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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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11 Mar 2024

Furuno Unveils TZtouchXL With Risk Visualizer And AI Avoidance Route

(Image: Furuno)

Marine electronics manufacturer Furuno introduced the NavNet TZtouchXL series, a suite of Multi Function Displays (MFDs) designed to meet the requirements of workboat operators, including ferries and tugboats.The NavNet TZtouchXL series encompasses three large-sized MFDs: the 16” TZT16X, 22” TZT22X, and 24” TZT24X. These MFDs feature super-wide, all-glass displays with exceptional clarity and brightness. The rugged all-glass design is not only functional but also enhances the durability and functionality of the helm.

19 Feb 2024

Five Tips to Keep Workers Safe in 2024

© xy / Adobe Stock

The maritime industry accounts for more than 90% of global trade and employs over 3 million people in the United States, and like other modes of transportation, our industry encounters unique risks. Waterfront workers are exposed to various hazards such as heavy machinery, hazardous substances, extreme weather and long hours. If not properly managed, these hazards can result in serious injuries, illnesses and even fatalities. That is why ensuring the safety of waterfront workers is a top priority for all of us who work in the maritime industry.

30 Jan 2024

NTSB Issues Safety Alert on Personal Locator Devices for Mariners

Exemplar personal locator beacon (left) and satellite emergency notification device (center), and a personal locator beacon attached to a lifejacket (right). (Source: Bluewatersailing.com (left), Powerandmotoryacht.com (center), and Varen (right))

A new safety alert issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urges vessel owners and operators to provide each crewmember with a personal locator device. These devices improve a mariner’s chance of rescue during an emergency.During an emergency at sea, a mariner’s chance of survival decreases if search and rescue cannot quickly and accurately identify their location. Personal locator devices, such as personal locator beacons (PLB) or satellite emergency notification devices (SEND), can accurately pinpoint a person’s location.

23 Oct 2023

Intellian, Inmarsat Ink MOU to Develop Maritime Safety Terminal

Intellian Technologies and Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat business, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the development of a next generation GMDSS safety terminal, designed for operation over Inmarsat’s ELERA L-band network.The new safety terminals will become the standard Inmarsat Maritime product for the next generation Fleet Safety service and will fulfil the requirements and performance standards of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as part of a range of maritime SOLAS approved ship borne equipment including Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)…

05 Jun 2023

US Coast Guard Warns on Open Flames and Hidden Hatches

Source: US Coast Guard

The US Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis Commandant has released US Coast Guard Marine Safety Alert 07-23, Critical Insight from Ongoing Investigations into Small Passenger Vessel Fires.The Safety Alert was prepared in response to multiple ongoing investigations being conducted by the U S Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) into fires onboard two certificated small passenger vessels. Both vessels sustained millions of dollars in structural damages.The alert highlights the risk of the open flames that can be used during dinner cruises.

31 May 2023

Shadow Tanker Fleet Poses New Safety Challenges

© momentscatcher / Adobe Stock

Ongoing and new threats posed by the ripple effects of the Ukraine conflict will create challenges to the shipping sector over the next 12 months and beyond, according to insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE’s (AGCS) Safety & Shipping Review 2023.Every year AGCS analyzes reported shipping losses and casualties involving vessels over 100 gross tons. During 2022, 38 total losses were reported globally, compared with 59 a year earlier. This represents a 65% decline in…

30 May 2023

Retaining Gen Z in the Marine Industry

© alexgombash / Adobe Stock

While people in all generations measured themselves against eternal factors—fellow employees, family, their industry, etc.—Generation Z is fixated on measuring themselves against the world as seen through social media. Coaching them will help them begin to turn inward and measure success against their own goals. One of the keys to retaining your Gen Z workers will be in positively coaching them.Coaching should provide positive feedback about employee contributions. At the same time…

11 Apr 2023

US Coast Guard Warns on Vessels Wind Turbine Parts

© Phuc / Adobe Stock

The US Coast Guard Inspections and Compliance Directorate has released Marine Safety Information Bulletin 04-23 to advise mariners that an increasing number of break-bulk and retrofitted bulk carriers are arriving in the U.S. carrying wind turbine parts stowed in a manner that substantially limits visibility from the navigation bridge.In many cases, the vessels have been temporarily exempted from compliance with SOLAS 1974 Chapter V, Regulation 22, by their flag administration…

