Bert News

Royal Caribbean Group announced to has tapped Bert Hernandez to succeed Barbara Muckermann as president of its Silversea brand.Most recently serving as senior vice president, international, Hernandez has been with the Royal Caribbean Group for the past 20 years. He previously served as president of China operations for Royal Caribbean International and was chief operating officer for the group’s former luxury cruise line, Azamara.Muckermann is departing Royal Caribbean Group after 14 years with Silversea to pursue other opportunities…

Last week, Dutch shipyard Concordia Damen was commissioned to build and equip an inland shipping tanker for Quinto Scheepvaart B.V. from Zwijndrecht. At This also marks the switch, after 25 years, that family business Quinto makes from container shipping to tanker shipping.Quinto Scheepvaart has opted for a tanker of the Parsifal type, a new generation of mineral (oil and light chemicals) tankers that Concordia Damen has developed itself and several of which are already operational.

With shipowners pressed to upgrade machinery to meet strict new emission targets, there’s much confusion with chatter surrounding ‘decarbonization’ and ‘future fuels’, solutions that don’t exist today – and may not exist in mass for another generation – cluttering the conversation. Enter Wabtec, formerly GE Transportation, which today offers a Tier 4 compliant engine with no need for urea. Is it the cheapest propulsion solution on the market? No. But the Pennsylvania-based engine builder mounts a compelling case for its 250MDC diesel engine based on performance…

Freehill Hogan & Mahar LLP Partner Daniel Fitzgerald retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in a ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C., this summer.Rear Admiral Melissa Bert presided over the ceremony, which was attended by family, friends and Coast Guard colleagues who worked with Fitzgerald over the past 28 years. Fitzgerald retired from his last duty assignment in Washington D.C. where he served as the Senior Reserve Judge Advocate (RJAG) for the entire Coast Guard Reserve.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday Rear Adm. Melissa Bert has been invested as judge advocate general and chief counsel of the Coast Guard. Bert is the service’s first woman to hold that office.Bert was most recently the director of Governmental and Public Affairs for the Coast Guard, where she was responsible for external engagement with Congress, the media and other inter-governmental entities.As judge advocate general and chief counsel, Bert will lead a group of legal professionals who are responsible for the delivery of all legal services in support of the Coast Guard's missions…

There’s a barge full of reasons why many operators turn to ATBs.A  mainstay of the U.S. coastwise dirty and refined products trades, articulated tug barges (ATB) have increasingly filled a void left as the fleet of Jones Act tankers (with crew complement requirements exceeding that of tugs) has aged out. With the cargo capacity of the larger ATBs – some with barges exceeding 300,000 barrels capacity – rivalling that of workhorse tankers that had served oil consuming regions, the concept certainly makes sense from a supply and distribution perspective.With 50…

On Monday, 17th June, heavy-lift vessel Black Marlin departed Shanghai. On deck with eighteen Concordia Damen inland shipping vessel hulls and a Damen Crane Barge 6324, bound for Rotterdam. Concordia Damen regularly conducts such heavy-lift transportations as a means of providing its customers with cost-efficient vessels.The hulls and crane barge had been constructed at yards in China. They are scheduled to arrive in the Port of Rotterdam mid-August. Upon arrival the hulls will…

The U.S. towing and tug business is 5,500 boats, more than 31,000 barges with an estimated total impact on U.S. GDP of $33.8 billion.“At a macro level, the bigger ships are causing downward pressure on the ship assist business because there are fewer ship calls given the increased capacity of these vessels. However, certain ports have seen tremendous growth, based on strategic location and infrastructure investments that have attracted these larger ships and been a net plus for these areas.”Kate Fuhrman…

Shipbuilder Senesco Marine has delivered a new articulated tug and barge (ATB) to Reinauer Transportation Companies. The launch of the unit, including the 8,000hp tug and 150,000bbl barge, marks the largest such ATB constructed in the U.S. Northeast.The ATB was built as an international SOLAS class unit and incorporates the latest build technology and equipment design, Senesco Marine said.The 124’ x 40’ tug Bert Reinauer features two 12-cylinder GE U.S. Tier 4 certified marine diesel engines for propulsion…

A new multipurpose 5,450m3 trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) was officially named and launched during a ceremony on January 11 at Royal IHC’s shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, The Netherlands. The dredger, named DC Orisant, is being built for a joint venture between Den Herder (Reimerswaal Dredging) and Group de Cloedt and is slated for delivery in mid-2018 for work in the dredging and offshore wind markets. “The DC Orisant is a TSHD with full system redundancy and can perform a wide range of projects.

Ferry operator Stena Line and Caterpillar Marine, together with Pon Power, have entered into a digital partnership where the Cat Asset Intelligence solution will provide vessel monitoring of multiple Stena new builds with planned delivery during 2019 and 2020. The vessels will be optimized for efficiency and flexibility and will be built by AVIC Shipyard in China. Unlike technologies that only monitor individual equipment performance, or focus only on very specific operational parameters…

The tube bending machine manufacturer Schwarze-Robitec is expanding its branch office in the USA. The North American service and distribution team moves to Grand Rapids. Mich. In addition to its new premises, Schwarze-Robitec operates a spare parts warehouse for its high-quality bending machines. Customers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico benefit now from faster delivery times as well as first-class services. Due to the continuing increase of customers, Schwarze-Robitec moves into an office and a warehouse space in Michigan only two years after the opening of the US office.

