Begins Construction News

On March 29, 2021, President Biden announced his ambitious plan to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power – enough energy to power 10 million U.S. homes – by 2030. The plan would leverage authorities under the Department of Interior, Energy, and Commerce to guide “more than $12 billion per year in capital investment in projects on both U.S. coasts, create tens of thousands of good-paying, union jobs, with more than 44,000 workers employed in offshore wind by 2030 and nearly 33,000 additional jobs in communities supported by offshore wind activity.” The U.S.

A joint venture between HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Saudi Arabian Development and Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments has held a groundbreaking ceremony for an engine factory in Saudi Arabia.The engine plant will be built in an area of 150,000 square meters in the King Salman Global Maritime Industries Complex in Ras Al-Khair near Jubail, a city in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. It will begin full-scale production in the fourth quarter of 2025.The maximum annual production capacity will be 30 two-stroke low speed engines…

The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure voted the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 (WRDA 2020) favorably out of Committee, Wednesday. The legislation, which provides authority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to carry out water resources development projects and studies, as well as policy direction to the Corps for implementation of its Civil Works missions, now heads to the House Floor for a vote.Maritime trade groups Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) and the American Waterways Operators (AWO) applauded the House T&I bill (H.R.

Canada's oldest privately owned consulting Naval Architectural firm Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) announced that Sanmar Shipyards in Turkey started the construction of a new series of RAstar 3200-SX tugs in March of 2019.The tugs which are named by Sanmar after a large river in Turkey as the Kocaçay series, are exclusively designed by Robert Allan Ltd. for construction by Sanmar and are key additions to the line up of Sanmar built tugs.This wide range of tug starts at the highly capable 15 m RAscal 1500 line-handling tugs up to 34 m long RAstar 3400 escort tugs all finished to impeccable quality standards. The first two vessels are currently…

Construction of Ponant's new polar exploration vessel Le Commandant Charcot has begun  with the traditional steel cutting ceremony at Vard's shipyard in Tulcea, Romania.Delivery of the new flagship, the most ambitious ever designed both in terms of travel experience and respect for the environment, is scheduled for 2021.The vessel will bear the name of a great French explorer: Le Commandant Charcot. An explorer by vocation with a true passion for sailing, Jean-Baptiste Charcot is one of the emblematic figures of French polar expeditions.By naming its forthcoming polar exploration vessel after him, Ponant is paying tribute to this “gentleman of the poles”, a man respected by all.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority has started constructing the infrastructure for the Container Exchange Route (CER). The CER will link the deepsea container terminals, empty depots, rail terminals and distribution companies at Maasvlakte. The goal of this project is to reduce exchange costs between the various companies and further improve connections with the European hinterland. Ronald Paul, Chief Operating Officer at the Port Authority said: "The CER offers the opportunity to combine container streams, which means that trains, inland vessels and feeder vessels no longer need to go to the different terminals. With the CER, the Port Authority is introducing a completely new, advanced and unique system. The construction of the concrete road is part of the Container Exchange Route project.

NuBlu Energy has begun the construction of a natural gas liquefaction plant in Port Allen, LA, strategically located along the Mississippi River. NuBlu’s facility will support the region’s high-horsepower fueling applications such as rail, marine, long haul transportation, power generation, gas interruption, asphalt and other energy markets. The facility is slated to be operational and producing high-quality liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the second quarter of 2017. Total planned capacity of the facility is 90,000 gallons per day with an initial start-up capacity of 30,000 GPD. “This project represents the inauguration of a new direction for the LNG energy market.

1814 - A squadron from the schooner USS Carolina attacks and raids the base of the pirate Jean Lafitte, at Barataria, La., capturing six schooners and other small craft while the pirates flee the attack. 1823 - Samuel Southard becomes the seventh Secretary of the Navy, serving until March 3, 1829. During his tenure, he enlarges the Navy, improves administration, purchases land for the first Naval Hospitals, begins construction of the first Navy dry docks, undertakes surveying U.S. coastal waters and promotes exploration in the Pacific Ocean. 1854 - Mare Island, Calif. becomes the first permanent U.S. naval installation on the west coast, with Cmdr. David G. Farragut as its first base commander. 1922 - Cmdr.

