Bethlehem Steel News

Salvage crews worked to lift the first piece of Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the water on Saturday to allow barges and tugboats to access the disaster site, Maryland and U.S. officials said, the first step in a complex effort to reopen the city's blocked port.The steel truss bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning, killing six road workers, when a massive container ship lost power and crashed into a support pylon. Much of the span crashed into the Patapsco River…

Maryland Governor Wes Moore on Wednesday announced goals to more than quadruple the state's offshore wind capacity to 8.5 gigawatts - enough to power nearly three million homes - as part of an effort by the state to achieve 100% clean energy by 2035.Moore is working "to establish new lease areas and strengthen the offshore wind supply chain," as well as establish grants to support the effort, the governor's office said in a statement.Maryland is among a growing number of U.S. states to set plans to achieve entirely carbon-free energy in the coming years.

Baltimore-based offshore wind energy development company US Wind, Inc. announced its plan to form a long-term partnership with Haizea Wind Group Management S.L. to manage and operate Sparrows Point Steel, Maryland’s first permanent offshore wind factory in Baltimore County, Maryland. The facility will be available to manufacture steel components for the U.S. offshore wind industry, including monopiles and towers.“The partnership between US Wind and Haizea to lead Sparrows Point Steel will create one of the premier offshore wind industrial facilities in the world…

Throughout the world, offshore wind is on a growth trajectory. With green energy mandates from states in New England and the mid-Atlantic, the U.S. is joining the fray. Consultants Wood MacKenzie, in its U.S. Offshore Wind Outlook 2020-2029, suggested that as much as 25 gigawatts (GW) of capacity could be deployed in the U.S. by 2030 (though estimates range from 14 GW to as much as 34 GW), accounting for a hefty portion of incremental capacity coming online.Shipyards in New England have already seen the tip of the offshore wind iceberg…

Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,300-acre multimodal global logistics center in Baltimore, Md., said its dry dock will return to service this week after last being used in 2017. BAE Systems’ Titan dry dock departed is scheduled to arrive in Baltimore and dock at Tradepoint Atlantic’s onsite dry dock to undergo a five-month-long repair and maintenance program starting Thursday.Used in Norfolk, Va. for servicing ships as long as 1,000 feet, BAE Systems' massive Titan dry dock has a 52,534-ton lifting capacity and is one of the world’s largest and most modern floating steel dry docks.

The Panama Canal is a strategic crossroads for maritime traffic, and is arguably one of the most important maritime developments in the past century. Here we take a deeper dive into the history behind that famous strip of waterway.The present canal, which saw its first vessel transits in 1914, along with possible alternatives through Nicaragua and Mexico, had actually been on the minds of merchants, explorers and military/political strategists since the Age of Exploration in early 1500’s.

Advanced Polymer Coatings (APC) has announced the retirement of Joseph F. Harrington after 25 years with Advanced Polymer Coatings. In 1994 he was approached by Don Keehan, Chairman of Advanced Polymer Coatings, to further develop the Marine Coatings industry with APC’s MarineLINE high-performance coating. Today MarineLINE is the industry leader in high performance coatings for the chemical tanker industry.APC President David Keehan says, “Joe Harrington has had a remarkable track record of 59 years in the coatings industry.

U.S. U.S. ports and our marine transportation system – and the hardworking men and women behind these operations – are essential drivers of the American economy. Every day, our ports and waterways handle millions of tons of domestic and international cargo, including food and agricultural products, petrochemicals and automobiles. In 2014 alone, $1.7 trillion worth of U.S. goods moved through our ports, representing 75 percent of imports and exports by weight. But ports, like our highways and bridges, face challenges.

Gulf Copper Vice President and USMMA grad (’71) Dennis Buffo has more than four decades of maritime experience. Here he shares 40+ years in five minutes with Maritime Reporter. Can you tell us a bit about your background. I graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1971 and began work at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard. Over the next  44 years in the Marine business I was employed both for large  vessel operators as Engineering Manager and VP, and as VP-Operations of several Shipyards in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. I have seen both sides of the business.

