Begins Service News

The latest addition to the Harley Marine fleet is now completing sea trials and preparing to enter service. The “M/V Earl W. Redd” will be operated under the flag of the Olympic Tug & Barge unit of Harley. The 120 foot tractor tug, built by Diversified Marine Inc. in Portland, Oregon, and named after the father of Diversified President Kurt Redd, is slated to enter service providing unrestricted coastal towing along the West Coast of the United States. Tier IV-compliant CAT engines coupled to Rolls-Royce “Z-drives” power the tug, delivering an expected bollard pull capability of 75 tons. Harley Marine once again selected Markey Machinery to supply the deck equipment for this vessel.

Tokyo-based Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Group is not only one of the world’s largest ship owners with a diverse fleet of more than 800 ships, it is a growing global maritime logistics powerhouse. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News visited with Yasuo Tanaka, Senior Managing Corporate Officer, Naval Architect, in Tokyo for his insights on the company’s continued efforts to invest in operational efficiency. The story of NYK cannot start without a look at the numbers, because the numbers tell the story in a most impressive fashion.

Crowley Puerto Rico Services, Inc. has broken ground on a $48.5-million construction project for a new pier at its Isla Grande Terminal in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the company announced. The project includes the development of a new 900-foot-long, 114-foot-wide concrete pier and all associated dredging needed to accommodate Crowley’s two new liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered, Commitment Class ships, which are scheduled for delivery in 2017. Crowley’s terminal expansion also includes the installation of three new ship-to-shore container gantry cranes…

Shipping company SC Line has started up service between Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades and Cuba, reports Sun Sentinel. The cargo and cruise vessels no longer require a special license to ply between US and Cuba. SC Line can serve the Cuban seaports of Mariel and Santiago every two weeks on a route that circles between Florida, Cuba, Panama and Colombia. On 20 September the SC Line vessel Caroline Russ berthed at Mariel in Cuba. It can carry shipping containers. It was the first call on a new service every 14 days linking Port Everglades, Florida with Mariel and Santiago de Cuba. “This new service offered by SC Line is the evident proof of the successful efforts that both Governments have been doing for the last months,” SC Line said.

Start the year off right with the newest addition to your fleet. Vessels come with lots of manuals and instructions as well as increasing amount of high-tech equipment. That said and even if it just involves a new digital camera or Blu-Ray Player, reading manuals is never exciting. Similarly, reviewing equipment documentation on a vessel is downright daunting, especially when you consider all of the other work it takes to get a vessel into service. That said; it is critical that the crew understand new equipment and are able to operate it.

The new 64-car ferry Salish will begin service on the Port Townsend/Coupeville route at noon on Friday, July 1, following a community celebration in Port Townsend on June 30. Two-boat service will continue on the route until Oct. 10. “I know how important it is to the communities to restore full service on the route in time for the busy holiday weekend,” said Assistant Secretary David Moseley. “This couldn’t have been accomplished without the hard work and dedication of many people. I especially want to thank the deck and engine crews for their role in bringing the Salish into service. The Salish begins service with the noon sailing from Port Townsend. The Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division (WSF) will begin taking vehicle reservations for the Salish soon.

One of the most labor- and fuel-efficient bulk material carriers on the Great Lakes entered service in June 2000. The self-unloading barge Great Lakes Trader is owned by Great Lakes Marine Leasing, Portland, Ore., and operated by VanEnkevort Tug and Barge, Bark River, Mich. The 740 x 78 ft. (226 x 24 m) Trader is the largest vessel capable of fitting through the St. Lawrence Seaway locks. Combined with the 10,200-bhp (7,600 bkW) tug Joyce L. VanEnkevort, the new integrated tug/barge (ITB) unit is the biggest dual-mode ITB on the Great Lakes. The 39,600 long ton (40,234 metric ton) capacity Trader was designed by a team of engineers directed by naval architect Joe Fischer, president of Bay Engineering, Inc., Sturgeon Bay, Wisc.

Incat Australia announced that the fast ferry, ‘The Cat’, has been Time Chartered by Bay Ferries of Canada to the Port Authority of Trinidad & Tobago. ‘The Cat’, which operates on the 85 nautical mile route between Port of Spain and Scarborough, entered commercial service on the January 10. After more than three years of investigating tonnage options, involving the Tobago House of Assembly, the Port Authority of Trinidad & Tobago, the Ministry of Transport and Works, the Government Shipping Service and several technical sub committees…

Silversea Cruises Group Ltd. bought the expedition ship World Discoverer. The company took delivery of the vessel in Singapore on September 17. The ship will undergo a multi-million dollar refurbishment before it begins service in spring 2008. After the planned refurbishment, World Discoverer will accommodate approximately 140 guests (reduced from current 175) and a crew complement of 106 in a state-of-the-art vessel sporting the latest communications systems, audio-visual equipment, and other high-end amenities. The 6,072-ton vessel also boasts a strengthened hull with the highest Lloyd's Register ice-class notation (1A), appropriate for navigating waters, without an escort, in some of the world's most remote regions, including Antarctica.

Boston’s newest and most powerful harbor tug has been christened, crewed up and has started serving customers of Constellation Maritime Co. The tug Leo is a 78-foot, 5,000 horsepower Dolphin-Class vessel built at Foss Rainier Shipyard in Oregon. The brand new ASD-powered tug arrived in Boston on March 7 along with the Orion, a 3,000 horsepower, 95 foot Voith-powered tractor formerly in service for Foss Maritime on the Columbia River. Together, the two high-powered tugs give Constellation, a Foss subsidiary, a one-two punch that amounts to a significant competitive edge in handling ship assists, harbor work, and future tanker escorts.

The newest vessel in TECO Transport's Gulfcoast Transit fleet is now in service. The M/V Sheila McDevitt - named in honor of TECO Energy's senior vice president, general counsel and chief legal officer - left Tampa for Texas early last week, where it will load a shipment for delivery to the east coast. needs of its growing business. It is the third ship added to the company's diverse fleet, which also includes 13 oceangoing tug and barge units. between the Pacific, Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the United States. Transport. Other TECO Transport businesses include Mid-South Towing and Electro-Coal Transfer. System, TECO Power Services, TECO Coal, TECO Coalbed Methane, TECO Propane Ventures and TECO Solutions.