The South Korean shipyard STX Offshore & Shipbuilding is apparently close to a bankruptcy if not yard soon find new vendors who are willing to pump huge sums into the yard. Otherwise, there is the prospect of a collapse in the first half of the 2016th. STX Shipbuilding CEO Lee Byung-Mo recently sent a message to its employees, saying, “If we operate our company the way it is without special countermeasures, we will be short of funds worth hundreds of billions of won in the next three years. Heo expects to suffer severe financial difficulties since the company still couldn’t make profits even after STX Shipbuilding used up 4.5 trillion won (US$3.86 billion) of funds received from the creditors in 2013.

Today General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics began construction on the second ship of the U.S. Navy's newly reclassified Expeditionary Base Mobile (ESB) program. The 784-foot ship will be configured with a 52,000 square-foot flight deck, fuel and equipment storage, repair spaces, magazines, mission planning spaces and accommodations for up to 250 personnel. The ship will be capable of supporting multiple missions including Air Mine Counter Measures (AMCM), counter-piracy operations, maritime security operations, humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions and U.S. Marine Corps crisis response. It will also support MH-53 and MH-60 helicopters, and will be upgraded to support MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft.

Damen Shipyards has refurbished a second 12,000 square meter shed at its Antalya, Turkey shipyard for the production of the Damen Fast Crew Supplier 5009, the company announced today. Antalya II will be dedicated to the construction of Damen’s 50-meter FCS 5009. The hulls and superstructures are built in steel and aluminum by a nearby subcontractor, and the fitting out takes place in Antalya II. Four 5009s are now under construction and the facility will produce 6 to 8 finished vessels a year when fully operational, the company said.

Seaspan Shipyard’s long-standing relationship with the Canadian Coast Guard was proudly showcased in recent days, with simultaneous repair and maintenance work on Coast Guard vessels at all three of the company’s shipyards – Vancouver Drydock, Vancouver Shipyards and Victoria Shipyards. “The role we play as an essential service provider to the Canadian Coast Guard is one that we take great pride in,” said Brian Carter, President, Seaspan Shipyards. In North Vancouver, Vancouver Drydock completed regular maintenance last week on the JP Tully, a 69 metre long Ice Class Oceanographic Survey Vessel, including overhauls to the tail-shaft and thrusters, hull preparation, paint and tank blasting, and re-coating.

Construction of HMS Prince of Wales, the second of two new aircraft carriers for the U.K. Royal Navy, has moved forward with the docking of two of the ship’s largest hull sections – Lower Block 02 and Lower Block 03. The movement of the blocks into the dock at Rosyth marks the beginning of the ship’s assembly phase and comes only days after Prime Minister David Cameron announced that HMS Prince of Wales will enter into service, ensuring that the U.K. will always have one aircraft carrier available.

Subsea installation contractor Bibby Offshore has recently commenced work with Maersk Oil UK on a multimillion pound contract that will see Bibby Offshore provide subsea construction and inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services to all of Maersk’s North Sea assets. Dive Support Vessel (DSV) Bibby Sapphire will undertake the offshore execution work, and an extensive engineering project management team based onshore will support this. “We have successfully completed contracts for Maersk Oil in the past and we are delighted to continue our working relationship.

Construction work has begun on the United States Merchant Marine Academy's new Mallory Pier. Construction crews from Russell Marine have had a barge on-site in Hague Basin since early January focused on the first phase of the project, which required preparing the old pier to help support the new construction. Last week the first pre-cast concrete piles arrived by barge, and after much anticipation, the first test pile of the new pier was driven into the Long Island Sound seabed. Seven more test piles will be driven in the seabed this week and measurements of their holding capacity taken.