John C. G. Hutchison closes a 42 year career at this year’s Workboat Show in New Orleans. Born in Philly on April Fool’s Day 1941, John Hutchison played collegiate golf at Duke University and Moravian College, and coached the golf team at Lehigh University before being drafted in 1966. A Viet Nam vet, 2nd LT, Infantry Branch, John returned home in 1970 and worked at the Bethlehem Steel Corporate Office in Bethlehem, PA, and other Bethlehem offices in Burns Harbor IN, Johnstown PA, and Sparrows Pt., MD.

The U. S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has awarded contracts to recycle two more of the obsolete government-owned ships, which are currently moored in the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF) in Virginia. The two ships being recycled are the Escape and the Cape Cod. These two vessels will be the 83rd and 84th ships to leave the JRRF since 2001. The Escape (ARS-6) was built as a Navy rescue ship in 1942 by Basalt Rock Co. in Napa, Calif. The vessel supported the nation's "Mercury" manned spaceflight program in the early 1960s. The Escape will be recycled at Bay Bridge Enterprises, LLC, of Chesapeake, Va., at a cost to the federal government of $115,200. The Cape Cod (AK-5041) was built as a break-bulk cargo ship in 1962 by Bethlehem Steel in Sparrows Point, Md.

The Coast Guard along with state and local agencies have completed the clean-up and recovery operations of approximately 100,000 gallons of oil from a sunken cargo vessel in the Patapsco River Monday. The Coast Guard, Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and Maryland Port Administration (MPA) formed a unified command Nov. 14, 2007 to evaluate and approve the clean-up of the Seawitch, an abandoned vessel formerly used in a ship salvaging and scrapping business. "This operation is a fine example of our partnership among federal, state and local agencies along with the private sector," said Capt. Brian Kelley, Captain of the Port of Baltimore. In July 2008, the Unified Command accessed the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to pay for the clean-up and recovery operations.

Rear Admiral (RADM) Paul Pluta, the man in charge of ensuring the security of the 361 ports and 95,000 miles of coastline in the U.S., had to quickly shift gears in the hours following September 11. Hired initially to beef up environmental protection and passenger vessel safety, Pluta realized after that day, that his role as Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection, U.S. Coast Guard, had changed dramatically in the hours following. September 11 began like any other for RADM Pluta. Working out of his office in Washington, D.C. where he was appointed to earlier that year by Coast Guard Admiral James Loy…

Tugboats were scheduled to tow the freighter USS Neosho from the James River Reserve Fleet on Wednesday, February 9th, at approximately 11:00 a.m., to International Shipbreaking Limited, in Brownsville, TX, where it will be dismantled. The departure schedule was subject to weather and safety clearances. Neosho will be the ninth vessel to leave the James River Fleet for disposal since last June. The disposal contract for the ship was announced December 20, 2004. The USS Neosho was built in 1954 at the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Quincy, MA, as a U.S. Navy oiler ship. It was decommissioned in 1978 and transferred to Maritime Administration in 1999. Preparations for towing the Neosho must be made under the scrutiny of the U.S. Coast Guard.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration said that it has made arrangements to remove the last of several high-priority vessels from the James River Reserve Fleet. The agency has awarded five ship-disposal contracts worth a total of $2,161,610 to North American Ship Recycling of Sparrows Point, Md. The departure of Cape Charles, Pride, Scan, Southern Cross, and Sphinx will bring the number of ships leaving the James River to 66 since January 2001. The Sphinx, a cable-layer built in Japan in 1944, is the only World War II-era ship in this group of five. The condition of the Sphinx made it a high-priority ship for the Maritime Administration for several years, but disposal was delayed while charitable groups tried to raise money to save it.

