Opa News

Blake Powell, president at JMS Naval Architects, discusses his career, company and latest trends in naval architecture and marine engineering.Please give a brief professional bio, including education, experience and overview of current duties as president of JMS Naval Architects.I earned my degree in Naval Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where I attended on a Navy ROTC scholarship and was commissioned as a Diving and Salvage Officer after I graduated.

Predictability is the aim of every human, company, or society.Humanity simply strives to increase its level of predictability whether as a person, or as a group of people. When humans attain a certain level of predictability, their hope for the future goes up and their level of anxiety goes down.Oddly, conservatives and progressives both strive for predictability, they just do it in different ways. A conservative will say: If nothing changes, then my predictability for the future will go up.

The Great Lakes Towing Company (GLT) announced it has acquired a 62-year-old fireboat from the city of Cleveland, Ohio.The vessel, Anthony J. Celebrezze, was constructed in 1961 by Paach Marine in Erie, Pa. and was used by the Cleveland Fire Department until it was replaced with a new vessel, Garret A. Morgan, in June 2023 and put up for auction.Auction data shows the vessel was sold on November 14 for just over $41,000, including a 12.5% buyer's premium.GLT said its Great Lakes Shipyard division is very familiar with the Anthony J.

The maritime industry has seen a very long sequence of environmental regulations since the first implementation of MARPOL in the early 1970’s. All of these regulations have very much benefitted the ocean environment and also our industry to some degree. One of those regulations, OPA90, has had an outsized effect to an extent that it may no longer be as effective as it was in recent years due to its own success.Tanker oil spills in the United States have become so rare that people with actual U.S.

Engine manufacturer Scania on Thursday announced it has been selected by Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) to power its new fleet of five 47-foot Skimmer oil response vessels, built by Rozema Boat Works. Powered by twin DI13 087M 700hp engines provided by Cascade Engine Center, the new vessels will be delivered in 2023.Formed in conjunction with the Marine Preservation Association in 1990 by oil and gas companies, MSRC is a not-for-profit organization with U.S. Coast Guard OSRO classification in every U.S. captain of the port zone except Alaska.

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA – also known as the Clean Water Act), as amended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), contains a responder immunity provision. That provision states, in pertinent part:(A)A person is not liable for removal costs or damages which result from actions taken or omitted to be taken in the course of rendering care, assistance, or advice consistent with the National Contingency Plan or as otherwise directed by the President relating…

Salvage, emergency response and marine services company Resolve Marine announced that its vessel the Resolve Pioneer has completed its ABS special survey and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) certificate of inspection following a drydock at Vigor Industrial in Portland, Ore. The drydock involved various technical upgrades, hull steel renewal, painting, overhaul and cleaning of the vessel.The 207-foot rescue boat is based in Western Alaska and provides critical emergency response and oil spill readiness 24/7. The Resolve Pioneer also helps to ensure that commercial vessels transiting U.S.

The Biden administration recently issued a sweeping Executive Order [1] aimed at protecting and enhancing competition, and the transportation sector—including air, ocean, and rail—is among the industries specifically identified and likely to see heightened antitrust scrutiny under the new directives. This executive action was soon followed by the long-awaited announcement of Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (Division), Jonathan Kanter, who…

Jeffersonville, Ind.-based barging company American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL) said it has been cleared of any fault related to the 2008 Mel Oliver collision and resulting oil spill on the Mississippi River.The announcement comes after more than 13 years of legal proceedings and is the result of a settlement agreement reached on November 18, 2021, with the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Louisiana regarding the case.It was determined that fault for the collision and resulting oil spill belongs to Harvey…

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.

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.

The specter of liability beyond the limits of applicable insurance for the salvor’s liability to both its contractual partner and third parties continues to haunt the American Salvage Association’s members. Hence, the efforts since 2011 to obtain broad based immunity from claims beyond the patch work of statute, judge made law and contractual risk shifting terms. The exposure on certain projects to the prospect of “you bet the company claims” has caused prospective bidders with the requisite skills, technical expertise, and physical resources to decline opportunities to participate in major but high-risk projects. Responder immunity…

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA, often called the Clean Water Act), as amended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), provides:If a discharge, or a substantial threat of a discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance from a vessel, offshore facility, or onshore facility is of such a size or character as to be a substantial threat to the public health or welfare of the United States (including but not limited to fish, shellfish, wildlife, other natural resources…

