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Mts News

21 Feb 2024

Biden Executive Order Targets Cybersecurity at US Ports

© Brian E Kushner / Adobe Stock

President Biden on Wednesday signed an Executive Order aiming to strengthen cybersecurity at U.S. ports amid growing threats to America's vital maritime supply chains.The directive bolsters the Department of Homeland Security’s authority to address maritime cyber threats, including through the creation of new standards to ensure the security of networks and systems throughout the nation’s marine transportation system (MTS), which supports $5.4 trillion in economic activity each year."Most critical infrastructure owners and operators have a list of safety regulations they have to comply with…

10 Jan 2024

Erik Thun Orders Four New Vessels

(Credit: Erik Thun)

Swedish shipping company Erik Thun has ordered four new vessels, including two methanol-ready coastal tankers and two next-generation multi-purpose dry cargo vessels.The vessels will be built by Shipsveerf Ferus Smit in the Netherlands, bringing the current orderbook from Shipveerf Ferus Smit up to 14 vessels.The contracts cover two multi-purpose dry cargo vessels with 5100 mts dwt and Ice class 1B, which are next generation Lake Vanern Max fit for operating Lake Vänern in Sweden.The…

28 Aug 2023

14th Annual Maritime Risk Symposium to be Held Nov. 14-16 at SUNY Maritime

The 2023 Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS) will be held Nov. 14-16, 2023, as an in-person event, hosted by Maritime College, State University of New York (SUNY) at the Maritime Academic Center. The theme of the 14th annual event is “Managing Impacts of Supply Chain Disruptors, Renewable Energy, Emerging Technology on the Maritime Transportation System (MTS)” with a focus on offshore infrastructure risk and disruptors. Founded in 1874, Maritime College is the oldest maritime college in the United States, providing mariner training for 150 years.

23 Jun 2023

After Titanic Sub Disaster, Industry Faces Scrutiny

(Photo: OceanGate Expeditions)

The first fatal accident aboard a deep-sea tourist submersible is certain to raise calls for additional safety regulations, but industry experts say any new measures may be impossible to enforce given the international nature of the business.Moreover, they say the tragedy of the Titan submersible that imploded during its expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic was an outlier, given that the maker of the vessel opted against certifying the vessel, defying industry convention.All five people aboard the Titan…

22 Jun 2023

Experts Raised Safety Concerns About Missing Titanic Submersible in 2018

(File image: OceanGate

Experts raised safety concerns in 2018 about the submersible vessel that has been missing since Sunday, when it descended with tourists on a deep ocean journey to view the wreckage of the Titanic.The pilot and four passengers are aboard and the available oxygen on the vehicle has been forecast to run out by Thursday morning.The Titan submersible is a 22-foot (6.7-meter)-long vessel operated by Everett, Washington-based OceanGate Expeditions. It first made a voyage dive to 4,000 meters (13…

11 Nov 2022

Maritime Risk Symposium: Full Program Released

Image courtesy MRS 2022

The 2022 Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS), scheduled to be held Nov. 15-17, 2022, hosted by Argonne National Laboratory at the Argonne campus in Lemont, Illinois, recently unveiled the full conference program, packed with experts with insights on the challenges facing the inland waterway systems.Click here to read the fulll program for MRS 2022MRS is an annual international event focused on risks involving the global maritime transportation system (MTS). For the MRS, the U.S. Coast Guard partners with the sponsor…

01 Nov 2022

DPS Safety Alert Follows DP3 Drillship Blackout Investigation

Copyright donvictori0/AdobeStock

The United States Coast Guard issued the following Marine Safety Alert rergarding Dynamic Positioning Systems.Dynamic positioning (DP) systems1 meeting equipment class 2 (DP2) and equipment class 3 (DP3) have control features and redundancies that are often regarded by the crews of vessels using these systems as infallible. A recently investigated DP incident revealed that a DP system may still have weaknesses, even when the design and testing of the system aims to remove or mitigate those weaknesses through engineering controls.

26 Oct 2022

MRS 2022: Supply Chain Challenges to the Maritime Transportation System

Copyright G/AdobeStock

Inland maritime transportation systems (MTS) play major roles in domestic and international supply chains, with unique challenges related to upstream and downstream sources disruption, accessibility and shifts in commodities, as well as demand and supply imbalances. With a 20% on-time arrival statistic, the U.S. east coast serves as an example for the increasing appeal of inland waterways as a cost-effective, alternative, with Port of Cleveland traffic reportedly increasing 70% between 2020 and 2021.

