Home Heating Oil News

Fairbanks Morse Defense announced on Monday it has been awarded a five-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) requirements contract by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Surface Forces Logistic Center. The agreement, worth up to $13 million, makes FMD the required source of supply for all Opposed Piston (OP) Engine Parts listed in the contract’s schedule of supplies. These parts primarily support OP engines on nine 140-foot Bay Class Icebreaking Tugboats (WTGBs).Since 1977, WTGBs have been used as critical icebreakers on many Northeast and Midwestern U.S.

Built to guide mariners through safe waters, the Valiant Rock Lighted Whistle Buoy 11 was dangerously adrift in the Long Island Sound.When ferry operators traveling between Orient Point and Fishers Island, New York, first reported the buoy off station on Jan. 17, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Oak (WLB-211) was already underway but foul weather kept the cutter from removing it.This was the beginning of a two-week saga that would involve several Coast Guard units. Like the Loch Ness monster of the Long Island Sound, the 35-foot-tall green buoy was occasionally seen but hard to catch.

Oil prices are becoming dangerously overheated as speculators anticipate a rebalancing of supply and demand that has barely started, according to many oil analysts. "Even as oil rallies, analysts have barely nudged up their price forecasts as they worry that crude's recent gains might not be sustainable," notes the Wall Street Journal ("Analysts just aren't buying the oil rally", April 28). Many fear hedge funds are pushing up oil prices prematurely, which will lead to a renewed crash when the bubble bursts, as it did after the last big run-up in prices between January and May 2015. Hedge funds and other money managers have accumulated a record net long position in Brent and WTI futures and options, betting on a further rise in prices equivalent to 656 million barrels of crude.

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) Board today voted to approve to execute a Project Partnering Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and MassDOT to start the Boston Harbor Dredging Project. A signed agreement allows the ACOE to bid contracts for construction on a Confined Aquatic Disposal cell (CAD cell), which is needed for the maintenance dredging of the Inner Harbor Main Ship Channel. Maintenance dredging will restore the inner harbor to 40 feet and is the first phase of the larger dredging project. Without maintenance dredging, the harbor will continue to silt, leading to increased transit times, economic inefficiencies, and navigational safety concerns.

The three New York, New Jersey based Coast Guard tugboats of these names celebrate their 50th Anniversary. To celebrate their years of service, the 65-foot harbor tugs steamed together north on the Hudson River, beginning at the Poughkeepsie Walkway over the Hudson to Kingston, N.Y. “It is a great honor for the crew and I to be a part of and continue Coast Guard Cutter Hawser’s great heritage in, which she and her past crews have provided 50 years of service to the Port of New York…

Inconsistent Rules Create Uneven Application of Standards. (Captain) Jeff Cowan explores the how and why of the safety gap that comes as a direct result. Oil tankers and cargo vessels face a number of oil spill prevention regulations especially along the U.S. coast. Surprisingly, many of the regulations governing T-2 and T-3 sized tankers which carry between 120,000 and 146,000 barrels of oil do not apply to the new Articulated Tug Barges (ATBs) that may carry as much if not more (400,000+ barrels).

The Coast Guard has commenced icebreaking operations on the Hudson River as temperatures continue to fall and waters freeze. A fleet of Coast Guard icebreaking ships – or cutters – will help maintain waterways used by commercial vessel traffic in the Port of New York / New Jersey and up the Hudson River to Albany, from now until the end of March 2011. The mission is vital for upstate New York’s residents and the area’s economy. “An average of 300 vessels transit the Hudson River during the winter months, carrying over 5 million barrels of petroleum products to the communities of this northern region,” said Chief Warrant Officer Kary Moss, Coast Guard Sector New York’s Aid to Navigation and Ice Officer.

Tugs!, an interactive exhibition that will trace the past, present and future of the American tug, tow and barge industry, will open at Mystic Seaport Saturday, May 22. Designed for visitors of all ages, Tugs! will detail how tugboats play a crucial role in our 21st-century economy that is vital to American commerce and economic success. With more than 5,000 registered tugboats and towboats operating in the U.S., the industry moves more than 800 million tons of raw material and finished goods, including 60 percent of our nation’s grain exports and most of New England’s home heating oil and gasoline. Tugs! will present this powerful story through custom-created videos…

A barge carrying more than 5 million gallons of home heating oil reportedly struck an unknown object and began taking on water near City Island, N.Y., at approximately 2:30 p.m., Jan 22. No pollution is reported at this time. The commercial tug Meredith C. Reinauer was pushing a barge to Boston, Mass., when they reportedly struck the object near Execution Rocks, N.Y. The master of the tug contacted the Coast Guard and reported the barge was taking on water in a ballasting void. The tug brought the barge to anchor off of Hart Island, N.Y. A Coast Guard 41-foot response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Kings Point was quickly on scene to confirm that the vessel was not discharging any oil. Commercial divers from Randive, Inc.

