House News

My brother and I had a discussion about methanol where we concluded that methanol is a promising sustainable liquid fuel for transportation devices when batteries cannot do the job. While Methanol is initially not carbon zero, as long as we focus on developing zero carbon electrical energy, eventually we can produce zero carbon green methanol. Once there is plentiful green methanol, existing methanol vehicles will automatically become zero carbon transportation.The core argument…

Wärtsilä Gas Solutions, part of technology group Wärtsilä, will supply cargo handling and fuel supply systems for three new large sized ethane gas carrier (VLEC) vessels being built for Purus.The ships are under construction at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) yard in South Korea.In line with the Purus’ emphasis on achieving net zero carbon emissions for its fleet by 2030, the new vessels are designed to be as efficient as possible in all respects.The Wärtsilä cargo handling…

Offshore installation contractor Allseas has made progress on the installation of the pipeline for Santos’ Barossa Gas Export Pipeline (GEP) project offshore Australia.Allseas’ Audacia pipelay vessel has installed her largest ever PLET in S-mode, concluding several years of in-house engineering, fabrication and testing, the Swiss-based contractor said.Due to the weight of the pipeline end termination structure, Allseas’ production crew had to install it separately to the connector head.Audacia vessels is being supported with four other vessels - Fortitude…

The efficacy of surface preparation and coating application in the new construction shipbuilding industry is fundamentally anchored in a well-coordinated, integrated approach. This intricate process, essential for achieving top-tier corrosion control, is methodically segmented into five crucial stages:Raw material entryPainting the modulesSmall partsPainting of erection joints at the module levelFinal paint and ship's completion. Each stage is crucial in its own right but achieves…

Rapid technological change, complex regulation and competitive pressures are driving digital transformation in the shipping industry. But navigating a confusing software landscape can be difficult, and sound decision-making is essential to minimize innovation risk, according to OrbitMI.Industry spending has soared in recent years on intelligent process automation solutions geared to boosting efficiency, reducing costs, curbing emissions and improving safety for shipping companies…

2024 marks 50 years of ship design work for Kongsberg Maritime. From setting the benchmark that set the standard for offshore supply vessels in the 1970s, to advanced anchor handlers that transformed the oil and gas industry, and a growing reference list in fishery and merchant ships, Kongsberg Maritime’s range of ship designs has continued to evolve over the past five decades.The early 1970s, at the dawn of the offshore oil and gas industry, saw the very first vessels, designed…

SunStone Maritime Group has announced the long-term summer charter of the Infinity vessel, Ocean Victory, with a new client.From April 2025, the Ocean Victory will be trading in the Mediterranean Sea during northern hemisphere summer seasons for Spanish luxury cruise operator, Alma Cruceros.Alma Cruceros is a Spanish operator planning itineraries covering Spanish destinations in the Mediterranean, as well as Northern and Western Africa and the Canary Islands. The cruise product will be designed for Spanish speaking passengers in all areas from music…

Con Edison Transmission and National Grid Ventures submitted a plan to carry offshore wind power to New Jersey's electric grid as the state aims to meet renewable energy goals, according to a press release on Thursday.If awarded, the 'Garden State Energy Path' proposal involves building transmission infrastructure that would be operational by early 2029 and deliver about six gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power, Con Edison said."This project is foundational to helping New Jersey reach its goal of 11 GW of offshore wind by 2040," it said.Earlier this week, California’s grid operator recommende

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…

The U.S. state of Maryland has opened a temporary channel on the northbound side of the collapsed Baltimore bridge, allowing limited tug and barge traffic around the container ship stuck at the disaster site, Governor Wes Moore said on Monday."It will help us to get more vessels in the water around the site of the collapse," Moore told a news conference.The Port of Baltimore's shipping channel has been blocked since a fully loaded container ship lost power and collided with a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge last Tuesday…

With efforts underway to clean up thousands of tons of steel debris from the collapsed bridge in Baltimore's harbor, Maryland Governor Wes Moore on Sunday urged Republicans to work with Democrats to approve the federal funding needed for rebuilding the bridge and to get the port economy back on its feet.Baltimore's Francis Scott Key bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning, killing six road workers, when a container ship nearly the size of the Eiffel Tower lost power and crashed into a support pylon.

The pilot of the container ship that knocked down a highway bridge into Baltimore Harbor had radioed for tugboat help and reported a power loss minutes earlier, federal safety officials said on Wednesday, citing audio from the ship's "black box" data recorder.The head of the National Transportation Safety Board also said that Francis Scott Key Bridge, a traffic artery over the harbor built in 1976, lacked structural engineering redundancies common to newer spans, making it more…

Divers on Wednesday recovered the remains of two of the six workers missing since they were tossed into Baltimore Harbor from a highway bridge that collapsed into shipping lanes when a faltering cargo freighter rammed into the structure, officials said on Wednesday.The bodies were pulled from the mouth of the Patapsco River a day after the massive container ship lost power and its ability to maneuver before plowing into a support pylon of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, knocking…

Federal investigators on Wednesday examined the cargo ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge while emergency teams searched for bodies and details emerged of the intense efforts to save lives in the minutes before the steel span collapsed."Hold all traffic on the Key Bridge. There's a ship approaching that just lost their steering," someone said on police radio minutes before the 1:30 a.m. crash on Tuesday.While voices were heard discussing next steps, including alerting any work crews to leave the bridge…

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…

Avikus, HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation in-house startup, has verified that its autonomous navigation system is capable of reducing fuel use by as much as 15%, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 10%.The fuel savings were quantified on a 325,000-ton very large ore carrier (VLOC) operating several times on a 5,800-mile route from Singapore to Brazil using Avikus’ autonomous HiNAS Control system.The verification of this performance was conducted through procedures that were jointly developed by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Avikus…

2024 marks another year for development of a biennial WRDA bill—Water Resources Development Act, critical legislation for the Nation’s waterways, ports and harbors. WRDA encompasses a range of issues, from environmental regs to energy use to agriculture and, of course, a focus on projects critical for economic growth.Because these are dynamic and timely issues, Congress and the maritime sector like to keep WRDA on a two-year reauthorization timeline. Indeed, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, December and January, held three WRDA information hearings.

Finland-headquartered maritime tech company Groke Technologies (Groke) is working with BAR Technolgoes (BARTech) design and develop of situational awareness systems for the U.K. marine engineering consultancy’s WindWings wind propulsion technology.The companies have signed a partnership agreement following the debut installation of two 37.5 m (123 ft) tall WindWings sails on board MC Shipping-owned and Cargill-operated Kamsarmax bulker Pyxis Ocean. Groke’s camera and imaging solutions were also installed.Groke Technologies’ CEO Juha Rokka said…

Demopolis Lock—which suffered a recent catastrophic failure—is a cautionary tale for other locks and those in Congress and the White House who may fail to see the urgency and importance of investing in the inland waterways system.The nation’s inland waterways lock and dam infrastructure, largely constructed in the 1930s, has seen modernization and rehabilitation across the system, albeit very slowly. Despite those efforts, lock failures continue, and the risk of failure persists.While…

Japanese trading house Itochu Corp will study joint ownership and operation of ammonia-fueled ships with Taiwan's U-Ming Marine Transport Corp, Itochu said in a statement, as Japan is bets on ammonia to cut emissions.The shipping industry transports about 90% of world trade, and accounts for nearly 3% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions; and installing ship engines that burn cleaner fuels could help slow global warming trends.The IMO has set a target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by around 2050…

"The Columbia River and its tributaries, wetlands, and estuaries are the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest, providing abundant water, power, recreation, agriculture, transportation and natural resources that have supported livelihoods, cultural and spiritual practices, commerce and economic growth.” - President Biden, Memorandum of September 27, 2023.Those abundant benefits directly impact about 13 million people in the Pacific Northwest. Hydropower extends that plentitude to millions more, powering cities and industry from Idaho to California.

Bollinger Shipyards recently delivered the USCGC David Duren to the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West, Fla. This is the 182nd vessel Bollinger has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard over a 35-year period and the 56th Fast Response Cutter (FRC) delivered under the current program.“We’re incredibly proud to deliver the USCGC David Duren, the first of three Fast Response Cutters to be homeported in Astoria, Oregon,” said Bollinger President & CEO Ben Bordelon. “We’re confident that pound for pound…

As dusk descends upon our nation's ports, casting shadows over the waterfront, another shadow looms in the digital landscape — the threat of cyber warfare. In an era where connectivity reigns supreme, our maritime infrastructure stands at a critical juncture, balancing vulnerability and resilience. The recent White House announcement of a Presidential Executive Order, and a hefty $20 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding proposal to fortify our ports, underscores the gravity of the situation.It is a fact that at this time China has manufactured 80% of our nation’s ship-to-shore cranes…