Less Steel News

Floating platform developer Gazelle Wind Power has appointed clean energy finance industry expert Álvaro Ortega as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).Ortega is the former Vice President of Finance at Avangrid Inc., a publicly traded company on the NY Stock Exchange and the U.S. subsidiary of global energy leader Iberdrola.“Finding someone with a track record like Álvaro’s is rare. Due to his financial expertise and passion for renewable energy, his joining the team is a home run for Gazelle as we enter an exciting phase in our company’s development,” said Gazelle CEO and Founder Jon Salazar.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, dropped for the fifth session in a row on Thursday, as rates waned for capesize and panamax vessel segments.The Baltic dry index, tracking rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels ferrying dry bulk commodities, fell 70 points, or 4.5%, to a three-week low of 1,470.The capesize index slipped for the sixth session in a row, shedding 200 points, or 9.3%, to a more than five-week trough of 1,945.Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such

Since 1990, steel has been used in the construction of some of the world’s biggest thrill rides but in recent years it is the steel market itself that has seen all the dips and climbs of a high speed rollercoaster. As the global shipping industry went through a major build cycle between 2002-2007 demand for steel plate grew over 350%, placing a significant strain on existing mill capacity and driving prices and profitability higher and higher. However, the inevitable investment…

Duplex stainless steel, NSSC®2120 by Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation was recentlly chosen for the construction of two domestic tankers. Sasaki Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. & Hakata Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. became the first shipbuilders in Japan to use stainless steel in the recent construction of the vessels, although these days, duplex stainless steels (ASTM A240M S31803, S32205) are increasingly being used for the construction of chemical tankers around the world.

Thanks to a significant increase in funding for dredging on the Great Lakes in FY08, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was finally able to start reducing the backlog of sediment that is clogging the Great Lakes Navigation System announced Great Lakes Maritime Task Force in its 2008 Annual Report released March 20. “Congress really stepped up to the plate and gave the Corps nearly $140m to dredge Great Lakes ports and waterways in FY08. The outlook for FY09 initially was not as positive. The Bush Administration’s final budget proposed to slash the Lakes’ dredging appropriation by nearly $50m. “Thanks to the Great Lakes delegation, the omnibus bill did bring the Lakes’ dredging appropriation back up to $125m, an increase of $35m over what the Bush Administration had proposed.

“There is an urgent need to consider ways to accelerate the decoupling of energy and CO2 emissions from economic growth,” said Claude Mandil, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) at the launch in Brussels of Oil Crises and Climate Challenges: 30 Years of Energy Use in IEA Countries. This new publication examines how energy efficiency and factors such as economic structure, income, lifestyle, climate, prices and fuel mix have shaped developments in energy use and CO2 emissions in IEA countries since the organization was founded 30 years ago. It looks at developments sector-by-sector in detail and provides energy policy-makers with data and insights that will help them find ways to use energy efficiency and lower-carbon fuels to achieve a more sustainable future.

It is incredible to consider that from the icy environs of Turku, Finland, emerge great ships of steel that are designed to spend their lives transporting passengers to and from mostly tropical paradises. Such was the feeling upon boarding the nearly 140,000-gt Navigator of the Seas — newbuilding 1347 — just three days before its Nov. 18, 2003 hand over to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Navigator is the fourth, latest and arguably greatest of the five-ship Voyager series. While the first ship of any series is, indeed, special, particularly so in the Voyager-class series as it was a world record setter based on its enormous size and onboard amenities…

ABS is classing the industry's first cell spar destined for Kerr-McGee's Red Hawk field in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The project marks ABS' fifth classification contract from Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas for a spar offshore facility. The project will draw on ABS' experience with spar technology and industry expertise for deepwater developments, says Luiz Feijo, ABS project manager. "ABS offers Kerr-McGee the expertise to face the technical challenges of the Red Hawk frontier project while meeting the schedule requirements," said Feijo. The entire project, adds Feijo, is expected to complete within two years of project sanction, with first-gas scheduled for second quarter 2004. "Engineering and fabrication are proceeding in parallel.