Mae An News

The Philippines and China traded accusations on Sunday over a collision of their vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea as tensions over claims in the vital waterway escalate.The Philippine coast guard accused China of firing water cannons and ramming resupply vessels and a coast guard ship, causing "serious engine damage" to one, while China's coast guard said the Philippine vessel intentionally rammed its ship.China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce…

Lithium-ion batteries and other possible ignition sources could pose a fire safety issue in the transportation of scrap materials as cargo, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday.Although scrap metal cargo is typically nonhazardous and poses a low fire risk, there have been several recent fires involving such cargo. In January 2022, a shoreside pile caught fire in Newark, N.J. Two international vessels carrying scrap material experienced cargo fires in 2022…

Naval shipyards and industry partners see business growing, but finding enough trained and qualified workers is a challenge.General Dynamics Electric Boat will invest $1.7 billion to modernize and upgrade its Quonset, R.I. and Groton, Conn., facilities over the next ten years,” said Sean Davies , vice president for EB’s Quonset Point Operations. “Here at Quonset, we are investing $700 million that will increase our outfitting space by 13 acres, to support work on the Virginia and Columbia class of submarines.

A total of 74 crews including boat captains were apprehended by the joint personnel from Monitoring Control and Surveillance (MCS) 3004 vessel manned by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 5, and Coast Guard Station (CGS) Masbate in coordination with Local Government Units onboard five (5) Danish Seine (Hulbot-Hulbot, Buli-Buli) fishing vessels at vicinity Balud, Jintotolo and Zapatos Islands along Sibuyan Sea in Masbate yesterday, May 12. While conducting maritime patrol at the vicinity, personnel from MCS 3004 sighted said hulbot-hulbot vessels while illegally fishing using Danish Seine method on said islands along Sibuyan Sea.

“The Daisy Mae is the closest you can get to Z-drive maneuverability, without the cost of Z-drive,” maintains her builder Joseph Rodriguez of Rodriguez Ship Building Inc. in Bayou LaBatre, Ala. Rodriguez has designed and built a lot of tugs over the years and doesn’t make this claim lightly. Further more he backs it up with his description of the beamy 82 by 32-foot tug that his yard delivered to Coeymans Marine Towing. This is one of the Carver group companies based at the Port of Coeymans 110 miles up the Columbia River from New York.

Earlier this year I was part of a safety meeting with several marine towing companies and the topic turned to leadership on our towing vessels. Companies are coming to the realization that many of their captains are not masters of the vessels. For years, the industry has taken control of the vessels from the captains and kept it in the office. I used to hear this lament from captains that I worked with in the nineties, “They don’t pay us to think.” And although the words have changed, the same old lament is there.

The Coast Guard rescued two people off their sinking vessel Friday, about 17 miles off shore from York, Maine. At around 3:15 p.m., Coast Guard Sector Northern New England received a MAYDAY call on VHF-CH. 16 from a crew member reporting their 45-foot lobster boat, Miss Mae & Son, was hit with a rogue wave and the pumps could not keep up with the water. A boat crew from Station Portsmouth Harbor launched their 47-foot response boat and arrived on the scene to find the fishermen standing on the pilot house in full survival gear. Due to safety concerns, the fishermen jumped into the water and the boat crew pulled alongside to bring them on board. The water temperature was 42 degrees and the air temperature was 37 degrees.

The emergence of the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) concept has seen an unprecedented focus on development activity and has reinforced the commercial interest in these facilities. However, as the industry strives to make the concept a reality, in addition to the already formidable risks present in conventional projects, a plethora of distinctive risks associated with FLNG have now been added to the mix, with little industry experience to learn from. Simply adapting risk and safety concepts of land-based LNG developments is not the solution…

Two safety and survival systems developed for use in the UK’s offshore sector by the Survitec Group were recognised for their industry-leading importance when they won the Safety Innovations Award in the recent Offshore Achievement Award organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). The Safety Innovations Award recognises excellence in innovative technology and products that have been developed in the UK and which contribute to offshore safety. In particular, it looks at how they contribute to the overall objective of improving individual, plant or operational safety in the offshore energy sector (oil and gas and all forms of renewables).

India has expressed the hope that the Asean-India Maritime Transport cooperation agreement will be finalised by the end of the year, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said. "We have identified maritime cooperation as a major area and both sides have started talks on a maritime transport pact which could be firmed up by year-end," she said. ASEAN is India's fourth largest trading partner and the annual trade between the two sides stood at over $76 billion in 2013. In the backdrop of growing Chinese influence in South China Sea, India and Asean (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries are discussing the evolving maritime security architecture in the region. “The idea is to evolve security architecture in the region...

When the 172-year old tall ship Charles W. Morgan sets out on its historic 38th voyage on June 14, it will benefit from safety enhancements that were unheard of at the time of its construction – including a pair of Xantrex Freedom SW 24V - 3000W/75A inverter/chargers that deliver a full 6,000 watts of continuous electrical power. Built in 1841, the Charles W. Morgan is the last of an American whaling fleet that once numbered more than 2,700 vessels. Over an 80-year whaling career, it embarked on 37 voyages, most lasting three years or more. Retired in 1921, the ship was used as a set for two Hollywood films (Down to the Sea in Ships, starring a young Clara Bow, and Java Head, with Ralph Richardson and Anna Mae Wong).

