Steel And Other Materials News

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, snapped its 11-session winning streak on Thursday as rates for capesize and panamax vessels edged lower.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell by 15 points to 1,569.The capesize index shed 60 points, or 2.9%, to 2,007, its worst day since Sept. 5.Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transports 150…

Two centuries after the first coal-powered steamships crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a Swedish company is designing a futuristic throwback: a huge, wind-driven cargo ship that could help end the fossil fuel era and limit climate change.Shipping accounted for 2.9% of man-made greenhouse gas in 2018, and the industry’s share of planet-heating emissions has been rising in recent years, according to the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization.One solution may be to turn the clock back to pre-industrial times and again hoist sails to carry cargo around the world.Sweden’s Wallenius Marine AB…

YSA Design is close to completing what it believes is the first ever ship construction project to bring together everything from initial sketches to the sign-off tasks for utilities completion under one Building Information Modelling (BIM) process.The project, for an undisclosed cruise owner, saw the Oslo-based designer using the 3D tool across the conception and execution of a complete ship newbuilding. BIM has become a significant part of land-based architecture in Norway, with its use now mandatory for those bidding for government projects…

The second phase of an International Maritime Organization (IMO)-implemented project to enhance safe and environmentally sound ship recycling in Bangladesh has been launched at a meeting of stakeholders in Dhaka, Bangladesh.According to a press release from IMO, the 19-month project is funded under a US$1.1 million agreement with the Government of Norway. It focuses on building capacity within Bangladesh to develop a legal, policy and institutional reform roadmap towards accession to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (known as the Hong Kong Convention), and will train a variety of stakeholders within a well-functioning training system.

The second phase of an International Maritime Organization (IMO)-implemented project to enhance safe and environmentally sound ship recycling in Bangladesh is set to begin in January, following a US$1.1 million funding agreement with Norway. The two-year project will build on the first phase of the Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship Recycling in Bangladesh (SENSREC) project, which resulted in economic and environmental studies on ship recycling in Bangladesh, the development of training materials and capacity building plans and a preliminary design for infrastructure including facilities for treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes generated from recycling operations.

A prototype of the world’s first class approved ship’s propeller manufactured using 3D printing techniques has been produced by a cooperative consortium of companies that includes Damen Shipyards Group, Rotterdam Additive Manufacturing LAB (RAMLAB), Promarin, Autodesk and Bureau Veritas. The 1,350mm diameter propeller – named WAAMpeller – was fabricated from a Nickel Aluminium Bronze (NAB) alloy at RAMLAB in the Port of Rotterdam. The propeller was produced with the Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) method using a Valk welding system and Autodesk software.

A new European research project seeks to revolutionize the shipbuilding sector by replacing steel with composite materials for the construction of more efficient large length ships. FIBRESHIP is an ambitious project that will allow for the construction of light commercial vessels, passenger and leisure transport and oceanographic vessels more than 50 meters in length using fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials. It is one of the largest innovation projects funded by the EU with a budget of €11 million, of which €9 million is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 Programme. The project involves 18 international entities representing the European shipping and shipbuilding industry from 11 countries including Cyprus…

Rolls-Royce said it has added three larger stainless steel Kamewa waterjets to its product range. The new waterjets are designed for use in bigger (30m+) vessels. With fewer components, the new range is easier to install reducing the time and specialist skills required to fit them with consequent reductions in vessel build time and cost, Rolls-Royce said. The waterjets are supplied with an entire inlet, including main hydraulics, valves and even factory calibrated electronics where necessary. The pump technology uses proven waterjet technology. The whole package is pre-built and tested at the company’s Kokkola factory. The three new sizes being introduced are the S71, S80 and S90. This completes the larger steel-series size range.

Even with a blip due to ice coverage in late March and early April, U.S. ports along the Great Lakes-Seaway System are tracking ahead of tonnage moved in April 2014. In fact, most ports are seeing increases in multiple categories. “In 2015 we are excited to continue the momentum from 2014 when we finished the season with a 20 percent increase in overall tonnage,” said Paul Toth, President and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “There has been a good mix of marine cargo traffic early on in 2015,” said Joe Cappel, Vice President of Business Development for the Port Authority.

Olaf Wiertz, Sales Director at Schmiedag GmbH (SDG) and Wildauer Schmiedewerke GmbH & Co. KG (WSW) said: “We are more than just a supplier to our customers – we are their partner. Based decades of experience and the accrued knowledge of its employees, SDG and WSW seek to set world standards in the forging technology. Both companies together (also including a facility in Homburg for machining) form the closed-die-forging group within the more the Georgsmarienhuette (GMH) group, which is more than 150 years old.

Australia has reportedly welcomed a Japanese offer to jointly-build a fleet of new submarines, with a possible deal by the end of the year, according to a report on http://zeenews.india.com. Japan is proposing jointly building Australia`s new submarines, instead of exporting a new fleet, an AFP report said on Monday quoting a Japanese daily, after concerns in Canberra over the effect on the domestic ship-building industry. Under the proposal, Japan`s defence ministry is to cooperate with Australia in developing special steel and other materials for its new submarines, while Tokyo will be in charge of assembling them, the Mainichi Shimbun said.

Joseph E. LeBlanc Jr. passed away on June 27, 2014. He was 87 years old. Joe was president of Three Rivers Rock Quarry in Smithland, Ky. (a division of Harbert Construction), Three Rivers Towing, Harcon Barge Lines and Louisiana Limestone during the late 60s and 70s. He also worked later for Luhr Brothers at their St. Genevieve, Mo. Facility and was General Manager for Boyce Machinery in Morgan City, La. for a few years and also worked as a consultant and for NREC in Houma after he retired. Prior to working for Harbert, LeBlanc was employed by Thomson Tractor in Birmingham, Ala.

Answering the needs of longstanding clients, bulk transport giant AEP dips its toes into the liquid transport arena. AEP River Operations needs no introduction for most MarineNews readers. One of the true river giants operating on America’s domestic inland waters today, AEP is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and is primarily known as a barge company that provides transportation of dry bulk commodities throughout the inland river system. AEP River Operations is owned by American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5.3 million customers in 11 states. The current AEP fleet includes more than 79 towboats ranging up to 11,000 horsepower and more than 2,900 hopper barges, moving more than 65 million tons annually.

While total cargo movements through the St. Lawrence Seaway in August remained in the negative column (down 9 percent over 2012), the 19.3 million metric tons of cargo moved through the system represented an improvement over last month's statistics. Ingenuity and resourcefulness, hallmarks of the Seaway System and its users, were evident at U.S. ports around the region. U.S. ports spent the generally slow month of August continuing work on infrastructure projects and securing new cargo shipments. "So far in 2013 we have seen general cargo volumes double over last year at the Port of Toledo. This is a good sign that the port is building momentum and that our investments in the equipment and infrastructure at the facility are paying off…

The Forum looked at a broad spectrum of topics concerning container shipping including: stowage and lashing, the potential for LNG vessels and bunkering, trends in the liner markets, high tensile steel and thick materials for ship building, pilotage and maneuvering XXL container ships in the Hamburg harbor and the advantages of having an Emergency Response Service. Some 50 representatives from the container industry met with GL experts at the Container Ship Forum, to hear the presentations and participate in informal discussions.

The future 'USS Zumwalt' (DDG 1000), completes a major construction milestone with the successful lift & integration of deckhouse module. The 1,000-ton deckhouse was fabricated by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Gulfport, Miss., and delivered to the Navy in October 2012, it was then transported to Bath, Maine for integration with the ship's hull, which is under construction at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. "This is a major milestone for the program as this ship construction progresses," said Capt. Jim Downey, DDG 1000 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships.

Offshore vessels in the Gulf of Mexico have become more energy efficient in recent years and are polluting less because of changes in engines, bunker fuels and building materials. At the same time, Gulf of Mexico builders have responded to meet new regulations, customer needs. At Harvey Gulf International Marine in New Orleans, Environmental Compliance Coordinator Nicole Eddlemon said “adoption of energy-saving vessels in the U.S. is driven by North American Emission Control Area or ECA regulations, initiated by the Obama Administration and the U.S.

After assessing more than 700 project applications equaling about $10.2 billion, the U.S. Department of Transportation today announced that 47 projects in 34 states and the District of Columbia will receive a total of $485.3 million in its fourth round of TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) infrastructure grant awards. Of the 47 capital project funding requests selected for awards, eight go directly to America’s port-related infrastructure. These eight project grants total more than $79 million, or about 16 percent of the capital grant funds available. “In his Fast Lane blog this week, Sec. LaHood reiterated the Obama administration’s ‘deep commitment’ to investing in our ports and marine highways to create jobs and keep American goods moving to markets.

Investment Averages $1.4 Million Per Vessel Maintaining and Modernizing U.S.-Flag Lakers Will Keep Great Lakes Shipyards Busy This Winter. More than 1,200 boilermakers, welders, electricians and other skilled craftsmen will be hard at work this winter maintaining and modernizing U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters when they lay up between late December and mid-January. The major U.S.-flag operators will invest more than $75 million in their 56 vessels so the fleet will be ready to replenish stockpiles of iron ore, coal, cement, salt and limestone when shipping resumes next March.

Receive Green Light to Begin Building Another. Shipbuilding to Generate More Than 500 Jobs at Two Dozen State Firms. One completed, one to begin. Even as VIGOR Industrial this week delivered the final new 64-car ferry to Washington State Ferries, the company’s US Fab shipbuilding division received a green light from the state to begin constructing the system’s next vessel. On Monday, the companies delivered the state’s newest ferry, Kennewick, to WSF, three months ahead of schedule.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration announced today that it has sold two obsolete ships to American salvage companies for more than $1 million each. The sale of these two vessels from the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF) near Fort Eustis, Va., each exceed the agency’s ship-disposal program’s recent record-setting price fetched by the sale of the Adonis, which last March sold for $1,151,727. Agency contracting officials report that the has been sold to Esco Marine, Inc., of , , for $1,465,726; and the Truckee has been sold to Bay Bridge Enterprises, L.L.C., of , for $1,231,328. Three other obsolete government-owned ships are also being sold for a combined price of nearly $1.5 million.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has sold a ship from the Beaumont Reserve Fleet for more than $1million, the first time under the current program that a ship has brought such a price. International Shipbreaking, Ltd., in , , will pay $1,151,727 for the ship Adonis, now moored at the Beaumont Reserve Fleet site in . Three other government-owned, obsolete ships are also being sold to the company for an additional $173,297: the , the and the Buyer. These sales stand in contrast to most ship disposal contracts in recent years, which have involved the federal government paying to have its obsolete ships recycled.

Bollinger Marine Fabricators, Amelia, La., has delivered OC 4126, a huge 400 x 126.5x 25-ft. extra heavy cargo capacity deck barge to Otto Candies, LLC, Des Allemands, La. The rake bow, super jumbo barge whose open deck is rated at 5,000 pounds per square foot (PSF) enables it to carry extra heavy loads. Average deck barges are usually rated at 1,500 to 4,000 PSF. OC 4126 features a “skid deck” area meaning the wing structure from the fifth frame to the transom has been increased to handle a maximum of 4700 KIP static skid load.