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More Time to Comply with Discharge Regs

A team of K&L Gates LLP environmental and maritime lawyers representing a coalition of shipping interests has obtained an order from a United States District Judge in San Francisco to allow the maritime industry additional time to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) newly-issued requirements governing the discharge of pollutants from vessels.   Enacted by the EPA on December 18, 2008, under the Clean Water Act, the 80-page Vessel General Permit was to have taken effect the following day. Applicable to most commercial vessels over 79 ft long, the permit requires the development of best management practices for 26 different discharge streams, including deck run-off. Had the permit gone into effect on December 19 as called for by the EPA, many members of the maritime industry would have been subject to potential liability for not having best practices in place.   Under the order, the new deadline for complying with the EPA’s best practices requirement has been extended to February 6, 2009. The extension also gives the industry time to sort out the additional requirements to be imposed by some states as conditions of the permit.   The K&L Gates team involved in the matter included Washington, D.C., partners Barry Hartman, Mark Ruge, and Brian McCalmon, Harrisburg partner Christopher Nestor, and San Francisco partner Jeff Bornstein.

Cat Marine Engines Re-Power US Army Dredge

The US Army Corps of Engineers operates two hopper dredges on the west coast of the U.S. to keep shipping channels open. The largest and most modern of them is the Essayons, built by Bath Iron works in Bath, Maine in 1982. Its aging power plant has been replaced by eight state-of-the-art Cat marine engines totaling more than 15,000 kW. The 350 ft long Essayons is based in Portland, Oregon. Its annual schedule includes work in harbours between Alaska and California, as well as Hawaii

Norwegian Tanker Runs Aground

A chemical tanker controlled by Norwegian shipowning firm Odfjell has run aground off Indonesia. Odfjell reported that its chemical tanker Bow Star ran aground after leaving the Indonesian port of Batam. There were no injuries and the vessel's double hull was believed capable of preventing any environmental damage. There was no cause given for the grounding. The 39,832-dwt Bow Star was built in 2004 at Poland's Szczecin shipyard

Containerhsip ANL Excellence Cleared For Voyage

The containership ANL Excellence, which ran aground in Moreton Bay off Brisbane on July 21, has been given the all-clear to continue its voyage. The ship, which was traveling to Brisbane from Malaysia with a large cargo of consumer goods, ran aground when it became trapped on a sand bank at low tide. Owned by Australian National Line, the vessel's captain admitted outright that human error was to blame for the mishap - a pilot missed a navigation beacon.

Barge Traffic Still Slow On Mississippi

Barge traffic on U.S. Midwest rivers continued slow as low water levels on the upper and lower Mississippi River and ice buildup on the Illinois River kept navigation treacherous, Reuters reported on Wednesday. "At the Memphis gauge, the water level is about three feet below the desired level," said Lt. Brian Meier, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman, Memphis office. "The forecast is for water levels to stay pretty steady for next couple days," he said.

Fishing Vessel on Cape Peninsular Beach

'Eihatsu Maru' a 50 m Japanese registered long-liner is aground on South Africa's Cape Peninsular Beach The vessel has been on the beach for several days due to heavy surf. Most of those on board had been taken off the vessel, and all were safe, including the ship's dog. Disaster Risk Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said they would try to move the vessel again again shortly depending on conditions. Crowds gathered to watch from the edges of the beach

Eastern Queen Refloated Off India

New Mangalore, India: The Panamanian-flagged bulker Eastern Queen was refloated off New Mangalore, India, on June 8 and moved to an anchorage. The 70,196 dwt bulker sailed from New Mangalore with a cargo of 64,200 tons of iron ore for Japan, but drifted off the channel due to a sudden squall and ran aground north of the channel about two kilometers from the shoreline. All the port's tugs were immediately deployed to refloat the vessel but operations had to be abandoned due to adverse weather

Ship Grounded off Norfolk Coast

A rescue operation has been launched after a large container ship ran aground off Haisboro Sands. The vessel, The City of Sunderland, is carrying a cargo of 642 Nissan cars and is currently lying on a sand bar eight miles off the north Norfolk coast. There are 13 crew members on board. The 9,576 ton ship became stuck at approximately 2.20am this morning while on a voyage from the port of Zeebrugge to Tees Port.

Barge in Nanticoke River Refloated

The barge that ran aground last Wednesday in the mouth of the Nanticoke River was refloated Thursday evening after a successful lightering operation. The double-hulled barge carrying 420,000 gallons of black oil was able to continue its voyage up the Nanticoke River after about a 1/3 of its cargo was lightered off the vessel reducing its weight allowing tugs to pull it free. There are no injuries or pollution as a result of the grounding. At about 7 a.m

Salvage Cost of Stranded Tanker Soars

According to a report on www.businessday.co.za, bad weather could drive up the cost of salvaging the stranded oil tanker MT Phoenix to $4.5m, citing information from the South African Maritime Safety Authority. The tanker reportedly ran aground north of Durban on Tuesday. One well-placed industry source cited by the news service estimated the costs could soar even higher. Phoenix reportedly was stranded off a residential area, making the salvage job that much more challenging.