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The captain of a dive boat that caught fire and sank off the California coast in 2019, killing 34 people on board in one of the state's deadliest maritime disasters, was found guilty on Monday of a federal charge of seaman's manslaughter.Jerry Boylan, 70, was convicted by a U.S. District Court jury in Los Angeles on a single charged count of "misconduct or neglect of a ship officer" under a federal homicide statute dating from steamboat accidents in the early 1800s.The felony conviction…

The second-largest ore carrier in the world was officially named Yuanhehai and delivered to China Ore Shipping, affiliated with China Cosco Shipping Corporation, in Shanghai, the state media reported.   The 400,000-dwt mega ship, which is 362 meters long, 65 meters wide and 30.4 meters high, was delivered almost a year after the deal was made in 2016, China News Service reported.   The Yuanhehai is the second-generation very large ore carrier (VLOC) designed by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company.    The delivery was the first ship of the second-generation VLOC. The shipbuilder will build more VLOCs for China Ore Shipping.

Innovative boats, unusual collaboration: Hornblower, Horizon, Incat Crowther and Metal Shark team up on one of the most significant newbuilding projects of the year. When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier this year announced the selection of Hornblower to operate as many as 20 ferries to connect a similar number of New York City neighborhoods, the magnitude of the award immediately outweighed the details of the contract. The vessels, intended to eventually form the backbone of a modern, comfortable and efficient urban ferry fleet, will also be New York City’s first city-wide ferry system in over 100 years. Now on track to launch in 2017, the news service is predicated on the on-time delivery of high tech, newbuild hulls now being constructed on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The world is closely watching several contentious flash points that have potential to ignite. The behavior and rhetoric of China and Russia regarding vital shipping lanes in international waters have been alarming. Disputed sovereignty claims and efforts to enforce them have the maritime world on edge. China’s nine-dash line claims about owning the entire East and South China Sea have created a dilemma for themselves and the other nations in the region. The Philippines v. China case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague commenced on Jan.

Global shipping and logistics firm Maersk is looking at ways to use drones for delivering equipment to ships and is planning to conduct a test later this year, after using the technology in January for delivering cookies to a tanker at sea, says a report in PTI. "The company is evaluating ways to expand its use of drones and plans a bigger test later this year," said Markus Kuhn, a supply chain manager at Maersk. In January, the company made a drone fly 250 meters from one of its barges to a tanker and drop off a batch of cookies. It's now looking for a drone-making partner for a test flight that would haul a 10-kilogram package for 10 kilometers. That test would illustrate a key use case for Maersk, that of resupplying its fleet of tankers, oil platforms, container ships and other craft.

Seventeen people were missing after a Chinese fishing boat collided with a Maltese cargo ship and sank in the East China Sea on Saturday, state media reported, citing the country's coastguard fleet. The fishing boat, Lu Rong Yu 58398, had 19 people on board when the incident happened at 3.40 a.m. Beijing time (1940 GMT), the China News Service said, adding that two people had been rescued by passing fishing boats and a search and rescue operation was still underway. China National Radio said that it had hit Maltese cargo ship Catalina, a 40,485 ton bulk carrier, which has continued sailing. They did not specify where in the East China Sea the collision happened.

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Koreas second-largest shipbuilder, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) to team up to bid for the GAIL (India) Ltd tender to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships. GAIL needs nine LNG carriers to haul natural gas from the US to India beginning December 2017. With this, Cochin Shipyard becomes the second local yard to secure a technology tie-up for LNG ships from one of the three top shipbuilders in South Korea, the world’s top shipbuilding nation. According to Express News Service, If Cochin Shipyard-Samsung wins the tender, the consortium is expected to secure orders for three ships, each costs around Rs 1500 crore.

The anchor chain of 303-foot mega-yacht, the Tatoosh, belonging to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has been blamed for destroying a large area of protected coral reef in the Cayman Islands. It destroyed almost 14,000 square foot, or about 80 per cent,  of reef in a protected area in the West Bay area of the Cayman Islands, according to the islands' Department of Environment (DoE). Allen's Seattle-based Vulcan Inc organisation, which manages his fortune, said on Wednesday that the M/V Tatoosh was moored on January 14 in a "position explicitly directed" by the local port authority and that his team was co-operating with the investigation. CNN reported that Mr Allen could face a maximum fine of roughly $US600,000, not counting civil damages.

Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705)  has docked at Yokosuka port in Japan as part of its Asia-Pacific region itinerary, the US Navy announced in a news release. City of Corpus Christi has conducted a multitude of missions and maintains proficiency in the latest capabilities of the submarine fleet. "Every Westpac (Western Pacific) submariner expects to come here at some point during their time in the theater, and it is always a much anticipated visit," said Cmdr. Travis Petzoldt, commanding officer. Commissioned in 1983, the City of Corpus Christi is more than 300 feet long and weighs more than 6,000 tons, the release noted. "City of Corpus Christi is one of the stealthiest submarines in the world.

China’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that China and South Korea will hold their first round of talks on maritime delimitation over the Yellow Sea in the South Korean capital of Seoul on December 22. The talks, led by South Korean Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, will be held in Seoul next Tuesday, the South Korean ministry said in a release. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun Hye agreed to launch negotiations during Xi's visit to South Korea in July last year, China News Service reports. They had agreed to launch negotiations this year on the demarcation of their maritime boundaries amid tension over their overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

Moses Kirkconnell, the Cayman Islands’ minister of tourism said that future off-shore tendering of cruise ships is out of the question in lieu of building a $150 million cruise pier and terminal in the Cayman Islands. Given that in 2014 approximately 82% of Cayman’s cruise business came from Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line , he asked them about their future plans and was told that tendering is not something they are willing to consider. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has informed the tourism minister that they will not tender their mega cruise ships, says a report in Cayman News Service. Adam Goldstein, President and COO of Royal Caribbean Cruises said…

The Chinese navy played down recent military drills in the South China Sea and criticised other countries for "illegally" occupying islands in the area, the official Xinhua news service reported on Saturday. China has launched a naval drill in waters to the east of Hainan island, a largely unpopulated region of reefs and shoals in which a number of countries maintain contradictory and overlapping territorial claims. "Holding sea drills is a common practice for navies with various countries. The annual drill by the Chinese navy aims to test the troops' real combat abilities, boost their manoeuvrability, search and rescue power and the abilities to fulfil diversified military missions," Xinhua quoted Chinese navy spokesperson Liang Yang saying.

Russia is expected to finish the construction of a submarine base on the Kamchatka Peninsula by the end of October. "Upgrades to the Russian Navy’s ballistic nuclear missile submarine (SSBN) base in the Pacific could be completed by October, Russian Navy chief Adm. Viktor Chirkov said," says USNI News. The improvements to the Russian Navy’s boomer base on the Kamchatka peninsula will include improvements that will allow the operation of the new Project 955 Borei-class submarines. “The system for basing the Borei-class strategic submarines in Kamchatka is moving along according to schedule and the work will be completed by October 1 of this year,” Chirkov said in the Sputnik news service.

The U.S. Navy has selected more than three dozen female enlisted sailors to qualify to serve aboard a submarine in a historic first for the sea service as part of a plan to more fully integrate women into the undersea force. The 38 selected female sailors are only the first step in a long-term plan approved by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert to integrate the US Navy’s submarine force and provide opportunities for women to serve in all missions, the US Navy News Service said in a statement. “Applications from women… were received for the initial application period to fill four chief petty officer… and 34 rating conversion positions… across the two crews of the USS Michigan (SSGN 727),” the statement said.

Three years before the cruise ship he was steering capsized in the Yangtze River, the Chinese government honoured captain Zhang Shuwen for saving the life of an elderly man who had suffered an asthma attack. Zhang is now the focus of attention after his ship, the Eastern Star, sank on Monday night during a fierce storm, in what may be China's worst maritime disaster in almost 70 years. At least 19 bodies have been found and more than 400 people are missing. Zhang escaped alive and is in police custody, although he has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Until the incident, Zhang was regarded as an effective captain. He received an "outstanding employee" award by the Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corporation last year…

As the disputed South China Sea heats up around the world, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) of India has Okayed a plan to virtually keep an eye on shipping in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, reports Tribune News Service. It is an act that is clearly aimed at monitoring the Chinese shipping of oil and gas, without saying so, adds the report. The CCS, which is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a plan to collate shipping information from 24 countries located as far and wide as those on African East Coast that is the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, where five countries are locked in bitter territorial dispute with China. Beijing is not one of the countries on the 24-country grouping.

