Davies News

The owner, operator and charterer of the container ship that struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday are likely to face lawsuits over its collapse and the people killed or injured, but legal experts say U.S. maritime law could limit the companies’ liability.U.S. laws pertaining to open-water navigation and shipping, which are created through court decisions and by acts of Congress, could restrict the kinds of lawsuits filed against the registered owner of the Singapore-flagged ship…

The Canadian government has awarded a contract to shipbuilder Chantier Davie Canada Inc. of Lévis, Quebec, for initial work related to the construction of new Program Icebreakers. Under this $19.6-million contract including taxes, Davie will begin work to develop the initial design.A series of six new Program Icebreakers is planned to replace the Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG) medium icebreakers that operate in Atlantic Canada and the St. Lawrence waterways during the winter, and in the Arctic during the summer.This contract enables the shipyard to initiate project planning phases…

Canadian shipbuilding group Davie announced it has finalized its acquisition of Finland’s Helsinki Shipyard Oy, which has struggled to gain new business due to Western sanctions against Russia.The deal has been nearly a year in the making, starting from December 2022. By March 2023, Davie exercised an exclusive option to purchase the assets of Helsinki Shipyard. In April a business purchase agreement was signed, and on July 4 Davie secured a new 50-year land lease from the city of Helsinki.Financial terms of agreement were not disclosed…

A South Korean businessman wanted for nine years by authorities was extradited from the United States last Friday to face charges linked to one of the country's worst maritime disasters in which over 300 people, mostly children, were killed.Yoo Hyuk-kee was taken into custody on arrival from New York, where he had been fighting extradition to South Korea, where he faces embezzlement charges related to the company that operated the doomed vessel. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his bid to block the extradition.Yoo…

In 2021, Trans Mountain, on behalf of shippers for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP), awarded KOTUG Canada Inc. a long-term contract to provide escort towage services for tankers that load crude oil at Trans Mountain’s Westridge Marine Terminal.Trans Mountain operates Canada’s only oil pipeline servicing the West Coast of Canada providing tidewater access to foreign markets for Canada’s petroleum resources.Under the agreement, KOTUG Canada, which is a partnership between KOTUG International B.V.

ORPC, an marine renewable energy developer whose power systems harness the energy of free-flowing rivers and tides, has signed a contract with Shell Technology – Marine Renewable Program to initiate a Modular RivGen Power System demonstration project in the Lower Mississippi River.The collaborative project represents an opportunity to showcase how the next generation of ORPC’s hydrokinetic technology can provide predictable baseload electricity to help decarbonize onshore assets.

Philippine rescuers searched the smoldering ruins of a burnt-out ferry on Thursday for any survivors or more victims of a fire that swept through the inter-island vessel killing 29 people, including a 6-month-old baby, authorities said.Investigators have yet to identify the cause of the fire that started at about 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Wednesday off the southern island of Basilan, when many passengers were asleep in air-conditioned cabins on the ferry's lower deck. "I thought I was dreaming but when I opened my eyes it was dark and we were surrounded by smoke…

Shipbuilding group Chantier Davie Canada announced it has exercised an exclusive option to purchase the assets of Finland’s Helsinki Shipyard Oy, which has struggled to gain new business due to Western sanctions against Russia.The deal remains subject to financial, regulatory and legal considerations, as well as final decision making by Davie, the company said.Davie president and CEO, James Davies, said, “If the acquisition is successful, it would combine two historic and highly…

Two crew members have died and one is missing after a fire broke out on an oil tanker carrying fuel to terminals on the Indonesian islands of Bali and Lombok, the state energy company Pertamina said in a statement late on Sunday.The chartered vessel, MT Kristin, had 17 crew on board and was carrying 5,900 kilolitres of fuel when the fire started at 2:50 p.m. local time (0650 GMT) on Sunday. Pertamina said so far no oil spills had been detected after the fire, though a 300-meter (984.25 ft) oil boom had been set up around the ship.

Philippine authorities believe they have found the location of a tanker that sank off a central province last week, the environment ministry said on Monday, amid a race to assess the extent of an oil spill and contain further environmental damage.The tanker, the MT Princess Empress, is thought to be lying at about 1,200 feet (366 meters) below sea level, off Oriental Mindoro province, though the information still needed to be verified, the ministry said in a statement.A remotely operated vehicle would be deployed to help determine the exact location of the tanker…

The Philippine Coast Guard has stepped up its presence in the disputed South China Sea by deploying additional vessels and conducting more sorties and overflights to protect maritime territory and the country's fishermen, its chief said on Monday.Beijing's sweeping claims of sovereignty over the waterway have drawn repeated complaints from Manila, which has ramped up its rhetoric against reported Chinese construction activities and the "swarming" of Chinese vessels in the resource-rich waterway."We're making sure that the presence of coast guard vessels is felt by the fishermen in the area…

Thailand has signed a contract to buy Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) made by Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems for 4 billion baht ($107.67 million), the Thai navy said on Wednesday.The navy did not say in its statement how many drones it would buy, but said a budget had been set to procure the system over four years, between 2022 to 2025.The Thai navy said the drones would be used to patrol the sea to protect the country’s maritime sovereignty, shipping routes and assist in sea rescue operations.The Hermes 900 is a medium-sized drone, which has the endurance to fly f

The captain of a fuel tanker arrested by the Indonesian navy in May on suspicion of illegally anchoring in its waters has been jailed for 15 days and fined 200 million rupiah ($13,350), a navy spokesman said on Wednesday.The Nord Joy, a Panama-flagged oil products tanker, was detained on May 30 whilst anchored in Indonesian waters to the east of the Singapore Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.Indonesian navy officers asked for an unofficial payment of $375,000 to release the vessel, two people involved in the negotiations told Reuters at the time. The Indonesian navy denied any such payment was requested and said the vessel was being held for anchoring in its waters without a permit.