19 Jan 2023

Vessel Seeks Other Port on Expected Freeport LNG Delay

At least one liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel gave up on Freeport LNG's export plant in Texas by Thursday after a growing number of analysts and other sources said the facility would likely not exit its seven-month outage until February or later.The Wilforce vessel, which was expected to reach Freeport in late January, changed its destination to Spain, according to ship tracking data from Refinitiv.Last week, at least two vessels, Elisa Larus and Corcovado LNG, also changed their destinations from Freeport to other ports.Although Freeport LNG on Thursday said that the plant is still on track to restart in the second half of January…

17 Jan 2023

Gas Starts to Flow to Freeport LNG Export Plant

© Timon / Adobe Stock

Freeport LNG's long-shut liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Texas started receiving pipeline natural gas over the long U.S. Martin Luther King Jr holiday weekend, according to Refinitiv data.U.S. LNG exports have been steadily increasing for years and Freeport, the second biggest U.S. LNG export plant, is one of a number of key facilities for shipments around the world, where demand has soared following Russia's decision to largely cut off piped gas supply to Europe after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.Gas started flowing to Freeport on Jan.

12 Sep 2022

US Seeks to Restore Safety Rules Sparked by Gulf Oil Spill

(Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

The Biden administration on Monday proposed offshore drilling safety measures that it said would help prevent oil spills and protect workers and the environment.The proposal aims to restore safety provisions put in place by the Obama administration in 2016 following the fatal 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon spill, the worst in United States history.The Trump administration had revised the rules in 2019 to reduce what the oil and gas industry said was a financial burden.The Interior Department…

01 Sep 2022

NTSB Calls for Action on Safety Following Conception Dive Boat Tragedy

The fire-stricken Conception shortly before it sank off Santa Cruz Island in September 2019. All 33 passengers and one of six crewmembers died of smoke inhalation after they were trapped in the berthing area while a fire raged on the deck above. (Photo: Ventura County Fire Department)

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says more progress is needed on the safety recommendations it issued in the wake of the Conception dive boat tragedy.The Conception was anchored in Platts Harbor, off Santa Cruz Island, Calif., when it caught fire in the early morning of Sept. 2, 2019. The vessel burned to the waterline and sank less than 100 feet from shore. The 34 people asleep below deck were trapped in the bunk room: 33 passengers and one crew member lost their lives.Following the investigation, the NTSB issued 10 new safety recommendations: seven to the U.S.

15 Jun 2022

Solstad, DeepOcean and Østensjø Launch Remote Ops Venture

(Photo: Solstad Offshore)

A group of companies working in the offshore energy industry are teaming up in an effort to fast-track the journey toward remotely managed services, including onshore remote operations centers and unmanned surface vehicles (USV).Solstad Offshore, DeepOcean Group and Østensjø Group have established and will share 33.33% stakes in two joint ventures (JV). One of them, Remota AS, will own and operate advanced onshore remote operations centers, while the other, USV AS, will develop…

27 May 2022

Shipbuilders Council Announces 2022 Shipyard Safety Awards

(File photo: Fincantieri Marinette Marine)

The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), the national association representing the U.S. shipyard industry, today announced the 2022 Annual Shipyard Safety Awards. SCA recognized a total of 15 U.S. shipyards and repair facilities with seven recipients receiving multiple awards.SCA honors shipbuilding and repair organizations with the “Excellence in Safety” Award and “Improvement in Safety” Award each year for enhancement of operations and promotion of safety and accident prevention.

16 May 2022

EMBARC: Changing Course - from Coarse to Enlightened

Midshipmen from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, fix the ship's position using a sextant aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65). (Photo: Deven Leigh Ellis / U.S. Navy)

“Until every employee, and every midshipman, and cadet, and every trainee trusts the system and until all allegations are handled properly, abuse will continue to occur, it will continue to go unreported, and people will continue to suffer alone—and that is simply intolerable,” said Lucinda Lessley, Acting Maritime Administrator, presenting at the Connecticut Maritime Association Shipping Expo and Conference, in February.On March 30, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) released…

16 Dec 2021

USMMA Set to Resume at Sea Training

File photo: Two students from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy train aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold in 2016. (Photo: Leigh Ellis / U.S. Navy)

