Clams News

The Biden administration is considering ways to ensure the U.S. commercial fishing industry is paid for any losses it incurs from the planned expansion of offshore wind power in the Atlantic Ocean, according to state and federal officials involved in the matter, [Reuters reported in an exclusive on Thursday.]Discussions between state and federal officials, which participants described as being at a very early stage, are aimed at addressing the top threat to President Joe Biden's…

Since it was founded, Nakilat – Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (N-KOM) has completed almost 1,000 marine and offshore projects, with a significant number of drydocking and repairs undertaken for various types of vessels including LNGc, LPGc, VLCCs, oil/chemical tankers, cargo ships, dredgers, offshore support vessels, to name a few.The shipyard’s facilities include three VLCC sized docks (two graving docks and one floating dock), berthing capacity of 3,150 meters, specialized workshops and cryogenic cleanrooms…

Simrad Commercial, in partnership with Patti Marine Enterprises, has announced the latest vessel commissioned for the Truex clamming fleet is outfitted with a complete suite of Simrad Commercial marine electronics. Seawatcher II, a 152-foot clamming vessel, features two Simrad NSO evo2 processors driving five 18.5-inch monitors, an AP70 Autopilot, Halo-4 and Halo-6 Pulse Compression Radar systems and two SonarHub sonar processing systems. The design of the Seawatcher  II is based on an original concept developed in partnership with the Truex family in 2003.

A crane barge that will be used to hoist a sunken tug in Sitka, Alaska has arrived to the wreck site. The evolution to raise the tug is expected to take up to 10 days, the U.S. Coast Guard said. U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Sitka and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation have been monitoring the out-of-service tug Powhatan, which sank at a pier in Sitka, April 19 and slid approximately 300 yards down a bank ultimately settling in 160 to 180 feet of water. The tug's owner, Samson Tug and Barge Company, contracted Southeast Alaska Petroleum for pollution recovery and Alaska Commercial Divers to plug vents and survey the vessel underwater. Since the sinking, an estimated 400 gallons of mixed product has released from the sunken tug.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Thursday accused China of breaking a U.S.-brokered deal between the two nations on the Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited rocky outcrop in the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim the waterway, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne goods pass every year. Beijing seized control of Scarborough Shoal, near the main Philippine island of Luzon, in June 2012, following a three-month standoff after a Philippine Navy vessel tried to arrest Chinese fishermen found illegally hauling giant clams there.

Last summer, researchers began a five year study to monitor biodiversity in the Arctic Chukchi Sea from an ecosystem perspective, looking at microbes, whales and everything in between. health and critical ecosystem services that contribute to human life. Monitoring it improves our ability to interpret and forecast changes. The unprecedented effects of climate change combined with strong seasonal cycles and increasing human activities in the Arctic make this region particularly important to monitor. In August 2015, the AMBON team of researchers from the University of Alaska’s School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, the University of Maryland…

The first true three-dimensional picture of submarine canyon habitats has been produced using a combination of marine robotics and ship-based measurements. The information captured in this new set of maps ranges in scale from the 200km canyon down to the size of an individual cold-water coral polyp, and will be used to inform the management of the only English Marine Conservation Zone in deep water. This ‘nested map’ is the result of a recent scientific expedition to the Whittard Canyon in the Bay of Biscay, led by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC).

Scientists say that the world’s oceans are acidifying. This term is correct, but somewhat misleading. Until recently, the oceans have had (so far as can be determined) a pH level of about 8.4 for millennia. A pH of 7.0 is neutral. Thus, the oceans are alkaline, not acidific. But, since the beginning of the industrial age when emissions of carbon dioxide started to rise, the oceans’ pH level has dropped to 8.3 and the waters have become less alkaline. Some argue that that is not a big change in 200 years. But it is the largest change known to have occurred in 20 million years.

U.S. shellfish producers in the Northeast and the Gulf of Mexico will be most vulnerable to an acidification of the oceans linked to climate change that makes it harder for clams and oysters to build shells, a study said on Monday. The report said the two regions would be more at risk in coming decades than the Pacific Northwest, which had previously suffered the most from the problem, with losses to the oyster industry estimated at $110 million, putting 3,200 jobs at risk. Carbon dioxide…

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk christened a larger, “greener” new research vessel on Friday, September 26 in preparation for launching a new era in examining, monitoring and teaching about Long Island Sound. The $2.7 million environmentally friendly research vessel, Spirit of the Sound, was christened and officially named during a ceremony at the Aquarium dock. Breaking a bottle on her hull was godmother of the boat, Astrid Heidenreich of Greenwich. The boat will reportedly be the first research vessel in the U.S. running on hybrid-electric propulsion.

Hamburg Süd’s Cap San Lorenzo docked for the first time in the port of Rotterdam on Thursday, September 4. At the Euromax Terminal, the captain was presented with the traditional port plaque   associated with a maiden call, in the presence of Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO Allard Castelein. The Cap San Lorenzo is the fourth containership in a series of six newbuild vessels for the shipping line. The ship, 333 meters long and 48 meters wide, has a capacity of 9,600 TEU. With 2…

China has banned shellfish imports from the US west coast, cutting off a US$270-million Pacific Northwest industry from its biggest export market, reports Shipping Gazette (China). The ban was imposed after recent shipments of geoduck clams from northwest waters were found to have high levels of arsenic and a toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning. The restriction applies to clams, oysters and all other two-shelled bivalves from Washington, Oregon, Alaska and northern California. Canada was not mentioned in the ban.

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) is fining Olympic Tug & Barge of Seattle $16,500 for spilling oil into Port Angeles Harbor last November. The spill occurred when a company-owned fuel barge was overfilled while being loaded with fuel oil. Ecology determined the Nov. 7, 2012, heavy fuel oil spill occurred because of an error by the barge operator. More than 1,700 gallons of fuel spilled to the deck of the barge with nearly 50 gallons entering Port Angeles Harbor. The oil transfer was being conducted at the Tesoro Port Angeles Terminal located at the foot of the spit Ediz Hook. Olympic Tug & Barge had oil containment boom placed around the barge prior to starting the fuel transfer which helped contain the spill.

Many government agencies and public safety dive teams are adding underwater search equipment to help make their operations easier, safer, and faster. Maricopa Sheriffs Department in Arizona, Downe Township Fire Rescue in New Jersey, the Fairhaven Massachusetts Harbor Master and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division are a few of the diverse group of agencies using metal detectors, video cameras and sonars in their underwater search operations. Deputy Jeff Hanson, leader of the Maricopa County Sheriffs Department dive team…

University of Georgia marine scientist Samantha Joye, who is the Athletic Association Professor in Arts and Sciences, and UGA colleagues Patricia Medeiros and Christof Meile have received a $1.3 million grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative that will enable UGA researchers and scientists from 13 other institutions to understand more thoroughly the ecosystem impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The three-year grant, awarded through a competitive merit-review process by a board comprised of researchers from academic institutions, will allow scientists and emergency responders to better predict and respond to future spills, should they occur.

U.S.-Canada Arctic Ocean survey partnership saved costs, increased data; 2011 mission concludes joint seafloor survey operations. A recent mission marked the completion of a five-year collaboration between the United States and Canada to survey the Arctic Ocean. The bilateral project collected scientific data to delineate the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastline, also known as the extended continental shelf (ECS). The U.S. has an inherent interest in knowing…

Two recent shipping incidents in BC Canada waters have heightened the fears of the Gitga’at First Nation facing the prospect of the world’s largest oil-tankers passing right past their village of Hartley Bay. Enbridge has teamed up with other multinational oil giants to build the Northern Gateway Pipeline to carry oil from Alberta’s tar sands to a port in Kitimat where it would be loaded onto tankers roughly double the size of the infamous Exxon Valdez. The shipping lanes proposed by Enbridge plunge straight through the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest and prime whale habitat. In the first incident, a cruise ship docked in Vancouver with a dead Fin whale impaled on its bow. This second largest animal on Earth, is especially vulnerable to being struck by ships.

Every harbor has its share: hardworking boats that stand-out for some provacative reason. It's probably not for their beauty. Form follows function in most maritime architecture, and maybe there's a beauty in how functional these boats are. But such beauty resides in the mind more than the eye. And yet they're still head-turners. Every harbor has its share. In New York, three come to mind - aphabetically, Odin, Shelby Rose, and Twintube. You know 'em on sight. The first two are tugs, and sort of look it. As for the third, "I was trying to build something that would do everything," Luther Blount told us. It does. They do. They say you'll see boats that resemble her out west. We've seen similar craft heading up the Rhine in Europe. But on New York harbor, Odin looks unique.

The USCG announced measures to prevent environmental and health problems resulting from harmful aquatic plants and animals carried from abroad in ships' ballast water, a move reflecting the Department of Transportation's commitment to controlling and preventing the introduction of these species. A new interim rule, effective July 1, requires ships operating outside of U.S. waters to report their ballast water management practices. It also establishes voluntary ballast water management guidelines for all waters of the U.S. The USCG is taking these actions to implement the National Invasive Species Act (NISA) of 1996. Current federal regulations…

A coalition of environmental groups from New York and New Jersey are using Fishers SeaOtter ROV to gather evidence on the state of the marine environment in the area’s coastal waters. “One of our main concerns is the use of contaminated material to fill holes in the bottom of New York harbor that were created by previous dredging operations”, says spokesman Frank Crescitelli. “Our other concern is the dredging operations that remove contaminated material from the bottom. Frank operates the charter fishing boat, Neptune’s Champion, out of Staten Island and is also the vice president of the Staten Island chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA).

The owner, operator and insurer of vessel North Cape have agreed to restock 1.24 million lobsters and pay $8 million to restore other natural resources injured by the 1996 oil spill off the southern coast of Rhode Island. The Governor and federal officials announced they have reached a "settlement in principle" with West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association, the insurer of the companies responsible for the spill. The trustees and responsible parties will draft a mutually acceptable consent decree, which must be submitted to the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island for approval. The restoration funds will benefit several wildlife species…

Donjon Marine successfully delivered F/V Cape Fear, a 112 ft. clam dredging vessel, to its owners in New Bedford, Mass. F/V Cape Fear sank in 78 ft. of water while returning from a routine fishing trip south of Martha's Vineyard. When the vessel sank, it rolled over and came to rest on the port side, nearly inverted, on a muddy bottom. Donjon Marine was hired to raise Cape Fear and deliver it to its owners in a safely afloat condition, using crane barges Chesapeake 1000 and Farrell 256. Since the vessel was full of sand it had to be raised on its side with three in. wire slings and towed in those same slings, suspended from the hook of Chesapeake 1000, and brought into the protected waters of Buzzards Bay, where it could be rolled upright.

The owner, operator and insurer of the vessel North Cape have agreed to restock 1.24 million lobsters and pay $8 million to restore other natural resources injured by the 1996 oil spill off the southern coast of Rhode Island. The Governor and federal officials announced that they have reached a "settlement in principle" with West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association, the insurer of the companies responsible for the spill. The trustees and responsible parties will draft a mutually acceptable consent decree, which must be submitted to the United States District Court for Rhode Island for approval. Commenting on the resolution…