BOEM Finalizes Wind Energy Area in the Gulf of Maine
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has finalized its designation of a Wind Energy Area (WEA) in the Gulf of Maine. The Final WEA has the potential to support generation of 32GW of clean energy, surpassing current state goals for offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine: 10GW for Massachusetts and 3GW for Maine. The WEA totals about two million acres offshore Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, ranging from approximately 23 – 92 miles off the coast.BOEM finalized the WEA after extensive engagement with the states of Maine…
BOEM and NOAA Release North Atlantic Right Whale and Offshore Wind Strategy
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries have released a final joint strategy to protect and promote the recovery of endangered North Atlantic right whales while responsibly developing offshore wind energy.The strategy builds on existing mitigation measures to protect North Atlantic right whales from the potential impacts of offshore wind development and was developed to support the Biden-Harris administration's goal of deploying 30GW of offshore wind by 2030.North Atlantic right whales are approaching extinction.
40GW Potential: U.S. Regulator Seeks Public Input on Gulf of Maine Draft Wind Energy Area
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Thursday identified a Draft Wind Energy Area (WEA) in the Gulf of Maine, opening a 30-day public review and comment period. The Draft WEA covers approximately 3,519,067 acres offshore Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, ranging from approximately 23 - 120 miles off the coast. “BOEM will continue to prioritize a robust and transparent planning process, including engagement with Tribal governments, federal and state agencies, the fishing community and other ocean users,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein.
Massachusetts Offshore Wind Farm Dodges Lawsuits over Environmental, Fishing Concerns
A U.S. judge has rejected challenges to federal environmental permits and construction approvals for a $4 billion offshore wind farm near Massachusetts, which commercial fishing groups have claimed will harm whales and impair their businesses.U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston last Thursday tossed the final two federal district court lawsuits directly challenging the Vineyard Wind project roughly 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, which would be the first commercial…
Wrong Approach to Protect the Right Whale
Pilot groups and port authorities have worked together to grow East Coast ports in a safe and environmentally responsible way. This growth has happened under strict safety and environmental regulations, including seasonal vessel speed regulations imposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to protect North Atlantic right whales (NARW). Last year, however, without sufficient scientific or economic impact data, NOAA proposed radical changes to these regulations.
Dealing with the Whale in the Bight
This is going to be about whales, but it will actually be an engineering discussion rather than a nature discussion. Let’s start with an easy truth. Whale deaths due to offshore wind activities is utter nonsense. It has no basis in fact, and is a total fabrication by truly malicious characters.There, now let’s get into more interesting stuff. Whale deaths caused by humans is a complex issue that will never be solved completely, but, with careful adjustments, can be reduced. There is a possibility that occasionally there are whale COVID style epidemics that cause unusual levels of mortality…
North American Lobster Industry Confronts 'Ropeless' Traps After Whale Entanglements
An emerging technology to fish for lobsters virtually ropeless to prevent whale entanglements is exciting conservationists, but getting a frigid reception from harvesters worried it will drive them out of business and upend their way of life.Injuries to endangered North Atlantic Right Whales ensnared in fishing gear have fueled a prominent campaign by environmental groups to pressure the industry to adopt on-demand equipment that only suspends ropes in the water briefly before traps are pulled from the water.The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch…
Lobsters Versus Right Whales
Lobsters versus right whales: The latest chapter in a long quest to make fishing more sustainableMaine lobster fishermen received a Christmas gift from Congress at the end of 2022: A six-year delay on new federal regulations designed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.The rules would have required lobstermen to create new seasonal nonfishing zones and further reduce their use of vertical ropes to retrieve lobster traps from the seafloor. Entanglement…
New Buoys Aim to Help Protect Whales from Ship Strikes
A network of acoustic monitoring buoys aims to help protect North Atlantic right whales—one of the world’s most critically endangered species—from ship strikes along the U.S. East Coast.Although North Atlantic right whales are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, serious threats to their survival abound with only approximately 336 of these great whales remaining on the planet. The installment of the buoys aims to aid in right whale’s survival and will fill a critical gap in monitoring along the East Coast.
NOAA Proposes New Vessel Speed Regulations to Protect North Atlantic Right Whales
NOAA Fisheries announced proposed changes to vessel speed regulations to further protect North Atlantic right whales from death and serious injuries resulting from collisions — part of a multifaceted approach to stabilize and recover this endangered population. The changes would expand the current mandatory seasonal speed restrictions of 10 knots or less in designated areas of the ocean and extend to most vessels measuring 35 to 65 feet in length.In addition, the agency is releasing a draft “roadmap” for public comment about on-demand…
Academia’s Climate Change Challenge is Far from Academic
Highlighted in Marine Technology Reporter's MTR100 is the work and technology ongoing in the halls of academia. The most recent report released by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasized our warming planet, an expected announcement for many in the scientific community. Faced with the confirmation that human activities have caused an increase in global temperatures, research has turned to seeking answers in the planet’s natural systems. How does each part of the global carbon cycle work and how may it be impacted by the changing climate?
Enviros Petition Feds for Whale-saving Slow Vessel Rule off Florida
Environmental groups urged the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on Tuesday to establish a year-round speed limit for ships in areas of the Gulf of Mexico, home to one of the most endangered whales worldwide, to prevent deadly collisions.The Natural Resource Defense Council and other groups asked the NMFS in a petition to limit the speed of vessels that navigate Gulf waters off the Florida panhandle to 10 knots. The area is home to the endangered Gulf of Mexico whale of which only about 50 survive.
