Budgets News

As Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi once said, “Growth in commercial shipbuilding facilitates growth in the battle fleet.” Sen. Wicker shrewdly recognizes that America’s manufacturing capacity and national security are deeply intertwined. A robust commercial shipbuilding and repair industry is a critical cornerstone of this capacity.For the shipyard industrial base to remain strong and competitive, American innovators need a forward-thinking comprehensive American maritime strategy…

The International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) has launched its #SARyouOK? Guidance and Best Practice Framework.The #SARyouOK? initiative is supported by the Trinity House DFT Maritime Safety Fund and aims to promote awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues and break down the attached stigma for those working in the maritime search and rescue (SAR) sector.This initiative provides comprehensive guidance on mental health and wellbeing for maritime SAR services. The aim…

When asked about the top issues facing shipbuilders, executives at the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) listed a number of topics and concerns. SCA is the only national trade association representing U.S. shipyards engaged in the building and repairing of military and other government and commercial vessels, and companies providing goods and services to the shipbuilding industry.Shutdowns have consequencesMatthew Paxton and Paula Zorensky are, respectively, SCA President and Vice President. Their top federal concern at the end of September? A U.S.

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…

IMA/WER has just completed its Annual Review and Five-Year Forecast of Orders for Floating Production Systems. The report:•provides a detailed look back at developments in the deepwater sector over the past year,•assesses 12 underlying market drivers that will determine the pace of production floater orders over the next five years,•identifies specific projects in the planning queue that will likely require a production floater and•forecasts the number of orders and capex for production floaters between 2023 and 2027.There has been a strong recovery in the deepwater sector…

Born in 1998 and celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2023, Heger Dry Dock holds a unique position as one of the few engineering firms in the world dedicated to the design and lifecycle engineering of drydocks, primarily floating dry docks. Premal Shah, P.E., President and Principal Engineer, discussed some of the company’s recent contract wins with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.Specializing in the design and lifecycle maintenance of floating dry docks, Heger Dry Docks was founded 25 years ago, and still run today by one of its co-founders, Bob Heger.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, approved by Congress in December 2022, includes project closeout funding of $157.3 million for the Port of Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project (CIP) for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This funding will advance the last phase of the CIP, a national critical infrastructure project that will render the Corpus Christi Ship Channel the most improved in the entire U.S. Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida. The Port of Corpus Christi is the nation’s largest U.S.

The global marine vessel market is projected to grow from $170.75 billion in 2021 to $188.57 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 1.43%, according to research from Fortune Business Insights.From transportation vessels to workboats to marine construction ships, companies want to grow their business, stay current with new technologies, gain a competitive edge and be good stewards of our environment.Current marine market trends include adoption of alternative fuels, acquiring new construction vessels, retrofitting existing fleet, and determining ideal solutions for procuring these vessels.

Vessel operating cost inflation has accelerated in 2022 on mounting worldwide macroeconomic price pressures, despite some receding of Covid-19 related costs, according to the latest Ship Operating Costs Annual Review and Forecast 2022/23 report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.Drewry estimates that average daily operating costs across the 47 different ship types and sizes covered in the report rose for the fifth consecutive year to reach $7,474 in 2022, a rise of 2.2%.

Year after year, America’s shipyards that make up the defense industrial base get their hopes up that the annual federal government funding process will produce stable and predictable budgets for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard acquisition programs. Every year, the yards are disappointed as the U.S. Government bounces from spending crisis to spending crisis.At the same time, the yards look favorably upon the shipbuilding plans that significantly grow our Nation’s fleet beyond today’s 296 ships. However, to meet the increased demands that these plans would require, U.S.

FORCE Technology has expanded its engineering design and testing services portfolio to provide remote access to high fidelity maritime navigation simulation for the purpose of testing planned port and harbor construction projects. The new SimFlex Cloud for engineering studies unlocks time and cost savings during the planning and design phase of maritime infrastructure projects as proposed developments can be evaluated in real-time and under highly realistic conditions without…

After the recent falls sustained across all sub-continent recycling markets, there does seem to be a new floor in the low $600s/LDT that has been reached.As expected, there have been instances of opportunistic offerings below the $600/LDT mark. However, very few sales (if any) have taken place in the high $500s/LDT, as there remain virtually no potential units to offer to Recyclers at these lower levels.If any new sales do take place in the weeks ahead, it is certainly clear that a $100/LDT fall has been fully materialized and optimistically…

Galveston-based Callan Marine possesses one of the youngest, most powerful dredge fleets in America. “Our oldest dredge is 11 years old, so we have a nice modern, new fleet, which really helps us in our performance,” said the company’s president, Maxie McGuire. “I’m very proud that we have one of the newest fleets in the industry.”McGuire and Callan Marine have plenty to be proud of. McGuire, a U.S. Air Force veteran with an Operation Desert Storm tour under his belt, took a job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after discharge before eventually finding his way into the private sector.

