Janice News

With shipowners pressed to upgrade machinery to meet strict new emission targets, there’s much confusion with chatter surrounding ‘decarbonization’ and ‘future fuels’, solutions that don’t exist today – and may not exist in mass for another generation – cluttering the conversation. Enter Wabtec, formerly GE Transportation, which today offers a Tier 4 compliant engine with no need for urea. Is it the cheapest propulsion solution on the market? No. But the Pennsylvania-based engine builder mounts a compelling case for its 250MDC diesel engine based on performance…

North Kingstown, R.I. shipbuilder Senesco Marine has built and delivered another EPA Tier 4 compliant tug, Janice Ann Reinauer, to Reinauer Transportation. Upon delivery, the tug went directly to work transporting product on the U.S East and Gulf Coasts.The 4,200-horsepower vessel was designed by Ocean Tug & Barge in close cooperation with The Reinauer operations team and is the 13th tug Senesco has built for Reinauer. The tug was designed to operate as an articulated tug-barge unit (ATB) with an Intercon coupling system.The Janice Ann is classed by ABS (A1…

Hazardous shipwrecks can cause many problems. Depending on its location, a wreck may be a hazard to navigation, potentially endangering other vessels and their crews.International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention (WRC) goes some way to resolving these issues. It covers the legal basis for States to remove, or have removed, shipwrecks, drifting ships, objects from ships at sea, and floating offshore installations.The Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007, was adopted by an international conference held in Kenya in 2007. The Convention provides a set of uniform international rules…

Singapore's Keppel Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Infrastructure Holdings, has completed its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo import under Singapore's spot import policy.The policy allows gas customers in the Republic to import up to 10 per cent of their annual long-term contracted LNG intake on a spot cargo basis.The spot cargo of 160,000m3 of LNG originated from an LNG liquefaction project in North America, marking the first time that Keppel Gas has diversified its gas supply portfolio beyond Southeast Asia.The LNG cargo reached Singapore on 10 April 2019 and will be regasified as feedstock for downstream customers and end users, including Keppel Merlimau Cogen, over a continuous period of 30 days.

In an unexpected reversal, it has been reported that the Houston Pilots yesterday notified Chairman Janiece Longoria of the Port of Houston Authority that they had withdrawn their latest application for a change in pilotage rates. Beyond this, the pilots requested in their letter dated October 18 that the application be removed from the agenda for the upcoming October 30 Board of Commissioners meeting.Upon being notified of the rate change application in September, no less than 15 shipping companies…

No less than 15 shipping companies, many of them top 10 liner companies, have written to Port of Houston Chairman Janice Longoria to reject the latest call for substantial rate hikes on the Houston Ship Channel. Local pilots already earn salaries that approach $500,000 annually.Like any other major U.S. port, registered foreign flag vessels must use a local state pilot on the Houston Ship Channel. According to local shipping stakeholders, the rates for those mandated services have spiraled more than 50% in the past 14 years alone.The rate increase proposal, a seemingly regular event at most U.S. ports over time, has on this occasion, struck a raw nerve at precisely the wrong time for industry.

Forth Ports, the UK’s third largest port group, has officially welcomed two new multimillion pound vessels to join their fleet of tugs and pilot boats working on the River Forth.The GBP 6 million investment in the two vessels to work on Scotland’s largest waterway sees the arrival of a powerful Sanmar tug and a state-of-the-art pilot boat from Holyhead Marine.The tug was built by leading ship builder Sanmar, is 28 metres long with two engines producing 2,700 brake horsepower and a bollard pull of 70 tonnes. It also has fire-fighting capabilities. Tugs are work horses and have a long life span which can last decades and this new tug demonstrates…

The families of four of the 17 people killed when a World War Two-style tourist "duck boat" sank on a Missouri lake during a storm this month have sued the tour operator, saying it recklessly allowed the vessel out in dangerous weather.On Sunday, relatives of Ervin Coleman, 76, and 2-year-old Maxwell Ly, his great-nephew, both of Indianapolis, sued tour operator Ripley Entertainment Inc, which operates under the name Ride the Ducks, and vessel manufacturer Amphibious Vehicle Manufacturing LLC…

This year, Project Development International (PDi) Ltd., part of the Tattva Group, celebrates a decade of activity within the decommissioning sector. As a provider of multi-disciplined engineering, project management and project services to the international energy industry, PDi has worked with multiple clients since 2008, successfully completing more than twenty decommissioning workscopes.Recently shortlisted as finalists in the Excellence in Collaboration category at Decom North Sea’s inaugural decommissioning awards…

A 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Maersk Drilling and Maersk Supply Service will provide decommissioning services to oil and gas operators. After decades of production, an increasing amount of offshore oil and gas fields are approaching the end of their economic life. In the North Sea alone, more than 400 fields are expected to cease production by 2026 at an estimated cost of $56 billion. Globally, more than 700 fields are expected to require decommissioning. The JV will initially offer bundled solutions for up to 80 percent of the oil field decommissioning process, including project management and work scopes such as plug and abandonment of wells, towage of floating units and removal of subsea infrastructure.

