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05 Feb 2024

Up to 35 Aframax Tankers Could Switch to Carrying Cleaner Fuel -Kpler

© Vladimir / Adobe Stock

As many as 35 oil tankers that usually carry crude or fuel oil could switch to carrying cleaner products like diesel and jet fuel in the next two months as shipowners chase higher profitability, oil analytics firm Kpler said in a LinkedIn post.An LR2 (long-range 2) type tanker typically carries cargoes of about 90,000 metric tons of cleaner fuels.

18 Jul 2023

Panama's Arsenio Dominguez Elected as IMO Secretary General

Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco (Photo: IMO)

The International Maritime Organization's Council (IMO) has elected Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco from Panama as its secretary-general, the UN shipping agency said on Tuesday.Dominguez beat six other contenders from China, Turkey, Kenya, Finland, Dominica and Bangladesh in a vote and will take office on January 1, 2024, for a four-year term, subject to the approval of the IMO Assembly.Dominguez will take the helm at a crucial time as the shipping industry grapples with challenges including pressures to speed up decarbonization.A trained naval architect…

27 Jun 2023

Canadian Safety Regulators Open Probe into Fatal Loss of Titan Submersible

File photo: OceanGate Expeditions

Canadian safety officials on Friday opened an investigation into the undersea implosion of a tourist submersible that killed all five people aboard while diving to the century-old wreck of the Titanic, raising questions about the unregulated nature of such expeditions.A debris field from the submersible Titan was found at the bottom of the North Atlantic on Thursday by a robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian search vessel, ending an intense five-day international rescue effort.Fragments of Titan…

03 Mar 2023

BOA OCV to Sell Subsea Construction Vessel BOA Sub C

BOA Sub C - Credit: BOA OCV

The Norwegian company BOA OCV said Monday it had agreed to sell the subsea construction vessel BOA Sub C. The company did not say who the buyer was or what the vessel's sale price was."After completion of closing, BOA OCV expects, over one or several sweeps over the next three months, to distribute approximately 100-120 percent of the current outstanding amount under the Bonds. Closing is expected to occur during the first half of February," BOA OCV said.BOA Sub C is a 2007-built vessel. It is 138.5 meters long, has a deck space of 2,004 m2, and 153 beds for accommodation.

07 Oct 2022

Allseas' Vessel Trio Goes Hybrid with Kongsberg Maritime Help

Allseas is fitting its pipelay vessels Solitaire and Audacia, as well as the multi-purpose vessel Fortitude, with hybrid power technology from Kongsberg Maritime.The offshore installation firm says that vessel hybridization is key to its strategy to minimize the impact on the environment by optimizing efficiency and reducing emissions across its operations."Energy storage technology optimizes energy and load-sharing capability. Batteries store energy when demand is low and deliver it back when demand increases, shaving peaks in power demand. The result is optimal engine loading with improved fuel efficiency and reduced running hours."…

12 Apr 2022

Gen2 Energy Awards Design Contract for Two Hydrogen Carriers

©Gen2 Energy

Norwegian ship designer Sirius Design & Integration has won a contract with Norway-based company Gen2 Energy AS to design two specialized ships for the transport of large quantities of containers with compressed hydrogen.The Gen2 container carriers will be about 190 meters long and will be able to carry 500 40-foot containers."The vessels will be designed with the aim of leaving the least possible climate footprint. Using hydrogen in the propulsion systems of the vessels will be part of the design work.

12 Apr 2022

Interferry 2022 'Call for Papers'

Copyright Andy Chisholm/AdobeStock

Interferry has launched a call for papers addressing the ‘Power and People’ themes of its 46th annual conference taking place in Seattle, Washington, in October 2022.Under the Power theme, presentations are invited on any sustainable, future-proof vessel powering options and the related challenges – notably the regulatory targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions of some 50% by 2030 and a ‘net zero’ scenario by 2050. With electrification emerging as the ferry industry’s key driver towards these goals…

01 Apr 2022

Bunker Suppliers Stop Serving Russian Vessels in the Med

© Alex Stemmers / Adobe Stock

Marine fuel sellers have stopped serving vessels flying the Russian flag at major European hubs including Spain and Malta in another blow to Moscow's exports, five industry sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Losing access to refueling points in the Mediterranean Sea poses major logistical problems for Russian oil tankers going from Baltic ports to Asia and also creates safety concerns over potentially being stuck at sea with flammable cargoes, shipping sources say.Russia…

13 Jan 2022

Is Baltic Sea Special Area for Passenger Ships Really Special?

Photo copyright Baranov/AdobeStock

The persistent eutrophication (being too rich in nutrients) of the Baltic Sea prompted the IMO’s Baltic Member States to tackle shipping’s < 0.1% contribution by designating the Baltic Sea as the first Special Area under Annex IV of IMO’s MARPOL Convention [1]. Passenger ships must give sewage to wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) ashore via the port reception facilities (PRFs) or operate a nutrient removal sewage treatment plant (STP) on board prior to discharge. It has been perceived as a positive move. But how special is the Special Area?Rules at sea vs.

10 May 2021

OPINION: Regulating Grey Water ... the Time is Now

© lancesagar/AdobeStock

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…

02 Nov 2020

US Shipyards: Always on the Job Hunt

Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corp is constantly on the lookout for quality tradesmen. (Photo: Gulf Copper)

American shipyards form an important economic engine, supporting nearly 400,000 jobs, $25.1 billion of labor income and $37.3 billion in gross domestic product (GDP), according to figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD).It’s a good thing, then, that U.S. shipyards were deemed essential businesses amid COVID-19 and have remained up and running throughout the pandemic. And it’s even better that most yards have been able to keep their workers employed despite less than stable market conditions…

23 Aug 2020

Ex-Maersk Executive Charged in Petrobras Corruption Scheme

© Oleksandr / Adobe Stock

Brazilian prosecutors pressed charges on Friday against two people for an alleged scheme to obtain confidential market information from Petrobras to benefit A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world's largest shipping company.The case stems from an investigation that started in 2014 as part of Brazil's sprawling Car Wash scandal, which has since included suppliers like Maersk and uncovered corruption throughout multiple countries in more than 70 police operations.A statement released by prosecutors on Friday said a former Maersk executive in Brazil…

06 Aug 2020

Beirut's Accidental Cargo: How an Unscheduled Port Visit Led to Disaster

The chemicals that went up in flames in Beirut's deadliest peace-time explosion arrived in the Lebanese capital seven years ago on a leaky Russian-leased cargo ship that, according to its captain, should never have stopped there."They were being greedy," said Boris Prokoshev, who was captain of the Rhosus in 2013 when he says the owner told him to make an unscheduled stop in Lebanon to pick up extra cargo.Prokoshev said the ship was carrying 2,750 tonnes of a highly combustible chemical from Georgia to Mozambique when the order came to divert to Beirut on its way through the Mediterranean.The crew were asked to load some heavy road equipment and take it to Jordan's Port of Aqaba before resuming their journey onto Africa…

06 Jan 2020

Flex LNG Launches New LNG Carrier

Norway-based player in LNG Shipping with a focus on LNG Carriers and FSRUs (Floating Storage Regasification Units) Flex LNG has launched the 173,400m³ Flex Resolute LNG carrier at South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard.According to LinkedIn post of Flex LNG, the new-building number 2480, to be named Flex Resolute, has been launched on January 5.Flex Resolute is a 173,400 cbm two-stroke vessel fitted with a full re-liquefaction system (MEGI-FRS) giving a boil off rate (BOR) of 0.035 percent.The company said that once fully refurbished and mobilized the vessel will be available for business in the third quarter of 2020.

12 Aug 2019

Mitigating Maritime Risk

© Oleksii Fadieiev/Adobe Stock

“The First Steps in Mitigating Contemporary Risks to our Strategic Sea Lines of Communication”It is indisputable that the world’s economy floats on seawater. It is equally indisputable that international maritime transportation is the tool that keeps the global economy moving. The world economy has surged over the last half century, and that growth has been largely driven by globalization and the consequent reduction in barriers to trade. Any operational disruptions in maritime transportation have wider consequences for society…

01 Mar 2019

Euronav to Deploy ULCC for LSFO Storage

File Image: AdobeStock / © Jose Gill

Euronav, one of the largest tanker companies in the world, will deploy one of its two ultra large crude carriers (ULCC) to store cleaner marine fuel ahead of a major regulatory change in 2020, the Belgium-headquartered group said on Friday.From January 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will ban ships from using fuels with a sulphur content above 0.5 percent, compared with 3.5 percent now, in one of the biggest changes in the oil market in decades.Only ships fitted…

26 Apr 2018

Danish Man Gets Life for Murdering Journalist on His Submarine

UC3 Nautilus in 2008 (File photo: Frumperino)

Danish inventor Peter Madsen was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for murdering, sexually mutilating and dismembering a Swedish female journalist with premeditation aboard his home-made submarine in Copenhagen harbor in 2017.Madsen, dressed entirely in black, sat motionless as the Copenhagen City Court handed down its verdict in a grisly case straight from the pages of a dark Scandinavian psycho-thriller.Already well known in Denmark for his submarines and his plan to send a human into space in a home-made rocket…

14 Sep 2017

BWTS Manufacturer OceanSaver Bankrupt

Insufficient liquidity has led Norwegian ballast water treatment system manufacturer OceanSaver to file for bankruptcy. The company’s board of directors filed a petition to dissolve the company on September 13. Established in 2003, OceanSaver was among the first suppliers to be approved by IMO in 2008 and obtained USCG type approval in December 2016. However, OceanSaver said it faced “significant downward pressure on equipment prices,” brought on by continued low shipbuilding activity as well as IMO’s MEPC 71 July decision to push back deadlines for ship owners to retrofit ballast water treatment systems. Also in July, the company lost a four-year arbitration against filter maker Bollfilter, which forced the company to pay all arbitration costs and both parties’ legal fees.

24 Dec 2015

CRIC Designs Prototype for Collaborative Detailing System

The Chief of Naval Operations' (CNO) Rapid Innovation Cell (CRIC) recently developed a basic prototype for an information system that will promote more collaboration between Sailors and commands during the job detailing process. "Our goal is to build a process that is transparent, flexible and gives more influence to commands, so they can build better teams, as well as to Sailors so they can have more say over their lives," said Lt. Cmdr. Mike Mabrey, CRIC project lead. Their clickable prototype represents the progress achieved after a two-day workshop with digital-services consulting group 18F, who strive to bring the best practices from top tech companies and startups to government systems.

24 Oct 2015

Human Factor Competencies for Future Mariner

Capt Pradeep Chawla, Managing Director QHSE & Training, Anglo-Eastern Ship Management Ltd., Presented a paper at the Nautical Institute Hong Kong Branch Seminar – “Competencies of a Future Mariner” on 23 October 2015. This paper discusses the changes that are taking place in the maritime industry and their effects on the daily life of the seafarers. It further discusses the human factor competencies that will be essential for the future mariner. The last two decades have been extremely fast paced with respect to technology influencing every walk of life. Internet, Google, Facebook, Linkedin, smartphones, WhatsApp etc. and their effects on the way we communicate, interact and learn are well-known.

22 May 2015

US Oil Platform on Fire in Gulf Of Mexico

An oil platform caught fire and was evacuated in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore Louisiana in the early hours of Friday, though no injuries were reported, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Fire-fighting crews worked to contain the fire on Friday near Breton Island, 50 miles (80 km) offshore New Orleans, the Coast Guard said. All 28 people were evacuated from the platform. It was unclear what caused the incident or how much oil leaked into the ocean, but the Coast Guard said it has observed a 1.4 nautical mile rainbow sheen drifting southwest of the platform. The platform, owned by Texas Petroleum Investment Co, has an estimated 4,000 barrels of crude oil on board, the Coast Guard said. It was not clear if the company also operated the well.

15 Apr 2015

Talking Offshore Employment with Faststream’s Chief Executive

Mark Charman

With the energy market swoon in full blossom, Maritime Reporter checked in with Mark Charman, chief executive of global recruiting leader Faststream, for his insights on the breadth and depth of the impact to the offshore employment market. Uncertainty. If there is one word that summarizes current global energy market conditions, it is uncertainty. The sudden downturn in oil pricing – which started nine months ago and collectively caught much of the global market by surprise…

30 Jan 2015

31 ARENA Projects Completed

ARENA has invested $1 billion in more than 230 projects, fellowships and scholarships that are paving the way for a more diverse energy future for Australia. Thirty one of these projects have now been completed, with many more scheduled to reach key milestones and/or completion in 2015. Each of these projects is producing valuable knowledge and outcomes that are being shared with the energy industry to help overcome challenges and advance renewable energy in Australia. For example, the South Australian Centre for Geothermal Energy Research’s project has produced a reliable tool for accurate, pre-drilling predictions of geothermal energy reservoir characteristics. This could lead to a significant improvement in geothermal energy exploration and development.