University Of Delaware News

WSP USA, an engineering, environment and professional services consultancy, has hired Charles "Chuck" Harris as Navy program director for the firm’s Federal Programs national business line.In his new role, Harris directs the growth of the Federal team’s Navy program, which includes a recent joint venture win to directly support the $500 million U.S. Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) for improvements to dry docks at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate…

RightShip launched its new Maritime Emissions Portal (MEP), designed to help ports and terminal operators accelerate ship-based emissions reductions initiatives with more accurate and granular data.MEP is the first part of a planned broader Environmental Social Governance (ESG) solution for the ports and terminals sector from RightShip. As the nexus between land and sea in global supply chains, ports and terminals represent a major component in Scope 3 emission calculations for the global energy and commodities sectors.“Vessels act very differently in a port compared to the open sea…

The Biden administration has announced ambitious plans to scale up leasing for offshore wind energy projects along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. In an announcement released on Oct. 13, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Interior stated that it will “use the best available science as well as knowledge from ocean users and other stakeholders to minimize conflict with existing uses and marine life.” University of Massachusetts Boston public policy scholar David W. Cash, who worked at senior levels in state government for a decade…

The United States has an opportunity to accelerate offshore wind energy growth, and benefit from 28 new gigawatts of wind power and $1.7 billion in U.S. Treasury revenue by 2022, according to a study released by the energy intelligence group Wood Mackenzie. Apart from the benefits to the Treasury, the offshore wind industry in the U.S. could create 80,000 jobs annually from 2025 to 2035.Commissioned by four energy industry groups, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA)…

Set to Soar, Taking Offshore Support Industry With it.Offshore energy development is opening a new front in the United States -- the Atlantic seaboard, with strong winds, a shallow continental shelf and a proximity to dense population centers is driving strong interest in offshore wind development. The offshore oil and gas supply chain stands to benefit in a big way from billions in coming investment. In fact, it is already playing a role. Companies in the Gulf of Mexico, which traditionally support the offshore oil and gas sector…

In 1941, geologist Orval Lester Brace stated “it may be tentatively assumed that the Gulf of Mexico is a potential source of salt-dome oil. Whether or not it will be economically feasible to explore these waters for the domes that must exist is a question for the future to answer.”  The future hypothesized by Mr. Brace was not nearly as far off as it seemed. Less than six years after his proclamation, Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, along with Phillips Petroleum, Stanolind Oil and Gas Co…

The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) announced the support for the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunities Act.NOIA President Randall Luthi submitted a letter in support Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunities Act, ahead of House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing,  Building a 21st Century American Offshore Wind Workforce.“I want to share the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) support for the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunities Act. We agree with the sponsors of this legislation that the coming offshore wind energy boom in the U.S. will need a skilled workforce trained and capable of operating in the unique offshore environment…

America's burgeoning offshore wind industry, which is projected to generate nearly 20 gigawatts (GW) of clean, cost-competitive power in seven East Coast states by 2030, presents a nearly $70 billion CAPEX revenue opportunity to businesses in the U.S. offshore wind supply chain.The Special Initiative on Offshore Wind (SIOW), in conjunction with the Renewables Consulting Group (RCG) has announced the publication of a new report detailing the opportunities businesses in the U.S. offshore wind supply chain, which projected the United States’ offshore wind is projected to generate nearly 20 GW of clean, cost-competitive power in seven East Coast states by 2030.Among key industry components required for such a utility-scale build-out of U.S.

The GoodShipping Program, which claims to be the world’s first global initiative established to decarbonise shipping through the use of sustainable low carbon marine fuels, has announced that five pioneering shippers are the first to save CO2 emissions through the scheme.The delivery of advanced, sustainable marine fuel by GoodFuels Marine means that the shippers participating in the inaugural program – Tony’s Chocolonely, Dopper, Blygold, Magic Marine and Mystic – collectively reduced their carbon footprint by over 40 tons."In collaboration with our partners GoodFuels Marine and Samskip, the bunker operation was a great success. The ‘Samskip Endeavour’…

NOAA maritime archaeologists and partners have located and identified two previously undiscovered historic shipwrecks in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The shipwrecks are the wooden steamer Ohio (1873-1894) and the steel-hulled steamer Choctaw (1892-1915). In May 2017, a sanctuary-led expedition used high-resolution sonars to map the bottom of Lake Huron, during which they located the two ships. At the time, researchers were confident they had discovered the 202-foot Ohio and the 266-foot Choctaw. The team recently confirmed the vessels’ identities using underwater robots to collect photos and video of the shipwrecks. The sanctuary is planning future expeditions to better understand, manage and interpret Ohio and Choctaw.

The implementation of a global low-sulphur fuel law for ships in 2020 would prevent 200,000 premature deaths globally, a health study by a group of researchers from the United States and Finland reveals. A report in the Guardian quoting an unpublished International Maritime Organisation (IMO) study warns about deaths from lung cancer and heart disease. Fatalities from illnesses such as asthma were not covered by the leaked paper, which was based on shipping satellite data and modelling work. “Delaying this action for five years would contribute to 200,000 extra premature deaths due to the toxic fumes, mainly in coastal communities in the developing world that barely benefit from global trade…

Austal joined the Honorable Gabrielle Giffords, her husband, retired Navy captain Mark Kelly, and ship’s sponsor Dr. Jill Biden in celebrating the christening of the future USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) today in Mobile, Alabama. This is the third littoral combat ship (LCS) in Austal’s 10-ship, $3.5 billion block-buy contract. The Independence-variant littoral combat ship is a 127-meter (419-foot) aluminum trimaran, capable of being outfitted with reconfigurable payloads (mission packages) which can be changed to support mine countermeasure, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions. It is named Gabrielle Giffords after the former Congresswoman from Tuscon, Arizona. This is only the sixteenth U.S.

