Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Take Command News

25 Mar 2024

US Dredging: Plenty of Issues, New WRDA on the Way

(Photo: Janet Meredith / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

2024 marks another year for development of a biennial WRDA bill—Water Resources Development Act, critical legislation for the Nation’s waterways, ports and harbors. WRDA encompasses a range of issues, from environmental regs to energy use to agriculture and, of course, a focus on projects critical for economic growth.Because these are dynamic and timely issues, Congress and the maritime sector like to keep WRDA on a two-year reauthorization timeline. Indeed, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, December and January, held three WRDA information hearings.

25 Mar 2024

Baltic Dry Index Slips to Three-week Low

© aerial-drone / Adobe Stock

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell to over a three-week low on Monday, weighed down by weakness in the capesize and panamax vessel segments.he overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell for the fifth straight session by 73 points, or 3.3%, to 2,123 points.The capesize index lost 187 points, or 5.4%, at 3,295, its lowest level since Feb. 27.Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transports 150…

25 Mar 2024

New Zealand Deploys Naval Ship to Solomon Islands

HMNZS Canterbury (Photo: New Zealand Defense Force)

New Zealand said on Monday it will dispatch defense personnel, helicopters and a naval ship to the Solomon Islands to assist in a national election due next month, where relations with China will be a key issue.The deployment is part of a NZ$10.8 million ($6.48 million) support program for the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission announced in January and that will help transport election officers and materials around Pacific Island nations.New Zealand's foreign ministry said the vessel HMNZS Canterbury will leave Auckland on Tuesday to transport two helicopters and crew…

24 Mar 2024

US Forces Engage Six Houthi UAVs

© sommersby / Adobe Stock

U.S. forces engaged six Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) over the southern Red Sea after the group launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles toward a Chinese-owned oil tanker, the U.S. Central Command said on Saturday.Iranian-backed Houthis launched the missiles in the vicinity of M/V Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker, the Central Command said in a post on X.A fifth missile was fired toward the oil tanker, which issued a distress call, the Central Command said, adding that no casualties were reported in the incident and a fire on board was extinguished.U.S.

21 Mar 2024

Somali Pirates' Return Adds to Crisis for Global Shipping Companies

© Antony / Adobe Stock

As a speed boat carrying more than a dozen Somali pirates bore down on their position in the western Indian Ocean, the crew of a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier sent out a distress signal and called an emergency hotline.No one reached them in time. The pirates clambered aboard the Abdullah, firing warning shots and taking the captain and second officer hostage, Chief Officer Atiq Ullah Khan said in an audio message to the ship's owners."By the grace of Allah no one has been harmed so far," Khan said in the message, recorded before the pirates took the crew's phones.

19 Mar 2024

Bollinger Delivers Fast Response Cutter David Duren

(Photo: Bollinger Shipyards)

Bollinger Shipyards recently delivered the USCGC David Duren to the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West, Fla. This is the 182nd vessel Bollinger has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard over a 35-year period and the 56th Fast Response Cutter (FRC) delivered under the current program.“We’re incredibly proud to deliver the USCGC David Duren, the first of three Fast Response Cutters to be homeported in Astoria, Oregon,” said Bollinger President & CEO Ben Bordelon. “We’re confident that pound for pound…

15 Mar 2024

Merchant Vessel West of Yemen's Hodeidah Not Hit by Missile as Earlier Reported

© Sergey Fedoskin / Adobe Stock

A daylight inspection showed that a merchant vessel was not hit or damaged in the Red Sea off Yemen's Hodeidah after initial reports it was struck by a missile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and British security firm Ambrey said on Friday.Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping in the region since mid-November in professed solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's war in Gaza.Their Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping…

15 Mar 2024

Vessel Struck by Missile West of Yemen's Hodeidah

© mino21 / Adobe Stock

A merchant vessel reported it had been hit by a missile and sustained damage 76 nautical miles west of Yemen's Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and the British security firm Ambrey said on Friday."The vessel has sustained some damage. The crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call," the UKMTO said in an advisory note.Ambrey also reported that the ship suffered damage and that there were no injuries.UKMTO said another ship…

14 Mar 2024

Missiles Fly Over Ship near Yemen's al Hudaydah

© lesniewski / Adobe Stock

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said early on Friday that it had received a report that missiles passed near a ship 50 nautical miles (93 km) southwest of al Hudaydah, Yemen."The Master reported two missiles flying over the vessel and heard two loud blasts in the distance," the UKMTO said in an advisory note, referring to the person in command of the ship.It added that the vessel reported no damage and that the crew are reported safe."The vessel is proceeding to its next port of call.

