Oil Barges News

Houston, Texas-based Kirby Inland Marine agreed to pay $15.3 million in damages and assessment costs to resolve federal and state claims for harm to natural resources resulting from a 2014 oil spill from a Kirby barge in the Houston Ship Channel, the U.S. Justice Department said.In a related enforcement action in 2016, the United States secured a settlement with Kirby for $4.9 million in civil penalties and injunctive relief measures to improve the company's operations to help…

Four new 90-meter oil/deck cargo barges for Canada's Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Marine Transportation Services (MTS) have been launched by Nanjing Jinling Shipyard, in Nanjing, China.The first barge MTS 3501 was launched on June 16, followed by barge MTS 3502 launched on June 22 and barges MTS 3503 and MTS 3504 launched on June 28.The barges will undergo final testing and touch-up work in preparation for the 400-kilometer tow down the Yangtse River to Shanghai where they will be loaded onto a semi-submersible heavy lift vessel and transported to Tuktoyaktuk…

On October 10, 2019 the steel cutting ceremony took place at Jiangsu Jinling Shipyard, Co. Ltd. in Yizheng, China (a subsidiary of the Nanjing Jinling Shipyard) for four oil/deck cargo barges being constructed for the Government of the Northwest Territories in Northern Canada.Steel blocks will be constructed at the Yizheng shipyard and then barged approx. 50 kilometers up the Yangtze River to Nanjing Jinling Shipyard for final assembly. Following steel cutting the construction is expected to take 9 months…

Benchmark diesel barge refining margins in northwest Europe rose at the start of the week despite plentiful imports from Asia, the Middle East and the United States. Recent highlights include:* In recent days at least seven Diesel cargoes carrying around 550,000 tonnes were booked out of Asia and the Middle East to northwestern Europe as the arbitrage on the route remained open, according to shipping data and traders.* In addition the arbitrage from the U.S. Gulf coast was also open with at least eight tankers booked to go to Europe, carrying around 350,000 tonnes of products, most likely Diesel.* Benchmark crude prices were down 1.2 percent.GASOIL* One barge of 0.1 percent sulphur content gasoil traded at a discount of $13 to the July diesel contract.

Four new escort tugs designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and constructed at the Triyards SSY facility in Saigon, Vietnam, by contract to Greenbay Marine Services Pte. of Singapore, have been delivered to owner Star Marine Ltd. of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.The four RAstar 3400 escort tugs, named Murjan 1, 2, 3, and 4, will be stationed in the Red Sea port of Rabigh, Saudi Arabia, and managed by Marine Services Co. Ltd.According to the designer, the RAstar 3400 escort/offshore terminal tug designation is reserved for a distinctive class of high-performance ASD tugs…

In 1951, under the leadership of Capt. Fred’s son, Morton S. Bouchard Sr., (A.K.A. “Buster” Bouchard), the company builds three 20,000 barrel oil barges and three accompanying tugboats, which ran the New York State Barge Canal. The construction of these vessels would then, in the years that followed, lead to Buster’s position as a prominent figure within the oil transportation industry. The July 2018 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News will feature a special “Bouchard Transportation Co. Celebrates 100 Years” magazine.

In a move which has been hailed as a landmark moment for the bunker industry, the use of mass flow metering (MFM) for heavy fuel oil bunker deliveries in Singapore became mandatory on January 1, 2017. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s (MPA) efforts have been applauded by many in the industry – including World Fuel Services – who see MFM as an important tool for developing more transparency and accountability for the bunker supply chain. So how does MFM work, and why is it so important to the bunkering industry? When a mass of liquid passes through an oscillating tube, the inertia effect of the moving liquid will cause the tube to twist – and the twisting will be in direct proportion to the liquid‘s mass flow.

The ITB Marine Group Ltd. (ITB) is currently well into construction of the first of two, twin Z-drive, ATB pusher tugs for service on the West Coast of North America. The tugs are being built at their Annacis Island Shipyard near Vancouver. The tugs will be connected by an articulating pin system to the existing double-hulled oil barges ITB Reliant and ITB Resolution which will receive retrofitted pin ladders and stern extensions for connecting to the new tugs. ITB had a well-defined statement of requirements for the tugs and a relatively clear vision of the desired layout. Accordingly, the general arrangement for the tug was developed in close collaboration with ITB Marine Group’s Chairman of the Board Captain Bob Shields.

