Port Order News

Dutch manufacturer Huisman has entered the port and logistics market with the order for series of automated stacking cranes (ACSs) from Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam (ECT).The ACSs will serve for the efficient handling and buffering of containers. The cranes feature a fully automated process for handling and buffering containers, providing a solution for enhanced operational efficiency, required for 24/7 operational time.The diversification in port automation underscores Huisman's…

The US Coast Guard is continuing to assess a fire reported on the 410-foot general cargo vessel Genius Star XI off Dutch Harbor, Alaska.The vessel is carrying lithium-ion batteries, and the fire started on Christmas Day in cargo hold No. 1. The crew released carbon dioxide into the hold and sealed it over concerns of an explosion.The Coast Guard then diverted the vessel to Dutch Harbor while an HC-130 airplane from Air Station Kodiak and Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley (WMEC-39) were dispatched to assist.The Coast Guard confirmed there are no injuries to the 19 crewmembers.

U.S. Coast Guard Sector Key West has issued a Captain of the Port order on a commercial fishing vessel involved in an allision with an anchored recreational vessel 2 miles northwest of the Seven Mile Bridge in Marathon, Fla.Based on witness statements collected by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and Coast Guard boarding teams, the operator of the commercial vessel left the helm unattended for five to six minutes to check an engine alarm while allowing the vessel to proceed at approximately 22 knots.Immediately prior to the accident…

A 738-foot bulk carrier that ran aground near Sewell’s Point in Norfolk, Va. was refloated during high tide on Friday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard said.It took seven tugs to refloat the Panamanian flagged Hong Dai, which grounded late Wednesday night with 22 crewmembers aboard. The ship was said to be carrying a cargo of coal, as well as 188,000 gallons of low sulfur fuel oil, diesel and lube oil, collectively. No injuries, pollution or flooding concerns were reported.The refloated…

U.S. Coast Guard and Port of Virginia personnel are assisting the crew of a bulk carrier that ran aground near Norfolk, Va. on Wednesday night.Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Virginia command center received notification from crewmembers aboard the the Panamanian-flagged Hong Dai stating the 738-foot bulk carrier ran aground on a soft sandy bottom approximately 400 meters Northwest of Sewell’s Point, the Coast Guard said on Thursday.The Hong Dai crew reported no injuries…

The U.S. Coast Guard said it is pursuing enforcement action against Bouchard Transportation Company after the shipping company failed to comply with a captain of the port order for one of its two vessels anchored in the Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur, Texas, area of responsibility.According to the Coast Guard, tugs Kim M. Bouchard and Danielle M. Bouchard and their associated barges have been anchored off Texas Point since mid-December with no known plans to move and crews unpaid since January, raising safety concerns for the crews remaining aboard as well as the public and other professional mariners, and environmental concerns for the region.Combined…

Fishing Vessel Owner and Operator Plead Guilty and Fined $1 Million for Discharging Oily Waste into the Coastal Waters of the United States Sea Harvest Inc., operator of the fishing vessels Enterprise and Pacific Capes, along with Fishing Vessel Enterprises Inc., the vessels’ owner, pleaded guilty today to violating the Clean Water Act for both knowing and negligent discharges of oily bilge water from the vessels’ engine rooms. The companies were sentenced to pay a $1 million criminal fine and serve a five-year term of probation.

The Coast Guard terminated the voyage of the 45-foot pleasure craft, Breaking the Habit, with 12 passengers aboard Saturday near American Airlines Arena.Watchstanders determined that the vessel was operating illegally and in violation of a previous Captain of the Port order. This is the second time within a month the vessel was discovered operating as an illegal charter. A Coast Guard Station Miami Beach boarding team conducted the boarding of the pleasure craft and discovered the following violations:Violation of 46 C.F.R.

The Coast Guard is reminding the public that unlicensed vessel charters are both illegal and unsafe to consumers.Hiring an unlicensed charter is dangerous because the charter may not have the proper emergency safety gear, navigation and communication gear, and may not have undergone the proper license exams and inspections which are put in place to ensure passenger and crew safety.Legal passenger vessel operations fall into one of these three categories:Uninspected Passenger Vessel…

The Coast Guard is monitoring the transit of a motor vessel that ran aground in the Columbia River near Skamokawa, Washington, but was refloated, inspected and given a captain of the port order to transit to Kalama, Saturday morning. There was no report of pollution or injuries stemming from the grounding of the Nenita, a 738-foot Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier fully laden with grain. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Columbia River were notified of the incident at 3:21 a.m. The vessel was headed outbound the Columbia River from Kalama, Washington when the vessel reportedly lost propulsion and ran hard aground and was taking on water. The vessel’s crew found, isolated and secured the flooding in the forward peak of the vessel.

With forecasts indicating severe weather conditions related to Hurricane Matthew, Port Canaveral CEO John Murray today issued an evacuation order for landside operations, including Jetty Park campers, marinas and all port businesses and tenants. The evacuation deadline is set for noon on Wednesday. In addition to the landside evacuation, the U.S. Coast Guard has given notice that the Canaveral harbor will close by tomorrow afternoon. Under the Captain of the Port order, no vessel traffic…

The Captain of the Port for Oregon and southern Washington canceled the captain of the port order on the motor vessel Sparna allowing the vessel to leave its mooring at Kalama, Wash., Monday. The Sparna, a 623-foot bulk grain carrier, briefly ran aground near Cathlamet on the Columbia River, March 21, resulting in the ship needing to undergo temporary repairs. “We have inspected the Sparna and have approved the temporary repairs to make the vessel seaworthy,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ben Russell, chief inspections department, Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Portland.

Placards in hand, travel agent Iakovos Bouchoris and his team scout for customers at Greece's busy Piraeus port, near Athens, where some 5,000 people arrived on Tuesday in a single day on ships from outlying islands close to Turkey. Instead of the usual groups of German, Italian and Korean tourists, the tour operators were waiting for Syrian refugees; and rather than touring the ancient ruins of the Greek capital, they were heading north to the Greek-Macedonian border. Greece's peak holiday season may have ended in August, but for many travel agents, business is booming in October. "We've been filling 20 to 25 buses a day, about 1,250 people a day," Bouchoris said, recalling a peak in early September.

A Unified Command consisting of representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of the Interior, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, City of Seldovia and the responsible party, formed to respond to a 6,000 gallon diesel fuel discharge into the Gulf of Alaska has completed fuel removal from the damaged tank trailer aboard the motor vessel Thor's Hammer Tuesday. Response crews and contractors from Alaska Chadux Corporation removed the 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel remaining in the punctured tank, as well as 28 bags of oily waste collected by the motor vessel Thor's Hammer’s crew. The 6,000 gallons of spilled diesel is no longer recoverable due to weathering and evaporation.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has gained an order for three Kalmar hybrid shuttle carriers from the Port of Virginia, a multi-terminal container and breakbulk cargo complex located in Virginia, 18 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The 1-over-1 hybrid shuttle carriers will be dedicated to operations at Virginia International Gateway (VIG), one of the port's four terminals. The order was booked into Cargotec's 2014 fourth quarter order intake with delivery scheduled for third quarter 2015. VIG is a semi-automated operation with automatic stacking cranes (ASCs) in the yard operations and manual shuttle carriers used for the transport of containers from the ship-to-shore area to the ASCs.

Nineteen sick crew-members, thought to be suffering from food poisoning aboard the 584-foot cargo ship 'JS Comet' have been hoisted from their anchored vessel 3 miles off Port Canaveral, Florida. USCG informs that two MH-60 helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater safely hoisted the crewmembers from the vessel in 35 knot winds and five to 6-foot seas associated with Tropical Storm Arthur. Due to deteriorating weather conditions and the crew’s symptoms worsening, the Coast Guard determined the safest course of action was to evacuate the patients via helicopter rather than a Coast Guard smallboat. The JS Comet crew became ill early Tuesday reportedly suffering food poisoning like symptoms…

The Coast Guard has lifted the order restricting the movement of the conical drilling unit 'Kulluk' from Kiliuda Bay, Alaska. “I reviewed all of the relevant and available information and determined that Shell has met the requirements of the Captain of the Port Order,” said Capt. Paul Mehler III, commander Coast Guard Sector Anchorage and Captain of the Port, Western Alaska. Mehler signed the order directing the Kulluk to remain at anchor in Kiliuda Bay on Jan. 7, 2013 after a determination was made that the vessel posed a potential threat to personnel safety and the environment after it ran aground near Sitkalidak Island and was refloated.

Owners Shell confirm that 'Kulluk' safe to tow from Kiluda Bay to Dutch Harbor & await arrival of heavy-lift semi submersible vessel for the 'dry tow'. The Unified Command has been stood down. “Agency representatives will return to their normal roles and responsibilities," said Capt. Paul Mehler III, the Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator. After weeks of thorough assessment, analysis and on board activity, Shell confirmed that the Kulluk is safe to tow out of Kiliuda Bay.

The Coast Guard continues oversight of the runaway Shell conical rig still anchored in Kiliuda Bay, Alaska. The Kulluk  ran aground Dec. 31, 2012 on Sitkalidak Island and was later refloated and anchored in Kiliuda Bay. Coast Guard personnel from the National Center of Expertise, the Salvage Emergency Response Team and Sector Anchorage have been aboard the Kulluk to assess the vessel’s stability, identify any potential pollution issues and to gather information for the ongoing investigation into the incident.

The Coast Guard is responding to a report of an isopropyl alcohol leak from a barge in the Ohio River, Feb. 21. At about 5:30 a.m., the captain of the tug vessel Bridget Cauley notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Ohio Valley that alcohol was reportedly leaking from the top portion of a barge that the Bridget Cauley was pushing, spilling an unknown amount on to the deck of the barge, while transiting the river approximately five miles south of Cincinnati. A pollution investigation team from Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Cincinnati was dispatched to the scene. A temporary patch placed over the hole was effective in securing the leak; however, the Bridget Cauley remains under a Captain of the Port order until a final repair is made.

A 637-ft. cruise ship detained by the U.S. Coast Guard has moved to the Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal from Pier 92 in and will continue repairs to fix hull damage and numerous discrepancies found during a recent routine inspection. The Clipper Pacific, a cruise ship home ported in the , will submit a complete repair proposal for the hull damage and 66 violations found during the inspection. The proposal includes sufficient temporary repairs that will allow the vessel to safely travel to their next port of call, where it will make permanent repairs. The Coast Guard and the vessel's classification society have reviewed plans for repair…

The Gladiator, the state-funded seasonal emergency response tug stationed at Neah Bay, will help escort the 918-ft. container vessel APL Australia part way through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The container ship lost its secondary hydraulic steering system, but its primary steering system is functional. Due to high winds and other unfavorable sea and weather conditions, the Coast Guard today issued a Captain of the Port order requiring a tug escort for the container ship all the way to its destination in Seattle. The Gladiator will meet the APL Australia near the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and provide escort halfway to Port Angeles. A different tug will escort the ship into Seattle. The APL Australia left Hong Kong on Jan.

The Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment has issued a captain of the port order to the Sterling Casino Liner, Ambassador II, and detained the vessel in the Port of Canaveral until it is in compliance with Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) requirements. The Coast Guard boarded the Ambassador II when it docked recently and found it exceeded it's maximum capacity of 1,800 passengers. After further investigation of the casino liner, Coast Guard inspectors found of numerous SOLAS requirements, including: safety training requirements, watertight doors and certification for crew members. The Ambassador II is prohibited from carrying passengers…