Port Activities News

A Portuguese-flagged container ship, the MSC Aries, was seized by Iran on April 13 for "violating maritime laws", Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday, adding that there was no doubt the vessel was linked to Israel.Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1. Iran had said it could close the crucial shipping route."The vessel was diverted…

Maritime services company Consulmar has performed a zero-emissions mooring service for a tanker, said to be the world’s first such operation.This operation took place at an offshore multiple buoy mooring site near the BP refinery, situated 2 miles from the Port of Castellón in Spain.Utilizing its electric line handling tug, CASTALIA, Consulmar towed the steel mooring lines from the vessel to each of the five mooring buoys, marking a significant advancement in the maritime industry towards more sustainable practices.The tanker vessel ARCHANGEL…

HAROPA PORT has started working on the construction of electricity supply connections for ships at the Le Havre cruise terminal.The purpose of the work planned for HAROPA PORT’s cruise terminal, dubbed Florida Point, is to assist the energy transition in the sea cruise sector, which goes in line with the port’s strategic project decarbonize its activities.Each supply outlet will be capable of providing up to 13 MW, subject to a maximum of 30 MW (or the equivalent of the power required to supply 5…

The prosperity of port cities, throughout history, has been closely tied to the ports’ ability to adapt to economic and technological change. As ships got bigger, ports had to keep up. This has often seen the port proper grow apart from the city whose name it bears because the old harbor could no longer accommodate the needs of modernized shipping.In those European cities located by rivers, port activities have often migrated towards the estuary. The ships headed for the port of Liverpool now berth in docks stretching north of the original Royal Albert dock…

Offshore wind energy planners are giving close review to fixed-tower systems in order to extend lessons learned to floating wind towers, under development now. In the U.S., floating towers have been most closely associated with plans for new wind energy areas (WEA) in the Pacific, off of California and maybe Oregon and Washington. But important research is also taking place in Maine, at the University of Maine, because of deep ocean Atlantic areas there, and floating towers may also be used in the Gulf of Mexico.As most readers likely know…

Brazil's government will not proceed with the privatization of the port of Santos, the largest in Latin America, the incoming minister of ports and airports was quoted as saying on Thursday by a Brazilian newspaper.Marcio Franca, tapped to head the ministry in President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government, told O Estado de S. Paulo's online edition that the decision had been made not to privatize the port, located just southeast of Sao Paulo and a key gateway for exports of agricultural commodities including soybeans and sugar.Franca could not be reached for comment on the decision…

ION Geophysical Corporation announced its climate-smart, digital platform, Marlin SmartPort, has successfully fulfilled its role to help monitor greenhouse gas emissions in the Data-Led Emissions Management (D-LEMA) project.The D-LEMA project is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) launched in March 2021, funded by the Department for Transport, and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. As part of the CMDC, the Department allocated more than £23 million…

When the first cruise ship since the start of the pandemic sailed through the Venice lagoon last month, hundreds of people rallied on land and small boats in protest.A few weeks later, the government seemed to listen, announcing that to defend Venice's ecosystem and heritage, cruise liners would be banned from the lagoon from Aug. 1.The move ended years of political hesitation, apparently putting the demands of residents and culture bodies above those of port workers and the tourist industry."For us it's a big victory…

Marine shipping drives 90% of global trade, moving over 11 billion tonnes of containers, solid and liquid bulk cargo across the world’s seas annually. Almost all consumer products we buy — or the raw materials required to make them — arrive at Canadian ports via ship.Each year, Canadian port facilities handle about 340 million tonnes of goods, worth about $400 billion. Roughly 25% of Canadian exports and imports, by value, are transported by marine shipping.Despite their economic importance…

NIBC Bank, Damen Ship Lease and Damen Financial Services on Friday sealed multi-year partnership in the field of ship leasing.The financing from NIBC will be used to enable financial or operational lease solutions for customers of Damen Shipyards Group. This concerns state-of-the-art workboats in offshore energy, including wind and oil and gas, as well as tugs for port activities and other tasks. These leases are offered by one of the funds of the Damen Ship Lease Cooperative…

The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are marking a milestone of environmental stewardship this month on the landmark restoration of Poplar Island near Talbot County. Simultaneously, the agencies are advancing plans for their next partnership using dredged materials to preserve and protect Maryland’s waterways: the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration.Since 1998, Poplar Island has…

Oil and gas exports from the United States have been severely disrupted by Hurricane Laura, with nearly a million barrels per day (bpd) of crude exports likely reduced this week by closures of U.S. Gulf Coast terminals and disruptions at ports.The hurricane also temporarily suspended operations at several liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the world’s third largest exporter of the super-cooled gas, with shipments on track to fall to their lowest in 18 months.Laura made landfall early Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana border…

Loadings of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from the United States likely will be delayed as a powerful storm strikes the heart of the U.S. oil and gas industry on the Gulf Coast, forcing several LNG plants to shut.Hurricane Laura made landfall early on Thursday in southwestern Louisiana as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the state, with forecasters warning it could push a wall of water 40 miles (64 km) inland from the sea. Landfall came near Louisiana's border…

Latin America's largest port in Santos in Brazil will maintain regular operations, port operators said after meeting with dock workers and authorities on Wednesday to discuss measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.In a statement sent to Reuters, Regis Prunzel, president of operators group Sopesp, said a crisis committee was created with representatives from all stakeholders at the port, where most of Brazil's coffee, sugar, soybeans, corn and cotton are exported to the world.One of the measures agreed on Wednesday will reduce large group gatherings on port premises…

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a SEK 445 million ($45.6 million) loan agreement with the Municipality of Ystad to expand harbor facilities so that new, larger liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels on the Swinoujscie-Ystad line can access the harbor.The port in the southern-Swedish town is a busy connection point to the Polish Port of Swinoujscie and the Danish island of Bornholm. The project aims at increasing the capacity and upgrading the Port of Ystad facilities in order to accommodate larger ro-pax vessels over 240 meters in length…

On September 26, the State University of New York Maritime College hosted a conference on the emerging east coast offshore wind industry. “Offshore Wind Power, Planning for America’s Ocean Energy” focused on four fundamental topics:• East Coast Wind Farm Overview – Status of the Industry.• Jobs and Supply Chain Technical Working Group.• Wind Farm Port Development.• Offshore Wind Maritime Operations.In some ways, actually clocking in for a day’s work on an offshore wind turbine is tantalizingly close. Ditto for power flowing from an offshore substation to a mainland interconnection.

The sustainability of cruise activity in Europe is currently under pressure, says the European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO). European ports take the concerns expressed very seriously, it said.The vicinity to Europe’s cultural heritage and main must-sees makes many European port cities attractive tourist destinations. Their ports are or have become much demanded cruise ports.European port managing bodies are happy to be an access gate to Europe’s cultural heritage, but understand that they must do whatever is possible within their remit to keep this activity sustainable and acceptable for the local population.Over the last months, ESPO’s Cruise and Ferry Port Network has been reflecting on the way forward.

The SAFIR consortium of partners – Amazon Prime Air, Aveillant, C-Astral, DronePort, Elia, Explicit, Helicus, Port of Antwerp, Proximus, SABCA, Skeyes, Tekever and Unifly – tested the first simultaneous drone flights today in Sint-Truiden DronePort, for among other things package deliveries, inspection flights and emergency situations. European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc also followed the demonstrations from the front row. SAFIR stands for "Safe and Flexible Integration of Initial U-space Services in a Real Environment," a project funded by the EU.After the first trial round in Sint-Truiden, the press is invited to watch…

Abu Dhabi Ports and the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA) have signed an agreement to pool their combined expertise to enhance the maritime sector across the Indian Ocean, from port infrastructure and security to protecting the environment and driving the cruise industry.Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Abu Dhabi Ports and MPA will explore areas of collaboration between the public and private sectors, as well as how to ensure the safety and security of passengers, crew members, vessels and port facilities.The MoU will see the two ports research the most effective use of tugboats, as well as training initiatives for deck and…

A new report from the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) shows the Port of Boston contributed $8.2 billion in economic activity in 2018, up from $4.6 billion in 2012.Smart investments and partnerships have led to growth in jobs, business revenues, and tax contributions, it said.“The finding that the Port of Boston contributed $8 billion in just one year to the regional economy underscores the important role transportation infrastructure plays in the vitality of an area,” said Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack.“The Baker-Polito Administration has been and will continue to make strategic capital investments in transportation infrastructure in order to create jobs…

Notwithstanding the tragic incidents of the Morandi Bridge collapse and October’s violent sea storm, cargo throughput remains stable at the Ports of Genoa, Italy.Now a key priority is the implementation of the emergency measures mobilised by Parliament to return to growth, said the busiest port of Italy by cargo tonnage.The collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa on 14 August 2018 and the damage wreaked by the violent sea storm on 29 October in the Port of Savona have had severe repercussions on the entire port cluster and are set to continue to have an impact  in the medium term.Within this framework, after a long period of growth, the Port of Genoa has suffered a slowdown in certain commodity sectors.

Envirocleanse is billed as the first approved BWTS to treat during voyage: No Filter, No Change to port activities, The highest confidence of compliance with the least impact to vessel operations.Envirocleanse LLC, division of Charter Brokerage LLC, a BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY company has announced a fleet sale commitment from Enterprises Shipping & Trading S.A.both for the bulker and tanker arms. The initial installation will be in the 2nd Quarter of 2019, with an additional 30+ vessels over the following 5 years.Mr.

The Port of Vancouver USA Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the port’s tax levy and 2019 budget during its regularly scheduled board meeting.The U.S. West Coast port's commission voted to hold the port levy steady for the seventh year in a row, meaning annual taxes on a $350,000 home – the median price in Clark County – will be approximately $85 in 2019.At $58.4 million, the port’s 2019 budget is $10.1 million less than its 2018 budget. The decrease is primarily due to a shift from a multi-year construction program to maintenance of the port’s public assets.More than 30 strategies from the port’s 2018 Strategic Plan will be implemented.