The movement of petroleum products on the nation's rivers, lakes, bays and oceans is soon to be regulated of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Called OPA 90, this regulation requires many bulk carriers of petroleum products to use double-hulled barges to haul their cargo by 2005 and all to be doubled hulled by 2015. Looking first at the large product tankers and crude oil carriers, 23 product carriers and 17 crude oil carriers must be double hulled by 2005, another 20 product carriers and 17 crude oil tankers need to be double hulled by 2010 and another 13 product and 9 crude oil ships need to meet OPA 90 by 2015. These conversions (or ship retirements) are a major issue impacting the ability of the U.S. to transport crude oil and its refined products.

The Coast Guard is monitoring a tanker that ran aground in East Rockaway Inlet, NY about 450 yards from shore. Poling and Cutler Marine, the owners of the tanker, notified the Coast Guard Sector in New Haven, CT, that the tanker ran aground on sandy bottom and is carrying 672,000 gallons of #2 home heating oil. Coast Guard pollution response officers report that the ship suffered no apparent hull breach and no oil product entered the water. A unified Command consisting of New York DEC, Nassau County PD and FD, Hempstead Bay Constable, Coast Guard and Poling and Cutler, has been established to monitor the situation, develop plans to refloat the vessel and to develop as contingency plans in the case of a cargo release.

Coast Guard Cutters are busy all over the Northern Chesapeake and Delaware Bay areas breaking through the ice that Jack Frost left behind on the area waterways. Large patches of ice at least one to two inches have been reported as far south as the area around Tangier Island, Md., in the Chesapeake Bay. Several tributaries to the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay are frozen over with ice as well. One of the tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay that is being heavily monitored is the Wicomico River that leads to Salisbury, Md., which was last reported to be 10 percent covered with a one-inch thick sheet of ice. Salisbury is a leading supplier of home heating oil to the Del Marva Peninsula. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is completely covered with four to six inches of ice.

MarineNews presents an old-fashioned roundtable discussion — collected via high-tech means — presenting the thoughts and concerns on the minds of six top executives from leading marine companies. MarineNews thanks Tom Allegretti, President and CEO, American Waterways Operators; Merritt Lane, President & CEO, Canal Barge Co.; Craig Philip, President & CEO, Ingram Marine Group; Joe Pyne, President & CEO, Kirby Corporation; Mark Knoy, President, Memco Barge Line; and Barry Palmer, President & CEO, Waterways Work! for sharing their views and expertise with our readers. MN: What is the most pressing challenge you feel is facing the barge/towing industry today?

The owner, operator and insurer of vessel North Cape have agreed to restock 1.24 million lobsters and pay $8 million to restore other natural resources injured by the 1996 oil spill off the southern coast of Rhode Island. The Governor and federal officials announced they have reached a "settlement in principle" with West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association, the insurer of the companies responsible for the spill. The trustees and responsible parties will draft a mutually acceptable consent decree, which must be submitted to the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island for approval. The restoration funds will benefit several wildlife species…

The owner, operator and insurer of the vessel North Cape have agreed to restock 1.24 million lobsters and pay $8 million to restore other natural resources injured by the 1996 oil spill off the southern coast of Rhode Island. The Governor and federal officials announced that they have reached a "settlement in principle" with West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association, the insurer of the companies responsible for the spill. The trustees and responsible parties will draft a mutually acceptable consent decree, which must be submitted to the United States District Court for Rhode Island for approval. Commenting on the resolution…

The owner, operator and insurer of the vessel North Cape have agreed to restock 1.24 million lobsters and pay $8 million to restore other natural resources injured by the 1996 oil spill off the southern coast of Rhode Island. The Governor and federal officials announced that they have reached a "settlement in principle" with West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association, the insurer of the companies responsible for the spill. The trustees and responsible parties will draft a mutually acceptable consent decree, which must be submitted to the United States District Court for Rhode Island for approval. Commenting on the resolution…

It’s really quite amazing how one year and an additional $21 per barrel of crude can change people’s attitudes. It was less than 12 month ago that the price per barrel of oil hovered around the $9-10 mark, and international officials across the globe pleaded with leaders of OPEC to trim production in an effort to bolster pricing, which had lagged for two years running. Today, however, the tune is far different. A cold winter in the N.E. U.S., combined with per barrel pricing over $30 has consumers and local legislators screaming for action, with obvious good effect. The Clinton administration responded to growing worries that oil prices are out of control by announcing on Wednesday more supplies were headed to U.S. ports, but cautioned that gasoline prices may move higher.