Navigational Channel News

A  1,095-foot containership has run aground in the Chesapeake Bay, near Craighill Channel in Maryland.The U.S. Coast Guard said it is working with Maryland Department of the Environment to coordinate the refloating of containership Ever Forward, after its watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region received the initial report of the grounding at 9 p.m., Sunday. The ship had just left the Port of Baltimore and was en route to Norfolk, Va.No injuries, pollution or damage to the vessel have been reported.

Jan De Nul Group completed the capital dredging works for the Channel Risk and Optimization Project (CROP) in Port Hedland, Western Australia, and can look back on a successful three-year cooperation with the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA).Over the past three years a combination of Hopper Dredgers, a Cutter Suction Dredger and Split Hopper Barges were deployed to dredge sections of the 42-km long navigational channel and to further enhance the safe and sustainable access to the port of Port Hedland.

The ongoing project on national waterways ‘Jal Marg Vikas’ is a Rs 5,400-crore World Bank funded project on the Ganga, being developed between Allahabad and Haldia to cover a distance of 1620 km. The Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of National Waterway-1 (NW-1) between Haldia and Varanasi is being implemented with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank. The shipping ministry has released details about the present status of Multimodal terminal at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, multimodal terminal at Sahibganj, Jharkhand and multimodal terminal at Haldia, West Bengal under planned JMVP multi modal terminals.

On 29 November 2015 at about 7.50 pm, the Indonesian registered, Batamfast passenger ferry MV Sea Prince, while enroute from Nongsapura Ferry Terminal, Batam, to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, Singapore, was immobilised at about 0.24 nautical miles (444 metres), northwest of Nongsa. Investigation revealed that the Master of Sea Prince had deviated from his original planned route after leaving the demarcated navigational channel and went aground. Due to the grounding, Sea Prince sustained damages that immobilised the engines and resulted in flooding of the steering gear room. Two inflatable life rafts were launched for evacuation of passengers but the first life raft deflated slowly while the second life raft began to take in water.

The U.S. Coast Guard continues to respond to an allision which occurred April 6 and resulted in a multiple-barge breakaway and two sunken barges on the Mississippi River near Thebes, Ill. The Army Corps of Engineers completed a survey of the navigational channel and reports the channel is clear. The Coast Guard Captain of the Port Ohio Valley is allowing transit of the safety zone with no restrictions. Salvage operations for the sunken barge in the middle of the channel at mile marker 42 began Sunday. Weather initially delayed the salvage, but teams were able to recover the sunken barge and move it outside the channel, Thursday. Salvage operations are ongoing outside the channel.

A Unified Command consisting of the U.S. Coast Guard, operators of the motor vessel Sparna, Columbia River Pilots and the National Response Corporation Environmental Services oversaw the safe transit of the damaged motor vessel Sparna up the Columbia River to the North Kalama, Washington pier, Wednesday afternoon. The Sparna, a 623-foot Panamanian-flagged grain bulk carrier, started the transit from its anchorage near river marker 36 with the assistance of two tugs and a Coast Guard safety zone escort at about 12:30 p.m., and moored at the Kalama North pier at about 6 p.m.

The Coast Guard will be enforcing a safety zone within the waters of the Delaware River, from Marcus Hood, Pennsylvania, north to Eddystone, Pennsylvania until March 15, 2016. The safety zone will cover all navigable waters in the Delaware River within 500 yards of vessels and machinery conducting rock blasting, dredging, and rock removal operations. This zone is intended to protect personnel, vessels and the marine environment in these navigable waters while operations are being conducted. Entry into, transiting, or anchoring within the safety zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port (COTP), Delaware Bay, or his designated representative.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has lifted scheduled vessel draft restrictions brought on by lingering draught conditions in the region. The ACP had previously set restrictions of 11.89 meters Tropical Fresh Water (TFW) to take effect September 8 due to the effects of an El Niño climate phenomenon triggering a drought in the Canal Watershed, causing water levels of Gatun and Alhajuela Lakes to fall well below average. The Canal was able to suspend restrictions due to rainfall received during the last few days…