SPS Limited Partnership LLLP (SPS) of Baltimore, MD and Canton, MA has leased the 1,200 ft. shipbuilding basin (the Graving Dock) located at the Sparrows Point Shipyard/Industrial Complex, Sparrows Point , MD to Senesco Marine, North Kingstown, RI. The lease involves the construction of the barge portion of the ATB, is effective Tuesday, November 15 for a period of approximately 13 months and, according to Senesco Marine representatives, is expected to bring in excess of 120 new employees to the Shipyard. Initial work on the tug portion of the barge took place at Quonset Point Shipyard, North Kingstown, RI, but could not be completed there due to space limitations.

The Ship of the Year Award honors a vessel that has made or is making a major contribution to the purpose of the society. The winner of the 2000 award is the Independence of American Hawaii Cruises, which is now nearing her 50th anniversary in service. After serving on the Atlantic for 17 years, Independence has spent the last 21 years successfully sailing in the Hawaiian Islands. Independence, and her sister Constitution, was the American alternative to the Italian Line ships that dominated the New York to Italy service in the 1950's. Independence was built for the American Export Line in 1951 at the Bethlehem Steel Company yard in Quincy, Mass. She was built with a gross tonnage of 30,293, a length of 683 ft., width of 89 ft. and a service speed of 23 knots.

Bankrupt Bethlehem Steel Corporation has reached an agreement in principle with International Steel Group (ISG) for the sale of substantially all of Bethlehem's assets. The agreement is subject to the approval of Bethlehem's board, the completion of an asset purchase agreement, the approval of the bankruptcy court having jurisdiction of Bethlehem's chapter 11 case and the satisfaction of certain conditions to closing, including required governmental approvals and other consents, and the resolution of certain claims by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The terms of the sale, which are under review by the board, will be considered in a special meeting of Bethlehem's board this Saturday, February 8.

We couldn't say it never happens, but we doubt it is any too frequent: a fine artist, commission in hand and passion in heart, sets-up easel, mixes palette, and fervently depicts the people at work at the of Motor Vehicles department. Sure they're good people, and they uphold social order. Still, their setting, their actions, their challenges each day, do not seem the sort to engage the artist. This is the stuff for the Kodak Advantix. Artists could spend hours reproducing a gesture that took a split second in life. This gives them time to think. What was the mood of that gesture, and its eventual effect? The artist expands time with those thoughts, having seen what came before, during, and after the instant depicted.

The MV Manukai, Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard's first ship, was floated out of the building dock this weekend. The 712-ft. container ship being built for Matson Navigation was towed to the outfitting dock for its final outfitting phase. The $110 million ship which is constructed entirely of American-made materials, including Bethlehem steel, will be deployed to its home base in Honolulu upon completion, and will sail between Hawaii, Seattle and Oakland. Construction is under way at the yard on its sister ship.

Andrew Edward Gibson died on July 8, 2001, at the age of 79 in Short Hills, New Jersey. His final decade, after a life of notably active achievements, had been primarily devoted to scholarship, at the Naval War College where he taught, and in work with Kings Point Professor Arthur Donovan, in the preparation of a history of United States maritime policy, published in 1999 as The Abandoned Ocean, and of a to-be-published history of containerization. Gibson was born on February 19, 1922 in New York City, and entered the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 1940. He graduated two years later to be among the first Americans to sail in the North Atlantic convoys. By January 1945 he was in command of his own Liberty ship at age 22.

For many years the fortunes of the Great Lakes-based shipbuilders and naval architects was based solidly on the building level of the owners who were also based on the 94,000 sq. mi. of water that makes up the five Great Lakes. That is no longer as true a statement as it once was. While there are many projects in this area designed and build by Great Lakes firms for owners in the area, an impressive number of significant commercial market projects as varied as Staten Island, New York ferries and Gulf of Mexico crew/supply boats were designed and or built on the Great Lakes. The Kennedy Class of double ended auto/passenger ferries is one of the most recognizable images of New York City. Every weeknight millions of people see one during the opening of the David Letterman Show.