Seven people have died after a high-speed Philippine ferry carrying 134 people caught fire on Monday, with seven passengers still missing, the coast guard said.The ship caught fire just before reaching the port of Real in Quezon province, about 60 km (37.28 miles) east of the capital Manila. It had left Polilio Island at 5:00 a.m. local time (2100 GMT Sunday) and made a distress call at 6:30 a.m.Five women and two men had died, while 120 passengers had been rescued, with 23 of them treated for injuries…

SAAM's Towage Division has agreed to buy 17 tugs operating in Brazil from the Brazilian company Starnav. The deal also involves the purchase of four additional tugs currently under construction.SAAM CEO Macario Valdés said the deal was one of the largest transactions in SAAM’s history."The transaction was valued at US$150 million for the 17 active tugs, all state-of-the-art, flexible, high-capacity vessels. Another US$48 million will be disbursed for four tugs under construction…

SAAM Towage reported that it has signed an agreement with Ian Taylor to acquire the company's towage operations in Peru, which currently provides services with four tugs at the ports of Callao and Paita.“This agreement, just like the acquisition in Canada of Standard Towing and Davies Tugboats formalized a few weeks ago, is part of our strategy to lead the consolidation process taking place in the towage industry. It will enable us to continue to strengthen our presence along the Pacific Coast…

Indonesia deployed navy ships and hundreds of personnel on Wednesday, including intelligence assets, in an effort to thwart illegal shipments of refined palm oil olein, just hours away from an export ban aimed at taming surging cooking oil prices.The new rules were due to take effect at midnight local time (1700 GMT), and the navy and other agencies had been instructed to step up patrols of Indonesian waters to ensure compliance, said navy spokesperson Julius Widjojono.Palm oil futures on the Malaysia exchange surged by 9.8% on Wednesday…

SAAM Towage Canada announced it has acquired Standard Towing Ltd. and Davies Tugboat Ltd. Both companies provide harbor, shipdocking and towage services on the West Coast of Canada.“Through this acquisition we are adding three Canadian built tugboats to the fleet which are in excellent condition. In addition, SAAM Towage will expand our service area to Northern Vancouver Island. This strengthens our overall position in British Columbia,” said the President of SAAM Towage Canada…

Indonesian authorities on Wednesday postponed a meeting with coal miners to discuss a ban on coal exports, as scores of ships moored off the coast due to load remained in limbo.The world's top exporter of thermal coal and China's largest overseas supplier on Saturday announced a ban on exports in January to avoid outages at its own generators.The ban sent thermal coal futures in China surging reflecting concerns it could threaten energy security in some of the world's biggest…

Chinese thermal coal futures fell on Tuesday after Indonesia, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, eased a ban on overseas shipments that surprised buyers at the start of the year, alleviating concerns about supply disruptions.The export ban was introduced after state power utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) reported critically low coal stockpiles amid complaints miners were not fulfilling their responsibilities to supply fuel to the company. Driven by concerns about the impact to their economies which depend on coal-fired power generation…

The world's leading exporter of thermal coal on Saturday banned the shipments because of concerns it could not meet its own power demand, prompting President Joko Widodo on Monday to threaten to revoke business permits for any miners who failed to meet domestic market requirements.In turn, Indonesian coal miners want a quick resolution as fuel prices rise and and potential disruptions to the energy supplies of some of the world's biggest economies loom.The wider risk is of a knock-on impact on economic linchpins China…

Indonesia's coal supply situation remains critical, the state utility said, following the country's ban on exports of the fuel that drove up prices in top customer China on Tuesday.Indonesia, the world's top exporter of the coal used in power plants and China's largest overseas supplier, on Saturday announced the ban on exports during January to avoid outages at domestic generators. Indonesian authorities are set to reexamine the export ban on Wednesday.Late on Monday, Indonesia's state-owned electric utility Perusahan Listrik Negara (PLN) warned that "this critical period is not yet over"…

Indonesia, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, sent shockwaves through global energy markets this week by suspending exports of the fuel in January due to critically low coal supplies at domestic power plants.WHY DID INDONESIAN AUTHORITIES DECIDE TO ACT?Coal makes up around 60% of Indonesia's energy mix and its energy ministry said by the start of 2022 only 35,000 tonnes of coal had been delivered to state power firm PLN.PLN had secured 13.9 million tonnes by Wednesday but needs another six million tonnes to ensure a 20-day stock level of 20 million tonnes.