Elite News

Subrosa Group (SRG) announced it is rolling out a new Maritime Security (MarSec) division, SRG Maritime Security, to deliver security services globally to the commercial shipping and offshore industries, private vessels and superyachts.SRG's CEO, Niall Burns, said, "The establishment of our Maritime Security division is a direct response to the critical need for elite armed protection for large vessels navigating increasingly perilous waters worldwide. Incidents of maritime attacks are alarmingly on the rise…

Classification society ABS said it has granted an approval in principle (AIP) to OceanSTAR Marine & Offshore Investment Pte. Ltd., for its newbuild floating storage and offloading (FSO) design.The OceanSTAR FSO-01 is a shipshape hull design specifically developed to cater to midsize FSOs with a storage capacity to scale up to 750,000 barrels of oil for operational demands in Asia Pacific and African coastal offshore fields. Other features include a larger strengthened deck area…

Carlo Luzzatto has been appointed as the future CEO and General Director of classification society RINA.The appointment is set to be formalized by the end of 2023, coinciding with Fondo Italiano d'Investimento's acquisition of a minority stake up to 33% in RINA S.p.A. This transition aligns with the joint growth objectives established with Fondo Italiano d'Investimento, reinforcing the Group's intention to make its stock market debut within the next 3-5 years.Ugo Salerno will continue to play an integral role in the running of the company…

Ship classification organization ABS said Tuesday it had joined an elite working group comprised of global maritime leaders to study onboard carbon capture technologies.The collaborative project brings together ABS, Diana Shipping Services S.A., Equinor ASA, GasLog LNG Services Ltd., Maran Gas Maritime Inc., Minerva Gas Inc., Neptune Lines Shipping and Managing Enterprises S.A., Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA), Prime Tanker Management Inc., Solvang ASA, Springfield Shipping Co.

Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman in international waters on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said, the latest in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in sensitive Gulf waters since 2019.Iran's army said it had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it collided with an Iranian boat, injuring several crewmen, Iranian state media reported."Two members of the boat's crew are missing and several were injured due to the collision of the ship with the boat," an army statement said.The U.S.

REMEMBERING MY SHIPMATE JOHN MICHELWe met in January 1959 when I became the first Officer in Charge of the Navy’s newly acquired Bathyscaph Trieste and John was the first USN enlisted man to be assigned to the project. We were based at the Naval Electronics Laboratory in San Diego. Trieste was unique as there were only two deep diving manned submersibles in the world. The French Navy had the other. Our team learned about the bathyscaph more by ‘apprenticeship’ than through any sort of formal learning process.

U.S.-sanctioned oil supertanker Young Yong is being towed to an anchorage area in Nipah, Indonesia, after the stranded tanker was successfully refloated, Commander of Indonesia's First Fleet Arsyad Abdullah said on Thursday. The tugboats that had surrounded the ship were also dispersing, data on Refinitiv Eikon and MarineTraffic website showed. On Refinitiv Eikon, Young Yong's status has been changed to "restricted manoeuvrability" from "aground", which would indicate the vessel is floating but that the crew does not have full control of the vessel. The United States allowed some transactions necessary to dock and anchor the Young Yong safely and make repairs as part of the efforts to free the vessel. The supertanker ran aground off Indonesia's Riau Islands on Oct. 26 near a gas pipeline.

The U.S. government has allowed some transactions to take place with a sanctioned oil supertanker in efforts to free the vessel stranded in Indonesian waters, the U.S. embassy in Singapore said on Wednesday. The Indonesian navy has been trying to free the Djibouti-registered ship, Young Yong, which ran aground off Indonesia's Riau Islands on Oct. 26 near a gas pipeline. The U.S. last week issued sanctions against an international oil smuggling network it said supports Hezbollah and Iran's elite Quds Force…

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign vessel in the Gulf for allegedly smuggling 757,000 liters of diesel out of the country, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.The unnamed vessel's seven crew members, who are foreign nationals, have been handed over to legal authorities, IRNA reported without elaborating on the nationalities of the ship or its crew.Iran, which has some of the world's cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and b

Lebanon's judiciary is seeking to appoint a second judge to a stalled investigation into the Beirut port blast, sources said, highlighting deep divisions over efforts to hold officials to account over a tragedy that killed more than 220 people.Judge Tarek Bitar's investigation into the 2020 explosion, which flattened swathes of the city when hundreds of tonnes of stored ammonium nitrate detonated, has been suspended since late 2021 by lawsuits brought by politicians whom he has sought to question.That has left him unable to summon suspects or press charges…

Pope Francis said on Wednesday he hoped the people of Lebanon can be comforted by justice over the Beirut port blast that killed at least 215 people two years ago, saying "the truth can never be hidden".Speaking at his weekly general audience, Francis noted that Thursday would be the second anniversary of the blast, which also wounded thousands of people and damaged large swathes of the capital."My thoughts go to the families of the victims of that disastrous event and to the dear Lebanese people.

