Texas Parks News

Bellingham, Wash. shipbuilder All American Marine, Inc. (AAM) announced it has been awarded a contract to build an new 74’ patrol vessel for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).CDFW manages California's diverse fish, wildlife and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, and its Law Enforcement Division protects California natural resources and provides public safety. The agency will use the new aluminum catamaran for patrolling state and international waters along the California Coast.The 74’ x 27.5’ (OAL) twin engine…

This year, despite innumerable challenges and setbacks, a great number of new U.S.-flagged vessels made their way into service. In addition to Maid of the Mist's new electric tour boats James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla featured Wednesday, the newbuilds highlighted below are some of the most noteworthy to come out of U.S. shipyards in 2020.DredgerU.S. dredging contractors have been adding tonnage in a big way. This Spring, Callan Marine added a significant piece to the U.S. fleet with its new Jones Act cutterhead suction dredge (CSD) General MacArthur.

U.S.-based marine data acquisition services company TDI-Brooks said it recently mapped the Liberty Ship George Vancouver off Freeport, Texas while out on a seabed survey project with the R/V Brooks McCall. The multiple multi-phase geophysical and geotechnical site surveys program consisted of pipeline routing and subsea structures to facilitate route and project design for offshore developers.Equipment used to map the ship was a Teledyne Reson SeaBat T-20 multibeam sonar with integrated Applanix POSMV for Motion.

Shipbuilder All American Marine, Inc. (AAM) said it has launched an aluminum catamaran built to patrol Texas state and federal waters for the law enforcement division of Texas Parks and Wildlife. The 80’ x 27’ (OAL) Captain Murchison features twin CAT C18 ACERT D Engines, with Hamilton Jet HM 521 waterjets and is built to USCG Subchapter T standards. It is also the first vessel in North America to feature Hamilton Jet’s innovative Advanced Vessel Control (AVX) system. The new AVX features include both a station keeping and a JETanchor positioning system.

The US Coast Guard said it is searching for a crew member missing from a vessel that sank in the La Quinta Channel near Ingleside, Texas, Tuesday morning.Two men were reported to be working on board the vessel Cristi when it sank approximately 100 yards north of Ingleside Point at 10:30 a.m.One crew member was recovered by a good Samaritan vessel with no reported medical concern, the Coast Guard said.Coast Guard air and boat crews are searching for the second crew member with…

All American Marine (AAM) has completed construction and delivered the last of three low wake and high-speed passenger vessels built for Kitsap Transit based in Bremerton, Wa.The Lady Swift, an aluminum catamaran coupled to a composite superstructure and a dynamic carbon fiber hydrofoil, was delivered to Bremerton on Friday, July 26, 2019. The vessel was designed by Teknicraft Design Auckland, New Zealand and will operate on Kitsap’s current cross-sound ferry route between Bremerton and downtown Seattle…

All American Marine (AAM), together with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TWPD), has announced the signing of a contract for the construction of an 80’x 27’ aluminum catamaran for operation in Texas State waters as well as offshore capabilities in the Gulf of Mexico. This vessel will be constructed at All American Marine’s new state-of-the-art 57,000 square foot facility on Bellingham Bay. TPWD selected industry leaders AAM and Teknicraft Design, widely acknowledged for designing and building high quality and fuel-efficient aluminum vessel designs at a great value.

Rudy Teichman, a legend in the U.S. marine salvage industry, founded T&T in 1957, now one of the world’s largest international salvage companies. In a sense, Rudy was larger than life and one who was often referred to as a “force of nature.” He was an entrepreneur, inventor, salvor, deep sea diver, airplane pilot, licensed mariner, restaurateur, musician, philanthropist, mechanic, machinist, politician, and husband, father and grandfather. And, in spite all of his accomplishments, he was more importantly a man of character, hard work and integrity, in a time when your word was your contract.

