J Massey News

UK-based Osprey Group has appointed Simon Massey as the new Managing Director of its Heavy Lift division. Massey comes to the business with more than 35 years’ industry experience gained from a range of companies, most recently Sarens UK, Weldex and DeMag, where he earned a reputation and respect from clients and competitors, Osprey said.“This is something I’ve been building up to – leading a team of people who want to find new ways we can use heavy lift equipment, safely, for the much larger and heavier assets we’re having to transport and install now…

Nashville-based Ingram Marine Group, one of the largest barging companies in the U.S., announced Monday that David O’Loughlin will retire from his role as CEO. He will be succeeded by John Roberts, the company’s current chief operating officer, who will take the helm as the new president and CEO on February 1. O’Loughlin will stay with the company as vice chair for the remainder of 2022 to assist with the transition. “Dave has been invaluable to our company and our people,” said Ingram Barge Company chairman Orrin H. Ingram II.

The United Arab Emirates has signed a 3.5 billion dirham ($950 million) contract with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to manufacture four new patrol vessels for the Gulf Arab state's navy, ADSB said on Tuesday.The Falaj 3-class Offshore Patrol Vessel contract was ADSB's largest ever order, which Chief Executive David Massey said gave it a sustainable and profitable future for the next five years.ADSB will build all four hulls in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, and is responsible for integrating systems, he said.Massey told Reuters ADSB first entered into talks with the UAE for the vessel contract s

The U.S. Coast Guard ordered 23 New York Waterway ferries to suspend service over the last week after a series of inspections found the vessels to be operationally unfit. Coast Guard Sector New York marine inspectors determined the 23 ferries had damage or discrepancies significant enough to warrant a suspension of service. So far, two of those vessels have been reinspected and returned to normal operations. “The safety of the public is our top priority, and we expect our ferry operators to uphold the highest standards,” said Capt. Jason Tama, commander of Coast Guard Sector New York.

The autonomous and smart shipping industry is set to receive a boost, after the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Department for Transport (DfT), in collaboration with the National Oceanography Center’s (NOC) Marine Robotics Innovation Center, successfully secured £1 million in a bid to accelerate the U.K. into a world-leading position in this area.The funding, awarded by the U.K. Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund…

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point (USMMA) announced today that John R. Ballard, Ph.D., has been named the new Academic Dean and Provost at the federal service academy. In this position, Dr. Ballard will serve as the chief academic officer and principal advisor to the Superintendent in all matters relating to the academic program and faculty. He will also co-chair the educational priority working group for the recently released USMMA strategic plan.Dr. Ballard served as a Marine Infantry officer immediately following graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy.

The director of a yacht management firm was cleared of manslaughter charges bought on by the death of four sailors in 2014.Four U.K. men – two in their twenties and two in their fifties – were killed when the 40-foot Cheeki Rafiki capsized in the Atlantic in May 2014 while returning across the Atlantic Ocean to Southampton from Antigua. The sailors’ bodies were never recovered.Yacht manager Doug Innes, who had been accused of failing to have the yacht properly checked ahead of its voyage and to ensure that its certification was in date for the intended trip, has been found not guilty on four charges of gross negligence manslaughter today at Winchester Crown Court.Innes along with his company Stormforce Coaching had denied all charges…

Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) chief executive Sir Alan Massey announced he plans to retire from the role before the end of 2018. The Department of Transport will begin its search for Massey’s successor on March 19. Massey will continue in his role until late 2018 to allow the chief executive appointment process to take place. Massey joined the MCA in July 2010 after a 33-year career with the Royal Navy, where he left as Second Sea Lord. During his eight-year tenure at MCA…

Nautilus International has welcomed confirmation from shipping minister John Hayes that the government has agreed to the Union’s calls for a review of the UK’s system for issuing Certificates of Equivalent Competency (CECs). Nautilus is a trade union and professional organisation representing more than 22,000 maritime professionals in the UK, Netherlands and Switzerland. In a letter to the Union, the minister said he had asked Sir Alan Massey, head of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), to undertake a review of the way in which CECs are given to foreign officers seeking work on UK-flagged ships. Sir Alan has told Nautilus that the review will be treated as ‘a matter of priority’ and the MCA will work with the Union, other social partners and industry experts to progress it.

In partnership with ESNAAD-PJS, environmental solutions provider, TWMA, has celebrated reaching one million incident free man hours on the ZADCO UZ750 project in Abu Dhabi. The milestone was achieved on operations spanning four artificial islands – North, South, Central and West. Wright Massey, Senior Manager - Island Drilling and Completions, at ZADCO said: “ZADCO and TWMA have very similar values with respect to performance and safety. When safety comes first, the highest level of performance follows and we are delighted that this is how TWMA’s operations have been undertaken. “Despite multiple service providers and complex operations on very congested islands…

Taking place on Thursday, September 8, Maritime Skills Academy celebrated the launch of its specialist training facility showcasing all that the state-of-the-art Academy has to offer to key industry guests. An integral part of the Viking ‘Family of Companies, the Academy provides dynamic training, with its expert in-house trainers delivering bespoke courses, which encompass the diversity of the maritime industry: including cruise ships, superyachts, renewable support vessels and the oil and gas sector.

