Trailblazer News

A new design for an autonomous zero-emission short sea containership has been unveiled by Belgium based ZULU Associates.The 200 TEU vessel, featuring an auxiliary wind assistance system, is a larger seagoing development of an inland waterways 90 TEU X-Barge, currently under final construction design.The latest design is produced by Dutch ship naval architects Conoship International, said Zulu Associates CEO Antoon Van Coillie.“We’re delighted to be working with Conoship International who share our passion for innovation,” he said.

Software holding company Bleecker Street Group (BSG) announced the acquisition of Marine Learning Systems, an eLearning technology and services provider.Marine Learning Systems is a trailblazer in introducing eLearning methodologies to the maritime sector, providing solutions to enhance learning outcomes and increase safety for maritime customers including the largest cruise, ferry and workboat operators.As part of the Bleecker Street Group, Marine Learning Systems will join a growing portfolio of maritime software businesses.

Climate change, rising sea levels, land reclamation and offshore energy are all factors underpinning business models at Europe’s dredge and marine engineering majors. They are adopting strong sustainability credentials as their operations come under closer environmental, social, governance (ESG) scrutiny and new opportunities open up in the US offshore wind sectorThe relatively small number of global marine engineering and dredge firms face more observation of their business models than ever before.

Adm. Linda L. Fagan has been confirmed as the 27th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, clearing way for her to be the first woman top officer in one of the military services. The Senate on Wednesday approved Fagan’s promotion, along with those of five other senior Coast Guard officers, by unanimous consent.Nominated for the role by President Joe Biden in April, Fagan will succeed Adm. Karl Schultz as head of the Coast Guard. Schultz, who has been Coast Guard Commandant since 2018, will retire at the end of this month.

While the December 2021 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News examines 'Great Ships' delivered this calendar  year, Edward Lundquist takes a look back into U.S. Navy history and America's first aircraft carrier —CV 1, the USS Langley.Most people think of USS Langley as America’s first aircraft carrier — CV 1. While that’s true, and being the first flattop in the fleet is an honorable distinction, Langley began life as a collier — USS Jupiter, which itself was a relatively new concept of delivering fuel to the afloat forces where they need it. Today, the U.S.

Adm. Linda L. Fagan has taken over as vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, relieving  Adm. Charles W. Ray during a military change-of-command ceremony held Friday at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters.Adm. Fagan most recently served as the commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area, overseeing all Coast Guard operations in the Pacific, covering more than 74 million square miles of ocean, from the U.S. Western States to Asia, and from the Arctic to Antarctica.“Adm. Fagan, it is an honor to welcome you as the first woman to serve as a four-star admiral in the U.S.

Vice Adm. Linda L. Fagan has been nominated by the White House to be the next Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. She would become the first Coast Guard female four-star admiral and the third woman to serve as Vice Commandant.Pending confirmation, Fagan is expected to relieve current Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Charles W. Ray on June 18.“Vice Adm. Fagan is an outstanding leader with 36 years of Coast Guard operations, policy-making, joint service, and interagency experience,” said Adm. Karl L. Schultz, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.

A pair of first-of-their-kind passenger vessels installed with all-electric propulsion will bring Niagara Falls sightseers to experience one of the wonders of the natural world undisturbed by exhaust fumes, engine noise or vibrations.The zero-emissions ferries, named the James V. Glynn and the Nikola Tesla, respectively in honor of the Maid of the Mist chairman and the renowned energy pioneer – are the first all-electric vessels built in the U.S., with power drawn from a high-capacity battery pack supplied and integrated by ABB.

Martyn Thomas is the Chief of Staff at Stream Marine Training Ltd (SMT Ltd.) following many years working for both global training providers and cruise companies. SMT is a maritime skills and technology business providing fire-fighting, sea survival, survival craft and HSE training to the global maritime, oil and gas, renewables and construction industries.Thomas works out of SMT’s head office in Glasgow where SMT trains the majority of its theoretical based courses, including Alternative Fuels…

Global downstream gas and LNG logistics company Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (AG&P) has made a strategic equity investment in Norway-based Kanfer Shipping.Kanfer is a developer of small-scale LNG sea transportation, maritime break-bulk solutions, floating storage facilities as well as LNG bunkering. Together, Kanfer and AG&P will make LNG more accessible and commercially viable for downstream customers in new and growing natural gas markets."Kanfer has captured the attention of the global LNG maritime infrastructure industry with its patented, barge design that makes breaking bulk cargoes of LNG easier, faster and more efficient," said a…

On August 15, 2019, the first steel cut took place at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg for the sister ship of AIDAnova, a world’s first cruise ship that is fully powered with liquefied natural gas (LNG). With the official start of construction for the second ship of this innovative AIDA ship generation to be put into service in spring 2021, the company is continuing its course and making a further contribution to reduced emissions in cruising. As early as 2023, the third LNG cruise ship of AIDA Cruises, “Made in Germany,” will set sail.

Kathleen M. Eisbrenner, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry pioneer and Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors at US based LNG development company NextDecade Corporation, has passed away at the age of 58.Eisbrenner enjoyed a remarkable career, and was widely viewed as one of the foremost female executives in the global LNG industry. She founded NextDecade in 2010 and led the company to its listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market in July 2017. She served jointly as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until February 2018…

The provider of smart port solutions Konecranes’ long relationship with the EUROGATE Group continues with the signing, early this year, of an order for 17 Konecranes Noell Straddle Carriers for EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg.According to a press release, this order follows upon the delivery in 2018 of 43 Konecranes Noell Straddle Carrier to EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg and Bremerhaven and MSC Gate Bremerhaven.Konecranes’ relationship with the EUROGATE Group extends back to the beginning of containerization 50 years ago. Today, around 250 Konecranes Noell Straddle Carriers are operated by EUROGATE terminals in Northern Germany, and the fleet is growing. Early in 2019, Konecranes received and booked an order from EUROGATE Hamburg for 17 more Konecranes Noell Straddle Carriers.

