Coast Of Delaware News

The Captain of the Port (COTP), Delaware Bay is notifying mariners that Ice Condition 3 has been set for the Port which includes the Delaware Bay and River, the C&D Canal, Cape May Harbor and Canal, and the ICW. This means that weather conditions are favorable for the formation of ice in navigable waters, but navigation is not impacted by ice. When ice is present, but less than 2 inches, vessels must have a propulsion system with adequate horsepower, and be able to maneuver un-assisted through the ice without needing to stop, back off and ram the ice. Vessel moorings should be checked frequently to ensure the vessel is adequately moored. Vessels at anchor should maintain their engines on standby at all times.

The top stories this week covered everything from a DP system failure, a facelift for a WWII torpedo boat, and some mysterious tankers off the coast of Philadelphia. The tanker Olympic Flag was carrying 650,000 barrels of Angolan crude when it dropped anchor seven miles off the coast of Delaware Bay last November. It finally left two weeks ago, but not before being joined by five other tankers. Nobody seems to know why the tankers were idling offshore that long, although experts gave a few theories  (spoiler alert: none of the theories involved aliens).

Late last November, the tanker Olympic Flag carrying 650,000 barrels of Angolan crude dropped anchor about 7 miles off the coast in Delaware Bay, a seemingly routine shipment destined for a nearby Philadelphia refinery. What happened next was anything but routine. Instead of discharging its cargo within days and heading off for the next port, the ship idled offshore for nearly 11 weeks, discharging the oil at an unaccountably slow rate, according to shipping sources as well as vessel tracking data on ThomsonReuters Eikon. That vessel finally set sail two weeks ago - but by then it had already been joined by five more idling tankers, an unusual and costly congregation that has puzzled experts and traders.

Late last November, the tanker Olympic Flag carrying 650,000 barrels of Angolan crude dropped anchor about 7 miles off the coast in Delaware Bay, a seemingly routine shipment destined for a nearby Philadelphia refinery. What happened next was anything but routine. Instead of discharging its cargo within days and heading off for the next port, the ship idled offshore for nearly 11 weeks, discharging the oil at an unaccountably slow rate, according to shipping sources as well as vessel tracking data on ThomsonReuters Eikon. That vessel finally set sail two weeks ago - but by then it had already been joined by five more idling tankers, an unusual and costly congregation that has puzzled experts and traders.

Fred McCallister, an investment banker with Allegiance Capital Corporation, sent a letter to Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen on June 17 asking for a limited waiver of the Jones Act, to enable 12 to 25 foreign flagged skimmer ships to assist in clean-up efforts in the Gulf. "Many in the Gulf have been calling for this equipment, which can collect 3,500 gallons of oil per hour per vessel from Gulf waters. With estimates now at 2.5 million gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf every day, the urgency can't be overstated," said McCallister, a Vice President at Allegiance Capital.

The , a 600-ft. Liberian flagged tanker, is anchored in the and near Reedy Point Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008, after it ran aground with 21 people aboard Monday, Sept. 29, 2008, near the St. George Bridge 30 miles south of . Members of the Coast Guard, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the New Jersey State Police responded to the grounding.

Bluewater Wind, a developer of off-shore wind energy, is one of the companies competing for a long-term energy contract with Delmarva Power. Delmarva Power is requesting a proposal for an energy provider to help stabilize the price of energy in the state. Bluewater Wind is one of the companies competing for the contract, along with NRG, which has proposed expanding its coal facility on the Indian River Bay. Delmarva Power will choose an energy company in November. Bluewater Wind is proposing building as many as three wind farms that would generate a total of 600 megawatts of energy. While the price of fuel is free, the price of building the windmills will come to about $800 or $900 million. The University has been studying the wind off the coast of Delaware for 20 years.

The Coast Guard, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) are continuing to lead the recovery and clean-up of oil spilled in the upper Delaware Bay Tuesday. Shorelines impacted in Delaware by the spill include Port Mahon, Kelly Island and Pickering Beach. These areas have been reported to have light amounts of tar balls ranging from dime to baseball size. There is also a report of a scattered concentration of tar balls four-miles off of Bowers Beach, which oil skimming vessels are in the process of recovering. As a preventive measure, the NJDEP has closed 70,000 acres of New Jersey's oyster beds to prevent potential environmental contamination.

The Coast Guard, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) continue to lead the recovery and clean-up of oil spilled in the upper Delaware Bay. As a preventive measure, the NJDEP has closed 70,000 acres of New Jersey's oyster beds to prevent potential environmental contamination. The Captain of the Port of Philadelphia has also issued a safety broadcast to mariners informing them of the obstructions to navigation due to the deployment of protective booming. Under direction of the Captain of the Port, protective booming which will limit or prohibit access to waterways has been placed in Back Creek, Nantuxet Creek, Fortescue Creek and Dividing Creek on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay.