Ocean Service News

Swire Shipping announced that Westwood Shipping Lines, a niche vessel operator it acquired in June 2022, has changed its name to Swire Shipping.According to Sire, the rebrand—which took effect February 1—will help Westwood to leverage synergies and capabilities in containers, networks, and projects across the global Swire Shipping network to better serve customers throughout North America, Japan, South Korea and China.“The integration of Westwood Shipping Lines reflects our continued investment and expansion in the North Pacific.

On July 17, 2023, senior leaders of the American Pilots’ Association (APA)  and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service, Office of Coast Survey signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that calls for the two parties to cooperate and share information so that APA and NOAA can better carry out their respective roles and responsibilities related to safe maritime navigation in America’s ports and waterways. Rear Admiral Benjamin Evans (Director…

New Year’s Eve is a time of celebration and remembrance. Three years ago, on December 31, 2019, as the new year was being rung in across the lower 48 states, a tragedy was playing out in icy Alaskan waters. The fishing vessel Scandies Rose, with seven crew members aboard, encountered severe icing conditions and high winds and waves as it transited from Kodiak to fishing grounds in the Bering Sea. The crabber tried to make it to Sutwik Island to shelter from the storm; however…

Severe winds during a thunderstorm led to a loss of stability and ultimately the capsizing of the liftboat Seacor Power, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday during a public board meeting. Of the 19 people aboard the vessel, six died and seven are missing, presumed dead. Six people were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and other vessels. The Seacor Power, valued at $25 million, was a total loss.On April 13, 2021, the Seacor Power, a liftboat supporting offshore work on oil-producing platforms, capsized off the coast of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

Port Freeport, located outside of Houston, is now fitted with a NOAA system that improves safe and efficient marine navigation. The technology is part of a nationwide network called Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System, or PORTS.Freeport PORTS is the 38th system in this network of precision marine navigation sensors. The integrated series of sensors track oceanographic and meteorological conditions as they unfold around the port. This will increase the navigation safety of vessels entering and exiting Port Freeport…

America’s marine economy contributed about $361 billion of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2020. That is according to the most current results of the annual Marine Economy Satellite Account released today by two Department of Commerce agencies, NOAA and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).These numbers are from the first year of the coronavirus pandemic and represent a 5.8%, or $23 billion, reduction in real terms (adjusted for inflation) from 2019, outpacing the general…

NOAA scientists and partner researchers are set to explore the shipwreck of the USS Monitor, natural reefs and the maritime cultural landscape off the North Carolina coast, and starting May 15, the public will be able to follow along.The two week mission — titled “Valor in the Atlantic” — will use state-of-the-art, remotely-piloted submersibles and other technologies to explore notable sites surrounding America’s first National Marine Sanctuary. The Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration is providing much of the technology for the mission…

Oil company Taylor Energy Co LLC agreed to transfer a $432 million cleanup trust account to the U.S. government and pay an additional $43 million to resolve a lawsuit over its role in the longest-running oil spill in U.S. history under a proposed deal filed in New Orleans federal court on Wednesday.The New Orleans company and federal officials filed a proposed consent decree to resolve claims arising from a 2004 incident when Hurricane Ivan caused one of Taylor's offshore drilling platforms to collapse in the Gulf of Mexico.

NOAA released two Atlases compiling the best available science to inform the identification of Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in the Gulf of Mexico and Southern California. NOAA previously identified these regions for their potential to host sustainable commercial aquaculture development in the United States. Areas in the Atlases will have characteristics expected to support multiple types of aquaculture industries including finfish, shellfish, seaweed, or some combination."The aquaculture Atlases apply the latest ocean data and information to advance sustainable business development…

Jeffersonville, Ind.-based barging company American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL) has agreed to acquire and preserve 649 acres of woodland wildlife habitat and will pay an additional $2 million for damages stemming from a 2008 oil spill on the Mississippi River, near New Orleans.The company has already paid $1.32 million to reimburse the federal and state trustees for their past damage assessment and restoration planning costs after one of its barges discharged approximately 6,734 barrels (282,828 gallons) of No. 6 fuel oil into the Mississippi River upriver of New Orleans in July 2008.

America’s marine economy contributed about $397 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2019 and grew faster than the nation’s economy as a whole, according to the most current results of the first official Marine Economy Satellite Account released today by two Department of Commerce agencies.“America’s strong marine economy is absolutely vital for building back better,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “President Biden sees the immense value and potential of strengthening America’s blue economy…

NOAA on Wednesday announced two new coastal condition forecast models intended to help enhance decision making for mariners along the West Coast and Northern Gulf of Mexico. The models provide continuous quality-controlled data on water levels, currents, water temperature and salinity out to 72 hours.Forecasts from both models are used by commercial and recreational mariners, fisherman, emergency managers, search and rescue responders, and National Weather Service marine weather…

This year, despite innumerable challenges and setbacks, a great number of new U.S.-flagged vessels made their way into service. In addition to Maid of the Mist's new electric tour boats James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla featured Wednesday, the newbuilds highlighted below are some of the most noteworthy to come out of U.S. shipyards in 2020.DredgerU.S. dredging contractors have been adding tonnage in a big way. This Spring, Callan Marine added a significant piece to the U.S. fleet with its new Jones Act cutterhead suction dredge (CSD) General MacArthur.

The American shipbuilding scene, filled with participants constructing all manner of vessels, has been navigating through stormy times (lately, yards along the Gulf Coast have literally been dealing with storms). The orders for newbuild, repair and conversion projects continue to flow in—albeit at a reduced pace—and the boats and ships go down the ways into the water, but the overall panorama has seen tremendous sea changes as the business has shifted.Maritime businesses worldwide have been grappling with currents both internal and external.

Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics, a developer of autonomous command and control systems for surface vessels, said it has been awarded a multi-year Other Transaction (OT) agreement by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to initiate a prototype that will enable commercial ocean-service barges as autonomous Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) units for an Amphibious Maritime Projection Platform (AMPP).Under this OT agreement, Sea Machines will engineer…

Maritime navigational safety near two U.S. Navy installations in Kings Bay, Ga., and Portsmouth, N.H. has been improved thanks to new Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systems, also known as PORTS, installed by NOAA and the U.S. Navy. They are the first new PORTS in two years, and the 34th and 35th in the nationwide network.The system near Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, the East Coast home to America’s Ohio-class submarines, is an integrated series of sensors which will provide critical real-time information on oceanographic and meteorological conditions.

America’s marine economy, including goods and services, contributed about $373 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2018 and grew faster than the nation’s economy as a whole, according to the marine economy statistics released today by two Department of Commerce agencies.“These statistics are the first-of-its-kind estimate of the U.S. marine economy, a primary driver of jobs, innovation and economic growth,” said retired Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator.

There’s a barge full of reasons why many operators turn to ATBs.A  mainstay of the U.S. coastwise dirty and refined products trades, articulated tug barges (ATB) have increasingly filled a void left as the fleet of Jones Act tankers (with crew complement requirements exceeding that of tugs) has aged out. With the cargo capacity of the larger ATBs – some with barges exceeding 300,000 barrels capacity – rivalling that of workhorse tankers that had served oil consuming regions, the concept certainly makes sense from a supply and distribution perspective.With 50…

Diverse and conveniently located, St. Johns Ship Building has quickly developed into a reliable partner for its many repeat customers. Today, and as a direct result, a lot more people know exactly where Palatka, Florida is located.On the St Johns River, just 60 miles south of Jacksonville, lies the sleepy town of Palatka, Florida. Founded as a trading post in 1821, its location on the highly navigable river made the area attractive to orange growers and timber men alike.In its heyday between 1875 and 1900…

On August 20, 2019, Dutra’s new Jones Act built Hydraulic Dump Scow ES15 was successfully launched, christened, commissioned and will finish sea trials and additional testing this week. Next week the ES15 will head to Massachusetts to to work on the Boston Harbor Deepening Project.ES15 is a 6,000cy Hydraulic Dump Scow built in Corn Island Shipyard in Grandview, Indiana, located at 734 Mile Marker on the Ohio River. Departing from Corn Island, IN  on August 27, 2019, the vessel will head south on the Ohio River…

Ocean Network Express (ONE)  announced the launch of a new direct service, the Indian Ocean Service 3 (IO3), which covers South East India, Mediterranean, and North Europe.The new product will offer new port coverage and boost reliability to a wider range of direct port call options to ONE’s valued customers, the Japanese container shipping company said in a press release.It will also further expand ONE’s already comprehensive service offerings and allow its clients to enjoy greater choice while bringing efficiency and additional values to the supply chain, the release added.The first sailing of the loop is now expected to start from…

South Korea's largest shipping line Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) said it will invest 3.153 trillion won ($2.84 billion) for 20 new large containerships to be delivered by June 2021.In June this year, the company signed letters of intent for ship orders with South Korea's top three shipbuilders Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries.DSME and Samsung will build seven and five 23,000 TEU vessels respectively, which are expected to deliver in the second quarter of 2020.

The La Niña weather pattern is likely to transition to ENSO-neutral conditions during the April-May period, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. ENSO-neutral refers to those periods in which neither El Niño nor La Niña is present, according to CPC. There is a more than 50 percent chance of ENSO-neutral conditions prevailing through the northern hemisphere summer in 2018, the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) said in its monthly forecast.