International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s work to protect the polar environment and the safety of seafarers and passengers navigating in polar regions has received a boost thanks to a donation by the Government of Canada. IMO Secretary-General and Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, H.E. Ms. Janice Charette, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at IMO Headquarters (23 November). The MoU aims to deliver training programmes for seafarers on board ships operating in polar waters, in line with The International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, better known as the Polar Code. The Code, which entered into force on 1 January 2017…

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) is responsible for security and facilitation operations at 328 ports of entry throughout the United States. Missions include the pursuit, boarding and searching of suspect vessels, seizing vessels and contraband, and arresting violators. It is a difficult and dangerous job. To that end, CBP recently selected SAFE Boats International to design and build a 41-foot Coastal Interceptor Vessel (CIV) that is up to the task. “The patrol boat market is really a specialty market,” said Janice Willis, Vice President Program Management at SAFE Boats. Among its many innovative features…

SAFE Boats International has promoted Janice Willis to the position of Vice President Program Management. Willis joined SAFE Boats in December 2010 as a member of the Business Development team, and in 2014 became the Director of Program Management, leading the teams responsible for managing SBI’s fed-eral government program business in Bremerton including the USCG CB-OTH and USCBP CIV Programs. Willis has over 25 years’ experience in program management and contract administration. The past 10 years have been in the marine industry in the Pacific Northwest.

The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled new oil well control rules to prevent the kind of blowout that happened six years ago on a BP Plc rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced the finalized regulations, which include more stringent design requirements and operational procedures for offshore U.S. oil and gas operations. The new standards come nearly six years after a deadly explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the cost of Louisiana, which led to the worst oil spill of all time.

Maersk Oil said on Wednesday it would seek regulatory permission to shut its Janice installation, which produces around 7,000 barrels per day (bpd) from three UK North Sea oilfields, as the Danish firm reviews its operations due to falling oil prices. It is one of the first North Sea oil fields to be threatened with closure due to the drop in prices, with Brent crude futures having plunged to around $43 a barrel from over $100 a barrel last June. North Sea producers have been under increasing pressure to cut costs and improve production efficiency…

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.

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) lauded H.R. 2028, the U.S. House of Representatives’ fiscal 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that passed today, together with two bipartisan amendments included in the bill. Of particular interest to AAPA is the portion of the bill that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ navigation program, which manages improvements and maintenance of federal navigation channels at U.S. ports. The first amendment, offered by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Rep.

U.S. In response to the findings of investigations into the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, and following a thorough evaluation of recommendations from industry groups, equipment manufacturers, federal agencies, academia and environmental organizations, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced proposed regulations to better protect human lives and the environment from oil spills. The measures include more stringent design requirements and operational procedures for critical well control equipment used in offshore oil and gas operations.

Great Lakes legislators played a key role in yesterday’s vote in the House of Representatives to increase the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ national budget by nearly $58 million. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), along with Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.), authored the amendment to the House’s FY15 Energy & Water Appropriations bill and Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Dan Benishek (R-Mich.) and Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) took the floor to support the measure. The additional funds will…

Today, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) applauded a “Dear Colleague” letter to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Appropriations that was signed by 22 senators, urging appropriators to meet the dredging funding commitments made in the 2014 Water Resources Reform & Development Act (WRRDA), passed in May. That letter, together with a similar one circulated through the House earlier this fall to House Appropriations Committee leadership, supports the “Hit the HMT Target!” campaign to impress upon lawmakers the need to annually fund what was authorized in WRRDA. In July, the House approved fiscal 2015 appropriations that hit the HMT target, thanks to a floor amendment put forth by Cong. Janice Hahn (D-CA) and Cong.

Subsea installation contractor Bibby Offshore has recently commenced work with Maersk Oil UK on a multimillion pound contract that will see Bibby Offshore provide subsea construction and inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services to all of Maersk’s North Sea assets. Dive Support Vessel (DSV) Bibby Sapphire will undertake the offshore execution work, and an extensive engineering project management team based onshore will support this. “We have successfully completed contracts for Maersk Oil in the past and we are delighted to continue our working relationship.

Congresswoman Janice Hahn (Calif.) and Congressman John Duncan Jr. (Tenn.) introduced the “Honoring Our WWII Merchant Mariners Act of 2015,” which would provide a modest benefit to surviving Merchant Marines who served during World War II. More than 200,000 Americans served in the U.S. Merchant Marines and aided military efforts in both Europe and the Pacific during World War II. Thousands of Merchant Mariners faced enemy attack and died at sea while hundreds more were captured and held as prisoners of war. Despite having the highest casualty rate of any U.S. service during the war, they were not eligible to receive veteran’s benefits. “The veterans of the Merchant Marine risked their lives in the service of this nation, but we have never properly thanked them,” said Congresswoman Hahn.

Design, engineering and project management consultancy Atkins, says it has been awarded an engineering support contract covering three of Maersk Oil’s UK assets in the North Sea. The Gryphon FPSO, Global Producer III FPSO and Janice FPU are planned for major offshore inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) works this year, in addition to field expansion works. Maersk has committed to this plan by contracting a dedicated Dive Support Vessel (DSV) for 365 days. In order to ensure this is completed safely and on time…