Richard Balzano took over as CEO and executive director of the Dredging Contractors of America in December 2020. And while he says he’s “still fairly new to the [dredging] industry”, he certainly knows his way around the business, having held a number of prominent roles over the course of more than 30 years in the maritime and U.S government sectors. His resume is impressive. A combat veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, he retired from the U.S. Navy at the rank of Captain. He later served as the presidentially appointed Deputy Maritime Administrator for three years…

A new decision-support tool could become a game changer in the dredging of ship channels. Millions of dollars are at stake every time a major ship channel is cleaned up. Delays in dredging can cost even more by triggering increased risks, repeated maintenance and lost revenue. In either case, the task cannot be put off indefinitely.All ship channels must be regularly cleared of sand, debris settled on the bottom (called shoal) and miscellaneous trash. That means ship channel management regularly faces the mighty task of dredging.

The Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project was included in President Joe Biden’s proposed Fiscal Year 2023 Budget released Monday under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Coastal Navigation Construction category. The President’s recommended funding targeted project closeout appropriations of $157.3 million. Once approved by Congress, the appropriation would complete the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project, rendering it the most improved ship channel in the entire U.S. Gulf Coast. The Port of Corpus Christi is the largest gateway for U.S.

For dredging company executives, the recently passed $550 billion federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) sits like the proverbial Horn-o’-Plenty, ready to disgorge billions of federal dollars for maritime, port, harbor, coastal, inland waterways and flood projects, many of which will require dredging. This is a really big deal because this new money will go toward existing projects, work that’s been on the books, so to speak, but, until now, couldn’t be funded.

As trainers in the maritime industry, we benefit from the sharing of information. Understanding what training trends are emerging, how training budgets are growing (or shrinking), what training models are on the rise or decline, and how the world pandemic has affected training operations is all of great important to us. Having a global understanding of these questions and more allows us to improve based on best practice, and to prepare for the future in a way we could not possibly achieve in isolation.It is our belief in this basic truth that incentivized the World Maritime University…

The Biden administration proposed a slew of changes on Friday to the nation's federal oil and gas leasing program, including hiking fees on drilling companies and limiting their access to sensitive wildlife and cultural zones.The recommendations followed a months-long review aimed at ensuring drilling on federal lands and waters benefits the public. But in a sign of the extreme controversy surrounding the issue, environmental groups slammed the proposals as too weak and the industry…

The U.S. Interior Department will release a long-awaited report reviewing the environmental costs and economic benefits of the nation's federal oil and gas leasing program as early as Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.President Joe Biden's administration launched the review earlier this year in what had been widely seen as a first step in delivering on a campaign promise to end new federal fossil fuel drilling to fight climate change.The report, however…

British defense company BAE Systems stuck to guidance for earnings to grow by 3% to 5% this year over 2020's result and said that demand for its products and services remained high.BAE, whose main customers are the United States, Britain and Saudi Arabia, also said that so far it had been able to overcome supply chain pressures affecting many other manufacturers globally, helped by the long-lead items it uses in programs.Defense has been largely unaffected by the pandemic, with governments sticking to military and security commitments…

Oil and gas services company SBM Offshore on Thursday reported a better than expected decline in core profit for the first half of 2021 as it looks to develop floating offshore wind projects.After reducing spending sharply in the face of a pandemic-induced demand collapse, major energy companies have profitted from surging oil and gas prices that have fed into investment budgets, buoying SBM's results.The Dutch company's first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down 4% at $501 million, beating the $477 million expected by analysts in a company-provi

Boatbuilder Brix Marine (formerly Armstrong Marine USA) is currently constructing the 32’ x 12’ catamaran for the Qathen Xwegus Management Corporation (QXMC). QXMC is the business arm of the Klahoose First Nation, located on Cortes Island, B.C, Canada. The corporation, whose activities include industries such as forestry, aquaculture, tourism, and retail, will operate the twelve-passenger vessel as a water taxi. Completion is slated for Fall 2021.Power and propulsion are twin Volvo Penta D4 270hp engines with Aquamatic DPI outdrives.