Milford Haven News

A project to transform the Port Talbot into a major hub for floating offshore wind (FLOW) and green energy development has come one step closer to securing a share of up to $200 million (£160 million) of UK Government funding.The UK Government has agreed to take forward the Future Port Talbot project and the Port of Cromarty Firth to undergo due diligence as part of the next stage of its Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS).The due diligence process…

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…

Britain is set to receive a rare shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia later this month, as countries across Europe strive to secure enough supplies ahead of winter.European nations are seeking to diversify energy supplies following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a sharp drop in Russian gas flows to the continent.LNG tanker Attalos, with a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, is set to arrive at Britain's Isle of Grain terminal on Aug. 22, according to data and analytics firm Kpler."The (LNG tanker) Patris was the original vessel that loaded at the North West Shelf liquefaction plant in Australia. It did a ship-to-ship transfer with the Attalos in Malaysian waters…

Towage provider Svitzer, part of A.P. Moller-Maersk, has bought a new tug to support terminal operations in Milford Haven, UK. The addition of the Svitzer Pembroke to the UK fleet will free up the 86-tonne bollard pull ASD tug, Svitzer Ramsey, for relocation to London to cater for expected growth at the River Thames and River Medway, Svitzer said.The Svitzer Pembroke was originally built for Svitzer at Zamakona Shipyard, Spain, but in 2014 the vessel was sold, and has operated…

The Sri Lankan navy said on Tuesday an oil slick had been spotted a kilometer from a loaded supertanker carrying roughly 2 million barrels of oil that has been engulfed in intermittent fires since an explosion on September 3.Oil from the engine room of the 20-year old New Diamond tanker “appears to have leaked out to the sea” following regular bouts of water-dousing by fire-fighting vessels, the navy spokesman said.The oil slick has raised concerns about the potential of further leakage from the cargo holds…

German utility RWE has delivered its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to Great Britain.The cargo, comprised of approximately 150 000 m3 of LNG, was regasified through a Milford Haven LNG Terminal, located close to RWE’s 2000 MW Pembroke B gas-fired combined cycle gas power plant (CCGT).The cargo has been sourced from the portfolio of RWE Supply & Trading, the subsidiary of RWE which is responsible for gas and LNG trading.The cargo was loaded from Sabine Pass Liquefaction Terminal in the Gulf of Mexico, USA and transported by RWE Supply & Trading to Great Britain on the Gaslog Savannah LNG carrier.Once regasified, the LNG will meet a significant proportion of any gas consumption needs of Pembroke Power Station. On a typical day Pembroke burns 8,000,000 m3 of natural gas.

France-based Damen Shiprepair Brest (DSBr), which focuses on the ship repair and conversion of seagoing and offshore vessels, successfully carried out repairs to the hull of the 266-metre, 138,000m³, LNG Carrier LNG Methane Princess.In order to achieve this in the minimum time it was done while the vessel was both afloat and with the cargo tanks holding either some liquefied gas and gas vapour.The damage, which occurred above the waterline on the aft starboard side, was the result of a collision with a harbor tug while berthing at the Punta Europa LNG Terminal (EG LNG) in Equatorial Guinea. She then proceeded to the Milford Haven (UK)…

The first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo exported from a new plant in the United States at Cove Point will arrive in Britain later this month as Asian spot LNG prices weaken relative to European benchmarks. The Gemmata tanker is expected to arrive at the UK's Dragon terminal on March 20, according to the local port authority at Milford Haven. As Asian spot LNG prices weakened, the tanker performed a U-turn in the middle of the Atlantic this week away from Asia and towards Europe, shipping data shows. Royal Dutch Shell is responsible for shipping test cargoes from the newly built plant in Maryland. Cove Point is the second biggest LNG export terminal in the lower 48 U.S. states after Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, which exported its first cargo in February 2016.

David Davis at Teesport, the British Ports Association’s Chief Executive, Richard Ballantyne suggested that cross border trade facilitation was being neglected in the negotiations. “The confirmation of the Government’s priorities for Brexit transitional arrangements provides European focused ports and logistics operators some clarity that in the short term it will be business as usual at the border. Much depends upon the negotiations and agreements of course but longer term, post the transitional period, we are unsure what the arrangements might be when leaving the European Union," Richard  said. The Free Ports concept has been much debated recently.

A powerful virtual-reality ship simulation system, operated by the Port of Milford Haven is running courses to train tug boat operators from across Britain. The Navigation Suite, based at Milford Waterfront, creates highly realistic computer-generated versions of any port in the world, giving trainees the opportunity to take the controls of any vessel, including tugboats, to practice scenarios. Tug skippers from Williams Marine Services and Teignmouth Harbor Commission spent two days undertaking theory based safety training and working on simulated ‘as real’ scenarios within the port.

Mainstay Marine Solutions, a workboat builder and servicing specialists in South West Wales, said it has completed an overhaul of its existing marine servicing facilities, nearly doubling its slipping capability from 350 tons to 650 tons with the introduction of a new trolley recovery system. Fabricated in-house, the trolleys will be capable of slipping 45m long vessels up to 650 tons with a maximum 12 meter beam and 4 meter draft directly into one of its undercover sheds. Stewart Graves…

U.K. shipbuilder Southampton Marine Services said it has delivered a newly constructed 20.45-meter multipurpose harbor workboat to Svitzer. The new vessel, named Svitzer Merlin, is the forerunner in Southampton Marine Services’ new Bulldog workboats range. A Bulldog 20, the workboat is a repeat Svitzer order for Southampton Marine Services, being similar to the Middlesbrough-based Svitzer Leven. Svitzer Merlin takes her place in the Svitzer fleet being based at Milford Haven, performing general port collection work and recycling of waste from ships at the port.

