Department Of Conservation News

Highlighted in Marine Technology Reporter's MTR100 is the work and technology ongoing in the halls of academia. The most recent report released by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasized our warming planet, an expected announcement for many in the scientific community. Faced with the confirmation that human activities have caused an increase in global temperatures, research has turned to seeking answers in the planet’s natural systems. How does each part of the global carbon cycle work and how may it be impacted by the changing climate?

The U.S. Coast Guard said it is searching for a towboat crewman in the water in the Ohio River near Alton, Ind., Sunday.Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Ohio Valley received a report around 12 p.m EST that a deckhand from a towing vessel had gone overboard without a life jacket, somewhere between mile marker 675 and mile marker 700.The male deckhand is described to be in his 50s, about 280 pounds, and 5 feet 10 inches tall.The Coast Guard is coordinating the search with local agency partners, including the Meade County Fire Department and Indiana Department of Conservation.

A French cruise company and ship’s Master have been fined $70,000 and $30,000 respectively for endangering human life and entering a prohibited zone following a grounding incident in the remote New Zealand Subantarctic islands.French company Compagnie du Ponant and Captain Regis Daumesnil, a French citizen, were sentenced Tuesday in the Wellington District Court after pleading guilty to charges following the January 2017 grounding of the cruise ship L’Austral on an uncharted rock at the Snares Islands.Both Maritime NZ and the Department of Conservation (DOC) brought charges against Captain Daumesnil, with DOC also prosecuting the company.

Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) welcomed the release of the independent review of its response to the grounding of the Rena, and the announcement of $2 million of government funding to help improve New Zealand’s maritime response capability.The report, by independent reviewer Simon Murdoch, was released today by Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee.MNZ Director Keith Manch said the organization was already implementing a number of the review recommendations and the funding package would help MNZ develop a wider strategic and operational response to maritime incidents.In the review report…

Nearly half of the oil left on board the grounded container ship Rena in Tauranga has now been pumped off to the bunker barge Awanuia. Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) Salvage Unit Manager, Bruce Anderson said 164 tonnes had been pumped off the ship over the past 24 hours, the highest daily rate to date. This brings the total amount of oil pumped off the ship to 645 tonnes, with about another 700 tonnes still on board. All of the oil pumped off so far has come from the port number 5 tank…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) has awarded more than $1.8 million in Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) grants to the state of Alabama and to Mobile County, Ala. The grants will fund ongoing wetlands preservation, facility upgrades, and outreach initiatives for the state’s coastal areas. Created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, CIAP provides funding to the six Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas producing states to conserve and protect the coastal environment. CIAP is an ongoing program with grant funding that is allocated based on the offshore energy revenues collected by the United States.

Governor Bob Riley has approved the application submitted by TORP Technology to operate a liquefied natural gas terminal 63 miles off the Alabama coast after the company agreed to use an environmentally-friendly method to reheat the gas. The company had originally proposed using an open-loop system that would have used seawater from the Gulf to warm up the imported LNG. Governor Riley has consistently opposed applications by companies that planned to use the open-loop system because of the negative impact on Alabama’s marine resources. In 2006, Governor Riley opposed a plan by ConocoPhillips to build an LNG facility using the open-loop system 13 miles south of Dauphin Island.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced that it awarded $67m in grants to Alabama, Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and their political subdivisions in 2009 through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP). Created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the CIAP provides funding to the six Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas producing states to mitigate the impacts of energy development on marine and coastal areas. MMS awarded funds to the eligible states in 2009 for 86 projects - Alabama, three; Alaska, 14; Louisiana, 29, Mississippi, 20; and Texas, 20. California’s first grant award is expected in the coming weeks. The majority of the projects focus on conservation…

According to reports, the Navy may be ready to move USS Intrepid from its muddy misery early next month, as it enters the final stages of a dredging operation to free the historic aircraft carrier. Intrepid Foundation officials obtained a monthlong extension on its federal dredging permit Tuesday from the New York State Department of Conservation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, enabling the Navy's dredging work to continue uninterrupted in the Hudson River, according to Bill White, president of Intrepid Museum Foundation. He said the Navy hoped to finish the task and get Intrepid under way by early December. Crews were working around the clock, he said. The famed World War II aircraft carrier, converted in 1982 to a floating military and space museum, became stuck in the mud Nov.

The offshore patrol vessels to be built by Tenix Defence Pty Ltd for the New Zealand Navy will be equipped with Wärtsilä propulsion systems. Wärtsilä won contracts for propulsion systems for the seven-vessel Project Protector of the Royal New Zealand Navy. The main contractor for the project is the Australian defense supplier Tenix Defence Pty Ltd, on behalf of the New Zealand Ministry of Defense. The project is for the supply of seven vessels: a 429ft (131m) multi-role vessel (MRV), two 279ft (85m) offshore patrol vessels (OPV) and four 180ft (55m) inshore patrol vessels (IPV). The first will be delivered December 2006. The vessels are intended for military and civilian roles in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), in the South Pacific and the Southern Ocean.