Local News

If nothing else, building vessels in the U.S. is a complicated business.In a session on the domestic shipbuilding marketplace, at Marine Money’s late-November 2023 conference held in New Orleans, Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards (with more than a dozen facilities, in Mississippi and Louisiana), described his company’s architecture as a “three-legged stool approach: commercial newbuilds, government newbuilds and repair/conversion capabilities”.On the same panel…

Saudi Arabia’s Ras Al-Khair Special Economic Zone (SEZ) said it is seeking local and foreign investors to help boost the Kingdom’s maritime infrastructure.With an initial area of 20 square kilometers, Ras Al-Khair SEZ, operated by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, is an expanding zone with two focus areas, The King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services, and the Offshore Cluster supply chain. The SEZ is located next to Ras Al-Khair Port, the Kingdom’s newest industrial port.Ahmed M.

UK-based offshore vessel designer Chartwell Marine has started the construction of its new Brevity Class crew transfer vessel (CTV) at the Diverse Marine shipyard, becoming the latest in its growing pipeline of new vessel builds to supply the global offshore wind market.Chartwell Marine’s current new build pipeline now exceeds 15 vessels across six local shipyards – with 14 offshore wind vessels launched and operational at major offshore wind farms, including two in U.S. waters.The company’s latest CTV entered build in March 2024…

Hurtigruten is working towards drastically reducing and recycling edible food waste from its fleet operations. A specially designed reactor at one of its ports converts edible food waste into compost used to grow vegetables for Hurtigruten.The initiative encompasses a comprehensive approach to waste management, starting with the sorting of edible food waste onboard Hurtigruten's Original Coastal Express ships during their year-round schedule along the coast of Norway, calling at 34 ports from Bergen in the south to Kirkenes in the north.

For 15 years the Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS), an annual three-day event, has brought together government and maritime industry leaders, port representatives, international and domestic researchers and solution providers to examine current and emerging threats to maritime security. World events highlight that maritime security is increasingly at risk during the current period of great-power competition and ongoing conflicts. The active competition between nations who are not…

Provaris Energy and Norwegian Hydrogen AS have announced a new agreement to jointly progress the identification and development of several sites in the Nordic region for the large-scale production and export of hydrogen to European markets.The projects will utilize locally available renewable energy to produce hydrogen for shipment to European ports. This will assist energy-intensive industries in making an impact on their decarbonization plans and target a scale and level of…

A large number of ports across the United States are making headway toward ambitious decarbonization targets, but many are running up against significant challenges that threaten their progress, according to a new report from classification society ABS and trade group the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).Financial constraints, low technology readiness and physical space limitations are among key obstacles identified the ABS and AAPA report, "Port Decarbonization Survey: Trends and Lessons Learned"…

The FBI said on Monday it opened a criminal probe into the collapse of a Baltimore bridge in March when a ship crashed into a bridge support, while local officials confirmed the recovery of a fourth body from the incident.FBI agents boarded the cargo ship Dali to conduct court-authorized law enforcement activity regarding the crash, an FBI spokesperson said. The spokesperson said there was no other public information available and the bureau will have no further comment.The body…

New York-based Kalypso Offshore Energy on Monday announced it is teaming up with Dutch marine technology group and shipbuilder Royal IHC to design and construct a Jones Act compliant cable lay vessel (CLV)—the first purpose-built for the U.S. offshore wind market.Under a newly signed letter of intent (LOI), the partners are working together to finalize contract, engineering and construction details to domestically produce a 5,000-ton CLV for anticipated delivery in 2028. The partners have not announced which U.S.

The Coastal Sustainability Alliance (CSA), an industry collaborative effort led by Kuok Maritime Group (KMG), has announced the start of construction of its first fully electric PXO-series tug (e-tug) and supply boat (e-supply boat) by PaxOcean Group.The zero-emissions vessels are among the first and largest local electric harbour craft designed for operation in Singapore’s coastal waters. They are targeted for deployment in 2025, ahead of the nation’s goal for all new coastal…

Chinese automakers and shippers are ordering a record number of car-carrying vessels to support a boom in EV exports, data showed, putting China on course to amass the world's fourth-largest fleet by 2028.China currently has the world's eighth-largest fleet with 33 car-carrying ships, showed data from shipping consultancy Veson Nautical. Japan has the world's largest with 283 ships, followed by Norway's 102, South Korea's 72 and Isle of Man's 61.But Chinese companies have 47 ships on order, accounting for a quarter of all orders globally.

Carnival Corporation has released its 14th annual sustainability report detailing how it achieved several 2030 environmental goals well in advance.The company is producing 10+% less absolute GHG emissions today than in 2011, its peak historical year, despite increasing capacity by roughly 30% since that time. Tracking toward its 2030 goal four years ahead of schedule, the company formally committed to reducing its GHG intensity by at least 20% by 2026 (versus 2019 levels; measured on a lower berth capacity basis).