Opportunities Gust Off US Shores
Throughout the world, offshore wind is on a growth trajectory. With green energy mandates from states in New England and the mid-Atlantic, the U.S. is joining the fray. Consultants Wood MacKenzie, in its U.S. Offshore Wind Outlook 2020-2029, suggested that as much as 25 gigawatts (GW) of capacity could be deployed in the U.S. by 2030 (though estimates range from 14 GW to as much as 34 GW), accounting for a hefty portion of incremental capacity coming online.Shipyards in New England have already seen the tip of the offshore wind iceberg…
Pioneer Crew Transfer Vessels: Designing the US Fleet
Europe has been the clear leader in offshore wind power since the world’s first offshore wind farm was built off the coast of Denmark in 1991. Now, as regions in Asia and North America set out to harness the huge energy potential gusting off their shores, local firms are drawing from the expertise laid out in the well-established European industry as they build the foundations for new offshore wind markets of their own.It’s no surprise, then, that designs for offshore wind support vessels currently being built in the U.S. come from the other side of the Atlantic.
ABS Grants AiP for Crew Transfer Vessel for U.S. Offshore Wind Ops
BAR Technologies and Chartwell Marine have received Approval in Principle (AiP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the design and construction of a BAR 30m crew transfer vessel (CTV) aimed for operations in the growing U.S. offshore wind sector.In a joint statement on Tuesday, BAR and Chartwell said that securing AiP offered the highest level of assurance that these innovative vessel designs will be built in-line with specific US requirements. "As part of the AiP process…
Ørsted, US Unis to Study Whales in OWP
Danish developer Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind has signed a research partnership with Rutgers University, the University of Rhode Island and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to support academic research activities related to offshore wind.The group is set to launch the Ecosystem and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (ECO-PAM) project.Ørsted signed an initial memorandum of understanding with Rutgers University in May 2019 to support academic research activities related to offshore wind. The ECO-PAM project will be in addition to this initial funding agreement.The company plans to apply the project’s learnings to develop tailored processes and procedures to better protect the North Atlantic right whale during survey, construction and operation phases of their U.S. offshore wind farm portfolio.
AWT, Blount, Chartwell Sign Offshore Vessel Deal
U.S. offshore wind farm support company Atlantic Wind Transfers (AWT) has signed a multi-million-dollar, market-first order for two state-of the-art Chartwell 24 Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs), developed by Chartwell Marine.The vessels, to be deployed in support of new wind farms off the East Coast, will be built by Blount Boats, with delivery scheduled for 2020."Meeting the demands of U.S. offshore wind developers and asset owners - many of whom have a background in the European sector - requires domestic supply chain firms to capitalise on existing technology, lessons learnt and best practice, while responding to the unique requirements of operating in American waters…
Offshore Wind: Regulatory “Takes” – Take a Close Look
On April 30 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a notice, requesting public comments, on a proposed “incidental harassment authorization” (IHA). An IHA is a legal and enforceable document presenting the terms and conditions with which a company must adhere in order to protect wildlife. In this case, the draft IHA was for Vineyard Wind, the wind energy company ready to start construction on an 800 MW offshore wind farm in the Atlantic, covering about 675 square kilometers, starting 14 miles from the coastline of Martha’s Vineyard.
Canada Lifts Ship Speed Restrictions
Transport Canada, the department within the Government of Canada, says it’s lifting speed restrictions for cargo ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence after recent surveillance failed to detect North Atlantic right whales in shipping lanes.There weren’t any whales in the shipping lanes where speed had been reduced, Transport Canada pointed out, adding that the lower speed limit had driven cargo ships out of the lanes so they could take more direct routes through areas where the animals are known to gather.Over the past month, Transport Canada’s National Aerial Surveillance Program has greatly intensified surveillance with 240 flight hours over 44 missions, which is more than one a day.
"IMO Joe" Angelo Honored
The International Maritime Prize for 2018 will be awarded to Joseph J. Angelo, a former United States Coast Guard (USCG) and International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO) senior executive who participated in International Maritime Organization (IMO) meetings for many years, providing leadership on a number of key regulatory developments.The IMO Council, meeting for its 122nd session in London (July 15-19) decided to award the Prize to Mr. Angelo, in recognition…
Canada Fines Ship on Whale Safety
Transport Canada has issued a $6,000 fine to a vessel that allegedly breached mandatory speed limits introduced by the federal government in parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced.Endangered whales such as the majestic North Atlantic right whale deserve to swim danger-free in Canadian waters. That is why the Government of Canada has introduced several measures to address risks they face by marine shipping and fishing activity.One of the implemented measures includes speed restrictions in certain zones in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and when a vessel contravenes the restriction…
Quieting Ships to Protect Environment
Acentech, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based noise, vibration and acoustical consulting firm, has issued its final report to Transport Canada concerning the Quiet Ship Workshop held at the International Maritime Headquarters (IMO) in London.For Canada, this issue is part of a broader concern with the health of the oceans and waterways that surround the country and its marine eco-systems.Canada’s oceans are home to 42 distinct populations of whales, in particular, the Southern Resident Killer whale, the St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga and the North Atlantic Right whale, one of the most endangered of all large whale species.Over 140 subject-matter experts from around the world gathered at this event for two and a half days.
Coast Guard Cutter Elm Heads to Baltimore for Overhaul
The 20-year-old U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Elm is scheduled to make its way to the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore this month for a planned major dry dock overhaul. The cutter’s departure from Atlantic Beach, N.C. will mark its last from its current homeport. After the overhaul work is completed, the Elm will report to a new homeport in Astoria, Oregon. Coast Guard Cutter Maple, which is presently undergoing a midlife overhaul of its own, will replace the Elm in Atlantic Beach this April.