ScaffFloat, a patented plastic float that allows pontoons, barges and workboats to be built from standard scaffold components, has just launched its first pontoon in Australia through one of its local partners, AEG Group.Perth-based Access Engineering Group is the first scaffold firm in Australia to become an approved partner of the system, and last week launched an 8m x 4m ScaffFloat pontoon with a submerged access shelf cantilevered of the end to give bespoke access to their…

Russia's top shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF), already struggling to find berths to discharge cargoes, is facing fresh pressure after the UK on Thursday joined countries that have slapped sanctions on it, with implications for insurance and certification.With a modern fleet of ships, state-run SCF is a key transporter of Russian oil and liquefied natural gas but also carried cargoes previously from other countries such as the United States.Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on Feb.

Boat builder Metal Shark said it has delivered a 55- by 17-foot welded aluminum pilot boat to the Pascagoula Bar Pilots Association in Mississippi.Designed by Metal Shark’s in-house engineering team and built at the company’s Franklin, La. shipyard, the new Singing River Island is the second Metal Shark pilot boat to join the Pascagoula Pilots fleet. It represents the latest evolution in the Louisiana-based builder’s Defiant-class pilot boat lineup, combining a proven hull form with a modern…

Iran's Revolutionary Guards thwarted an attempt by the United States to detain a tanker carrying the Islamic Republic's oil in the Sea of Oman, Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday, saying the incident took place recently.Reached for comment, the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said it had seen reports of the incident but at present had no information to provide.Iran's state TV said U.S. forces used helicopters and warships to try to block a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Sea of Oman.

A chill wind whips across the Taiwan Strait as a small group of Taiwanese marines stands shivering on a remote dock in the early hours of the morning, their shorts and thin jackets drenched after a day spent mostly in the sea.“Are you a sleeping beauty? Are you skipping out on class?” a trainer shouts at the wiry men, who have barely slept in days, as they do sit-ups and other exercises on the rough concrete floor, some fading in and out of consciousness from fatigue.Blasts of…

A fire smoldering for days at Beirut port has revived painful memories of the explosion that devastated the Lebanese capital in 2020, with the government struggling to find a way to extinguish it as the second anniversary of the blast approaches.The fire has been burning slowly in the ruins of the port's grain silos, giving off an orange glow visible at night from neighborhoods that were most badly damaged by the Aug. 4, 2020, chemical explosion that killed more than 215 people.The authorities say it is the result of summer heat igniting fermenting grain left in the silos since the blast…

The Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun (BOPC) announced that its next Pilot Trainee Training Program Selection Examination will be held in June 2022 at the California State University Maritime Academy in Vallejo, Calif. Applications are due no later than April 15, 2022.The BOPC typically conducts maritime pilot trainee training program selection examinations every two to three years, or when there is a need for licensed pilots. The last examination was held in 2019.

Thousands of Lebanese gathered near the port of Beirut on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of a catastrophic explosion that devastated the city, demanding justice for the victims.One year since the disaster, caused by a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely at the port for years, no senior official has been held to account, infuriating many Lebanese as their country also endures financial collapse.One of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, the explosion wounded thousands and was felt in Cyprus…

Iran has opened its first oil terminal in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, to allow Tehran to avoid using the Strait of Hormuz shipping route that has been a focus of regional tension for decades."This is a strategic move and an important step for Iran. It will secure the continuation of our oil exports," Rouhani said in a televised speech."Today, the first shipment of 100 tonnes of oil is loaded outside the Strait of Hormuz. This shows the failure of the U.S.

KVH Industries, Inc. introduces the KVH ONE hybrid network and TracNet terminals for fast, reliable connectivity at sea and at the dock. The TracNet H30, H60, and H90 terminals feature satellite, cellular, and Wi-Fi technology under one dome, with intelligent, automatic switching based on availability, cost, and quality of data connection to continually deliver the best performance. The KVH ONE network includes 276 million sq. km (106+ million sq. miles) of satellite coverage using KVH’s global, layered HTS network, powered by Intelsat.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign vessel in the Gulf for smuggling 200,000 liters of fuel, a senior Guards commander told the semi-official Fars news agency on Sunday."The ship was seized in the northern part of the Persian Gulf.

Germany will next week present a multi-billion-dollar proposal to Lebanese authorities to rebuild the Port of Beirut as part of efforts to entice the country’s politicians to form a government capable of warding off financial collapse, two sources said.A chemical explosion at the port last August killed 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed entire neighborhoods in Lebanon’s capital, plunging the country deeper into its worst political and economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.According to two diplomatic sources with knowledge of the plans…