TRIYARDS Holdings Limited has secured contracts to build two oil barges worth NTD 716 million (equivalent to approximately about US$21.82m) from a new client, CPC Corporation, a Taiwan state-owned oil and gas company responsible for supplying energy to its domestic market. The new contract wins are for the construction of a pair of oil barges intended for coastal service and the supply of bunker fuel to vessels in Taiwan's harbour and coastal areas to be delivered in 2QFY18. Mr. Chan Eng Yew, TRIYARDS’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “This attests to our continued efforts to diversify our orderbook beyond the traditional O&G sector.

Harvey Gulf International Marine (HGIM) is launching a new affiliate, Harvey Shipyard Group, to manage its shipbuilding assets, the company announced today. Harvey Shipyard Group is acquiring Gulf Coast Shipyard (Gulfport, Miss.) and Trinity Yachts (New Orleans, La.). HGIM Chairman and CEO Shane J. HGIM said it intends to work with its affiliates to catapult the Gulf Coast Shipyard, which constructed the nation’s first LNG OSVs for the offshore market, in addition to tank and hot oil barges. HGIM alone is investing $350 million to construct its dual-fuel fleet.

The Coast Guard is responding to a barge collision on the Ohio River near Joppa, Illinois, Wednesday. Coast Guard Sector Ohio Valley watchstanders were notified a collision took place between the towing vessel Christina Belcher, pushing two crude oil barges, and a loaded sand barge in a fleeting area at mile marker 952, at around 3 a.m. There were no reported injuries. One of the oil barges, reportedly carrying an estimated 921,000 gallons of crude oil, was damaged but remains intact with no reported pollution. The sand barge was reportedly damaged and sank outside the navigable waterway. Personnel from Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Paducah, Kentucky, are on scene and will supervise response and recovery efforts. The cause of the incident is under investigation.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is responding to a barge collision on the Ohio River near Joppa, Illinois, Wednesday.   Coast Guard Sector Ohio Valley watchstanders were notified a collision took place between the towing vessel Christina Belcher, pushing two crude oil barges, and a loaded sand barge in a fleeting area at mile marker 952, at around 3 a.m.   One of the oil barges, reportedly carrying an estimated 921,000 gallons of crude oil, was damaged but remains intact with no reported pollution. The sand barge was reportedly damaged and sank outside the navigable waterway.   No injuries were reported.   Personnel from Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Paducah, Kentucky, are on scene and will supervise response and recovery efforts.   The cause of the incident is under investigation.

While the maritime industry is widely labeled ‘conservative’ in its adoption of new technologies to make operations more efficient and cost effective, recent years have seen a decided uptick in the level and sophistication of design, external and internal, across the maritime spectrum. Following are some recent revelations that could work their ways onto a waterway close to you in the near future. While investment in short-sea shipping generates plenty of debate and little action…

KVH Industries, Inc. announced major capacity increases for its mini-VSAT Broadband network at the OilComm conference in Houston today. The capacity upgrades on key South American beams have resulted in as much as three times the forward and return link capacity for KVH’s maritime VSAT customers in the area. One upgrade has boosted coverage and performance for several key markets in Brazil: the oil and gas industry, whose major production and exploration activities are centered offshore…

A raft of new and innovative concepts for LNG barge missions hits the market, in North America and across the pond, as well. Industry gears up for the soon-to-come need for bunkering, infrastructure and LNG-related logistics. In 2014, innovation – as it turns out – means new ideas for the (previously) boring subject of marine barges. It also means LNG. Paired together, LNG and barges are giving naval architects, global classification societies and the operators of a new generation of LNG-powered tonnage something to think about. That’s because the final link of the push to move to dual fuel and/or LNG-powered commercial vessels involves infrastructure. Some early stakeholders are ramping up shore infrastructure to meet the coming demand for bunkers.

