Vessel Traffic Service News

A containership lost propulsion in a busy New York City waterway just as it was about to pass under the Bayonne Bridge on Friday night—less than two weeks after a presumed power failure caused similarly sized vessel to allide with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge.The U.S. Coast Guard said it received a report that the Malta-registered APL Qingdao lost propulsion about 8:30 p.m. as it traversed the Kill Van Kull, a shipping late between New York's Staten Island and Bayonne…

The St. Marys River has reopened to vessel traffic after a U.S.-flagged Great Lakes freighter struck a channel light in the waterway.At approximately 1 a.m. on Thursday, the 730-foot bulk carrier American Mariner suffered a marine casualty and went bow-first into the Munuscong Junction Light, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The incident occurred in Munuscong Lake, which is a section of the St. Marys River in Michigan state.The American Steamship Company-owned vessel is operated by Grand River Navigation under a bareboat charter.

A portion of the St. Marys River has been closed to vessel traffic after a U.S.-flagged Great Lakes freighter struck a channel light in the waterway.At approximately 1 a.m., the 730-foot bulk carrier American Mariner suffered a marine casualty and struck the Munuscong Junction Light with its bow, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The incident occurred in Munuscong Lake, which is a section of the St. Marys River in Michigan state.The American Steamship Company-owned vessel is currently operated by Grand River Navigation under a bareboat charter.

The use of a draft voyage planning tool which included waypoint data errors plus an ongoing technical fault with the vessel monitoring and surveillance system for the Great Barrier Reef contributed to a cargo ship’s grounding on a shoal, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has concluded.The 81-meter general cargo ship Trinity Bay grounded on Harrington Shoal, a charted feature with a depth of 0.9 metres north-west of Harrington Reef, on the morning of January 19, 2021 while conducting a regular weekly passage from Thursday Island to Cairns.

An offshore supply vessel captain’s assumption and poor communication led to a collision with a U.S. Coast Guard cutter in Sabine Pass, a waterway between Texas and Louisiana, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found.The NTSB on Thursday released its report detailing its investigation into the October 11, 2020, collision between the offshore supply vessel (OSV) Cheramie Bo-Truc No. 33 and the Coast Guard cutter Harry Claiborne. The Cheramie Bo Truc No. 33 was traveling outbound for sea in Sabine Pass when it collided with the Harry Claiborne near Texas Point, Texas.

An increased number of oil tankers sit at anchor near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as the volume of oil products held in floating storage around the globe has skyrocketed in the past month amid what analysts are saying is the biggest oil glut in history.There were 27 tanker vessels off the coast of Southern California Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, who is monitoring the situation to help manage the surge.Oil traders are struggling to find enough…

An injured crewmember aboard a Taiwanese flagged containership was medevaced approximately six miles from the San Francisco Bay, Friday evening, the U.S. Coast Guard said.San Francisco Vessel Traffic Service personnel contacted Coast Guard Sector San Francisco watchstanders, reporting a crewmember of the 1,092-foot containership Yang Ming Unanimity had fallen and struck his head on the ship’s radar mast creating a laceration on his forehead as the ship was making its way toward…

A 334-meter containership ran aground near mile marker 81 of the Mississippi River, Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Coast Guard watchstanders in New Orleans received a call at 3:20 a.m. that the Liberian-flagged Belita had run aground near 12-mile point, at mile marker 81 of the Mississippi River.Sector New Orleans vessel traffic service has placed a one-way traffic restriction in the immediate vicinity of the grounded vessel.“Our top priority in this incident is the safe recovery of this vessel, while protecting the marine environment,” said Capt. Kristi Luttrell, Sector New Orleans commanding officer.No injuries or pollution have been reported, and the cause of the incident is under investigation, the Coast Guard said.

Wärtsilä said it will install its Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) solution at Peru's main harbor, one of Latin America’s most important ports.Dense fog and haze are a consistent challenge for Callao’s port operations, often making shipping conditions dangerous. Wärtsilä said its VTS solution will provide the technology needed to ensure uninterrupted port operations, while increasing safety levels and facilitating arrival, docking and departures for visiting ships.The technologies to be deployed by Wärtsilä includes solid-state IALA Advanced radar…

The Western Australian Minister for Ports, the Hon. Alannah MacTiernan MLC opened the expanded facilities of HR Wallingford’s new Australia Ship Simulation Center.HR Wallingford has added two new purpose-built simulators to its center in Fremantle, bringing the total number of simulators that it owns and operates there to six. This makes it one of the largest ship simulation centers in Australia and allows a full maneuvering team (including pilots, tug masters and vessel traffic service (VTS) operators) to conduct integrated and immersive full port scenarios.In her speech…

A section of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway has been closed after a towing vessel ran aground at mile marker 99, near Berwick, La., the U.S. Coast Guard said.Watchstanders at Vessel Traffic Service Berwick Bay received a report at approximately 10 p.m., Sunday, that the towing vessel Miss Odessa, carrying six hopper barges filled with rock, ran aground.The Miss Odessa was reportedly transiting south-bound on the Atchafalaya River when it turned west onto the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and hit bottom.

The search for three missing mariners was called off on Monday after two towing vessels collided on the Mississippi River at mile marker 123, near Luling, La., Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Search crews scoured more than 835 nautical miles for approximately 67 hours but were unable to find the three missing mariners, the Coast Guard said.The towing vessel Cooperative Spirit was reportedly transiting upbound on the river when it entered a barge fleeting area and allied with barges before colliding with another towing vessel RC Creppel, causing the RC Creppel to sink and barges to breakaway. Four crew members were missing intially, but one was rescued by nearby vessel.The RC Creppel was pushing two barges carrying sulfuric acid.

Responders have called off a search for two fisherman missing following a fatal ship collision near Galveston, Texas, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday.One crew member has been rescued, one is deceased and two remain missing at the conclusion of a three-day search involving the Coast Guard and local responders that covered more than 49 square miles by aerial flights, shore patrols and maritime searches.“It is never an easy decision to suspend a search," said Cmdr. Jordan Baldueza, Sector Houston-Galveston search and rescue mission coordinator.

The master of a Gibraltar-flagged bulk carrier has pleaded guilty to operating a commercial cargo ship while intoxicated, announced U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson and U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port Marie Byrd.In pleading guilty, Vadim Humenyuk, of Izmail, Ukraine, admitted that he was intoxicated while serving as the 590-foot long Rainbow Quest while in San Francisco Bay and preparing to sail to South Korea. The plea was accepted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixon.The investigation began on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, when a San Francisco Bar Pilot contacted Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Vessel Traffic Service personnel reporting that the captain of the Rainbow Quest appeared to be intoxicated. Investigators of the U.S.

The technology group Wärtsilä will supply its Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) solution to two of France’s leading ports, Calais and Boulogne. The Wärtsilä VTS will effectively manage vessel traffic in these busy harbors to deliver greater operational efficiency and safety. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in October 2019 by Région Hauts-de-France, the government entity responsible for this tender.The system optimizes planning and traffic monitoring to reduce waiting time for vessels and allow just-in-time pilotage.

The Coast Guard is responding after at least two barges struck the I-10 San Jacinto River Bridge near Channelview, Texas, Friday.At 12:05 a.m., Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report that nine barges had broken away from their moorings at the San Jacinto River Fleet, north of the San Jacinto River bridge.An Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew and a Station Houston 29-foot Response Boat-Small boatcrew were diverted to the scene.Sector Houston-Galveston Vessel Traffic Service had already suspended vessel movement under the I-10 bridge at 7:20 p.m. Thursday due to strong currents. The suspension remains in effect.

Cambridge Pixel, a developer of radar display, tracking and recording sub-systems, has supplied its radar video trackers and display technology to Marico Marine as part of a major investment by the Port of Dover into safety systems at Europe’s busiest ferry port.Engineers at Marico Marine (Southampton, England) needed a low cost, open, softwarebased radar tracker for integration with its new vessel traffic service (VTS) system in Dover.It was important that the tracker worked…

The Gothenburg Port Authority launched a digital solution designed to make bunkering at the Energy Port easier and more efficient.The new ‘Bunkering App’ is one of the first in the world to offer this range of functionality, said a press release from the  largest port in the Nordic countries.The Port of Gothenburg Energy Port is the largest open access energy port in the Nordic region, handling over 2,500 calls and more than 23 million tonnes of energy products each year. The Energy Port is also one of the world's larger bunkering hubs. In an effort to make the bunkering procedures easier and more efficient, the Gothenburg Port Authority has developed the new ‘Bunkering App’.The app is available to all bunkering operators at the Energy Port.

Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company Fujitsu Ltd and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) are testing technology that could give ship captains earlier warnings about potential collisions with other vessels.A two-year field trial of the system has concluded, and further tests will be conducted before authorities decide whether to deploy the system, said a press release.Fujitsu has demonstrated the usefulness of a novel ship collision risk prediction technology that leverages the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in predicting near misses between vessels.Using AI technology "Fujitsu Human Centric AI Zinrai" developed by Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd…

A containership has reportedly leaked fuel oil into the Arthur Kill waterway near Staten Island, N.Y., the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Coast Guard said it is working alongside partner agencies to respond to the spill, which occurred while the vessel was moored at the Global Marine New York Container Terminal on Thursday afternoon. The amount of fuel spilled is currently unknown, and the cause of the spill is under investigation, the Coast Guard said.A Unified Command has been established on scene to coordinate cleanup efforts. Containment boom has been placed around the vessel and there are multiple oil spill response vessels actively…

The USCG Captain of the Port has updated vessel traffic coordination directives. Facility cargo operations as of March 25, 2019 include Limited Opening of the San Jacinto River during Daylight Hours and Resumption of Cargo Operations.This MSIB is issued in regard to vessel traffic and facility cargo operations as a result of the chemical fire at ITC Deer Park in the Upper Houston Ship Channel (HSC).As of March 25th, 2019, the U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) has opened the San Jacinto River to allow for vessel traffic during daylight hours only.

Even as the minimum Random Drug Testing Rate is raised to 50 PCT, the Coast Guard wants its mission to consist of 90% outreach and just 10% enforcement. Really.The domestic waterfront got some less-than-happy news when the U.S. Coast Guard announced that the calendar year 2019 minimum random drug testing rate had been set at 50 percent of covered crewmembers. It’s safe to say that nobody is happy about it, much less the Coast Guard itself.In truth, the Coast Guard had little to say about the matter. 46 CFR part 16.230(f)(2) requires the Commandant to set the minimum random drug testing rate at 50 percent when the positivity rate for drug use is greater than one percent.

The technology group Wärtsilä has successfully completed the installation and operational staff training for its Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) solution in the ports of Lisbon and Setúbal / Sesimbra in Portugal.The systems will increase the efficiency of these ports by reducing waiting time for vessels and allowing just-in-time pilotage. The state-of-the-art solution has been developed and supplied by Transas, a Wärtsilä company. The project was booked in July 2018 and completed in January 2019.The complex project comprised…