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Northeast Florida News

26 May 2022

Dredging at JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal Complete

Front row from left: Congresswoman Kat Cammack, Congressman John Rutherford, JAXPORT CEO Eric Green, FDOT Secretary Jared W. Perdue, JAXPORT Chair Wendy Hamilton, JAXPORT’s City Council Liaison Ron Salem, and Jacksonville City Council President Sam Newby cut a ribbon following the last scoop of the Jacksonville Harbor Deepening Project through Blount Island. (Photo: JAXPORT)

The project to deepen 11 miles of the federal shipping channel from the sea buoy to JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal to a depth of 47 feet from its previous depth of 40 feet has been completed. Federal, state, and local leaders joined JAXPORT and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Jacksonville District to celebrate the project's completion.The 47-foot harbor provides the channel depth needed for larger ships to call Blount Island to and from destinations worldwide and allows existing ships calling Jacksonville to carry more cargo on board.

16 Feb 2022

Shipbuilding: Fincantieri Marine Group Invests Mightily to Deliver for the US Navy

Fincantieri Marinette Marine rendering with completed construction and FFG-62 on shiplift. Photo courtesy FMG

When he served as the commander of NWSC Carderock, Mark Vandroff woke every morning knowing that his counterpart in China had just gone to bed and had spent that day trying to make China’s Navy superior. His job, he figured, was to “get cracking and work to make our Navy even better.” Now the CEO at Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), Vandroff brings that passion for navy shipbuilding – and delivering on the new USN Constellation-class frigates contract – to work every day.Introducing a new class of warship usually comes with a heaping helping of pain, from cost overruns to technical glitches.

10 Jan 2022

Fincantieri Begins Work in Northeast Florida

(Photo: Fincantieri Marine Systems North America)

Fincantieri Marine Repair, a division of Fincantieri Marine Systems North America (FMSNA), welcomed its first commercial customer to Commodores Point in downtown Jacksonville last week, marking the start of operations in northeast Florida.FMSNA announced last month that they were ready to provide repair and maintenance services to military, commercial, and large private vessels on the East Coast beginning in 2022. And a few days into 2022 and the team at FMSNA is already busy with a 340-f00t commercial vessel.According to Ryan Smith…

30 Nov 2021

Fincantieri Marine Systems Expands Florida Operations

File photo: The guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) transits Naval Station Mayport Harbor on its way into port in 2016. (Photo: Timothy Schumaker / U.S. Navy)

Fincantieri Marine Systems North America (FMSNA) announced that it will expand its marine repair operations on the U.S. East Coast, a move that is expected to bring hundreds of jobs to Jacksonville, Fla., as they will provide extra marine repair capacity for both commercial and government vessels.FMSNA will make Commodores Point the focus of this effort, bringing business and investment to the downtown Jacksonville waterfront.“We are investing millions of dollars in waterfront improvements…

08 Jun 2020

Höegh Xiamen Fire Contained

(Photo: JFRD)

A three-alarm fire that broke out aboard vehicle carrier Höegh Xiamen in the Port of Jacksonville last week continues to burn but has been controlled and contained, authorities said Monday.Firefighters with Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) and specialist marine firefighters with Resolve Marine Group are working to maintain the structural integrity of the 600-foot roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) ship and reduce the threat of any environmental impact to the river. Containment booms have been placed around the vessel as a precautionary measure, though no pollution has been reported.

05 Jun 2020

Explosion Injures Firefighters Battling RoRo Blaze in Jacksonville

A fire broke out on board the 600-foot vehicle carrier Hoegh Xiamen, at Blount Island in Jacksonville, Fla. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Jessica Maldonado Gonzalez)

An explosion injured several firefighters battling a blaze on board car carrier Höegh Xiamen at berth in Jacksonville, Fla. Thursday.The eight responders have been transported to the hospital for serious injuries, including two taken by air and two by ground to to Shands Gainesville burn unit. They are all in stable condition.All of the ship's 21 crew members are off the ship, uninjured and accounted for, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) said.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Jacksonville were notified at 3:53 p.m.

24 Nov 2019

JaxPort Break Ground on Container Terminal

U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administrator Rear Adm. Mark Buzby joined elected officials and leadership from Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) and SSA Marine on Nov. 22 to break ground on a new state-of-the-art international container terminal at JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal.The SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal is an expansion of SSA’s current leasehold at Blount Island and includes $238.7 million in infrastructure and equipment upgrades. Operations will continue throughout the redevelopment, which is expected to be complete in 2023—coinciding with the completion of the federal project to deepen the Jacksonville shipping channel to 47 feet.

09 Aug 2019

JAXPORT Welcomes FDOT Secretary

The Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT), Florida,  said that its Chief Executive Officer Eric Green and other port executives welcomed Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin Thibault for an update on port growth and a waterside tour of ongoing port projects.JAXPORT said that the visit included a look at how the projects—from berth enhancements to Mile Point and harbor deepening—work together to make Jacksonville’s seaport more competitive, bringing jobs and revenue to Northeast Florida.The tour began with a stop at Berths 33 and 34, currently under construction at the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at Blount Island.

21 May 2018

LNG is the Bridge to ‘Zero Emissions’ Shipping

(Photo: Skangas)

The advent of industry wide tightening of allowable sulfur emissions is getting nearer. Suddenly, with the deadline now little more than one year away, the countdown clock will very soon be ticking much louder. Simply stated, the cap on allowable sulfur content in marine fuels, presently at 3.5 percent in many geographical regions, will be reduced to 0.5 percent in January 2020. The 0.1 percent sulfur cap, already in effect since 2015 in coastal Emissions Control Areas (ECAs) in Europe and North America…

07 Oct 2016

Commercial Ports along Florida's West Coast Reopened

The U.S. Coast Guard said it had reopened all commercial ports along Florida's west coast on Friday, while hurricane Matthew continued to lash the northeast coast of the state.   Matthew was located about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southeast of Jacksonville Beach in Florida with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h), according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.   The hurricane was forecast to move near or over the coast of northeast Florida and Georgia through Friday night, and near or over the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. It is expected to remain a hurricane until it begins to move away from the United States on Sunday, the NHC said.     (Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

07 Oct 2016

Hurricane Matthew batters Florida, Haiti Death Toll Rises

Storm's eye nears Cape Canaveral. The first major hurricane threatening a direct hit on the United States in more than 10 years lashed Florida on Friday with heavy rains and winds after killing at least 339 people in Haiti on its destructive march north through the Caribbean. Hurricane Matthew packed gusts of 100 miles per hour (160 kph) as it tracked north-northwest along Florida's east coast, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The storm's eye was 25 miles (40 km) east of Cape Canaveral, home to the nation's chief space launch site. "We are seriously ground zero here in Cape Canaveral -- hunkered down, lights flickering, winds are crazy," said resident Sandy Wilk on Twitter.

06 Oct 2016

Singapore Continues to Harmonize LNG Bunkering Standards

To develop the world’s first set of harmonised LNG bunkering standards, a network comprising Antwerp, Rotterdam, Singapore and Zeebrugge, subsequently expanded to include Jacksonville and Norway, was formed. Taking reference from documents by organisations such as the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF), this set of harmonised standards  will ensure that key areas of the LNG bunkering process are aligned across ports carrying out LNG bunkering operations. The standards can also provide a guide to ports seeking to be LNG bunker-ready.

16 Sep 2016

Julia Achieves Tropical Storm Status Again

Julia regained its designation as a tropical storm as it milled off the southeast coast of the United States on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The center of the storm, which drenched parts of northeast Florida, Georgia and South Carolina earlier this week, was not threatening land as it moved east-southeast about 270 miles (435 km) southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the Miama-based center said. Tropical Storm Julia, carrying winds of 40 mph (65 kph) with higher gusts, was expected to cause rip currents and hazardous wave conditions along the southeastern coast through the weekend, the center said. Reporting by Brendan O'Brien

14 Apr 2016

BOEM, Jacksonville, U.S. Army Corps Ink Shore Protection Deal

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has signed an agreement with the City of Jacksonville, Fla., and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizing them to dredge nearly 1.4 million cubic yards of sand from federal waters for periodic renourishment of the Duval County shoreline. The shore protection project, using sand from the seafloor of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), will restore a 10-mile stretch of coast between the St. Johns River entrance and the Duval County/St. Johns County boundary along the Atlantic Ocean. Dredging is expected to begin in the summer of 2016. “BOEM is pleased to support the City of Jacksonville with this restoration project,” said BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper.

20 Jul 2015

Maersk Starts Weekly Service through Port of Jacksonville

The Port of Jacksonville (JAXPORT) has welcomed the 4,400 teu AS Mariana, the first ship in Maersk Line’s new weekly service to Asia through at the port’s Blount Island Marine Terminal. JAXPORT has officially announced the addition of the world’s No. 1 container shipping company to the growing number of global carriers with regular container cargo service through Jacksonville. This addition service means that nine of the world’s top 10 global container carriers now offer their customers the opportunity to move containers into and out of Northeast Florida. “What better way to illustrate JAXPORT’s increasingly visible role in international trade than to welcome the world’s largest container line,” said JAXPORT Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Roy Schleicher.

