North Cape News

Women make up only an estimated two percent of the global maritime industry. In the U.S., the statistics are a little better, with less than eight percent of ship and boat captain operator roles held by women.Still, for a female to have the opportunity to train up to ship captain is considered “unique.” However, as predictions are being made that there will be a shortage of more than 140,000 deck or ship officers worldwide by 2025 (BIMCO/ICS), we will see more accomplished women take the helm and lead the industry forward.

The newest cruise ship in the Holland America Line fleet, the Nieuw Statendam, made its maiden call to the port of Amsterdam on Sunday, 5 May 2019.The second Pinnacle Class ship moored at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA) and was welcomed with a water salute by Port of Amsterdam. Amsterdam will be the ship’s home port during the upcoming summer season.This was the maiden call for the ship that was christened by Oprah Winfrey in Ft. Lauderdale last February. A cruise ship’s maiden call to a port is traditionally accompanied by a plaque & key ceremony.Alma Prins-Droog, Commercial Manager Cruise at Port of Amsterdam, presented Captain Sybe de Boer with the port of Amsterdam coat of arms.

Women make up only an estimated two percent of the global maritime industry. In the U.S., the statistics are a little better, with less than eight percent of ship and boat captain operator roles held by women.Still, for a female to have the opportunity to train up to ship captain is considered “unique.” However, as predictions are being made that there will be a shortage of more than 140,000 deck or ship officers worldwide by 2025 (BIMCO/ICS), we will see more accomplished women take the helm and lead the industry forward.

A fundraising campaign to build a international memorial dedicated to the estimated 100,000 people who lost their lives during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II, as well as those who served and survived, is being launched in Liverpool. The Battle of the Atlantic Memorial (BOAM), the charity leading the campaign, will stage a press call with war veterans on the Liverpool’s iconic waterfront to launch the fundraising effort to build the 28 meter monument in the shape of a merchant ship split in two.

The latest newbuilding to join TUI Cruises, Mein Schiff 6, has berthed in Kiel for the first time. Kiel is the ship’s first passenger port of call in Germany she has visited since she was handed over a few days ago in Turku, Finland. The 99,000 GT, 295 m long cruise ship arrived in the Kiel fiord on Thursday, May 11 to a water fountain welcome and was escorted to her berth by one of the port’s tugs. Onlookers lined the banks and visited the Ostseekai Terminal to catch a glimpse of Mein Schiff 6.

Harry Diamond, Vice President and Chief Claims Officer at WQIS, is celebrating 21 years with the company this year. Diamond is a graduate of LaSalle University with Bachelor of Arts degrees in social studies education and history; he also holds an Associate degree in Risk Management. He began his insurance career right out of college when he was hired by a brokerage firm whose main client was Keystone Shipping Company. Diamond continued with the firm for four years until he changed his career path because of “an itch that needed to be scratched” – his desire to be a teacher. For the next six years, Diamond taught eighth grade at St. Mary’s Interparochial School in the Society Hill area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Singapore's Otto Marine Ltd. has sold through one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, whose shipyard is located in Indonesia, the 2 Anchor Handling Towage & Supply Vessels (AHTS) to a third party buyer for re-chartering. The aggregrate price of the two AHTS was US$ 170-million. On or around the completion of the sale of the vessels, they would be chartered by the buyer to one of the company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, Otto Fleet Pte. Ltd. (“Otto Fleet”), for a period of 8 years. The Vessels would in turn be hired by one of the Company’s subsidiaries, GO Offshore (Asia) Pte.

“AIDAcara” is first to call at the Ostseekai Terminal. The 2013 cruise shipping year opened in Kiel on April 13 when the first ship of the season, AIDAcara, arrived at the Ostseekai from Dover. She berthed at around 0900 at the cruise shipping terminal after earlier being treated to a water fountain display from an SFK tug when she left the Kiel Canal. Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel said, “We are well prepared for the cruise shipping season. Everything is ready at Kiel’s cruise shipping terminal.” A total of 128 calls by 21 different ships have been registered this season.