The U.S. Coast Guard has rejected comments by a Chinese diplomat that its recent boardings of Chinese fishing boats in the Pacific Islands alongside local police are illegal, saying the joint patrols are at the behest of Pacific nations to protect coastal fisheries.Reuters reported last month that six Chinese fishing boats were found to be violating Vanuatu's fisheries law after being inspected by local police who were on board the first U.S. Coast Guard boat to patrol the waters of the Pacific Islands nation.China's Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong…

China's Cosco Shipping confirmed that investment in Peru's Chancay port continues and that it expects a quick resolution to a pending question over exclusivity rights to the facility, a local executive told reporters on Tuesday.Carlos Tejada, the company's general manager in Peru, made the announcement at an international trade event in the capital Lima.Last month, the Asian shipping firm said it was evaluating the impact of a move by Peru's government to annul the exclusivity it holds over operations at the under-construction megaport, seen as a key driver of growth for the South American cou

At least one contractor was killed after a fire struck an offshore platform operated by Mexico's national oil company Pemex, the firm said in a statement on Sunday, adding that two others were in "grave" condition.A total of nine workers suffered injuries in the blaze on Saturday afternoon that struck the company's Akal-B platform, located in the southern Gulf of Mexico, where most of Pemex oil output originates.Five of the nine were Pemex employees while the rest were contractors from local service providers Diavaz and COTER.A day earlier…

Norwegian offshore-wind focused vessel owner Norwind Offshore has placed an order for a stand-alone fully electric crane from Seaonics for its newbuild vessel Norwind Helm.The order is for an ECMC 7t-3D crane, and follows the delivery of Seaonics' first electric gangway system to Norwind Hurricane commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) in March 2024.The crane is to be installed in connection with the delivery of the newbuild from Vard Brattvaag end of November 2024 and…

At least 94 people died, including children, and 26 are missing after a ferry boat capsized off the northern coast of Mozambique, an official from the country's Maritime Transport Institute (INTRASMAR) said.The vessel was an overloaded fishing boat and was not licensed to transport people, Lourenco Machado, an administrator of INSTRASMAR, said on state television on Monday."On Sunday we registered a maritime incident where at least 94 people died when a barge carrying 130 people capsized.

Unified Command dive teams have recovered the body of a missing person at the Key Bridge incident site in Baltimore.The recovered individual was identified as 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval.Unified Command salvage dive teams located what they believed to be the missing construction worker and notified the Maryland Department of State Police. Maryland State Police Underwater Recovery Team deployed in coordination with dive teams from allied law enforcement partners and recovered Suazo-Sandoval.Maryland State Police investigators…

A resolution to end a dispute between Peru and China's Cosco Shipping could come as soon as this week to ensure a megaport will start operations as planned by the end of the year, Peru's Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen said on Thursday.The Peruvian port authority said in Marchit hoped to annul its decision granting exclusivity of the port's operations to Cosco, citing an "administrative error."Cosco, which is investing $1.3 billion in the first stage of the terminal, has said the push affects the "security and legal stability of investments."On Thursday…

Crowley Maritime Corporation has owned and operated a lot of vessels since its founding in 1892. But the latest vessel to join its fleet is unlike any other that has come before it.Crowley’s new harbor tug, eWolf, is unique in that it runs 100% powered by batteries, not diesel engines, meaning it produces zero emissions and nearly no noise. Not only is the vessel the first fully electric tug in the Crowley fleet, but it is also the first of its kind in the United States.Faced with stricter regulations and commercial pressure to prioritize environmental…

The state of Great Lakes port infrastructure is one of the biggest issues facing the U.S. and Canadian maritime industries. According to the America Great Lakes Ports Association, “Due to years of inadequate funding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been unable to maintain Great Lakes navigation infrastructure. Over the next five years Great Lakes navigation channels will require $540 million of dredging to maintain authorized channel dimensions. Breakwaters and other federal…

As Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi once said, “Growth in commercial shipbuilding facilitates growth in the battle fleet.” Sen. Wicker shrewdly recognizes that America’s manufacturing capacity and national security are deeply intertwined. A robust commercial shipbuilding and repair industry is a critical cornerstone of this capacity.For the shipyard industrial base to remain strong and competitive, American innovators need a forward-thinking comprehensive American maritime strategy…

Virginia-class submarines, an aircraft carrier and frigates being built for the U.S. Navy are now years behind schedule because of skilled labor shortages, design issues, and supply chain challenges stemming from the pandemic, the Navy said on Tuesday.U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro in January ordered a comprehensive review to examine national and local causes of the challenges to shipbuilding with Tuesday's results showing that five classes of ships being built for the U.S.