Us Coastguard News

Next year marks a crucial milestone for the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention, with all ships required to meet the D2 standard for ballast water management by 8 September 2024. D2 specifies the maximum number of viable organisms allowed to be discharged. In most cases, it requires the installation of a ballast water management system (BWMS) on board the vessel.2024 will be a pivotal moment for the ballast water market and while it is true that the retrofit market will diminish and leave behind only a small newbuild market…

BAR Technologies and Chartwell Marine have received Approval in Principle (AiP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the design and construction of a BAR 30m crew transfer vessel (CTV) aimed for operations in the growing U.S. offshore wind sector.In a joint statement on Tuesday, BAR and Chartwell said that securing AiP offered the highest level of assurance that these innovative vessel designs will be built in-line with specific US requirements. "As part of the AiP process…

Wärtsilä’s Aquarius UV Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) was granted US Coastguard (USCG) Type Approval. With the company’s other BWMS technology, the Wärtsilä Aquarius EC, already Type Approved by USCG, Wärtsilä says it becomes the first manufacturer able to offer two USCG Type Approved BWMS technologies.The Wärtsilä Aquarius UV (Ultra-Violet) technology utilizes proven filtration and UV irradiation, while maintaining a high degree of safety and operability. It retains its…

Phillystran has been awarded a five year contract to supply mooring lines to the US Navy. The new contract follows the successful completion of a five year contract in which Phillystran supplied over 1 million feet of Aramid mooring lines to US Navy ships.Part of the WireCo WorldGroup, Phillystran has worked with the US Navy and US Coastguard for over 40 years, developing and supplying ropes that set the benchmark for fiber rope performance and innovation. Phillystran ropes are NAVSEA approved for lifelines…

The technology group Wärtsilä’s dual technology option for Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) will enable Greece based operator Eletson Corporation to have its entire fleet retrofitted from a single provider. A total of 23 product oil, chemical, and LPG carriers of the company’s fleet will be retrofitted with up to 69 Wärtsilä BWMS units, comprising of both their Aquarius UV (ultra-violet) and Aquarius EC (electro-chlorination) systems. The order was booked in February 2019.The…

Finnish technology giant in the marine and energy markets Wärtsilä Oyj announced that it has recently been awarded a number of contracts to supply its Aquarius UV Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) to global shipping operators.According to the provider of smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions, the systems will enable the vessels to be compliant with the Ballast Water Management Convention regulations that entered into force in September 2017 for all new build vessels.The contracts cover in total 13 systems, the orders for which were all booked in quarter four 2018, said a press release."The work is being carried out for ships being built at yards in China. The orders cover installations in a RoRo ferry, two RoPax, six tankers and four container vessels.

United States and Australian aircraft joined the search for passengers of a missing ferry off Kiribati on Tuesday, as rescuers scoured the central Pacific Ocean for a liferaft believed to be carrying survivors. Eight people rescued from an drifting dinghy on the weekend said the ferry broke up soon after setting out on Jan. 18 and that they had seen other passengers scramble aboard a liferaft. "There is a definitely a possibility that the people in the liferaft are alive given that only a short while ago we found people in an open dinghy alive…

The Pacific’s wild weather and vast distances make it a challenging location for search and rescue, said Keith Manch, Director Maritime New Zealand, in his opening address at the Pacific Regional Search and Rescue workshop in Auckland, New Zealand (22-26 May). The objective of the workshop is to provide Pacific Search and Rescue (SAR) coordinators and responders with the tools to improve coordination between national SAR agencies. The event also aims to improve regional collaboration through formal protocols and communication ensuring a uniform SAR response throughout the Pacific. International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Carlos Salgado…

Radio Holland, part of the newly formed company RH Marine Group, has recently completed the installation of new radar and ECDIS equipment on the bridge of TS Golden Bear, the training ship of the California Maritime Academy. Radio Holland was awarded an initial contract from The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) in March for replacing the gyroscopes and gyrocompass repeaters. Radio Holland then successfully tendered for a second MARAD contract for the radars and ECDIS in June.

A German ship Cornelia is being held in the Duluth Bay by U.S. authorities in Lake Superior for a fortnight, says local media.   The U.S. Coastguard is investigating the German bulk carrier for alleged environmental violations.    The 2001-built Cornelia is owned by the German company MST and has been held off Duluth since November 4.   “Due to the ongoing investigation, the … vessel and crew are prohibited from leaving Duluth until cleared by U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” the Coast Guard said.   The bulk carrier is barred from leaving Duluth until it's cleared by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.   According to the Coast Guard, the ship and its crew are not a threat to public safety but might pose environmental problems.

Ships running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) are going to be able to bunker at the Port of Gothenburg, as new regulations for LNG bunkering have been introduced by the Gothenburg Port Authority in collaboration with the Port of Rotterdam and the Swedish Transport Agency. The regulations will allow cargo ships to bunker LNG at a cargo terminal and are the first general regulations to be introduced in Sweden. Dan-Erik Andersson, Vice President Operations at the Port of Gothenburg Energy Port, said: "We firmly believe that LNG is the marine fuel of the future. The new regulations will have a key role to play in bringing added momentum to our region.

Wärtsilä Corporation, has received an order for ballast water management systems (BWMS) for three new container ships being built for a major European shipping company at the Jinhai Shipyard in China. The vessels will be fitted with Wärtsilä Aquarius UV systems, with delivery to the first vessel scheduled for the end of 2015, and for the other two ships during 2016. This latest contract follows the order placed last year from the same company, where Wärtsilä BWMS equipment was installed into three 2100 TEU container ships built in Asia, and which were delivered in December 2014. Each of the three vessels will be fitted with a 500m3 capacity system, which uses filtration and medium pressure UV disinfection treatments.

