Coastal Oil News

Looking back, it is easy to wonder if one could have done better by taking the other fork in the road. I grew up in Holland in a maritime family and am pretty sure I would have stuck with maritime there. In 1968, when I was 8 years old, my father left Holland America Line and joined the United States Salvage Association. At the same time, their main customer, the U.S. marine insurance industry, became heavily involved in the development of North Sea offshore oil and gas, and it resulted in an economic boom that made USSA’s Rotterdam office wildly profitable.

The bodies of two of four workers missing after a dredging vessel caught fire and sank in Corpus Christi, Texas, were recovered on Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Four personnel working on the dredger Waymon L Boyd went missing and six were sent to the hospital on Friday after the vessel caught fire in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The search for the other two missing workers was suspended on Saturday night, Coast Guard officials said.Local authorities had said initially…

An oil tanker caught fire in Hong Kong's southern waters on Tuesday, killing one crew member while at least 21 were rescued, police said, with witnesses reporting a loud blast that shook windows several kilometers away.Rescue operations were going on about one nautical mile south of Lamma Island."There are still some crew that haven't been saved," a police spokeswoman told Reuters. She was not immediately able to provide more details including the name of the tanker, or its size.A…

On July 24, Damen Shipyards Group signed a contract with Cyprus-based VTS Vasiliko Terminal Services, the supplier of marine services to the Port of Vasiliko and the VTTV Oil Terminal Jetty, for a Damen ASD Tug 2310.Attending the contract signing event was Cyprus’ Minister of Transport Ms. Vassiliki Anastassiadou, who congratulated VTS Vasiliko Terminal Services on its high standard of service, which concurrently enhances Cyprus’ image in the marine services sector.The new ASD Tug 2310…

Norwegian maritime transport company Skyssbåtservice has taken delivery of a Stan Pontoon 4512 from the Damen Shipyards Group. The 45-meter barge will be capable of fulfilling a variety of roles in both the general maritime transport sector projects and the oil and gas industry. As well as carrying general cargo along the Norwegian coast on its 12 metric tons per m² deck, the barge is fitted with a bow ramp giving it full RoRo capability. Tug stoppers on the stern also allow it to be pushed as well as towed to its destinations.

New SeaHow skimmer systems can be implemented to almost any work boat over 6m in length. Skimmers are designed to collect both light and heavy oils efficiently. These features provide totally new operational efficiencies especially for near shore and coastal oil spill response. The system fosters efficient utilization of existing work boats and vessels in oil spill response.         www.seahow.net (As published in the May 2015 edition of MarineNews - http://magazines.marinelink.com/Magazines/MaritimeNews)

Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are in discussions to extend joint patrols to deal with a resurgence of piracy in the South China Sea piracy hotspots, said Singapore's Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral Lai Chung Han. Singapore's Today reports that the extension of these patrols - which have been successful in curbing piracy in the Strait of Malacca - is complicated by competing territorial claims in these waters. The area and the Phillip Channel, which is 16 km south of Singapore, were places highlighted by Rear-Admiral Lai as new piracy hot spots. Lai admitted that there was concern with the proximity to the contested claims of South China Sea, and he certainly doesn’t want those issues to be conflated.

SeaHow has launched a new product line of skimmers aiming to address the challenges encountered by the oil spill response (OSR) organizations. SeaHow, operator one of northern Europe’s largest fleets of OSR vessels, said that over the 30 years that it has carried out OSR work, it has found several challenges with the existing equipment, leading the company to launch its own skimmer system product line. Launched after three years of product development, SeaHow skimmer product line…

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and U.S. Coast Guard are looking for interested parties to help update the state's oil spill response strategies tailored for the Strait of Juan de Fuca and for Washington's outer coast. The existing site-specific strategies, also known as "geographic response plans," identify sensitive natural and cultural resources. The plans also help prioritize how equipment and cleanup crews should be deployed during an oil spill response. Geographic response plans for oil spills are usually carried out during the first several hours following a spill. The plans are tailored to a specific beach, shore, or waterway and designed to minimize harm to sensitive areas threatened by the spill.

A Federal offshore natural gas and oil lease sale in the Western Gulf of Mexico received $94.7 million in high bids. The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) received 177 bids totaling $104.2 million at the sale held in New Orleans. The 41 participating companies bid on 153 tracts in the Western Gulf of Mexico, offshore Texas and in deeper waters offshore Louisiana. "The results of the sale are about what we expected," said MMS Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Chris Oynes. "It is reflective of the large inventory of tracts already under lease. MMS officials said 86 tracts receiving bids are in water depths of 656 ft. or more. The highest bid on a tract was $11.3 million, submitted by Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corporation for NG15-02 Garden Banks 877.