Waterway Transportation News

Brazil’s waterways have enormous potential for commercial transport, but are still underused and inefficient in the country’s 12 river basins, according to Brazil’s National Transport Confederation (CNT). Of the 63,000 kilometers (km) that could potentially be used for inland navigation, only 19,500 km (30.9%) of the existing network is currently used commercially for cargo and passenger transport, leaving more than two-thirds unused.However, despite wasted opportunities, Brazilian rivers have registered an increase in transported volume in recent years…

The US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has will invest $7.5 million in nine Marine Highway projects as it looks to make the movement of cargo and people at sea and on land more efficient.The funding, provided by MARAD’s America’s Marine Highway Program, will go towards enhancing existing services in Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.“This $7.5 million investment will improve our country’s vital fuel-efficient waterway transportation system, which makes an important contribution to exports and economic growth,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Monday announced more than $7.5 million in grants to nine Marine Highway projects. The funding, provided by MARAD’s America’s Marine Highway Program, will go toward enhancing existing services in Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington“This $7.5 million investment will improve our country’s vital fuel-efficient waterway transportation system, which makes an important contribution to exports and economic growth,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L.

SW/TCH Maritime has announced its investment to construct and own the ‘Water Go Round’ e-ferry in collaboration with Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine (GGZEM).SW/TCH Maritime is a New York-based investment platform building the first fleet of zero-emissions maritime vessels in the US. GGZEM is a provider of turn-key hydrogen fuel cell power systems for ships.The 84-passenger e-ferry is currently under construction at the Bay Ship & Yacht shipyard in Alameda, CA using private funding from SW/TCH and a $3 million grant from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) through the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District), the administrator of the grant.The $3 million grant comes from California Climate Investments initiative…

Are paradigms shifting on the increased role of inland waterways with respect to short sea shipping and the Nation’s marine transportation system? Investigation and implementation of new commerce shipping avenues are becoming more common along the Eastern seaboard of the United States with each new announcement of a Port Authority supporting the development of shipping routes for container on barge services.In the past few weeks, the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) furthered their quest to develop a marine highway to support the Port of Charleston in South Carolina.

Innovative waterway concept vessel could deliver transportation savings for shippers on the Mississippi River. Plans to transport freight via innovative waterway vessels that backers say will revolutionize the inland waterway system and provide significant transportation cost savings for shippers, especially those accessing the Midwest by utilizing the Mississippi River and its tributaries, are underway, according to Sal Litrico, CEO for American Patriot Container Transport, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Patriot Holdings LLC.Litrico presented information about Container on Vessel (COV) innovations at two St. Louis Regional Freightway Industry Forums in late August in St.

The total volume of cargo tranported by sea in Brazil from January to September 2017 was pegged at 800 million tons, according to a survey by the National Agency of Waterway Transportation (Antaq). A large number of oceangoing and cabotage ships are needed to move such a volme and many of these ships will need repairs of various kinds. Having identified a positive demand for international standard ship repair facilities in the South Atlantic basin, McQuilling Services, headquartered in New York, will be leading a project to invest nearly a billion in Lucena, on the coast of the northeast state of Paraíba, for the installation of the Brazil Basin Drydock Company (BBDC) repair yard projects.

Nitin Gadkari, Indian Union Minister of Shipping will flag off the first movement of cement cargo through National Waterway (NW) 2 on River Brahmaputra in Assam today,  under the Shipping Ministry’s flagship programme Sagarmala. He will also lay the foundation stone for bank protection work of Majuli Island tomorrow. Assam Chief minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, will also be present on the occasion. Marking a new milestone towards Government of India’s constant endeavors to promote economically more viable and environment friendly modes of transport in the country, two barges of 200 metric ton capacity each, will carry 400 tonnes of cement from the Inland Waterways Authority of India’s Pandu Port to Dhubri covering a distance of 255 kilometers.