Students from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) are set to resume at sea training with new safety measures in place following a temporary pause due to sexual assault and harassment concerns. The U.S. federal maritime academy’s Sea Year training program, which typically consists of a sailing period during a cadet’s sophomore year and a longer sailing period during a cadet’s junior year, was put on hold in early November as lawmakers and the U.S. Department of Transportation…

06 Dec 2021

23.8% of Lifeboat Accidents Caused by Equipment Issues

© ymgerman / Adobe Stock

Equipment issues are behind nearly a quarter of all lifeboat accidents, according to  new safety report from classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) and ship management trade association InterManager.Concerned about lifeboat safety and fatalities caused by lifeboat accidents, InterManager began gathering statistics several years ago, aiming to identify key risk factors. Having collated figures which date back to 1980, InterManager now has the largest maritime industry database of lifeboat accidents.LR’s SafetyScanner…

17 Feb 2021

DNV GL Sees 'Safety Gaps' on Path to Digitalization, Decarbonization

The white paper identifies a looming “safety gap” between shipping’s existing approach to safety risks and its ambitions for greater digitalization and the adoption of alternative fuels. (Image: DNV GL)

A new approach to safety is necessary along the maritime industry's rapid transition to a decarbonized, digitally smart future, says classification society DNV GL in a new white paper released Tuesday.The white paper, “Closing the safety gap in an era of transformation”, identifies a looming “safety gap” between shipping’s existing approach to safety risks and its ambitions for greater digitalization and the adoption of alternative fuels. According to DNV GL, the new technologies…

09 Feb 2021

RightShip Unveils New Safety Score

© Marco2811 / Adobe Stock

Maritime risk management and environmental assessment organization RightShip announced its new Safety Score and Platform has gone live, aiming to provide a clear and transparent pathway to improved safety standards for shipping.RightShip said it spent two years building and refining the Safety Score, a metric that enables the maritime industry to improve the safety of vessel operations. The Safety Score ensures there are minimum standards that all vessels must meet, as well as clear actions to take to improve a vessel’s score.

08 Dec 2020

Coronavirus Slows Bangladesh's Shipbreaking Safety Reforms

© katiekk2 / Adobe Stock

The coronavirus pandemic has slowed efforts to make safer the often hazardous job of dismantling old ships in Bangladesh, officials said, following the latest worker fatality.COVID-19 temporarily shuttered ship-breaking yards in Bangladesh, one of the world’s main destinations for end-of-life vessels, delaying safety reforms ahead of a 2023 deadline.Almost all of the 70 active yards in Bangladesh have submitted Ship Recycling Facility Plans since 2019, according to the Ministry…

23 Oct 2020

New Zealand Announces New Safety Measures for Livestock Shipping

© STOCKSTUDIO / Adobe Stock

New Zealand on Friday said it had introduced new requirements for the safe transport of livestock, after a cattle ship capsized in the East China Sea last month, killing almost all its crew and thousands of cows.Only two of the 43 crew members and more than 6,000 cattle onboard the Gulf Carrier 1, which was heading from New Zealand to China, survived, prompting authorities to suspend live cattle exports and launch a review.The suspension expires on October 23, but a conditional ban is in place until November 30…

17 Aug 2020

Shipbuilders Council Announces Shipyard Safety Awards

© chirnoagarazvan / Adobe Stock

The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), the national association representing the U.S. shipyard industry, today announced the 2020 annual shipyard safety awards. SCA honors shipbuilding and repair organizations with the “Excellence in Safety” Award and “Improvement in Safety” Award each year for enhancement of operations and promotion of safety and accident prevention.Over the past several years, the industry has seen the total recordable incident rate steadily decline, with the most significant decline seen in 2019.

10 Aug 2020

Royal Caribbean Eyes COVID-19 Testing to Help Restart Cruises

(Photo: Royal Caribbean)

Royal Caribbean Group said on Monday testing passengers for COVID-19 was “very likely” going to be part of a new set of safety measures planned to get its ships to resume sailing after months of being docked.The company’s shares rose as much as 11% in early trading.“We have not yet reached a point in our protocols where we’re ready to publish and release for discussion. But it’s very likely that testing will occur,” said Michael Bayley, chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean International.Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line are working on new safety standards…

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