Southern Florida News

Jo-Kell Inc. announced it has completed its acquisition of Advanced Technical Sales (ATS).Located in Pompano Beach, Fla., ATS is a distributor of industrial electrical and automation products to the southern Florida area, with a focus on technical expertise and providing custom engineered solutions. The acquisition of ATS brings the Jo-Kell to more than 90 employees.Suzy Kelly, CEO of Jo-Kell, said, “After our acquisition of Pacific Parts earlier this year, we knew that synergies between products, services, and types of customers served were important, but most important of all is that the values instilled in ATS match those of Jo-Kell.

The U.S. government and Florida were working on a plan on Wednesday to allow thousands of cruise ship passengers exposed to an onboard coronavirus outbreak to disembark, a day after President Donald Trump urged the governor to drop his opposition to their docking.Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he was not opposed to them docking in his city. But he said a clear protocol was needed to protect residents of his South Florida city from infection.“There can be no missteps in this process…

Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast is forming Contingency Engineering Response Teams (CERTs) in preparation of any damage to Naval facilities in the path of Hurricane Irma. "Teams returned last week from Naval Air Station (NAS) Kingsville and NAS Corpus Christi after performing damage assessments after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas," said Integrated Product Team Gulf Coast Assistant Operations Officer Cmdr. Anant Patel who is the CERT officer in charge. Just one week later, Patel is preparing several CERTs to be prepared after Hurricane Irma passes through Florida and moves up the east coast of the United States. "We need to be ready to move out early next week depending on where there may be damage on naval installations," said Patel.

Dozens of ships in the Caribbean have already been diverted to avoid Hurricane Irma, but how exactly does shipping cope with extreme weather - a post by UK Chamber of Shipping. Hurricane Irma, much like its predecessor Hurricane Harvey, has sent shipping into disarray, particularly for cruise passengers. Around 40,000 holidaymakers are estimated to have been affected by disruption to scheduled cruises this week and this figure could rise further as Irma speeds through the Caribbean towards southern Florida. The hurricane has already devastated areas of the British Virgin Islands, St Martin, Barbuda, St Barthelemy and Anguilla. AIS data shows 12 cruise ships are currently still in Irma’s path, but the good news is that the passengers onboard have a good chance of remaining safe.

Hurricane Irma, a powerful Category 4 storm, plowed toward the Caribbean and the southern United States on Tuesday as islands in its path braced for possible life-threatening winds, storm surges and flooding. Hurricane warnings and watches were in effect for parts of the Leeward Islands, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, in preparation for a storm that was intensifying with 150 mph (240 kph) winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. "Dangerous Hurricane Irma heading for the Leeward Islands," the hurricane center said. A Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale means sustained winds of 130-156 mph (209-251 kph) with "catastrophic" outcomes.

Cuba and the United States agreed on Monday to jointly prevent, contain and clean up oil and other toxic spills in the Gulf of Mexico, as they rush to conclude deals before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. U.S. Charge d'Affaires Jeffrey DeLaurentis, upon signing the agreement, said it was one of a series of deals to protect the shared marine environment of the two neighboring countries separated by just 90 miles (145 km) of water. Trump has threatened to scrap a still-fragile detente between the two countries unless Cuba makes further political and economic concessions. U.S.

Carnival Corp's Princess Cruise Lines will plead guilty to seven felony charges for polluting the seas and deliberate acts to cover it up, and pay a record $40 million criminal penalty, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday. Shares of Carnival, the world's largest cruise operator, were down more than 2 percent at $50.29 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange after the announcement. The Caribbean Princess had been making illegal discharges since 2005 using bypass equipment - including a so-called "magic pipe" - to circumvent pollution-prevention equipment that separates oil and monitors oil levels in the ship's water, the department said.

Storm's eye nears Cape Canaveral. The first major hurricane threatening a direct hit on the United States in more than 10 years lashed Florida on Friday with heavy rains and winds after killing at least 339 people in Haiti on its destructive march north through the Caribbean. Hurricane Matthew packed gusts of 100 miles per hour (160 kph) as it tracked north-northwest along Florida's east coast, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The storm's eye was 25 miles (40 km) east of Cape Canaveral, home to the nation's chief space launch site. "We are seriously ground zero here in Cape Canaveral -- hunkered down, lights flickering, winds are crazy," said resident Sandy Wilk on Twitter.

Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, strengthened as it barreled toward the southeastern United States on Thursday after killing at least 140 people, mostly in Haiti, on its deadly northward march. As Matthew blew through the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday en route to Florida's Atlantic coast, it became an "extremely dangerous" hurricane carrying winds of 140 miles per hour (220 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. That made it a Category 4 hurricane and it was likely to remain so as it approached the United States…

Many variables drive the design decisions for High Speed Craft and RHIBS. Commercial off the Shelf Solutions often tie all of these together. The world is changing fast and nowhere is this truer than in the fast boat sector. When selecting a new boat, the questions used to be relatively simple: how long, how many engines, what fuel type and how fast? Military and professional maritime organizations have been driving the evolution of extreme fast craft for over 30 years. Naval architects…

A group of passengers suing Carnival cruise lines for damages after an engine fire left their ship adrift for days are asking the company to pay $5,000 a month for the rest of their lives for medical bills and mental anguish. A lawsuit brought by 33 passengers of the ill-fated 2013 voyage could change how cruise lines insulate themselves from legal actions, according to maritime legal experts. A second pending lawsuit with three-times as many plaintiffs has the potential to further undo the advantageous legal position cruise lines have long enjoyed. Both cases stem from a February 2013 incident when the Carnival Triumph broke down after launching from Galveston, Texas for what was to be a four-day cruise with a stop in Cozumel, Mexico.

Ongoing Expansion Supports Growing Number of Yachting and Oil and Gas Industry Customers in Southern Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. Staying ahead of the bandwidth demands for its rapidly growing customer base, KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq:KVHI) has just doubled the capacity of its mini-VSAT Broadband(SM) network in the busy Caribbean region. The capacity increase was provided as part of the ongoing global network upgrade involving deployment of Variable Coding…

SI-TEX Marine Electronics has announced the addition of industry veteran Rich Galasso to its team of top sales professionals. The addition of Galasso to the SI-TEX sales team will ensure strong representation for the rapidly growing company in the all-important Southern Florida market. As part of his duties with leading rep group Pilot Marine, Galasso will be responsible for both of SI-TEX’S extensive product lines serving two distinct markets. The SI-TEX brand provides the Recreational boating and light Commercial markets with a full line of sounders…

Following a unanimous board decision, the International SeaKeepers Society welcomed Dean C. Klevan as its new President and CEO. Klevan joins SeaKeepers following a distinguished career in the financial services industry. Most recently, he was the President of the Coral Gables Trust Company, an institution he helped to found. Klevan also served in senior positions with Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Citicorp in the United States and abroad. He brings a business perspective to the challenges faced by a not-for-profit in today’s weakened economic environment.

In an unpublished opinion, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that a vessel that has survived a hurricane without damage is not in a situation of reasonable apprehension of marine peril when the weather is dramatically improving. In the instant case, a yacht was in port in Southern Florida during hurricane conditions. When plaintiff towing and salvage company arrived on scene, the yacht was tied to another vessel, but there were damaged concrete pilings in the vicinity. The trial court found that the center of the hurricane had passed and that weather conditions were improving dramatically. Plaintiff voluntarily moved the yacht to a safer location and then asserted a salvage claim.

Human error caused a New York-bound cruise ship to list suddenly as it left port in Florida, injuring 240 people, Princess Cruises said in a statement. "We can confirm that the incident was due to human error and the appropriate personnel changes have been made," company president Alan Buskelew said in a letter sent on July 25 to passengers. The accident occurred July 18, shortly after the recently commissioned Crown Princess left Port Canaveral, in southern Florida with 3,400 aboard. The ship listed sharply to port, sending furniture, objects and people flying into glass windows and walls as well as emptying the swimming pools onto the decks.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Cypress (WLB 210) returned to their homeport in Mobile, Ala., Monday, returning from a seven-day trip to southern Florida. The crew of the Cypress departed Mobile on the Oct. 25 en route to Key West, Fla., to conduct Hurricane Wilma recovery operations. Cypress’ crew delivered supplies to Sector Key West and serviced thirteen buoys in the Key West Main Channel. After completing her mission in the immediate Key West area, the crew of the Cypress steamed approximately 60 miles west to the Dry Tortugas. There, they conducted a complete survey of all 52 navigational aids in the area and serviced five of them. The Cypress is a 225-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Mobile, and services navigational aids from Apalachicola, Fla. to the U.S.

The Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane returns home Saturday, June 7 at 1 p.m. from a 61-day patrol in support of maritime homeland security, counter-drug operations and alien migrant interdiction in the Florida Straits and Caribbean Sea. At the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom and with the national threat level at orange, Harriet Lane was ordered to patrol the Florida Straits and positively identify shipping traffic approaching the southern U.S. through the well-traveled old Bahama channel. The immediate threat in the region was high-speed small boats (often called go-fasts), which ferried illegal Cuban migrants between Cuba and the Florida Keys 80 miles to the north.