Indian classification society, The Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass), continues to be instrumental in facilitating the aims and objectives of the Government’s Make in India initiative, lending its support this week in Mumbai to the Maritime India Summit. “We are active not only in research and development and training for the national maritime industry, but also in formulating numerous Rules & Regulations for the construction and classification of a great many vessel and structure types,” confirmed Mr Arun Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director of IRClass, “including oceangoing tankers and bulk carriers, coastal & inland waterway transportation, and offshore superstructures.

Brazil continues to be an important area for Danish shipping interests and, with the signing of a new agreement on cooperation with the Brazilian authority ANTAQ under the Brazilian Ministry of Transport, relations are being strengthened. The agreement was signed by Director General Andreas Nordseth of the Danish Maritime Authority and Director Mario Povia of the Brazilian National Agency for Waterway Transportation (ANTAQ) in Brasilia at a shipping policy seminar held between ANTAQ, the Danish Embassy and the Danish Maritime Authority. The agreement strengthens the already good maritime cooperation between Denmark and Brazil. The agreement sets the framework for, inter alia, the exchange of experts and a shipping policy dialogue between the countries.

MTU, the specialist for propulsion and power systems for ships and commercial marine equipment, has been selected by Memphis-based Southern Towing Company to power six inland waterway towboats. Four new and two existing vessels will be outfitted with a total of twelve Series 4000 Ironmen engines in 8- and 12-cylinder configurations. Engines from the Rolls-Royce Power Systems subsidiary MTU were selected. “Southern Towing’s investment in the Series 4000 represents our belief that…

In his speech at the LNG Export & Export & Infrastructure Conference Federal Maritime Commissioner Doyle gives insights on the consequences of the adoption of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a marine fuel in the United States. I am a Commissioner with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission. The Federal Maritime Commission is an independent regulatory agency responsible for regulating the nation’s international ocean transportation for the benefit of exporters, importers, and the American consumer. I should emphasize that my thoughts and comments here are mine and mine alone – they do not reflect the position of the Commission, and they should not be construed to represent the positions of any of my fellow Commissioners.

Vessel tracking and asset/document management software, used by hundreds of U.S. commercial workboat and fishing customers,  is now available internationally for integration into existing partner applications. McMurdo Group, a company in end-to-end search and rescue (SAR) and maritime domain awareness (MDA) solutions, has announced that its fleet management software platform is now available worldwide for partners to integrate into their existing maritime applications and solutions. The McMurdo Group software platform, the most widely used vessel tracking and fleet management software in the U.S. commercial maritime market, will be demonstrated at the V-Tracks Vessel Tracking and Monitoring Conference in London (Radisson Blu Portman Hotel) February 27-28.

McMurdo Group was launched today as a new global company in end-to-end search and rescue (SAR) and maritime domain awareness (MDA) solutions. Comprised of Orolia’s former Positioning, Tracking and Monitoring Division, McMurdo Group combines Boatracs, Kannad, McMurdo and Techno-Sciences, Inc. into the industry’s first, single-vendor provider of end-to-end lifesaving and tracking solutions including distress beacons, satellite connectivity infrastructure, monitoring/positioning software and emergency response management. “The formation of McMurdo Group is far more just than a corporate realignment. It is an opportunity to lead, simplify and educate a fragmented…

For companies interested in operating in Brazil, it is important to understand the country. •    ABAC – Brazilian Coastal Ship         Owners Association. In addition, it also lodges the companies of the Port Support segment. Syndarma is a proponent of the Brazilian maritime sectors, demonstrating to the public the importance of the employment of Brazilian registered vessels in Brazilian waters as well as the necessity to expand the Brazilian merchant fleet, the return of its position of importance to the country’s external commerce and its participation on the exploration of the O&G reserves on the Brazilian coast. Syndarma has 48 associated companies in the coastal…

The Port of Pittsburgh Commission (PPC) is building an innovative wireless broadband network along the rivers in Pittsburgh and is seeking partners to explore new applications for transportation, safety, security and environmental monitoring, according to James R. McCarville, Executive Director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission. The project, called Wireless Waterways, consists of both the Network System Infrastructure (NSI), which will be scalable and expandable, and an Interoperability Test Bed (ITB). The project has been under construction for nearly a year by the PPC’s contractor, CONXX, Inc., from Johnstown, PA. The PPC will begin to conduct experiments within the Test Bed in June.

Nouvoyage, LLC—the innovator of amphibious craft for luxury and commercial market sectors—is proud to introduce the Limousine Tender 33, the first-of-its-kind luxury amphibious yacht. In addition to working on military and commercial applications of its technology, Nouvoyage has been analyzing marine sectors, with particular attention to the superyacht market in order to identify a compelling application for its amphibious platform. The result is the world’s first amphibious limousine tender…

Western Marine is building two 750-passenger vessels, the first passenger ships of this capacity by a local Bangladeshi shipbuilder. The keel-laying for the ships which will be operated by BIWTC on the inland route of Dhaka to Barisal was celebrated in the shipyard located in Patiya. The Shipping Minister, Mr. Shajahan Khan (MP) was the Chief Guest in the ceremony. As Special Guests Mr. Syed Monjurul Islam, Secretary In-Charge for Shipping Ministry; and Mr. Mojibor Rahman, Chairman of BIWTC were present in the occasion. These ships will be serving the passengers in one of busiest river route in Bangladesh, Dhaka to Barisal. New building of these ships is an initiative by the government to enhance the inland waterway transportation system of Bangladesh.

Count Berg Propulsion as the latest marine equipment manufacturer to join the rush to Brazil, as the company reportedly has secured its first order in Brazil six months after opening its dedicated sales office in Rio de Janeiro. Three single screw bunker vessels ordered through shipyard Renave will be equipped with controllable pitch propellers and fixed pitch tunnel thrusters from Berg. On completion, the vessels will be delivered to client Delima and time chartered to Brazilian energy major Petrobras. Featuring an overall length of 71.6m, a molded breadth of 15m and a draft of 4.25m, these 2500 dwt vessels are destined to service Petrobras requirements for inland waterway transportation in Brazil when they are delivered in 2014.

Building fast RoPax vessels is nothing new for Australia's Austal Ships. The company, founded just 16 years ago, has quickly crafted a reputation as one of the largest and best builders of aluminum craft in the world, and today boasts an annual turnover in excess of $250 million. Spirit of Ontario, however, is in a different league. The ship arrived last month from its birth place Down Under to start work for Canadian American Transportation System on the commuter route between Rochester, NY, and Toronto, ON. Its inaugural route to work took it on tours through the Hawaiian Islands and eventually to Pier 17 at New York City's South Street Seaport…

On April 6 Austal Ships and MTU introduced what it calls the world’s most powerful diesel-powered high-speed catamaran, Spirit of Ontario, in New York. The 284-ft. vessel -- powered by four MTU 20 V 8000 diesel enginesallowing for a loaded speed of 45.7 knots (52 mph/84 kph) – can carry 774 passengers and up to 238 cars or 10 full size trucks. It will be deployed by Canadian American Transportation System between Rochester, NY, and Toronto, ON. According to a survey conducted by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge…

With consumers increasing their spending as the economy recovers, and manufacturers likewise boosting their production, demand for inland water transportation will get a boost. Additionally, rising fuel costs will lead to operators earning more money from fuel surcharges. However, the industry will experience some turbulence from rail transport providers, which are often seen as cheaper, faster and more environmentally friendly. For these reasons, industry research firm IBISWorld has added a report on the Inland Water Transportation industry to its growing industry report collection. The Inland Water Transportation industry dipped as the economy sank into recession. Over the past couple of years, consumers have decreased spending, and manufacturing industries have decreased production.

A new emissions monitoring system being developed by a Norfolk, Va. systems engineering firm will allow vessels worldwide to continuously monitor pollutants and readily report findings to regulatory agencies and inspectors. The patent-pending Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS), developed by W R Systems, Ltd. (WRSystems), is the first technology integration of its kind. A successful land-based test of the CEMS prototype was performed in August 2009. Stringent new regulations regarding vessel emissions are forthcoming from US and worldwide governments and maritime organizations. WRSystems developed the new technology to help the maritime industry meet these new regulations and reduce their carbon footprint.