USCG Yard under New Command
Caption Before a crowd of 500 guests and the workforce of the U.S. 11 a.m. on June 7, 2013. Rear Admiral Ronald Rábago (center), Assistant Commandant for Engineering & Logistics, U.S. Coast Guard, presided over the Change of Command ceremony held at the Yard’s Columbus Recreation Center. Guest speakers included U.S. Congressman John Sarbanes of the 3rd District of Maryland. The Old Line Brass Quintet of the 229th Army Band, Maryland National Guard, provided musical support. Captain George Lesher of the United States Coast Guard recently assumed command of the U.S. Coast Guard Yard.
Production on Solar-powered Gas Platform Begins
The world's first gas platform powered solely by wind and solar energy has begun production, in a breakthrough for the offshore industry in low-cost exploitation of marginal fields. Royal Dutch Shell announced that it has begun pumping gas from its Cutter platform in the U.K. southern North Sea. The tiny platform, powered by two wind turbines and a pair of solar panels, cost $142.6m to develop and is expected to produce gas at the rate of some 3 million cubic feet a day for the next 15 years. The Cutter platform, about half the size of conventional satellite platforms and built for 40 per cent of the cost, uses only a fraction of the energy of traditional oil installations. It measures just eight meters by eight and has no helideck.