Plans to ensure there is a full maritime survey and inspection team covering the whole U.K., will see more remote working and a slight change to where some of the marine offices are based. The U.K. Maritime & Coastguard Agency has undertaken a review of the way it carries out its surveys and inspections and recently consulted on the locations of its marine offices. It has also, with its staff, reviewed the way the organization of those offices is structured. As a result of both consultations, changes have been made to the original proposals including keeping two offices open that were originally marked for closure and identifying a senior experienced marine surveyor who will have over-arching responsibility for the River Thames.

Simon Barham has been appointed as the first U.K. Ship Register Director at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, scheduled to start his role in February 2016. Barham brings to the position both commercial and technical experience from his 40 year career in the industry. He initially served at sea for 16 years and since then has held senior positions ashore within both ship owning and ship management companies across the world. Previous roles include chief operations officer at Bibby Ship Management…

An official ceremony marking the handing back by the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency of a bronze cannon to the city where it was first made, has been held in Zierikzee, Netherlands. The cannon had been brought ashore by commercial diver Vincent Woolsgrove from off the Kent coast but was recovered by the MCA during a search warrant executed in 2011. Woolsgrove was charged with fraud offences relating to other Dutch cannons and is currently serving a two year sentence after pleading guilty.

With the aim of growing the U.K. Ship Register and attracting more maritime business to the U.K., a new a senior level director role has been created at the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) as part of the government’s aspiration to grow the nation’s share with the global maritime sector. The new position, which will be tasked with encouraging ship owners to join the U.K. Ship Register, was announced by Sir Alan Massey, CEO of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at an event during London International Shipping Week. “The UK Flag has seemingly become less attractive to ship owners and operators and we cannot go on ignoring the problem,” Massey said. “. . . Something has needed to change. In recent years the number of ships and the total gross tonnage on the U.K.

A commercial diver has pleaded guilty at Southampton Crown Court to a fraud offence in excess of £46,000 following a two year investigation by the U.K. Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA). The diver, Vincent Woolsgrove of Ramsgate, Kent, reported finding five cannons during the summer 2007, two from the wreck of the warship, London, and three in international waters off the coast of Kent. The cannons recovered from the warship were both very rare bronze Peter Gill and commonwealth cannons.

The largest vessel registered in the UK Ship Register has arrived in Southampton today. CMA CGM Kerguelen, a 398-meter-long containership operated by the CMA CGM Group, is big enough to pack five and a half A380 Airbuses on. It is capable of carrying 17,772 TEU (twenty feet equivalent units) and is driven by an engine of 9,000 horsepower. Sir Alan Massey, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, with responsibility for the UK Ship Register, has been invited to visit the vessel while it is in Southampton.

The “hard work and dedication” of a 25-year old Merchant Navy officer cadet has been recognized with an award that will be presented by the U.K. Shipping Minister at a ceremony in London tomorrow, Wednesday, October 15, 2014. Jonty Turnbull of Blackpool and the Fylde College, who was serving on-board the Foreland Shipping-owned vessel, MV Hartland Point, is the 2014 winner of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) Officer Trainee of the Year Award. The award will be presented at Haberdashers Hall…

The British Government has once again thrust its weight behind London International Shipping Week with an official visit to the LISW2015 stand at Posidonia in Greece by the British Ambassador in Athens followed by public shows of support at additional events by the head of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Sir Alan Massey, and U.K. Shipping Minister Stephen Hammond MP. More than 70 guests gathered for an informal British drinks reception at Posidonia 2014 to mark the beginning of the countdown to London International Shipping Week (LISW) which is set to take place September 7-12, 2015.

Work on the new U.K. national Coastguard training center in Hampshire has officially started today, Wednesday, 16 July. His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent cut the first sod of turf for the new center at Daedalus Airfield in Lee on Solent. The purpose built facility will provide Coastguard Rescue Officers with essential training and skills to help them deal with emergency situations on the U.K. coastline. Facilities will include an 8 meter-high ‘cliff face’ to train teams in how to carry out cliff rescues. This climbing wall will descend 4 meters into a pit, to enable Coastguards to gain experience of working in enclosed spaces. The site will also be the new base for the Hill Head Coastguard Rescue Team.

The Coast Guard medevaced two crewmembers from the Elizabeth Anne, a 99-foot tug, Thursday, in the Elizabeth River approximately three miles southwest of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. A crewmember aboard the Elizabeth Anne contacted Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders via VHF-FM channel 16 at approximately 7:45 a.m., reporting a parted chain injured two crewmembers. Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders dispatched a crew aboard a 25-foot Response Boat - Small from Coast Guard Station Portsmouth to assist. The RB-S crew arrived on scene at approximately 8 a.m. and removed the two crewmembers. "The crew worked seamlessly together to stabilize the victim," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Linden Hannon, a crewmember aboard the RB-S from Station Portsmouth.

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…

Norway's government will this spring launch a strategy to develop technology for capturing and burying heat-trapping emissions from polluting industries, aiming to make good on a pledge to build a full-size plant by 2020. Proponents of carbon capture and storage (CCS) hope the oil-rich nation will join Britain and the Netherlands in funding a handful of schemes to keep Europe from falling behind other major economies in adopting the technology. Europe had once aimed to take a global lead in the development of CCS, which bodies such as the International Energy Agency view as essential to meet a globally agreed goal of limiting temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius.