Vessel Locations

Sea Tow Expands SeaSmart

Sea Tow Services International Inc., announced the expansion of its Sea Smart VHF service offering. Sea Smart VHF will be available throughout Florida’s Southeast coast, from Jupiter Inlet to Islamorada. The service is already available throughout the West Coast of Florida and in the Northeast from Cape Cod, Mass., to Cape May, N.J. Thecommunications service, launched at the 2006 Miami International Boat Show, utilizes boaters’ existing equipment to provide an application for their DSC-enabled VHF: a reliable communications connection on the water. Sea Smart’s marine voice and data network is comprised of coastal high site radio towers that connect, via RoIP, to a national operations center manned by professional marine dispatchers and licensed captains 24-hours a day. The subscription-based service includes Automatic Vessel Location (AVL), trip tracking, position plotting, unlimited direct-to-shore local and long distance calls and 24-hour marine operator assistance.

AIS Satellite Launch Date Set

Surrey Statellite Technology (SST) announce launch date of exactView-1 Automatic Identification Satellite (AIS) The highest detection performance Automatic Identification System (AIS) satellite ever built, will be launched by a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on on 22nd July 2012. AIS is currently deployed on more than 80,000 vessels globally, however AIS base station receivers are mostly based on land and can only track ships moving up to 50 nautical miles

Coast Guard Determines Cause of Collision

The Coast Guard completed its preliminary investigation of the collision between the tour boat, Spirit of Charleston, and a sailboat July 22 in Charleston Harbor. The Coast Guard charged Captain O.C. Polk, the operator of the Spirit of Charleston, with negligence and misconduct for his role in the collision and for failing to report the incident to the Coast Guard. As part of the settlement agreement approved by an Administrative Law Judge

Swiber First to Use Enginei in Asia

Swiber becomes first Asia operator to save costs with Enginei Fuel Management System. The Swiber Group company, Newcruz Offshore Marine Services, has become the first in the Asian market to take advantage of the cost benefits of the enginei fuel management system from Royston Limited. The system was sold by Royston’s Singapore agent, Can Traders, and was installed aboard Swiber’s new offshore support vessel, the Swiber Carina

VMMS Achieves Excellent Results in First Tests

New offshore wind safety product Vessel Motion Monitoring System (VMMS) achieves excellent results in first tests. Vessel Motion Monitoring System (VMMS) developed to provide accurate motion monitoring, improves safety during vessel transfer operations. Offers real time impact load measurement combined with additional data logging capability to support health and safety analysis and investigations. Successful testing has been carried out by Submarine Technology Ltd (STL).

How to Comply with MARPOL Annex V

Recent amendments to Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) have created a tougher regime for shippers and crews over discharges into the sea. The U.K. P&I Club received numerous enquiries from members concerned about their obligations under the amended regulations. Accordingly, the Club has produced a pamphlet entitled “How to Comply with MARPOL Annex V

Mackay Attains Raytheon's Field Service Locations

Mackay Communications, provider of communications and electronics equipment and services for the maritime industry has acquired Raytheon Marine Company's seven U.S. field service locations. The addition of the Raytheon business - four on the east coast and three on the west coast - expands Mackay's presence to all include all major U.S. ports. The new locations will operate as part of Mackay, which is the wholly-owned service division of Mackay Communications.

FMC Announces Seminar Series

Chairman Steven R. Blust announced today that the Federal Maritime Commission is initiating a series of informational seminars to be conducted by the Commission’s Area Representatives and other Commission personnel at various locations around the country. The seminars will provide information to the industry and the shipping public with respect to the Commission’s functions and services as well as instruction regarding the regulatory obligations of providers and users of ocean liner shipping

McMoRan Crosses Main Pass Hurdle

McMoRan Exploration Co. said MarAd approved McMoRan's license application for its Main Pass Energy Hub(TM) (MPEH(TM)) project. MARAD concluded in the Record of Decision that construction and operation of MPEH(TM) deepwater port will be in the national interest and consistent with national security and other national policy goals and objectives, including energy sufficiency and environmental quality. MARAD also concluded that MPEH(TM) will fill

New German Shipbuilding Group Emerges

ThyssenKrupp and One Equity Partners (OEP) signed a non-binding letter of intent to combine ThyssenKrupp Werften and Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in a new group under the control of ThyssenKrupp Werften GmbH. The alliance will create a systems house with strong positions in the naval shipbuilding sector. The reciprocal due diligence reviews have now been successfully completed and the basic outlines of the new structure are in place: