Five Year

November Ore Shipments Up on Great Lakes

Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes reached their highest level so far this year in November. The trade totaled 4.6 million net tons, an increase of 27 percent over the preceding month. The upturn reflects higher operating rates at the nation’s steel mills that, in turn, have required the sailing of some U.S.-Flag lakers that had been idled. The most recent reactivation was on November 25 when the American Republic returned to service. The vessel was designed specifically to shuttle iron ore on the twisting Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. Comparisons with a year ago and the month’s five-year average illustrate the depth of this recession. November loadings were six percent off the pace of a year ago, and nearly 14 percent behind the month’s five-year average. For the year, the Great Lakes iron ore trade stands at 27.5 million tons, a decrease of 50.1 percent compared to a year ago. The decrease is only slightly less when compared to the trade’s five-year average for the January-November timeframe – 49.3 percent.

FMC Technologies, BG Norge Agreement

FMC Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: FTI) announced that it has signed a multi-year frame agreement with BG Norge, a subsidiary of BG Group, to provide subsea systems for offshore projects. The five-year contract includes provisions for two additional five-year extensions. The agreement also includes an immediate call-off to perform a detailed engineering study related to equipment and services to support the Jordbaer field, located in the Norwegian North Sea.

Hearing – Homeland Security: The Next Five Years

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs conducted a hearing entitled Homeland Security: The Next Five Years. As explained in her opening statement, Senator Susan M. Collins (R-ME) wants to assess the homeland security challenges the next five years will bring. Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, discussed those challenges, including port and maritime security. He noted that not every risk can be eliminated

Panama Canal Pilots Agree To Five-Year Contract

Panama Canal administrators and the waterway's most important human resource, the pilots, reportedly agreed on a five-year contract, ending 13 months of labor negotiations.

$60.7B: Total Offshore Wind Spend

New research released by energy business analysts Douglas-Westwood reveals the world offshore wind market will see expenditure of $60.7B over the next five years. By 2015, annual expenditure will be in excess of $19B. With over 3GW of capacity online by the end of 2010 and a further 2GW under construction at present, the offshore wind industry is growing extremely quickly. Over the five year period to 2015, more than 11GW of new capacity will be installed

Dredging Services in the US Market Research Report

IBISWorld report indicates that government & private funding is expected to boost revenue for the US dredging industry. Excerpts from the report are as follows: A weak economy has made growth for dredgers slower than expected. Nevertheless, increased government and private-sector funding is expected to boost revenue for the industry over the next five years. While lacking in prominence, the Dredging Services industry is an essential part of the US economy

McMurdo EPIRB Gains Type Approval

McMurdo gained Type Approval for the new Smartfind EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). The Smartfind range of EPIRBs were designed with both a non-hazardous battery and high brightness LED locator light to achieve type approval. The certification by COSPAS SARSAT, the international satellite-based search and rescue system, means that the Smartfind is compliant with maritime regulations. The Smartfind is available as either the standard Smartfind E5 or the Smartfind Plus G5

Transocean Announces Contract for Deepwater Pathfinder

Transocean Inc.  announced that its deepwater drillship Deepwater Pathfinder, a single-activity rig capable of drilling in water depths up to 10,000 feet, has been awarded a five-year contract by a subsidiary of Eni for drilling operations primarily in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The contract is scheduled to commence in March 2010 following completion of the rig's existing contract commitments. Estimated contract revenues that could be generated over the five-year contract period are

Great Lakes Iron Ore Trade Up 30% in October

Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 5,026,477 net tons in October, a 6.1% decrease compared to September, but a 30.5% improvement over a year ago.  Even so, loadings were still 8.6% below the month’s five-year average. October loadings at U.S. Great Lakes ports increased 28.3% compared to a year ago.  Shipments from Canadian ports along the Seaway were up 46%. Year-to-date the Lakes ore trade stands at 44 million tons

CMA CGM, IBM Sign Five Year Agreement

Partnership links world’s third largest shipping company with world leading technology services company.   After five years of working together through a joint subsidiary, CMA CGM Group and IBM today announced a new strategic partnership. Under the terms of the five-year agreement, IBM will provide industry-specific expertise in new technologies such as cloud computing and analytics, and support CMA CGM’s growth by delivering superior quality information technology services