P Nicholson News

With the rise of China and her global ambitions, the military importance of Guam in the Indo-Pacific theater has become apparent. The force levels on the island had drawn down from a peak of about 26,000 at the height of the Vietnam War to a tenth of that—just 2,500 people in the early 2000s. Today, that's changing. Guam's defense posture is growing.Guam's proximity to major population centers in East Asia underscores its strategic importance. The island is just 1,400 miles from Tokyo, Manilla or Port Moresby. All of the armed services have a presence on Guam.

The oil and gas exploration and production company International Petroleum Corporation (IPC) has commenced drilling the first well in a planned multi-well drilling program on Block PM307, located offshore Peninsular Malaysia.Canada-based IPC is the operator of Block PM307 and holds a 75% working interest, with Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd holding the remaining 25% working interest.The PM307 drilling program is planned to consist of two infill landing pilot wells in the south-eastern and north-eastern areas of the Bertam field, followed by the Keruing exploration well and three Bertam field infill wells, IPC said in a press release.The first pilot well will test the upside potential in the northeastern A15 area…

Brazilian coffee exporters are struggling to find shipping capacity to transport a bumper crop from the world's top producer, which could result in supply delays to roasters worldwide.Abundant overall supplies in consuming countries, however, will limit any near-term impact from shipping delays of Brazil's new crop and are not yet seen impacting coffee prices that are 12-year lows.Farmers in Brazil are finishing what the government and industry expect to amount to a record coffee…

A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday forecast an increasing chance of the La Nina weather phenomenon taking place in the Northern Hemisphere in the second half of the year.   The Climate Prediction Center (CPC), an agency of the National Weather Service, in its monthly forecast said the El Nino weather phenomenon is likely to neutralize late in the Northern Hemisphere spring or early summer 2016.   (Reporting by Marcy Nicholson)

At a special press event held at the Palm Beach International Boat Show, MarineMax announced today that they are expanding into yacht management, crew placement and charter of luxury megayachts. Bob Saxon Associates, has joined MarineMax as part of the new endeavor that will be headquartered at the MarineMax Yacht Center in Pompano Beach, Florida. “We are excited to announce this strategic initiative,” offered Bill McGill, MarineMax President and CEO. “Bob Saxon Associates is a natural fit for MarineMax, expanding the breadth of our offerings into the rarefied sector of yacht management. With over 35 years of experience, Bob is well known and highly respected as an early innovator and is considered by many to be the patriarch of the yacht management industry.

Fincantieri has signed an agreement for the acquisition of a minority stake via capital injection in Camper & Nicholsons International (Camper & Nicholsons), the world leading authority in all luxury yachting activities. The agreement includes the possibility for Fincantieri to increase subsequently its share capital in Camper & Nicholsons. The investment consolidates the presence of both companies in the larger yacht segment and confirms Fincantieri’s strategic interest in an area in which it has devoted substantial resources and achieved significant results since creation of the group’s specialty division, Fincantieri Yachts. Drawing on Fincantieri’s 230 years of expertise in shipbuilding…

Venezuela's flavorful cocoa, coveted centuries ago by pirates and now a darling of specialty producers, will not be enriching foreign chocolate bars any time soon. The South American country's socialist government has drastically reduced export permits for cocoa in the last five months, according to Venezuela's cocoa industry group. The group said about 5,000 tonnes from the January-February cocoa harvest are stuck in the country, ruffling chocolatiers in top importers Japan and Switzerland and risking roughly $17.5 million in export revenue. "They're ruining the reputation of Venezuela as a cocoa exporter," said group President Alejandro Prosperi. Governments around the world require export licenses, sometimes to limit sales of goods in short supply.

Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Toronto arrived in her home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jan. 18, after seven months in the Mediterranean Sea region as part of Operation REASSURANCE, the Department of National Defense said. Dozens of people held yellow balloons and homemade signs, as ice-clad HMCS Toronto docked in Halifax harbor. Operation REASSURANCE is Canada’s response to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and Russia’s military moves in the region. HMCS Fredericton has replaced HMCS Toronto on Operation, part of Canada’s contribution to NATO assurance measures, which promote security and stability in Central and Eastern Europe. “I would like to congratulate the crew of HMCS Toronto on their accomplishments during this past deployment,” says Justice Minister Peter MacKay.

A UK-based manufacturer has come up with a new solution for safely testing marine bollards and is now planning to take the innovation global. Working with the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), Tyne and Wear Marine (TWM) has spent the last year developing the ‘Bollard Load Test’ (BLT), which uses a powerful hydraulic ram and specialist torque rope to recreate more than 100 tons of ‘pull.’ This breakthrough replaces the traditional method of a tug pulling against the bollard, a method that has previously caused damage to vessels and can be dangerous to the people involved in the test.

