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Harold News

23 Oct 2023

US Gulf Coast Oil Patch Gets Lucky, So Far, in Busy Hurricane Season

Š Michael Rolands / Adobe Stock

A very active Atlantic hurricane season so far this year has not sent storms across U.S. oil and natural gas fields in the northern Gulf of Mexico, sparing energy companies billions of dollars of losses and consumers higher fuel costs.The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season has been another in a string with above average activity producing three major hurricanes with winds above 111 mph (179 kph) out of six hurricanes among 20 named tropical storms.So far this year, only one storm, Tropical Storm Harold, on Aug.

14 Dec 2022

Nineteen Fall Overboard During Transfer to US Navy Hospital Ship

(Photo: U.S. Navy)

Nineteen personnel fell overboard, and two of them were hurt, during a transfer from a small boat to the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) off the coast of Haiti on Monday, the Navy said.All were safely recovered and returned to Comfort with assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harold Miller (WPC 1138). The two injured sailors were treated aboard Comfort and are expected to make a full recovery, the Navy said.The hospital ship arrived off the coast of Jeremie, Haiti, in support of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S.

01 Jul 2022

Shipbuilding: Ingram Marine Christens Four Towboats in One Day

Image courtesy  Ingram Marine Group

On June 24, Ingram Marine Group held a special christening ceremony for four vessels: M/V Capt. Roy Daniels, M/V Randy Hooper, M/V Debbie L. Owen and M/V Harold B. Warren. The M/V Debbie L. Owen and M/V Capt. Roy Daniels are new builds. The M/V Randy Hooper and M/V Harold B. Warren are refurbished vessels.“The people we are honoring today are a testament to the kind of company we’ve worked hard to build. They really represent the ‘Ingram Way’ which is why it is so fitting to christen some of our vessels in their honor…

02 Jun 2022

UN Security Council Calls for Crackdown on Gulf of Guinea Piracy

Š Lucia / Adobe Stock

The UN Security Council last week called for greater action to prevent piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, a region posing significant danger for commercial shipping as a hotbed for maritime kidnappings and armed robbery at sea.The council unanimously adopted Resolution 2634 (2022), which calls upon member states in the region to criminalize piracy and armed robbery at sea under their domestic laws, and to investigate, prosecute or extradite, in accordance with applicable international law…

13 May 2022

Australia Says Chinese Spy Ship's Presence off West Coast 'Concerning'

People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) Intelligence Collection Vessel Haiwangxing operating off the north-west shelf of Australia. (Photo: Australia Department of Defense)

A Chinese intelligence ship was tracked off Australia's west coast within 50 nautical miles of a sensitive defense facility, Australia said on Friday, raising concern amid an election campaign about China's behavior in the region.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Chinese navy vessel was not in Australian territorial waters but its presence was "concerning"."It is clearly an intelligence ship and they are looking at us and we're keeping a close eye on them," he told reporters.Australia…

10 Feb 2022

SAAM Towage Signs Deal with Coast Tsimshian Enterprises

(Photo: SAAM Towage)

SAAM Towage Canada and Coast Tsimshian Enterprises Ltd. have signed a strategic alliance agreement covering access to education, training, employment and towing services.The agreement is effective immediately. Through this long-term alliance, SAAM Towage Canada will provide towage, ship-docking and ship escort services within the traditional territory of the Coast Tsimshian, including the Port of Prince Rupert and Port Edward. Additionally, the alliance will establish long-term sustainable benefits for Lax Kw’alaams and the Metlakatla First Nation and provide access to education…

24 Jan 2022

Wärtsilä to Supply Methanol-fueled Engines for Van Oord's Offshore Wind Installation Vessel

A vessel being built for Van Oord at Yantai CIMC Raffles shipyard will be powered by five Wärtsilä 32 engines. Credit:  Van Oord

Five Wärtsilä 32 engines capable of operating with methanol will power a new Offshore Wind Installation Vessel (WIV) being built for Dutch contracting company Van Oord at Yantai CIMC Raffles shipyard in China, in what is the first such order for the Finland-based marine engine and equipment maker.Dutch marine and offshore services company Van Oord in October 2021 ordered the jack-up for offshore wind turbine installation. The vessel will be able to install next-generation wind turbines of up to 20MW.

17 Dec 2021

St. Louis Container on Barge Project Moves Forward

(Image: APCT)

Key stakeholders behind the efforts to launch innovative container-on-vessel (COV) service to the Midwest on Firday announced that Hawtex Development Corporation is signing on as the lead developer for a new COV port facility in Jefferson County, Mo. to be developed in collaboration with Fred Weber/Riverview Commerce Park LLC and integrating a 300+ acre adjacent parcel owned by The Doe Run Company. The new port will be a critical link on the new, all-water, north-south trade lane connecting the Midwest and the St. Louis region to the lower Mississippi River and on to worldwide destinations.

