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Tuesday, April 16, 2024
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Machinery News

15 Apr 2024

FBI Opens Criminal Probe Into Deadly Baltimore Bridge Collapse

(Photo: Ronald Hodges / U.S. Coast Guard)

The FBI said on Monday it opened a criminal probe into the collapse of a Baltimore bridge in March when a ship crashed into a bridge support, while local officials confirmed the recovery of a fourth body from the incident.FBI agents boarded the cargo ship Dali to conduct court-authorized law enforcement activity regarding the crash, an FBI spokesperson said. The spokesperson said there was no other public information available and the bureau will have no further comment.The body…

09 Apr 2024

Mazda May Temporarily Reroute Baltimore Auto Shipments

© aerial-drone / Adobe Stock

Mazda Motor will probably have to temporarily move shipments to another port from Baltimore to avoid delays, the automaker's CEO said in a CNBC interview.The Port of Baltimore ranks first in the U.S. for volume of autos and light trucks and farm and construction machinery handled and a cargo ship crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March has restricted shipments.However, CEO Masahiro Moro said Mazda does not currently expect a big impact from the port shutdown.U.S. automakers…

09 Apr 2024

Sasaki's Methanol Dual Fuel System Earns BV Approval

Integration of Methanol DF system into a 9,000 DWT ship (Image: Sasaki Shipbuilding)

Bureau Veritas announced it has granted an approval in principle (AIP) to Sasaki Shipbuilding Co., Ltd for its methanol dual fuel (DF) system applied in a 9,000 DWT general cargo ship.The integration of the methanol DF system into a 9,000 DWT ship demonstrates its feasibility for smaller-scale ships, highlighting its adaptability and efficiency as a marine fuel.For the purpose of the AIP, Bureau Veritas conducted a comprehensive review of Sasaki's methanol dual-fuel system, assessing its compliance with the requirements outlined in BV’s Rule Note NR 670 - Methanol & Ethanol Fueled Ships.

05 Apr 2024

Baltimore Can Use Grant to Boost Cargo Shipments

(Photo: USCG)

The U.S. Transportation Department on Friday said it reached an agreement with Baltimore County to revise an $8.26 million grant agreement to enable Tradepoint Atlantic (TPA) to accommodate more cargo.Repurposing the funds will allow a boost in cargo to Sparrows Point at the Port of Baltimore, which is outside the area affected by last week’s collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and continues to move cargo.The changes will enable Baltimore County and TPA to speed paving at least 10 acres that will be used for an additional cargo laydown area by the end of April…

04 Apr 2024

Baltimore Shipping Set to Resume by End of April

Source: Keybridgeresponse2024

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it expects to open a new channel to the Port of Baltimore by the end of April, freeing up commercial shipping blocked by a collapsed bridge, and then restore port access to full capacity by the end of May.The main channel has been blocked by wreckage since the fully loaded container ship Dali lost power and rammed into a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, killing six road workers and causing the highway bridge to tumble into the Patapsco River.The Army Corps…

05 Apr 2024

On Board the eWolf: The First Electric Tugboat in the US

(Photo: Eric Haun)

Crowley Maritime Corporation has owned and operated a lot of vessels since its founding in 1892. But the latest vessel to join its fleet is unlike any other that has come before it.Crowley’s new harbor tug, eWolf, is unique in that it runs 100% powered by batteries, not diesel engines, meaning it produces zero emissions and nearly no noise. Not only is the vessel the first fully electric tug in the Crowley fleet, but it is also the first of its kind in the United States.Faced with stricter regulations and commercial pressure to prioritize environmental…

03 Apr 2024

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Sees Up to $10 Million Hit from Baltimore Disaster

© Björn Wylezich / Adobe Stock

Norwegian car shipping firm Wallenius Wilhelmsen estimates a $5 million to $10 million hit to core earnings from last week's U.S. Baltimore bridge collapse and expects the key ship channel to be closed for weeks, it said on Wednesday.The company said its vessel Carmen - which according to shipping data is among the biggest car carriers in its fleet - remained stuck in Baltimore's port, with the ship and its crew ready to sail as soon as the channel was reopened.Recovery teams opened a second channel enabling smaller vessels to navigate the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday…

02 Apr 2024

Second Channel Opened Around Collapsed Baltimore Bridge

Source: Key Bridge Response 2024

Recovery teams opened a second channel enabling smaller vessels to navigate the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday but most commercial shipping remains blocked by the collapsed bridge and stranded container ship that brought the structure down a week ago.A team including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state of Maryland announced crews had cleared a channel with a depth of 14 feet (4.3 meters), similar to the 11-foot channel opened on the opposite side of…

28 Mar 2024

New Tug Delivered to Mongla Port Authority

The Mongla Port Authority in Bangladesh has taken delivery of its new tug, M.T. Joymoni.The newbuild is a RAmparts 3200-CL designed by Canada's Robert Allan Ltd. and built by Cheoy Lee Shipyards, in China.The RAmparts 3200-CL was designed by Robert Allan Ltd. in 2008 exclusively for Cheoy Lee Shipyards, with the first tug, Ocean Pioneer, delivered to Ocean Sparkle in India in 2011. Based on the RAmparts series, the hull form was developed to provide a high performance, multi-function tug in a shallow draft configuration, with bollard pull of up to 85 tonnes, the designer said.M.T.

27 Mar 2024

Baltimore Rescuers Lose Hope for More Survivors from Bridge Collapse

Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

Rescuers have lost hope of finding more survivors of the Baltimore bridge collapse, the coast guard said, as efforts switched on Wednesday to looking for bodies of the missing and more answers to why a container ship smashed into the span.Search divers were expected to return near dawn to the waters surrounding the twisted ruins of the bridge in Baltimore Harbor to search for six workers missing and now presumed dead.The disaster has forced the indefinite closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the U.S.

27 Mar 2024

Divers to Search Baltimore Harbor

Search divers were expected to return near dawn on Wednesday to the waters surrounding the twisted ruins of a bridge knocked down in Baltimore Harbor by a faltering cargo ship, leaving six workers missing and presumed dead.The disaster also forced the indefinite closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, and created a traffic quagmire for Baltimore and the surrounding region.As the odds of their survival vanished, the search for the six workers was suspended on Tuesday evening…

26 Mar 2024

Bridge Collapse Freezes Ship Traffic in Port of Baltimore

(Photo: David Adams / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

Ships sailing to the U.S. port of Baltimore dropped anchor in waters nearby while vessels were stranded inside the port after traffic was halted following a bridge collapse, shipping data showed on Tuesday.A 948-foot container ship smashed into a four-lane bridge in the port in darkness early on Tuesday, causing it to collapse and sending cars and people plunging into the river below.Port traffic was suspended until further notice, Maryland transportation authorities said.At least 13 vessels that were expected to load coal were anchored near to Baltimore port…

26 Mar 2024

Six Presumed Dead After Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies.

Six workers were missing and presumed dead from a bridge that collapsed in Baltimore Harbor early on Tuesday after a massive cargo ship crippled by a power loss rammed into the structure, forcing the closure of one of the busiest ports on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.With dive teams facing increasingly treacherous conditions in the darkened, wreckage-strewn waters, active search-and-rescue operations were suspended about 18 hours after the accident, U.S. Coast Guard and Maryland…

26 Mar 2024

Cargo Ship Lost Power Before Slamming Bridge in Baltimore

Collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore (Credit: Screenshot/StreamTime Live)

A massive cargo ship smashed into a bridge while sailing out of Baltimore early on Tuesday, sending cars and people into the river below and closing one of the busiest ports on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one of whom was hospitalized, and searched for more in the Patapsco River after huge metal spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the icy water around 1:30 a.m. (0530 GMT).The ship reported a power issue before impact…

26 Mar 2024

Ships Bound for Baltimore Drop Anchor After Traffic Stopped

Collapsed Key Bridge in Baltimore (Credit: Screenshot/StreamTime Live)

At least 10 commercial ships that were sailing to the U.S. port of Baltimore have dropped anchor in waters nearby, data from ship tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic showed on Tuesday.A container ship smashed into a four-lane bridge in the port on Tuesday, causing it to collapse and sending cars and people plunging into the river below.Port traffic was suspended until further notice, Maryland transportation authorities said.The vessels that anchored included container and bulk carrier ships that were signaling their destination as Baltimore…

26 Mar 2024

Baltimore Bridge Collision Sends Vehicles Tumbling Into Water

Collapsed Key Bridge in Baltimore  (Credit: Screenshot/StreamTime Live)

A container ship smashed into a four-lane bridge in the U.S. port of Baltimore in darkness on Tuesday, causing it to collapse and sending cars and people plunging into the river below.Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one in a "very serious condition," and were searching for more in the Patapsco River after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.The ship "lost propulsion" as it was leaving port, and crew on board notified Maryland officials they had lost control of the vessel, ABC News reported, citing an unclassified U.S.