Heineken Netherlands, Nedcargo and sustainable fuel market-leader GoodFuels have launched a pilot to demonstrate a sustainable drop-in marine fuel on-board of the ‘For Ever’ – an inland barge dedicated to transport Heineken export beer, from the Heineken brewery in Zoeterwoude to the deep-sea terminals in Rotterdam. The advanced marine fuel supplied by GoodFuels contains 30% biofuel and thereby reduces CO2-emissions by more than 25%, whilst also sharply reducing local emissions as nitrogen and particulate matter. The project will showcase the possibility of reducing emissions of inland waterway transport without any vessel modification. The exact emission reduction compared to fossil fuel will be monitored live during the pilot using Blueco’s Konnexus system for remote monitoring.

Alphatron Marine has launched the Alphatron Marine Magazine, an international glossy to communicate and share Alphatron Marine and JRC news, show its latest innovations and deliveries and tell about the group’s locations and services worldwide. the magazine will also give the floor to customers and business partners. With Rotterdam being the homeport of Alphatron Marine, the company has handed over the first printed copy of the Alphatron Marine Magazine to René de Vries, (State) Harbor Master of the port of Rotterdam.

Authorities are building a new containment boom to fight an oil spill in a major western Canadian river, officials said on Saturday, after the spill breached a previous barrier and threatened the drinking water of several communities along the coast. The city of North Battleford, which draws its drinking water in part from the North Saskatchewan River, shut its supply intake on Friday and switched to using ground water, provincial officials said in a telephone conference with reporters. Some 1,572 barrels of heavy oil and diluent leaked from Husky Energy Inc's Saskatchewan Gathering System pipeline on Thursday, flowing into the river. The Calgary-based company has shut the line, stopping the leak, and has been working to contain the spill.

Designed to combat below-the-surface terrorism, Sea Wasp is the latest generation remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from defense and security company Saab. Presented at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition in National Harbor, Md., Sea Wasp has been engineered to relocate, identify and neutralize underwater improvised explosive devices (IEDs). While most underwater IED threats are disposed of manually by trained explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) divers, Sea Wasp is operated remotely by two-person teams from the surface, allowing operators to keep a safe distance from the explosives.

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump told the New York Times he would consider stopping U.S. oil purchases from Saudi Arabia unless the Saudi government provide troops to fight Islamic State. Trump's comment on Friday was included in a lengthy foreign policy interview published by the newspaper on Saturday and came in response to a question about whether, if elected president, he would halt oil purchases from U.S. allies unless they provided on-the-ground forces against Islamic State. "The answer is, probably yes," Trump said, according to a transcript. Trump has said the United States should be reimbursed by the countries it provides protection, even those with vast resources such as Saudi Arabia, a top oil exporter.

A vote by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (BHE) has confirmed Francis X. McDonald has been selected as the 38th president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. McDonald, a 1985 graduate of the school, has worked on campus since 1994. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of the nation's oldest continuously operating maritime academy and has earned degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Northeastern University. McDonald topped an impressive field of five that included Coast Guard Captain Melissa Bert, retired Coast Guard Captain Kurt Colella and retired Navy Admirals Michael Nowakowski and Ann Rondeau.

EVP Fran McDonald tops a field of five; choice still must be approved by Massachusetts Board of Higher Education. Pending a confirmation vote by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (BHE), Francis X. McDonald has been selected as the 38th president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. McDonald, a 1985 graduate of the school, has worked on campus since 1994. Currently, he serves as Executive Vice President of the nation's oldest continuously operating maritime academy and has earned degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Northeastern University. McDonald topped an impressive field of five that included Coast Guard Captain Melissa Bert, retired Coast Guard Captain Kurt Colella and retired Navy Admirals Michael Nowakowski and Ann Rondeau.

The U.S. How did an urgent requirement to build a road to Alaska end up helping to design submarines and to recover oil spills in the Arctic ice? The Army Corps of Engineers was faced with a monumental challenge of building a highway to connect the “lower 48” to Alaska during World War II to keep America’s northernmost territory secure from invasion. The road crossed hundreds of miles of wilderness, and much of the roadbed sat up permafrost, presenting challenges to America’s roadbuilders.

Day after day, the U.S. Coast Guard continues to conduct its 11 statutory missions with its limited resources. It is challenged to Invest in long-term operational capacity while continuing to carry out its daily missions. “We’re a small service, but as always, we do punch above our weight class,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft during the 2015 Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington, Virginia. While the Coast Guard may have drifted off course with its ambitious and holistic Deepwater recapitalization effort…

DA-Desk, an independent provider of port cost management services, today announced the promotion of Anna Zhurbenko to Agency Relationship Manager, replacing the retiring head of the department, Bert Hoogenboom. Zhurbenko, who has been with DA-Desk since 2011, was formerly Assistant Operations Manager. In her new capacity, Zhurbenko will focus foremost on developing new services designed to provide value to agents and owners/operators alike. As such, she will build on the recently introduced TRACEcertification program…

First in class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 'USS Freedom' has returned to homeport San Diego after deployment earlier this year to the U.S. 7th Fleet's area of responsibility. "This deployment was a huge success for the LCS program, for us as a crew, and for the Navy in general," said Cmdr. Dale Heinken, commanding officer of Freedom's Blue Crew. Deployed since March 1, 2013. with her "Gold Crew", known formally as Crew 102, the ship took part in a number of theater security cooperation and maritime presence operations with partner nations in the region.