Graham News

Seventeen people were injured when a Bulgarian cruise ship crashed into a concrete wall in a sluice on the River Danube in the northern Austrian town of Aschach an der Donau, local police said on Saturday.Some 160 passengers were aboard the ship traveling from Bavaria in Germany to the Austrian city of Linz, a spokesperson for police in the nearby town of Eferding said.Eleven of the injured were taken to hospital and the ship was able to continue onwards after the accident, the spokesperson said.It was not immediately clear how serious the injuries were, the spokesperson said.Local media said

2024 marks another year for development of a biennial WRDA bill—Water Resources Development Act, critical legislation for the Nation’s waterways, ports and harbors. WRDA encompasses a range of issues, from environmental regs to energy use to agriculture and, of course, a focus on projects critical for economic growth.Because these are dynamic and timely issues, Congress and the maritime sector like to keep WRDA on a two-year reauthorization timeline. Indeed, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, December and January, held three WRDA information hearings.

Industry trade group the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) announced the addition of four CEOs to its board of directors.The new board members include Wes Bordelon, Chief Executive Officer, Bordelon Marine; Stacy Jo Stanley, Chief Executive Officer, Offshore Oil Services, Inc.; David Dantin, Chief Executive Officer, Odyssea Marine; and Lasse Petterson, Chief Executive Officer, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock."With the addition of these four executive leaders, OMSA pays homage to its roots while welcoming expanded opportunities in emerging energy frontiers…

Spain's GONDAN Shipbuilders announced it held a steel cutting ceremony marking the start of construction on a new vessel it is building for the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas for Scotland and the Isle of Man.The NLB, which has been responsible for the management of lights, buoys and beacons in the region since 1786, plays an essential role in safe navigation.The new hybrid-powered vessel…

A small number of people were injured on Sunday during a "weather-related incident" involving P&O Cruises Britannia ship moored in the Spanish island of Mallorca, a spokesperson for the company said.Port authorities in the capital Palma said the ship collided with a petrol tanker because of high winds. The BBC said it broken free of its moorings in a storm."P&O Cruises Britannia was involved in a weather-related incident while alongside in Palma de Mallorca. A small number of individuals sustained minor injuries and are being cared for by the onboard medical centre…

A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean Cruises by the parents of an 18-month-old girl who died after slipping through her grandfather’s hands and falling through an open cruise ship window.The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta restored two negligence claims over the July 2019 death of Chloe Wiegand, who had been in a children’s play area aboard the ship Freedom of the Seas, which was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Her grandfather Salvatore Anello testified that he picked Chloe up and put her feet on the windowsill…

In the depths of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, trillions of potato-shaped rocks are scattered across the seabed - containing minerals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese vital for new green technologies in the global energy transition.In this ocean region - the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) - an abundance of the rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, is increasingly fuelling debate about the mining of metals needed to produce technology such as batteries for electric…

NOAA has selected Mike Brennan, Ph.D., to serve as the next director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, as preparations continue ahead of the 2023 hurricane season. He will assume this new role effective today, April 10, 2023.“The NHC director is one of the most visible and important jobs in the nation, and Mike possesses the right combination of experience, leadership and personal traits to prepare and guide us through major storms,” said Rick Spinrad, Ph.D., NOAA Administrator.

Seven IMO Member States have nominated a candidate for the post of Secretary-General of the IMO in what could be a win for diversity in maritime.Three of the seven are women, and if elected, Nancy Karigithu of Kenya would also be the first African to hold the post. The other female nominees are Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry (Dominica) and Minna Kivimäki (Finland).They are joined by nominees Moin Uddin Ahmed (Bangladesh), Suat Hayri Aka (Türkiye), Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco (Panama) and Zhang Xiaojie (China).The term of the current incumbent…

I. MoneyNo one ever said it’s easy to understand federal budgets and spending plans. Nevertheless, a general sense of clarity and straightforwardness is critical for any review of public expenditures. This becomes more pressing when tracking revenue and expenditures linked to specific users’ fees, such as the $0.29/gallon fuel tax, paid by inland waterways operators. In 2021, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) held $221.5 million, money earmarked to build, maintain and operate…

A ferry servicing California’s Angel Island State Park will be converted to operate as the state’s first zero-emission, electric propulsion short-route passenger vessel beginning in 2024.Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced it is partnering with the Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry Company (Angel Island Ferry) to support the electrification of The Angel Island vessel.PG&E's Electric Vehicle (EV) Fleet Program helps medium- and heavy-duty fleet customers easily and cost-effectively install charging infrastructure via comprehensive construction support and financial incentives.

Spanish police seized 4.5 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of 105 million euros ($114 million) after raiding a cattle ship off the Canary Islands earlier this week, a statement said on Saturday.The ship had stopped at ports in about a dozen countries before Tuesday's raid, and police said drug smugglers had started using livestock ships because it was more difficult for police to trace their illicit cargo."International organisations are reinventing themselves to transport drugs from Latin America to Europe, using livestock to make the control and localisation more difficult," the Spanish police statement said.Police arrested 28 crew members on the Togo-flagged Orion V, which had been trailed from Colombia in an operation by Spanish authorities, the U.S.

Houlder, the design and engineering consultancy, is collaborating with Blue Sea Power, an integrated energy solution provider as a gas-to-power company based in Athens, to develop three innovative floating LNG-to-power barges (FSRPs).According to the partners, the FSRP barges, which are set to be operational by 2025, will efficiently provide greener, lower emission baseload and peak power to the non-interconnected islands of Kos, Chios, and Lesvos. This power will be used when existing renewable solar and wind energy utilization reaches its technical limits.

This Green Careers Week trade group Maritime UK is launching a new green skills project with the aim to help ensure that the maritime industries have the skills required to enable its decarbonization.The project kick starts with the appointment of Kit Williams to coordinate delivery of recommendations from the Maritime Skills Commission's (MSC) Skills for Green Jobs Position Paper. It is being delivered through a partnership between the MSC and Cornwall Marine Network (CMN).The…

MBARI revealed plans to grant its 25-year-old research vessel Western Flyer to the University of South Florida where the vessel will begin a new life as a sailing classroom for the university's Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO).“We’re thrilled the Western Flyer will be sailing on to an exciting new chapter at the Florida Institute of Oceanography,” said MBARI President and CEO Chris Scholin. “The ocean plays a vital role in sustaining life on Earth. With the Western Flyer…

Mexico plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export hub worth between $4 billion and $5 billion in the Gulf of Mexico that will help serve European demand, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday.The planned LNG facility in the port of Coatzacoalcos, in the eastern state of Veracruz, would transport gas by boat to Europe, Lopez Obrador said."We're about to promote private sector involvement, it's going to be an investment of $4-5 billion this plant," he told a regular news conference.Lopez Obrador had previously floated the idea of an LNG plant in Coatzacoalcos, alongside

“An inventor is simply a fellow who doesn’t take his education too seriously.” –Charles KetteringJust for fun, try asking a friend a few questions. Who developed the telephone? Chances are that your friend will reply, Alexander Graham Bell. Who developed the lightbulb? That would be Thomas Edison. Who developed the telegraph? That would be Samuel F.B. Morse. Now ask, who developed containerization? Unless your friend has a background in maritime history, he is likely to draw a complete blank. The answer is a man named Malcom McLean. But who exactly was he? Was he a shipping executive?

More than 560 dockworkers at the Port of Liverpool, one of Britain's largest container ports, will go on strike from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3 over pay, the Unite union said on Friday, adding to a summer of industrial unrest caused by soaring inflation."Workers across the country are sick to death of being told to take a hit on their wages and living standards," Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said in a statement."MDHC needs to think again, table a reasonable offer and fulfil its previous pay promises…

A bulk carrier that collided with an LNG tanker off Gibraltar started leaking fuel oil, authorities in the British overseas territory on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula said on Wednesday.The collision on Tuesday forced the closure of the Gibraltar port for four hours. It was later fully reopened.The hull of the bulk carrier OS 35 broke, authorities said, but the vessel has not separated into two parts."There has been a substance leak from the vessel as a result of the movement arising from its break.

A $75-million superyacht linked to a sanctioned Russian steel billionaire was auctioned on Tuesday in Gibraltar, court sources said, in what is understood to be the first sale of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.The Axioma was granted entry into Gibraltarian waters and then impounded by the authorities in March after U.S. bank JP Morgan said its alleged owner Dmitry Pumpyansky had reneged on the terms of a $20 million loan.The 72.5-metre vessel is being auctioned by the Gibraltar Admiralty Court. It was listed for one day, with closed bids to be sent electronically by midday on Tuesday, a court spokesman said.Nigel Hollyer…

Containership giant Seaspan Corporation announced on Wednesday that it now has financing lined up for its entire 70-vessel newbuild program.With the completion of the latest $1.4 billion deal in December, Seaspan said its financing proceeds are approximately $6.9 billion.Seaspan, a subsidiary of Atlas Corp, said the $1.4 billion will be used to finance ten 15,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel newbuilds, the last of its recent $7.6 billion containership ordering spree, including three ships that have already been delivered.

Mexico on Tuesday allowed a cruise ship to dock and disembark tourists in spite of an outbreak of COVID-19 on board, as the government vowed to keep the country open to cruise vessels provided sanitary precautions are met.The ship, Ms Zuiderdam, with some 2,000 passengers and crew, docked in the port of Guaymas in the northern state of state of Sonora, state and federal authorities said.In a statement, the Mexican government said it would accept cruise ships that sought permission…

Helicopters hover above a patrol vessel in Nigeria's frenetic Apapa port as attack boats zoom past. On the dock, drones emblazoned with the Nigerian flag sit ready to deploy – all part of a $195 million U.S.-backed "Deep Blue" initiative to deter pirate attacks in the world's most dangerous area for seafarers.The more than 2.35 million square kilometer (910,000 million square mile) expanse of the Atlantic Ocean that borders some 20 West African nations is known as "pirate alley"…