I read with great dismay, the article that appeared in your magazine’s February 2013 issue, entitled “THE ARTICULATED TUG BARGE (ATB) QUANDRY”. noun, plural quandaries : a state of perplexity or uncertainty, especially as to what to do; dilemma. There is no dilemma involving AT/B’s present in the coastwise or ocean transportation marketplace. AT/B’s are indeed increasingly supplanting ships in the Jones Act coastal trade. It is a trend that is slowly beginning to spread to coastwise transport in other regions of the world as well.

Inconsistent Rules Create Uneven Application of Standards. (Captain) Jeff Cowan explores the how and why of the safety gap that comes as a direct result. Oil tankers and cargo vessels face a number of oil spill prevention regulations especially along the U.S. coast. Surprisingly, many of the regulations governing T-2 and T-3 sized tankers which carry between 120,000 and 146,000 barrels of oil do not apply to the new Articulated Tug Barges (ATBs) that may carry as much if not more (400,000+ barrels).

Cruise vessels will make more than 400 port calls to northern Norway and Svalbard this season, up nearly 40 percent from last year, reports the 'Barents Observer'. More than 2.000 passengers are ready to overcrowd the harbor in Honningsvåg as the large cruise vessel "Costa Pacifica" cruises around the largest tourist trap in Northern Norway, the North Cape. "Costa Pacifica" is just one of the many international cruise liners sailing northern waters this summer. While cruise vessels made 315 port calls to harbors in northern Norway and Svalbard in 2011…

Visual presentation of Cruise Shipping Berth 1 project - PORT OF KIEL at Cruise Shipping in Miami. Kiel’s plan to create a big berth facility for cruise ships is steadily taking on more shape. For the first time, the PORT OF KIEL is presenting a visual display of the new Ostuferhafen Cruise Shipping Berth 1 project to an international audience at the upcoming Cruise Shipping Trade Fair in Miami from March 12th to March 15th. Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co KG, said “we are investing long-term in the expansion of our capacities.

Donjon salvags sunken barge under Newport Pell Bridge. Donjon Marine, Co., Inc., a provider of multi-faceted marine services including marine salvage, heavy lift, dredging and related emergency response services, was contracted in early November 2011 to raise a 300-ton barge used as a platform for painting supplies and disposal equipment that sank in 100 feet of water after a violent Nor’Easter storm near Newport Pell Bridge in Newport, Rhode Island. The barge also contained oil in three tanks with a reported 2,400 gallons of fuel at the time of the sinking. Working closely with the U.S.

Today marks the beginning of Kiel’s tenth season as a base port for the cruise ships of the Costa Crociere Shipping Company. It comes as “Costa Pacifica” arrives in Kiel to become the biggest cruise ship ever to berth in the port. Arriving from Harwich, the Costa flagship was met early this morning by the tug “Bülk” and escorted with a fountain display to Kiel’s Ostseekai Cruise Terminal where her captain and crew were officially welcomed by the President of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital, Cathy Kietzer.

1935- CWO (GUN) and NAP Charles T. Thrun, Coast Guard Aviator Number 3, was killed when his Grumman JF-2 Duck (CGNR V136) crashed at Cape May. CWO Thrun was the first Coast Guard aviator to die in the line of duty. 1937- CG units began flood relief operations in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. These operations lasted until 11 March and resulted in the rescue of hundreds of victims and thousands of farm animals. 1946- Staged jointly by the Coast Guard and the Navy, the first public demonstration of LORAN was held at Floyd Bennett Field in New York. 1949-The tanker Gulfstream collided with icebreaker CGC Eastwind. The collision and resulting fire killed 13 of Eastwind's crew, nine of whom were chief petty officers.

