Clue As News

A race is being run by nuclear scientists and ship designers. The prize? “Decarbonization’s” holy grail — believed to be a “small” thorium-fueled, molten-salt rector’s unlimited power to propel sea trade. At the same time, a recently revived discussion among leading marine-nuclear thinkers revolves now around how to put an ultra-modern, as-yet non-existent marine reactor aboard a modern commercial vessel. As with nuclear power generally, shipborne reactors produce national discussion first, then discovery.

Buyers of Russian oil have faced difficulties over payments and availability of vessels after imposition of Western sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine, traders said on Monday, while BP Plc has canceled fuel oil loadings from a Black Sea port.The West has introduced sweeping sanctions, including on the banking sector, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia calls its action a "special operation" to disarm Ukraine.The United States and its allies on Saturday moved to block certain Russian banks' access to the SWIFT international payment system that helps international trade flow smoothly.

As COVID-19 and a historically weak energy market wreaks havoc on maritime, Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO Maritime, DNV GL, tells Maritime Reporter & Engineering News in its May 2020 edition that this could be the beginning of a Renaissance period for the industry. "Everything will be looked at with new eyes, it’s going to be a renaissance for the maritime world and I think we’ll have a lot of innovation and new ideas," said Ørbeck-Nilssen. "Things that we’ve traditionally done for years simply will not hold up…

Riyadh’s Public Investment Fund may have found the perfect time to board ship. The country’s sovereign wealth fund has built an 8% stake in Carnival, the cruise group at the waterborne epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s shares, down 83% for the year as of Friday, jumped more than 25% on Monday after it persuaded bond and stock investors to stump up $6.25 billion last week – albeit at a pricey 11.5% coupon for senior secured debt.Carnival’s bosses reckon they now have enough cash for at least 12 months…

The search for the Argentinian submarine was like hunting for the proverbial needle in a hay stack, except that it was a piece of straw. Elaine Maslin reports. At 7.19am, local time, on November 15, 2017, the last message was received from the San Juan submarine. She belonged to the Argentinian navy and was on a routine mission from Ushuaia in the Patagonia region to Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires province when she lost contact with the military. Fifteen days later, neither the submarine nor any debris had been found and the crew of 44 sailors were presumed dead.

Dr. Lorry Wagner has served as president of the Cleveland-based Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) since May of 2010.LEEDCo is the public private partnership behind the effort to construct Icebreaker Wind, a 6 turbine 20.7 megawatt offshore wind energy demonstration project in Lake Erie, 8 miles off the shore of Cleveland. LEEDCo has received funding from the U.S. DOE under its Advanced Technology Demonstration Projects award and has partnered with Fred. Olsen Renewables of Norway. Dr.

ECDIS ACAT (Annual Competency Assurance Training): the Inspectors training in ECDIS has without doubt increased safety at sea as it highlights that not all is well, regardless of certificates held. Few are aware that the world is halfway through an international project to train around 1,000 inspectors and PSC officers in ECDIS. Without doubt, it has already dramatically increased the safety of navigation at sea by providing inspecting officers with all the relevant questions that need to be asked for all the 38 manufacturers, regardless of what certificates the officers hold.

Overall confidence levels in the shipping industry fell in the three months to November 2015, according to the latest Shipping Confidence Survey from international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens. The average confidence level expressed by respondents in the markets in which they operate was 5.6 on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high). This compares to the 5.9 recorded in August 2015. The survey was launched in May 2008 with a confidence rating of 6.8. All main categories of respondent recorded a fall in confidence this time, most notably charterers (down from 6.5 to 5.5).

The Coast Guard is responding to a report of a discharge of an unknown substance from the site of a sunken barge near Kelley's Island Shoal in Lake Erie, Sunday. Due to the report, the Coast Guard has established a safety zone 3 nautical miles east of Kelley's Island Shoal extending 1,000 feet around position 41-38'21"N, 082-29'35"W. Friday evening crews at Marine Safety Unit Toledo, Ohio, received a report from the Cleveland Underwater Explorers, of a leak of an unknown substance emanating from the barge and an odor of solvent, but they did not observe the leak underwater. CLUE divers were investigating the wreck to determine if it was the barge Argo which sank during a storm in 1937.

Overall confidence levels in the shipping industry rose in the three months ended August 2015 to their highest level this year, according to the latest Shipping Confidence Survey from international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens. Respondents to the survey were concerned predominantly about low freight rates and overtonnaging, with continuing doubts also expressed about private equity funding. In August 2015, the average confidence level expressed by respondents in the markets in which they operate was 5.9 on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high).

A report in the Straits Times Vietnam is set to build a US$2.5 billion seaport in Ca Mau, its southernmost province, hoping to steal some spotlight away from the more popular regional hubs Singapore and Malaysia and could be a clue to Kra Canal. Vietnam announced that it would build a US$2.5 billion deep-water seaport, named Hon Khoai Port, on an island 17km off the coast of Ca Mau, Vietnam's southern-most province. The project was approved by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The decision to build the portdoes not really make complete economic sense - until it is superimposed on the potentially heady commercial traffic the Kra Canal stands to provide.

Malaysia confirmed early on Thursday that a piece of a wing washed up on an Indian Ocean island beach last week was from Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, the first trace of the plane found since it vanished last year with 239 people on board. "Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370," Prime Minister Najib Razak said in an early morning televised address. "I would like to assure all those affected by this tragedy that the government of Malaysia is committed to do everything within our means to find out the truth of what happened," Najib said.

