Canal System News

New York State Canal Corporation has donated one of its retired workboats to be displayed as part of a new educational exhibit set to open in Amsterdam, N.Y. in spring 2024.The vessel, Tender 4, was built in 1926 by American Boiler Works in Erie, Pa., and went on to serve nearly a century for the Canal Corporation, a New York State public-benefit corporation responsible for the oversight, administration and maintenance of the state's canal system.One of nine tenders built for the Canal Corporation in the 1920s…

Dozens of ships carrying everything from oil to consumer goods have been delayed by the grounding of a vessel in the Suez Canal, and companies may have to reroute cargoes around Africa if the blockage extends beyond 24 hours, shipping sources said.Efforts were underway on Wednesday to refloat the 400-meter, 224,000-tonne Ever Given, which got stranded on Tuesday morning after losing the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm.Shipping sources say the grounding has disrupted regular voyages through the Canal…

A new icebreaking tugboat built by Blount Boats in Rhode Island has been delivered to the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to work in the Niagara River to help alleviate shoreline flooding and reduce the likelihood of ice limiting the power production at large hydro plants along the Niagara River. The Breaker II joins a fleet of three boats that work every winter to install the Lake Erie—Niagara River Ice Boom—a series of 22 spans of steel pontoons that straddle the mouth of the…

A modest event designed as a get-together for commercial workboat operators in upstate New York is now celebrating 20 years as a three-day community festival.On September 11, 1999, local resident John Callaghan had an idea to bring in some friends who ran tugs on the Hudson River and NYS Canal System for a quick one-day get together, right at the entrance to the famed Erie Canal. Callaghan, then a tug captain himself for the state canal system, brought in seven tugs and cooked several dozen hot dogs.

The New York State Canal System, Advance Marine and MelCal Cranes all enjoy a reputation for versatile applications in challenging conditions. It’s no wonder that their recent deal to replace an aging maintenance crane was also a similarly good fit.When Advance Marine recently delivered a telescopic boom crane to New York State Canals, the decision regarding which type and brand of crane to select wasn’t made in a vacuum, nor was it made lightly. That’s because commercial utilization of America’s original superhighway – the Erie Canal – is on the rise again. The New York State Canal System is a 524-mile long, commercially viable waterway connecting the Hudson River with the Great Lakes, Finger Lakes, and Lake Champlain.

A clash between trading house Vitol and Azerbaijan's SOCAR over Caspian Sea oil shipments is forcing Turkmenistan to slash exports of crude due to a lack of tankers.Turkmenistan typically exports about 200,000 tonnes of oil per month via the Caspian to world markets, mainly from fields operated by the UAE's ENOC and Italy's Eni, but flows have halved in recent weeks, six traders involved in operations said.That happened after Turkmen producers decided to export oil via Russia with the help of Swiss trader Vitol and ditch the previous Azeri route…

Demand for electric mobility is sweeping across the globe, and it’s rapidly gaining traction in the marine industry. The electric mobility revolution is largely being driven by the land transportation sector. Industry statistics predict that electric vehicle sales will surpass combustion engine vehicles within the next 20 years. Many countries in Europe and Asia have already adopted aggressive deadlines to phase out sales of combustion-powered vehicles, and some cities such as London are planning to banish them from their roads entirely.

It is a tram or a train? Neither, it's a boat. Pleasure craft using Poland's Elblag Canal can appear to be seen as sailing through grassy plains as they follow tracks on land in an unusual solution for dealing with elevation on the waterway. The canal, approximately 240km (150 miles) north of Warsaw, uses a system of five inclined planes between its lakes, which are too steep to be navigated using locks. Rail tracks run carriages to transport the boats. The difference in elevation between the lowest and highest level is almost 100 metres (330 feet).

Greater Jakarta, one of the world's most densely populated cities, sits on a swampy plain and is sinking at a faster rate than any other city in the world. As per a report in Reuters, Indonesia will resume land reclamation that will help prevent Jakarta from sinking below sea level, a Cabinet Minister said, five months after work was suspended due to regulatory and environmental concerns. Jakarta has focused its attention on bolstering its defences with a 24km sea wall and refurbishing the crumbling flood canal system. The government decided late on Tuesday to allow work to continue on a key phase of the “Giant Sea Wall”, which aims to shore up northern Jakarta while revamping the capital’s image into a Singapore-like waterfront city.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that a “no discharge zone” can be established for the New York State portion of the St. Lawrence River. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation petitioned the EPA to prohibit boats from discharging sewage into the river by establishing a “no discharge zone” for the area. The EPA has reviewed the state petition and found that there are adequate facilities around the St. Lawrence for boats to pump out their sewage, rather than dumping it in the water. “It’s astonishing that in 2016, boaters can dump raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River. Declaring this area of the St. Lawrence a “no discharge zone” would provide cleaner water for people who use this river,” said Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck.

BMT Group Ltd subsidiaries BMT Asia Pacific and BMT ARGOSS have been appointed by Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Group (HKND) to undertake a series of marine and port assessments for the Nicaragua Canal. BMT will assist the development and validation of the canal’s design and operations through a structured framework, the group announced today. “Our study will seek to articulate a solution that minimizes canal excavation while ensuring adequate canal capacity and safety,” commented Dr. Richard D Colwill, Managing Director at BMT Asia Pacific.

