Morro Bay News

Equinor has announced the name of its floating offshore wind project off the coast of California, Atlas Wind. The lease area, which lies 60 miles from Morro Bay, has the capacity to provide over 2GW of reliable, renewable power, enough to power 1.7 million California homes once complete.California is poised to become a growing force in the US energy transition with a nation-leading target of 25GW of offshore wind energy by 2045. Approximately two-thirds of the United States’ offshore wind energy potential lies in deep coastal waters…

Northern California has some of the strongest offshore winds in the U.S., with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it also has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off quickly, making building traditional wind turbines directly on the seafloor costly if not impossible.Once water gets more than about 200 feet deep – roughly the height of an 18-story building – these “monopile” structures are pretty much out of the question.A solution has emerged that’s being tested in several locations around the world: wind turbines that float.In California…

Five developers selected to build the first floating wind farms in U.S. federal watersTo support the California Energy Commission’s planning goals of 2-5 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045 as well as a federal target to deploy 15 GW of floating wind by 2035, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has concluded the auction date for five 33-year leases offshore California. Exhibit 1 summarizes the outcome of the auction and estimates the potential of the lease areas using BOEMs standard power density formula of 3 MW per square kilometer…

Crowley signed an agreement on Thursday with the Port of Humboldt Bay to exclusively negotiate to be the developer and operator of a terminal to serve as California’s first hub for offshore wind energy installations. Through Crowley’s Wind Services group, the company will enter into negotiations with the port to lease and serve as the port’s developer of the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal. The services provided will support tenants in the manufacturing, installation and operation of offshore wind floating platforms…

California on Wednesday set ambitious new targets for offshore wind development, saying turbines along its storied coastline would power some 25 million homes by 2050.In a unanimous vote, the five-member California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted a goal of 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind by 2030 and 25,000 MW by 2045, the agency said in a statement.California has among the most aggressive climate change goals in the country, but its foray into offshore wind has lagged that of East Coast states like New York…

The U.S. Coast Guard said its In-Service Vessel Sustainment (ISVS) Program has passed the halfway point in its effort to upgrade the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems on the service’s 140-foot bay-class icebreaking tugs.The HVAC upgrade on Coast Guard Cutter Katmai Bay was completed on June 1—20 days ahead of schedule—in Cheboygan, Mich., near the tug’s homeport of Sault Sainte Marie, Mich.Meanwhile, Coast Guard Cutter Morro Bay arrived at Coast Guard Yard…

The Biden administration on Thursday proposed auctioning five areas off the coast of California for offshore wind development, a critical milestone in expanding the nascent U.S. industry to Pacific waters.It is the latest in a government effort to put wind turbines along every U.S. coastline, with a goal of generating 30 gigawatts of power by 2030. President Joe Biden has said the new industry will create jobs and combat climate change.The announcement comes on the heels of two successful auctions this year in Atlantic waters that, combined, generated more than $4.6 billion in high bids.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said Thursday it had completed its environmental review of potential impacts from offshore wind energy leasing activities in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area, located 20 miles offshore northern California. Based on its analysis, BOEM has issued a finding of no significant impact (FONSI). “The completion of this Environmental Assessment represents an important step forward for ensuring that any future renewable energy development – should a lease sale occur -- is done in a responsible manner,” said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton.

Despite being the second-largest global market for onshore wind, the United States is today a very minor player in comparison to the European and East Asian offshore wind markets, however, this is about to change.Philip Lewis, Director of Research, World Energy Reports said in an interview with Maritime Reporter TV, that 2021 is expected to be a "step-change" for the U.S. Offshore wind industry.But first, where are we today? Per Lewis, the U.S. currently has only two operational projects for a total of 42MW of installed capacity versus a global offshore installed base of 34…

An increased number of oil tankers sit at anchor near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as the volume of oil products held in floating storage around the globe has skyrocketed in the past month amid what analysts are saying is the biggest oil glut in history.There were 27 tanker vessels off the coast of Southern California Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, who is monitoring the situation to help manage the surge.Oil traders are struggling to find enough…

California Dreamin': In CA, offshore wind has unlimited potentialWhen it comes to States promoting renewable, non-fossil electricity generation, California surely leads the list, from utility-scale regional grids to individual rooftop solar panels.In fact, a December 2018 update from the California Energy Commission (CEC) estimates the state may already have exceeded an initial renewable generation goal of 33% by 2020. CEC estimates that in 2018 that generation number was already 34%.

EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG is continuing its strategy of capturing growth in new international markets in the renewable energy sector. Following its recent entry into Taiwan, EnBW has now expanded its activities to the United States of America by establishing a regional subsidiary, EnBW North America, and forming a joint venture with Trident Winds Inc. to develop an offshore wind project off the coast of in Central California. This represents the EnBW Groups first step toward tapping into the high potential of the American market. Several of the United States have set ambitious goals for the expansion of offshore wind. "EnBW will have a direct presence in this promising market to capture opportunities and to further build up  EnBW's offshore project portfolio…

The crew from the Coast Guard Cutter Morro Bay welcomed Navy Reserve medical units from Akron, Ohio, and Youngstown, Ohio, in Cleveland Sunday. The visit was designed to familiarize the Navy Reservists with shipboard operations. The cutter crew gave the members of the medical units a tour of the cutter and explained the missions and capabilities of the Morro Bay. During the tour, the Navy Reservists visited the engine room, mess deck, bridge and berthing areas.

