Master Mariner News

Shipping must engage with the decarbonization realities that lie ahead by changing the way it crafts maritime legislation to reflect its place in the interconnected, interdependent world economy, says Eero Lehtovaara, ABB Marine & Ports.ABB Marine & Ports Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs, Eero Lehtovaara has carved out an unusual - and possibly unique - role in the maritime industry over recent years, as a ‘stakeholder’ simultaneously mindful of the perspectives of owners, seafarers…

Captain David J.F. Bruce, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and Senior Deputy Commissioner of Maritime Affairs, RMI Maritime Administrator passed away on Friday, 29 September 2023. He was a loving husband to Alison for 53 years, father to Gwendoline, and grandfather to Alison and Alexander. Captain Bruce had a storied career and connection with the sea, first going to work at sea in 1957 after his studies at Melville College in Edinburgh…

At an award ceremony in Singapore this week, 60 MaritimeONE Scholarships and seven Tripartite Maritime Scholarships (TMSS) were presented, sponsored by 34 partners from industry, foundations, and unions.The number surpassed last year’s award of 54 scholarships by 27 partners. More companies have come onboard to support MaritimeONE Scholarships in recent years, reflecting the focus on talent development by Maritime Singapore. To date, 584 MaritimeONE Scholarships, with a sponsorship value of $16 million have been awarded since the program started in 2007.Besides maritime-related courses…

Sanmar Shipyards has delivered a new harbor tug to the Port of Hirtshals in Denmark where it will primarily assist increasingly large ferries to and from the quay in the port’s often notoriously windy conditions.Formerly part of Sanmar’s own fleet operating at Izmit Bay in Türkiye, the 2019-built tug Yeniçay X has been renamed Sibba by its new owners. It replaces the port’s previous tug which was built in 1979 and has served at Hirtshals since 2005.Based on the RAscal 1800 design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd developed to address the challenges of modern…

Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) is set to open a new office on campus that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion through programs, events and student support initiatives.MMA's Office of Intercultural Engagement named its new office the Captain Paul Cuffe Center for Inclusion, in honor of the master mariner, philanthropist, abolitionist and education advocate. Approved by unanimous vote of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Board of Trustees, the Cuffe Center is housed…

A fire blazed on a cargo ship off the Dutch coast with nearly 3,000 vehicles on board on Wednesday, killing one member of the crew and injuring several others, the coastguard said.Several crew members were forced to jump overboard after the fire began on Tuesday night on the 199-metre (655-foot) Panama-registered Fremantle Highway as it was en route from Germany to Egypt.The Indian Embassy in the Netherlands said in a social media post the fire had "resulted in the death of an Indian seafarer and injuries to the crew", and that it was in touch with family of the deceased.

Steerprop appointed Tom Ekegren as Arctic Segment Director. Ekegren, Master Mariner and Executive MBA, comes to Steerprop from icebreaker owner and operator Arctia Ltd. where he has held various top management roles since 2016, the most recent being the position of Global Chartering Sales and Operations Manager. He is a seasoned professional in icebreaking, Arctic, and offshore multi-purpose operations, bringing more than 25 years of experience to Steerprop’s already strong team of Arctic experts.In his new role as Arctic Segment Director…

In an era of ever-smarter shipping, one key area of vessel and fleet administration appears stuck in the dark ages. Pierre Dominé explainswhy Stolt Tankers is rapidly transitioning to digital logbooks, unlocking a broad range of big data benefits.Although the switch from paper to digital logbooks is yet to be mandated, Pierre Dominé, Quality Assurance & Investigation Specialist, Stolt Tankers, sees no need to wait. “There’s so much data across a single vessel’s portfolio of record books…

California State University Maritime Academy appointed Samaro Bannister-Schneider as interim captain of Training Ship Golden Bear (TSGB). Captain Bannister will serve as Cal Maritime’s first female TSGB captain. She is a 2000 graduate of Cal Maritime’s Marine Transportation (MT) program, and began her career on a fleet of Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) research vessels conducting survey operations. Soon after, she moved up to a larger fleet of vessels, the Watson Class LMSR RO-RO’s where she found her home.

It was 1914 when the English explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail on his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition aboard a ship called Endurance. It was an ill-fated journey: the ship got trapped in the ice and eventually crushed by pack ice in 1915. It sank to the bottom of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. (Shackleton and his entire crew survived the ordeal by escaping in smaller boats.)It was difficult to believe that the Endurance might ever be found. The icy Weddell Sea is inhospitable and the wreck lay in more than 3000 metres of water.

Nautilus Labs is expanding to the United Kingdom, opening an office in London to be led by Jan Wilhelmsson, an experienced shipping executive and Nautilus Labs' new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).Wilhelmsson has more than 30 years of diverse shipping industry experience. Prior to Nautilus, as a former Master Mariner, he moved into commercially operating institutional-sized fleets before focusing on digital transformation and fuel efficiency on the tech supplier side as well as…

Northern Xplorer AS (NX) announced itszero-emission, luxury cruise concept, designed to feature 'clean' technologies including fully electric propulsion, battery energy storage, hydrogen fuel cells and auxiliary renewable energy supply (wind and solar power). Northern Xplorer will provide opportunities to travel ‘off the beaten track’, connecting passengers with unique locations in the Nordic countries in a personal way,” said Rolf André Sandvik, the company's founder and CEO. Sandvik is a master mariner with extensive experience with cruise lines NCL and Crystal Cruises.

