Northstar News

An offshore wind industry is growing in the U.S. with an aim to meet the Biden Administration’s goal of 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, and eventually 110 GW by 2050.But as is the case for any new industry that is building up, there are going to be bumps along the way. The U.S. offshore wind industry is currently grappling with rising costs amid unprecedented supply chain issues and inflation, among other issues.One of the main challenges unique to offshore wind is a shortage of vessels.

The installation of the first monopiles and transition pieces has kicked off for the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the United States - the Vineyard Wind 1.“We can finally say it – as of today, there is ‘steel in the water,’” said Klaus S. Moeller, CEO of Vineyard Wind, the company developing the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm, located in a federal wind energy area 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and 35 miles from mainland Massachusetts.Vineyard…

U.S. offshore wind farm developer Vineyard Wind will deploy and test a secondary bubble curtain noise mitigation system during foundation installation at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm, the first commercial-scale wind farm installation project in the U.S.For this, the company is investing in ThayerMahan, a firm that specializes in seabed surveys, acoustic mitigation and monitoring, and other maritime-related services, with facilities in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The $5 million in funding comes from Vineyard Wind's Industry Accelerator Fund…

New Orleans-based Laborde Marine said Thursday it had acquired two 240-foot (73.15m) deepwater DP-2 offshore supply vessels from L&M Botruc Rental, Inc. and has expanded its fleet of managed vessels. The company said that SOLAS-certified Shelley Lab and Gibson Lab vessels would support deepwater activities in the Gulf of Mexico.One of the vessels is currently operating under contract, while the other is completing routine shipyard inspections and maintenance prior to becoming available for energy industry support later this month.

The fire on board the barge in the Delaware Bay that started burning on Monday, has been extinguished Tuesday, and Northstar Environmental and Marine Services has been contracted to assess the integrity of the vessel and manage salvage operations, U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.A Unified Command consisting of representatives from Eastern Metal Recycling, New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, Cumberland County Office of Emergency Management, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard has been established to oversee salvage operations.According to the U.S.

The Clean Canaveral, a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge operating along the coast of the southeastern United States, recently completed its inaugural bunkering in Jacksonville, Fla. The Clean Canaveral has a capacity of 5,500 cubic meters, making it the largest Jones Act LNG bunker barge. The vessel operates as an articulated tug barge unit (ATB) and is owned by Polaris New Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Seaside LNG Holdings.The operation marks the first barge-to-ship cool down performed in the United States.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. shipyard Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding said it has delivered the 340-ft. liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering barge, Clean Canaveral, to Polaris New Energy on Friday, December 3.Built as part of an articulated tug and barge unit (ATB), the 5,500 cubic meter capacity barge is the largest of its kind ever built in the U.S., and will soon be followed by another barge of similar size for an affiliate of Polaris New Energy, as they grow their leadership position in the domestic LNG bunkering market.“We are really proud to deliver this important vessel on time…

Trade group the American Salvage Association (ASA) announced a new leadership team at its annual general meeting in New Orleans last week.Michael Jarvis, director of marine operations at Northstar Marine Inc was elected as the new ASA president.Nadja Knoulton. president of Laredo Construction, Inc. will serve as ASA's new vice president.Joseph Farrell III of Resolve Marine Group will be stepping into the ASA secretary/treasurer position.Outgoing ASA president Lindsay Malen-Habib…

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding announced Wednesday it will build a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge for PNE Marine Holdings, an affiliate of Northstar Terminals subsidiary Polaris New Energy. The new 5,500 cubic meter (CBM) capacity barge will be a sister to Clean Canaveral, which is scheduled to be delivered to Polaris in mid-November.The maritime sector is seeing growing demand for economical supply of LNG fueling, with more than 400 new vessels utilizing the cleaner…

JAX LNG, a small-scale LNG facility located along the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Fla., recently completed the first fueling of a marine vessel in the United States with a blend of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and renewable LNG (RLNG).JAX LNG loaded the RLNG/LNG blend into the Clean Jacksonville bunker barge to fuel the Isla Bella. The Isla Bella is the world’s first LNG-powered container ship and was put into service by TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico in 2015. Element Markets supplied the renewable natural gas (RNG) used to produce the RLNG via renewable thermal certificates (RTCs).

New Jersey-based Northstar Marine announced Wednesday it is gearing up to support emerging offshore wind development projects in the Northeast U.S., having recently acquired a pair of specialized support vessels and formed a partnership with with Laredo Offshore Services, based in Belle Chasse, La.The marine services provider announced Wednesday it has acquired a 145-foot class liftboat, the Northstar Voyager, currently undergoing a refit and USCG recertification in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of its first project in the Northeast in mid-April of this year.

A rigorous sea trials program has demonstrated that a new autonomous navigation system can safely navigate unmanned vessels in real-time and in a real-life environment—without human intervention.U.K.-based tpgroup said its patent pending Northstar was successfully used on different platforms and within a range of environments that include congested waterways and in open water. This level of technological maturity (technical readiness level 7) means that it can be developed for…

Northstar Marine, Inc. has finalized the integration of River Services (wholly owned by Northstar Marine, Inc.) a Philadelphia based marine service provider. River Services is now a new division of Northstar, and will operate as Northstar River Services.River Services was founded in 2013 to provide professional marine services in and around the Port of Philadelphia which includes launch, crew boat, and tug and barge operations.Phillip Risko, is the President and CEO of Northstar Marine, Inc., a marine services company that has been operating in the tri-state area since 1990.

MacGregor received an order from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding to supply two fixed boom cranes that will handle the hoses on a new 5,400 cubic meter capacity liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge currently under construction and estimated to be delivered by the end of 2021.The MacGregor Rapp HP63-13F cranes will handle the hoses that transfer LNG from the barge to the LNG-powered vessel during bunkering operations. The hoses will be 63 feet long and designed to handle 6,500 pounds at 42 feet and 1…

The American shipbuilding scene, filled with participants constructing all manner of vessels, has been navigating through stormy times (lately, yards along the Gulf Coast have literally been dealing with storms). The orders for newbuild, repair and conversion projects continue to flow in—albeit at a reduced pace—and the boats and ships go down the ways into the water, but the overall panorama has seen tremendous sea changes as the business has shifted.Maritime businesses worldwide have been grappling with currents both internal and external.

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding hosted a private ceremonial keel laying June 24 celebrating the start of construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge for Polaris New Energy.The barge will be named the Clean Canaveral and will operate as an articulated tug and barge unit (ATB) that initially runs along the U.S. East Coast providing LNG bunkering solutions to NorthStar Midstream’s customers.Modern ships are now largely built in a series of prefabricated, complete hull sections rather than being built around a single keel.

Vice President and General Manager of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Todd Thayse, has 34 years of experience in the maritime construction and repair industry, working with clients from all over the world as well as vendors and suppliers from the Great Lakes region and beyond. He has an extensive background in manufacturing production, material procurement, strategic planning, estimating, budgeting, labor negotiations, mergers and acquisitions as well as scheduling for both the commercial and governmental shipbuilding industries. He has overseen projects that have produced U.S.

There’s a barge full of reasons why many operators turn to ATBs.A  mainstay of the U.S. coastwise dirty and refined products trades, articulated tug barges (ATB) have increasingly filled a void left as the fleet of Jones Act tankers (with crew complement requirements exceeding that of tugs) has aged out. With the cargo capacity of the larger ATBs – some with barges exceeding 300,000 barrels capacity – rivalling that of workhorse tankers that had served oil consuming regions, the concept certainly makes sense from a supply and distribution perspective.With 50…

The Finnish technology major Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply its LNG cargo handling system for a new 5400-cbm LNG bunker barge being built in the USA.The barge is being built at the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard in Wisconsin on behalf of NorthStar Midstream. It will be operated by the company’s marine transportation company Polaris New Energy (PNE)."This latest order further endorses Wärtsilä’s leading position in LNG systems for the marine sector, and its key role in supporting the growing acceptance of LNG fuel by North American owners and operators," said a press note from the company.The order with Wärtsilä was placed in August 2019…

NorthStar Midstream, a portfolio company of funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., has announced the formation of Polaris New Energy (“PNE”), a marine transportation company focused on the transportation and distribution of liquefied natural gas (LNG) along the coastal and inland waterways of the United States.NorthStar has executed an agreement with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding to build a 5,400 cubic meter (CBM), with the ability to potentially construct two sister barges, for coastwise transportation of LNG.

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…

Crowley Fuels has announced that it has signed another multi-year supply contract with Pivotal LNG to support a major pharmaceutical company’s energy needs in Puerto Rico. The contract, executed through Crowley subsidiary Carib Energy (USA) LLC, calls for Crowley to transport LNG from Pivotal facilities on the mainland to the island manufacturer. With Crowley’s supply chain solution, LNG is loaded into Crowley’s 10,000-gallon international shipping organization (ISO) containers at one of Pivotal’s LNG supply sources in the southeastern U.S.

As demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) grows, so does the need for LNG carriers. Many shipping companies in recent years have placed orders for LNG ships, and shipyards are busy building them. The maritime industry is also exploring ships powered by natural gas, rather than more traditional sources. To address this topic, SUNY Maritime College will host a conference, LNG: Not just a cargo, on Thursday, November 2. The conference will include presentations and panel discussions from a wide variety of maritime companies…