Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Ortiz News

07 Aug 2023

Mass. Maritime to Open On-campus Center for Inclusion

(Photo: Massachusetts Maritime Academy)

Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) is set to open a new office on campus that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion through programs, events and student support initiatives.MMA's Office of Intercultural Engagement named its new office the Captain Paul Cuffe Center for Inclusion, in honor of the master mariner, philanthropist, abolitionist and education advocate. Approved by unanimous vote of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Board of Trustees, the Cuffe Center is housed…

17 Aug 2022

Seven Charged with Labor Racketeering in the Port of San Juan

Š soultkd / Adobe Stock

On August 11, 2022, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging seven defendants with running a criminal enterprise dedicated to extorting and misleading shipping companies into paying fees for the loading and unloading of cargo at the Port of San Juan—Piers 9, 10, and 11—under the threat of strikes and blockades on the part of union members of the ILA-1740 of the International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO (ILA) and under false representations…

30 Jun 2022

Boskalis to Install Substations, Monopiles for Ørsted, Eversource U.S. Offshore Wind Farms

Credit: Ørsted

Ørsted and Eversource, two companies that have partnered up to buiild offshore wind farms in the U.S. said Thursday they'd signed contracts with Boskalis to support the construction of their offshore wind project in the U.S.The work with Boskalis involves the foundation and offshore substations transportation and installation for the joint venture’s South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind projects, as well as scour protection installation contracts for its Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects. "The contract for this work was finalized in late 2021.

21 Oct 2021

Maritime Academies Work Toward Inclusion

U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets aboard USCGC Eagle (WIX 327), "America's Tall Ship," during summer 2021. (Photo: Kristjan Petersson / U.S. Embassy Reykjavik)

Last May, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (CGA) announced that 240 new officers made up its 140th graduating class.The Academy’s announcement referenced additional, important highlights. Women made up 34% of the Class of 2021, and 34% of the graduates were from underrepresented minority groups. Even more focused was the statement that 22 African Americans “walked the stage,” the largest number in Academy history, and 2021 included the second highest number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders.To make the ceremony even more memorable, President Biden delivered the keynote address.

16 Jul 2021

BP to Deliver its First Carbon Offset LNG Cargo to Mexican Terminal

Credit: alexyz3d/AdobeStock

BP, through bpGM, Sempra LNG, and IEnova have entered into a contract for the delivery and receipt of the two companies' first carbon offset LNG cargo. The cargo is expected to be delivered to the Energía Costa Azul (ECA) terminal in Mexico on July 16, 2021, and it will be sourced from BP’s global LNG portfolio, BP said."Global demand for natural gas and LNG is expected to continue to grow. IEnova and Sempra LNG each intend to continue supporting this growth by diversifying their offerings…

12 Feb 2019

Costa Rica Ratifies FAL Convention

Costa Rica is the latest country to ratify the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention).The International Maritime Organization (IMO) treaty enhances communication between ships and ports to help shipments move more quickly, more easily and more efficiently.Rafael Ortiz Fábrega, Ambassador of Costa Rica, met IMO Secretary-General at IMO Headquarters, London (12 February) to deposit the instrument of accession.FAL matters because, if it goes smoothly, shipments move more quickly, more easily and more efficiently. But if it goes badly, delays, inefficiencies and extra costs are inevitable, IMO said.Statistics show that countries with more efficient FAL infrastructure have better import and export figures.

08 Jan 2019

Costa Rica Accedes to SAR Treaty

International search and rescue plans are crucial, so that, no matter where an accident occurs, the rescue of persons in distress at sea can be coordinated successfully.The worldwide ratification and implementation of International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR Convention) is a key component in efforts to ensure the safety of international shipping.Costa Rica is the 112th State to accede to the treaty, whose signatories now represent more than 80% of world merchant shipping tonnage.Rafael Ortiz Fábrega, Ambassador of Costa Rica to the United Kingdom, met IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters…

01 Oct 2018

Glander International Bunkering Goes to Spain

The marine fuel and lubricant trading firm Glander International Bunkering has opened its  seventh office globally and third service point in Europe in Valencia, Spain, to  service clients in the Mediterranean and Spanish-speaking regions.As the new Managing Director of the Spain office, Hernan B. Ortiz has officially moved to Valencia from Dubai to assume this new important role.With more than 28 years of industry experience and 9 years within the company, Hernan will leverage his Mediterranean and Spanish expertise to further strengthen the company’s services in these important markets.A press release quoted Carsten Ladekjær, CEO of the Glander International Bunkering Group as saying: "The shipping and bunkering industries are in a state of constant change.

24 Apr 2018

Dellner Brakes Goes Global for IMX 2018

Photo: Dellner Brakes

Dellner Brakes will present a global product range at this year’s Inland Marine Expo (IMX) in St Louis, bringing together power transmission products from its U.S., Swedish and German operations for the very first time.This global product offering follows on from the Swedish company’s acquisition of U.S. brake and clutch specialist Gummi USA in September 2017 and German braking manufacturer Pintsch Bubenzer in January this year.Dellner Brakes CEO, Marcus Aberg, said, “We are delighted to be exhibiting alongside our new sister company Pintsch Bubenzer for the very first time at IMX.

18 Oct 2015

Tropical Storm Olaf strengthening in Pacific, to Become Hurricane

Tropical storm Olaf is strengthening in the Pacific between Mexico and Hawaii and is likely to become a hurricane by Saturday night or Sunday, but is not expected to make landfall, the National Hurricane Center said. The center said Olaf is forecast to become a major hurricane by Monday. Olaf is located 1,600 miles (2,600 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of the Mexican state of Baja California. At 8 a.m. PDT (1500 GMT) it had maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (95 km/h), the center said. It is moving to the west, and expected to turn in a northwest direction later in the weekend. "There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect," the hurricane center said in its latest public advisory on the storm.

24 Mar 2015

IMO, El Salvador Enter Technical Cooperation

Photo: IMO

A new agreement on supporting the Republic of El Salvador to implement International Maritime Organization (IMO) treaties was signed in San Salvador on Monday, March 23. IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, who is on a visit to central America, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, Hugo Martinez, signed the Letter of Understanding on technical cooperation between the Government of El Salvador and IMO, which outlines the intention of IMO to assist El Salvador in implementing important IMO international conventions, including the MARPOL, OPRC and STCW treaties.

02 Mar 2015

Manila Port Congestion Eased: Palace

Malacañang has declared that the congestion at the Port of Manila has been resolved, noting the various measures that the government and the private sector have implemented to address the problem. Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the operations at the Port of Manila have been completely normalized with the combined efforts of the Cabinet cluster on port decongestion and the technical working group of various agencies. “There was a time that the ports and all the container yards were flooded with empty containers. As of the end of February 2015, this is no longer the situation,” Secretary to the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras said in a statement.

28 Jan 2015

Fugitive Treasure Hunter Arrested in Florida

An Ohio man who recovered as much as $400 million in gold from a shipwreck has been arrested in Florida after two years on the run and was scheduled to appear in federal court on Wednesday. Tommy Thompson was detained on Tuesday night at a Hilton hotel in west Boca Raton, Florida, said Barry Golden, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service in the Southern District of Florida. He was due to appear in federal court in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, Golden said. He is wanted for failing to appear in a federal court in Ohio in 2012. Thompson was arrested with a woman, Alison Antekeier, who also has an outstanding arrest warrant in Ohio, according to Golden. They appeared to have been living in the hotel for about two years, he said.

24 Sep 2014

Manila's Port Gridlock Squeezing Philippine Economy

Photo: Philippine Ports Authority

Philippine furniture maker Betiscrafts Inc should have delivered a shipment of custom-made chairs to Middle East customers last month. But a cargo from China of imported fabric needed for the upholstery has been held up by severe congestion at Manila's main port, where containers have piled up since February when a daytime ban on trucks plying the city roads came into effect. Worried about the hit to the economy, the government intervened on Sept. 13 to end the 7-month long ban…

08 Aug 2014

Two Arrested for Smuggling through Nogales Port

Two males, one from Mexico and the other a United States citizen, were recently arrested in separate drug-smuggling attempts through Nogales Port of Entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Dennis DeConcini crossing referred Jorge Humberto Lopez-Ramos, 64, of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, for additional inspection of a GMC truck he attempted to drive through the port Tuesday morning. A CBP narcotic detection canine alerted to the vehicle’s driver-side door, where officers discovered 27.5 pounds of methamphetamine, worth an estimated $82,500. Monday, CBP officers at the Mariposa crossing referred Christian Ortiz, 31, a U.S. citizen living in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, for a further search of his Chevrolet truck.