06 Jan 2015

TOTE Inks LNG Supply Deal

Image courtesy of TOTE

Partnership represents the start of LNG adoption as a marine fuel in the United States. Pivotal LNG, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AGL Resources Inc., and WesPac Midstream LLC have signed a long-term agreement with TOTE, Inc. to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fuel the company’s two new state-of-the-art containerships. Pivotal LNG and WesPac are constructing a new natural gas liquefaction facility in Jacksonville, Fla., addressing the growing demand for LNG in the southeast.

24 Jul 2014

Jacksonville Adds PORTS Real-time Data System

Officials from NOAA, the Jacksonville Marine Transportation Exchange, and the Jacksonville Port Authority officially dedicated a new information system today which will increase safety for ships using the St. Johns River. The system, called Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS), provides real-time information on water levels, currents, meteorological conditions, and under-bridge clearance, giving users critical information when traveling through the river. The St. Johns River in Jacksonville will become the 23rd location to use the system and is the second largest PORTS ever established. “Our nation’s ports are critical cogs in our country’s economic engine,” said Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.

06 Jun 2014

Florida Ranks 2nd in the US for Maritime Jobs

AMP Chairman Thomas Allegretti

Domestic Maritime Industry Worth More than $9.6 Billion to Florida Economy. Florida ranks second among all states in domestic maritime jobs, according to a new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the Transportation Institute and released by the American Maritime Partnership (AMP), the voice of the U.S. domestic maritime industry. Supported by the Jones Act, which ensures vessels operating in our domestic waterways are U.S.-built, U.S.-crewed and U.S.-owned, the state’s 52…

02 May 2014

Job Opportunities in NE Florida LNG Sector

Northeast Florida is taking the lead in the natural gas industry to attract and keep business in the area. Viewed as a viable player in this industry, the region is building upon its status as an importer and exporter of liquefied and compressed natural gas by cultivating its available, skilled workforce to support this growing industry, says the JAXUSA Partnership via Business Wire. Significant developments are occurring in the area that will offer employment opportunities. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. plans to build a terminal to supply LNG to cargo ships in Jacksonville – the first of its type in the nation and the first LNG facility on the Eastern Seaboard to supply LNG for the maritime, trucking and rail industries.

09 Jul 2013

Crowley Maritime Wins Employee Health Award

Award Presentation: Photo courtesy of Crowley Maritime

Jacksonville-based Crowley Maritime Corp. has been recognized as one of the top three 2013 Healthiest Employers by the Jacksonville Business Journal. Crowley ranked third of all large northeast Florida companies (500+ employees), and was one of just 24 overall ranked businesses to receive this award. Crowley’s Manager of Employee Programs Katy Keene accepted the award on behalf of the company during a special awards breakfast held at the University of North Florida’s University Center.

10 Jan 2013

Crowley Maritime Supports Arlington YMCA Project

Crowley Maritime Corp donates check & personnel will help in field enhancements to benefit more than 500 local children and adults. Children attending YMCA summer camps and playing on sports teams in the Arlington area will soon benefit from Fort Caroline field enhancements following a recent donation from Jacksonville-based Crowley Maritime Corp . A check will be presented by Crowley’s David Holden, director, human resources, to the YMCA during a ceremony scheduled for Sat., Jan. 12, at 10:00 a.m. on the field. Shortly thereafter, Crowley employees and other community volunteers will work together to lay new grass seed, install fencing, add an irrigation system and perform other tasks to improve the field’s safety and function.

21 Oct 2003

NE Florida Port Security Committees

The U.S. Coast Guard issued a Press Release stating that agreements will be signed on October 21, 2003 formalizing two local port security committees for northeast Florida ports. The port security committees will develop Area Maritime Security Plans and conduct large-scale exercises relating to maritime security. Source: HK Law

09 Feb 2004

Carnival Takes Delivery of Carnival Miracle

Carnival Cruise Lines has taken delivery of its 20th Fun Ship, the 2,124-passenger Carnival Miracle. The delivery took place during traditional handover ceremonies in Helsinki at Kvaerner Masa-Yards, the Finnish shipyard that constructed the massive $375 million SuperLiner. Costa Crociere (two ships). Atlantica, was delivered in year 2000. Following a 14-day transatlantic crossing from Helsinki to Jacksonville, Fla., Carnival Miracle will be officially named February 27, 2004…

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