The widened Panama Canal is expected to finally be up and running in April 2016, after months of delays and cost overruns, AFP reports. The expansion project area will allow bigger ships to transit, with two new sets of locks, one on the Pacific side and one on the Atlantic side. Grupo Unidos Por el Canal (GUPC) is carrying out the extensive upgrade to the canal's system of locks, to allow the waterway to accommodate ships carrying up to 14,000 containers of freight - triple the current size. The new shipping lane will be much wider, allowing larger vessels, including liquefied natural gas carriers, to pass through. For the last 100 years…

The Port of Hamburg, along with the other German seaports, is calling for appropriate recognition in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan. “When the new Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan is agreed this year, the forecast growth in freight traffic makes it essential that maintenance and expansion of routes to the seaports is given top priority,” said Ingo Egloff of Port of Hamburg Marketing’s Executive Board. To ensure accessibility from the North Sea, a decision by the…

There’s no debate about LNG in New York. ELCO, New York State Canals team up to retrofit 86-year old tugboat with an electric motor. In June, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the launch of an all-electric dredge tender work boat on the Erie Canal in the Utica area of New York. The project, a partnership with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), utilized an electric motor supplied and installed by Elco Motor Yachts, LLC, of Athens, New York. Significantly, the New York State Canal Corporation collaborated with Yorkville-based New West Technologies, LLC, in order to determine how best to transition the State’s work boat fleet to a cleaner propulsion system.

Brian U. Stratton was appointed Director of the New York State Canal Corporation in April 2011, to oversee the operation and development of New York’s 524-mile Canal System, including the historic Erie Canal. The canal system, a historic system of waterways that dates back almost 200 years, was begun in 1817. Opened in its entirety in 1825, the Erie Canal is widely considered the engineering marvel of the 19th Century. But the canal system spans much more than the Erie Canal. It’s potential as an inland marine highway is undeniable.

New York’s Governor Cuomo announces retrofitted electric canal boat to demonstrate benefits of no-emission engine; NYSERDA, NYSDOT partnership with Canal Corp. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the launch of an all-electric dredge tender workboat on the Erie Canal in the Utica area. The project is the result of a partnership with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). Additionally…

The New York State Canal System, once forgotten as a commercial shipping option, is on the rise again, after years of decline. The shorter, greener and smarter route(s) make increasingly good sense for high value cargoes. Commercial utilization of America’s original superhighway – the Erie Canal – is on the rise again in recent years after years of decline. The third generation of the famed Erie Canal – the “Barge Canal” was constructed between 1905 and 1918. Designed to accommodate up to 10 million tons of cargo per year, the modern Erie Canal peaked at just over 5 million tons in 1951. Then, and with growing competition from railroads and highways, and the opening of the St.

The Panama-flagged container ship 'Cosco Asia' has been targeted by terrorists attempting to block the vital canal system, but the attack was foiled by the Egyptian Army, reports Al Jazeera, citing a statement by the Head of the Suez Canal Authority. The statement did not specify what kind of attack it was, but shipping sources informed the Reuters news agency they heard the sound of two explosions as the ship passed through the waterway. Blocking the canal would have an immediate economic effect…

The UK P&I Club highlights sudden loss of power as a cause of claims. The UK P&I Club’s latest Risk Focus bulletin highlights the issue of sudden loss of power, a problem highlighted by incidents during and after the switching to lower sulphur fuels that are now mandated in certain coastal regions. In the bulletin, the Club highlights causes of sudden loss of power and proposes mitigating procedures that ships’ crew should adopt. The Club reveals that main engine failures or electrical blackouts now amount to 7% of its third party claims property damage in US$ terms.

Grande Mariner was Stranded on Canal System During 2011 Flooding. The M/V Grande Mariner, a 96-passenger cruise ship that was stranded for more than two months because of flooding in 2011, today returned to the Erie Canal for a new season of cruising America's most storied waterway. The ship, and a sister-ship, M/V Niagara Princes, both owned by Blount Small Ship Adventures in Warren, R.I., was among a handful of ships stranded on the New York State Canal system because of destructive high waters in August and September brought on by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

Panama Maritime Authority Approves New Container Shipping Terminal; Panama Colón Container Port designed to complement newly expanded Panama Canal and rising cargo volumes in Panama. The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) has granted permits to a private development group for the construction and operation of a new container terminal to be built at the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal. Jones Lang LaSalle is acting as development advisor to the project consortium. With an estimated construction value exceeding $USD 600 million, the Panama Colón Container Port (PCCP) is expected to become one of the largest private maritime infrastructure projects in Panama, and the first terminal to be built on freehold land.

Events Linked to Earth Day. More than 100 groups of volunteers are expected to join in for the seventh annual "Canal Clean Sweep" on the weekend of April 20-22, 2012. Sponsoring partners for the "Canal Clean Sweep" are the New York State Canal Corporation, the non-profit Parks & Trails New York, and the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation. The events along the 524-mile-long Canal system help celebrate Earth Day, April 22, and prepare the canals for the 188th consecutive navigation season, scheduled to begin May 1, weather permitting. Brian U.

Peak Performance Continues. In recognition of superior performance, the New York State Canal Corporation today announced top honors for the operators of canal facilities that provide outstanding service to patrons. Among the Canal honorees are: Best Lock, Lock 4 at Waterloo on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal; Best Section, Fort Edward on the Champlain Canal; and Best Tugboat, Tug Roosevelt, based in Utica on the Erie Canal. The winners were graded during an annual inspection of the 524-mile-long Canal system in the Fall. The inspection tour was led by Canal Corporation Director Brian U.