24 Jun 2014

Spain Gives Go-ahead to Canary Islands Drilling

Spain's Supreme Court approved on Tuesday a $7-billion oil exploration project off the Canary Islands, clearing one of the final hurdles for oil company Repsol to begin drilling within months. In 2012, Spain's government granted permits for hydrocarbon exploration off the coasts of the Fuerteventura and Lanzarote islands, but they were frozen while courts decided on a number of appeals on environmental grounds. Of the seven appeals against drilling rejected by the Supreme Court, one was from the local Canary Island government, which initially supported the project but then turned against it. Repsol, which leads a consortium including Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd and Germany's RWE Dea AG…

10 Apr 2014

Ship Ready to Destroy Syria's Chemical Arms at Sea

The container ship M/V Cape Ray departs Portsmouth, Va., Jan. 10, 2014, for sea trials. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Lacordrick Wilson

Experts on board a cargo ship transformed into a multimillion dollar chemical weapons destroyer said on Thursday they were ready to start working on Syria's stock of toxic arms in the middle of the Mediterranean as early as May. Now they just have to hope the weather holds and Damascus delivers on time. Former container vessel Cape Ray, docked in southern Spain, has been fitted out with at least $10 million of gear to let it take on about 560 metric tonnes of Syria's most dangerous chemical agents and sail them out to sea, said officials.

27 Feb 2014

Gamesa Turns to Profit in 2013

Reuters - Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa posted on Thursday a 45 million euro ($61.50 million) profit in 2013, after making losses in the same period a year earlier when it booked writedowns for stalling demand and staff layoffs. Gamesa, whose main European competitor is Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems, said recurring earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) climbed 175 percent to 129 million euros in 2013 from a year ago. The company sold 1,953 megawatts of wind turbine capacity in 2013, in line with its target, and said it expected to sell between 2,200 and 2,400 megawatts of capacity this year. ($1 = 0.7317 euros) (Reporting by Andres Gonzalez; Writing by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Fiona Ortiz)

20 Dec 2012

International Bunkering Promotes Hernan B. Ortiz

Hernan B. Ortiz: Photo credit Intrnational Bunkering

International Bunkering promotes Mr Ortiz to Senior Bunker/Lubricant Trader & Team Leader in its Dubai office. CEO Carsten Ladekjaer said: "It is our pleasure to inform that as a result of his continuous hard-working efforts, his achieved results and his ability to interact in a most professional manner with his colleagues and business partners aroung the world, we have decided to promote Mr. He continued: "Throughout the last few years International Bunkering has been able to successfully grow its business with the support of a growing number of shipowners…

02 Dec 2012

Crowley Maritime Corp. Scholarship Aids Puerto Rican Student

Sholarship award: Photo credit Crowley Maritime Corp.

Crowley Maritime Corporation awards 17-year-old Coraly Lopez Ortiz its 2012 Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarship. Coraly Lopez Ortiz, has begun her first year of college at University of Puerto Rico (UPR), thanks in part to the support of Crowley Maritime Corporation. Her parents' medical ailments have kept them from working since 2010, but her strong academic record and commitment to pursuing an education despite tough financial circumstances have prevailed with the help of the scholarship.

04 Mar 2004

FBM Patrol Vessels Chosen for Ecuador

FBM Babcock Marine, in partnership with licensed shipyard partner Astilleros De Murueta, was awarded a contract for the construction of three 45 m (150 ft.) patrol vessels for the Coast Guard Command of the Armada de Ecuador (Ecuador Navy). The Armada de Ecuador announced that Astilleros De Murueta, using the FBM Babcock Marine Vigilante patrol vessel, was selected as their choice for their new fleet of patrol vessels. The Vigilante patrol vessel is a registered design from the FBM Protector class, designed as a reliable, capable but cost-effective patrol vessel.

07 Mar 2012

Signet to Deliver and Christen Newest Tug

The Signet Weatherly (Photo: Signet Maritime)

Signet Maritime Corporation announced that its newest tug, a Robert Allan designed RAmparts 3200 Class ocean towing and escort tug, M/V SIGNET WEATHERLY, will be delivered on March 10, 2012, from Signet Shipbuilding & Repair in Pascagoula, Mississippi. This state-of-the-art ASD will be used in Signet’s U.S. Gulf of Mexico operations. Signet will own and operate the vessel in support of its Offshore Towing Division and its expanding U.S. Gulf and overseas harbor, ship assist, deep offshore and ocean rig transport business.

10 Jan 2010

Ferry Co. Charged with Dumping Sewage

A company based in Marblehead was charged on Jan. 7 in federal court with dumping sewage into North Shore waters from a popular ferry it operates out of Salem. United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Rear Admiral J. L. Nimmich, United States Coast Guard, Commander, First Coast Guard District and William Schenkelberg, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the Coast Guard Investigative Service, announced today that The Rockmore Company, Inc. was charged in a Criminal Information with two violations of the Rivers and Harbors Act arising out of its practice of dumping human waste into local waters. The Information alleges that, from 1990 to 2006, the company has operated a 59-ft long passenger vessel named the P/V Hannah Glover based in Salem.