21 Oct 2021

Heesters to Lead New Damen Shiprepair & Conversion Management Team

Image courtesy Emiel Lops Fotografie

Effective November 1, 2021, Jeroen Heesters will be the new Managing Director of Damen Shiprepair & Conversion, one of the seven divisions of the Damen Shipyards Group. With Finance Director Eric Snoeren, who joined the division on 1 October, he will make up the management team.After graduating in mechanical engineering, Heesters worked in the oil and gas industry. In 2008, he moved to Damen Shipyards Group, where he worked for Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam and Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen, among others.

16 Sep 2021

Port of Mobile Reports Record Growth

APM Terminals Mobile took delivery August 26, 2021 of two rubber tire gantry cranes to support growth at the port’s intermodal container transfer facility. (Photo: Port of Mobile)

Containerized cargo volumes through Alabama's Port of Mobile continue to climb in 2021 as shippers seek uncongested gateways servicing key North American markets. In August, container volumes increased 34% over August 2020 volume, while year-to-date volume posted 27% over the same period last year, the port said Thursday, attributing part of that success to a 37% increase in refrigerated containers due to nearly $74 million in refrigerated facilities investment at the port to support cold cargo supply chains.

22 Oct 2020

North Carolina Ferry System Gains Marine Highway Project Designation

(Photo: North Carolina Ferry System)

The North Carolina Ferry System (NCFS) has been designated by the federal Maritime Administration as a Marine Highway Project, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced ThursdayThe designation, a first for the state, will allow the ferry system to apply to the Marine Highway Grant Program, which awards federal funding to modernize vessels and improve infrastructure at terminals. This year’s grant program awarded $9.7 million to marine highway projects across the…

15 Jul 2020

US Coast Guard Commissions Cutter Harold Miller

The Coast Guard Cutter Harold Miller sits moored during the commissioning ceremony at Sector Field Office Galveston, Texas, July 15, 2020. The crew of the Harold Miller will have a patrol area encompassing 900 miles of coastline for the Coast Guard’s Eighth District, from Carrabelle, Fla., to Brownsville, Texas. (USCG photo by Paige Hause)

The U.S. Coast Guard held a commissioning ceremony for the Coast Guard Cutter Harold Miller, the service's 38th Sentinel-class fast response cutter, at Sector Field Office Galveston, Texas, Wednesday.Rear Adm. John Nadeau, Eighth Coast Guard District commander, presided over the commissioning ceremony, along with Lt. Michael Salerno, Coast Guard Cutter Harold Miller’s commanding officer.Like her sister ships USCGC Harold Miller (WPC-1138) was built by Bollinger Shipyards, in Lockport, La.

14 Apr 2020

Port Improvements Continue in Mobile

(Photo: APM Terminals)

The Alabama Port Authority completed its 400-foot container dock extension at the APM Terminals Mobile facility on March 20, and three days later, the terminal for the first time simultaneously handled two containerships at the newly expanded berth.Part of Alabama’s seaport modernization program to accommodate larger vessels, the berth extension enables two x 8,000-10,000 TEU be handled simultaneously. The quay extension was part of a $50 million Phase 3 expansion that increased…

06 Apr 2020

Solomons Retrieve Five Bodies Swept off Ferry

NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Harold over the Solomon Islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean on April 3, 2020. Credit: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

Solomon Islands police said on Sunday they had retrieved five bodies in their search for 27 people who were swept off a ferry during a tropical cyclone that is now threatening the nearby South Pacific nation of Vanuatu as category four storm.The MV Taimareho set sail early on Friday in strong winds with 738 passengers including crew and the captain on board. Police said the missing are believed to have fallen off during heavy seas.Cyclone Harold - then a category two storm - crossed just to the south of Solomon Islands early on Friday.

03 Apr 2020

Bollinger Delivers USCGC Harold Miller

(Photo: Bollinger)

Bollinger Shipyards on Thursday delivered the USCGC Harold Miller to the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West, Fla. This is the 161st vessel Bollinger has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard over a 35 year period and the 38th Fast Response Cutter delivered on the current program. The USCGC Harold Miller is the third of three FRCs to be home-ported in Galveston, Texas. “We are very proud to announce our latest FRC delivery, especially given the unprecedented times and challenges which we’re facing as a nation,” said Bollinger President & C.E.O. Ben Bordelon.