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) informs it has released a study that evaluates total fuel cycle emissions for natural gas versus conventional marine fuels. This study was conducted as a part of MARAD’s Maritime Environmental & Technology Assistance program, which focuses efforts on emerging marine transportation and environmental issues. Results of the study showed that the use of natural gas as a propulsion fuel can reduce air quality pollutants and reduce major greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional fuels. The information provided by this study is important as marine transportation stakeholders evaluate the use of natural gas as aviable alternative propulsion fuel for reducing air polluting emissions.

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) released a study that evaluates total fuel cycle emissions for natural gas versus conventional marine fuels. Results showed that the use of natural gas as a propulsion fuel can reduce air quality pollutants and reduce major greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional fuels. According to MARAD, the information provided by this study is important to marine transportation stakeholders as they evaluate the use of natural gas as a viable alternative propulsion fuel for reducing air polluting emissions. This study was conducted through a cooperative partnership with the Maritime Administration…

During most of 2012 Cummins Northwest was busy with the procurement of the various subsystems and assembly of the diesel-electric units for the two Ocean Class Auxiliary General Purpose Oceanographic Research (AGOR) vessels building at Dakota Creek Shipyards. The company delivered the first four-unit ship set in January of this year. Seattle-based Guido Perla & Associates, Inc. has done the design work for the two vessels. Four Cummins QSK38-DM powered electrical generators will provide power for each of these 238 x 50-ft. vessels.

During most of 2012, Cummins Northwest was busy with the procurement of the various subsystems and assembly of the diesel-electric units for the two Ocean Class Auxiliary General Purpose Oceanographic Research (AGOR) vessels building at Dakota Creek Shipyards They delivered the first four-unit ship set in January of this year. Seattle-based Guido Perla & Associates, Inc. did the design work for the two vessels. Four Cummins QSK38-DM powered electrical generators will provide power for each of these 238 by 50-foot vessels.

Experts explore future of wind energy research in two-day symposium at the University of Delaware Energy Institute (UDEI). How would wind turbines in the ocean alter the wind flow? Is wind energy a practical solution for powering electrical grids? Forward-looking questions such as those were addressed by experts in the field of wind energy at a recent symposium sponsored by the University of Delaware Energy Institute (UDEI). The two-day event, titled “The Importance of Meteorology to Wind Energy: Research Needs for the Next 10 Years…

Researchers use side-scan & multi-beam sonar to get a good picture of what the passage of the storm did to the sea bed. Beneath the 20-foot waves that crested off Delaware's coast during Hurricane Sandy, thrashing waters reshaped the floor of the ocean, churning up fine sand and digging deep ripples into the seabed. Fish, crustaceans and other marine life were blasted with sand as the storm sculpted new surfaces underwater. University of Delaware (UD) scientists cued up their instruments to document the offshore conditions before…

Researchers used a sophisticated climate model to show wind can meet many times the world's total power demand by 2030. If the world is to shift to clean energy, electricty generated by the wind will play a major role – and there is more than enough wind for that, according to new research from Stanford and the University of Delaware. Researchers at Stanford University's School of Engineering and the University of Delaware developed the most sophisticated weather model available to show that not only is there plenty of wind over land and near to shore to provide half the world's power…

The Maritime Authority of Jamaica is delighted to announce the return of its Director of Shipping Policy Eric Deans who has completed a Ph.D in Marine Policy at the University of Delaware. Dr Deans is well known throughout the shipping industry and has worked for the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ) for 11 years. This month he  resumes his responsibility as Director of Shipping Policy and Research and Registrar General for the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, which was administered in his absence by Mr Seymour Harley, who now returns to his role as Registrar of Ships.

ZF Marine welcomes Susan Mortgu as the newest addition to its team. Mortgu is the new account manager for the Northeast US and Atlantic Canada. She will be reporting to David Santos, Commercial Craft Segment Manager. A graduate of Kings Point (USMMA) and additional studies at University of Delaware’s school of Marine Policy, Mortgu comes to ZF Marine LLC with a wealth of experience in the industry. She is a certified project manager with over 10 years experience in shipyard project management, including new construction, repair and refit for both pleasure and commercial vessels.

There are now only ten days left to cast your vote for the Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Shipping Award to be presented at the Radisson Blu Hotel in London on July 7th. With only four shortlisted nominees for the prestigious award for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Shipping, there is still time to cast your vote. As voting continues apace, the Sustainable Shipping website has seen a significant increase in activity. One of the judges, Peter Hinchliffe, OBE, Secretary General for the International Chamber of Shipping, commented, “The Sustainable Shipping Awards form a central part in the initiative to drive the industry toward a sustainable future. To cast your vote simply go to the Sustainable Shipping website, register for free and vote by July 1st.

The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command welcomed its new executive director John Thackrah Jan. 24. Thackrah - a member of the Senior Executive Service - will oversee MSC's business operations and serve as a senior advisor to MSC's commanding admirals. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., MSC is the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense - responsible for the operation of more than 110 civilian-crewed, noncombatant ships supporting military and humanitarian missions worldwide. Thackrah comes to MSC from the Navy's Strategic Systems Program, where he served as the principle deputy. SSP provides the nation's sea-based deterrent missile systems. Thackrah began his Navy career in 2005 as the deputy assistant secretary for management and budget.