Vessel previously grounded in St. Lawrence Seaway refloated, navigational channel open. The vessel ran hard aground after suffering a steering casualty, and at this time there is no pollution reported. The motor vessel Juno, a 621-foot bulk carrier which ran agound in the vicinity of Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence River, New York, was refloated about 7 a.m. Wednesday and is now safely anchored at Mason Point. At 8 a.m. the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation re-opened the American Narrows to full navigation. The Bahamian-flagged motor vessel Juno, carrying a load of sugar, ran aground Monday reportedly due to a loss of steering and took on water in one of the forward ballast tanks…

UPDATE: U.S. Coast Guard responding to vessel aground in St. The U.S. Coast Guard reports it is continuing its response Tuesday to a 621-foot bulk carrier which ran aground in the vicinity of Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence River, New York, Monday while transiting inbound from the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Port of Toronto. The Bahamian-flagged motor vessel Juno, carrying a load of sugar, is aground and taking on water in one of the forward ballast tanks, however, these tanks were empty prior to the grounding, and there has been no report of pollution.

A 621-foot bulk carrier ran aground near Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence River, Monday. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is responding. The Bahamian-flagged motor vessel Juno is aground in the vicinity of Wellesley Island, in the St. Lawrence River, New York, and is taking on water in one of the forward ballast tanks. The vessel is slightly listing to port with 18-feet of water in the forward peak of the vessel. There are no reported injuries to the crew, and no reported pollution. The ship was transiting a sugar cargo inbound from the St.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office filed suit Tuesday against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its plan either to place dredge material from Cleveland Harbor in Lake Erie or refrain from dredging the entire navigation channel unless a non-federal partner pays to place it in confined disposal facilities. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Cleveland, alleges that the Corps -- which has already agreed to help dredge and dispose of sediment for five miles of the six-mile channel -- is violating federal law by asking that a "non-federal partner" pay more than $1.4 million to dispose of 180,000 cubic yards worth of sediment from the channel's sixth mile.

Signifying the “green light” for development of the port, a permit needed to begin dredging the Port of Port St. Joe’s federally-authorized shipping channel has been signed and certified. The Port also received a permit by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow for spoil disposal as part of the planned dredging of the port’s navigational channel to the maximum authorized depth of 37 feet. A week ago today Port Authority chairman Eugene Raffield signed the final federal permit needed to begin the dredging of the Port of Port St. Joe’s federally-authorized shipping channel. Next up, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracts out the dredge project…

The Port St. Joe Port Authority has been issued a permit by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to allow for the dredging of the port’s navigational channel to the maximum authorized depth of 37 feet. “This is a huge hurdle that has been cleared. What a great opportunity that has presented itself for the Port of Port St. Joe,” said Florida House Representative, Halsey Beshears. “This will have far reaching economic effects for not only the Port St. The issuance of this permit represents a milestone towards the overall objective of getting the navigational channel dredged, the port authority said, adding that once dredged, the port will be well positioned for bulk cargo shipments, offering access to rail, the U.S. Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and state and U.S. highways.

The Port of Hamburg will handle a 19,100-TEU vessel for the first time, as CSCL Globe, currently the world’s largest containership operating in a liner service, is ported in Hamburg from January 13-15 on its maiden voyage deployed in the Europe-East Asia trade. This year, China is due to again further expand its position as Hamburg’s leading trading partner for container traffic, the port noted. On the basis of the first evaluation of 2014 throughput figures for container traffic with China, Port of Hamburg Marketing assumes that the three-million-TEU mark will be reached.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has completed the dredging to deepen and widen the navigational channels along Culebra Cut as part of the Expansion Program. This marks another important milestone for the Panama Canal expansion. The dredging works started in March 2008, with the drilling by Panama Canal personnel on board of the drill barge Baru. “This important achievement fills with pride each man and woman that works within the organization,” Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano said.