Inventor. Builder. Entrepreneur. Optimist. Take your pick, and you have described Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, founder of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. (SEL) in 1982. Starting in his basement with an idea and a plan, he has seen his start-up blossom into a global electric powerhouse that is making significant inroads in the maritime and offshore markets. To its core Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. (SEL) is an engineering firm that seeks to not only develop and deliver engineered solutions per its client’s need…

A vote for independence from the U.K. would have a negative effect on the Scottish shipping and offshore maritime sector, according to a survey by leading international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens. The survey elicited the views of leading members of the international shipping community on the predicted impact on Scotland’s shipping and offshore maritime industry of the country voting for independence on September 18 2014. More than half the number of respondents to the survey felt that a vote for independence would have a negative effect.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is working to track down a prankster who called in fake distress calls in Washington state that led agency officials to launch two rescue efforts that cost over $200,000, an official said on Thursday. The suspect made his first call over VHF radio on May 31, reporting he was on a burning fishing vessel in Puget Sound and that he and four other people were grabbing life jackets and jumping off, the Coast Guard said in a statement. Two Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews, the team of a 45-foot Coast Guard rescue boat and the crew of a local Sheriff's Office vessel searched for the fishing boat said to be on fire, but found nothing.

The crew of a charter boat taking part in a search for four British sailors missing in the Atlantic Ocean has found some floating debris in the area where their yacht went missing six days ago, the captain said on Thursday. Patrick Michel, skipper of the Masili, said his crew had spotted a wooden plank that could be part of the cabin and some white foam or plastic in the northern part of the search area. He said the debris appeared new as it was free of barnacles but the owner of the missing yacht, the Cheeki Rafiki, would need to confirm that the debris was from the boat. "We did see during this night a few little (pieces of) debris which I have reported to the U.S.

This is the second in a series of Maritime Reporter and Engineering News articles on Safety Culture in the maritime industry. The first article, which appeared in our October, 2013 edition, discussed the importance of management leadership, training, measurement, a focus on learning rather than blame, and continuous reflection on safety. In this second article, safety culture expert Captain John Wright discusses the key ingredients of a healthy safety culture. I had the good fortune of meeting Captain Wright because of his involvement with the BC Ferries SailSafe project.

She was a leader. She was a trailblazer. She was a lifesaver. She’s the namesake of the Coast Guard’s newest cutter – Margaret “Madge” Norvell. The Coast Guard welcomed their newest fast response cutter to the fleet this weekend as Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell was commissioned in Miami. The cutter is the first in its class to be named after a Coast Guard heroine. Norvell, a member of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, first served at the Head of Passes Light as an assistant keeper from 1891 to 1896.

Students from the IYRS Boatbuilding & Restoration Program will launch their careers, along with the boats they restored this past year as they graduate June 1, 2013. International sports figure and North Sails President Ken Read will help mark the start of students’ career paths as featured graduation speaker at this marine trades and technology school in Rhode Island. Read is a fitting person to clue IYRS graduates into the opportunities that lie ahead for those with craftsmanship skills and a passion for working with their hands around boats.

Maritime Reporter invited Carleen Lyden-Kluss, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association to provide an overview of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 20, our maritime world changed. No matter how you slice it, everyone in the maritime industry feels the effects of the tragedy; the loss of 11 lives and injury to 17 others, the extensive environmental impact, the economic fallout and ongoing costs, the exposure of weaknesses in the response system, and the regulatory changes that will result from this. The details of the event are well known:  the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also called the BP Oil Spill/the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is now considered the largest offshore spill in U.S. history.

Nor-Shipping organizers, in cooperation with Den Norske Veritas (DNV), announced the nominees for the first Clean Shipping Awards. Winners will be announced at Nor-Shipping 2009’s Opening Conference, scheduled for June 9. Working in cooperation with DNV, Nor-Shipping has established the Clean Shipping Awards, scheduled to be introduced at Nor-Shipping 2009’s Opening Conference. Selected by an independent jury, the Clean Shipping Awards cover three categories: Clean Sea, Clean Air, and Clean Innovation. In total, 60 companies were considered for the awards. The Clean Sea Award will be awarded to one company in recognition of superior efforts to limit discharges from ship to sea. The nominees are: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Four months, hundreds of maintenance and modernization items and countless training hours later, USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) returned to Naval Station Norfolk following the completion of sea trials April 26-28. The sea trials were the capstone event of Kearsarge’s planned maintenance availability that began Jan. 12 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. During its three days at sea, Kearsarge conducted a Level I flex test for both boilers, full power demonstration, ballast/deballast tests and anchor tests, as well as tests and calibrations on its radar and electronics systems. “Sea trials is our opportunity to test all systems that were worked on during the yard period and all integrated and interconnected systems to ensure operability,” said Ensign John St. John, the ship’s electronic maintenance officer.

Vice Adm. Pete Nanos, Commander of Naval Sea Systems Command and the Navy's senior engineering duty officer, retired June 26 in a ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard after 35 years of service. Nanos, a native of Bedford, N.H., has commanded NAVSEA since May 1998. transformed NAVSEA into a unified corporation that provides world-class technical, acquisition, and life-cycle support leadership to the Navy. coordinating the Navy's technical response to the terrorist attack on USS Cole (DDG 67) in October 2000. "[Admiral Nanos'] visionary leadership and his exceptional technical ability have brought about a renaissance at NAVSEA, a true transformation," said Adm. Frank Bowman, Director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion and the ceremony's guest speaker. "He has brought NAVSEA into the 21st century.