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Media Attention News

21 Mar 2022

ABS Updates RoRo Vessel Rules in Response to Fires

The Felicity Ace (not ABS-classed) is among a number of RoRo ships that suffered onboard fires in recent years. (Photo: Portuguese Navy)

Classification society ABS announced it has updated its rules addressing electric vehicles on board RoRo vessels in response to "industry concerns" over a number of recent ship fires.U.S.-based ABS said the new requirements introduced within its marine vessel rules apply to supplemental fire detection, alarms and firefighting equipment as well as provisions associated with vehicle recharging. They take effect for newbuild vessels on July 1, 2022.The classification organization…

14 Feb 2022

Siem, Solstad Offshore Vessels Net Deals in Canada, Brazil

Normand Valiant ŠSolstad Offshore

Norwegian offshore vessel owners Solstad Offshore and Siem Offshore said Monday in separate statements they'd secured a contract for their offshore vessels.Solstad Offshore won a contract for its construction support vessel Normand Valiant with Brazil's Petrobras. Normand Valiant will provide accommodation services to support production activities on the Brazilian continental shelf. The charter is two years firm with an option of a two-year extension. The contract is expected to start in the second quarter of 2022.

08 Nov 2021

BW Offshore's FPSO to Stay in Nigeria for One More Year

Norwegian floating oil and gas production systems owner BW Offshore has secured a one-year contract extension in Nigeria for one of its FPSOs.The contract, with Addax Petroleum Exploration (Nigeria) Ltd, is for the lease and operation of the FPSO Sendje Berge. The firm period has been extended to Q4 2022, BW Offshore, which owns a fleet of 14 floaters, said.According to WorldEnergyReports FPSO Database, the Sendje Berge is a spread-moored FPSO used for production at the Okwori field in Nigeria on a contract with Addax/Sinopec.The vessel caught media attention in July last year after pirates attacked it and kidnapped nine Nigerian crew members. A month after the incident, BW Offshore said that the workers had been safely released.

13 Aug 2021

Report: PDVSA Set to Restart Production from Corocoro Offshore Oil Field

The FSO Nabarima listing in the Gulf of Paria on October 16 (Photo: Fishermen and Friends of the Sea)

Venezuela's national oil company PDVSA is reportedly preparing to resume production from the Corocoro offshore oil field.Reuters said Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter, that PDVSA would use the Cororoco oil to feed its refineries.The Corocoro oil field, in which the Italian oil firm Eni is a partner as part of the Petrosucre consortium with PDVSA, is located in the Gulf of Paria.The offshore site caught media attention last year when the FSO (floating, storage, and offloading unit) Nabarima…

04 Jan 2021

Designing Boats: Robert Allan Ltd. Surpases 90 Years (& Counting)

Robert Allan founded Robert Allan Ltd. in 1930 when Allan commenced private practice as a consulting Naval Architect after serving as Technical Manager of a local major shipyard. In the 90 years that have passed, the organization has evolved from a one-man shop to a global powerhouse in the business of naval architecture and marine design. Following the founder into the business were his namesake son and grandson, with the company in recent years passing to an employee-owned model led by Mike Fitzpatrick. Robert G.

17 Dec 2020

Ammonia Fuel Cells for Deep-Sea Shipping: A Key Piece of the Zero-emissions Puzzle

Image: NCE Maritime CleanTech

Interest in ammonia-powered fuel cells for the maritime sector is growing, but stakeholders have been hesitant to commit to investments in large-scale systems. Now the ShipFC project is aiming to secure a place for ammonia in the future of deep-sea shipping.The project will equip the offshore supply vessel Viking Energy, owned and operated by Eidesvik and on contract to energy major Equinor, with a 2-megawatt (MW) ammonia fuel cell, allowing it to operate for at least 3,000 hours annually on clean fuel.

15 Jan 2020

Keel of Ocean Explorer Laid

Chinese cruise shipbuilding company CMHI Haimen yard carried out the keel laying ceremony for the 'Ocean Explorer'. This is the fourth ULSTEIN X-BOW design in the INFINITY class of expedition cruise vessels that the U.S. based shipowner SunStone Ships has contracted to CMHI.The 'Ocean Explorer' is based on the ULSTEIN CX103 design featuring the X-BOW® by Ulstein Design & Solutions.The INFINITY Class vessels are 104,4 m long and 18,4 m wide. They have a passenger capacity of 264, and a crew capacity of 99, small enough to give an exclusive atmosphere, large enough to yield all expected services and facilities, such as jacuzzi, bar and restaurant, boutique, open-air cinema, gym and spa.The flexible design of the INFINITY class series opens up to new possibilities for every new vessel.

03 Sep 2016

C-Job Designs Flettner Freighter for Switijnk

Revolutionary Wind Assisted Propulsion design will be applied to 8,000 DWT General Cargo vessel. The Dutch shipping company family Switijnk has contracted C-Job Naval Architects to develop a Rotor Sail-equipped design to meet their specific loading and sailing profile. The contract follows the substantial media attention for the 4,500 DWT Flettner Freighter (the FF4500) which C-Job Naval Architects developed as part of the European Union Interreg project SAIL. Taking the project name of FF8000, the design will be for a dry cargo ship with 8,000 ton deadweight. Although based on the existing FF4500 design, the new design will include numerous modifications.

02 Sep 2016

How Can the Marine Industry Counteract Its Aging Workforce?

File photo: Brian Cronk

It’s been widely reported over recent years that the maritime industry is facing a workforce crisis. A lack of newly trained candidates to fill the gaps caused by retirement of an aging workforce, now compounded even further by the oil price crash, means marine companies are beginning to feel the pressure of staff shortages. The U.K. Department for Transport (DFT) predicts a shortfall of around 3,500 deck and engineering officers by 2021 in the U.K. alone, and the BIMCO / ICS Manpower Report predicts the global shortfall of 147,500 officers by 2025.

26 Aug 2016

C-Job Designs Flettner Freighter for Switijnk

Flettner Freighter (Photo: C-Job Naval Architects)

The Dutch shipping company family Switijnk has contracted C-Job Naval Architects to develop a Rotor Sail-equipped design to meet their specific loading and sailing profile. The contract follows the substantial media attention for the 4,500 DWT Flettner Freighter (the FF4500) which C-Job Naval Architects developed as part of the European Union Interreg project SAIL. Taking the project name of FF8000, the design will be for a dry cargo ship with 8,000 ton deadweight. Although based on the existing FF4500 design, the new design will include numerous modifications.

15 Jul 2016

Filipino Fishermen Still Blocked from Scarborough Shoal

China's coastguard has prevented Filipino boats from fishing around the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal, Philippine officials said on Friday, after Beijing kept a promise to ignore a court ruling voiding its vast South China Sea claims. A dispute over the shoal, 124 nautical miles northwest of the Philippines mainland was one of Manila's main reasons for bringing international legal action against China in 2013. Military officials and fishermen in northwest province of Pangasinan said Chinese coastguard vessels remained in place at Scarborough and were still preventing fishermen from entering the shoal's lagoon. Many boats had stayed away until the situation was clearer, officials said.

26 Mar 2016

Panama Invites China and Taiwan for Canal Ceremony

Taiwanese President-elect Tsai Ing-wen and Chinese President Xi Jinping have both been invited to the inauguration ceremony of the newly expanded Panama Canal on June 26. Tsai Ing-wen's invitation from its Panamanian diplomatic ally is drawing local media attention as Chinese leader Xi Jinping has also been invited to the same event. Aside from focusing on the possibility of a "Tsai-Xi" meeting on the sidelines, Panama's intentions need to be scrutinized with regard to a possible resumption of a diplomatic recognition tug-of-war across the Taiwan Strait. A report in Reuters say that China reacted frostily after Taiwan ally Panama said it had invited leaders from both China and self-ruled Taiwan to attend the inauguration, in what would be an awkward diplomatic encounter.

24 Feb 2016

Boaterz N’ Bikerz Hull of a Tour 3 is West Bound

After two previous successful motorcycling and boating events in 2013 and 2015, organizers of the Boaterz N’ Bikerz of America Hull of a Tour are back this summer for “Pacific Coast Rush,” a nine-day escorted motorcycle ride from Seattle to San Francisco, including a two-day swing down to Big Sur and Monterey. This summer’s Hull of a Tour 3 event runs July 22 – 30 and is sponsored for the second year by Freedom Boat Club, along with marine media sponsor Soundings Trade Only, platinum sponsor Regal Boats, event, producer/publicist Kenton Smith Marketing, and boating host/marine retailer Alexander Marine USA, with locations in Seattle and Newport Beach, Calif.

29 Jan 2016

U.S. Navy Commander Guilty in Corruption Scandal

A U.S. Navy commander charged with accepting paid travel, prostitutes and Lady Gaga concert tickets from a Malaysian defense contractor in exchange for classified information pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal corruption charges. Commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz appeared in U.S. District Court in San Diego to answer to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery of a public official stemming from his involvement in a scandal surrounding a contractor who serviced ships in the Navy's Pacific Fleet. Misiewicz admitted to providing Malaysian businessman Leonard Francis, known to friends as "Fat Leonard," classified information worth millions of dollars. He was born in Cambodia during the Vietnam War and gained media attention for his rise to captain of a U.S. Navy destroyer.