On Thursday, June 16, 2011, Huisman’s CEO Joop Roodenburg gave the official start signal for the construction of Huisman China’s new quayside. With the new quayside in place, the Huisman China facility will be easily accessible for seagoing vessels, allowing for fast installation, commissioning and testing of the Huisman designed and built offshore construction equipment onboard. Besides the installation of Huisman products, the new quay and 2,400mt Travelling Crane will also serve commercial purposes for companies throughout China.

Construction on the Liverpool2 container terminal – a £300m project which will open up the whole of the U.K. to global trade – has entered a new phase. More than 320 40m-long steel piles, weighing 47 metric tons each, are now being driven into the bed of the River Mersey to form one of the highest quay walls in Europe, at 30 meters. Liverpool2 will open up the whole of the U.K. to trade from Asia, the Middle East and the Americas after the upgrading of the Panama Canal in 2015, providing a lower-cost, greener alternative to traditional southern English ports.

Port News reported that the steel cutting for the new ship of PRISCO was held at STX Shipyard in South Korea. The new vessel is the first of seven tankers of 51,000 tonnes deadweight each, according to a report on http://steelguru.com. The main ship of this series is scheduled to put into operation on November, 2008. The other vessels are planed to be delivered by May 2009.

San Diego - General Dynamics NASSCO today began construction of the future USNS John Glenn, the second ship of the U.S. Navy’s Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) program. The 765-foot-long ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the first quarter of 2014. When in service, the ship will be used as an offshore staging area for Navy and Marine personnel and equipment. NASSCO has construction contracts to build a total of three MLP ships. The first ship of the class, the future USNS Montford Point, is currently 48 percent complete at the San Diego shipyard. Once delivered to the fleet, MLP ships will join the Maritime Prepositioning Force squadrons strategically located around the world to enable rapid response in a crisis.

General Dynamics NASSCO began construction of the third ship in its series of nine product carriers.  The shipyard is scheduled to lay the ship’s keel in November and deliver the ship to U.S. Shipping Partners in the fourth quarter of 2009. In August 2006, General Dynamics NASSCO received a $1 billion contract from U.S. Shipping Partners to build the nine ships, which are designed to carry petroleum and chemical products in Jones Act trade between ports.  The ships will be double-hulled, 183 meters (600.4 feet) in length and can carry cargo weighing up to 49,000 tons. U.S. Shipping Partners previously announced that the third ship will be named , in honor of the state nickname of .

Tsuji Heavy Industries Jiangsu begins construction the first of two LNG-powered 5,000 dwt vessels for NOR Lines. The contract to build the two 5,000 dwt vessels was signed in October 2011 and construction has now begun with owner's representative and classification society DNV surveyor in attendance. NOR Lines operates a fleet of 16 cargo ships and 11 express vessels in Norwegian/Scandinavian coastal waters serving more than 70 ports. With support from the Norwegian’s Authorities and close collaboration with Rolls-Royce Marine…

Construction on the South San Francisco Ferry Terminal begins at Oyster Point Marina with an official groundbreaking ceremony. At 10:30 a.m. on Monday, October 19, 2009 civic leaders will kick-off the start of construction of the $26m ferry terminal. Ferry service is scheduled to launch in 2011. Congresswoman Jackie Speier, along with South San Francisco Mayor Karyl Matsumoto and WETA Board Chair Charlene Haught Johnson will turn over the first spade of dirt commencing the start of construction. The project will provide one hundred seventy (170) construction-related jobs & over twenty new full-time maritime operations and supervisory jobs.

Construction begins of First "Sayaendo" New-generation LNG CarrierAt Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works For Osaka Gas and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) began construction of the first ship in its "Sayaendo" Series, which it has developed as a new-generation liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, at the company's Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works. The LNG carrier is one of two ships ordered jointly by Osaka Gas Co., Ltd., and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) in October 2011.