Merchant Ship

AMVER Merchant Ship Rescues Senegal Sailors Off Cape Cod

Fourteen Senegal nationals arrived in Brooklyn today aboard a merchant ship after being plucked from their 60-foot catamaran about 800 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass., Saturday afternoon. All 14 rescued, reportedly in good physical condition, were placed in the care of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command Center received a distress report and diverted the "AMVER"-participating merchant ship OOCL Melbourne to render assistance. The merchant ship OOCL Melbourne was transiting from Barcelona, Spain to Brooklyn. A joint-agency boarding team of Coast Guard Sector New York and Customs and Border Protection officers met the merchant ship OOCL Melbourne at Ambrose Light Anchorage, about 12 miles outside the Port of New York and New Jersey. The boarding team remained on board until the ship moored at the Red Hook shipping terminal in Brooklyn. The Crew and Master of merchant ship were commended by the Coast Guard for their seamanship and professionalism in going out of their way to come to the "rescue" of 14 on the catamaran, and for their voluntary support of AMVER / rescue at sea program. They maneuvered their 770 foot merchant ship alongside the distressed catamaran to remove the 14 sailors in the middle of the North Atlantic during January weather and sea conditions.

Danish Navy Foils Pirate Attack off Somali Coast

According to a report from AFP, a helicopter from a Danish warship under NATO operational control foiled a pirate attack August 28 on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden. The Danish ship Esbern Snare launched a helicopter in response to a call for help from a merchant vessel, the Danish Navy told AFP. According to the report, a statement from NATO's maritime command said the attacked merchant ship was the Panamanian flagged MV Caribbean Carrier.

GSM Design Group acquires FORAN V60

The Polish firm GSM Design Group has signed an agreement with Sener to use the FORAN System. GSM personnel have already received on site training in the FORAN Structure discipline, given by the Polish engineering company, StoGda, Sener’s representative in Poland. GSM is an engineering group established in 1999, whose main activity is offering services to shipyards and maritime engineering departments. The company carries out projects both for large passenger and merchant ships and for

This Day in Naval History – October 19

1843 - CAPT Robert Stockton in Princeton, the first screw propelled naval steamer, challenges British merchant ship Great Western to a race off New York, which Princeton won easily 1915 - Establishment of Submarine Base at New London, Connecticut. 1944 - Secretary of Navy orders African American women accepted into Naval Reserve. 1987 - Destruction of an Iranian oil-drilling platform used for military purposes.

This Day in Naval History - March 13

From the Navy News Service: 1895 - The first submarine building contract is awarded to John P. Holland Torpedo Boat Co. 1917 - Armed merchant ships are authorized to take action against U-boats. 1959 - The Naval Research Laboratory takes the first ultraviolet pictures of the sun. 1963 - USS Albany (CG 10) and aircraft from Navy Airborne Early Warning Squadron 4 from Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, aid five ill crew members of Norwegian freighter Jotunfjell.  

Maritime Security: More Work to be Done

Global maritime anti-terror laws introduced last year have broadly enhanced sea security, but many challenges lie ahead, a principal architect of the measures said in an interview, according to a Reuters report posted on www.btimes.com. James F. Wall, until 2004 chair of the UN International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) security arm responsible for drawing up the law, said merchant ships were generally more secure than the ports which still need more security.

This Day in Naval History - May 12

By Navy News Service 1780 - Fall of Charleston, SC; three Continental Navy frigates (Boston, Providence, and Ranger) captured; and one American frigate (Queen of France) sunk to prevent capture. 1846 - U.S. declares war against Mexico. 1975 - SS Mayaguez seized by Khmer Rouge and escorted to Koh Tang Island. 1986 - Destroyer USS David R. Ray (DD 971) deters an Iranian Navy attempt to board a U.S. merchant ship.

APL To Train 20 Sri Lankan Seafarers Annually

Collaborates with Sri Lanka’s Mahapola Training Institute on training programs COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, 5 APRIL, 2011: APL has agreed with Sri Lanka Port Authority’s Mahapola Training Institute to train 20 new seafarers from the Institute annually onboard its ships. The agreement was signed today by APL President Eng Aik Meng, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and the Directorate General for Merchant Shipping.  

World's Only Nuclear-Powered Container Ship for Scrapyard

The world’s only nuclear-powered container ship, the Murmansk-based 'Sevmorput' is considered to have no commercial future. The vessel, which has been lying idle in the Atomflot base outside Murmansk for years, was on 31 July this year taken out of the Russian Ship Register . The unique ship will end up a scrap metal, experts in Murmansk confirm according to a recent Barents Observer news report. The Sevmorput

Use of Organotins to be Banned in Anti-Fouling Paints

An international convention banning the use of harmful organotins in anti-fouling paints used on ships' hulls will enter into force on September 17, 2008, following accession to the treaty by Panama on September 17, 2007. The International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on Ships (AFS Convention) was adopted on October 5, 2001 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for safety and security of