Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Thames River News

11 Jun 2019

European Debut of Norwegian Pearl

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the third-largest cruise line in the world, controlling approximately 8.7% of the total worldwide share of the cruise market by passengers, celebrated its first season of cruises from the Netherlands, Amsterdam with the European debut of Norwegian Pearl.The international cruise liner said that with this maiden call it is growing the brand’s presence to six ships in the region for the first time.On Saturday, 8 June, Norwegian Pearl’s Captain, Paul von Knorring, and the ship’s officers were honored with a plaque and key to the city of Amsterdam from local officials from the Port of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Cruise Port and Passenger Terminal Amsterdam…

18 May 2018

River Cruise Company Fined $400,000

A Thames river cruise company has been fined a total £304,925 (approximately $411,000) at Westminster Magistrate's Court in a prosecution brought by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) for operating without a valid Domestic Safety Management (DSM) certificate.Sodexo Ltd pleaded guilty to operating without the valid certificate, contrary to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, on one of its Thames cruise vessels Symphony. They were fined £300,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £125 and £4,800 toward the cost of the prosecution.Symphony is a Scandinavian style river cruise boat operated by Sodexo subsidiary Bateaux London Ltd specializing in banqueting style cruises for up to 260 guests at a time.In June 2017…

14 Jun 2016

A Coastguardsman's Return to Eagle

Jim Briggs, One of the Eagle’s first American crewmembers, returns to the vessel after 66 years (Photo: Jasmine Mieszala)

In 1950, International Falls, Minn., native Jim Briggs, shook hands with his fellow crewmembers and stepped off the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle with his seabag packed to the brim and strewn across his back. It would be 66 years until he returned. “They told me I always had a home there, and I could always come back,” Briggs said. The Eagle was built in 1936 by Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned as Horst Wessel. At the end of World War II, the ship was taken by the U.S. as a war prize and renamed Eagle. In 1946, a U.S.

28 Oct 2015

Young Sea Cadets Return from Voyage of a Lifetime

Photo: Retlif Testing Laboratories

Six-day ‘Voyage of Discovery’ concludes in Mt. Six teenage U.S. Naval Sea Cadets from Long Island who set sail from Mt. Sinai Harbor returned from their six-day Voyage of Discovery, bringing back a lifetime of practical sea experience and tactical training. Captain Roger Noakes and three experienced crewmen sailed with the aspiring U.S. Navy Midshipmen aboard the Nada, a 47-foot sailing vessel. The six-day and six-night sail started on August 14 and included voyages to Connecticut, Cape Cod and back to Mt. Sinai Harbor on August 20. The sea experience included site tours and training.

10 Sep 2015

Vitol Supplying Bunker Fuel to Houston, Mississippi River

Press release -- Vitol announced it has begun supplying physical bunker fuel to Houston and the Mississippi River. Bunker grades RMG, RMK and DMA 0.1 percent will be marketed under the V-Marine Fuels brand, on a retail (delivered) basis in Houston. V-Marine Fuels currently supplies physical bunker fuel to ships in the ports of Singapore, Tangjong Pelepas (Malaysia), Fujairah & Khor Fakkan (UAE), Hamburg and Bremerhaven (Germany),  Canaveral (USA), the Thames River, English Channel & Northern France (UK & France) and Rotterdam (Netherlands).

28 Aug 2015

New London Cruise Terminal Gets Green Signal

London Mayor Boris Johnson gave final approval to build a new cruise terminal on the Thames River at Greenwich. The terminal, to be located at Enderby Wharf, is expected to play host to 55 ship calls a year when it becomes operational in 2017. Ships as long as 230m in length will be able to dock at the Enderby Wharf location, with a maximum of 1600 passengers on each vessel. There had been opposition from local residents on the new plan in Greenwich at Enderby Wharf. There were concerns on air quality from having more cruise ships which in turn causes more bad fumes from the ship’s fuel. The Royal Borough of Greenwich issues a statement saying the Mayor's office was "satisfied with measures put in place...to ensure robust monitoring of air quality…

24 Jul 2014

USCG Leadership Development Center Change of Command

The Coast Guard’s Leadership Develop Center will have its first change of command ceremony Thursday, July 31 at 11 a.m. in front of Yeaton Hall at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. The change of command ceremony provides a time-honored ritual that has remained essentially unchanged for centuries of naval history. Signifying the transfer of responsibility, authority and accountability to the assembled crew, the tradition represents the Coast Guard men and women who have stated the words and assumed the command. In following that tradition, New London native and the first Commanding Officer of the Leadership Development Center, Capt. Andrea M. Marcille, will be relieved by Capt. Gregory D. Wisener.

03 Sep 2013

Six Canadian Coast Guard Stations Close for Season

The Canadian Coast Guard advised that six seasonal summer Inshore Rescue Boat (IRB) stations located around the Great Lakes will be winding down their annual summer operations. Five IRB stations will cease seasonal operations on Monday, September 2, 2013. They are Port-Lambton, Brebeuf Island (Honey Harbor), Long Point, Hill Island and Britt. The Thames River IRB station, located on Lake St Clair, will continue to operate on the following weekends: September 7-8; 14-15; and possibly 21-22, depending on weather patterns. All IRB stations will reopen in the spring of 2014, coinciding with the start of the peak summer boating season on the Great Lakes in Ontario.

22 Mar 2012

New Tugboat for UK Trucker – River Transport Beats Road

Stan Tug SWS Essex: Photo crdedit Damen Shipyards

Damen Stan Tug 1205 SWS Essex was delivered to the Walsh & Sons Head Office in Brentwood (UK) who ordered the Stan Tug as part of their strategy to transport more cargo by water than by road. In the near future, the total transport capacity of Walsh’s lorry fleet will be exceeded by tug and barge transport. Walsh is a recycling and construction company specialized in civil engineering, demolition, disposal of materials, environmental projects and Thames River dredging projects.

21 Mar 2012

Damen Delivers Stan Tug 1205 to S. Walsh & Sons

The Damen SWS Essex (Photo: Damen)

The Damen Stan Tug 1205 ‘SWS Essex’ was delivered to the Walsh & Sons Head Office in Brentwood (UK) last week. Walsh ordered the Stan Tug as part of their strategy to transport more cargo by water than by road. In the near future, the total transport capacity of Walsh’s lorry fleet will be exceeded by tug and barge transport. Walsh is a recycling and construction company, specialized in civil engineering, demolition, disposal of materials, environmental projects and Thames River dredging projects.

28 Jul 2010

Cummings Recognizes 100th Anniversary of USCG Academy

Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (MD-07) managed the passage of H.Con.Res. 258, Congratulating the Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy and its staff for 100 years of operation of the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. The School of Instruction to the U.S. Revenue Cutter Academy was established at Fort Trumbull in New London, Connecticut, in 1910, and later became known as the Coast Guard Academy after the consolidation of the Life Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915. The Academy moved to its present location along the banks of the Thames River in 1932. In1946, the former German Navy training vessel Horst Wessel was acquired by the United States for use by the Coast Guard and renamed Eagle…

08 Dec 2008

Navy Sub Retiring

Dec. 2008, crew members assigned to the Military Sealift Command rescue and salvage ship USNS Grasp (T-ARS 51) hook a towing line to submarine NR-1 as the boat makes its way along the Thames River in Groton for the final time. The oldest nuclear-powered submarine in the U.S. Navy, NR-1, is being retired after nearly 40 years of service. U.S. Navy photo by John Narewski.

07 Jul 2008

Donjon Removes Rail Bridge Span

Putting its heavy-lift capability to the test, on June 24, 2008, Donjon Marine Co., Inc. removed an old, rusted, 1,000-ton Amtrak rail bridge span located across the Thames River in New London, Connecticut.   Donjon’s Chesapeake 1000, the largest floating heavy-lift crane on the East Coast, hoisted the bridge span -- in place at that location for 89 years -- from the track and transported it onboard one of its new 1400-class deck barges (Witte 1402) back to Port Newark for dismantling and disposal. The old bridge span will be replaced with a new, 1,888-foot-long, 35-feet-wide section.   www.donjon.com.

05 Aug 2004

65th Anniversary: The First Voyage of the S.S. Michael Moran

I first went aboard the S.S. Michael Moran in the middle of August, 1944, while she was still in the shipyard in Portland, Me. where she was built. She was operated by Moore McCormack Lines, a company with whom I had sailed before. I signed on as Third Mate; this would be my fourth Liberty Ship. From Portland we sailed down to Boston where we loaded military cargo for a destination unknown. Most of the crew were down-easters. Capt. George Blanthorn was Master, a real gentleman with a good sense of humor. The First Mate was a Mr. Marshall, an older man who had flown with the French Escadrill in WWI. The Second Mate was Mr. Pease. I can still picture some of the rest of the crew; the Radio Operator and some of the engineers; but, I have long since forgotten their names.

08 May 2007

Navy Commissions USS Hawaii

Crew members man the rail after being directed by Gov. Linda Lingle of Hawaii to “Man our ship and bring her to life” during the commissioning ceremony for the Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776). Hawaii is the third Virginia-class submarine to be commissioned and part of the first major U.S. Navy combatant vessel class designed with the post-Cold War security environment in mind. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (SW) Ira J. Under clear blue New England skies, the Navy’s newest attack submarine, USS Hawaii (SSN 776) was commissioned May 5 on the Thames River at Naval Submarine Base New London, in Groton, Conn. The ceremony, complete with hula dancers, war canoes, and leis, brought North Shore flavor to the shores of New England.

01 Feb 2006

Ferry Manager Sentenced for Sewage Cumping

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut stated that the operations manager of the Fisher Island Ferry was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment, one year of supervised release, and a $10,000 fine for violation of federal law. The manager pled guilty to directing the ferry crews to open the overboard discharge valves on the vessels’ sewage systems during the period 2000 through 2004, thereby allowing raw sewage and untreated sludge to be discharged directly into the Thames River in New London and into Long Island Sound. The practice continued until the U.S. Coast Guard did an unannounced inspection of a ferry in 2004. Source: HK Law

27 Dec 2005

Admiral Appoints Local Man To Coast Guard Academy

Joseph DiRenzo IV, son of Joseph DiRenzo, III and Commander Karen DiRenzo, NC, USN of Suffolk, Va., will be presented his appointment papers to the United States Coast Guard Academy by Coast Guard Vice Admiral Vivean Crea, Coast Guard Atlantic Area Commander in a ceremony to be held Dec. 29 at 11:30 a.m. at the Coast Guard Atlantic Area Headquarters in Portsmouth, Va. DiRenzo and his fellow cadets in the class of 2010 will report to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London CT on July 3rd, 2006 to begin Swab Summer, an indoctrination into academy, cadet and Coast Guard life. Following Swab Summer, DiRenzo will study mechanical engineering and work toward a Bachelors of Science degree. DiRenzo plans to compete for the Varsity Swim team while attending the Academy.

06 Oct 2005

Ferry Captain Pleads Guilty to Illegal Dumping

Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MARK EASTER, age 54, of 152 Gager Road, Bozrah, Connecticut, waived indictment and pleaded guilty today to illegally causing raw sewage and untreated sludge to be discharged into the Thames River and Long Island Sound. EASTER’s plea of guilty was accepted this afternoon by United States Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford. Under the terms of the plea agreement, if accepted by Magistrate Judge Smith, EASTER will serve a term of imprisonment of 30 days. In addition, he faces a maximum fine in the amount of $25,000 per day. “This crime against the environment occurred for several years, and thousands of gallons of raw sewage were knowingly deposited directly into our waterways,” U.S.