Lewis News

Founded as the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and renamed Military Sealift Command in 1970, MSC today not only support the Navy, but we are the Department of Defense's provider of all sealift. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently interviewed Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, U.S. Navy, for insights on the service today and it’s needs to grow in the future.What makes MSC so vital to the Navy’s fleet and our military forces around the world?When we  look at the history of contested logistics in World War II…

Australian steelmaker Bisalloy shares have risen some 40% since December 2023, powered by defence deals signed as part of the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal between Australia, Britain and the United States.Defence contractors large and small are looking at the $237 billion plan to build Australia a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines as a decades-long source of work. Australia will build the vessels to a British design with U.S. technology.Bisalloy said earlier this month it had signed a deal to sell a shipment of steel to part of U.S. shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries, maker of the U.S.

Thyssenkrupp appealed against a decision by the Netherlands last month to award a contract worth billions of euros to build submarines to France's Naval Group, the German company said.Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), the German conglomerate's defence division, filed the objection with the District Court in The Hague in late March, the company said in an e-mailed statement."This measure is a professional business procedure in such publicly tendered major projects and part of the competition - especially in light of the questions that remain unanswered regarding specific evaluation criteria…

Russia's Gazprom is using a replacement vessel for ship-to-ship loadings (STS) of liquefied natural gas from its Portovaya LNG plant on the Baltic Sea while another ship is repaired, LSEG data showed on Monday.The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Marshal Vasilevskiy is designed to supply Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, between Lithuania and Poland, and ensure its gas security in case of disruption to pipeline supplies from neighboring countries.According to LSEG data, the FSRU Marshal Vasilevskiy was on Monday loading LNG ship-to-ship near Kaliningrad onto the Cool Rover vessel, m

China's coastguard said it had taken measures against Philippine vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Saturday, while the Philippines decried the moves, including the use of water cannons, as "irresponsible and provocative".China's actions led to "significant damage" and injury to personnel on a civilian boat hired to resupply troops, the Philippine task force on the South China Sea said in a statement.The incident occurred in the Second Thomas Shoal and Spratly Islands waters, according to the Chinese coastguard.

At least 22 people drowned, including seven children, when a rubber boat carrying migrants sank off Turkey's northwest province of Canakkale, the local governor's office said on Friday, adding that search and rescue efforts continued.In a statement, the Canakkale governor's office said that two people had been rescued by the coast guard and two others had survived "by their own means" after the boat capsized.It said a plane, two helicopters, and a total of 18 vessels from the coast guard and other rescue authorities were involved in the search and rescue efforts…

A Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on a Red Sea merchant ship on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said, the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began strikes against shipping in one of the world's busiest trade lanes.The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, which set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen's port of Aden.In an earlier message on X responding to the Houthi claim, Britain's embassy wrote: "At least 2 innocent sailors have died.

Two seafarers were killed in a Houthi missile attack on a Red Sea merchant ship on Wednesday, British and U.S. officials said, the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began strikes against shipping in one of the world's busiest sea lanes.The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, which set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen's port of Aden.In a statement on X directly responding to the Houthi claim, Britain's embassy wrote: "At least 2 innocent sailors have died.

A downturn in Egypt's private sector activity deepened in February as a drop in Suez Canal freight due to attacks on shipping in the Red Sea worsened a long-running foreign currency shortage, a survey showed on Tuesday.The S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for Egypt slipped to 47.1 in February from 48.1 in January, remaining below the 50.0 threshold that separates growth from contraction for a 39th consecutive month.The overall index reading was the lowest for 11 months…

Egypt is studying further expansions of the Suez Canal to extend and complete a second channel of the waterway, the canal's head said on Monday, a move that could allow for higher volumes of shipping and prevent blockages from halting traffic.The comments come as the canal is seeing a sharp fall in revenue due to shipping companies diverting away from the waterway, the shortest route between Europe and Asia, because of attacks by Houthi militants in Yemen against ships in the Red Sea.Any new extension would come on top of current work to extend the second channel by 10 kilometers, and to deepe

The Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary sea base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) completed its routine planned maintenance in Rijeka, Croatia Feb. 8, 2024 at Viktor Lenac Shipyard.Military Sealift Command, Europe and Africa (MSCEURAF) and Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center (FDRMC) executed the ship’s planned Mid-Term Availability (MTA), a depot-level maintenance period, to maintain safety and mission-essential equipment and ensure the ship will reach its planned service life.Maintenance work during the MTA included Safety of Life At Sea equipment such as communication…

Argentina's Parana River, a global grains thoroughfare, reopened to shipping traffic on Tuesday after a grounded ship was freed, though vessels were told to load less grain while the damage to the channel was assessed.Shipping traffic had been snarled after the ship Clara Insignia, loaded with wheat, ran aground near the waterway's main channel and was stuck for several days, blocking the channel down river from the Rosario grains port hub.The bulk carrier was freed late on Monday…

Ukraine destroyed a Russian landing warship off the coast of occupied Crimea in an operation with naval drones that breached the vessel's port side on Wednesday and caused it to sink, Kyiv's military spy agency and armed forces said.There was no immediate comment from Russia, which said earlier that it had destroyed six drones in the Black Sea. The Kremlin declined to comment."The Ukrainian Armed Forces, together with the Defense Ministry's intelligence unit, destroyed the Tsezar Kunikov large landing ship.

Greece-headquartered Star Bulk will halt sailings through the Red Sea after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked two of its ships in recent days, the group's CEO said.The Houthis have targeted commercial vessels with drones and missiles in the Red Sea since mid-November in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war."Going forward, we will not be passing the Suez Canal any more because we are obviously a target of the Houthis - being a public company registered in the U.S.," Star Bulk CEO Petros Pappas told a Feb.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) in December issued a final rule updating its financial requirements for the Federal Ship Financing Program, commonly referred to as Title XI. While the move applies to the U.S. maritime industry as a whole, it is seen as especially helpful for players looking to serve the U.S. offshore wind sector.Designed to promote the growth and modernization of the U.S. merchant marine and U.S. shipyards, Title XI provides for a full faith and credit guarantee by the U.S. government. The program essentially aims to encourage U.S.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will travel to Oman on Tuesday where he is expected to call for stability over ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and de-escalating of tensions in the Middle East, the foreign office said on Tuesday.Cameron, on his fourth visit to the Middle East, will travel to Oman to meet his counterpart Badr Albusaidi to discuss how to diminish tensions across the region.The Houthi attacks on international shipping lines in the Red Sea will be a major focus of his discussions…

Russian ports are operating during more severe storms and easing restrictions for non ice-class vessels during winter, traders said and regulations showed, in an attempt to boost exports following disruptions from Western sanctions and harsh weather.Following the European Union oil embargo, Russia has to rely mostly on seaborne loadings, rather than westbound pipeline supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.Traders and analysts said the easing of restrictions carried technical and ecological risks, but could help Russia's revenues that are heavily reliant on oil.Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft,

Detyens Shipyards has been awarded a contract for a 62-calendar day shipyard availability for a regular overhaul of Military Sealift Command's (MSC) fleet ordnance and dry cargo USNS William Mclean (T-AKE 12).The $8,035,948 firm, fixed-price contract includes a base period and two unexercised options which, if exercised, would increase the cumulative value of this contract to $8,137,348.Work will be performed in North Charleston, S.C., beginning March 15, 2024, and is expected to be completed by May 16…

Australia's Santos can proceed with construction of an undersea pipeline vital to its $4.3 billion Barossa gas project after a court on Monday ruled in favor of the oil and gas firm in a dispute with an Indigenous man looking to pause the work.Work on the pipeline, which will connect the Barossa gas field to a processing plant in the northern Australian city of Darwin, was paused by court order in November after a suit by a member of an Indigenous group regarded as traditional…

The Indian Navy said on Thursday it had rescued the crew of a U.S.-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden after an attack by Yemen's Houthi movement as tensions in the region's sea lanes disrupted global trade.Following the attack on the U.S. Genco Picardy late on Wednesday, the U.S. military said its forces had conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles that "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region".Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on…

One of the world's largest container shipping groups CMA CGM on Friday said it would reroute a weekly service between Europe and Australia to avoid attacks in the Red Sea, and that the company expected months of disruption.Attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia on commercial vessels, in response to Israel's war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, have slowed trade between Asia and Europe, and U.S. strikes against the Houthis have not resolved the crisis.French-based CMA CGM said its weekly NEMO service connecting Europe…

Dollar revenues from Egypt's Suez Canal are down 40% from the beginning of the year compared to 2023, canal authority head Osama Rabie said on Thursday, after attacks on ships by Yemen's Houthis caused major shippers to divert away from the route.Ship traffic was down 30% in the period between Jan. 1 and Jan. 11 compared to a year prior, Rabie said, speaking on a late night talk show.The number of vessels to pass through the Suez Canal dropped to 544 so far this year, from 777 in the equivalent period of 2023…

Yemen's Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include U.S. ships, an official from the Iran-allied group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after U.S. and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.Attacks by the Houthis on ships in area since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers in an escalation of Israel's more than three-month war with Hamas militants in Gaza. The group says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians.British…