15 Sep 2022

Maritime Risk Symposium 2022: The Importance of Inland Systems to the MTS

Russia's invasion of Ukraine emphasizes the importance of efficient maritime traffic to national security and the world economy. Pictured is an aerial cityscape of Kiev and river Dnipro at sunset, with a tugboat and barge heading down river Dnieper. Copyright Kirill Gorlov/AdobeStock

The 2022 Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS) is scheduled to be held Nov. 15-17, 2022, hosted by Argonne National Laboratory at the Argonne campus in Lemont, Illinois. MRS is an annual international event focused on risks involving the global maritime transportation system (MTS). For the MRS, the U.S. Coast Guard partners with the sponsor, the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and the hosting agency. MRS began in 2011 and has grown in size, scope and interest. The MRS event will be followed by the U.S.

25 Aug 2022

Keeping the Inland Waterways Open: Balancing Maintenance and Operational Requirements

Copyright Michael/AdobeStock

Inland waterways, sometimes called ‘nature’s superhighways’ provide a strategic advantage related to security, economics, and trade for any nation whose geography, topography, and climate enable this natural infrastructure. Economic benefits are realized in small rural areas through large urban communities that utilize the system for efficient transportation and improved markets. However, deliberate operational, resource, and policy efforts, along with broad stakeholder integration, are required to maintain and operate such a system.

13 Jun 2022

Maritime Risk Symposium 2022: The Importance of Inland Systems to the MTS

Copyright Jon/AdobeStock

The theme of Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS) 2022 is “The Importance of Inland Systems to the MTS.” The global MTS consists of numerous inland networks that connect the major transnational and inland ports. The United States has more than 25,000 miles of navigable waters, which can carry around 630 million tons of cargo annually. Barges carry the bulk of the commodities on the inland river networks while freighters carry the commodities on the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway. About 60 percent of the U.S. farm exports travel through inland waterways.

25 Apr 2022

New Routines on the Bridge in the Digital World

(Photo: Vane Brothers)

Like every sector of cargo and passenger shipping, “digitalization”—where computerized processes are replacing onboard routines previously handled manually— is an ongoing trend coastwise, on the waterways and harbors. Regulatory compliance, especially with Subchapter M for towing vessels, has also driven choices of onboard equipment with digital interfaces to software and online platforms for record-keeping and for generating inputs for forms and documents.Improved performance has also shaped the capabilities of equipment in the wheelhouse and the view from the bridge.

15 Dec 2021

Navy Provides Realistic, Operationally-relevant Test Environment for Technology

Shoreside: Team members collaborate to track and engage a high speed boat straying into an exclusion area. Photo credit: Dave Gentile, Ion

“Synergy” is an overused word. But in the case of the “Advanced Naval Technology Exercises” that are held around the country, ANTX is truly a sum greater than its parts.ANTXs are conducted by the Naval Research & Development Establishment (NR&DE) and hosted at the various Naval Warfare Centers to demonstrate emerging technologies and innovations aimed at solving Navy and Marine Corps problems and addressing mission priorities and gaps. They are not so much exercises, which usually denotes training, but more like technology demonstrations.

16 Jun 2021

Multimission Vessels: Interest Across All Sectors

Damen’s “Swiss army knife” Multicats are popular in Europe. Damen has recently contracted for the first of these vessels to be built in the U.S. (Photo: Damen)

The development and construction of multimission vessels (MMVs) remains active across the maritime market.The ability to perform multiple tasks when those different duties are needed is central to an MMV’s value. Multimission capabilities mean that an expensive asset doesn’t sit idle when it isn’t being used for a singular purpose, such as firefighting. This is particularly important for public sector officials who have to weigh costs and benefits across a wide range of demands…

05 Apr 2021

Survey Seeks to Gauge COVID-19's Impact on Mariner Mental Health

© geoffkuchera / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS) COVID-19 Working Group (C-19 WG) is encouraging mariners from all segments of the U.S. maritime industry to anonymously complete the “Mariner Mental Health Needs during Covid-19” online survey here.The confidential survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and asks mariners about COVID-19, mental health, and their experiences and feelings when on board vessels during the challenges of this pandemic. No mariner identification data is collected.CMTS…

26 Jan 2021

Op/ed: Investing in America’s Critical Maritime Infrastructure

© jccain / Adobe Stock

Congress recently made a major, if little noticed, new investment in American infrastructure. As part of the year-end budget deal, lawmakers released $10 billion that had been locked away in the Harbor Maintenance Tax Trust Fund to be used for its intended purpose: dredging U.S. harbors to keep our ports open and support U.S. economic and national security.Maritime infrastructure is an indispensable national asset, which is why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recognizes the Maritime Transportation System (MTS) as one of the seven critical subsectors within the transportation system.

