First Year

ACL Announces Three Year Agreement for Employees and Teamsters Local 89

American Commercial Lines Inc. announced that the company has secured a three year agreement for its shipyard employees with the General Drivers, Warehousemen & Helpers (Teamsters), Local Union No. 89. The three year agreement, which was ratified by over 95% of the voters, provides for first year wage increases ranging from 5% to 18% for various job positions resulting in an overall average wage increase of approximately 11%.

O'Gara Wins Navy Satellite Deal

SatCom Group Holdings PLC, a reseller of mobile satellite communications, said its subsidiary O'Gara Satellite Systems Inc has won a 5-year contract, worth 10m in the first year, from the US government to supply satellite airtime to the US Navy. O'Gara, which is one of the five companies in the world certified as a Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) awardee, won the contract following a tender

Star Bulk Announces Charter

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. announced it has agreed to a further three-year time charter for its capesize vessel Star Sigma. The three-year charter will commence in April 2009 when the current one-year time charter at a gross daily rate of USD 100,000 will expire. The three-year charter has gross daily charter average rate of $63,000 staggered as follows: USD 69,000 for the first year (April 2009-April 2010), USD 63,000 for the second year (April 2010-April 2011) and USD 57

Star Bulk Announces Charter

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. announced it has agreed to a further three-year time charter for its Supramax vessel Star Gamma. The new three-year time charter to Korea Line will commence in February 2009 when the current one-year time charter to TMT, at a gross daily rate of USD 28,500, will expire. The new three-year charter with Korea Line has a gross daily average rate of $38,000 staggered as follows: USD 45,000 for the first year (February 2009-February 2010), USD 38

Panama Canal Practices Emergency Oil Spill Techniques

Oil spill emergency response teams gathered at the Panama Canal to attend the sixth International Mobilization, Preparedness & Response Exercise, held Dec. 4-6. During the event, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) worked with various non-profits to test its emergency response system in affiliation with local and international organizations. MOBEX’s goal is to evaluate the Canal’s response mechanism for large oil spill accidents and measure the ACP’s ability to alleviate the

Lockheed Martin Wins $17.4M Contract

Lockheed Martin Corp. won a $17.4 million contract from the Navy to support a program that oversees all technical products for submarine combat systems. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Md., will handle systems engineering, testing, integration and maintenance for Navy submarine combat systems, as well as new Virginia Class submarines. The contract, which is funded for the first year, includes options for up to 10 years

Northrop Grumman Awarded $58.4M Navy Contract

The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a $58.4m contract to continue life cycle engineering and technical services in support of the Navy's fleet of USS Ticonderoga (CG 47) class Aegis guided missile cruisers. The company's Ship Systems sector will perform the work in Pascagoula, and provide waterfront support in various U.S. Navy ports. This is projected to be a five-year program. The contract award is for the first year; four one-year options are to follow

Marathon Ashland Petroleum Garners USCG Award

Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC’s (MAP) Marine Transportation group has received the U.S. Coast Guard’s prestigious William M. Benkert Award for Environmental Excellence. Accepting the silver award on behalf of MAP Marine Transportation was Bruce Tilton, manager, Marine Transportation. “This is indeed an honor, and we are truly thrilled to receive this award, says Tilton. “Because this is the U.S. Coast Guard’s premier national award, recognizing marine environmental excellence

Odfjell, Ceres To Merge Chem Tanker Fleets

Norway's Odfjell ASA and Greece's Ceres Hellenic Shipping will merge their chemical transport assets to create the world's largest fleet of clean tanker tonnage. The transaction, a combined $360 million investment, will create a combined fleet of 92 ships, of which 49 would be wholly or partly owned, company officials said. Odfjell will issue 4.9 million shares to Ceres, worth about $121 million, in exchange for nine chemical tankers totaling 335,000 dwt and four ships totaling 160

Exhaust Manifold Catalyst System Completes Trial on Tug

New Exhaust Manifold V-CATTM Catalyst System from MIRATECH Successfully Completes One Year Trial on Harbor Tug.   MIRATECH Corporation announces a successful first year demonstration of its new, patented V-CATTM Integrated Diesel Oxidation Catalyst System on a vessel powered by two EMD 12-645 roots blown diesel engines in service in California. MIRATECH Corporation, in partnership with Foss Maritime Company, has now successfully completed the first year of a three-year program to