Eb News

Iran will unload about $50 million worth of crude from a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker seized last year, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday, in a tit-for-tat action against the United States.Advantage Sweet is a Suezmax crude tanker that had been chartered by U.S. firm Chevron and was seized in April 2023 by Iran's army following an alleged collision with an Iranian boat.The unloading of the cargo follows a Tehran court order in favor of Iranian patients of Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB)…

The Navy wants, and needs, more ships; but it can’t build them fast enough.While the U.S. Navy aims to achieve a 355-ship fleet, it is decommissioning older (and some not so old) ships at about the same rate it's adding new ones.A Congressional Research Service report stated that, as of April 17, 2023, the Navy included 296 battle force ships. "The Navy projects that under its FY2024 budget submission, the Navy would include 293 battle force ships at the end of FY2024 and 291 battle force ships at the end of FY2028."But there is progress…

Dutch shipping company Future Proof Shipping (FPS) on Thursday officially launched the first hydrogen-powered zero-emissions inland container ship, H2 Barge 1, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.Earlier in the week, Nike introduced the H2 Barge 1 at its European Logistics Campus in Laakdal, Belgium. As part of its journey toward a zero carbon and zero waste future, Nike is partnering with Future Proof Shipping (FPS) and BCTN Network of Inland Terminals, to accelerate zero-emission shipping.Future Proof Shipping’s zero-emissions 110m x 11.45m inland containership…

U.S. shipyards are making improvements to building ships for the Navy and Coast Guard today and in the future. In some cases, it means phasing out one class of ship and getting ready for the next. Or, it can be a drastic make-over.The yards include mid-tier yards all the way up to very large facilities devoted exclusively to warships. The ships range from the 353-ton Fast Response Cutter to the 100,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin…

Naval shipyards and industry partners see business growing, but finding enough trained and qualified workers is a challenge.General Dynamics Electric Boat will invest $1.7 billion to modernize and upgrade its Quonset, R.I. and Groton, Conn., facilities over the next ten years,” said Sean Davies , vice president for EB’s Quonset Point Operations. “Here at Quonset, we are investing $700 million that will increase our outfitting space by 13 acres, to support work on the Virginia and Columbia class of submarines.

China's ZPMC has launched the Ulstein-designed JSD 6000 deepwater heavy-lift pipelay vessel at its facilities at Qidong. According to information shared by Ulstein via social media, the JSD 6000 was launched Sunday, December 27. The dynamically-positioned ‘JSD 6000’ is will feature heavy lift, S-Lay, and J-Lay via large, off-center moonpool capabilities, allowing it to serve deepwater and SURF markets as well as shallow water EPCI projects. The Ulstein designed vessel features an NOV revolving main crane with 5…

Arne Wilhelmsen, a founder of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. died Saturday, April 11, 2020, in Palma, Spain. He was 90.In a company statement on Sunday, Royal Caribbean Cruises called Wilhelmsen a "a constant influence on the company from its founding, serving more than three decades on the company's board of directors."Together with the company's first CEO, the late Edwin Stephan, Wilhelmsen saw possibilities for the nascent cruise industry that others did not, Royal Caribbean Cruises said."At a time when the rest of the world thought cruising was a niche use for old transatlantic liners…

Bollinger Shipyards won a contract to build an ocean transport barge for General Dynamics Electric Boat, a barge designed and built to transport submarine modules to Electric Boat’s Groton Shipyard for final assembly and test.  The concept and contract design for the 395 x 100ft. Ocean Transport Barge was performed by the Bristol Harbor Group.  The detail design engineering will be performed at the Bollinger Lockport New Construction facility in Lockport, Louisiana and the construction will take place at the Bollinger Marine Fabrication facility in Amelia, La. Delivery is scheduled for 2021.

Israel’s largest cargo shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has opened its blockchain platform for electronic bills of lading (eB/Ls) to all clients in selected trades.Over the last year, following ZIM’s November 2017 announcement regarding the first-ever pilot of paperless Bills-of-Lading based on blockchain technology, ZIM and selected leading customers have been testing the new Platform as a solution for trade activities on multiple shipping lanes.Following the successful pilot, accomplished with the cooperation of Wave Ltd. and Sparx Logistics, ZIM continued to evaluate the platform in different trade lanes with more customers.

Like many boys, Charles. F. “Bud” Kirby, Jr. loved ships. He had drawings, models, pictures, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks. And, as his son, Don, recently learned, he had cachet covers of submarines.Bud would send stamped envelopes to the Electric Boat Company that he had addressed to himself in Watertown, Mass. These envelopes would be stamped with a commemorative cachet and then appropriately cancelled at Groton, Connecticut, where the EB shipyard was located, or on the ship if it had been commissioned.Each ship has its own post office, and its own cancellation stamp.

Merseyside shipyard and engineering services company Cammell Laird has won a £1.5 million tender with Innovate UK to develop electron beam welding technology in the shipbuilding, offshore and nuclear sectors.Cammell Laird will act as primary contractor to test the equipment at its Birkenhead site using its team of welders and engineers, together with partners TWI Limited which will provide research, and support in welding codes and standards. The third partner, Cambridge Vacuum Engineering will manufacture the electron beam machine.John Eldridge…

Eco-Business, Asia Pacific’s leading media organisation dedicated to reporting on sustainable development, has unveiled a new membership programme for its growing community. The EB Circle is a new dedicated network in which readers who sign up for just S$60 a year will gain priority invites to its events, access to an inner circle of professionals committed to sustainability on the Slack platform, media training opportunities and more. Since Eco-Business was founded in 2009, it has been committed to providing a platform for the region to discuss sustainability issues, and to shed light on matters that are under-reported in the mainstream media.

In line with the West Africa market trend, CMA CGM Group adapts its service offering while continuing to improve its service reliability and cost efficiency. Withdrawal of WAX 2 service. WAX | Operated by CMA CGM with 12 vessels of 4,350 TEU, will discontinue South Africa and Nigeria calls. Instead, the service will add Abidjan Westbound to its current export call with an improved transit time up to 5 days. Abidjan from Shanghai will be reached in 37 days. ASAF | The sole product available on the market to West Africa South Range is operated with 12 vessels up to 9,350 TEU.

Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has cancelled the sailing of the Asia-Mediterranean Service in October in response to low demand.   Specifically, it will cut the sailing of the EUM Hyundai Tenacity (HNT) 022 W/E (ETA Busan on October 9 in Week 41 on WB and ETA Genoa on November 9 in Week 45 on EB).   OOCL also plans to withdraw the Asia-Europe route EUM sailing of the Hyundai Tenacity 022 west/east, with an estimated time of arrival in Pusan on October 9, 2016, in Week 41 on the westbound port rotation and in Genoa on November 9, 2016, in Week 45 on the eastbound port rotation.

CMA CGM has announced that a new direct EB call at Shanghai, the first container port in the world, is to be introduced on the rotation of its FAL 1 service ex-North Europe. Starting in Southampton on January 11th, 2016 with m/v CMA CGM KERGUELEN voy. CMA CGM will of course continue providing its clients the most complete offer on the market, especially on the Asia-Europe trade thanks to the complementarity of its FAL services.

In a continued effort to provide our customers with reliable and efficient services from Asia to Latin America, CMA CGM wishes to inform about the improvement of ACSA services linking Asia to Mexico, Central America and West Coast South America. Port coverage will increase and will be improved with: Pusan EB call, Balboa EB and Coronel on ACSA 2. CMA CGM will keep providing the most efficient services to link Asia to West Coast Latin America and Caribbean: 4 unique direct services from Asia to Mexico, West Coast South America and Caribbean,  4 weekly departures from Asia to Mexico, Central America, West Coast South America and Caribbean, Best port coverage in Asia, Best port coverage in Mexico, WCSA and Caribbean, Excellent transit times from and to Asia.

