Ballast Tank News

Quality Tank Cleaning LLC (QTC) has inaugurated a new industrial tank cleaning facility in collaboration with Harvey Gulf (HGIM).The company has introduced Ivan Galicia as a partner in the new endeavor located at Harvey Gulf’s Operations Facility in Port Fourchon, LA.With an illustrious career spanning over 25 years in the industry, Galicia is esteemed for his unparalleled expertise in tank cleaning operations, earning him recognition as a foremost authority in the field. He and…

A Turkish-flagged general cargo ship hit a mine on Thursday in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania and sustained minor damage but the crew was safe, maritime and security sources said.British maritime security company Ambrey, citing information it received, said the ship struck a sea mine 11 nautical miles north of Sulina in Romania, near the entrance to the Sulina Canal."The vessel reportedly experienced an explosion at approximately 0920 UTC (GMT). The vessel dropped anchor for a short period to assess the damage," Ambrey said in a note."At 1210, the vessel resumed sailing," Ambrey said adding that no casualties were reported.It was one of the first incidents for some months involving a ship hitting a sea mine.

It's nearly 45 years since the tragedy on the ANCO Duke where seven crew died at the bottom of the tank they were cleaning. “I was working on chemical tankers then. All the crew felt this terrible loss of life and took on tank entries with a heightened safety focus,” says Captain Dave Watkins, Deputy Director of the confidential near-miss reporting service CHIRP Maritime. Since then, enclosed space deaths still occur, although not in the number they did.Watkins has years of experience on chemical and VLCC tankers as an officer and master…

Two seafarers have been brought up on charges for their alleged roles in smuggling cocaine into Western Australia on board a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier.The men, both from Montenegro, were serving as master, 43, and chief engineer, 39, on board the 58,000-dwt supramax St Pinot. They have been charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and are expected to face Perth Magistrates Court on Friday.Police allege the pair…

Jadestone Energy, an Asia Pacific-focused oil and gas company, has taken a step toward restarting production from its Montara Project offshore Australia.The company shut down production from the Montara Venture FPSO last year, first, to allow for repairs on a tank that leaked oil back in June through a 30-millimeter crack, and then after discovering a defect in water ballast tank 4S.On January 18, 2023, Jadestone said that DNV's independent review of Jadestone's remediation plans and operational readiness for the Montara Venture FPSO had been completed and submitted to NOPSEMA, that Australian offshore safety regulator, as required by the General Direction issued to the company in September 2022.

In a webinar on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, Giles Candy will present the advantages for ship owners and shipbuilders with the Scienco InTank Ballast Water Treatment System.The Scienco InTank BWTS treats and neutralizes ballast water in the ballast tanks during the voyage, which allows for normal ballasting and de-ballasting operations in port. It is the only Type Approved “in voyage” ballast water treatment system.A small percentage of ballast water is circulated from one ballast tank at a time. The active substance, Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl), is added to the circulation and returned to the tank.

Rudy Mes and Giles Candy of Scienco/FAST discuss advantages for ship owners and shipbuilders with the Scienco InTank Ballast Water Treatment System.How doest the InTank system stand out?Rudy Mes We found that most vessels have issues (when) treatment is being done during the intake of ballast water or during de-ballasting, as it puts a strain on power consumption and pump capacity. So we decided we’re not going to treat the water while we’re in port, we’re going to treat it during the voyage.

Ballast water equipment maker Erma First expands its portfolio and brings "the world’s smallest" ballast water treatment system to the international market through its acquisition of US firm oneTANK LLC.oneTANK, a subsidiary of Glosten, developed a small scale innovative, low-cost, IMO Revised G8 Code and United States Coast Guard compliant system. Based on a patented mixing technology developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, the system can be installed in larger vessels’ aftpeak tanks. It is also suitable for use aboard workboats, tugboats, semi-submersibles, fishing vessels and superyachts.

A Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier has been banned from Australian ports over "appalling" working and living conditions on board, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.The 235-meter Movers 3, operated by Qatari-based Aswan Shipping, was detained at anchor off Weipa in far north Queensland on March 4, 2021 due to several mechanical and survey issues, and for the poor conditions on board. Outstanding issues, namely the replacement of poorly maintained ballast tank head vents and the updated ship surveys…

Ships and equipment needed to remove the remaining cargo from a stricken oil tanker near the Chinese port city of Qingdao are in place and work is expected to start later on Friday as weather conditions have improved, a maritime official told Reuters.The number of ships deployed for the oil spill clean-up has also risen to 21, the official from c said, three days after hundreds of tonnes of oil spilled into the Yellow Sea following a collision in dense fog.Ships are prohibited from entering a 5-mile (8-km) radius from the stricken vessel…

If you and your crew are facing questions about ballast water management (BWM) and related regulatory deadlines, it would be worth your while to download a new (January 2021) “Ballast Water Management Systems User Guide,” an extensive, in-depth look at evaluating, selecting and installing a BWM system. The guide was published by MARAD and Glosten for the Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP). It is geared primarily toward U.S.-flag operators in domestic and international trade.As most mariners know, BWM, overseen federally by U.S. EPA and the Coast Guard, includes a number of activities.

