Magdalena River News

The ideal solution for the tightening regulatory noose also brings a different (and welcome) shade of ‘green’ for workboat operators.As the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ramps up enforcement of regulations that mandate that all vessels over 24 meters (78 feet) operating in US waters must switch over to EALs in all oil-to-sea interfaces before their next drydocking, it is an arguably good time to be in the lubricants business. At the same time, Thordon Bearings, a manufacturer of seawater lubricated bearings for the marine industry has its own thoughts on that very topic. Specifically, Craig Carter, Thordon Bearings’ Director of Marketing and Customer Service, asks, “What is the point in shipowners investing in costly bio-lubricants when seawater is widely available and 100% free?

Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht is looking to dispose of its entire stake in Colombia's Magdalena River navigability project, as the company battles corruption allegations across Latin America, an official told Reuters. Odebrecht had last year planned to give up most of its 87 percent stake in the Navelena consortium, tasked with the 2.5 trillion peso ($854 million) effort to increase cargo capacity on the river, sending the government on a fruitless months-long search for a replacement. But the company later decided to keep a majority of its share after Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui bank said it would finance $250 million of the project.

The first four of 15 Impala Terminals Colombia-operated tug/tow boats have been converted from oil to water-lubricated tailshaft bearings. Impala Zambrano, the first of 15 triple-screw and twin-screw push boats scheduled for oil-to-water conversion, was retrofitted in July 2015 with a Thordon RiverTough bearing and TG100 shaft seal combination. Three triple-screw and one twin-screw pusher vessels have since been converted and Thordon’s Colombian distributor Delta Marine and River Services will now work on the next vessels in the series.

The growing worldwide demand for marine technologies, port construction and shipbuilding is generating new export opportunities for U.S. companies. As more firms look to boost their bottom line by maximizing their reach to the more than 95 percent of world consumers who live outside of the United States, many are taking advantage of numerous export resources along the way. At the same time, many other businesses have yet to export. International Trade Specialist Maryanne Burke leads the U.S. Commercial Service’s Marine Technology Team, and is based at the Boston U.S.

Your company is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year. Please provide an overview of your activities. The Lindley group of companies began its activities in 1930 with the establishment of Ahlers, Lindley, Lda. as a distributor of harbour and industrial equipment in Lisbon, Portugal. Today the group activities evolved to manufacture, distribution and service of port infrastructure. Ahlers Lindley and Almarin share engineering and production capabilities pooling design and manufacture of fixed and floating structures for the marine environment.

The hulking backhoe dredges up rocks and silt from the shallows of the muddy Magdalena River in the first laborious step to transform the waterway into an engine of economic growth. The excavation along a verdant stretch near Barrancabermeja, an inland oil and coal hub, is part of a $600 million government bid to reclaim the river, once Colombia's primary transport route. By clearing logjams, the aim is to allow big cargo barges to steam up 900 km (560 miles) from the Caribbean coast to Puerto Salgar, close to the capital Bogota.

Colombia awarded a 2.5 trillion peso ($1.33 billion) contract to a consortium led by Brazil's Odebrecht SA on Friday to improve navigability on the Magdalena River, which the Andean nation has long planned to exploit for cargo transport. Odebrecht will have an 87 percent stake in the joint venture, called Navelena. Navelena was was the only bidder for the contract, which covers a 908 km (564 mile) stretch of the Magdalena, which flows north to the country's Caribbean coast from the southern interior. Colombian construction firm Valorcon holds the remaining stake in the joint venture, Odebrecht said in a statement. The project, focused on building navigation channels in shallower stretches…

AAPA Elects Armando Duarte of Santa Marta, Colombia, As 2013 Chairman. The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)—representing the interests of seaports throughout the Western Hemisphere—this week during its Centennial Spring Conference board of directors meeting in Washington, D.C.—elected Armando Duarte-Peláez as its next chairman of the board. Mr. Duarte- Peláez’s one-year term will begin the last day of AAPA’s 101st Annual Convention in Mobile, Ala., which runs Oct. 21-25, 2012.