Loren News

An ailing mariner was medevaced from a U.S.-flagged tug approximately 18 miles southwest of Atchafalaya Bay, off Louisiana, on Wednesday.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector New Orleans received a call via VHF-FM radio channel 16 from the 78-foot tug boat Lady Loren stating a 35-year-old crewmember was reportedly suffering chest pains and shallow breathing.Watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew to assist…

In just over two weeks, MSC Cruises will christen their newest cruise ship. MSC Seaview. MSC Seaview is the second Seaside class ship from the cruise line. With just 15 days until the Christening of MSC Cruises’ new state-of-the-art flagship MSC Seaview, the leading cruise company in Europe announced  that Michelle Hunziker will host the glamorous event as the Master of Ceremonies in Genoa on June 9th. Born in Switzerland and now a popular star in Italy, the talented actress, TV presenter, model and singer embodies the international spirit of MSC Cruises. Screen-legend and Godmother of all MSC Cruises ships since 2003, Sophia Loren will be present to perform the traditional cutting of the ribbon to name the ship.

The Switzerland-based MSC Cruises welcomed its new giant, MSC Meraviglia, first in a new class of ships. MSC Cruises officially christened its newest cruise ship, the MSC Meraviglia, in a ceremony led by the ship’s godmother, Sophia Loren, last week in Le Havre. MSC Meraviglia is the company’s new flagship and the 13th addition to the MSC Cruises fleet, as well as the first new MSC Cruises ship due to come into service under the cruise line’s new investment plan. At 171,598 GRT and with guest capacity of 5,714, MSC Meraviglia is the biggest ship to be built by a European ship owner, MSC Cruises and also the biggest ship to come into service in 2017 .

Gulf of Mexico vessel operators want to see sustained, higher oil prices. After a rough two years, supply boat owners and operators in the Gulf of Mexico hope crude oil prices will improve in 2017. That would encourage activity among the offshore drillers that they service and would put unemployed boats back in the water. Vessel owners aren’t necessarily banking on a good year ahead, however. “Utilization of OSVs and PSVs in the Gulf is below 50 percent now, down from about 70 percent a year ago and 90 percent two years ago…

Russell Plaisance, president of Louisiana Carriers, built the pusher-tug Lady Loren at Dickie Adam’s Lockport Fabrication in 2008. At the launch, he explained that the boat was the result of five years of planning and a lifetime of experience in the maritime world of the Gulf of Mexico. The 82- by 29-foot Lady Loren was the seventh boat in the LA Carriers’ fleet. “ I keep my business diversified, ” Plaisance explained at the time. “We do $10 or 11 million gross per year including some business with the oil industry, but we do a little of everything else as well.

Vessels are stacked as Gulf oil operators retrench and day rates fall. In the Gulf of Mexico, vessels serving offshore oil-and-gas exploration and production are being stacked or idled as the rig count there declines. Oil companies are retrenching while crude prices remain weak, with smaller operators and the shallow-water sector scaling back the most. As the situation unfolds, MarineNews asked David Barousse, general manager at Fleet Operators, Inc., a marine transportation firm in Morgan City, La., for his take on today’s predicament and what the future holds.

The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) is delighted to announce the first of a portfolio of soft skills courses tailored to the needs of engineers called Effective Presentations and Networking which will take place on July 29th 2015 at RINA headquarters in London. This one day course introduces engineers from all disciplines to the fundamentals of how to communicate in business effectively, with a specific focus on customer and colleague engagement through enhanced presentation and networking skills. The course was developed following a survey of RINA members asking them if such training would be useful to them and their teams and what learning outcomes they would look for. It has been shaped by survey feedback and the subsequent pilot run at RINA headquarters.

James Fisher Marine Services Ltd (JFMS), and Fendercare Marine, both subsidiaries of James Fisher and Sons plc (JFS), held an open day to demonstrate the capability of their shoreside support base and the offshore support vessel, the Dart Fisher. The Dart Fisher, which was berthed in the Fendercare Marine base in Great Yarmouth, is a 26-meter catamaran specifically designed to service the offshore energy industry with the capability to transfer up to 12 engineers, three 20-foot containers with a total combined cargo weight of 30 metric tons.

MSC Cruises recently added a new state-of-the-art liner, the MSC Preziosa, helping the Italian company, truly a family business, attain the status of third largest cruise line in the world. MSC Preziosa is a Fantasia class cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises. It entered service in March 2013 as an enhanced version of its sister ships, MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia, and is identical to MSC Divina, which was launched in 2012. Built at the STX shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, MSC Preziosa is the new flagship of MSC Cruises. The new ship gained immediate recognition famous courtesy of its christening by actress Sophia Loren, and was significant as it signified that MSC Cruises is now the third largest cruise line in the world.

Risk management experts from around the world will gather in Aberdeen on March 5 for a conference that will set the agenda for dealing with the issue and impact of human risk in the oil and gas industry. The keynote address will be delivered by Lord Cullen of Whitekirk, who chaired the public enquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster. The outcomes of the enquiry have transformed HSE operational procedures in the North Sea and the offshore oil and gas industry worldwide. Also included in the impressive line up of speakers is David Pritchard, co-chair of the Presidential Technical Commission for the Deepwater Horizon study group (U.S.) – this being the first time a key investigator in the Macondo disaster has publicly addressed the industry in a conference/public setting.

Defense industry analyst, Loren Thompson, in an April 7 Press Register story, questioned whether Northrop Grumman Corp.'s recent focus on profit margin will lead it to get out of the shipbuilding industry and sell its Pascagoula shipyard. That's not necessarily bad news for the 12,000 workers in the former Ingalls Shipbuilding yard, according to the Washington D.C.-based analyst. Northrop shipbuilding division's profit margin was 4.8 percent, compared with 10.3 percent for aerospace, 12.6 percent for electronic systems and 7.3 percent for information systems. (Source: www.al.com)

MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia, the newest ships in MSC Cruises’ fleet, met July 9 in Mallorca, Spain, as MSC Splendida sailed to her christening in Barcelona on July 12. This was the first meeting between the two 137,936-gross registered ton sister ships, the largest ever commissioned by a European owner, since late last year when MSC Fantasia sailed from the STX Europe shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France, where both were built. MSC Fantasia, calling in Mallorca during her regular seven night summer Mediterranean cruise itinerary…

“This boat was five years in the planning,” said LA Carriers owner, Russel Plaisance, as he looked over a tug that he will place into operation by the end of December. The new vessel, to be named Lady Loren, will be the seventh vessel in the LA Carriers fleet. The boat is building at Dickie Adams Lockport Fabrication Inc. Plaisance first went to work on his dad’s fishing boat at 17 and by 21 he had his masters license. Several decades have passed since that time and each year has taught him a bit more about the maritime business and boats to serve it.

Lockport Fabrication has splashed another of their classic gulf-style tugs into the Bayou this month. The 82 by 29-foot model bow tug joins LA Carriers, LLC of Cut Off, Louisiana. The new vessel joins the Bayou LaFourche-based firm founded by Mr. Russell Plaisance in 1986. The firm has achieved success towing general cargos as well as serving the oil industry. With a molded depth of 10 feet and a draft of only eight feet, the tug delivers a total of 1,980 HP. This high horsepower…

Oil-patch industries, shipbuilding and, to a lesser extent, business services, hotels and gaming will lead Louisiana's employment growth in 2002-2003, according to a report by Louisiana State University (LSU) economists and sponsored by Hibernia National Bank (NYSE:HIB). The researchers released their findings today at the fifth annual Hibernia Economic Outlook Conference at the Hibernia Tower. However, the researchers caution that it is difficult to determine the impact of the Sept. 11 tragedy on consumers and businesses. "It's still much too early to get an accurate reading of the impact on the national and local economies due to these events," said Loren C. Scott, one of the LSU economists who compiled the report.