The Port of Yantai in northern Shandong province, posted a 10.48 per cent year-on-year increase in overall cargo volume to 105 million tonnes in the first four months of the year, reports Xinhua. The port's full-year cargo throughput is expected to hit 300 million tonnes this year, maintaining China's top 10 coastal ports rankings. From January to April, passenger movements of the port increased 3.84 per cent year on year to 1.99 million people. Yantai government this year plans to invest a total of CNY19.56 billion (US$3.12 billion) on 20 port projects, with the annual investment of CNY3.05 billion. At present, main body of the phase 1 project in its western port area has been completed.

1796-Congress increased the monthly compensation of Revenue Marine officers: masters $50; first mates $35; second mates $30; third mates $25 and mariners $20. 1896-President Grover Cleveland placed the Lighthouse Service within the classified federal civil service. 1898-The cutter Morrill participated in an engagement at Havana, Cuba on 6 and 7 May 1898 during the Spanish-American War. Her officers were awarded Bronze Medals by the authority of a joint resolution of Congress that was approved on 3 March 1901. 1945-The Coast Guard-manned frigate USS Moberly (PF-63), in concert with USS Atherton, sank the U-853 in the Atlantic off Block Island. There were no survivors.

South China's Pearl River cargo volume is expected to rise 10 per cent in 2013 while throughput at its major ports is predicted to rise 12 per cent, according to Ministry of Transportation's Pearl River Administration Navigation office. Pearl River waterway transport investment increased 21 per cent in 2012 year on year to a record of CNY5.67 billion (US$924 million). Forty-one kilometres of a 5,000-tonne navigational channel at the estuary at Yamen county, as well as 1,279 kilometres of other navigation channels, were upgraded, according to Pearl River navigational affairs director Yong Qingzeng. By January 2013, there were 15,551 kilometres of channels on the Pearl.

Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority's Stepped up Mission to Foster Job Creation and Economic Vitality. The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority’s Board of Directors approved a new Strategic Plan today focused on growing both the maritime and development finance businesses and tackling critical infrastructure projects on the Cuyahoga River – all with the mission of fostering job creation and economic vitality. “The Board and our community have demonstrated strong support…

One year after Hurricane Isaac scattered more than a hundred ships and vessels in the Lower Mississippi River, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) honored two New Orleans-Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots (NOBRA) for their fearless actions in braving gale force winds and a storm surge to rescue several crippled vessels and their crews and prevent further casualties from the Category One storm, announced Captain Michael E. Rooney, NOBRA president. The USCG award ceremony honoring the NOBRA pilots was conducted today at the Maritime Pilots Institute (MPI) in Covington, La.

The cabinet decision taken in Lower Saxony on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, means that the required assent from the three states of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony for the adjustment of the navigation channel on the Lower and Outer Elbe has now been received. Given the significance of the deepening of the navigation channel, the German Administrative Court in Leipzig will in the first and final instances be responsible for hearing any possible objections. The period for lodging these runs for four weeks from the date of display of draft final approval. Against the background of the 894 ultra-large vessels (AGF) handled in Hamburg during 2011…

During her maiden voyage the HANJIN SOOHO, the Korean shipping company HANJIN’s largest containership to date, berthed in the Port of Hamburg on 4 May 2012. With a slot capacity of 13,100 TEU (20-ft standard containers), this mega-containership was handled at Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg. The HANJIN SOOHO is 366 metres long, 48.20 metres wide, and has over 800 connections for reefer containers. It was named in honour of the late Sooho Cho, former Chairman of Hanjin Shipping Group, who died in 2006. The HANJIN SOOHO is also the first of nine 13,100-TEU newbuilds to be deployed by HANJIN jointly with its partners on the East Asia-Europe service NE6 organized by the CKYH Alliance.