14 Mar 2024

Conrad to Build Another US Navy Berthing Barge

(File photo: Conrad Shipyard)

U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has exercised an option with Conrad Shipyard to build another Yard, Repair, Berthing, and Messing (YRBM) barge.The award is a $18,484,619 firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract for the detail design and construction and  includes exercise of a design changes option.Work will be performed in Amelia, La., and is expected to be completed by June 2025. The new barge will be delivered to Norfolk, Va.The YRBM barge is an ABS A1 Accommodation Barge with a 151’-4” x 49’-4” x 14’ footprint.

14 Mar 2024

Taiwan and China Launch Rescue Operation After Boat Capsizes Near Sensitive Islands

© alexhitrov / Adobe Stock

Taiwan dispatched coast guard boats on Thursday to join a rescue mission at China's request after a fishing vessel capsized near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, amid heightened tension in the sensitive Taiwan Strait.China claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, over the island's strong objections, and has stepped up military activities near it in recent years, with almost daily incursions into air defence identification zones.Authorities on both sides sent the rescue boats after a Chinese fishing vessel capsized in the early hours, Taiwan's coast guard said in a state

12 Mar 2024

Houthis Fired Ballistic Missile Towards USS Laboon

Source: U.S. Navy

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the Iran-aligned Houthis fired on Tuesday one close-range ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon in the Red Sea, but it did not hit the vessel and there were no injuries or damage reported."United States Central Command and a coalition vessel successfully engaged and destroyed two unmanned aerial systems (UAS) launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen," CENTCOM added in a statement early on Wednesday.(Reuters - Reporting by Enas Alashray; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

12 Mar 2024

US Military Strikes Back After Pinocchio Vessel Attack

(Credit: CENTCOM)

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has confirmed that Yemen's Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from their controlled areas into the Red Sea toward merchant vessel Pinocchio.The Singaporean-owned, Liberian-flagged ship was attacked on March 11, CENTOM said early on Tuesday, adding that the missiles did not impact the vessel and that there were no injuries or damage reported.Later on the same day, CENTCOM conducted six self-defense strikes destroying an unmanned underwater…

11 Mar 2024

Source of Huntington Beach Oil Spill Uncertain

Source: U.S. Coast Guard

The Unified Command concluded its response to an oil sheen observed offshore of Huntington Beach, California on Monday, but the source of the oil remains unclear.Over the weekend, cleanup crews recovered approximately 85 gallons of product from offshore recovery efforts and removed roughly 1,050 pounds of oily waste/sand and tar balls from the shoreline.The U.S. Coast Guard and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFW-OSPR) collected samples from the offshore sheen and tar balls along the shoreline to help determine the source of the oil.

10 Mar 2024

Biden's Pier for Gaza Aid Might Not be Ready for 60 Days

File photo: A temporary floating pier built by U.S. armed forces in South Korea as part of an exercise in 2015 (Photo: Maricris McLane U.S. Army)

U.S. President Joe Biden's plan to build a floating U.S. military port to speed up aid to Gaza could take up to 60 days to become a reality and involve more than 1,000 American troops, the Pentagon said on Friday.The Pentagon offered the timeline a day after Biden announced the initiative in his State of the Union speech, as he seeks to cool anger in his Democratic Party over his staunch support for Israel's offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7.The United Nations has warned that widespread famine in the Gaza Strip is "almost inevitable" without urgent action.

06 Mar 2024

AME Hires Paul Savage as Operations Manager

Paul Savage (Photo: AME)

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. based maritime and industrial mechanical service repair specialist Advanced Mechanical Enterprises (AME) announced it has appointed Paul Savage as its new Operations Manager.With over 30 years of leadership and project management experience, Savage joins the AME management team from Veolia North America, where he served as Vice President, managing complex industrial and government contracts. At Veolia, Savage was at the helm of commercial, state, and federal contracts…

06 Mar 2024

Three Killed in Houthi Attack On Greek-owned Ship

(Photo: U.S. Central Command)

A Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on a Red Sea merchant ship on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said, the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began strikes against shipping in one of the world's busiest trade lanes.The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, which set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen's port of Aden.In an earlier message on X responding to the Houthi claim, Britain's embassy wrote: "At least 2 innocent sailors have died.

06 Mar 2024

Two Dead in First Fatal Houthi Attack on Red Sea Shipping

© Robert / Adobe Stock

Two seafarers were killed in a Houthi missile attack on a Red Sea merchant ship on Wednesday, British and U.S. officials said, the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began strikes against shipping in one of the world's busiest sea lanes.The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, which set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen's port of Aden.In a statement on X directly responding to the Houthi claim, Britain's embassy wrote: "At least 2 innocent sailors have died.

05 Mar 2024

Yemen's Houthis Hit Container Vessel in Gulf of Aden with Missile

© Kalyakan / Adobe Stock

One of two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthis at the container vessel M/V MSC SKY II in the Gulf of Aden hit the ship and caused "damage", the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Tuesday.Initial reports indicated no injuries and the Liberian-flagged, Swiss-owned container vessel did not request assistance and continued on its way, CENTCOM said in a statement.A military spokesperson for the Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday that they targeted the vessel with "a number of suitable naval missiles".

02 Mar 2024

Bulk Carrier Rubymar Sinks After Being Struck by Houthis it the Red Sea

On March 2 at approximately 2:15 a.m. (Sanaa time), Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier, sank in the Red Sea after being struck by an Iranian-backed Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile on Feb. 18. The ship had been slowly taking on water since the attack. (Photo: U.S. Central Command)

The UK-owned Rubymar, attacked by Houthi militants last month, has sunk in the Red Sea, Yemen's internationally recognized government said on Saturday, warning of an "environmental catastrophe" from the ship's cargo of fertilizer.The vessel is the first lost since the Houthis began targeting commercial shipping in November, forcing shipping firms to divert vessels on to the longer, more expensive route around southern Africa.The Iranian-backed Houthis, who control the north of Yemen and other large centers…

01 Mar 2024

US Says it Struck Missiles, Drone that Posed Threat to Red Sea Ships

(Photo: U.S. Central Command)

The U.S. military said it conducted strikes on Thursday against anti-ship missiles and an aerial drone that posed a threat to Red Sea shipping.U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the southern Red Sea and conducted two strikes against six mobile anti-ship cruise missiles that were prepared to launch toward the Red Sea, labeling both actions as self-defense.Military officials determined that the missiles and drone "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the U.S.

04 Mar 2024

Italian Naval Ship Shoots Down Drone in Red Sea

(Photo: Italian Ministry of Defense)

An Italian navy ship shot down a drone flying towards it in the Red Sea on Saturday, the defence ministry said.A ministry statement described the action as self-defence by the Duilio, which is helping protect trade routes from drone and missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia."The drone, with similar characteristics to those already used in previous attacks, was about 6 km (3.73 miles) from the Italian ship, flying towards it," the statement said.Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the Houthi attacks…

05 Mar 2024

Speed a Factor in Tug and Tanker Collision -NTSB

Damage to Mark E Kuebler stern hull and fendering system from the Nisalah propeller. (Source: NTSB)

A tugboat maneuvering near a transiting tanker in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel was drawn in toward the tanker, leading to a collision, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday.The tugboat Mark E Kuebler and the tanker Nisalah collided in the channel near Ingleside, Texas, on January 22, 2023. The tugboat’s hull was breached by the tanker’s propeller, which was also damaged in the collision. The collision resulted in nearly $7 million in damages. There were…