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Beaufort News

04 Dec 2023

Marine News' Top Vessels of 2023

Empire State (Photo: MARAD)

The November edition of Marine News magazine highlighted a selection of the most notable American newbuilds delivered of 2023—from a first-of-its-kind green towboat, to the lead vessel in a series of game-changing ships to train U.S. mariners.Empire StateAs the lead vessel in a series of five new training ships being constructed to serve America's state maritime academies, Empire State is easily one of the most important U.S.-built vessels delivered in recent memory.Built by Philly Shipyard for the U.S.

15 Mar 2023

AAM Delivers Survey Vessel for NV5-Geodynamics

(Photo: All American Marine)

Bellingham, Wash. shipbuilder All American Marine (AAM) announced it has delivered a new research and hydrographic survey vessel for NV5-Geodynamics. The vessel was sea-trialed on Bellingham Bay, prior to shipping via cargo ship to its homeport of Beaufort, N.C.Built to service the growing offshore wind market as well as accomplish many other scientific survey missions, Shackleford is a 73- by 26.7-foot semi-displacement aluminum catamaran developed by Nic de Waal of Teknicraft Design in Auckland, New Zealand.

13 Mar 2023

Biden Administration to Designate 2.8 Million Acres in Arctic Ocean off-limits for Oil and Gas Leasing

©DOI

The U.S. Department of the Interior said Monday that President Biden would take action to designate about 2.8 million acres in the Arctic Ocean nearshore the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) as indefinitely off-limits for future oil and gas leasing. This action will complete protections for the entire Beaufort Sea Planning Area, building upon President Obama’s 2016 withdrawal under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect the Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the majority of the Beaufort Sea…

06 Dec 2022

Canadian, US Coast Guards Renew Pollution Contingency Plan

Mario Pelletier, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard and Admiral Linda Fagan, Commandant, United States Coast Guard signing the renewed Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

On November 19, 2022, Canadian Coast Guard Commissioner Mario Pelletier and U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda L. Fagan signed the renewed Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan to provide a coordinated system for planning, preparedness and response to spills occurring in the waters between the two countries.The Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan provides a coordinated mechanism for planning, preparing for and responding to spills in transboundary waters and establishes procedures for the coordination of spill response efforts between Canada and the U.S.

04 Oct 2022

US Coast Guard Cutter Healy Reaches the North Pole

(Photo: Deborah Heldt Cordone / U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) reached the North Pole Friday after traversing the frozen Arctic Ocean, marking only the second time a U.S. ship has reached the location unaccompanied, the first being Healy in 2015.Healy, a medium icebreaker, and crew departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska, Sept. 4, beginning their journey to reach latitude 90 degrees north. The cutter and crew supported oceanographic research in collaboration with National Science Foundation-funded scientists…

02 Feb 2022

Installed on OSV, Survitec's Seahaven Evacuation System Passes Heavy Weather Trials

©Survitec

Seahaven Advanced Evacuation System , developed by the UK-based marine safety and survival solutions provider Survitec, has successfully passed heavy weather sea trials (HWST), deployed from the offshore support vessel EDT Jane.According to Survitec, the test was carried out in line with the SOLAS requirements for Novel Appliances which requires the test to be performed in conditions that do not drop below six on the Beaufort Scale.Representatives from classification society Lloyd’s Register were in attendance…

26 Jan 2022

The Arctic: Scientists Aim to Improve Sea Ice Predictions' Accuracy, Access

Residents of Utqiagvik return by snowmachine from the lead at the edge of the shore-fast ice. Photo by Andy Mahoney, UAF Geophysical Institute

Sea ice predictions have improved markedly since the founding of an international forecasting and monitoring network 14 years ago.“These forecasts are quite encouraging in their increasing accuracy,” said Uma Bhatt, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Bhatt spoke about the Sea Ice Prediction Network at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting last month.As the amount of sea ice in the Arctic declines, thins and becomes more mobile…

23 Dec 2021

UAF’s GINA Provides a Guiding Hand in Arctic Ocean Research

The Sikuliaq, a 261-ft. ice-capable research vessel operated by UAF, pauses in the Arctic Ocean in June 2021 during its fifth year of operation. Photo by Ethan Roth

