Atlantic Coasts News

U.S. National Ocean Industries Association has welcomed this week's news that the U.S. government is looking to open more areas - off Oregon and in the Central Atlantic - for offshore wind development, but has also called for a "legislative fix" to a prohibition on new offshore wind lease sales on the east coast that takes place July 1.NOIA President Erik Milito said: "Interior pursuing the first wind lease sale offshore Oregon and an additional lease sale in the Central Atlantic is welcome news.

The Biden administration on Wednesday identified new areas for potential offshore wind development off the coasts of Oregon and several central Atlantic states, its latest step toward bolstering the nascent U.S. industry.Offshore wind is a key pillar of President Joe Biden's plan to fight climate change by decarbonizing the U.S. power sector by 2035 and the entire economy by 2050.Wednesday's announcement by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, part of the Department of Interior…

The U.S. dredging fleet is growing. Presently on order and under construction is a raft of in-demand equipment that will help to keep America’s ports and waterways open, safeguard coastal communities and maintain the vital flow of maritime commerce to, from and through the U.S.In August, Eastern Shipbuilding Group cut first steel for a new trailing suction hopper dredge (TSHD) it is building for Weeks Marine, and the keel was laid the following month at the builder’s Allanton Shipyard in Panama City, Fla. The new 6,540 cubic meter capacity dredge R.B.

Manson Construction Co. signed a contract with Keppel AmFELS to build a new hopper dredge at the shipbuilder's facility in Brownsville, Texas, the Seattle-based marine contractor announced Monday. The new dredge is scheduled to be fully operational by spring 2023 and continues a dredge building boom currently underway in the U.S.The self-propelled trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Frederick Paup will be the largest in the United States, representing Manson’s single biggest investment in its 115 year history, the company said.

Okay it’s not that little – it can bend up to 220 metric tons (240 US tons).But in the larger scheme of the U.S. economy, security and infrastructure; or of the country’s maritime competitiveness; or even the financial health of the Dakota Creek Industries shipyard and its 300 production jobs; this little bender has the potential to make a mighty big difference.Dakota Creek recently installed the Stierli-Bieger 2200 SE CNC horizontal ram bender in its Anacortes, Wash. shipyard.

Damen Shiprepair & Conversion has signed off on the conversion of a dredger to dual-fuel operation on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and marine gas oil (MGO), and which is powered by MAN 35/44DF engines.The conversion of the ‘Samuel de Champlain’ is the first of its kind in Europe and is part of an EU-supported initiative to promote LNG propulsion in short-sea vessels operating along the European Atlantic coast.The 117m, 8,500m³ trailing suction hopper dredger is owned by Rouen-based GIE Dragages-Ports and operated by Port of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire.

Damen Shiprepair & Conversion has been awarded a contract to undertake the conversion of a dredger to dual-fuel capability combining LNG and MGO – a first of its kind project in Europe. The contract was awarded by Rouen-based GIE Dragages-Ports with regard to its 117m, 8500m³ trailing suction hopper dredger Samuel de Champlain, and the works will take place next year at Damen Shiprepair Dunkerque. The conversion is part of an EU-supported initiative to promote LNG propulsion in short-sea vessels operating along the European Atlantic coast.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today released proposed regulations that would provide additional clarity and certainty for its Marine Minerals Program regarding negotiated, non-competitive leases for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) resources such as sand, gravel and shell. The proposed rule describes the negotiated, non-competitive agreement process for qualifying projects, and codifies new and existing procedures for using OCS sand, gravel and shell resources for shore protection, beach restoration or coastal wetlands restoration projects undertaken by federal, state and local governments. It also addresses the use of OCS resources for construction projects authorized or funded by the federal government.

Four Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program students have been awarded scholarships by Crowley Maritime Corporation. Claire Fahrner, Vitya Romanov, Rachel Earnhardt and Jessica Menges were each chosen as a result of their academic excellence, morale and community involvement. The students also exhibited strong leadership qualities and were articulate spokespeople for maritime education, according to Sarah A. Jordan, Williams-Mystic's director of alumni and development. Farner is a senior at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts focusing on environmental studies. Romanov is a senior at University of Massachusetts Amherst majoring in geography and studying environment and public policy.

Coast Guardsmen on the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber offloaded approximately 515 kilograms of cocaine interdicted in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Caribbean Venture worth an estimated wholesale value of $17 million at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Florida, Friday. On November 15, a Joint Interagency Task Force South maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious go-fast vessel with multiple packages aboard southeast of Isla Beata, Dominican Republic. The HNLMS Friesland, an offshore patrol vessel from the Royal Netherlands Navy, responded to the report and interdicted the vessel with four suspected smugglers and suspicious packages on deck. A U.S.

Approximately 1,100 kilograms of cocaine and 4,420 pounds of marijuana interdicted in the Caribbean Sea worth an estimated wholesale value of $41 million was offloaded by U.S. Coast Guardsmen at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Fla., Tuesday. The drugs were seized as part of Operation Martillo and Unified Resolve. On September 20, a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft located a suspicious go-fast vessel southeast of Isla Saona, Dominican Republic. The Coast Guard Cutter Richard…

Crewmembers of Coast Guard Station Miami Beach, Florida, offloaded 254 kilograms of cocaine and 3,662 pounds of marijuana interdicted in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation  Martillo worth an estimated wholesale value of $11.8 million, at Base Miami Beach, Friday. On Sept. 3, a maritime patrol aircraft reported a suspicious Panamanian flagged sailing vessel southeast of Nicaragua. Coast Guard Cutter Robert Yered arrived on scene and attempted to contact the vessel. With no response to radio calls, and the vessel not slowing down, the Robert Yered launched its smallboat with a law enforcement team and subsequently boarded the vessel after receiving permission from the Panamanian government.

Six Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program students have been awarded scholarships by Crowley Maritime Corporation. Alex Youngs, Garrett Weston, Alex Dion, Christian Blakesley, Rebecca Newman and Amanda Ketting-Oliver were each chosen as a result of their academic excellence, morale and community involvement. The students also exhibited strong leadership qualities and were articulate spokespeople for maritime education, according to Sarah A. Jordan, Williams-Mystic's director of alumni and development. Each student is in the midst of his or her respective academic career.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Mitsubishi Kakoki Kaisha, Ltd. (MKK) have jointly developed a Hybrid SOx Scrubber System that efficiently removes sulfur oxides (SOx) from exhaust gas emitted by marine diesel engines. The Hybrid SOx Scrubber System is the first in Japan to comply with the more stringent SOx emission regulations that will take effect in designated emission control areas (ECA) in 2015. The system is capable of scrubbing exhaust gas from the combustion of fuels emitted from bunker heavy fuel oil to the level combusting more costly low-sulfur fuel oil. By adopting a modular design, the system also facilitates retrofit installations on ships already in service.

A catastrophic ice storm wreaking havoc in the American South is now poised to pummel the eastern seaboard; on the other side of the ocean 'Orange', and 'Red' warnings have been issued by Met Éireann and the UK Met Office respectively. Crowley Maritime has warned customers: 'That due to he severity of the predicted storm tonight through tomorrow, be advised that all Container Terminals in the Port of NY/NJ will be closed Thursday, February 13th. We will advise tomorrow at 1:00 PM the gate opening hours for Friday morning.

Farris Engineering, a business unit of Curtiss-Wright Flow Control, announced it has entered into an agreement with marine valve sales and service company JA Mood,. designating them as the Farris Engineering sales representative to the U.S. Navy and commercial marine markets. JA Moody brings to the agreement more than 50 years of experience in flow control products for naval and commercial marine customers with specialized expertise in Navy and other military-specified valves and valve actuation. With five sales offices located in major port cities along the Pacific, Gulf and Atlantic coasts, JA Moody is strategically positioned to represent Farris products aimed directly to the marine market. “Our agreement with JA.

More than 153 years after it was lost in a violent collision at sea, government and university maritime archaeologists have identified the wreck of the ship Robert J. Walker, a steamer that served in the U.S. Coast Survey, a predecessor agency of NOAA. The Walker, while now largely forgotten, served a vital role as a survey ship, charting the Gulf Coast ‒ including Mobile Bay and the Florida Keys ‒ in the decade before the Civil War. It also conducted early work plotting the movement of the Gulf Stream along the Atlantic Coast.

Sean Connaughton, Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Virginia, oversees seven state agencies with more than 9,700 employees and combined annual budgets of $5 billion. But this transportation professional is perhaps best known to MarineNews readers as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administrator during the second Bush Administration. As U.S. Maritime Administrator, he was responsible for the daily management of that agency and its promotional programs for the marine transportation industry.

Rise in Asian Tiger Shrimp sightings prompts scientific look at invasion concerns. The recent rise in sightings of non-native Asian tiger shrimp off the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts has government scientists working to determine the cause of the increase and the possible consequences for native fish and seafood in those waters. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working with state agencies from North Carolina to Texas to look into how this transplanted species from Indo-Pacific, Asian and Australian waters reached U.S.

Crowley Awards Scholarships to Two Pennsylvania Students in the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program. Crowley recently awarded Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarships to Ariel Zhou and Caiti Campbell, who are taking part in the Maritime Studies Program of Williams College and Mystic Seaport this spring. They were chosen for their strong academic records, interest in maritime studies and financial need. Zhou, a native of Nanjing, China, is studying biology at Pennsylvania’s Bryn Mawr College.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration announced that it has awarded two contracts for a total of $3.1m to Allied Defense Recycling of Petaluma, Calif., to clean and recycle two Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet ships, the SS Solon Turman and the SS President. The two ships are scheduled to be towed from Suisun Bay to the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard facility in for recycling in December. “The Obama Administration is running full-speed ahead in its commitment to cleaning up the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. In October 2009, the Obama Administration called for expedited cleanup of the fleet site and improved protection of the unique marine environment and surrounding bayside communities…

In March this year, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal to designate waters off the North American coasts as an Emission Control Area was adopted by IMO, the International Maritime Organization. The North American ECA is a key part of a comprehensive EPA program to address harmful emissions from large ships. Which are the time schedules of upcoming emission regulations? How are marine engine manufacturers preparing for the tighter air emission limits being adopted? Henrik Segercrantz explores.

Two Florida brothers, Ralph and Robert Brown, will take to the high seas on the world's longest trans-Atlantic voyage in a 21-ft flats boat on June 27 to raise $3m for military charities in the name of fallen Marines. The I Am Second Wounded Hero Voyage Crossing the Atlantic Presented by Interstate Batteries will embark on a 48-day, 6,200-mile trip from Tampa, Fla., to Hamburg, Germany that includes 20 stops along the North American and European Atlantic coasts. The Browns will use the Intruder-21, the same vessel which landed them in the "Guinness Book of World Records" in 2007. The pair is out to prove the humble boat they designed and built, capable of sailing in two inches of water, can also weather the rough Atlantic seas.