Environmental Affairs News

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), Crowley Wind Services and the City of Salem announced the transfer of ownership and an agreement for site improvements and ongoing operations for the Salem Offshore Wind Terminal.The agreement will kickstart the transformation of the site into the second port built specifically to support the construction of offshore wind farms in Massachusetts. The Salem Offshore Wind Terminal will also support the construction and installation…

U.S.-based offshore wind developer Vineyard Offshore on Monday announced it has named Alicia Barton as the company’s new CEO, starting in January.Barton will take over for Lars T. Pedersen, who has led the company since it was founded in 2022 and before that led the team developing Vineyard Wind, the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the United States, now under construction.“I had the pleasure of working with Alicia during the very early days of the Vineyard Wind project and know she brings an outstanding mix of skills and talent to Vineyard Offshore,” Pedersen said.

President Joe Biden’s goal to deploy 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind along U.S. coastlines this decade to fight climate change may be unattainable due to soaring costs and supply chain delays, according to forecasters and industry insiders.The 2030 target, unveiled shortly after Biden took office, is central to Biden's broader plan to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050. It is also crucial to targets of Northeast states hoping wind will help them move away from fossil fuel…

The installation of the first monopiles and transition pieces has kicked off for the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the United States - the Vineyard Wind 1.“We can finally say it – as of today, there is ‘steel in the water,’” said Klaus S. Moeller, CEO of Vineyard Wind, the company developing the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm, located in a federal wind energy area 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and 35 miles from mainland Massachusetts.Vineyard…

Governor Charlie Baker, Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Bethany Card, and Massachusetts Clean Energy Center CEO (MassCEC) Jennifer Daloisio joined Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) officials for a Global Wind Organization (GWO) training demonstration at the Academy. Nearly three years since helping launch MMA’s first-in-the-nation offshore wind crew transfer training facility, Governor Baker returned to observe a wind and life raft training and highlight the investments the Baker-Polito Administration is proposing to expand the offshore wind workforce further.

The IMO’s MARPOL Annex IV is being revised to confirm the lifetime performance of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs). This may finally bring about grey water regulation – a necessity that is long overdue.Black Water and Grey WaterA ship’s sewage (black water) is collected from toilets, urinals and hospitals. The IMO’s MARPOL Annex IV prohibits its discharge, except when treated by an STP or discharged at > 12nm from the nearest land. A ship’s grey water, collected from showers, wash basins…

Last year Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” Line) – one of the world’s largest and most influential ship owners with 478 ships comprising 40.5 million DWT and more than 6,000 employees – celebrated its 100th anniversary. Toyohisa Nakano, Executive Officer, in charge of Ship Technical and Environmental Affairs for “K” Line, is a 30+ year veteran of the company. He discusses with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News the ship owner’s strategy to meet ever-tightening ship emission regulations.Please provide an overview of the ships you have on order today.We placed an order for 210…

The blade for GE’s Haliade-X 12MW offshore wind turbine has arrived at MassCEC’s Wind Technology Testing Center (WTTC) in Boston, U.S.The 107-meter blade will undergo a series of fatigue tests that involve moving it millions of times over the period of a few months to validate that it can withstand more than 25 years of operation at sea. The testing is part of the process of commercializing GE’s Haliade-X 12 MW turbine -- the most powerful in the industry -- by 2021, strengthening the company’s ability to compete in a market steadily gaining momentum in the U.S. and globally.“This has really been a collaborative effort on the part of the company to be part of solving the challenges associated with the energy transition," said GE Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr.

Port of Long Beach (PoLB) informed that the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners voted unanimously to promote Heather Tomley, a widely respected Southern California leader in environmental improvement programs, to Managing Director of Planning and Environmental Affairs for the Harbor Department.Tomley, with the Department since 2005, has served as the Acting Managing Director for the past 12 months while the Port conducted a nationwide search for candidates for the executive position.“Heather has deep experience creating and managing cutting-edge projects that have dramatically improved air quality and earned crucial industry cooperation…

Baker-Polito Administration Celebrates the First-in-the-Nation Offshore Wind Training Facility Located at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. MMA steps out in front to train the professionals who will make the coming wave of domestic offshore wind.Today, Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides, and Stephen Pike, CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, joined officials from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to launch the first-in-the-nation offshore wind crew transfer training facility.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has approved long-term contracts for 800MW of offshore wind between Vineyard Wind and the Commonwealth’s electric distribution companies.The DPU green signal is a crucial approval needed for the offshore wind farm developer to start construction by the end of the year.“The approval of these contracts is an important step toward the completion of the largest offshore wind project in the country, which will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, provide Massachusetts residents and businesses with cost-effective clean energy and promote economic development,” said Governor Charlie…

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA)’s Dredging Services division will soon embark on a maintenance dredging campaign at the Port of Cape Town to restore the design depths at certain berths inside Duncan Dock.The maintenance campaign, which is set to start in early April 2019, is scheduled for completion by the end of May 2019. The main objective of the dredging campaign is to ensure the Port of Cape Town provides safe navigational channels and berthing facilities for shipping.TNPA…

The Rotterdam-based inland shipping cooperative NPRC is the first logistics service provider in the inland shipping sector to be appointed as ‘incentive provider’ by the Green Award Foundation. In practice, NPRC can be expected to pay a share of the audit costs associated with certification for its members, as well as actively thinking along about the requirements set for the Green Award certification of inland shipping companies. According to the Member of the Provincial Executive of South Holland Rik Janssen, this is a ground-breaking collaboration. The unique partnership was announced during the meeting ‘Goederenvervoer over Water in een Stroomversnelling’ (‘Freight Transport by Water picks up Pace’) organised by the Province of South Holland on Wednesday, 20 June.