27 Jan 2019

NCDOT to Start Ocracoke Express Ferry from May

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) said that Ocracoke Express ferry service between the state’s Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands is slated to debut on Tuesday, May 14.The Ocracoke Express will carry as many as 98 passengers on a speedy 70-minute trip from Hatteras directly into Ocracoke Village.Service will begin with three round-trips each day, with fares ranging from $5-15 round trip depending on time of travel. Children 3 and under can travel free with a parent or guardian.“Frankly, we can’t wait to get the Ocracoke Express underway”, said NCDOT Ferry Division Director Harold Thomas. “Not only will it be an easy way to get to Ocracoke…

12 Jul 2018

W&O Opens New Office in Singapore

 Michael Hume, president and CEO of W&O.

W&O opened a new office in Singapore, signaling its expansion in the Asia Pacific region. The company said the move into Singapore is an important milestone in expanding the global support network for its customers, as it now has 18 branches and additional 5 distribution points, strategically located to support customers operating globally. “W&O has been exploring options to broaden our footprint into the Asia Pacific maritime industry, and as it is the world’s busiest transshipment port and the third largest by tonnage…

09 Jan 2018

WWII Museum’s PT-305 Sails Again

(Photo: National World War II Museum)

Commercial workboat philanthropy on display on PT-305: WWII Museum’s PT-305 sails again after a far reaching donor-funded restoration. In March, the National WWII Museum in New Orleans launched its reconstructed PT-305, built locally by Higgins Industries in 1943. The museum acquired the boat known as the USS Sudden Jerk in 2007, restoration began in 2009, and it now sails Lake Pontchartrain as an interactive exhibit. PT-305, with a fifteen-man crew, belonged to a 12-ship squadron operating in the Mediterranean from 1944 until the war ended in 1945.

21 Dec 2017

Alabama, APM Invest in Port of Mobile

The Alabama State Port Authority (ASPA) and APM Terminals boards of directors in separate actions have approved a $49.5 million expansion of the container facility at the Port of Mobile. The Port Authority and APM Terminals jointly will deliver a Phase 3 expansion that includes a dock extension and an additional 20 acres of improved yard to maintain excess capacity to accommodate new business opportunities. When completed, the project will accommodate an annual throughput capacity of 650,000 TEU. “The Phase 3 expansion enables us to stay well ahead of the growth pattern we’ve seen in the Port of Mobile, as well as add dock space to support the growing vessel sizes that are coming to the terminal.

28 Nov 2017

North Carolina Orders a New Ferry

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has ordered a new car ferry for delivery in 2019, its first since 2012 (Image: Elliott Bay Design Group)

The North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division has ordered a new river class vehicle ferry to be built at Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, La. for delivery by March 1, 2019. Designed by Elliott Bay Design Group, the 183-foot ferry with room for 38 regular-sized vehicles will replace M/V Thomas A. Baum, a 22-year-old Hatteras-class ferry that carries 26 vehicles. The vessel will be the NCDOT Ferry Division’s first new car ferry since the M/V Sea Level christened in 2012 (also designed by Elliott Bay Design Group).

31 Mar 2017

APM Terminals Boosts Walmart Hub at Port of Mobile

APM Terminals Mobile welcomes Arkansas-based global retail giant Walmart’s plans for a new International Distribution Center to be opened 15 miles from the port. The sixth of Walmart’s US international distribution centers, the Irvington, Alabama facility will handle Walmart’s import cargoes destined for Walmart’s Regional Distribution Centers in the American South. The recently completed Panama Canal lock widening project will permit vessels of up to 13,000 TEU capacity to transit the canal, bringing larger vessels and new opportunities to the deep-water terminal strategically located on the US Gulf Coast. The APM Terminals Mobile terminal opened in September of 2008. With a depth of 45 feet, the facility is currently equipped with two STS cranes capable of a 19-row reach.

11 May 2017

Robert Allan Ltd.: The Place that Launched 1,000 Tugs

figure 7

Over the last few years, as the design output from Robert Allan Ltd. to the global tugboat community began to border on the prodigious, we were often asked, “How many tugs has your company designed?” Until very recently we really did not have a good handle on that number, so the answer was usually either “a lot” or “many hundreds”, neither of which were particularly illuminating. So a search was begun late in 2016 to review our archives and try to determine the tug tally much more precisely. Would we rival Helen? Where did it all begin?

16 Aug 2017

HII to Pay $9.2 Mln in False Billing Settlement

File photo: Chris Oxley / HII

Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (HII) has agreed to a $9.2 million settlement of allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly overbilling the government for labor on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships at its shipyards in Pascagoula, Miss. Under the settlement, HII will make a payment of $7.9 million which, combined with earlier repayments, will result in the settlement recovery of approximately $9.2 million. “Contractors that knowingly bill the government in violation of contract terms will face serious consequences,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A.