Work Area News

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility employees and ship’s force worked together to repair the anchor windlass on USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in about a third of the time it took previously.The anchor windlass is comprised of motors, gears and other parts responsible for the controlled lowering and raising of the chain and anchor, which can weigh up to 200,000 pounds on a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. It's a difficult job that requires much planning and complicated execution.According to Shawn Carragher and Zac Malone…

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation, the largest provider of dredging services in the United States, announced the receipt of several major dredging awards totaling $138.8 million.The awarded work includes Trujillo Alto Design and Build for the Lago Loiza (Carraízo) Dredging Project (Maintenance, Puerto Rico, $93.1 million); Townsends Inlet to Cape May Inlet Project (Coastal Protection, New Jersey, $28.8 million); Palm Beach Harbor Maintenance Dredging Project (Maintenance, Florida…

Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC), the operator of the Hibernia platform in the Atlantic Ocean offshore Canada, has reported that a near-miss incident occurred on the platform on October 5, 2022.According to HMDC, as reported to safety regulator CNLOPB, on October 5, the platform's personnel were in the process of completing a pressure test of the high-pressure manifold on the Hibernia Platform. Personnel had closed the upper diverter valve when the valve…

America's largest military shipbuilding group Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) said its Ingalls Shipbuilding division plans to hire approximately 3,000 full-time shipbuilders.Ingalls’ talent acquisition team has been recruiting across Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, and will return to Pascagoula on June 10 to host a hiring event at Ingalls’ new human resources building. The company is hiring ship fitters, electricians, pipefitters, pipe welders and structural welders and seeking applicants with mechanical…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Monday awarded $19.6 million in grants aiming to help 31 shipyards modernize, increase productivity, and expand local employment opportunities while competing in the global marketplace.The grants were awarded to shipbuilding and repair yards in 15 states throughout the U.S. as part of MARAD's Small Shipyard Grant Program. Since 2008, the program has awarded $262.5 million to nearly 300 shipyards in 32 states and territories.

On April 30 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a notice, requesting public comments, on a proposed “incidental harassment authorization” (IHA). An IHA is a legal and enforceable document presenting the terms and conditions with which a company must adhere in order to protect wildlife. In this case, the draft IHA was for Vineyard Wind, the wind energy company ready to start construction on an 800 MW offshore wind farm in the Atlantic, covering about 675 square kilometers, starting 14 miles from the coastline of Martha’s Vineyard.

The deep-water port of Nansha in Guangzhou, a city of 15 million people in the vicinity of Hong Kong, has doubled the number of direct connections with North Europe and West Africa, following the arrival of the Elly Maersk.The Elly Maersk departed from Nansha for Rotterdam on 28 July; the first departure of the new 2M service, doubling the number of direct departures from Nansha to Rotterdam. The Ocean Alliance also already has direct connections with this fastest growing port in the south of China.Nansha port started international departures ten years ago, quickly becoming the most important port for ‘Africa Trades’ from the south of China.Direct departures to and from Europe (NWC and MED) and the west coast of North America were only added in recent years.

France-based Damen Shiprepair Brest (DSBr), which focuses on the ship repair and conversion of seagoing and offshore vessels, successfully carried out repairs to the hull of the 266-metre, 138,000m³, LNG Carrier LNG Methane Princess.In order to achieve this in the minimum time it was done while the vessel was both afloat and with the cargo tanks holding either some liquefied gas and gas vapour.The damage, which occurred above the waterline on the aft starboard side, was the result of a collision with a harbor tug while berthing at the Punta Europa LNG Terminal (EG LNG) in Equatorial Guinea. She then proceeded to the Milford Haven (UK)…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached an agreement with Hawaiian repair yard Keehi Marine, Inc. to reduce pollution in its stormwater discharges to Keehi Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean.Acting on a tip it received from the public, EPA performed an inspection in April 2017 at the Honolulu boatyard and found accumulation of fine sediment and debris without controls that prevent stormwater and associated debris from entering stormwater discharges and flowing into Keehi Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered that recent flooding at a covered work area indicating pollutants had washed offsite. From September 2016 to December 2017…

Oliver Design will be showcasing some of its latest projects on its stand at the Navalia trade fair, which runs from May 22 to 24 , in Vigo, Spain.Recent projects from the Spanish firm, which specializes in naval design and architecture, include new state-of the-art vessels ranging from working vessels to luxury cruise ships. It has also carried out renovation on several existing vessels.The biannual Navalia is one of the top international fairs for the shipbuilding industry.

Nearly two years ago GustoMSC introduced a smart crane for lifting and wireline operations under the drilling cantilever. Two years later, following industry feedback and further development, the equipment has evolved into Chela, named after the Greek word for a crab’s claw. Chela offers an extra hand in operations, and due to its crablike motion characteristics, it can reach below the cantilever as well as elevate towards the main deck, providing crane access to an area traditionally blocked by the cantilever when drilling.

Marine News showcases the best of North America’s 2017 workboat deliveries. There is something for everyone. Notwithstanding the lingering offshore energy downturn, there were plenty of bright spots for North American shipyards in 2017. If a hull was delivered in 2017, we took a look at it, with several areas as a focus for inclusion into this edition. For starters, it is always exciting when a domestic yard delivers a vessel – or multiple vessels, for that matter – to foreign buyers. We can compete in a foreign arena; on price, quality and on-time delivery. This year was no different. No less important is the environmental footprint of a vessel, and there was plenty to report on from that angle in the past 12 months. The domestic waterfront is indeed getting greener and cleaner.