Sinking a 6,000-ton, 371-foot former cargo vessel to help create an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico is a herculean feat, one only accomplished with strict adherence to rigorous federal and state environmental regulations. When the cargo ship Kraken was recently sunk 67 miles off the Galveston coast, Matrix New World Engineering helped the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program ensure that the vessel was free of environmental hazards and safe to support coral, fish, sea turtles and other aquatic life.

A Coast Guard aircrew found the body of a 61-year-old fisherman Monday, after he was reported missing off Mustang Island earlier in the morning. The Corpus Christi Police Department notified Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi watchstanders at 7:35 a.m. The police reported that the man's wife was waiting in the car when he went wade fishing Sunday at about 11 p.m. They reported that she attempted to contact him when he didn't return and she fell asleep waiting for him, calling the police when she awoke. A Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew was immediately launched and joined a Corpus Christi Police Department boat, two Nueces County Fire Department boats and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shore search.

On Veteran’s Day this year, T&T Subsea divers worked to help save the Battleship Texas, the over 100-year-old U.S. naval vessel and historic landmark ship of Texas launched in 1912 that fought in both World Wars. T&T Subsea, the Teichman Group’s dedicated commercial diving company, was founded by U.S. Army veteran and salvage industry legend Rudy Teichman. Today, the T&T Subsea team consists of U.S. military veterans and divers from the U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard with over 60-years combined military service. T&T Subsea was hand-selected by the State of Texas to salvage, repair and maintain the historic battleship and…

A section of the Houston Ship Channel has been closed following the release of approximately 500 gallons of benzene from the tanker Maritime Jingan while moored at Vopak Terminal Thursday afternoon. The U.S. Coast Guard said it is responding to the incident along with the Harris County Hazardous Material Response Team. At approximately 12 p.m., Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a call from Vopak Terminal personnel that benzene had been spilled on the Maritime Jingan and that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department had also been notified. Vessel Traffic Service issued a closure of between the Lynchburg Ferry Crossing and Carpenters Bayou effective at 12:23 p.m. The leak has been secured, and the cause is under investigation.

Gulf of Mexico fishermen are threatened by a daily wave of foreign illegal fishing vessels and the U.S. fishing industry is calling on Congress to take action, Florida business owners said April 8 at an event hosted by the Gulf Coast Leadership Conference. Mexican fishing boats enter U.S. sovereign waters and illegally poach hundreds to thousands of fish at a time. Although the U.S. Coast Guard and Gulf state maritime law enforcement agencies have taken aggressive action to find and destroy these illegal Mexican vessels, the frequency of such incursions continues to escalate.

A patrolling Coast Guard aircrew spotted, pursued and compelled a lancha across the U.S./Mexican border, Friday, after the lancha was spotted poaching in U.S waters. At 2:30 p.m., a Coast Guard aircrew aboard an HU-25 Falcon aircraft spotted the 25-foot lancha fishing 45 miles offshore of Port Isabel and 7 miles north of the U.S./Mexican border. The aircrew immediately notified Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi, and pursued the vessel south, forcing it across the border. The Coast Guard Cutter Cobia, an 87-foot coastal patrol boat, also pursued the lancha, but was unable to intercept it. The Cobia is currently searching for any longline gear the lancha may have laid. The Coast Guard is continuing its efforts in conjunction with Operation Sea Serpent.

The Coast Guard interdicted a Mexican fishing crew poaching in South Texas, Thursday, after it was pursued by a Coast Guard aircraft and intercepted by the 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Cobia. In an unrelated incident after intercepting the lancha, a crewmember from the Cobia fell and was injured, requiring a medevac. A 25-foot Mexican fishing boat, also known as a lancha, was spotted by a civilian aircraft fishing 30 miles offshore and 72 miles north of the U.S./Mexican border at approximately 2 p.m. The aircraft immediately notified Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi, who launched an aircrew aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to identify and pursue the lancha. The aircrew coordinated with the Cutter Cobia to intercept as the lancha began to flee south toward Mexican waters.

missing since Friday morning, in San Antonio Bay. Wildlife Department boatcrew to the location. TP&W recovered the body. Aransas and Air Station Corpus Christi before locating the body Sunday afternoon. “Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest condolences are with the family," said Lt. Cmdr. mission coordinator at Sector Corpus Christi. "We are deeply saddened by the outcome today. are unclear, but boaters need to always be prepared for any situation when out on the water. The body will be turned over to the local sheriff's office for a positive identification. kin at the coroner's office. TP&W continues to investigate the accident. -8100. U.S.

