators and barge companies. In the first week of October, numerous barges were reported grounded in the Mississippi River, particularly south of Baton Rouge. This has consequences: barge rates jumped 218% in St. Louis, compared to 2021.Low water was so severe that on October 7 Ingram Barge CEO John Roberts issued a force majeure notice (force majeure - unforeseeable…

06 Oct 2022

Ingram Barge Declares Force Majeure Due to Low Mississippi River

© Michael / Adobe Stock

Ingram Barge Company, one of the country’s largest barge shippers, said Thursday it was “providing formal notice of a force majeure event” as low water on the Mississippi River disrupted its operations on the major shipping waterway.The declaration would affect the portion of Ingram’s operating network at locations downriver from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Ingram Barge Chief Executive John Roberts said in an emailed statement. (Reuters - Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

28 Sep 2022

Savage Appoints Roberts as COO, Coler as CFO

(Photos: Savage)

Savage, a global provider of industry infrastructure and supply chain services, announced the appointments of Jeff Roberts as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Tom Coler as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Both appointments will be effective Oct. 1, 2022.“We’re excited to have Jeff Roberts step into a new role as COO, where his leadership abilities, enthusiasm, and commitment to our culture and strategy will help drive ongoing growth and operational excellence across the company…

22 Sep 2022

Marine Group Boat Works: Standing Steady on Four Legs

(Photo: Marine Group Boat Works)

Ask anyone working in the shipyard business, and they’ll tell you balancing yacht, commercial and government vessel repair work concurrently is no easy task. Add a bit of new construction to the mix, and you’ve got Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW), a Chula Vista, Calif. shipyard that has seemingly mastered the balancing act.“There are a few tricks to the trade,” said MGBW president Todd Roberts, a Cal Maritime graduate with a U.S. Coast Guard license for vessels up to 1,600 tons. “The biggest thing we do is run an extremely clean, environmentally friendly operation. . .

02 Sep 2022

Interlake Steamship Christens First New US-flagged Laker in Nearly 40 Years

(Photo: The Interlake Steamship Company)

The Interlake Steamship Company held a christening ceremony in Cleveland on Thursday for its new vessel, Mark W. Barker, the first U.S.-flagged freighter built on the Great lakes in nearly four decades.“This is truly a historic celebration for our company and for the United States maritime industry as we proudly christen the newest vessel to join the U.S. flag fleet on the Great Lakes and our first new build in 41 years,” said Mark W. Barker, President of The Interlake Steamship Company and the vessel’s namesake.

09 Aug 2022

Russia, Ukraine Agree to Protect Ukraine Grain Shipping Channel

© Elena / Adobe Stock

Ships exporting Ukraine grain through the Black Sea will be protected by a 10 nautical mile buffer zone, according to long-awaited procedures agreed by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations on Monday and seen by Reuters.The United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal last month after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine halted grain exports, stoking a global food crisis that the United Nations says has pushed tens of millions more people into hunger.Since then Russia, Ukraine…

02 Aug 2022

Shipping Arrangements Into Ukraine Still Not Ready

© galitskaya / Adobe Stock

Key arrangements including procedures for ships still need to be worked out before empty vessels can come in and pick up cargoes from Ukraine using the new grains corridor, a senior London marine insurance market official said on Monday.Turkey and the United Nations brokered a grain-and-fertilizer export agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month - a rare diplomatic breakthrough in a conflict that is grinding on with no resolution in sight."The standard operating procedures for vessels still need to be worked out and there are issues about crewing that still need to be resolved…

01 Aug 2022

US Navy Testing Unmanned Capabilities Aboard USNS Apalachicola

USNS Apalachicola (EPF 13) (Photo: Austal USA)

The future USNS Apalachicola (EPF 13) is performing a series of planned test events assessing autonomous capabilities integrated into the shipboard configuration, demonstrating that a large ship can become a self-driving platform.Known as Unmanned Logistics Prototype trials, each test event increases the perception capabilities and complexity of behaviors demonstrated by the autonomous systems. Test evolutions to date include point-to-point autonomous navigation, vessel handling…

22 Jul 2022

Ship Insurers Sail Into Unknown With Ukraine Grain Risks After Deal Reached

© kolyadzinskaya / Adobe Stock

A number of insurance underwriters are interested in providing cover for grain shipments from Ukraine after an agreement was reached to re-open Black Sea ports, although the first shipments are expected to be weeks away, industry sources said on Friday.Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday to reopen the ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased. The accord crowned two months of talks brokered by the United Nations and Turkey…

01 Jul 2022

Shipbuilding: Ingram Marine Christens Four Towboats in One Day

Image courtesy  Ingram Marine Group

On June 24, Ingram Marine Group held a special christening ceremony for four vessels: M/V Capt. Roy Daniels, M/V Randy Hooper, M/V Debbie L. Owen and M/V Harold B. Warren. The M/V Debbie L. Owen and M/V Capt. Roy Daniels are new builds. The M/V Randy Hooper and M/V Harold B. Warren are refurbished vessels.“The people we are honoring today are a testament to the kind of company we’ve worked hard to build. They really represent the ‘Ingram Way’ which is why it is so fitting to christen some of our vessels in their honor…

29 Jun 2022

NAT Adds Two Suezmax Newbuilds

Nordic American Tankers said it has added two suezmax tankers to its fleet. The newbuilds, NAT's first delivered since 2018, both have long term contracts.The 157,094 dwt Nordic Harrier was delivered on May 13 from Samsung shipyard in South Korea. The second vessel, to be named Nordic Hunter, is 156,800 dwt and will be delivered from Samsung within the next few days, NAT said. The ships were ordered in 2020.Both tankers have six-year contracts with Oman's ASYAD Shipping Company. The time charters will generate an aggregate revenue of more than $100 million, New York-listed NAT said when it announced the deals in February.The newbuilds are fully financed via Ocean Yield, a company controlled by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), which is headquartered in the U.S.

10 Jun 2022

Sea Mines Float Between Ukraine’s Grain Stocks and the World

© Grispb / Adobe Stock

As the United Nations tries to broker a path for grain from Ukraine and temper worries about a global food crisis, hundreds of mines laid along the Black Sea present a practical nightmare that will take months to resolve even after any agreement.The Black Sea is crucial for shipment of grain, oil and oil products. Its waters are shared by Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Russia.Ukrainian government officials estimate 20 million tonnes of grain are unable to travel from what was the world's fourth largest exporter prior to the Russian invasion on Feb.

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