Kent News

NAVTOR, an e-Navigation and performance technology provider to the maritime industry, and Voyager Worldwide, a provider of maritime technology solutions, have agreed to merge.The combined company will deliver products and solutions to approximately 18,000 vessels globally. The transaction is expected to close by December 2023.Both companies provide maritime technology solutions that enable shipping companies to improve safety, efficiency, compliance, and operational performance…

Canadian marine coatings company Graphite Innovation & Technologies (GIT) announced Kent Young has joined its board of directors.A former senior director of technology for the global supply chain R&D at Sherwin Williams, Young will provide strategic guidance and expertise across a range of areas as GIT scales-up its business. Young’s extensive background in coatings, along with his experience in supply chain, risk management, raw material selection, R&D processes and product innovation will accelerate GIT’s growth, the company said.

The Port of Corpus Christi on Wednesday named Chief Financial Officer Kent Britton as its new chief executive officer to head the largest U.S. oil-export port by volume.The appointment comes nearly four months after Sean Strawbridge, the previous chief executive, abruptly resigned after he was questioned about his business expenses.Strawbridge has said all his expenses were in compliance with port policies and state statutes, and have all cleared the internal review process and…

In addition to wind, offshore wind demands human energy, individuals with knowledge and skills first to build and then operate and maintain the dozens of projects required to meet President Biden’s 2030 goal of 30 GW of offshore generation. In an October 2022 National Renewable Energy Laboratory report – “U.S. Offshore Wind Workforce Assessment” – the authors estimate that it will require, on average, between 15,000 and 58,000 employees annually, depending on domestic content scenarios, to build out a huge new wind machine.Mariners and mariner training are integral to offshore wind.

The seafarer home nations of the Philippines and Indonesia are working to equip their maritime workers with the skill sets needed to deliver a low and zero-carbon maritime sector.Speaking at the ‘Seizing opportunities for green shipping in Asia and the Pacific’ conference organized by the Philippines' Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), on May 15, Philippine Transmarine Carriers CEO Gerardo A. Borromeo said: “There is no doubt that the skill set for a career at sea is evolving.

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) announced that Mark Heward has joined its team as Director. Heward came aboard with MITAGS in October 2022, after retiring from a 22-year active service career in the Royal Navy.“We are thrilled to welcome Mark Heward aboard as the Director of MITAGS. Mark’s underway time, leadership, management and training experience together with being fully STCW qualified and his continuing education experience are a rare combination,” said Eric Friend, MITAGS Executive Director.

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) said Friday that Mark Heward had joined as Director of MITAGS.Heward came aboard with MITAGS in October 2022, after retiring from a 22-year active service career in the Royal Navy.Eric Friend, MITAGS Executive Director, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Heward Heward aboard as the Director of MITAGS. Mark’s underway time, leadership, management, and training experience, together with being fully STCW qualified…

For 21 years, Fort Prinzenstein's caretaker James Ocloo Akorli has watched the Gulf of Guinea's tempestuous waters eat away at both his livelihood and his heritage.The 18th century Danish citadel, set along Ghana's palm-fringed coastline, was once the last stop for captured Africans before they were forced onto slave ships bound for the Americas.Today, three-quarters of the UNESCO World Heritage site has been swallowed by the sea."There have been mornings after a storm when I have come to find large parts of the fort have just disappeared…

John Ehresmann loves that the cost of shipping an ocean container from Asia to a U.S. port or buying a load of lumber has fallen back to earth.If only that were true for everything he buys — but it’s not.Some parts of his supply chain have clearly improved, said the vice president of global supply for Graco Inc, the Minneapolis-based maker of fluid handling equipment such as paint sprayers. But the complex nature of global supply chains means that companies like Graco are still struggling…

Long queues of holidaymakers and lorries built up on Saturday outside the Port of Dover, Britain's main gateway to Europe, and officials said the disruption could be worse than the logjam seen on Friday.Travelers setting out at the start of the British school summer holidays, as well as the usual flow of goods lorries, have faced long delays because of slow border checks.The Kent Resilience Forum, which brings together local councils and emergency services, declared a "major incident"…

The fire on board the barge in the Delaware Bay that started burning on Monday, has been extinguished Tuesday, and Northstar Environmental and Marine Services has been contracted to assess the integrity of the vessel and manage salvage operations, U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.A Unified Command consisting of representatives from Eastern Metal Recycling, New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, Cumberland County Office of Emergency Management, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard has been established to oversee salvage operations.According to the U.S.

Greenpeace protesters have blocked the entry of a Greek tanker into a southern English port due to its Russian fuel cargo with police making arrests, the green group said on Monday.Britain and the EU have separately banned Russian-flagged vessels from their ports, with exemptions, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in what the Kremlin describes as a "special military operation."The UK has said it will phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year, which has meant that foreign-flagged vessels carrying Russian cargoes are still able to call at ports for the time being.Greenpeace said 12 activists occupied a jetty on Sunday evening in Navigator Terminals' Thames site in Essex…

Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is detaining a second P&O ferry, the Pride of Kent, following safety checks by the authorities, Sky News reported on Monday.The MCA earlier in the day said the ferry was undergoing checks to ensure it was safe to put to sea without passengers or cargo, ahead of a full inspection at a later date, Sky News said.The report comes after Britain said it will force ferry operators docking in its ports to pay the minimum wage as it stepped up pressure on P&O Ferries to rehire 800 workers the company fired without notice in favor of cheaper staff.(Reuters

Britain said on Monday it will force ferry operators docking in its ports to pay the minimum wage as it stepped up pressure on P&O Ferries to rehire 800 workers who the company fired without notice in favor of cheaper staff.P&O, which is owned by Dubai ports firm DP World, said it had decided to break the law and fire workers on the spot so it could instead hire cheaper agency staff after losing 100 million pounds ($132 million) last year due to COVID-19 curbs.The Conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned the move…

Sea Change - America’s first hydrogen powered ferrySWITCH Maritime’s new 70-foot passenger ferry Sea Change is navigating uncharted waters as the United States’ first zero-emissions, hydrogen fuel cell-powered, electric-drive ferry.The pioneering aluminum newbuild, constructed by Bellingham, Wash. shipbuilder All American Marine, Inc. (AAM), has been completed and was launched this summer, though permitting of hydrogen fuel systems for maritime vessels is still being worked out with the U.S. Coast Guard.“Legislation and laws for passenger safety did not exist yet for this type of vessel.

The Port of Los Angeles is beginning the hard work of convincing terminal operators, importers, warehouses owners and trucking firms to embrace moving more cargo at night."It's not a single lever we can pull today to open up all the gates," Executive Director Gene Seroka said on Thursday.On Wednesday, the White House gathered stakeholders including retailers Walmart and Home Depot, logistics firms United Parcel Service and FedEx, and electronics supplier Samsung. The companies…

Ingram Marine Group held a re-christening ceremony on August 30 for four towboats that are part of its inland waterways fleet."At Ingram, we name our vessels after Ingram associates and affiliates who have made a huge difference to our business, which makes these events an incredibly special time for all of us," said Orrin Ingram, Chairman of Ingram Barge Company and CEO of Ingram Industries. "I thank the four men being honored for all that they’ve done for Ingram and the marine industry at large…

Two small children were among the dozens of migrants rescued from the English Channel on Tuesday after a summer that has seen record numbers attempt the dangerous journey from France.This year, hundreds of boats carrying migrants have attempted the dangerous crossing from France to England, often in small, inflatable dinghies that get into difficulties in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.On one day in August, at least 482 migrants crossed the Channel by boat, a record daily number.Reuters witnesses on Tuesday saw two boats arrive at the headland of Dungeness in Kent…

Two ferry operators on the English Channel on Tuesday announced a deal to make freight space on their Dover-Calais ships available to one another to maintain customer service levels on the route and ensure its continued resilience.Under the space charter agreement between P&O Ferries and DFDS, freight drivers can arrive at either the Port of Dover or Port of Calais and board the next available sailing, irrespective of whether the ferry is operated by either company.David Stretch…

A stranded container ship blocking the Suez Canal threatens to make it even more difficult for European and U.S. retailers to keep products in stock during the coronavirus pandemic.The Suez Canal saga that began on Tuesday and could go on for weeks, is just the latest crisis to strike the global supply chain that was upended when coronavirus shutdowns spurred house-bound consumers to upgrade appliances, sofas, televisions and backyards.IKEA, the world’s largest furniture seller…

In the last year, the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the risks of working in what was already one of the most hostile environments on Earth. But, with the first anniversary of the outbreak not long in our collective rear-view mirrors, offshore workers in the North Sea are facing a twin threat: emerging new variants of the virus and increasing Covid-fatigue and complacency.The UK offshore industry has achieved an enviable safety record during the pandemic, due in large measure to the widespread testing of offshore workers before mobilization.

This year, despite innumerable challenges and setbacks, a great number of new U.S.-flagged vessels made their way into service. In addition to Maid of the Mist's new electric tour boats James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla featured Wednesday, the newbuilds highlighted below are some of the most noteworthy to come out of U.S. shipyards in 2020.DredgerU.S. dredging contractors have been adding tonnage in a big way. This Spring, Callan Marine added a significant piece to the U.S. fleet with its new Jones Act cutterhead suction dredge (CSD) General MacArthur.

Estonia, Sweden and Finland will look into fresh evidence on the sinking of the ferry Estonia, which went down 26 years ago on Monday with the loss of 852 lives in Europe’s worst peacetime maritime disaster since World War Two.The roll-on roll-off ferry, carrying 803 passengers and 186 crew, sank on a stormy Baltic Sea shortly after midnight on Sept. 28, 1994. The official investigation in 1997 concluded that the bow shield had failed, damaging the bow ramp and flooding the car deck.However…