As a former master mariner with Maersk Line and currently the Managing Director of V.Ships, Germany, Ulla Nielsen was a natural choice to kick off Maritime Reporter & Engineering News’ profiles in maritime female leadership in the run up to the Women's International Shipping & Trading Association’s (WISTA) annual conference, scheduled to be held in person October 12-15, 2021 in Hamburg, Germany.Ulla, to start, can you provide some insight on your maritime career path?My background is as a master mariner sailing with Maersk Line…

Eaglestar Marine Holdings on Wednesday welcomed Captain Eezmaira Sazzea binti Shaharuzzaman as the company’s first Malaysian female shipMaster. Captain Eezmaira Sazzea was among the first group of Malaysian women selected to pursue professional maritime training in Akademi Laut Malaysia (ALAM, also known as the Malaysian Maritime Academy) when the academy first opened its door to female cadets’ intakeback in 2006. She graduated from ALAM in 2011 with a Diploma in Nautical Studies…

“I hold no branch in higher esteem, than the Merchant Marine…”That is a quote from General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander of the Pacific in WWII. That one sentence sums up National Maritime Day. Inasmuch if it were not for our glorious Merchant Marine and maritime industry, we may not even have been a nation at all.National Maritime Day is the day we honor our American Merchant Mariners for protecting our freedom and for their dedication to promoting American commerce together with the accomplishments of the U.S. maritime industry.

Satellite communications provider Iridium Communications Inc. announced Tuesday that its Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) service officially went live on Friday, December 11, ending a monopoly held by rival Inmarsat and enhancing the integrity of global safety communications for seafarers globally.GMDSS is an internationally regulated service, governed by the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention. It provides life-saving assistance to seafarers in distress and has required equipment on board more than 60…

The following excerpts are from the new travelogue by Captain Sean P. Tortora, titled, “Steaming to Djibouti…My First Hitch on an Underway Replenishment Ship.”  Join a motivated young merchant marine officer on his first journey onboard a venerable navy auxiliary steamship. Accompany him through the convoluted reporting for duty process through his truly surreal first tour onboard. Meet the oddball characters in the crew and follow their outlandish daily routine. Listen in to the truly jaw-dropping crew interactions.

Brookes Bell has strengthened its marine casualty capability with the addition of two listed special casualty representatives (SCRs) boosting the total number of SCRs within the company to five.SCRs are highly specialist salvage and wreck removal consultants and, as such, number only around 50 globally. They are appointed by the Lloyd’s of London’s SCOPIC Committee for their exceptional level of expertise in the field of salvage and wreck removal.Joining the Brookes Bell team are William Leschaeve and Michael Riddell.Riddell is a senior master mariner, based in Brookes Bell’s Singapore office. Following an initial career at sea with Safmarine, he later served on ocean-going salvage tugs responsible for ocean towage and emergency response.

A 27-meter harbor tug equipped with autonomous navigation capabilities has been put through its paces at the Port of Singapore, demonstrating functions such as smart navigation and collision avoidance which are key to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) goal to enable autonomous ship operations within the world’s busiest transshipment hub.The IntelliTug project, led by technology provider Wärtsilä and marine services firm PSA Marine, is a collaboration with classification society Lloyd’s Register…

The Danish private equity firm investing in shipping, Dee4 Capital, announced the takeover of its fourth vessel, to be renamed “Dee4 Dogwood”, which is a medium-range product tanker.She will be placed in the Hafnia pool, thereby introducing spot market exposure to the Dee4 Capital portfolio during an expected period of positive earnings in the product tanker market in 2020.The other three vessels in the Dee4 Capital portfolio are also medium-range product tankers, which are currently on charter to Clearlake, a subsidiary of Gunvor.Meanwhile, Jens Christensen has joined Dee4 Capital as a Partner and Head of Technical & Operations, replacing Matias Andersen who will leave Dee4 Capital at the end of January 2020.Jens is highly experienced…

ONE SEA has appointed Capt Eero Lehtovaara as its new Chairman. Lehtovaara, a Master Mariner and Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute, is Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs at ABB Marine & Ports.He brings a wealth of experience to the expanding ONE SEA alliance where he has been a Board member for two years, as well as Vice Chairman. His past experience at sea provides a unique understanding of the challenges set by new regulations, human resource management and technological developments…

UK-based engineering company Anemoi Marine Technologies, the Flettner Rotor innovator, has appointed Kim Diederichsen as CEO with the aim to take the company’s wind assisted propulsion systems to the global market.Anemoi was the recent recipient of the Lloyd’s List “Ship of the Year” Award for the world’s first successful installation of a Flettner Rotor system on a geared dry bulk carrier – the MV Afros.Now with a fully tested and proven solution, the company is widening its reach to offer its patented energy saving technology to a global audience of tanker, bulker, roro and other vessel owners.Diederichsen joins Anemoi with a wealth…

The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) announces the appointment of Captain Dwain E. Hutchinson as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Captain Hutchinson succeeds Commodore Davy F. Rolle, who stepped down as Director last year.Captain Hutchinson is a proud Bahamian from Nassau, New Providence island, where he completed his tertiary education before commencing his maritime studies in Scotland at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies. Qualified with a UK Master Mariner (Unlimited) STCW Certificate of Competency…