26 Mar 2024

LiveStream: Rescuers Search Water for Survivors After Ship Collides with Baltimore Bridge

(Credit: Screenshot/X)

A major bridge collapsed in the U.S. port of Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday after being struck by a container ship, plunging cars and as many as 20 people into the river below.Rescuers were searching for survivors in the Patapsco Riverafter huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.As many as 20 people could be in the river along with "numerous vehicles, and possibly a tractor-trailer or a vehicle as large as a tractor-trailer…

26 Mar 2024

Baltimore's Key Bridge Collapses After Ship Crash

(Credit: Screenshot/X)

The 1.6-mile (2.57 km) long Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday after a container ship hit it, and as many as seven people may be in the water, officials said.A live video posted on YouTube showed a ship hitting the bridge, after which several of its spans collapsed into the Patapsco River. Unverified videos posted on social media X also showed the impact and collapse. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.The Baltimore City Fire Department described the collapse as a mass-casualty incident…

21 Mar 2024

Study Demonstrates Need for New Fire Safety Rules for Methanol-Fueled Ships

Source: Survitec

A new fire safety study by survival technology solutions provider Survitec finds that existing fire-fighting methods used to extinguish machinery space spray and pool fires on conventionally fueled vessels are inadequate when dealing with methanol-based fires.This follows extensive comparative fire tests on dual-fuel marine engines using diesel oil and methanol.“Our tests confirm that traditional water mist fire suppression mechanisms do not perform as expected on methanol pool fires and methanol spray fires.

19 Mar 2024

US Coast Guard Clarifies Fire Safety Rules for Small Passenger Vessels

(Photo: Edward Wargo / U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard published an interim rule on December 27, 2021, to implement Congressionally-mandated requirements for fire safety on “covered small passenger vessels” (CSPVs), as defined by 46 U.S.C. 3306(n). Congress adopted the statutory mandate in response to the fire and loss of 34 lives onboard the dive boat CONCEPTION off the California coast on 02 September 2019.The USCG has identified a need to clarify the reference in 46 CFR 175.110(c) with respect to fire detection…

15 Mar 2024

Ulstein Introduces New Subsea Vessel for Offshore Energy Market

Rendering of ULSTEIN SX232 vessel (Credit: Ulstein)

Norwegian shipbuilder and ship designer Ulstein has developed a new subsea vessel - ULSTEIN SX232 – designed to service the offshore wind market for floating and fixed installations as well as offshore oil and gas industry.Designed for walk-to-work operations in the offshore energy market, the ULSTEIN SX232 features an optimizes hull based on the ULSTEIN TWIN X-STERN design.The vessel is equipped with smart power and propulsion system developed to minimize energy consumption during DP operations and an integrated energy recovery system utilizing all the waste heat in the machinery systems…

08 Mar 2024

Babcock Delivers Refitted HMS St. Albans to Royal Navy Ahead of Schedule

HMS St. Albans (Credit: Babcock International)

Defense company Babcock International has delivered Type 23 frigate HMS St. Albans back to the Royal Navy for sea trials three months ahead of the planned schedule, following a refit operation.Once the current sea trials are completed, HMS St. Albans, with her 178-strong crew, will return to sea as the most advanced, equipped, and capable Type 23 frigate in the Royal Navy’s fleet, boasting next-generation weapons systems and radar, according to Babcock.During her time in dock…

07 Mar 2024

ClassNK Grants Innovation Endorsement for Cassandra Monitoring Platform

© Yellow Boat / Adobe Stock

Classification society ClassNK announced it has granted an Innovation Endorsement for Products & Solutions to a vessel and voyage performance monitoring platform called Cassandra, developed by Deep Sea Technologies SMPC.Cassandra integrates performance data from vessels with AI technology, and then enables real-time monitoring of the ship’s current status. It is cloud-based and designed to monitor fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, as well as hull and engine performance from shore.ClassNK has verified the functions of Cassandra.CO2 emissions monitoring…