More than 465 response contractors continued work today along the shores of Mustang and South Matagorda Islands and Padre Island National Seashore, employing conventional clean-up methods with rakes, shovels and buckets. A 9-mile stretch of shoreline along Matagorda Island is a primary emphasis of these crews today. “Federal and state wildlife agencies continue to be focused on protecting these sensitive areas for the benefit of wildlife and are working closely to coordinate with our partners in the cleanup operations,” said Nancy Brown, Public Outreach Specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. As of sunset on Wednesday, the Unified Command report that a total of 119…

Representatives of the Unified Command responding to a March 22 oil spill will join community leaders in an informational session on Thursday, April 3, at 6:30 p.m. The event will take place at Port O’Connor Elementary School, 508 Monroe Avenue. Officials from the United States Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office, Kirby Inland Marine, Texas Parks and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, NOAA, and Texas Department of Health Services will join representatives from Calhoun County government and the Chamber of Commerce in updating the community. “We are pleased to be invited to meet with local residents and business owners and appreciate the opportunity to answer any questions or concerns they may have,” said Incident Commander Randal S. Ogryzdiak. texascityyresponse.com

The US Coast Guard informs that clean-up and response teams from the Matagorda Bay Incident Command Post are responding to sightings of oil near North Padre Island and along sporadic portions of Mustang Island in Corpus Christi. Additional sightings also include tar balls in the area, although it is not clear whether the tar balls are the result of the March 22 spill near Texas City. However, response teams from Miller Environmental, who are engaged in combatting that incident, have mobilized to contain and collect those tar balls and oil in newly impacted areas as well.

Oil spill responders from the Matagorda Incident Command Post in Port O’Connor, Texas, continue to implement their aggressive plans, Friday, intended to protect environmentally sensitive areas of the Matagorda Bay area against any impact from a portion of the oil spilled in Saturday’s ship-barge collision near Texas City, Texas. Effective at 10 a.m. today, the U.S. Coast Guard has lifted the safety zone, which had been in effect for the Matagorda Ship Channel from the sea buoy to the intersection of the ship channel with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway…

The Captain of the Port of Houston/Galveston has opened the bay to all traffic Thursday after multiple cleanup assessments and input from the Texas Department of State Health Services. A current Broadcast Notice to Mariners instructs all boaters that the safety zone remains in affect, however all restrictions are lifted except to transit using safe distance and minimum safe speeds in the vicinity of any oil spill response or salvage operations and to avoid all areas of sheening or visible oil. If any oil is sighted, boaters should report it to the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802. While all recreational activities, including swimming is open, the DSHS does advise people not to swim in areas where they can see oil.

The U.S. Coast Guard is ramping up efforts to clean oil in the Ports of Texas City and Galveston Wednesday, as expected afternoon weather will likely hinder or cease operations due to safety concerns for responders. Storms may keep responders from being able to safely collect oil on the water and along the shoreline. Response efforts will focus heavily on cleaning Pelican Island and north to the Texas City Dike until weather makes operations too hazardous for responders. The weather is also expected to flush out pockets of oil that were unreachable to responders over the past few days. Once weather abates, responders will be re-assessing the area to update cleanup plans for immediate action.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has authorized limited marine traffic in the safety zone in the Port of Houston/Galveston for commercial ship traffic, Tuesday. Cleanup operations are still ongoing; however ships are being prioritized for transit by the Port Coordination Team. The USCG said barges are allowed to transit through the Houston Ship Channel and on the Intracoastal Waterway, after assessment teams deemed the channel clear. "The cleanup operations progress is to the point…