Conrad Shipyard, L.L.C. engaged Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. (BHGI) to develop a 3,000 cubic meter Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) transport barge utilizing a Bristol Harbor Group proven hull design built by Conrad. Bristol Harbor Group has been awarded an Approval in Principle (AIP) by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the design of the 3,000 cubic meter Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Transport Barge design on behalf of Conrad Shipyard, L.L.C. of Morgan City, Louisiana. BHGI has a decade long relationship with Conrad Shipyard, L.L.C.

On the Mississippi and throughout the U.S. inland waterways, pushboats of about 70 feet and with around 2000 hp are ubiquitous. They can be seen in barge fleeting operations along the riverbanks for pushing one or two 30,000-barrel oil barges. In recent years, the standard power package has been a pair of Cummins’ popular KV38-M engines. These V-12-clylinder 2300-cubic-inch displacement engines have evolved over the years to take advantage of new technologies and, more recently, to meet new environmental standards. Gary Eymard has been around the inland towboat world for some time also.

A steel boat can continue to serve for many years if properly maintained. Seaspan Marine is the largest towing company on the British Columbia coast. Utilizing the services of their sister companies Vancouver Drydock, Vancouver Shipyard and Victoria Shipyards, they do much of their own repair and maintenance work. The upgrade and maintenance of the 25.24 by 7.56-meter (82.8 x 24.8) Seaspan Cutlass was done at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyard, which was the yard that built the tug and her sisters, including the Seaspan Cavalier in 1975. Both tugs have received similar upgrades.

Four Robert Allan designed shallow draft, double hull, combined bulk oil & deck barges, built in China for ITB North Limited, are now in service delivering bulk fuel oil and deck cargoes to various locations in the Far North less than 11 months after the original design contract was placed. When ITB Marine Group decided to expand their operations to the Mackenzie River, they chose to work once again with Robert Allan Ltd. to design their new shallow draft double hull oil barges.

The crew of the Crowley Maritime Corp. tug 'Siku', operating in Western Alaska, recently rescued six men adrift in the Bering Sea. Shortly before the incident, the men’s 21-foot, aluminum skiff ran out of gas in Hooper Bay and was being quickly blown out of the bay and into increasingly heavy seas. Responding to a request by the Coast Guard, the crew of Siku, which was in the area holding for weather, located the skiff, which was drifting about a mile offshore of Hooper Bay despite having dropped its anchor.

Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (NYSE: HOS) announced results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009. Third quarter 2009 revenues decreased 17.4% to $90.1 million compared to $109.1 million for the third quarter of 2008. Operating income was $27.1 million, or 30.1% of revenues, for the third quarter of 2009 compared to $52.6 million, or 48.2% of revenues, for the prior-year quarter. Net income for the third quarter of 2009 was $13.8 million, or $0.51 per diluted share, compared to $33.3 million, or $1.23 per diluted share for the year-ago quarter. EBITDA for the third quarter of 2009 was $43.6 million compared to third quarter 2008 EBITDA of $65.5 million.

Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (NYSE:HOS) announced results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009. Fourth quarter 2009 revenues decreased 27.0% to $88.3 million compared to $121.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2008 and decreased 2.0% compared to $90.1 million for the third quarter of 2009. Operating income was $24.2 million, or 27.4% of revenues, for the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to $56.5 million, or 46.7% of revenues, for the prior-year quarter; and $27.1 million, or 30.1% of revenues, for the third quarter of 2009. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $9.3 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, compared to $34.6 million, or $1.29 per diluted share for the year-ago quarter; and $13.8 million, or $0.51 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2009.

Serious crashes in the bustling Bay of Galveston have fallen to the lowest level in a decade even as more oil moves on U.S. waterways, official data show, suggesting that better training and equipment are helping avert spills like one in March. The number of crashes in the Texas bay, home to the Houston Ship Channel and the country's heaviest crude, fuel and chemical ship traffic, fell 68 percent to eight in 2013 from 25 in 2011, according to U.S. Coast Guard data obtained by Reuters through the Freedom of Information Act. But the March 22 crash of a Kirby Corp.