Welsh workboat builders and servicing specialists Mainstay Marine Solutions said it has secured funding to support the purchase of a 150/200 ton boat lift. Mainstay Marine Solutions, marine engineers located in the deep-water port at Pembroke Dock on the Milford Haven Waterway, are set to purchase an amphibian boat hoist with the assistance of Coastal Communities Fund (CFF) funding. The 150/200 ton hoist will be capable of lifting vessels out of the water and moving around their 4.6 hectare site and into the company’s’ 4,000 m2 of covered workshop space.

The owner of a fishing vessel has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges brought by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) for the unsafe operation of a fishing vessel and failing to ensure that the gas cooker was properly maintained. Timothy Bowman-Davies from Milford Haven was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court on August 2, after two crew members on board his fishing vessel Eshcol died from carbon monoxide poisoning in 2014.

Safe navigation is a priority operating principle for the UK’s largest energy Port, the Port of Milford Haven. And earlier this week the Port demonstrated that commitment with the unveiling of its new, state of the art marine navigation simulator. Significant investment has been made in developing this new facility, and it is an exceptional tool. Built using MARIN’s latest software, DOLPHIN, the navigation suite is positioned to lead the market in training and exercise scenarios.

Plans to ensure there is a full maritime survey and inspection team covering the whole U.K., will see more remote working and a slight change to where some of the marine offices are based. The U.K. Maritime & Coastguard Agency has undertaken a review of the way it carries out its surveys and inspections and recently consulted on the locations of its marine offices. It has also, with its staff, reviewed the way the organization of those offices is structured. As a result of both consultations, changes have been made to the original proposals including keeping two offices open that were originally marked for closure and identifying a senior experienced marine surveyor who will have over-arching responsibility for the River Thames.

Haven Marine Services informs it has signed a five year contract with Svitzer which will see the yard service the requirements of Svitzer’s vessels within the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea areas. Haven Marine Services’ Managing Director, Steven Arnold, stated, “This commitment reinforces Svitzer’s faith in the capabilities of the facility, based on exemplary service during the past two years. In addition to the Svitzer fleet, further confirmed dockings, include Hanson Aggregates vessels, the Arco Dee and the Arco Dart, and P&O Maritime’s research vessel the Prince Madog.

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has announced the delivery of the 500th liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from QP affiliate Qatar Liquefied Gas Company (2) to the South Hook LNG Terminal at Milford Haven in the United Kingdom. The landmark delivery, on Thursday March 24th, was made on board the Q-Flex LNG vessel Al-Hamla. Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, described the delivery as “another significant achievement for Qatar’s LNG industry”. Mr. Al-Kaabi said “this milestone reaffirms the importance of Qatari LNG as pillar for the energy industry and the security of global gas supplies. It also highlights Qatar Petroleum’s commitment to the reliable supply of clean energy to its customers around the world”.

Qatargas is looking to Britain and the Netherlands in an effort to weather a looming global glut of gas supplies by expanding import deals into Europe's most liquid markets, industry sources said. The world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) must lock in buyers for its unsold supply just as new Australian and U.S. producers muscle into its prized Asian markets. Slowing demand globally is only adding to producer woes, thrusting Europe's gas markets and dozens of under-used import terminals into the spotlight. Qatargas has held talks with Petronas UK Ltd to gain greater access to the Dragon import terminal in Wales, as well as with Uniper, formerly known as E.ON Global Commodities, for the Gate terminal in Rotterdam, two sources said.

St Brides, the first of three 19-meter pilot boats built by Mainstay Marine for the Port of Milford Haven, has recently been launched. Shipbuilder Mainstay Marine Solutions called the £3.6 million contract a flagship project, with delivery for the second and third vessels due in April and July, respectively. A naming ceremony will be held for all three vessels late July this year. The new pilot boats are an upgraded version of the Picton Pilot Boat built by the company in 2006.

South Wales maritime engineering company Mustang Marine has rebranded as Mainstay Marine Solutions. The Pembroke Dock based workboat, marine energy device and waterside infrastructure specialist has adopted a new name and corporate image following its first year under new ownership. The company, which was bought out of administration in May 2014 by a group of nine investors, said it has thrived under its new ownership and is on course to double its workforce compared to 12 months ago, increasing from 27 employees in June 2014 to 60 today.

Workboat and marine energy device builder Mustang Marine has won a $5.34m contract to construct three new pilot boats for the Port of Milford Haven. The Pembroke Dock-based company is now looking to recruit new workers locally in a number of skilled positions to meet an increased demand for its services, having already increased the size of its workforce to 54 people over the last nine months. The new contact will see Mustang build three 19m pilot boats at its deep-water facility at Pembroke Dock.

Despite a slow start to the year, Haven Marine Services reports it is now seeing a change in fortunes with two dockings for Svitzer in quick succession, with one vessel sailing after a refit and another in on the same tide. This comes after a prolonged period of inactivity at the yard during the last three months due to lack of orders and extremes of weather which resulted in several vessels having to be diverted to other repair facilities due to the fact that they were unable to enter Milford Docks.