What will power the future shipping fleet? What will the future fuel mix be? These questions are being asked with greater frequency in the wake of the Global 2020 Sulphur Cap ruling agreed at the International Maritime Organization and other tightening regulations around air pollution and emissions from shipping operations. The need to take action is, in turn, driving the development and application of innovative alternative power and propulsion technology for ships. From January 1…

Transnet National Ports Authority will undertake its mega project to deepen and lengthen berths at Durban Container Terminal (DCT): Pier 2 has reached a key milestone and the multi-billion rand Main Marine Construction Works package will go out to tender in December 2016. This follows the two environmental approvals secured from the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) last year for marine and landside works. The tender process for the landside works will follow at a later stage. The DCT: Pier 2 Berths 203 to 205 reconstruction, deepening and lengthening project forms an integral part of Transnet’s Market Demand Strategy which is in its 5th year and aims to enable the effective, efficient and economic functioning of an integrated port system to promote economic growth.

The South African 2016/17 cruise season kicked off this morning with the arrival of the first international cruise liner, MSC SINFONIA, at the Port of Durban. Carrying a full capacity of 2600 European and South African passengers, the vessel arrived from Venice in Italy and was greeted by the traditional welcome including a tug water spraying drill, as well as marimba bands and traditional dancers. The ship also received a warm Durban welcome from senior officials including KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Sihle Zikalala, Her Worship the Mayor of eThekwini, Councillor Zandile Gumede, representatives of the maritime and tourism industries and Transnet National Ports Authority’s leadership team.

The Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved the appointments of new directors for the Port of Long Beach’s Finance, Surveys and Transportation Planning divisions. Maurina Lee, previously the Harbor Department’s controller, will become the Director of Finance. She has been controller since March of last year and was previously finance manager for the city of Downey from 2006 to 2015. The Finance Division oversees an annual budget that is $829 million this fiscal year. It is part of the Finance and Administration Bureau. Robert Seidel, who has been the Port of Long Beach’s chief surveyor since 2006, will be the new Director of Surveys.

The 53rd U.S. Army Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, visited the Port of Houston Authority last week and was given an aerial tour of the Houston Ship Channel as part of a briefing that highlighted economic growth along the federal waterway. He and Corps staff from the Galveston District met with Port Authority officials to review and discuss federal projects currently under way and planned for the Houston area. Port Commissioners Theldon Branch III, Stephen H. DonCarlos and Roy D. Mease were on hand to welcome Lt. Gen.

An International Maritime Organization (IMO) workshop is raising awareness of the Organization’s regulatory regime dealing with improving energy efficiency and the control of GHG emissions from ships. Participants from South African governmental departments and other related bodies are in attendance at the three-day “MARPOL Annex VI and Technology Transfer” workshop, taking place in Durban, South Africa (23-25 August). The event is the latest in a series of workshops organized under IMO’s GloMEEP project, which is supporting uptake and implementation of energy efficiency measures for shipping in developing countries. South Africa is one of the 10 GloMEEP lead pilot countries.

Titan Salvage, now a part of Ardent following completion of the merger of Titan and Svitzer Salvage, has completed the removal of the wreck of the cape-size MV Smart coal carrier in South Africa, an especially challenging project due to weather conditions that prevail on the South African coast, particularly during the winter period. The removal of the vessel, which was entered in North P&I Club by owner Alpha Marine, has been accomplished on time and on budget due collaboration with the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), Titan and North.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners this week appointed Heather A. Tomley as the new Director of Environmental Planning. She will be charged with leading Green Port environmental initiatives. Tomley has been serving as the City of Long Beach Harbor Department’s Acting Director of Environmental Planning since July 2013. She will report to Managing Director of Environmental Affairs and Planning Rick Cameron. Tomley originally joined the Harbor Department as an Environmental Planning Associate in 2005…

What it may foretell about the coming towing vessel rule. In the May 2013 issue of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News, Dennis Bryant published a provocative article titled Rebuilding the Presumption of Preemption. The Coast Guard has asserted in the past and believes today that consistent standards of universal application and enforcement, coupled with Federal initiatives to meet unique regional concerns, best meet local and national safety and environmental goals with the least disruption to maritime commerce. 78 Fed. Reg. 79,243.

Dr. Manik S. Sardessai has been promoted to Senior Vice President. Dr. Sardessai, who earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Wayne State University, has worked for MPC since 1995in a variety of positions and will continue in his leadership role for technical and regulatory matters. He has distinguished himself internationally as an authority on the handling of hazardous materials. Walter J. Putman, Jr., has been promoted to Vice President and General Manager. Putman, who has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix…