Fleming News

More than 44 pounds of cocaine was seized from a Marshall Islands-flagged bull carrier anchored in the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis, Md., on Wednesday.The drugs were discovered during an early morning examination by officers and agents from the DEA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Coast Guard, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police aboard the 958-foot Samjohn Solidarity. The 20 bricks of cocaine found concealed inside the vessel’s anchor locker has a street value of more than $1 million.No arrests were made…

For the first time in decades U.K.

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.

Spectre, the ninth James Bond-inspired yacht commissioned by John Staluppi, has been launched by Benetti in Italy.A company press release said that after “Quantum of Solace” and “Diamonds Are Forever”, “Spectre” is the third yacht launched by Benetti for talented New York businessman John Staluppi.M/Y “Spectre” is a 69-meter Full Custom Mega Yacht with a steel hull and an aluminium superstructure on five decks. The name pays tribute once again to James Bond, while the hull by Dutch firm Mulder Design aims to deliver extraordinary performance for yachts this size and is fitted with the new Ride Control technology by Naiad Dynamics.The interior design by Benetti’s Interior Style Department brings to mind the Art Deco and Liberty moods of certain French interiors…

Award to be presented March 14, 2018 at the conclusion of the CMA’s Shipping 2018 Annual Conference and Exposition. Ms. Sabrina S. M. Chao, Executive Chairman of Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings Ltd. has been named as the Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA) Commodore for the year 2018. Ms. Chao follows a long succession of influential maritime industry leaders as Commodore. The 2018 Commodore Award will be presented on March 14, 2018 at the Gala Dinner marking the conclusion of the annual Connecticut Maritime Association conference and trade exposition, at the Hilton Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. The Award is given each year to a person in the international maritime industry who has contributed to the growth and development of the industry.

Cyberhawk Innovations is delighted to be recognised as a finalist at the 2017 Offshore Achievement Awards for the categories Safety Innovation and Export Achievement. The world leader in aerial inspection and survey using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), otherwise known as drones, continues to pioneer the use of this technology to conduct close up inspections of live and difficult to reach structures. The company has been named as a finalist for the Safety Innovation award as a result of its UAV inspection solution for the internal inspection of tanks and confined spaces in the offshore oil and gas industry. In 2015, Cyberhawk carried out the world’s first inspection of an internal storage tank on board a Maersk FPSO in the UKCS…

A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced one injured person, and a Coast Guard Station Juneau response boat – medium crew transported five people from a hard-aground pleasure craft near Cube Cove, approximately 65 miles northeast of Sitka, Alaska, Thursday afternoon. The Jayhawk crew hoisted and transported the injured woman to awaiting medical personnel in Juneau. The remaining five mariners were picked up by good Samaritans, transferred to the Station Juneau RB-M and transported to Juneau. Coast Guard Sector Juneau watchstanders received a request for help over VHF channel 16 reporting the vessel was hard aground, taking on water and one passenger sustained an apparent head injury. The Jayhawk and RB-M crews were dispatched to the scene.

“We are about half-way through the 2016 navigation season and our overall cargo tonnage numbers are down by 11 percent,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. Sutton added, “Aluminum shipments supporting the automotive industry played a significant role in activity at the ports of Oswego, NY, Toledo, OH and Detroit, MI. We also saw wind energy parts moving through the Port of Ogdensburg, NY, headed for the new Jericho Rise Wind Farm project in upstate New York.

The Board of Directors of Matson, Inc. has appointed Stanley Kuriyama as a director of the company, effective June 23, 2016.   Kuriyama is the Executive Chairman of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. He first joined Alexander & Baldwin in 1992, and from January 2010 until his retirement in December 2015, he served as Alexander & Baldwin's president and chief executive officer. Prior to joining Alexander & Baldwin, Kuriyama was a partner in the law firm of Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, specializing in real estate and real estate financing. He is a 1977 graduate of Harvard Law School.

Cyberhawk Innovations, the world leader in aerial inspection and survey using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), is set to boost its international credentials with the launch of a Houston office in the USA. The new office comes as a result of increasing demand from existing oil and gas customers who recognise the significant cost and time savings on offer from UAV inspection and want to utilise Cyberhawk’s expertise for their USA operations. Cyberhawk has already undertaken oil and gas inspection work in North America, for operators in Canada, and has a number of projects lined up with oil and gas supermajors in the US over the coming months.

The Coast Guard rescued a father and son Saturday after their sailboat grounded near Sarah Island in Hingham Harbor. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Boston’s command center were alerted to the distress at about 5 p.m. after the pair used a cell phone to call for help. They explained their recently purchased sailboat grounded while trying to take it across the harbor. They were wearing life jackets but had no radio, no boating safety equipment, and no boating experience. A 29-foot response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Point Allerton, in Hull, quickly arrived on scene and assessed the situation. They determined the boat was too hard aground, transferred the men to the Coast Guard boat, and took them to shore with no reported injuries.

Kongsberg Maritime has announced that it has been selected by L-3 MAPPS to provide the CCTV system for the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) new class of Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS). L-3 MAPPS is one of the Tier 1 suppliers to Irving Shipbuilding, Prime Contractor delivering the AOPS vessels as a part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS). Kongsberg Maritime has over 70 employees in Dartmouth, Vancouver and St. Johns, 190 employees in the U.K. and approximately 4,600 total across the world.

1865 - With 8,000 Union soldiers, Rear Adm. David Porter provides 59 warships and 2,000 Sailors and Marines to take Confederate Fort Fisher, N.C., after a 2-day assault. 1943 - PBY-5A aircraft from (VP-83) sink German submarine U-507 off Brazil, which had sunk 19 and damaged one Allied merchant vessels, including seven that were American. 1945 - Destroyer escort Fleming (DE 32) sinks a Japanese submarine 320 miles north-northeast of Truk. 1964 - Destroyer Manley (DD-940) evacuates 54 Americans and 36 allied nationals after the Zanzibar government is overthrown.

The Port of Houston Authority hosted Congressional leaders on port matters for a facilitated visit and tour of the Port of Houston, Friday, June 5. Congresswoman Janice Hahn, Congressman Ted Poe and Congressman Brian Babin visited the Port of Houston and learned more about the national impact of the Port of Houston overall and in particular its safety and security measures. The visit was arranged upon the invitation of Congressman Poe, who along with Congresswoman Hahn co-chair the PORTS Caucus, which represents more than 100 ports across the nation.

‘Shipping and Climate Change: how Science can aid an industry that emits more CO2 than the UK’ is second in the ‘Sea Changes Lecture Series’. The series, organised by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) in association with University College London (UCL), aims to examine the relationship between marine science, technology and engineering. ‘Shipping and Climate Change: how Science can aid an industry that emits more CO2 than the UK’, will take place in the Sir Ambrose Fleming Lecture Theatre, UCL, London WC1E 7JE on Monday 18 March, 2013. It will be presented by Dr Tristan Smith, UCL Energy Institute…

All Coast, LLC, a newly formed company for the marine services industry founded by John Powers and John Nesser III, has completed the acquisition of Hercules Offshore’s domestic liftboat assets. This $57.5 million acquisition includes 29 actively marketed liftboats ranging from class 105 to class 229, 10 inactive liftboats and additional related assets. Powers and Nesser, All Coast managers and co-chief executive officers, each have more than 40 years of experience in the oil and gas, engineering and maritime industries. Throughout his career, Powers has owned and operated  numerous energy and marine services companies including Power Offshore Services, LLC; Reeled Tubing, LLC; Seatrax, LLC; and Coastal Drilling Co.

All Coast, LLC, a newly formed company for the marine services industry founded by John Powers and John Nesser III, has completed the acquisition of Hercules Offshore’s domestic liftboat assets. This $57.5 million acquisition includes 29 actively marketed liftboats ranging from class 105 to class 229, 10 inactive liftboats and additional related assets. Powers and Nesser, All Coast managers and co-chief executive officers, each have more than 40 years of experience in the oil and gas, engineering and maritime industries.

Scottish gas reforming company Gas2 is on track with the development of the next generation of natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology with a test program that is underway at its newly constructed pilot reactor plant. The £5 million plant, located at the specialist petrochemical research Wilton Center, Teeside, has been designed to validate five years of laboratory testing and computational fluid dynamic modeling. It has been built on time and on budget and is on schedule with an extensive test program that will continue throughout 2013. Aberdeen-based Gas2 has developed a catalytic ceramic based porous membrane (pMRTM) that is used in its gas reforming (Syngas) reactors and fluid forming (Fischer Tropsch) reactors to create liquid hydrocarbons.

The Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans awarded a $13.3 million construction contract to Metairie, La.-based Hard Rock Construction LLC today for the Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal improvement project at its monthly meeting. Hard Rock Construction was the lowest of eight bidders. The 12-acre project will result in a modern and efficient intermodal container transfer terminal to facilitate the movement of marine and rail cargo, while enhancing safety and reducing the carbon footprint of the regional and national transportation system.

There’s no debate about LNG in New York. ELCO, New York State Canals team up to retrofit 86-year old tugboat with an electric motor. In June, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the launch of an all-electric dredge tender work boat on the Erie Canal in the Utica area of New York. The project, a partnership with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), utilized an electric motor supplied and installed by Elco Motor Yachts, LLC, of Athens, New York. Significantly, the New York State Canal Corporation collaborated with Yorkville-based New West Technologies, LLC, in order to determine how best to transition the State’s work boat fleet to a cleaner propulsion system.

The Australian Antarctic Division has rescheduled its early season voyages with the icebreaker Aurora Australis delayed in heavy ice conditions off the Antarctic coast. The ship is in heavy ice about 180 nautical miles off Davis station, returning from resupplying the station and delivering summer personnel. Radar satellite images this morning indicated that while there may be some useful openings, the sea ice extends to approximately 60 nautical miles around the ship. Beyond that, less concentrated ice will be easier to navigate. Australian Antarctic Division Director, Dr.

Gas reforming company Gas2 said it has achieved a second milestone at its 3 bpd (barrels per day) Wilton Research Center pilot plant in Teesside, U.K. as it develops a new generation of natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) process technology which has the potential to deliver lower cost solutions for small scale plants. By successfully commissioning and starting-up the Fischer Tropsch (FT) reactor, using syngas produced in the syngas reactor, the company has produced hydrocarbon liquids.

USS Tortuga's (LSD 46) Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Thomas Goudreau and Executive Officer, Cmdr. John Fleming, were relieved of their duties Dec. 16, due to loss of confidence in their ability to safely operate and navigate the ship and their credibility to lead the crew. At approximately 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 6, USS Tortuga (LSD 46) made contact with Thimble Shoals buoy (1TS) while enroute to her scheduled anchorage off the coast of Virginia. The allision caused the buoy to become adrift as well as over $2.5M damage to the ship. The ship entered National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) repair facility in Norfolk, where repairs were completed Dec. 11. Following an official command investigation, Commander, Amphibious Squadron Four, Capt.