On March 24. 1989, the single-hull tanker Exxon Valdez was departing the Port of Valdez, Alaska with a full load of North Slope crude oil (approximately 1.26 million barrels) destined for Long Beach when it grounded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound. The resulting oil spill (approximately 258,000 barrels), while not the largest in US history, was clearly the most important. It engendered much litigation. Public concern over the spill led directly to enactment of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90)…

On August 18, 1990, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) was enacted into law. Section 4202 of that Act amended the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA or Clean Water Act) to require tank vessels and marine transportation-related facilities to prepare and submit to the US Coast Guard plans for responding, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worse case discharge, and to a substantial threat of such a discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance carried in bulk as cargo.

ILANDMIAMI debuts it’s new marine utility vessel (MUV) to transport Art Basel attendees to and from events.ILandMiami designs, engineers and manufactures custom made landing solutions including helicopter dollies, helidecks, and temporary helistops as well as their patented, trademarked marine utility vessels (MUV). The MUV, also referred to as a heliboat, was engineered as a fully navigable vessel and is the first self-propelled marine landing solution and can accommodate helicopters up to 7…

Committed to providing tugboat and towing vessel operators with a platform to meet regularity requirements and collaborate with local resources, the annual event also reminds us that Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.On September 28 2018, American Marine Associates, LLC (AMA) coordinated and hosted the 3rd annual Green Apple Spill Response Exercise in Bayonne, NJ. The Green Apple Spill Response exercise was established specifically for the tugboat and towing vessel industry operating in New York Harbor.

Boys are coaxed into cleanliness at bath time playing with boats. But it was never a game for Joseph Farrell, III, instinctively realizing he was ballasting and salvaging ships, unlike the typical Mr. Bubbles kid. The scion of Resolve Marine Group may have been born to lead the global emergency response company founded by his father with a single tug 38 years ago, but he’s never taken dangerous wreck removal lightly.Before turning 15, Joey had two close calls on and around ships that guide him today, at 34.

Navigate Response, the global crisis communications network for the maritime sector, is introducing unlimited response hours contracts to help its shipping company clients manage the potentially open-ended costs of media management work during a crisis.Navigate Response Director Bill Lines said: "Through a small premium on Navigate Response's standard media response contracts, companies can manage their risk profile by choosing a plan which guarantees an unlimited response from our crisis response teams headquartered in London and Singapore."Whether the threat is from cyber, piracy, pollution or an environmental lobby, it is vital that our clients have the support to respond as actively as it takes…

SMIT Salvage has acquired two five-year marine salvage contracts to serve as the exclusive marine salvage and engineering support contractor for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the division of the U.S. Navy responsible for engineering, building, buying and maintaining Navy ships and submarines.The Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. subsidiary will provide the U.S. Navy with marine salvage, salvage-related towing, ocean engineering and towage services in the event of an emergency or incident in two of the three geographic zones in the world as defined by the U.S. Navy.SMIT Salvage held a contract for one zone covering the area between the Suez Canal and the international date line for a number of periods totaling more than 30 years, which it was able to renew.

The Vessel General Permit (VGP) falls under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), better known as the Clean Water Act. It is administered by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an agency not well known or understood by the maritime industry.For years, the EPA had adopted a policy of broadly exempting discharges into the water that were incidental to normal operation of vessels. That changed after environmental advocacy groups prevailed in a judicial challenge. The first iteration of the VGP entered into effect in 2008 and remained in effect until replaced by the current iteration in 2013.

Congress enacted the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) a mere 17 months after the disastrous oil spill following the grounding of the tanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound. Among the many provisions in the voluminous bill was a detailed planning requirement. For the first time, tank vessels and facilities handling oil in bulk were required to develop extensive plans for responding to a worst case discharge of oil into waters of the United States. As regards vessels and marine-transportation-related facilities, the U.S.

A series of presentations organized and presented jointly by Resolve Marine Group and the SNAME - Greek Supper Section was held Wednesday, June 6 at the Posidonia 2018 exhibition in Athens.The two-hour event included a total of four presentations – two from SNAME and two from Resolve  – focused on the issues of direct and prompt response to merchant vessels’ accidents and damages that have shaken the global shipping community over the past three years.The event was attended by…