Shares in Brazil's Petrobras rose 6 percent on Monday after local media reported that the state-run oil company plans to sell a stake in petrochemicals firm Braskem SA for around 2.8 billion reais ($903 million).   The report in Broadcast, the real-time news service of newspaper Estado de S. Paulo, did not name any potential buyers or say at what stage the sales process was.   Neither Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, or Braskem were immediately available for comment.     ($1 = 3.10 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer)

Senior Chinese and Vietnamese officials have agreed to settle their maritime disputes without resorting to "megaphone diplomacy", the official Xinhua news service said on Saturday. The agency's report follows a meeting in Hanoi on Friday between Chinese political advisor Yu Zhengsheng and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and it comes as Beijing backs off from aggressive attempts to press its territorial claims in the South China Sea. "Megaphone diplomacy can only trigger volatility in public opinion, which should be avoided by both sides," the report quoted Yu as saying. "The maritime issue is highly complicated and sensitive, which requires negotiations to manage and control differences," he said.

Bandar Abbas, home of Iran's navy and the main port in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, is currently hosting two Chinese naval vessels on a five-day goodwill visit, underlining the increasingly warm relationship between the two countries. It is the first such port call to Iran by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and highlights the efforts both China and Iran are making to counterbalance the power of the United States in the Middle East and along the sea lanes connecting the oil fields of the Gulf with major energy-consuming centres in Asia. The firepower of the guided missile destroyer Changchun and guided missile frigate Changzhou of the PLAN's 17th escort taskforce is dwarfed by the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquartered in Bahrain.

As part of a 2011 Presidential directive, the Departments of Navy, Energy, and Agriculture have announced that three companies have been awarded contracts to construct and commission biorefineries capable of producing "drop-in" biofuels to meet the transportation needs of the military and private sector, according to the Navy News Service. Made through the Department of Defense's (DOD) Defense Protection Act (DPA) of 1950, the awards support the Administration's goals to boost and diversify the domestic fuel supply base, make American warfighters less beholden to volatile oil markets, and strengthen national security. "The contracts being announced today will help expand the operational capability of our Navy and Marine Corps around the world," said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.

Latest Littoral Combat Ship from Austal's State-of-the-Art Ship Production Factory Coming Today. The Navy will christen its newest littoral combat ship, the future USS Jackson (LCS 6) in a ceremony at the Austal USA Shipyard in Mobile, Ala., March 22, at 10 a.m. CDT. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will deliver the principal address at the ceremony, and Dr. Katherine Holmes Cochran will serve as the ship's sponsor. Cochran is the daughter of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. "Every ship we christen is important, but LCS 6, the future USS Jackson, has a special place in my heart," said Mabus.

In his annual policy address to the Hong Kong SAR Legislative Council, Chief Executive C Y Leung pledged that the Government would continue to improve port facilities and enhance the efficiency of port operations, thereby seizing the opportunities brought by the growth of trade in the Mainland and Asia. "The logistics industry has flourished in recent years. Ten hectares of land have been set aside in Tuen Mun West for logistics use. Land will also be earmarked in new development areas for the construction of modern logistics facilities.

The berth basin of the Petronet LNG terminal is not deep enough to facilitate the tanker vessel holding the terminal’s first consignment of LNG, forcing the ship to wait in anchorage at the Cochin Port as a navigable route is dredged, multiple news sources reported. The vessel is expected to sit for two or three days as the basin is dredged. The ship, WilEnergy, is carrying LNG from RasGas in Qatar to be delivered to the Rs 4,200 crore terminal. The LNG carried on WilEnergy is said to be primarily for the test of pipelines, with any surplus heading to distribution.