The world of dredging is defined by the vast diversity of each assignment that contractors perform on any given day. Fortunately, DSC’s standard lineup of dredge equipment can be modified and customized to meet just about any job that needs doing. It wasn’t too long ago that retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Jim Loy told me, “If you’ve seen one port, well, you’ve seen one port.” That now-famous declaration was made in reference to port security in a post-9/11 world, but the quip is as valid now as it was when he said it during his tenure as Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. Similarly, it can also be said that if you’ve seen one dredging operation, well, then you’ve seen one dredging operation.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. delivered the DNV classed factory processor fishing trawler F/T Araho (Hull 175) on January 28, 2017 to the O’Hara Corporation of Rockland, Maine. She is the first U.S. flag freezer processor factory trawler constructed in over 25 years. The F/T Araho will be in service in the waters of Alaska. The O’Hara family and Eastern Shipbuilding are no strangers to each other. The F/T Araho is the sixth fishing vessel Eastern has built for the O’Hara family over the last 20 years. This factory processor fishing trawler is far more sophisticated than the prior five vessels. The O’Hara and D’Isernia families go back to the early 1990s with the F/V Enterprise a Catcher Processor Conversion delivered in 1996.

Industrial grade lighting equipment specialist Larson Electronics has released a mini tower fastened to a powder coated wheeled base, offering full portability for the mounted equipment. The WAL-XML-12-4.5-WC portable mini tower from Larson Electronics is suited for operators needing a portable, easy to operate system for elevating lights, cameras and other electrical equipment to heights of 12 feet. The base of the tower features four wheels for easy mobility and four outriggers to assist in stability.

Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc. of Bayou La Batre, Ala. has been recognized for its Outstanding Achievement in Innovative Manufacturing by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama for the shipbuilder’s GORDHEAD management software, which aims to improve communication between shipbuilders and other manufacturers. With GORDHEAD the owner’s representative remains integrally connected to the project 24 hours/day, seven days/week. The entire shipbuilding team, including the owner, sees a real-time schedule, complete with task percent completes and the overall scheduled finish date of the project.

I woke up the first night out of Anacortes, Washington, when the ship dropped out from under me and I levitated off my bunk. Then came the sound of shuffleboard in the conference room one deck above. The only trouble was, there's no shuffleboard on the research vessel Neil Armstrong. It was Halloween 2015 in the Northeast Pacific. We were in the first hours of the first voyage of the newest ship in the U.S. academic research fleet, and we were already plowing through 15-foot waves. But the ship’s motion made it feel more like we were facing much heavier seas.

Delta Marine said its vessel Whalsa Lass has demonstrated its versatility during recently completed works on the large windfarm off the coast of Grimsby, U.K. for one of the “Big 6” energy contractors. The windfarm consists of 73 Vesta V112 3MW turbines located in water depths of some 15 meters and is now providing electricity sufficient to power up to 170,000 homes. When the Shetland based operator chartered its Damen 2611 Multicat for a basic remit to serve as anchor handler for the cable laying vessel it had no idea what further scope of services the vessel would be called upon to perform.

Parat Halvorsen AS has been awarded new boiler plant contracts for two freezer trawlers to be built at Tersan Shipyard located in Telova, Turkey. The boiler plants are for Tersan¹s newbuildings No. 1060 and No. 1066, which will be equipped with Parat combined oil fired and exhaust gas boilers, type MCS, to comply steam production for the freezer trawlers fishmeal and fish oil factory. Both freezer trawlers are designed by Skipsteknisk in Ålesund, Norway and will be of ST-116 and ST-118 design.

The new Trailblazer 325 Diesel and Bobcat 250 Diesel welder/generators by Miller Electric Mfg. Co. — both fully compliant with all applicable EPA Tier 4 Final emissions regulations — deliver multiprocess welding capabilities and smooth generator power, with innovative technologies designed for the professional welder. According to the manufacturer, the Trailblazer 325 Diesel welder/generators are designed to extend runtimes by 55%, reduce fuel use by as much as 25%, and reduce noise by 40% for a safer, more productive jobsite.

Portable, cutting edge technology for critical shipyard applications. Discussions that involve global shipbuilding in today’s complicated economic environment are anything but a cut and dried proposition. For example, international shipbuilding, slowed by the overbuilt containership and tanker sector and a lingering recession, finds itself retrenching for the next boom and hoping to capitalize on retrofit and repair markets that will very soon be the beneficiary of mandatory ballast water treatment installations. Closer to home, a robust recapitalization of the domestic inland, offshore and even the bluewater sectors promises one of the longest cyclical upswings in history. Optimism for U.S.

Demolition of the Mukilteo tank farm pier has begun. The work makes way for a new terminal to replace Washington State Ferries’ existing, 60-year-old facility in Mukilteo. The project will result in a cleaner Puget Sound by removing 7,000 tons of toxic creosote-soaked timber piles, about 4 percent of the remaining creosote in the sound. “This is a significant milestone for the project. The Mukilteo Multimodal Project will bring critical improvements to the Mukilteo/Clinton ferry route…

This is the second in a series of Maritime Reporter and Engineering News articles on Safety Culture in the maritime industry. The first article, which appeared in our October, 2013 edition, discussed the importance of management leadership, training, measurement, a focus on learning rather than blame, and continuous reflection on safety. In this second article, safety culture expert Captain John Wright discusses the key ingredients of a healthy safety culture. I had the good fortune of meeting Captain Wright because of his involvement with the BC Ferries SailSafe project.