Safety Service News

Iridium Communications has announced Cosco Shipping (CSSC), the world's largest fleet of commercial vessels with 1,417 ships, has begun installation of Iridium® Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) terminals.The recent installation of the Lars Thrane LT-3100S terminal on the Cosco Tengfei is a testament to CSSC always prioritizing the safety of its crew, ships, and cargo, says Iridium.The Cosco Tengfei is a modern pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) vessel capable of transporting up to 5,000 vehicles.

Officials dedicated two new Port of Long Beach fireboat stations that are enhancing the Long Beach Fire Department’s waterside and landside emergency response capabilities, better safeguarding visiting ships, cargo and waterfront workers.The facilities – Fireboat Station 15 and Fireboat Station 20 – are the products of a $109 million Port of Long Beach program to preserve business continuity, security and economic interests. With an anticipated lifespan of 50 years, both stations…

Spain's GONDAN Shipbuilders announced it held a steel cutting ceremony marking the start of construction on a new vessel it is building for the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas for Scotland and the Isle of Man.The NLB, which has been responsible for the management of lights, buoys and beacons in the region since 1786, plays an essential role in safe navigation.The new hybrid-powered vessel…

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)…

Middle East Navigation Service (MENAS), provider of aids to navigation (AtoN) in the Middle East Gulf region, said its is increasing rates and widening the group of ships that will be asked to pay for the service.The group has been providing AtoN in the Middle East Gulf – one of the busiest trade lanes in the world – since 1951, supplying seafarers with information regarding the location, route and configuration of obstacles and hazards.MENAS covers the cost of operating and maintaining such AtoN…

Survitec has introduced a new, formalized pre-inspection solution as part of its dry dock safety service to help ship owners and managers optimize and expedite dry docking schedules, a pre-inspection service designed to support the servicing and inspection of all onboard safety and lifesaving equipment.As part of the service, Survitec teams review and set out a schedule of works in line with regulatory requirements. This includes collating and reviewing the necessary safety certificates and documentation and liaising with the shipyard and suppliers to expedite parts…

The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man announced the award of a £51.8 million contract to Spanish shipyard Astilleros Gondán S.A, for the build of a hybrid powered buoy tender vessel to support its vital safety service to mariners.The tender includes a commitment to place over £2 million of contracts with U.K. suppliers with a requirement for any contract over £25,000 to be advertised in the U.K. As part of the deal Gondán will also create a special fully funded internship program for up to 15 U.K.

The Virginia Port Authority Board (VPA) of Commissioners today introduced Stephen Edwards as the next leader of The Port of Virginia. He succeeds John F. Reinhart who for the last seven years has led the VPA as its CEO and executive director.Edwards has extensive experience in the global transportation industry most recently as the president and CEO of TraPac, LLC (TraPac), which operates container terminals in Los Angeles, Oakland and Florida. His tenure with the VPA begins on January 19, 2021.“I am delighted to be joining the Virginia Port Authority team in January,” Edwards said.

Satellite connectivity solutions provider COMSAT said it is extending the life of Inmarsat’s existing satellites through the leasing of an additional antenna at COMSAT’s Santa Paula, Calif. Teleport. The newly leased 12.8m antenna is transmitting and receiving in both C-band and L-band frequencies, bolstering capacity for the Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TT&C) and traffic operations of the Inmarsat satellite network. The Santa Paula teleport hosts Inmarsat’s Standard C equipment…

Tonnage on river increases 60 percent from 2018Through the first two months of 2019, the Port of Little Rock and its stevedorer, LSI, have seen a year-to-year increase of 33 barges, a 62% increase in activity. Additionally, tonnage is up 49,000 tons year-to-year (60%) with a total of 130,400 tons. Commodities handled during the month included aluminum ingots and tee bars, bauxite, nepheline syenite, rock and sand, scrap, steel coils, wetcake and wire rod coils. LSI expects barge activity to continue to be very strong over the next several months.Activity on the docks remained strong for February with a total of 47 barges worked- 21 more than February 2018. The 72,000 tons of cargo loaded and unloaded from barges during the month surpassed February 2018 by 80 percent.

Britain's Inmarsat will lose its monopoly in maritime safety communications after the International Maritime Organization gave Iridium and China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System the green light to develop competing systems.Inmarsat's shares fell as much as 14 percent after U.S.-based Iridium said late Monday its network had been recognized as a provider of Global Maritime Distress & Safety System (GMDSS).The stock was trading down 9 percent at 1345 GMT, while Iridium was up 4.7 percent in New York.Inmarsat announced the approval of its own new safety service and congratulated Iridium and B

Inmarsat has launched a vital new service, SafetyNET II, for Maritime Safety Information Providers (MSIPs), marking a key stage in upgrading the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), which helps to save thousands of lives at sea each year. Inmarsat’s new generation international broadcast and automatic reception service for Maritime Safety Information (MSI), enables MSIP’s to transition their communications to web-based messaging. As a web-based service, SafetyNET II introduces broadcast scheduling, continual monitoring, message cancellation, multiple text input methods, among other functions and usability improvements.