Wärtsilä has received another important order for its Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS). Three new container ships being built for a major European shipping company at the Jinhai Shipyard in China will be fitted with Wärtsilä Aquarius UV BWMS. The order was placed with Wärtsilä in the first quarter of 2015. Wärtsilä will deliver the BWMS equipment to the first vessel at the end of 2015, and for the other two ships during 2016. This latest contract follows the order placed last year from the same company, where Wärtsilä BWMS equipment was installed into three 2100 TEU container ships built in Asia, and which were delivered in December 2014. Each of the three vessels will be fitted with a 500m3 capacity Wärtsilä Aquarius UV BWMS.

The Ghana Armed Forces and the United States Maritime Forces have completed a joint maritime operation, the Africa Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership (AMLEP), as part of the Africa Partnerships Program (APS). The operation brought together representatives from Ghana’s Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, the Marine Police Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Navy, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coastguard on Spearhead, the U.S. Navy’s first Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV). The operation succeeded in detecting three vessels that were violating Ghanaian maritime law and cited the violators for follow-on judicial action. A statement issued by the US Embassy…

The Philippines aims to buy two frigates, two helicopters and three gunboats for deployment in the South China Sea where a territorial dispute with China has lent urgency to the need to bolster forces, a Philippine navy officer said on Wednesday. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, rejecting claims to parts of it by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. The confrontation between the Philippines and China has been particularly tense since June 2012 when China seized a rocky outcrop known as the Scarborough Shoal which is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas as well as fisheries resources. "The events in the West Philippine Sea actually gave some urgency on the acquisition…

Cathelco Ltd. has received Alternate Management Systems (AMS) acceptance from the U.S. Coast Guard for their ballast water treatment system. AMS acceptance is a temporary designation given to ballast water treatment systems approved by a foreign administration. It enables BWT systems to be used on vessels for a period of up to five years, while the treatment system undergoes approval testing to Coast Guard standards. “This is an important milestone in achieving full U.S. Coastguard Type Approval.

US Coastguard Corpus Christi inform that a rescue helicopter has medevaced the crewmember of a container ship approximately 40 miles offshore of South Padre Island. The Coast Guard's 8th District watchstanders notified the Sector Corpus Christi Command Center at around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, that a 24-year-old foreign male crewmember aboard the 892-foot container ship Monte Azul, was experiencing symptoms of appendicitis and requested to be taken off of the ship for treatment. The ship was originally beyond the range of responding helicopters. The watchstanders at the 8th District watchstanders requested the ship head toward South Padre Island and arranged a rendezvous location 40 miles offshore with the ship’s captain.

Following a three-year record of improved results from Port State Control (PSC) inspections, the London-headquartered St Kitts & Nevis International Ship Registry (SKANReg) has moved up to Grey List ranking on the Paris MoU performance lists covering Europe and the North Atlantic. With 24 detentions from 307 inspections in the period 2011-2013, the registry now sits midway in a spectrum ranging from White List flags – those with a consistently low detention record – to poorly performing Black List flags.

The Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Command Center received a distress call from the 68-foot-long shrimping vessel Huachinango (“wha-chin-ahn-go”), taking on water 37 miles offshore of Baffin Bay. The three people aboard activated two de-watering pumps and started to keep pace with the flooding in the engine compartment. However, the flooding quickly covered the lower half of the engine room and they had difficulty keeping power for the pumps with their generator. The Coast Guard Cutter Brant, an 87-foot patrol boat on patrol offshore, and an MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crew from Sector Corpus Christi were dispatched to assist. The helicopter arrived on scene first and lowered their rescue swimmer and a de-watering pump to assist the flooded vessel.

The conference organizers inform that In a further response to the sinking of the South Korean ferry 'Sewol' in April, safety issues will be centre stage at Interferry’s 39th annual conference, which takes place in Vancouver from October 4-8, 2014. Prompted by the incident, the trade association is already in dialogue with the IMO about assisting in efforts to improve domestic ferry safety. Now these and other cooperative safety initiatives will feature in a wide-ranging conference agenda addressing the industry’s major regulatory, commercial and technical challenges. The IMO’s latest safety strategy will be examined by special guest speaker Jeff Lantz, US Coastguard regulations director and chairman of the IMO Council.

British solo rower, Daryl Farmer, who was taking part in the Great Pacific Race rowing from California to Hawaii, was forced to call for assistance four days after his start, having become dangerously dehydrated from sea sickness. Support boat OPA located Farmer and took him and his boat, ‘Bojangles’ (Bo), under tow on Saturday June 21 approximately 20nm off the coast of California. Heavy seas and high winds unfortunately snapped both ropes, leading to a man overboard situation for one of OPA’s crew.

U.S. authorities resumed a hunt on Tuesday for four British yachtsmen missing in the Atlantic Ocean after a public appeal backed by UK politicians and British billionaire Richard Branson not to give up on finding them just yet. The sailors on board the yacht Cheeki Rafiki went missing on Friday as they were returning to Britain from a sailing event in Antigua in the Caribbean and reported that the vessel was taking on water, forcing them to change course to head to the Azores. The U.S. Coast Guard, supported by U.S. and Canadian air forces, mounted a search about 1,000 miles off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, but called it off on Sunday due to treacherous conditions, saying there was little chance of finding them. But relatives of the missing men set up a petition to urge U.S.

U.S. authorities on Tuesday resumed a search for four British sailors missing in the Atlantic Ocean for four days after an appeal from the British public and UK politicians. U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ross Rudell said the search was resumed early Tuesday morning. British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the renewed search for the crew of the Cheeki Rafiki who have been missing since Friday after reporting the yacht was taking on water during a trip from Antigua in the Caribbean back to England.