Rear Adm. June E. Ryan, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Ninth District, was welcomed aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley by Assistant Commissioner Julie Gascon and Captain Signe Gotfredsen of the Canadian Coast Guard, Central and Arctic Region Monday. After a relatively mild winter on the Great Lakes escorting ships through ice and preventing ice jams, the Samuel Risley was upbound through the Soo Locks and the St. Marys River to Lake Superior for further icebreaking at the Port of Thunder Bay and buoy-tending duties.

Coast Guard Cutter Morro Bay returned to homeport in Cleveland Tuesday following a 14-month service life extension project (SLEP) at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, the U.S. Coast Guard announced. SLEP is a major midlife overhaul which is expected to extend the cutter's service life 15 years. Morro Bay is one of nine 140-foot WTGB icebreaking tugs built between the late 1970s and early 1980s in Tacoma, Wash. Having served on the Great Lakes, mid-Atlantic and New England waterways for more than three decades, the WTGBs were due for a mid-life overhaul.

When one thinks of offshore renewable energy, one usually thinks of offshore wind. For the first time progress is being made in the U.S. to develop offshore wind resources. The first steel foundation jacket has been placed in the ocean floor to support the Deepwater Wind project off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. (See www.dwwind.com/press/#/1). But recently, progress is also being made in the development of tidal and wave energy resources closer to shore, which are known as marine hydrokinetic or MHK resources.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s Earl F. Weener responds to our March 2014 MarineNews BY THE NUMBERS feature, entitled “Passenger Vessel Safety Record Defies NTSB Hit List.” The NTSB Board Member takes issue with the inference that their scrutiny of the record of passenger vessel safety is misplaced and should be better directed elsewhere. Naturally, we still think otherwise. Each year, the NTSB issues a Most Wanted List of safety advocacy priorities. This year, one of the top priorities is to advance passenger vessel safety. Why? Because when people step onto a ferry, sightseeing boat, or cruise ship, they have a right to a ‘bon voyage’ — literally, a “good trip” and figuratively, a “safe trip” — whether in their daily commutes or on a family cruise.

The U.S. Coast Guard concluded icebreaking operations on the lower Great Lakes, Monday, more than four months after it started, Dec. 15, 2013. Operation Coal Shovel is a binational domestic icebreaking effort covering the St. Lawrence Seaway, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, the Detroit/St. Clair River System and southern Lake Huron. Crews aboard Coast Guard Cutters Mackinaw, Hollyhock, Bristol Bay, Neah Bay and Morro Bay were joined by crews from Canadian Coast Guard Ships Samuel Risley, Griffon and Des Groseilliers during this year’s operation.

The 2013 Erie Tall Ship's Parade of Sails (with tall ship tours) is being held for the 4 days starting Sept. 5, 2013 in Presque Isle Bay, Pa., with some 60,000 visitors in attendance. This year's festival marks the 200th anniversary of the building of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet in Erie and his victory at the Battle of Lake Erie off of Put-In-Bay, Ohio, Sept. 10, 1813. Pictured is the US Coast Guard Cutter Morro Bay, a 140-foot ice-breaking tug homeported in Cleveland, as she follows the sailing training vessel Sorlandet, a 211-foot full-rigged ship from Kristiansand, Norway.

Snap N Save Paint Can Transfer System Saves Paint And Eliminates Mess With A Uniquely Designed Lid and Spout. Created to improve the way paint is poured and saved, General Development Laboratories of Morro Bay, California has recently released Snap N Save, a universal solution for traditional paint cans. It utilizes durable plastic in a unique design that fits snugly on one-gallon cans. A centered spout makes pouring easy to eliminate wasted paint while an adaptor enables the marrying of two cans so paint is conserved.

Thousands of Coastal Fishermen to Rally in Washington, D.C. on March 21. In another historic show of solidarity, U.S. recreational and commercial fishermen will gather at Upper Senate Park in Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2012 starting at noon in an organized demonstration supporting sensible reform of the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. This is a follow-up to a rally in February of 2010 that brought some 5,000 recreational, commercial and party/charter vessel owners, fishermen and people in fisheries dependent businesses from all over the country to Washington. Twenty plus members of the Senate and House of Representatives spoke regarding efforts to reform Magnuson.

The Coast Guard Cutter Morro Bay, a 140-foot icebreaking tug homeported in Cleveland but currently moored in Duluth, is scheduled to undergo an in-water repair Sunday and Monday. The Morro Bay suffered a rudder casualty while conducting icebreaking operations in Thunder Bay, Ontario, March 27, and was towed to Duluth by the Coast Guard Cutters Alder and Katmai Bay. Divers and Coast Guard naval engineers examined the Morro Bay and discovered that icebreaking operations exacerbated an unknown, preexisting problem with several bolts that fasten the cutter's rudder to the rudder post.

Coast Guard Cutters Morro Bay and Katmai Bay, homeported in Cleveland and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., conducted ice breaking operations in Marquette, Mich., Sunday. The harbor breakout operations commenced following a difficult and lengthy escort that started in Duluth, Minn., and utilized satellite imagery to find openings in the ice. The crews’ efforts helped keep local mining operations open by allowing the commercial carriers Mesabi Miner and Kaye E. Barker to offload badly-needed coal to the power plant that is the sole supplier of electricity to the mines.