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06 Oct 2023

Turkish Ship Hits Mine in Black Sea, Sustains Minor Damage

A Turkish-flagged general cargo ship hit a mine on Thursday in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania and sustained minor damage but the crew was safe, maritime and security sources said.British maritime security company Ambrey, citing information it received, said the ship struck a sea mine 11 nautical miles north of Sulina in Romania, near the entrance to the Sulina Canal."The vessel reportedly experienced an explosion at approximately 0920 UTC (GMT). The vessel dropped anchor for a short period to assess the damage," Ambrey said in a note."At 1210, the vessel resumed sailing," Ambrey said adding that no casualties were reported.It was one of the first incidents for some months involving a ship hitting a sea mine.

09 Jul 2021

Penfield Marine, Macquarie Group Execute Carbon Neutral Voyage

(Photo: Penfield Marine)

Tanker operator Penfield Marine and Macquarie Group’s Commodities and Global Markets division announced the execution of Penfield’s first carbon-neutral voyage in a collaboration that will enable Penfield Marine to offer environmentally differentiated freight products to its customers.The structure achieves carbon-neutral freight by retiring carbon offsets sufficient to cover the carbon footprint of an entire voyage, including emissions associated with the vessel’s ballast leg, positioning the vessel to perform the voyage, the laden passage and all in port load and discharge operations.

08 Sep 2020

Report: Reefer Ship Attacked Offshore Nigeria. Two Crew Members Kidnapped

Maritime security intelligence agencies have reported that the Water Phoenix reefer vessel was boarded Tuesday morning off Nigeria by an unknown number of persons and that two Russian nationals have been kidnapped.Per Praesidium International, a risk consultancy and maritime security company, the incident happened at 5:50 a.m. UTC Tuesday, approximately 34 nautical miles south of Lagos."According to the initial reports, the perpetrators managed to board the vessel and kidnap the master and another crew member, both Russian," Praesidium said, adding that the crew includes 18 seafarers, of which seven Russians and 11 Filipinos. Apart from the two crewmembers who have…

29 Aug 2020

Report: Pirate Attack on Oil Tanker Thwarted Off Ghana

Image Credit: Praesidium International

An attempted pirate attack on the Marshal Islands-flagged tanker Pike was reportedly thwarted on Friday morning offshore Ghana.According to Praesidium, a maritime security intelligence firm, the tanker, which had left Lagos the day before, was approached on Friday around 0350 UTC by a small craft with six to eight persons aboard.“Perpetrators attempted to board the vessel, but evasive maneuvers performed by the Master hampered their attempt. The vessel and crew are reported safe…

15 Apr 2020

Keppel O&M, EMA Launch Call for Smart Solutions in Offshore Sector

Singapore-based offshore rig builder Keppel Offshore & Marine has partnered up with Energy Market Authority (EMA) to develop energy solutions in the areas of distributed energy resources, digitalization and emerging low carbon alternatives.As part of the $10 million partnership, EMA and Keppel O&M are launching a grant call for solutions relating to energy storage systems and smart power grids for the offshore and marine environment. "These solutions should seek to reduce overall energy usage and carbon footprint while enhancing overall operational efficiency.

14 Apr 2020

Armed Men Board Vessel in Gulf of Oman

(Photo: Dryad Global)

Armed men boarded a vessel at anchor in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday but the ship was later released, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said."Vessel and crew are safe," it said in an updated advisory, urging all vessels in the vicinity to remain vigilant.UKMTO had earlier said the vessel had been at anchor around three nautical miles (nm) off Ras Al Kuh.Maritime security firm Dryad Global separately tweeted that a Hong Kong-flagged vessel had been released. It…

04 Sep 2019

Hurricane Dorian Update

The 8 AM tracking graphic (CREDIT: NHC)

At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the center of Hurricane Dorian was located near latitude 29.5 North, longitude 79.6 West.Dorian is moving toward the north-northwest near 8 mph (13 km/h), and a northwest or north-northwest motion is expected through this morning. A turn toward the north is forecast by this evening, followed by a turn toward the north-northeast on Thursday morning.On this track, the core of Hurricane Dorian will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast and the Georgia coast through tonight.

03 Sep 2019

NOAA's NHC: The Latest on Hurricane Dorian

CREDIT: National Hurricane Center

At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Dorian was located by reconnaissance aircraft and NOAA Doppler radar near latitude 27.1 North, longitude 78.4 West. Dorian is beginning to move northwestward at about 1 mph (2 km/h), and a slightly faster motion toward the northwest or north-northwest is expected later today and tonight.A turn toward the north is forecast by Wednesday evening, followed by a turn to the north-northeast Thursday morning. On this track, the core of extremely…

11 Jul 2019

National Hurricane Center Miami Issues Hurricane Watch

File Image: AdobeStock / © mode list

A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for: Mouth of the Pearl River to Intracoastal City. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for: Mouth of the Mississippi River to Cameron. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for: Mouth of the Mississippi River northward to the Mouth of the Pearl River.A Storm Surge Watch means there is a possibility of life-threatening inundation from rising water moving inland from the coastline in the indicated locations during the next 48 hours. For a depiction of areas at risk please see the National Weather Service Storm Surge Watch/Warning Graphic available at hurricanes.gov.

13 Jun 2019

Book Review: Getting Down to It; 50 Years of Subsea Success in Norway

Co-author Arnfinn Nergaard.

The Norwegian Continental Shelf’s journey from the very first basic marinized subsea trees to today’s complex and sophisticated subsea processing equipment has been a rapid, at times turbulent, but always remarkable.There are many engineers who have seen through that journey, from the first exploration wells using Norwegian rigs in the mid-1970s to today. One has now written the history of subsea technology in Norway and this year’s Underwater Technology Conference (UTC) has been chosen for its launch…

10 Oct 2018

U.S. East Coast Ports Await Yet Another Storm

The latest storm path predictions (CREDIT: NHC)

Hurricane Michael, now a Category 4 storm, will be the second hurricane in two months to significantly affect ports on the U.S. eastern seaboard. Eastern North Carolina in particular is only now recovering from Florence.The U.S. Coast Guard has set conditions X-Ray for ports in Georgia and South Carolina in preparation for Hurricane Michael. The storm is now expected to make landfall by Wednesday afternoon. While gale force winds are expected within the next 48 hours, these ports can remain open to commercial traffic.

08 Oct 2018

NOAA's National Hurricane Center: Michael Expected to Become a Hurricane

Micheal's projected track line (CREDIT: NHC)

The National Hurricane Center has announced a Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio. A Hurricane Watch is also in effect for the Alabama-Florida border to Suwannee River Florida.A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Suwannee River to Anna Maria Island Florida, including Tampa Bay and for the Alabama-Florida border to the Mississippi-Alabama borderAt 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Michael was located near latitude 20.9 North, longitude 85.1 West. Michael is moving toward the north near 7 mph (11 km/h).

16 Sep 2018

UK Satellites Launched to Track Illegal Shipping Activity

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has confirmed the successful launch of two satellites, NovaSAR-1, a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, and SSTL S1-4, a high resolution optical Earth Observation satellite. The two satellites were launched into a 580km sun-synchronous orbit on board the PSLV launch vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India on 16 September at UTC 16:38 by Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation.Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman of SSTL, said “I am pleased to confirm that successful contact has been made with both satellites and they are in good health.

15 Jun 2018

Iridium-7 Target Launch Date Set

Photo: Iridium

Iridium Communications Inc. announced that the seventh Iridium(r) NEXT mission has been targeted by SpaceX for launch on July 20, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.The Falcon 9 rocket will launch 10 Iridium NEXT satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California at approximately 5:12 am PDT (12:12 UTC). An exact instantaneous launch window time will be available closer to the launch date. As the second-to-last launch of the planned Iridium NEXT program…

01 Jan 2018

Tanker Collided with Oil Rig in North Sea

The tanker Elsa Essberger collided with unmanned oil rig Q1 with is no longer in use, at around 1820 UTC Dec 31 in North sea some 20 nm southwest of Den Helder, Netherlands.   The platform Q1 Halfway is not in use and according to the Coast Guard there were no people at the time of the collision. The plant built there in 1995 is part of an oil and gas field in the Dutch part of the North Sea off Den Helder.   In the collision the bow of the Elsa Essberger was damaged, but the cargo tanks remained completely intact, so there is no danger of outflow or leakage of the cargo.   It has been anchored at Callantsoog for the time being. The ship Elsa was on its way from Antwerp to Malmo in Sweden.

