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Southern California News

11 Mar 2024

Coast Guard Will Not Enforce New California Rule, Citing 'Safety Concerns'

© Jill Clardy / Adobe Stock

(The Center Square) - The U.S. Coast Guard says it “will not enforce” a new California Air Resources Board regulation, citing “safety concerns.”The Coast Guard and business organizations oppose CARB's requirement that commercial harbor craft install diesel particulate filters (DPF) linked to a number of fires. Seventeen states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for giving an exemption to California alone to enact its own air standards that, by power of its market size…

13 Feb 2024

Solana Beach Dredging On Track

A split-hull trailing suction hopper dredge, linked to a tugboat, operates Jan. 31 off the shore of Solana Beach, Calif. (Photo: Stephen Baack / USACE)

A dredging and sand replenishment project at Southern California's Solana Beach is about halfway complete, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.The project, which reduces coastal storm damage and erosion along a 7,200-foot-long stretch of shoreline, includes construction of a 150-foot-wide beach fill using 700,000 cubic yards of compatible sediment.Operations started Jan. 17 and are on schedule to wrap up in mid-March, according to Caleb Lodge, coastal engineer with the Corps' Los Angeles District.“They’re doing about seven or eight loads a day…

19 Dec 2023

NTSB Recommends Pipeline Operators Implement Safety Management Systems

Six segments of damaged pipeline that were removed for replacement. The leak site, circled in red, was observed on the segment shown wrapped in a tarp. (Photo: NTSB)

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is recommending new notification alarms and procedures for potential incursions on pipelines and a change to an anchorage off the California coast following a crude oil release in 2021 caused by ship anchors damaging an underwater pipeline.NTSB investigators determined that the oil leak, which began on October 1, 2021, in San Pedro Bay, resulted from an anchor strike on the pipeline that occurred eight months earlier, when anchors…

24 Aug 2023

Port of Los Angeles Pays Tribute to Shipping Lines That Reduced Emissions

Source: Port of Los Angeles

The Port of Los Angeles has recognized the achievements of more than two dozen shipping lines and carriers for participating in the Port’s Vessel Speed Reduction Program (VSRP), an air quality and annual incentive program for vessel operators who reduce their speed as they approach or depart the port.The voluntary program is one of many sustainability efforts currently underway at the Port to reduce emissions and decarbonize operations.Emission reductions are achieved under the…

17 Aug 2023

US Shipyards Investing to Add Serious Lifting Power

(Photo: Marine Travelift)

Shipyards across the U.S. are investing in new equipment to increase lift capacity, opening up the door for more projects and improved efficiency.Southern California-based Marine Group Boat Works, which performs a mix of yacht, commercial and government vessel repair work, in 2022 repowered its 665-ton Marine Travelift mobile boat hoist—the largest on the West Coast—with a Tier 4 John Deere engine. And earlier this year it was awarded a MARAD Small Shipyard Grant worth more than…

15 Aug 2023

Matson Adjusts Its Sailing Schedule to Increase Whale Safety

© David Johnson / Adobe Stock

U.S.-based Pacific shipping company Matson announced it has adjusted its sailing routes to help reduce the risk of whale strikes off the coast of California.Shipping channels into and out of San Francisco Bay and the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex transit federally protected national marine sanctuaries. These sanctuaries –Monterey Bay, Greater Farallones, and Cordell Bank national marine sanctuaries–are destination feeding areas for threatened and endangered humpback and blue whales from late spring through the fall.In 2015…

09 Jun 2023

Jobs at Stake as California Port Terminal Upgrades to Green Technology

© 2ragon / Adobe Stock

Unions hope a $30 million grant to electrify tractors in a Long Beach, California, port terminal's final push to become the world's first zero-emissions facility will serve as a bulwark against lost jobs in an era of energy transition and increasing automation. The money from U.S. President Joe Biden's administration for Long Beach Container Terminal's purchase of 60 electric yard tractors that haul shipping containers from stacks to waiting trains comes with strings attached…

07 Jun 2023

Biden Encourages Continued Collective Bargaining in US Ports Dispute

© Matthew / Adobe Stock

U.S. President Joe Biden has urged both sides in the West Coast ports labor dispute to continue collective bargaining, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday, adding acting Labor Secretary Julie Su was actively engaging with the parties.The largest terminal at Southern California's Port of Long Beach closed for the day shift Monday as dock workers rallied for better pay. Monday's temporary closure followed similar disruptions on Friday in Oakland, California.

05 Jun 2023

Retailers, Manufacturers Urge White House to Mediate in West Coast Ports Labor Dispute

© trekandphoto / Adobe Stock

Groups representing major retailers and manufacturers urged the White House on Monday to intervene in contentious West Coast port labor negotiations, citing worries about shipping disruptions during critical holiday shopping seasons.The call came after the largest terminal at Southern California's Port of Long Beach closed on Monday as dock workers rally for better pay. Monday's closure followed similar disruptions on Friday in Oakland, California.More than 22,000 dockworkers…

05 Jun 2023

US West Coast Port Labor Unrest Continues Amid Pay Quarrel

© Mariusz / Adobe Stock

The largest terminal at Southern California's Port of Long Beach closed on Monday as dockworkers who have been working without a contract since July rally for better pay.The Port of Long Beach is the second-busiest U.S. container terminal and a key trade gateway. Monday's closures followed similar disruptions on Friday in Oakland, California.Total Terminals International LLC (TTI) in a notice to customers said all appointments were canceled for the first gate shift. Mediterranean Shipping Company SA (MSC)…

01 May 2023

US Coast Guard Medevacs Five Passengers Off Cruise Ships Within 24 Hours

A Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter medevacs a patient from a cruise ship, approximately 300 miles offshore from Fort Morgan, Alabama, April 29, 2023. (Source:  U.S. Coast Guard video by Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans)

US Coast Guard helicopter aircrews medically evacuated four separate passengers off three different cruise ships, off the southern California coast, during a 24-hour period beginning Friday night.A 47-year-old woman, reportedly suffering from a progressive acute illness, was hoisted off the cruise ship Carnival Panorama, which was 100 miles south of San Diego. The cruise ship and an MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew from Coast Guard Sector San Diego rendezvoused 100 miles south of San Diego.

13 Apr 2023

Employers Say Union is Disrupting Work at Southern California Seaports

© angeldibilio / Adobe Stock

The Pacific Maritime Association on Thursday said the largest longshore union local on the West Coast disrupted work at the nation's busiest seaport complex for the second week in a row, as labor talks covering 22,000 dockworkers from California to Washington state approach the one-year mark.Frustration is growing over the lack of resolution in the talks, which started in May.

06 Apr 2023

Interview: Jennifer Carpenter, AWO

Jennifer Carpenter (Photo: AWO)

Jennifer Carpenter has been president and CEO of The American Waterways Operators (AWO) in January 2020, but her time with the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry dates back to 1990. This month, she weighs in on top challenges and opportunities currently present in the industry, from difficult regulatory changes to the uptake of cleaner vessel technologies.What are some of the biggest and most important issues facing the tug, towboat and barge industry?Big picture, I feel like our industry has never been more relevant.

27 Feb 2023

US Retailers' Ocean Shipping Price Woes Ending as New Delays Threaten

Collapsing ocean shipping rates are not all good news for U.S. retailers, who paid as much as $20,000 to move a container of goods during the worst pandemic disruptions, as they now are bracing for delays due to plummeting demand.Carriers like MSC and Maersk are trying to prop up prices by cancelling voyages and that could spark a new round of cargo delays as containers get bumped from one ship to the next, experts said ahead of a major U.S. ocean shipping conference in Long Beach…

13 Jan 2023

Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley Repairs Completed

The Coast Guard Alex Haley sits dry docked for repairs and maintenance in Seattle, Washington, Dec. 13, 2022. While in dry dock, the crew and contractors successfully completed more than $6 million worth of repairs. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley returned to homeport at Coast Guard Base Kodiak, Alaska, on Thursday, following an extended seven-month dry dock maintenance period in Seattle.While in dry dock, the crew and contractors successfully completed more than $6 million worth of repairs.The engineering department oversaw 76 work items including major overhauls on the cutter’s controllable pitch propeller system, speed reducers, rudders, and boilers, along with inspections of fuel, sewage, and water tanks.

21 Nov 2022

The Amazon Model in Global Naval Deterrence

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) launches a Standard Missile (SM) 2 during a live-fire missile exercise as part of Pacific Vanguard (PV) 22 while operating in the Philippine Sea. PV22 is an exercise with a focus on interoperability and the advanced training and integration of allied maritime forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Greg Johnson)

IMO announced that the Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA) will be removed on 01 Jan 2023. It was a rare but really reassuring example that international cooperation can be successful.Meanwhile at the time of this writing, the war in Ukraine carries on. Ukranian resistance has been bolstered by very significant western democracy support in the form of weapons supply that have done a great job of stopping Russia in its tracks. However, the Ukranian Crisis shows it is extremely difficult…

16 Nov 2022

Port of Los Angeles October Imports Tumble

© MichaelVi / Adobe Stock

October volume at the busiest U.S. seaport fell to its lowest level since 2009 as shippers sent cargo to alternate trade gateways to avoid potential disruptions from ongoing West Coast port labor talks, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said on Tuesday.The data comes as ocean trade activity returns to more normalized levels after booming in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis. Seaports like New York/New Jersey, Savannah and Houston have benefited from the uncertainty…

28 Oct 2022

NOAA Sued Over Whale Injuries from Drift Gillnets off California

© Enrique / Adobe Stock

Environmentalists on Thursday sued the agency overseeing U.S. fisheries, claiming it had failed to protect endangered humpback whales from entanglement in drift gillnets - sprawling curtains of nylon mesh - used in commercial fishing off California.The lawsuit accuses the National Marine Fisheries Service of violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing drift gillnets without safeguards and failing to take into account the harm posed to whales already at risk of extinction.The suit…

12 Sep 2022

Amplify Energy to Pay $5M to Settle Criminal Charges over California Oil Spill

Crude oil is shown in the Pacific Ocean offshore of Orange County, Oct. 3, 2021. U.S. Coast Guard photo (Cropped)

California officials [last] Thursday said Amplify Energy Corp agreed to plead no contest to six criminal charges and pay nearly $5 million in penalties and fines in connection with a crude oil spill last year that killed birds and fouled beaches.The announcement was the latest legal effort to hold the Texas-based oil company accountable for a subsea pipeline leak that released some 558 barrels (25,000 gallons) of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Huntington Beach in southern California in October of last year.At a news conference broadcast live on the internet…

30 Aug 2022

Greensea Opens San Diego Office

(Photo: Greensea Systems Inc.)

Marine robotics technology specialist Greensea Systems Inc. announced it has opened an office in San Diego to accommodate its growing workforce and support strengthening its presence in the region.The new location—Greensea's third alongside existing offices in Richmond, Vt., and Plymouth, Mass.—provides ample room to accommodate the local team, new hires, as well as a spacious production area, the company said. It also allows Greensea to take advantage of the technology hiring pool found in Southern California in anticipation of further expansion.Chelsea Allen…

28 Aug 2022

Texas Firm to Pay $13 Million to Settle Charges Over California Oil Spill

A Texas oil company agreed to plead guilty to criminal negligence charges and pay nearly $13 million for a crude oil spill that killed wildlife and fouled southern California beaches, federal prosecutors said on Friday.Amplify Energy Corp repeatedly turned off and on a 17-mile-long subsea pipeline when it could not determine the location of the leak, according to plea agreements filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California.The Houston-based company and two subsidiaries each agreed to plead guilty to one count of negligently discharging oil during the October 2021, incident. The pipeline was struck by a ship's anchor.The three firms "are required to make significant improvements that will help prevent future oil spills,” Acting United States Attorney Stephanie S.

05 Aug 2022

RIMPAC Naval Exercise Brings Together 'Capable Adaptive Partners' from 28 Nations

Republic of Korea Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicles cover and conceal during an amphibious raid for a multinational littoral operations exercise as part of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022, August 1, 2022. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Melanye Martinez)

The 2022 biennial, multi-national Rim of the Pacific's (RIMPAC) exercise has come to a close.This year’s exercise with the theme of “Capable Adaptive Partners,” featured 26 participating nations and 38 surface ships, three submarines, more than 30 uncrewed systems, approximately 170 aircraft, and more than 25,000 personnel.RIMPAC 2022 featured a wide range of capabilities--projecting the inherent flexibility of maritime forces and helping to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, and took place in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California, June 29 to Aug.

21 Jul 2022

Protests Halt Cargo Movement at Port of Oakland

© sheilaf2002 / Adobe Stock

Protesting truckers stopped traffic on Wednesday at a Northern California port, one of the busiest in the United States, as they demonstrated against a new state labor law that makes it harder for independent truckers to operate.Drivers picketed gates and blocked other truckers from hauling cargo in and out of the port. The protests in Oakland began on Monday and have grown larger and more disruptive with each passing day.Late on Wednesday, Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny…

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