Shipyards along the coast of Louisiana have been turning out high-speed aluminum crew boats for several decades now. While ever larger and faster new vessels are being launched, many of the smaller older vessels continue to give good service in other waters. Trinidad Mooring & Launch has a fleet of vessels providing a range of services including pilot transfers, chandlery, mooring, dive support, off shore transportation and seismic support. The firm recently arranged with local San Juan…

WTS International, the association for the professional advancement of women in transportation, elected Beverley K. Swaim-Staley, President and CEO of Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC), to the position of Vice Chair of its board of directors. The position, left vacant when the board’s previous vice chair, Dana Hook, P.E., Vice President at CDM Smith, moved into the position of Chair in 2012. As President of URSC, Swaim-Staley leads the development and implementation of a comprehensive master plan for Union Station in Washington, DC.

Ampal-American Israel Corporation (AMPL) announced that Merhav-Ampal Energy Ltd. (MAE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ampal, has commenced offers in Israel to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock and all outstanding convertible debentures of Gadot Chemical Tankers And Terminals Ltd. The consummation of the offer to purchase the Shares is conditioned upon, among other things, the tender of at least 15.72% of the outstanding Shares of Gadot and the tender of a sufficient number of convertible debentures such that Gadot will not be reporting issuer due to the convertible debentures. If the offers to purchase the Shares and convertible debentures are consummated…

Ampal-American Israel Corporation (AMPL) announced that Merhav-Ampal Energy Ltd. (MAE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ampal, has commenced offers in to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock and all outstanding convertible debentures of Gadot Chemical Tankers And Terminals Ltd. The consummation of the offer to purchase the Shares is conditioned upon, among other things, the tender of at least 15.72% of the outstanding Shares of Gadot and the tender of a sufficient number of convertible debentures such that Gadot will not be reporting issuer due to the convertible debentures. If the offers to purchase the Shares and convertible debentures are consummated…

Vision Technologies Systems, Inc. and ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering -- as a result of Hurricane Ivan. Marine’s Pascagoula, Miss.-based headquarters. Montgomery, Alabama, where VT Miltope is located. the proper precautions to protect their homes and families. Wednesday at noon. Aerospace Engineering is minimal. next week.

Richard J. An Oregon charter fishing boat captain was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment today in federal court in Portland. Richard J. Oba, of Winchester Bay, was the owner and captain of the Sydney Mae II, a 38 foot boat Oba used to conduct fishing charters. On September 19, 2005, Oba steered the boat into dangerous waters after being warned to stay away by the U. S. Coast Guard. The boat was struck by large wave and sunk off the Umpqua River Bar, killing three passengers. Oba had pled guilty to three counts of Seaman’s Manslaughter, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1115. The Honorable Ancer L. Haggerty, Chief Judge, agreed with prosecutors that Oba had acted recklessly, and upwardly departed to sentence Oba to 6 years. The sentence is believed to be the longest ever in this type of case.

The last all-gun cruiser in the U.S. Navy’s inventory is finally headed for the scrapyard. The cruiser Des Moines began the long tow to Texas on Aug. 21 from a storage facility in Philadelphia, where it had been kept for 45 years. Although the Navy planned to get rid of the ship more than a decade ago, disposal was put off while several preservation groups attempted to preserve the Des Moines as a museum ship. None of those efforts came to fruition, and the Navy decided in May to scrap the ship. On Aug. 21 — the same day the ship left Philadelphia — a $924,000 contract to dismantle the Des Moines was awarded to ESCO Marine of Brownsville, Texas. Under tow by the Navy salvage ship Grasp, the Des Moines is expected to arrive in Brownsville around Sept.

Passengers told of an impact like an earthquake Aug. 24 when their cruise liner and a cargo ship collided in the dead of night in the English Channel. "I'm from Los Angeles and I can only compare it to a 7.5 Richter scale earthquake. It was that violent," said Edna Mae Glikmann. Only three passengers on the Bahamas-registered liner Norwegian Dream, owned and operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, were injured in the collision, which left the containership adrift and ablaze in the Channel, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Shares in NCL fell sharply on the Oslo bourse after the collision, even though the company said that insurance would cover the damage to the Bahamas-registered vessel and any loss of revenues.

Gregg Trunnell, Director of the Pacific Maritime Institute (PMI), announced that their U.S. Coast Guard approved 500/1600 Ton Mate Program is scheduled to begin on May 30, 2006. Funding for this program is now available through the Veterans Administration for G.I. Benefits and from SLM Financial Corporation, a "Sallie Mae" Company. "The Mate Program is an innovative two-year training curriculum that is aimed at creating a larger pool of qualified Able-Seamen and Mates for the towing industry. The Program is organized so that every shore-based training phase is reinforced by an onboard training phase. This approach allows trainees to apply their new knowledge and skills on the job," said Gregg Trunnell.

The Phillippine Star reported that 21 bodies have been recovered so far after a small outrigger ferry sailing from Masbate sank in rough waters caused by winds spawned by Typhoon Caloy. More than 10,000 passengers were also stranded as air and ferry services were suspended. The Coast Guard said 18 other passengers of the motorboat Mae An had been rescued since May 12, when it capsized off Masbate after ignoring a general warning from authorities stopping all small vessels from sailing as the storm approached.