General Dynamics Electric Boat expects to hire nearly 4,000 people in the coming years as it ramps up production on Navy submarines, the Associated Press reports. Electric Boat is projecting a positive outlook for 2016 for revenue and employment, saying 1,800 more workers will be hired at its facilities in Connecticut and Rhode Island this year. Electric Boat, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp., employs 14,100 people, mainly in Connecticut. By 2030, EB is projecting that number will grow to 18,000. Electric Boat president Jeffrey S. Geiger told a gathering of legislators Monday at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick the North Kingstown shipbuilder’s future looks upbeat. Right now, the company has a backlog of 16 Virginia-class attack submarines under contract — worth $21 billion.

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA informed that its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. (APSI), has executed definitive documentation with PIDC Regional Center, LP XXXI for a secured term loan of up to USD 60 million. The loan has a five-year term and a fixed interest rate of 2.75% through maturity. The loan is secured by a lien on the company's interests in Hulls 021-024, which are the four product tankers to be included in the AKPS-Crowley joint venture. The company made its first draw under the facility on the closing date. The loan is made through the Welcome Fund (EB-5) loan program, a source of low-interest senior financing for large-scale, job-creating projects undertaken by strong governmental, corporate or institutional sponsors.

Ship construction programs move ahead, but it’s not smooth sailing. Navies and Coast Guards everywhere face budgetary pressure, even in the U.S. which has the largest Navy in the world. The balance between desire for capacity and capability and pressure for affordability has never been more acute with the precarious budgetary issues presented by declining defense budgets, sequestration, continuing resolutions and government shutdowns. Even so, there are ongoing major construction efforts to include large nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines…

EBDG’s LNG bunkering barge design receives ABS approvals as the maritime industry increasingly looks to LNG as a fuel of the future. In early June, Federal Maritime Commissioner William P. Doyle told listeners at an LNG Bunkering conference in Vancouver, Canada that “Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering in North America is moving forward … There is an abundant supply of natural gas in North America. Utilizing natural gas as a marine fuel would help ship owners and operators comply with the MARPOL Annex VI requirements to reduce air pollution from ocean going vessels.” That much is true. It’s also true that there is any number of ways for vessel operators to get to the Promised Land. Nevertheless, LNG – as a fuel – has certainly stepped out into the lead on that mission.

Effective June 27, 2015 Hapag-Lloyd will enhance its Adriatic Express Service (ADX) with a new call at Bari on the eastbound leg. Starting with the sailing of MV Warnow Beluga 147 EB, due to sail from Venice on June 24, 2015 the Adriatic Express (ADX) will then be operated on weekly frequency with the following port rotation: Damietta -Rijeka -Koper -Venice -Ancona -Bari -Port Said (East) -Damietta The new call at Bari on our ADX service emphasizes Hapag-Lloyd’s strength within the Mediterranean Sea, offering now a very extensive coverage of the Southern Italy commercial area and connecting it with the global Hapag-Lloyd network via transhipment at Damietta and Port Said:

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG), a naval architecture and marine engineering firm with offices in Seattle and Ketchikan, announced the delivery into service of the Cape Horn, a Specialty Oilfield Vessel. EBDG partnered with Gulf of Mexico Operator SeaMar, LLC and Gulf Island Marine Fabricators on the class design and production engineering for the ship. "We would like to congratulate our valued client, Darrel Plaisance of SeaMar, LLC on the delivery of their EB-220CC and the shipyard on a fine build," stated Gulf Coast General Manager, Keith Keller.

On February 27, Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG), a Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm with offices in New Orleans and Ketchikan, obtained approval in principle (AIP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the design of a 2,000 cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) combination bunkering barge. “At ABS our goal is to help designers, shipyards, and operators bring new and novel concepts to the marketplace in a safe and effective manner,” said ABS Director of Global Gas Solutions Roy Bleiberg.