The research vessel Sikuliaq navigated among and around the chunks and slabs of Arctic sea ice above Alaska for several weeks on two voyages this fall, breaking through frozen slabs when it had to, just as its sturdy hull is designed to do. It's now on a third trip.The Sikuliaq, a 261-ft. ice-capable research vessel operated by UAF, pauses in the Arctic Ocean in June 2021 during its fifth year of operation. A few months later, it traveled farther north than ever before — almost 500 miles beyond Point Barrow.Satellite imagery produced at the Geographic Information Network of Alaska…

20 Sep 2021

Ship of the Month: Mercy Ships and the Quest to Build Global Mercy

Global Mercy is diesel electric (4 x Wärtsilä 6L32s, just under 3MW).  Designed by DeltaMarin in Finland, the ship uses ABB pods for propulsion for a 12-knot service speed. Photo courtesy Mercy Ships

Mercy Ships is known globally for its charitable work performing medical procedures in developing countries. For the first time, the organization has a new ship, Global Mercy, recently delivered from a shipyard in China. Jim Paterson, Marine Executive Consultant, Mercy Ships takes Maritime Reporter & Engineering News inside the construction of the world’s largest civilian hospital ship.Jim Paterson already had a career and Chief Engineer’s Certificate when he joined Mercy Ships nearly 34 years ago, in search of a life change to make a difference.

26 Jul 2021

Photo: Sembcorp Marine Delivers Offshore Facilities for TotalEnergies' Tyra Field

Credit: Sembcorp Marine

Singapore's offshore platform constructor Sembcorp Marine has completed the fabrication of two wellhead topsides, one riser topside, and two bridges for deployment at TotalEnergies’ Tyra field redevelopment in the Danish North Sea.The topsides and bridges sailed away from Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard Sunday. They will replace Tyra’s aging facilities to support further production. According to photos shared by Sembcorp Marine, the facilities are being shipped by the Bigroll Beaufort vessel…

14 Apr 2021

U.S. Appeals Court Affirms Atlantic, Arctic Offshore Leasing Bans

Sea Ice in the Chukchi Sea  - Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Under CC BY 2.0 License

A federal appeals court on Tuesday confirmed bans on offshore oil leasing in most federal Arctic waters and in the Atlantic after the Trump Administration tried to open them up to development.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said President Joe Biden's reinstatement of Obama-era protections makes moot the previous administration's attempts to allow oil development there.The Trump administration pressed for oil-and-gas development throughout the United States as the nation's crude production surged to a record 13 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2019.

12 Apr 2021

Boater Missing After Striking a Dredge on the Savannah River

(Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

A multi-agency search was called off on Monday after responders failed to locate a man that went missing in the Savannah River after his vessel collided with a dredge on Saturday.A good Samaritan contacted U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders on VHF Ch. 16 stating three people were in the water in the vicinity of Hutchinson Island after a recreational vessel allided with dredging equipment on Saturday at approximately 5 p.m.Local partner agencies and good Samaritans arrived on scene and rescued two of the people in the water and brought them to awaiting emergency medical responders.

01 Apr 2021

The Value of Friends in “High-Latitude” Places

 Mooring retrieved on board the Svalbard (photo credit: Daniel Fatnes of the Norwegian Coast Guard)

Who do you call when you need a job done on short notice, in total darkness, under 100-percent ice cover, thousands of meters at the bottom of the sea? In the case of the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), you call your friends in Norway.That is exactly what the Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Lorin C. Selby did when he enlisted the help of the Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaker and offshore patrol vessel, the CGV Svalbard, to retrieve oceanographic moorings containing irreplaceable data.

27 Mar 2021

TECH FILE: Acoustic Tech Used to Understand Climate Change in the Arctic

The R/V Sikuliaq during a cruise to research sea ice in the Beaufort Sea. Photo ©: Onpoint Outreach

Major changes are occurring in the ocean. Climate change and subsequent melting sea ice are not necessarily good changes. Why are acoustic Doppler current profilers an invaluable tool to get a complete picture of the Arctic’s changing wave conditions in the context of climate change?In the Arctic, the end-of-summer sea ice extent in 2020 was the second-lowest in the last 42 years.“The ice used to melt out in June or July. Now it melts out in May. It used to come back in September or October.

