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Mendocino News

22 Sep 2022

Marine Group Boat Works: Standing Steady on Four Legs

(Photo: Marine Group Boat Works)

Ask anyone working in the shipyard business, and they’ll tell you balancing yacht, commercial and government vessel repair work concurrently is no easy task. Add a bit of new construction to the mix, and you’ve got Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW), a Chula Vista, Calif. shipyard that has seemingly mastered the balancing act.“There are a few tricks to the trade,” said MGBW president Todd Roberts, a Cal Maritime graduate with a U.S. Coast Guard license for vessels up to 1,600 tons. “The biggest thing we do is run an extremely clean, environmentally friendly operation. . .

29 Oct 2015

Fishing Company Charged Over $1 Mln in Oil Spill Penalties

Photo courtesy of Tri-Marine

Tri-Marine Management Co., Tri-Marine Fishing Management and Cape Mendocino Fishing (Tri-Marine) have agreed to pay $1.05 million in civil penalties and to perform fleet-wide inspections and other corrective measures to resolve claims stemming from an October 2014 oil spill in American Samoa and related violations of spill prevention regulations, the Department of Justice and the Coast Guard announced today. In its complaint, filed today along with the lodging of a consent decree in the U.S.

28 Jan 2014

WHOI Scans Ocean for Fukushima Radiation

Image: WHOI

With concern among the public over the plume of radioactive ocean water from Fukushima arriving on the West Coast of North America and no U.S. government or international plan to monitor it, a new project from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is filling a timely information gap. Just two weeks after launching the crowd sourcing campaign and citizen science website, “How Radioactive Is Our Ocean,” WHOI marine chemist Ken Buesseler’s project has received more than 70 individual donations from the concerned public.

27 Jun 2013

San Francisco Wooden Wall Tall Ship Eco-friendly

The Brigantine: Image courtesy of Educational Tall Ship Organization

A US$5-million historic sailing brigantine currently under construction in Sausalito has officially entered the process of earning Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) project certification. The certification will indicate that the brigantine will be constructed from timber produced with responsible forestry practices. The nonprofit group behind the project, Educational Tall Ship for San Francisco Bay, selected Emeryville-based SCS Global Services (SCS), a leading FSC certifier worldwide…

17 May 2011

New Golden Gate Ferry Enters Service on Larkspur

The first of two vessels purchased by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD) from Washington State Ferry in January 2009 has been completely refurbished and is entering service today, May 16, on the Larkspur-San Francisco Route. The two Washington State Ferry vessels, now named the M.V. Golden Gate (formerly the Chinook) and the M.V. Napa (formerly the Snohomish) were purchased for $2 million each and have a refurbishment budget of approximately $10 million each. The $24 million project is being funded through a combination of federal, state and GGBHTD funds. For perspective, the cost of just one new high-speed catamaran vessel is currently about $20 million. In 2009, the M.V.

12 Jan 2011

Bill Reintroduces to Permanently Ban North Coast Drilling

On Jan 11, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-North Coast) reintroduced legislation that would permanently prohibit oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. The Northern California Ocean and Coastal Protection Act protects the marine environment along the Northern Coast of California’s outer continental shelf (OCS) from off shore drilling. Congressman Thompson also introduced this legislation in the 111th Congress. “It is critical that we permanently protect our coast and its vital marine life from the environmental hazards of off-shore drilling,” said Congressman Thompson. “In past Congresses, this important issue has become a political dispute rather than a debate on legitimate policy.

20 Oct 2010

This Day in Coast Guard History – October 20

1892-After ten years of difficult and costly construction, the St. George Reef Lighthouse, built on a rock lying six miles off the northern coast of California, midway between Capes Mendocino and Bianco, was first lighted. 1944-Landings on Leyte, Philippine Islands. Many Coast Guard units participated in the landings, which marked the the fulfillment of General Douglas MacArthur's promise to the Filipino people that he would return to liberate them from the Japanese. 1950- President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order "activating" the Magnuson Act, which had been passed by Congress earlier that month. This act, authorizing the president to invoke the Espionage Act of 1917, tasked the Coast Guard with the port security mission.

05 Oct 2010

Pride's Deep Ocean Clarion Delivered

Photo courtesy ABS

Pride International recently dedicated its ABS-classed deepwater drillship Deep Ocean Clarion at Samsung Heavy Industries Shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. This is the second of four new drillships for the deepwater drilling contractor. Its sister ship, the ABS-classed Deep Ocean Ascension was delivered in February 2010 and has been deployed to the Gulf of Mexico. The 96,000 dwt Deep Ocean Clarion is capable of dual drilling activity and can drill in water depths of up to 12,000 feet.

02 Sep 2010

Golden Gate’s High-Speed Ferry at Bay Ship & Yacht

Photo Courtesy, Bay Ship & Yacht

The Golden Gate Ferry’s high-speed, 450-passenger ferry, the Motor Vessel (MV) Mendocino, is in dry-dock at Bay Ship & Yacht’s Alameda shipyard for its periodic U.S. Coast Guard inspection.  While in dry-dock, the vessel will also undergo minor repairs.  The aluminum catamaran ferry was designed by International Catamaran in Australia and built by Nichols Brothers in Washington in 2001.  It is Golden Gate Ferry’s second high-speed catamaran operating on San Francisco Bay, and capable of speeds up to 36 knots provided by four water-jets.

27 Aug 2010

Pride International Dedicates Drillship

Pride International, Inc. (NYSE: PDE) announced the dedication of the second of its four new deepwater drillships under construction by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, the Deep Ocean Clarion. The company is expected to take delivery of the rig in September 2010, followed by the mobilization of the rig to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico where it is expected to commence operations in the first quarter of 2011 under a five year contract with BP. In a shipyard ceremony, Louis A. Raspino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pride International, Inc., commented, "The addition of the Deep Ocean Clarion to our fleet further strengthens Pride's presence in the deepwater. These drillships represent the best, most technologically advanced generation of rigs.

19 Oct 2009

This Day in Coast Guard History – Oct. 20

1892-After ten years of difficult and costly construction, the St. George Reef Lighthouse, built on a rock lying six miles off the northern coast of California, midway between Capes Mendocino and Bianco, was first lighted. 1944-Landings on Leyte, Philippine Islands. Many Coast Guard units participated in the landings, which marked the the fulfillment of General Douglas MacArthur's promise to the Filipino people that he would return to liberate them from the Japanese. 1950- President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order "activating" the Magnuson Act, which had been passed by Congress earlier that month. This act, authorizing the president to invoke the Espionage Act of 1917, tasked the Coast Guard with the port security mission.

03 Apr 2002

Vallejo Baylink Rebuilds and Renames Cat Ferry

Vallejo Baylink, the San Francisco Bay community’s municipal commuter operation that was initiated five years ago, is now carrying some 800, passengers a year. With thousands of miles on the operation’s first catamaran ferry, originally known as the “Jet Cat Express,” an InCat vessel built by Gladding Hearn Shipbuilding, Vallejo Baylink management decided to send the well-used boat to Nichols Brothers Boat Builders’ Washington yard for a complete rebuild. In December, after nine months in Nichols Brothers’ Whidbey Island yard, the thoroughly renovated and enlarged vessel headed back home with a new name: M/V Vallejo. Marty Robbins, general manager of Vallejo Baylink…