Dutch Antilles News

Venezuelan authorities have closed the maritime border with the Dutch Antilles, a regional navy chief told Reuters on Tuesday, preventing boats and aircraft from arriving from the islands of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire.Vice Admiral Quintero Martinez did not give a reason for the closure, though Venezuela's opposition have said they plan to bring humanitarian aid into the country from Curacao on Saturday, which President Nicolas Maduro's government has pledged to block.Reporting by Mircely Guanipa

Inquiries for marine fuel supplies in the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Fujairah oil hub have spiked as shippers try to avoid loading tainted fuel oil that has clogged and damaged ship engines in Singapore recently, three trade sources said.Tainted marine fuel has been found in Singapore, the world's largest ship refuelling hub, following reports of more than 100 vessels that loaded similarly contaminated fuel in the U.S.

Contaminated marine fuel that clogs and damages ship engines has been found in Singapore, the world's largest ship refuelling hub, according to sources and an alert sent to clients by a marine fuel surveying company.Singapore-based marine fuel surveyor and consulting firm Maritec Pte Ltd warned clients this week that six samples of ship fuel sold in Singapore had "resulted in severe sludging at centrifuges, clogged pipelines, overwhelmed fuel filters".The Singapore findings follow reports of more than 100 vessels that loaded similarly contaminated fuel in the U.S.

Bristow Group awarded a new Department for Transport contract to provide civilian Search & Rescue (SAR) services for all of the UK. The SAR services contract has a phased-in transition period beginning in April 2015 and continuing to July 2017 and a contract length of approximately ten years. Under the terms of this contract, Bristow Helicopters will provide 11 Sikorsky S-92 and 11 AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters that will be located at ten bases across the UK. Each SAR base will operate either two S-92s or two AW189s. In addition to the ten bases with 20 aircraft, there will be two fully SAR-equipped training aircraft that can be deployed to any base as needed.

With the July delivery of the tug Northwind, the Rotterdam-based firm Avra Towage is now operating a fleet of six tugs with a seventh under construction. Three of the company’s original five-boat fleet have Cummins main engines, so it was an easy choice to go with Cummins engines for the Northwind. However, where the others have 2,400 hp and 32 tons of bollard pull with a pair of 38-litre Cummins main engines (tugs South, West, and East), the new boats are powered by a pair of the larger 50-liter Cummins KTA50-M engines.

It has been reported that the five Somali pirates recently tried by the Rotterdam courts for the failed hijack of the Sananyolu, have been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. This could turn out to be a landmark case, since apparently the crew did not attend to give evidence in person but provided written testimony, and also since the pirates apparently threw their weapons over the side but evidence from the frigate’s crew that they had used them prevailed. The pirates attacked the 3,254 dwt general cargo vessel, a Dutch Antilles flagged ship, in January last year. The pirates were intercepted by a Danish frigate and European warrants for their arrest were subsequently issued by the Netherlands.

According to a report from the Associated Press, the Dutch Defense Ministry said Somali pirates have released a hijacked cargo ship, the Dutch Antilles-flagged MV Marathon. The ministry reported that one of the 19 crew members died of a gun shot wound sustained when pirates seized the ship on May 7. Another crew member was reportedly injured. (Source: Associated Press)

Westway Terminal Company LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Westway Group, Inc. (WTWG), opened Phase I of a Custom Built Bulk Liquid Storage Terminal for Nynas Americas at the Westway's Houston-1 Terminal. In an effort to improve its customer satisfaction and efficiencies, Nynas contracted with Westway Terminal Company to construct a state-of-the-art, customized logistics hub in Houston, which is scheduled for full completion by the end of 2009. The new hub, located along the Houston Ship Channel, will better meet the requirements of Nynas' customers by providing dedicated logistics, blending and special loading facilities for Nynas specialty products. These parameters closely align with Nynas' priorities on safety, environmental and quality standards.

Radio Holland Netherlands BV has been appointed by the Dutch Transport and Water Management Inspectorate (Inspectie Verkeer en Waterstaat), as Testing ASP for Dutch, Dutch Antilles and Aruban flag vessels, per November 1 2008. The first successful LRIT (Long Range Tracking & Identification) test resulted in the issue of the first “Statement of Conformity/LRIT Test Conformance Report” for the Dutch vessel ms. Alexandergracht of Spliethoff’s Bevrachtingskantoor in Amsterdam. Since then Radio Holland performed more than 150 LRIT Conformance Tests. A Testing ASP (Application Service Provider) is appointed by the national flag Administration, and is licensed to issue the official LRIT documents, after performing a successful LRIT test.