The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that year-to-date cargo shipments of more than 24 million metric tons moved through the system for the period March 28 to September 30 – an increase of nearly 5 percent over September 2013. U.S. grain continued its upward trend posting a 14.6 percent increase over the same time last year. “Cargo tonnage moved through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System during the month of September continues to be robust and reflects positively on the economy and the shipping industry,” said Administrator Betty Sutton of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

The giant corn harvest about to hit full stride in America's Midwest looks set to overwhelm storage and pile up outdoors, grain industry sources said, raising quality issues and making it hard to keep supplies moving. This year's record corn crop of 14.4 billion bushels alone would fill up 60 percent of the country's grain storage of 24 billion bushels. In total, with a record soybean crop too and hefty harvests of other grains including spring wheat, there will be about 20 billion bushels of new crops looking for storage. That would be on top of the 3.5 billion bushels reported in storage as of Sept. 1 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Working with the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) and consultant Ade Walton from Prozeus, Tyne and Wear Marine (TWM) has spent the last year developing the Bollard Load Test (BLT), which uses a powerful hydraulic ram and specialist torque rope to recreate more than 100 metric tons of ‘pull’ when safely testing marine bollards. This breakthrough replaces the traditional method of a tug pulling against the bollard, a method that has previously caused damage to vessels and can be dangerous to the people involved in the test.

A U.S. weather forecaster decreased its outlook for the El Nino weather phenomenon in its monthly update on Thursday, estimating the chances of the weather pattern occurring during the Northern Hemisphere autumn and early winter at 65 percent. The Climate Prediction Center, an agency of the National Weather Service, lowered its estimate from an 80 percent chance. (Reporting by Marcy Nicholson; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

2H Offshore, an Acteon company, has joined an international European consortium comprising nineteen industry and research organizations to develop deepwater mining solutions. Over the next four years, the European Commission funded project, known as Blue Mining, is developing seabed mining practices by creating new cost-effective solutions for environmentally friendly mining and processing in challenging and extreme environments. The Blue Mining project aims to unlock the huge potential of raw materials in untapped areas of the oceans.

ICE Futures U.S. will add the Port of Virginia as a delivery point for the arabica coffee futures contract, effective with the September 2016 contract, the exchange said in a notice on Tuesday. An exchange spokeswoman declined to comment on the reason for the addition. There are currently no exchange certified coffee warehouses in Virginia. (Reporting by Marcy Nicholson; Editing by James Dalgleish)

'Garnishment' is the legal term relating to the collection of a monetary judgement on behalf of a claimant from a defendant. In the Philippines, this routinely occurs before the case has concluded and is central to the UK P&I Club Members' many concerns relating to crew claims in this jurisdiction. The International Group Personal Injury Sub-Committee's - Philippine Working Group (on which the UK P&I Club's Tony Nicholson sits), has been monitoring the prejudice caused to owners & employers for a number of years, in addition to seeking to educate all interested stakeholders about the need for an equitable solution, to this continuing problem.

The late Nelson Mandela once said: “I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.” At the EU-Africa summit in Brussels last month, European leaders urged their African counterparts to facilitate that dream by shouldering more of the security burden in their countries, both onshore and offshore. The summit coincided with reports of renewed piracy activity in the Gulf of Aden; ongoing attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Guinea, and explosions and mass arrests in Kenya, all serving to underline the scale of that challenge.

Today in U.S. Naval History - June 5 1794 - First officers of the U.S. Navy under the Constitution are appointed. The first six captains appointed to superintend the construction of new ships were John Barry, Samuel Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, Richard Dale and Thomas Truxtun 1917 - First military unit sent to France, First Naval Aeronautical Detachment, reaches France on board USS Jupiter 1945 - Typhoon off Okinawa damages many U.S. Navy ships For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.

Treasure hunters Sub Sea Research team up with Howe and Howe Technologies to recover 'Port Nicholson' cargo. Last year, Sub Sea Research made international news with the announcement of their discovery of the $4 billion gold and platinum cargo aboard the SS Port Nicholson, a freighter that was sunk by a German U-Boat off the coast of Massachusetts in 1942. A year on, Sub Sea Research has teamed up with Maine-based, award winning technology company Howe and Howe, which designs and builds custom vehicles, robotic platforms and fabricated goods.

Today in U.S. Naval history – June 5 1794 - First officers of the U.S. Navy under the Constitution are appointed. The first 6 captains appointed to superintend the construction of new ships were John Barry, Samuel Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, Richard Dale, and Thomas Truxtun 1917 - First military unit sent to France, First Naval Aeronautical Detachment, reaches France on board USS Jupiter 1945 - Typhoon off Okinawa damages many U.S. Navy ships   For more information about naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center website at www.history.navy.mil.

Global business risk consultancy Drum Cussac Ltd. delivered an antipiracy training program for the Malagasy Navy at the Naval Base in Diego Suarez, Madagascar. It is the first time that a private company has been permitted to partner with the Malagasy Navy. A team of Drum Cussac’s skilled and experienced risk management consultants worked closely with thirty Malagasy Naval personnel to enhance the Navy’s anti-piracy capability when operating in an offshore environment. Although reported cases of offshore security incidents in East Africa have fallen recently, the rapid development of Madagascar’s offshore oil and gas industry has led to a growing need for more robust security in the region.

Today, Governor Bobby Jindal, officials from the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), Department of Economic Development and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation (BRAF) joined leaders from the City of Baton Rouge, The Water Institute of the Gulf, Louisiana State University and other coastal research institutes to unveil plans for the establishment of The Water Campus in Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation has taken the leadership role in master planning a world-class Water Campus to be built just south of the Mississippi River Bridge in downtown Baton Rouge.

The Canadian Government has released funds with a potential value of $53.5 million to Irving Shipbuilding to pay for tasks connected with the construction of the Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS). •             The definition contract is a task-based contract divided into seven work packages (or tasks) that will enable Irving Shipbuilding Inc. to have full designs and requirements established for the Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships before building. Plans remain on track to cut steel and begin construction in 2015.