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Western North Atlantic News

05 Jul 2017

Canada Orders Seizure of Oil Tanker

The Federal Court of Canada has ordered the seizure of a 721,915-barrel cargo of crude from Kurdistan aboard the "Neverland" oil tanker on the request of the Iraq Oil Ministry, court documents show. The Iraq Oil Ministry has also filed a claim against commodity trading house Vitol S.A. and subsidiaries including Mansel Ltd, the charterer of the ship, and affiliate Finaval SpA di Navigazione, the owner of the ship, for $32.5 million. Iraq claims the cargo was unlawfully misappropriated by the Kurdistan Regional Government and sold to Vitol to be loaded onto the "Neverland." Vitol declined to comment. The court action, dated June 29, is…

20 Mar 2013

NOAA Ship's Annual Shakedown Cruise

Shakedown & Patch Test 2013: Image credit NOAA

The 'Okeanos Explorer' is conducting mapping operation in the Western North Atlantic as part of the annual ship shakedown. Multibeam and singlebeam mapping operations are being conducted 24/7 between Rhode Island and the U.S.-Canadian territorial boundary, while sub-bottom profile mapping is being conducted each day between the hours of 1000 and 1800 throughout the March 18, 2013, to April 5, 2013 cruise. Research vessels conduct annual ship shakedown tests to perform at-sea testing…

29 Jan 2013

Avoiding Collisions with the North Atlantic Right Whale

“Since implementation of mandatory seasonal speed restrictions along the U.S. east coast in 2008, the number of vessel struck right whales like this one has been dramatically reduced.”

Professional mariners have a unique responsibility as they transit the world’s oceans. Mariners see a part of this earth that the vast majority of humanity will never witness and, in turn, they become stewards of the ocean by following the numerous regulatory measures aimed at reducing the impact of shipping on the environment. These regulations include, but certainly are not limited to, the use of AIS to avoid collisions and harmful oil spills, ballast water discharge controlling the introduction of invasive species, ship emissions control, and a ban on dumping of plastics at sea.