MSC Italian Cruises, based in Naples, Italy, has announced exciting plans for 2004. Their brand new flagship, the MSC Lirica, will have her inaugural celebration in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in January, and the company will introduce yet a second new cruise ship, the MSC Opera, in April 2004. Eight new ports have been added to the company’s Mediterranean itineraries for 2004 in keeping with MSC Italian Cruises commitment to vary its cruise destinations each year. “There is no question that MSC Italian Cruises plans a higher profile in the U.S. market by bringing its newest ship, the Lirica, to Florida this winter, “said Nicola Arena, president of MSC Italian Cruises (USA). MSC Italian Cruises has also added eight new ports of call to its Mediterranean itineraries in 2004.

The Trade Capacity Building Institute in New Orleans, in conjunction with the American Chamber of Commerce Guatemala and the Hispanic Chamber of Louisiana, reported a recent trade mission resulted in more than $3.3 million in new business for four Guatemalan small- and medium-sized businesses and Louisiana trading partners. Several other companies represented on the mission are currently negotiating new business contracts, as well. Marcia Sergent, director of the institute, said a result of the mission included training for more than 35 businesses in the Central American country, in which U.S. business owners helped teach their counterparts international trade laws.

Employment statistics, sales tax collections, large construction projects and other key economic indicators point to an accelerating recovery in many Gulf Coast communities damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Economic growth driven by construction and manufacturing in Pascagoula, Miss., and Lake Charles, La., parallels the aggressive recovery patterns that most regions encounter following a major natural disaster. Yet despite these improvements, the economic impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita continued to negatively affect key cities in the Gulf Coast region through the second quarter of 2006. Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina…

MSC Cruises announced its plans to expand its seven-ship fleet by adding a new vessel every year through 2009, and to kick off its "Beautiful. Passionate. Italian." campaign featuring actress Sophia Loren. Loren will appear in a $4 million campaign, starting off this month on print, billboards, subway signage and taxi toppers in south Florida and New York. Loren already is the godmother of the MSC Lirica, which will be home-ported in New York by 2007, and will christen the 2,550-passenger MSC Musica in Venice, Italy, during June. That ship is one of two new arrivals this year; MSC Orchestra is the other. The cruise line also will take delivery of the MSC Fantasia and MSC Serenata, which can accommodate 3,300 passengers each, during 2008 and 2009, respectively.

The fate of New England's shipbuilding industry and thousands of jobs will depend on a series of top-level discussions that began yesterday at the Defense Department, where Navy officials are scrambling to salvage long-term plans to buy new warships and submarines built at shipyards in Maine and Connecticut. The region narrowly escaped the closure last summer of its two largest naval facilities, in Kittery, Maine, and Groton, Conn., but its multibillion-dollar ship manufacturing sector remains in jeopardy, according to defense officials and lawmakers. The Pentagon is seeking major budget cuts to help reduce the federal deficit and finance the priorities of the war on terrorism -- $7 billion worth next year alone -- and is considering further reductions in the size of the naval fleet…

The Milennium Port Authority (MPA) voted unanimously 9-0 to recommend New Orleans-based Sea Point as an element of the first phase of the Louisiana Millenium Port System. Once completed, the Sea Point Project is expected to generate $2.9 billion in annual economic impact and thousands of jobs in South Louisiana, according to a joint study by timothy Ryan of the University of New Orleans and Dr. Loren Scott of Louisiana State University. In addition, Ryan and Scott estimate that the Sea Point Project will create 18,000 new jobs by 2013. The project will also generate more than $39 million in annual state tax revenue and nearly $31 million in annual local tax revenue within 10 years of the beginning of operations.

The U.S. Navy's Surface Combatant Family of Ships (SCFOS) will employ a transformational acquisition approach and focuses on developing a ship that can accommodate modular combat systems. The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) combat systems modules will be developed separately from ship construction and will be integrated in an open systems architecture model. Additionally, early LCS development will heavily leverage pre-existing technologies. By leveraging the existing R&D efforts performed by the Navy and industry and accelerating the timeline for requirement development and acquisition, LCS will keep delivery times significantly shorter than those of traditional ship programs.