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West Bank News

30 Jan 2024

UK's Cameron to Discuss Houthi Attacks on Shipping on Oman Visit

© aylerein / Adobe Stock

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…

12 Jan 2024

APM Terminals to Develop Container Terminal at Plaquemines Port

© Kalyakan / Adobe Stock

Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District announced it signed a letter of intent (LOI) with APM Terminals (APMT) to build a container terminal on the West Bank of Plaquemines Parish, La.Plaquemines Port will lease the land to APM under a 30-year agreement with extension options. APMT, one of the largest terminal operators in the world and is a subsidiary of shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, estimates the initial investment in terminal infrastructure will be approximately $500 million…

03 Nov 2023

Royal Caribbean Alters 2024 Cruise Itineraries to Skip Israel

© ymgerman / Adobe Stock

Royal Caribbean Group is removing Israel from its 2024 itineraries due to the Israel-Hamas war, according to an email sent to travel agents on Thursday seen by Reuters, making it the second major U.S. cruise operator to alter its plans over the conflict.The Miami, Florida-based cruise operator is modifying itineraries as late as October 2024 for its Royal Caribbean International unit that stops in Israel, the email said.Travel has declined sharply across Israel and the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

18 Jul 2023

Three Dead After Shipyard Shooting in Louisiana

(File photo: FMT Shipyard & Repair)

Three people are dead following a shooting incident at a shipyard in Harvey, La., near New Orleans.The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating a double homicide at the FMT Shipyard & Repair facility on the West bank of the Mississippi River, and that a suspect was later killed after a shootout with deputies.Around 1 p.m., deputies were dispatched to a report of a shooting at the shipyard. Upon arrival, officials located two unresponsive adult males—both contract employees at the shipyard—who had suffered gunshot wounds.

12 Jan 2023

Port of South Louisiana Buys Avondale Global Gateway

The Avondale Global Gateway is a logistics hub at site of the former Avondale Shipyard. (Photo: Port of South Louisiana)

The Port of South Louisiana (Port SL) said it has reached a deal with T. Parker Host to buy the Avondale Global Gateway, a logistics hub at site of the former Avondale Shipyard.The acquisition of this 254-acre facility at mile 108 of the Mississippi River will allow the port to be more competitive in traditional international trade and focus on the new frontier of renewable energy development, Port SL said.The purchase and sale agreement was announced Thursday by Port SL CEO Paul Matthews following unanimous approval from the port commission.

31 Oct 2022

DOT Announces $703M in Port Funding; 41 Projects in 22 States

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U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced more than $703 million to fund 41 projects in 22 states and one territory that designed to help improve port facilities through the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program. Following is the full list of FY 2022 Port Infrastructure Development Grant Awards:ALASKANorth Extension Stabilization Step 1 Project ($68,700,000), Anchorage, AlaskaThe Project will reconfigure and realign the shoreline within the “North Extension” (the area north of the existing general cargo terminals) at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage, Alaska.

31 May 2022

Jordan's Container Port Sees Pickup in Syria- and Israel-bound Traffic

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

Jordan's only container port on the Red Sea has been capturing traffic to Syria, Israel and the West Bank as higher ocean freight costs give it an edge over closer but heavily congested Mediterranean ports, its CEO said on Tuesday.Crises from COVID-19 lockdowns to Russia's invasion of Ukraine have fed into a global supply chain crunch, with one study this month showing one-fifth of the global container ship fleet was currently stuck at various major ports.Given the current shipping backlog and ocean freight rates…

22 Apr 2021

Bollinger Buys Gulf Island’s Shipyard Facilities

The Coast Guard Cutter Benjamin Bottoms is a Fast Response Cutter built by Bollinger Shipyards. (Photo: Patrick Kelley / U.S. Coast Guard)

Lockport, La.-based Bollinger Shipyards has acquired Gulf Island Fabrication’s shipyard facilities in nearby Houma for approximately $28.6 million.The purchased site encompasses 437 acres on the west bank of the Houma Navigation Canal, of which 283 acres is unimproved land that is available for expansion. The facility includes 18,000 square feet of administrative and operations facilities, 160,000 square feet of covered fabrication facilities and 20,000 square feet of warehouse facilities. It also has 6,750 linear feet of water frontage, including 2,350 feet of steel bulkheads.