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group and Korea Development Bank (KDB) signed on Friday a definitive agreement to acquire Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), in the presence of Kwon Oh-gap, Vice Chairman & CEO of HHI Holdings; Ka Sam-hyun, President & CEO of HHI; and Lee Dong-gull, Chairman & CEO of KDB.Under this definitive agreement that builds on the heads of agreement signed between HHI and KDB on January 31, 2019, KDB will make a contribution-in-kind to Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE…

The Port of Long Beach and six other international seaports recognized for advancing innovative environmental initiatives are combining forces to launch the "World Ports Climate Action Program."Long Beach will join port authorities in Los Angeles; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Hamburg, Germany; Barcelona, Spain; Antwerp, Belgium; and Vancouver, Canada in developing projects to address global warming and meet the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement, a United Nations-led effort to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions."This partnership helps to raise awareness about global warming throughout the port industry and ensures that we are working toward the same goals on an international scale," said Mario Cordero, Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach.

Container volumes at the Port of Long Beach were 1.9 percent lower in August compared to the same month the year before.A total of 679,543 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) were moved through the Port. Imports declined 3.6 percent to 343,029 TEUs. Exports increased, inching up 1.9 percent to 119,546 TEUs. Empty containers sent overseas dipped 1.1 percent to 216,968 TEUs.August 2017 was one of the busiest months in the Port of Long Beach’s 107-year history. At the time, it was the third-busiest month ever, and the mark has been exceeded three times since.Long Beach’s volumes through the first eight months of the year stand at 5,320,930 TEUs.

The Port of Long Beach saw a decline in container volumes in July compared to the same month a year ago, which hit a historic high that has since been surpassed.The drop, 4.4 percent, was attributed to shipping alliances’ decisions in July to shift vessel deployment and port calls. Port officials also raised concerns that escalating tariffs could slow trade activity — thus far the busiest in the Port’s 107-year history — during the remainder of the year.In total, terminals moved 688,457 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) through Long Beach last month. Imports dropped 8.2 percent to 347,736 TEUs, while exports fell 5 percent to 119,747 TEUs.

The National Workboat Association (NWA), the safety standards, skills and trade association for the workboat industry, has announced that the Workboat Crewmember Apprenticeship standard has been finalized, paving the way for the scheme to be rolled out this summer by training providers across England and Wales.The development of the Apprenticeship comes in response to a growing skills and crewing challenge highlighted by NWA members and the wider maritime sector, as experienced seafarers leave the industry, often for retirement, and numbers of young people entering the industry have fallen.

120 miles out at sea, 6,000-horsepower devices lift drilling equipment weighing up to 3 million pounds out of holes lying 10,000 feet beneath the water. Keeping such sea monsters in good working order, often for years at a time, is no mean feat. Oil companies spend between $300,000 and $800,000 per day on each vessel drilling offshore. Any failures can result in losses that run into hundreds of thousands of dollars per day.With such high costs and massive market pressures, including volatile oil prices…

Prospective maritime caterers can now be assured of quality training and additional funding, thanks to a new apprenticeship standard developed by the UK’s Maritime Trailblazer group, said UK Chamber of Shipping. The new Maritime Caterer apprenticeship has been designed to train people to organise a kitchen and cook meals across a number of shifts that span the cultural needs of multinational crews. The new standard, which has been approved by the UK’s Institute for Apprenticeships, covers cookery skills, stocktaking and kitchen management, and outlines the skills, understanding and behaviour expected of caterers onboard ships. As part of the apprenticeship…

Renewed activity at the Port of Long Beach’s largest terminal and extra ships calling ahead of the Lunar New Year pushed cargo 8.7 percent higher in January compared to the same month a year ago. Dockworkers moved 582,689 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last month. Exports were strong, jumping 10.8 percent year-over-year to 118,234 containers. Imports increased 7.4 percent to 298,990 TEUs, while empties sent back to the Far East rose 9.6 percent to 165,465. Growth at terminals was led by the Port’s Pier T terminal, operated by Total Terminals International (TTI). The terminal is now controlled by Terminal Investment Limited (TIL), a subsidiary of Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), the world’s second-largest ocean carrier.

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (NYSE:HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division authenticated the keel of the guided missile destroyer Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) today. The ship, named in honor of the U.S. Marine Corps’ first African-American general, will be the 33rd Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyer Ingalls has built for the U.S. Navy. “DDGs are traditionally named after great men and women in the history of our Navy, and the namesake of DDG 121 is a true trailblazer and an American hero,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said at a shipyard ceremony. “Like her namesake, DDG 121 will be strong and capable. D’Arcy Neller, the wife of Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, is the ship’s sponsor.

The UK Chamber of Shipping has welcomed Government’s plans to introduce new technical qualifications, but raised questions as to why marine engineering is absent from the plans. But whilst provisions have been made in the plans for specialised vehicle and aircraft engineering, no such opportunities will exist for marine engineering. Guy Platten, CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping, said: “Government is right to focus on developing new routes into engineering, and the proposed T-levels are an exciting innovation. But to exclude marine engineering from the qualification risks ignoring the needs of one of the UK’s most important industries. The UK shipping industry suffers from a significant shortfall in engineers at officer level, with a projected 11% shortage over the next decade.