1935- CWO (GUN) and NAP Charles T. Thrun, Coast Guard Aviator Number 3, was killed when his Grumman JF-2 Duck (CGNR V136) crashed at Cape May. CWO Thrun was the first Coast Guard aviator to die in the line of duty. 1937- CG units began flood relief operations in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. These operations lasted until 11 March and resulted in the rescue of hundreds of victims and thousands of farm animals. 1946- Staged jointly by the Coast Guard and the Navy, the first public demonstration of LORAN was held at Floyd Bennett Field in New York. 1949-The tanker Gulfstream collided with icebreaker CGC Eastwind. The collision and resulting fire killed 13 of Eastwind's crew, nine of whom were chief petty officers.

TITAN Salvage has been contracted by the owners of the refrigerated cargo ship Petrozavodsk to provide environmental protection and other services for the 1,287 TDWT vessel, which ran aground on the southern tip of Bjornoya (Bear Island) in May. Bear Island is a remote location between Norway and Spitzbergen within the Arctic Circle. The crew of 12 was rescued earlier from the stricken vessel by helicopter, and the ship is now aground under precipitous cliffs which pose a threat due to falling rocks.

The official opening of the Transas full mission bridge simulator in the took place recently. Installed at the North Cape Maritime School (NMS) overlooking the town of , the 15mil. Nok project has been 18 months in the making. Since awarding the public tender in September 2006 to Transas, the has worked closely with the company’s simulation division to take the project from concept to completion. The team of engineers and designers has worked with the maritime school and delivered what is acknowledged by Transas as the most advanced simulation and training solution the company has installed to date. The simulator, which is designed to conform to DNV class A…

The U.S. Coast Guard's supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) on "Fire Suppression Systems and Voyage Planning for Towing Vessels" appears in today's Federal Register. The SNPRM proposes the installation of fixed fire-extinguishing systems in the engine rooms of towing vessels, and it states that owners or operators, and masters, ensure that voyage planning is conducted before vessels towing barges commence on trips or voyages of at least 12 hours. Towing vessels that engage only in assistance towing, pollution response, or fleeting duties in limited geographical areas would be exempt from this proposal. The SNPRM is the result of an incident that occurred on January 19…

The first phases of a USCG final rule implementing measures for maintaining or regaining control of a tank barge that will reduce the likelihood of a tank barge's grounding and spilling its cargo are effective June 19, 2000. These measures are necessary, according to USCG because without them a tug that loses its tow lacks ready means for regaining control of it. The rule is designed to increase the safety of marine transport and protect the environment. On January 19, 1996, the tugboat Scandia, towing the oil barge North Cape, caught fire five miles off the coast of Rhode Island. The crew could not control the fire, and without power they were unable to prevent the barge…

The U.S. has the most stringent, comprehensive marine pollution laws of any country on the planet. The last 30 years have marked an evolution from little legal enforcement to strict liability for marine pollution. One company, WQIS, a provider of marine pollution liability insurance in the U.S., celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Two events proved pivotal in developing the United States' liability enforcement of marine pollution laws. In 1967, the Torrey Canyon spill off the Scilly Isles in England provided some of the most shocking images ever seen in marine pollution cleanup. Faced with an overwhelming spill and the inability to contain it, Royal Air Force fighter planes dropped napalm bombs in an effort to burn off the oil and sink the ship.

The owner, operator and insurer of vessel North Cape have agreed to restock 1.24 million lobsters and pay $8 million to restore other natural resources injured by the 1996 oil spill off the southern coast of Rhode Island. The Governor and federal officials announced they have reached a "settlement in principle" with West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association, the insurer of the companies responsible for the spill. The trustees and responsible parties will draft a mutually acceptable consent decree, which must be submitted to the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island for approval. The restoration funds will benefit several wildlife species…

ABB was selected by all four contractors – Maersk, APL, Aibel and Keppel – to supply integrated control and safety systems (ICSS) for the subsea production units and the topside process module on the floating production and storage off-loading vessel (FPSO). The systems will be integrated into a single control and safety system operated from the FPSO. The solution is based on ABB’s automation platform, Extended Automation System 800xA, which is the leading process automation system for the oil and gas industry worldwide. The high integrity, safety instrumented system enables process and safety applications to be executed within the same system and, if required, from the same controller.