18 Jan 2021

New Study Finds Polyester Fibers Throughout the Arctic Ocean

The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St. Laurent transiting the Arctic Ocean. This expedition between Norway and Canada collected seawater samples for microplastics analysis. (Photo: Arthi Ramachandra / Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

The Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern communities that rely heavily on seafood and marine mammals for food.But who would have imagined that the clothes we wear might add to this onslaught? Evidence increasingly shows that tiny synthetic fibers are permeating the Arctic Ocean and finding their way into zooplankton…

04 Jan 2021

Designing Boats: Robert Allan Ltd. Surpases 90 Years (& Counting)

Robert Allan founded Robert Allan Ltd. in 1930 when Allan commenced private practice as a consulting Naval Architect after serving as Technical Manager of a local major shipyard. In the 90 years that have passed, the organization has evolved from a one-man shop to a global powerhouse in the business of naval architecture and marine design. Following the founder into the business were his namesake son and grandson, with the company in recent years passing to an employee-owned model led by Mike Fitzpatrick. Robert G.

19 Nov 2020

US Moves to Loosen Safety Rules for Arctic Offshore Drilling

(File photo: U.S. Coast Guard courtesy of Air Station Port Angeles)

The Trump administration on Thursday proposed to loosen Obama-era safety regulations for the oil industry in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska to ease the way for petroleum extraction in the region, an effort that President-elect Joe Biden will likely throw out once in office.The proposal would revise a suite of Obama-era rules crafted to improve safety in the extreme conditions of the Arctic after a Shell drilling rig ran aground there in 2012. The company later abandoned oil exploration in the region and there are no active drilling operations there.Now, much of the U.S.

13 Aug 2020

VIKING Delivers Ambulance Boat for the Hellenic Coastguard

(Photo: VIKING)

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment has delivered the first vessel in a series of three new ambulance boats for the Hellenic Coastguard.For many years, the Coastguard and the Hellenic National Center for Emergency Care (EKAB) have worked together to support patient transfer requirements from the Greek islands to larger hospitals. Today, a call for transport services is almost a daily occurrence.The new closed-cabin boat will be station in Naxos as the first in a series of special craft equipped with medical equipment.

10 Aug 2020

Four New Barges Launched for Canada's MTS

(Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.)

Four new 90-meter oil/deck cargo barges for Canada's Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Marine Transportation Services (MTS) have been launched by Nanjing Jinling Shipyard, in Nanjing, China.The first barge MTS 3501 was launched on June 16, followed by barge MTS 3502 launched on June 22 and barges MTS 3503 and MTS 3504 launched on June 28.The barges will undergo final testing and touch-up work in preparation for the 400-kilometer tow down the Yangtse River to Shanghai where they will be loaded onto a semi-submersible heavy lift vessel and transported to Tuktoyaktuk…

27 May 2020

Turbine Foundations Shipped for Virginia Offshore Wind Farm

(Photo: Roll Group)

The first foundations for Dominion Energy's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project have been shipped from Germany to Canada for eventual installation 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va.On March 31, the foundation components for two 6MW Siemens Gamesa windmills were loaded onto the Netherlands-flagged BigRoll Beaufort at the EEW facility in Rostock, Germany. In order to be able to transport all wind equipment in the most safe way, the in-house engineers of Roll Group have designed dedicated grillage for Jan De Nul, the contractor who will install the turbines.

13 Mar 2020

Marine Tech: Marine Evacuation Systems from Survitec

Photo: Survitec

As the cruise industry continues to prosper, so too does Survitec, a specialist in marine evacuation systems (MES). Survitec has a history of more than 160 years, with 2020 marking the centenary since RFD, now part of Survitec, was founded.The story of RFD’s technology dates back to 1920 with the introduction of an aircraft flotation product, essentially an inflatable ring, to prevent planes sinking when ditched. This technology quickly evolved to become dual purpose also providing a means to rescue aircrew in an emergency.As technologies and methodologies became more sophisticated…

23 Mar 2020

US Supreme Court Maroons Filmmaker in Blackbeard Video Piracy Fight

© Florian Kittemann / Adobe Stock

The U.S.

21 Apr 2020

Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Turbine Components En Route to U.S.

Image Credit: Dominion Energy

Dominion Energy and Ørsted have said that the turbine components and monopiles for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot project have started their journey to North America. The foundations, consisting of the turbines' monopiles, transition pieces and anode cages fabricated by EEW SPC, have been loaded onto the Bigroll Beaufort cargo ship in Rostock, Germany. The components for the two, 6-megawatt Siemens Gamesa turbines were loaded in Esbjerg, Denmark, before the vessel embarked in mid-April on the approximately two-week transatlantic journey to Halifax…