30 Mar 2021

Excessive Speed a Factor in 2019 Houston Ship Channel Collision -NTSB

A screen capture from wheelhouse video on board the towing vessel Voyager shows the moment when the LPG tanker Genesis River struck barge 30015T, March 10, 2019. (Source: Kirby Inland Marine / NTSB)

Excessive vessel speed contributed to a 2019 collision between a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker and a barge in the Houston Ship Channel that resulted in the release of 11,000 barrels of petrochemicals, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday.The 754-foot-long tanker Genesis River collided with the 297-foot-long tank barge 30015T on the Houston Ship Channel May 10, 2019, in Texas’ Upper Galveston Bay. The collision breached two cargo tanks in the barge, spilling approximately 473,600 gallons of reformate, a gasoline blending stock.

15 Oct 2020

MARAD Awards $220 Mln in Port Infrastructure Grants

© Stuart Westmorland, Danita Delimont / Adobe Stock

More than $220 million in discretionary grant funding has been awarded to improve U.S. port facilities in 16 states and territories through the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced Thursday.“This $220 million in federal grants will improve America’s ports with nearly half the projects are located in Opportunity Zones, which were established to revitalize economically distressed communities,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L.

09 Jun 2020

Ingalls Shipbuilding Reopens Facility Wrecked by Katrina

U.S. Navy destroyer Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) was moved to Pier Four on the east bank of the Pascagoula River, signifying the reopening of Ingalls' facility that had been decimated in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. (Photo by Derek Fountain/HII)

Ingalls Shipbuilding has reopened its rebuilt and modernized facility on the east bank of the Pascagoula River after much of the site was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.The Pascagoula, Miss. shipbuilder announced Friday that it moved the newly built destroyer Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) to the east bank's Pier Four, signifying the site's official reactivation. Ingalls, a division of Virginia-based naval shipbuilding giant Huntington Ingalls Industries, had shifted all of…

13 Apr 2018

Ingalls to Reactivate East Bank Facilities

Ingalls Shipbuilding East Bank Photo HII

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Thursday that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division will reactivate part of its shipbuilding facilities that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The site on the east bank of the Pascagoula River is the original Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., founded in 1938. According to the shipbuilder, its reactivation will restore the facility’s ability to support Ingalls’ current ship construction and modernization programs as well as help the company better prepare for future work, including next-generation amphibious assault ships and surface combatants.

05 Aug 2016

Turkey Sets Import Tax on Thermal Coal

Turkey imposed a tax this week on imports of thermal coal from Colombia, Russia and other major exporters, for use in power generation, to support domestic coal production. The Turkish cabinet decided to impose the tax of $15/tonne on imports from the United States, Colombia, Russia and South Africa on July 18 and announced it in the Official Gazette this week. The tax hits the biggest exporters of thermal coal but does not apply to imports from the European Union, Israel, Macedonia, Bosnia, Morocco, West Bank, Tunisia, Egypt, Georgia, Albania, Jordan, Chile, Serbia, Kosovo, South Korea, Mauritius and Malaysia, the government said. The levy is equal to around a quarter of the current month's physical South African coal price of around $63.65 a tonne.

11 Sep 2015

Richmond Now Destination for CMA CGM

CMA CGM has signed an agreement with the Port of Virginia to add the Port of Richmond as a destination for shippers booking cargo on its ships. The Port Virginia announced a cooperative effort with ocean carrier CMA CGM that will greatly enhance service at the Port of Richmond, an upriver barge terminal located on Interstate 95 that extends the port’s inland reach by 90 miles. The growing, world-wide ocean carrier is offering a Richmond bill of lading to the shipping public, both importers and exporters. Any shipper tendering cargo to or from CMA CGM at the Port of Richmond will have access to multiple ports worldwide that are served by the ocean carrier.

12 Aug 2015

Avondale Shipyard for Sale

Local media quote Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII)  as announcing this week the Avondale Shipyard, just upriver from New Orleans, is being sold. The historic, 206-acre facility is on the market after a tumultuous last five years that have included layoffs and threats to close the shipyard. But members of the community hope the new owners will bring business back to the area. Only a skeleton staff remains at the sprawling West Bank facility that once employed more than 5,000 skilled workers. The company that shuttered the shipyard after 76 years may now be looking for a buyer. Jerry Bologna, executive director of the Jefferson Economic Development Commission (JEDCO), said HII is expected to have the property listed for sale in the next 30 to 60 days.

28 Apr 2015

PSA Starts Expansion Work on 2m teu Panama Terminal

Singapore-based port operator PSA Panama International Terminal (PSA Panama) has started a USD 400 million expansion of its container terminal located on the west bank of the Panama Canal Pacific. It has started on the expansion after being granted approval by the National Assembly, the Panama Canal Authority ACP, the Panama Maritime Authority and the Panamanian State. The expansion is targeted to be ready for operations before the end of 2016, in conjunction with the commercial opening of the expanded Panama Canal. The expansion will increase the capacity of the terminal from 450,000 to 2 million TEUs per year. The investment into civil works amounts to USD 285 million, while the value of equipment will be over USD 125 million.