22 Feb 2015

ICC partners WCGC for Annual Golf Tournament

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has become the Official Global Partner of the World Corporate Golf Challenge (WCGC), the largest and longest running corporate amateur golf event. The new venture is set to expand international participation, branding and media attention, making the event the "must-play" golf tournament of the year for business executives around the globe. An established event, held consecutively for 20 years, WCGC now plans to launch new tournaments in emerging and established markets across every continent to increase the number of business executives taking part worldwide. The ambition is to host events in over 60 countries and recruit more than 40,000 high level executives, representing approximately 25,000 companies year on year.

20 Apr 2014

France's Oldest Nuclear Plant Shut Down After Incident

France's oldest nuclear power plant, Fessenheim, was shut down on Saturday following an incident at the facility away from the reactor which did not pose any danger, operator EDF said. The accidental closing of a valve controlling the steam supply to the turbine generator automatically shut down Fessenheim's reactor 2. Technicians were working on the issue and a restart date had yet to be determined, an EDF spokeswoman told Reuters. Fessenheim's reactor 1, the oldest in France, has been inactive since April 9 when a leak was detected in a water supply pipe. "These are two incidents that have no bearing on the security of the plants nor for the environment," the spokeswoman said.

19 Dec 2013

Product Tanker Hijackings

Fig. 1: 	Valle Di Cordoba is generally held to be the first victim of a successful attack against a  	product tanker with the intent to steal the cargo in the Gulf of Guinea in recent years.

Gulf of Guinea piracy presents a radically different picture compared with Somali piracy. Since decades it has been a kaleidoscopic mix of short duration hijackings, militant disruptions, kidnappings, robberies and thefts, depending on the location and the setting. It was not until recently, however, that piracy in the region attracted significant international media attention due to the increase in hijackings of product tankers in the region. It is uncertain when this phenomenon started exactly…

04 Oct 2013

UK Aircraft Carrier's Final Flight Deck Module Installed

Sponson lift: Photo credit MOD

The flight deck of the first of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers is now finished, with the last 2 sections added to 'HMS Queen Elizabeth' in the Rosyth, Scotland, building yard. The mighty Goliath crane lifted the sponsons – the sections protruding from the hull which give an aircraft carrier its unique shape – to join the remainder of the ship in her dry dock. To accommodate the F-35 Lightning II jets, which will land and take off from the ship, a ski ramp will be installed next month – mirroring the feature which propelled the Harrier skywards on the Invincible-Class of carriers.

23 Sep 2013

Safety in Numbers

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently cited a shipyard for 61 alleged violations of workplace safety and health standards. Faced with $293,450 in proposed fines, the shipyard’s alleged violations include electrical hazards, such as failure to guard lights from damage, failure to provide effective electrical grounding for equipment, failure to provide covers on electrical box openings, and failure to ensure wiring was protected from abrasion and strain.

15 Mar 2013

Report Highlights Rise of Maritime Crime in Southeast Asia

Photo: Dryad Maritime

U.K. maritime intelligence provider Dryad Maritime are to release a specialist report, ‘Special Advisory Southeast Asia: Disorganized theft to organized crime,’ which will focus on the rise of targeted hijackings in Southeast Asia. The advisory to be released on March 18, 2013 provides an overview of the security situation and the increased threat from maritime crime in the region. Risk analysis of these incidents has shown that the hijack of merchant vessels does not follow the…

13 Feb 2013

Plastics in the Ocean

Aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans last November, 1,500 miles from land, 38 researchers from Sea Education Association (SEA) studied a Brobdingnagian swath of Pacific Ocean that has become the temporary resting spot for thousands of tons of plastic. Commonly called the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” the area has attracted significant media attention in the last decade but a surprising dearth of scientific attention. Contrary to popular opinion, the “Patch” is not a continuous field of debris, is not visible from space, nor is it an “island of trash.”  But it’s there.

27 Nov 2012

Splash & Grab – Oil Theft Blights Gulf of Guinea

Dryad Maritime, the UK-based specialist in maritime intelligence, has completed an analysis of a specific type of maritime crime that poses a risk to shipping in the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa. The hijack of vessels for the theft of refined fuel cargoes, termed Extended Duration Robbery (EDR) by Dryad, has recently attracted media attention following an extension of the threat to the waters of Cote D’Ivoire. According to Dryad, Nigerian criminal networks lie at the heart of this relatively sophisticated, violent crime which can see vessels under pirate control for up to seven days. Black market demand sustains the illegal market in stolen cargoes, whilst organised crime and corruption ensure its continuation in the face of regional attempt to deal with the symptons and tackle the causes.

21 Feb 2012

Project to Clean Up North Pacific Garbage Patch

Now in its fourth year, Project Kaisei has come to rely upon satellite communications for effective communication with colleagues ashore as well as its global support base. Mary Crowley talks about how the project’s requirements for communications are continuously evolving. In the digital age it is easy to take for granted the benefits that reliable connectivity provides. In the maritime industry alone, always-on communications are supporting a wealth of applications to improve operational efficiency and crew welfare.