Harvey Gulf International Marine’s CEO Shane Guidry announced today the formation of new marine transportation company, Quality Liquefied Natural Gas Transport, LLC (“Q-LNG”), owned 70% by Shane Guidry and 30% by Harvey Gulf. Q-LNG will own and operate assets providing marine transportation of liquefied natural gas (“LNG”), a critical component of U.S. LNG infrastructure, commencing with a long-term contract with Shell Trading (U.S.) Company (“Shell”) to deliver LNG as a fuel source to various ports in Florida and the Caribbean. Mr. Guidry commented, “I’m very appreciative that Shell has the confidence in me and my team to service their LNG transport needs. Mr.

The role of Inmarsat as sole provider of satellite technology performing to Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) standards is set for advancement, after an IMO Sub Committee decided to greenlight consideration of both FleetBroadband and Fleet One for formal approval. To date, Inmarsat is the only company which has received approval from the International Maritime Organization to provide the GMDSS data and messaging communications on which mariners rely in the last resort, currently via Inmarsat C and Fleet 77 services.

Inmarsat has announced plans in support of its diamond sponsor commitment for London International Shipping Week, 11-15 September 2017 (LISW17) by staging three key events focusing on the maritime industry’s digital future. To coincide with the official launch of LISW17 on October 19th 2016, Inmarsat announced that its separate events would target: shipping’s response to digital disruption; the future of maritime safety; and maritime cyber security myth-busting. All three sessions will be held at Inmarsat Global HQ, London on 12-13 September, 2017. Leaders from every sector of the global shipping industry will descend on London in September next year for LISW to celebrate and highlight London’s continuing role as the Capital City for world shipping.

The 2015 financial year saw VIKING Life-Saving Equipment A/S continue its unbroken, 12-year run of revenue and profit increases. Revenues were up nine percent at DKK 1.891 billion, while profits before tax also grew nine percent to reach DKK 200.5 million. The impressive results were achieved despite difficult market conditions, and CEO Henrik Uhd Christensen is predicting 2016 and 2017 to be even more challenging. “We performed well during 2015, and we’re aiming for continued growth in revenue and profits as our next strategic phase culminates in 2020,” he states. “That said, we’re operating in markets that have entered a decisive phase, particularly when it comes to the offshore and cargo segments. VIKING operates in three key market segments: Cargo, passenger and offshore.

Since its founding in 1862, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), a New York registered not-for-profit corporation, has been committed to setting standards for safety and excellence as one of the world’s leading classification societies. Today, ABS brings together the latest technical solutions and best-in-class services to meet the growing regulatory, safety and environmental stewardship needs of its members and clients. With nearly 4,000 employees operating in 200 offices across 70 countries around the world…

Singapore-based Thome have signed a Safety Service agreement with Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS). Harald Lundestad, General Manager for WSS in Singapore said: “Companies such as Thome have to balance the logistical demands of managing a large and diverse fleet trading worldwide with the challenge of keeping vessels compliant. WSS safety service technicians carry out services on a wide range of safety, firefighting and rescue equipment such as CO2 high-pressure systems, portable fire extinguishers…

Part of the Van Oord fleet, the 137-meter-long trailing suction hopper dredger, Lelystad, has been through an extensive program of works at Gibdock in Gibraltar. The vessel was in dock for an initial 26 days and then went alongside the South Mole before redocking for a further 11 days. The project included steelwork, pipe, mechanical and painting work. The steelwork required inside the hopper tanks proved particularly challenging due to limited space for access. This was the second time Lelystad had been drydocked in Gibraltar, following a visit in 2008.

Supported by European Space Agency (ESA) funding, Inmarsat’s forthcoming Maritime Safety Data Service (MSDS) for FleetBroadband, delivers an increased data capability over the Inmarsat-4 network, including the Alphasat satellite, providing global coverage and the same reliability of over 99.9 per cent associated with the Inmarsat network. MSDS will continue to offer distress alerting, priority messaging and SafetyNET safety information broadcasts, but also deliver greater data capability than is currently available with Inmarsat C safety services. *All data accessed over MSDS to be captured and stored at new servers. Peter Blackhurst…

In advance of the conference on aircraft tracking currently being hosted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Inmarsat has confirmed that it has proposed to ICAO a free global airline tracking service over the Inmarsat network, as part of the anticipated adoption of further aviation safety service measures by the world’s airlines following the loss of flight MH370. This service is being offered to all 11,000 commercial passenger aircraft, which are already equipped with an Inmarsat satellite connection, virtually 100 per cent of the world’s long haul commercial fleet. In addition to this free global airline tracking service…

Maritime satellite communications provider Inmarsat says it now connects leisure and fishing vessels with a specially designed broadband service. Accessing weather information and chart updates, keeping in contact with loved ones or simply checking the news are now as simple to do at sea as they are on land with the launch of Fleet One from Inmarsat Maritime. From nnow on, yacht and fishing boat owners can take full advantage of maritime broadband services previously only available to much larger vessels. Whether  on a sailing holiday or an extended fishing expedition, the new Fleet One service ensures small vessel owners have uninterrupted access to the internet, while being able to send SMS messages and have telephone conversations from on board their boat, anywhere in the world.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) advises that it has strengthened its Singapore-based management team with the appointment of Ms. Hege Solstad as Regional Director, WSS Asia Pacific, and Harald Lundestad as General Manager in the Singapore office. WSS say that these appointments reflect increased levels of business and a focus on expanding service provision across the Asia-Pacific region. Both individuals bring key skillsets to the WSS Asia operations, having worked across global…