05 Mar 2015

Egypt on a War Footing to Expand Suez Canal

The Suez Canal Authority is in a race to quickly expand the vital waterway for two-way traffic by August 2015, says an Associate Press report. Workers dig round the clock on Suez Canal expansion, hoping for surge in East-West trade. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has made the project a point of nationalist glory, not to mention a cornerstone of plans to revive the economy. But while shippers say more ships may be drawn by shorter waiting times, ambitions to nearly triple revenues depend mainly on growth in the world economy. Any major increase, however, depends on something unlikely to happen soon — a large jump in European demand fueling greater shipping from Asia. However, 89% of dredging work has been completed on the new Suez Canal.

06 Feb 2015

Live Oak Plans LNG Plant on Calcasieu Channel

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Martin Houston, Chairman of Live Oak LNG, has announced a new natural gas liquefaction and export project, up to a $2 billion investment, to be developed in the Calcasieu waterway. The $2 billion plant will be located on the Calcasieu Ship Channel and will create 100 direct jobs and 385 indirect jobs, the governor said. The permanent jobs will pay an average salary of about $75,000. About 1,000 construction workers will be hired. The mid-sized project is being designed for a plant capacity of up to five million tonnes per annum production and will include two 130,000 m3 storage tanks, and port facilities with a jetty for standard size liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

12 Sep 2014

Bollinger Shipyard Stalwart VP Dave Marmillion to Retire

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. headquartered in Lockport, La., inform of the upcoming retirement of its Vice President Repair, Eastern Division, Dave Marmillion, after 46 years in the shipyard industry. Marmillion’s retirement was announced by Bollinger’s Chief Operating Officer, Ben Bordelon, who said, “Dave has been an integral part of Bollinger’s growth and a mentor to many in the shipyard industry over the past 46 years. Marmillion started his shipyard career as a lifelong resident of the New Orleans Westbank area. He attended West Jefferson High School and graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana in Industrial Technology.

13 Aug 2014

Israel-Palestinian Sea Feud Harms Gaza Fishermen

After hours casting their nets close to the Gaza shore, Palestinian fishermen sift through their catch in the dim dawn light, managing to scrape together a few piles of puny fish. It's a miserable catch, the result, they say, of restrictions imposed by Israel, with boats allowed only three nautical miles (5.6 km) offshore after a month of no fishing at all during the recent fighting. For years Gaza's fishing community - once one of its proudest and most productive industries - has been caught in the middle of a maritime feud, part of a wider conflict between the blockaded Palestinian enclave and Israel. As Palestinian and Israeli negotiators meet independently with Egyptian officials to try to reach an agreement to end the latest conflict that began on July 8…

18 Nov 2013

Latest US Department of Defense Contracts

Included in the latest list of US Department of Defense contracts are those for a USACE Mississippi River dredging operation, and a Navy contract for the phased maintenance of the 'USS San Antonio'. Conti Enterprises Inc., Lincoln Highway, Edison, N.J., has been awarded a $44,828,475 firm-fixed-price contract for a resilient features, west bank and vicinity, hurricane and storm damage risk reduction system for Mississippi River levee, English Turn Bend to Belle Chasse, WBV-MRL 4.2, Plaquemines Parish, La. Estimated completion date is Dec. 2, 2015 and the contracting agency is the Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, La. General Dynamics NASSCO-Earl Industries…

04 Jan 2013

Coast Guard Medevacs 1 from Sailboat in GOM

Photo: courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

A Coast Guard aircrew medevaced a man from a 64-foot sailboat 200 miles offshore New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico, Thursday. Watchstanders at the 8th Coast Guard District command center received a call from the son, who reported his stepfather and mother were in distress aboard the sailboat Paradise beset by heavy weather. The son reported the couple were on their way back to Houston after a trip to Cozumel, Mexico. The 8th District watchstanders  reached the Paradise by iridium…

24 Jul 2012

Shipbuilders Rely On Training To Fill Crafts Jobs

Vocational technical students touring a Bollinger Shipyards facility in Louisiana. Courtesy of Bollinger Shipyards.

With skilled craftsmen in short supply in U.S. coastal areas, many shipbuilders turn to their own, sometimes extensive, internal training. Because fewer young people are entering shipbuilding out of high school, the industry is faced with an aging workforce that will soon have to be replaced. As good jobs for shipfitters and welders go begging, industry leaders say it's way past time to spread the word about these opportunities. Pascagoula, Miss.-based John Lotshaw directs Operations Workforce Training and Development at Huntington-Ingalls Industries (HII).