International Union News

There is no denying that 2023 was a challenging year for the U.S. offshore wind market. Citing macroeconomic factors including high inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain bottlenecks, Ørsted announced on October 31 that they were ceasing the development of the Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 projects, which were scheduled for construction off the coast of New Jersey. Unfortunately, the troubling news has continued into the new year, with Equinor and BP announcing on…

American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group Inc. (ARC) added ARC Honor as the ninth American flag roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessel to its fleet.“This tremendously capable and flexible U.S.-flag ship is crewed by American merchant mariners and now operates in ARC’s global network supporting America’s national defense and economic security through trade,” said Eric Ebeling, ARC President & CEO. The vessel is ARC’s fourth large car/truck carrier (LCTC) vessel.The former Tulane was re-flagged to American registry and re-named the ARC Honor on February 2, 2024.

Seafarers International Union President Emeritus Michael Sacco died December 28, 2023, in St. Louis, surrounded by family members. He was 86 years old and passed away from natural causes.Mike was the longest-serving president in SIU history, having led the organization from 1988 until his retirement in February 2023, a period spanning nearly 35 years.The Seafarers International Union, Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes and Inland Waters, AFL-CIO, represents professional United States merchant mariners sailing aboard U.S.-flag vessels in the deep sea…

A few weeks ago I was talking to some professional fire fighters and was regaled with EV fire fighting disasters. They told me that EV caught fire all the time, that EV fires were much more dangerous than gasoline fires, and that fire trucks could not carry enough water to put out an EV fire. When I asked if they had fought any EV fires, they told me their information came from reliable sources and then asked me if I would park my Chevy Bolt in my garage. They focused on my Chevy Bolt, since it is widely regarded as a fire hazard.

During this year’s annual conference held in Edinburgh, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) took the opportunity to explore and debate the question of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) with the ambition of taking concrete steps to enhance its own representation and that of the marine insurance community more generally.Patrizia Kern-Ferretti, Chair of IUMI’s Nominating Committee, is driving the initiative and explained: “In 2010, after IUMI having been in existence for more than 135 years, I was only the second woman to chair an IUMI Technical Committee.

Opening this week’s International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, President Frédéric Denèfle explained the conference theme of “strength and stability in turbulent seas” saying it is essentially “business as usual” for marine underwriters.“As marine underwriters, we are used to managing an array of casualties and losses onboard a variety of vessels and in ports and other shoreside facilities. Dealing with the fall-out from natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and weather events are also workaday issues.

In the depths of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, trillions of potato-shaped rocks are scattered across the seabed - containing minerals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese vital for new green technologies in the global energy transition.In this ocean region - the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) - an abundance of the rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, is increasingly fuelling debate about the mining of metals needed to produce technology such as batteries for electric…

A rise in spot prices for Russian crude oil to above the $60 per barrel cap imposed by western powers has made ship insurers even more nervous of running foul of the rules as they are unable to independently track the value of cargoes, executives said.To curb Moscow's oil revenues following the Ukraine war, the Group of Seven Nations, the European Union and Australia imposed price caps on Russian crude and oil products from December and February, respectively.So long as the prices do not exceed capped levels…

Ports of Indiana announced more than $20 million in expansion and maintenance projects have been approved following several years of cargo growth.Ports of Indiana, which includes Jeffersonville, Burns Harbor and Mount Vernon, handled 11.9 million tons of cargo in 2022, resulting in a 6% increase from 2021 and 42% more than 2020. During 2022, the Burns Harbor and Jeffersonville ports both set new records for total annual shipments, and the overall cargo volume was the fourth highest…

When Atlantic offshore wind (OSW) projects move into high gear they will kick-start a series of impacts affecting almost the entire East Coast economy, from logistics to transportation to utility projects and, of course, just about every aspect of port and maritime activities.The related topics of workforce development and employment are among the fundamental issues being pushed and pulled by OSW. How workforce development and education and training proceed – and succeed – will be critical for the U.S.