Bureau Veritas (BV) said it deployed its artificial intelligence (AI) solution in real survey conditions for corrosion detection during a hull inspection of a water ballast tank on a bulk carrier by an aerial drone. The test was conducted in partnership with the RIT operator, MaDfly Marine Drone Services Ltd, in Dunkirk, France.During the hull inspection, the BV solution supported the surveyor during his general visual inspection and close-up survey of the hull by providing results on the video in real-time.

Suez Canal salvage teams intensified excavation and dredging on Sunday around a massive container ship blocking the busy waterway ahead of attempts to refloat it, with two sources saying work had been complicated by rock under the ship’s bow.Diggers were working to remove parts of the canal’s bank and expand dredging close to the ship’s bow to a depth of 18 meters, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.There was no mention of new attempts to release the ship with tugs…

A liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier struck a Washington State wharf in 2019 because the pilot approached with excessive speed and at too steep an angle, resulting from poor bridge resource management by the Puget Sound pilot and the ship’s bridge team, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.The 741.5-foot partially loaded tanker Levant struck the Petrogas Ferndale Wharf in Puget Sound, near Ferndale, Wash., on December 15, 2019, causing more than $6.75 million in damage to the wharf and $1.5 million in damage to the vessel. The wharf’s south mooring dolphin, and the catwalk connecting it to the wharf, were destroyed and the Levant’s forward ballast tank was penetrated and flooded.

oneTank, LLC has been granted a U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Approval (162.060/35/0), completing the suite of international approvals required for its ballast water treatment system.The oneTank ballast system is a simple, low-cost treatment option intended for vessels that do not need a complex solution. The system was developed to simplify the installation and treatment of the tanker aftpeak tank, an ideal “one or a few tanks” application. With an arrangement footprint of just two square-feet…

Portugal’s Navalrocha shipyard said it has completed a multimillion-euro repair and refit project for Dubai-based marine geophysical company Polarcus.The drydock project which completed in January 2020 involved a broad package of work to the ultra-modern 14 streamer 3D/4D seismic vessel – Polarcus Naila.The vessel is environmentally advanced with diesel-electric propulsion, high specification catalytic converters, a double hull and advanced bilge water cleaning system.“The Polarcus Naila visited Navalrocha shipyard for a total of 33-days running through the Christmas period…

Saipem, a energy and infrastructure solution provider, is implementing DNV GL’s hull planned maintenance system, ShipManager Hull, based on 3D digital twins of crane and pipelaying vessels.DNV GL will supply its advanced software, ShipManager Hull, for implementation on five vessels of the Saipem fleet. It will start with Saipem 7000, one of the world's largest crane vessels with a lifting capability of 14,000 tonnes at 42 meters. Indeed, crane vessels are exposed to high stresses during lifting, demanding particular attention to structural integrity.

A lack of operating procedures for continuous active monitoring contributed to the extent of damage caused by a 2019 fire on board a laid-up bulk carrier in Toldeo, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report.At about 8:10 p.m. local time on February 16, 2019, a fire was reported on the 770-foot-long St. Clair while the vessel was undergoing winter at the CSX TORCO Iron Ore Terminal (TORCO dock) at the mouth of the Maumee River.The fire was likely caused by the ignition…

Portugal’s Navalrocha Shipyard is reporting a flurry of activity in 2020 as it navigates the COVID-19 outbreak and prepares for a packed order book in the coming months.Navalrocha commercial director Sergio Rodrigues said the shipyard had recorded several landmarks during a highly memorable period in its history, completing its first multimillion Euro refit for a seismic survey vessel before managing its first ballast water treatment system (BWTS) installation.The projects were accompanied by a series of other deals involving bunker tankers…

In mid-September, the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Center issued the 35th USCG Ballast Water Management System Type Approval Certificate after a detailed review of Seattle-based manufacturer oneTank, LLC’s type approval application determined its system met the requirements of 46 CFR 162.060.The recent U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Approval, which follows the DNV GL Certificate of Approval awarded on behalf of the Norwegian Maritime Authority in compliance with the International Maritime Organization BWMS Code in July 2020…

South Korean shipbuilders Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) have gained Approval in Principal (AiP) for the application of the “solvent free 1 coating system” for ballast water tanks from both the Korean Register of Shipping (KR) and the Liberian Registry.The eco-friendly (solvent free) 1 coating system has been verified for excellent coating quality when compared to the traditional double coating system and has passed quality standards for alternative…

A salvage plan is being developed to refloat a barge that went aground in the lower St. Marys River, near Sweets Point, Mich.At 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie Command Center received notification that the 302-foot barge PML2501 towed by the 132-foot towing vessel Anglian Lady grounded in the lower St. Marys River. Both assets are Canadian and had been en route from Sault Sainte Marie, Ont. to Burns Harbor, Ind. at the time of the incident.

Korean Register (KR), its Chairman, management and entire staff offers sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the seafarers who tragically lost their lives due to the sinking of Stellar Daisy. KR reaffirms its commitment to investigating the causes of the sinking, sharing its knowledge and implementing any changes necessary to avoid a similar loss in the future. The factsStellar Daisy was a 266,141 dwt Very Large Ore Carrier (VLOC) owned by Polaris Shipping and flagged with the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). On 31 March 2017 whilst en route from Ilha Guaiba, Brazil to Qingdao and laden with iron ore fines, the ship sank in the South Atlantic Ocean around 1700 nautical miles from Uruguay and 1800 nautical miles from South Africa.