28 Aug 2020

Maritime Risk Symposium 2020: Maritime Resilience in Black Swan Events

In 2007, scholar Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who holds a doctorate from the University of Paris, wrote a bestselling book titled “Black Swan,” which proposed a theory involving unpredictable events with significant impact. Taleb believed that a black swan event was an outlier with significant impact and, once it occurs, is the source of deep reflection and rationalization. Since the book’s publication, a significant number of research efforts have been developed to consider possible black swan events that significantly impact the Maritime Transportation System (MTS) and the Maritime Global Commons.

10 Aug 2020

Four New Barges Launched for Canada's MTS

(Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.)

Four new 90-meter oil/deck cargo barges for Canada's Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Marine Transportation Services (MTS) have been launched by Nanjing Jinling Shipyard, in Nanjing, China.The first barge MTS 3501 was launched on June 16, followed by barge MTS 3502 launched on June 22 and barges MTS 3503 and MTS 3504 launched on June 28.The barges will undergo final testing and touch-up work in preparation for the 400-kilometer tow down the Yangtse River to Shanghai where they will be loaded onto a semi-submersible heavy lift vessel and transported to Tuktoyaktuk…

30 Jul 2020

Congress Responds to COVID19 and Other Challenges for the Maritime Industry

© Sono Creative/AdobeStock

In response to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the Congressional Research Service released a report that stated global economic growth has declined by 3% to 6% in 2020 with a partial recovery predicted for 2021. Also, the GDP of the U.S. has fallen by 5% in the first quarter 2020. According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the maritime industry, and seafarers themselves, have not been able to escape the significant effects of this crisis.All sectors of the maritime industry have been adversely affected by the global pandemic.

22 Jul 2020

Congress Lines Up COVID-19 Relief for the Maritime Industry

© Christopher Boswell / Adobe Stock

New legislation passed through Congress aims to provide relief to the U.S. maritime industry during national emergencies such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or natural disasters.Introduced July 9 by the Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Chair of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), The Maritime Transportation System Emergency Relief Act (MTSERA) would establish…

08 Jun 2020

US Agencies Ink MOU for Hawaii Emergency Harbor Assessments

The containership Sofie Maersk is escorted by tugs into Honolulu Harbor. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Amanda Levasseur)

The U.S. Coast Guard signed a memorandum of understanding in June with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey, State of Hawaii Department of Transportation, and United States Army Corps of Engineers regarding maritime emergency harbor assessments within federal waterways in Hawaii.This agreement means the partners can work more efficiently and effectively to assess the State's harbors following disasters, such as severe weather events, to restore…

14 Jul 2020

Monjasa Expands Bunkering Capacity in Houston

(Photo: Monjasa)

Marine fuels supplier Monjasa says it is further developing its services in America’s top bunkering hub.The Houston Greater Area welcomes 1,375 vessel arrivals monthly and sees marine fuels demand of an estimated 4.5-5 million metric tons yearly. To further cater for an increasing demand, Monjasa now extends local supply capacity and product loading options.The company said it will add an additional barge on time charter as of July 2020. This improved operation can now accommodate around 60 deliveries and supply 40…

19 May 2020

Wilhelmsen Crowdfunds to Support Seafarers COVID-19 Relief

(Photo: Wilhelmsen Ship Management)

Wilhelmsen Ship Management (WSM) is crowdfunding to support Mission to Seafarers (MtS), one of the largest maritime charities serving merchant crews around the world in addressing the hardships faced by the affected seafarers.The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruption on crew change operations. The fallout effect of this has impacted approximately 150,000 seafarers onboard unable to be signed off and another 150,000 seafarers onshore unable to sign on. This disruption has impacted the affected seafarers’ welfare.