The most important of all international maritime safety conventions is the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The first version was adopted at a conference in London in 1914. The catalyst for this conference was the sinking of the Titanic on her first voyage in April 1912, which cost the lives of more than 1,500 passengers. This was the beginning of the journey that put in place a regulatory framework to protect those who work and travel by sea.Whilst the sinking of the Titanic was not fire-related…

An innovative ship is being designed to collect plastic waste from the world’s oceans and then convert it into clean hydrogen, allowing surplus hydrogen to be shipped back to shore.At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This type of debris—which is currently the most abundant type of litter in the ocean, making up 80% of all marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments—could more than double in oceans and other bodies of water by 2030…

Liberty Green Logistics LLC, (Lake Success, NY) formed an offshore wind supply chain consortium to provide "Factory to Farm" logistical support and integrated supply chain services to the U.S. offshore wind industry. The consortium is on a non-exclusive basis and available as a one stop shop for developers, OEM’s, and EPC contractors, providing services ranging across ports & terminals, vessels, and supply chain logistics. Since the inception in May 2021 Liberty Green has enrolled 17 consortium members…

Offshore wind developer Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind -  a U.S. joint venture between Shell and EDF, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with six unions operating in New Jersey as part of its bid submission, "committing to help develop and employ a productive, safe, well-trained local workforce."The company in December 2020 submitted its bid to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to supply the state with up to 2,300 MW of renewable wind energy. New Jersey seeks to award between 1…

I have a good friend named John Guste. He and his wife grew up in the same neighborhood as my wife, they all went to college together, and now our kids are friends. As a doctor, I’m sure he has little concern with the messy, yet mundane, intricacies of offshore energy and maritime policy. You can imagine my surprise then when one night while I was reading the Congressional Record from 1977—I’m a blast at parties—to see John’s grandfather testifying before the U.S. House of Representative’s Ad Hoc Select Committee on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) issues.Mr.

U.S. offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind has contracted Belgium-based DEME for the offshore transport and installation of the wind turbine generators for the first largescale offshore wind installation in the United States.DEME's U.S. arm DEME Offshore US LLC will  team up with American maritime services contractor FOSS Maritime Company LLC to help construct the Vineyard Wind 1 project off the coast of Massachusetts. FOSS will provide the Jones Act compliant feeder vessels,…

The Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance initiative has been launched to provide transparency on carbon emissions and support the shipping industry’s green transition. Marine insurers that launched the initiative on Wednesday, said that the Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance "are a framework to quantitatively assess and disclose the climate alignment of marine insurers’ underwriting portfolios. ""This pioneering initiative makes marine insurance the first line of business to establish a sector-specific methodology to support the ambition of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA)…

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday approved $1 billion for U.S. Coast Guard shore side infrastructure nationwide and $350 million for a heavy Great Lakes icebreaker as part of its budget reconciliation bill, an action that the Great Lake Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) called “great news for the Great Lakes.”The GLMTF described the heavy Great Lakes icebreaker as desperately needed and expects that a portion of the infrastructure funds will go to good…

Oil-laden tankers risk being left languishing at sea if insurers do not urgently get clarity on an unfinished G7 and European Union plan to cap the price of Russian crude, two senior industry executives told Reuters.The Group of Seven (G7), which includes the United States, Britain, Germany and France, agreed in September to enforce a low price on sales of Russian oil.U.S. officials said the move, which is due to start on December 5, was aimed at allowing it to continue to flow…

Commercial insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty released its Safety & Shipping Review, an annual analysis of shipping losses and accidents worldwide. The 2022 report reveals that the maritime sector continues its long-term positive safety trend over the past year with 54 total losses of vessels reported globally, compared with 65 a year earlier. This represents a 57% decline over 10 years (127 in 2012); while during the early 1990s the global fleet was losing 200+ vessels a year.The 2021 loss total is made more impressive by the fact that there are an estimated 130…

North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) and the offshore wind developer Ørsted on Thursday announced a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) to construct the company’s U.S. offshore wind farms with an American union workforce. A statement on the agreement released Thursday reads: "A first-of-its-kind in the United States, the National Offshore Wind Agreement (NOWA) sets the bar for working conditions and equity, injects hundreds of millions of dollars in middle-class wages into the American economy…

President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order aiming to use government spending to strengthen domestic manufacturing and create markets for new technologies, in a move widely praised by America's maritime industry.The executive order, titled Strengthening "Buy American" Provisions, Ensuring Future of America is Made in America by All of America’s Workers", calls for increasing the amount of U.S. content that must be in a product for it to be considered made in America under existing "Buy American" requirements.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg this week announced the appointment of 25 new members to the Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee (MTSNAC). The MTSNAC Charter will advise the Secretary, through the Maritime Administration (MARAD) Administrator, on ways to identify and address impediments hindering the effective use of short sea transportation. The MTSNAC’s counsel comes as the Biden-Harris Administration takes aim at tackling inflation and reducing the cost of goods in the country…