14 Jul 2017

Microsatellites Launched for Maritime Monitoring, Comms and Science

NORsat-1 in EMC test at SFL. Two AIS antennas may be seen at the top, and four Langmuir probes off to the sides. The solar wings of the satellite are at the bottom. (Photo: Space Flight Laboratory)

The Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) announced the successful launch of two Norwegian microsatellites developed and built by SFL for the Norwegian Space Centre with support from the Norwegian Coastal Authority, Space Norway and the European Space Agency. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying the satellites into orbit launched from Baikonur at 06:36:49 UTC Friday, July 14, 2017. Shortly after launch both satellites were contacted from ground stations in Svalbard and Vardo, Norway. Both satellites are healthy based on initial telemetry, and commissioning is underway.

27 Jun 2017

Iridium Launches Latest 10 NEXT Satellites

Iridium has launched 10 of its Iridium NEXT satellites US aboard a SpaceX rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. This payload of 10 satellites was deployed into low-Earth orbit, approximately one hour after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg, at 1:25pm PDT (20:25 UTC). With this launch complete, there are now 20 Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit, establishing the infrastructure for groundbreaking technologies such as Iridium Certus and Aireon's space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) aircraft tracking and surveillance service. Iridium Certus is poised to disrupt industry norms by enabling truly global L-band satellite broadband speeds through smaller, more cost-effective antennas.

08 Mar 2017

Maersk Invests in Refrigerant Container Units

Photo: Maersk Line

Maersk Line has ordered the first 100 of a total of 200 refrigerated containers to be chilled by Carrier Transicold’s NaturaLINE natural refrigerant based system. Carrier Transicold is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX). Carrier Transicold’s highly efficient NaturaLINE is the first container refrigeration system to use the natural refrigerant carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a safe and nonozone depleting gas with a global warming potential (GWP) of one.

14 Nov 2016

A Definitive Guide to AIS

Image: BigOceanData

The world of AIS can be confusing to newcomers and experienced professionals alike. What is AIS? What data does it gather? How can it help my business? Do I need AIS if I don’t have a business? Class A or Class B transponders? Do I actually need it? There’s a plethora of questions from those looking to get the most out of their tracking tools, or from those looking into entering the maritime industry. The following is a comprehensive guide to AIS that covers a wide range of topics from specific AIS units to getting the most out of the data gathered.

03 Nov 2016

Schell, Appointed CEO, Rolls-Royce Power Systems

Rolls-Royce announces today that Andreas Schell has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rolls-Royce Power Systems (RRPS). Andreas will join Rolls-Royce later this year, reporting to Chief Executive Warren East, and take up his new position from 1 January 2017, succeeding Dr Ulrich Dohle who is retiring. Andreas has a wealth of international leadership expertise, running large complex organisations involved in high-technology engineering across a number of sectors including aerospace and automotive in Germany, the UK and US. He has experience in operational transformation programmes, strategy and the development of new business models, products and markets.

10 May 2016

Marioff Launches New HI-FOG Electric Pump Unit

HI-FOG Unit (Photo: Marioff)

Marioff Corporation Oy has announcd the launch of a new HI-FOG Electric Pump Unit (EPU) for the high-pressure water mist fire suppression segment. Incorporating closed loop pressure control, the EPU revolutionizes pumping technology for high-pressure water mist technology. Marioff, a  developer of the water mist fire protection technology, is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. The EPU’s advanced control system ensures that the pump unit provides only the required pressure and flow.

15 Apr 2016

Pirates Attack Containership off Nigeria

Pirates have attacked the Liberian-flagged 4,360 TEU CMA CGM Turquoise, kidnapping two crew members off the coast of Nigeria, with the remainder of the crew said to be safe. Turquoise, managed by Dioryx Maritime Corp. in Greece, was stormed late on Monday as it travelled between Nigeria's commercial hub Lagos and Douala in Cameroon. According to Ghana-based antipiracy agency Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre (MTISC-GOG), the ship  was boarded in waters about 30 nm off the coast of the Niger Delta. The captain activated the SSAS and the crew retreated to the citadel, but two were captured and kidnapped before they could enter.

02 Feb 2016

Enseda Shipbuilding & Surviving the Petrobras Crisis

Enseada Shipbuilding was established to build deepwater drillships for Petrobras. Seventy percent of the company is owned by a consortium composed of Brazilian companies, Odebrecht (50 percent), OAS (25 percent), UTC (25 percent), with the remaining 30 percent belonging to Japanese shipbuilding giant, Kawasaki Heavy Industry (KHI). With all the Brazilian shareholders involved in the Car Wash “Lava Jato” operation, investigating corruption and embezzlement schemes with Petrobras, Kawasaki is a key partner, as is it not only responsible for technology transfer and providing professional training for the local workforce and operational consultancy in several areas within the shipbuilding process, as it also offers credibility to the shipyard.