Channel Islands News

U.S.-based Pacific shipping company Matson announced it has adjusted its sailing routes to help reduce the risk of whale strikes off the coast of California.Shipping channels into and out of San Francisco Bay and the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex transit federally protected national marine sanctuaries. These sanctuaries –Monterey Bay, Greater Farallones, and Cordell Bank national marine sanctuaries–are destination feeding areas for threatened and endangered humpback and blue whales from late spring through the fall.In 2015…

The U.S. Coast Guard last week called off its active search for a crewmember that reportedly fell from a bulk carrier off the coast of Califronia.The crewmember is said to have gone overboard from the Panamanian-flagged African Cardinal, 14 miles southwest of Point Conception, Calif. while transiting the Santa Barbara Channel Traffic Separation Scheme en route to the Port of Long Beach.At approximately 5 a.m. on June 20, Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles – Long Beach Command Center watchstanders received the man overboard report and immediately issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) via VHF channel 16, stating the nature of the situation.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted a U.S. proposal to increase protections for endangered blue, fin and humpback whales off the California coast. The proposal takes effect this summer and expands areas that vessels should avoid to give whales more space, and extends vessel traffic lanes west of, in and around NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council's Marine Shipping Working Group originally recommended the modifications in 2015. NOAA partnered with the U.S.

Britain gave France 48 hours on Monday to back down in a fishing row that threatens to spiral into a wider trade dispute between two of Europe's biggest economies or face tortuous legal action under the Brexit trade deal.Post-Brexit bickering over fish culminated last Wednesday in the French seizure of a British scallop dredger, the Cornelis Gert Jan, in French waters near Le Havre. Paris has threatened sanctions from Nov. 2 that could snarl cross-Channel trade.The measures could include increased border and sanitary checks on goods from Britain and banning British vessels from some French ports."The French have made completely unreasonable threats…

French ferry operator Brittany Ferries said that the takeover of of Condor Ferries  has been completed. The deal, announced last year, had been subject to scrutiny by competition authorities, but work on the transition has been completed."Brittany Ferries is today the proud part-owner of Condor Ferries," it said in a press note.“This is excellent news for Brittany Ferries, our new partners and for Condor Ferries,” said Christophe Mathieu, CEO Brittany Ferries. “We are committed to working closely in the months and years to come to ensure the best level of service to customers and support to our friends and colleagues in the Channel Islands. This will be business as usual for Condor, but within a new ownership structure.”Brittany Ferries is the minority shareholder in the company.

Condor Ferries, an operator of passenger and freight ferry services between UK and France, has been sold to a consortium including the French shipping company Brittany Ferries.Brittany Ferries, in consortium with the Columbia Threadneedle European Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (ESIF), has reached an agreement to acquire 100 percent of Condor Ferries from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA).Contracts have been signed and the deal is expected to be executed following scrutiny by relevant regulatory authorities. Brittany Ferries will hold a minority stake.Condor Ferries is an operator of lifeline freight and passenger ferry services.

None of a dive boat's 34 passengers survived a fast-moving fire that sunk it off California's Santa Cruz Island, officials said on Tuesday, as recovery workers prepared to try to retrieve 14 bodies still believed to be on the vessel or in the ocean.Emergency workers planned to use DNA analysis to identify the badly-burned remains of the 20 people so far removed from the 75-foot (23 m) Conception ship, which was lying upside down under more than 60 feet (18 meters) of water following…

Divers searched for more bodies early on Tuesday around the wreck of a boat destroyed by a blaze off the coast of southern California, as authorities launched an investigation into one of the area's worst maritime disasters.Emergency crews found at least 25 bodies after the fire broke out before dawn on Monday, leaving nine people still missing, the Associated Press reported. The coastguard declined to confirm the figures."We are looking for bodies now," said Santa Barbara Fire Department spokeswoman Amber Anderson.Flames ripped through the scuba diving vessel Conception…

Eight people were confirmed dead from a predawn fire that sank a boat off a Southern California island and 26 others who were on the scuba diving vessel were missing, a local sheriff said.The fire broke out aboard the Conception, a 75-foot (23-metre) boat, at about 3:15 a.m. while it was moored just off the shore of Santa Cruz Island, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.Passengers slept in the ship's lower quarters, officials said, while five crew members who were above deck on the bridge escaped.The Coast Guard searched the coastline of Santa Cruz Island for any other possible survivors but had not found anyone, officials said."This isn't a day that we wanted to wake up to for Labor Day and it's a very tragic event…

Coast Guard and partner agencies are responding to a vessel fire near Santa Cruz Island Monday.At approximately 3:15 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach watchstanders overheard a mayday call via channel 16 of an engulfed 75-foot commercial diving vessel with 38 people aboard.Crews from the Coast Guard, Santa Barbara Fire Department, Ventura County Fire Department and Vessel Assist responded. The fire department crews were fighting the fire when the vessel sank 20 yards off shore in 64 feet of water.Five people were evacuated aboard a good Samaritan pleasure craft Great Escape.Currently, 33 people aboard the vessel are unaccounted for.Watchstanders launched two Coast Guard Station Channel Islands Harbor 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crews…

Swedish manufacturer Cimco Marine has developed the world’s first 200hp diesel marine outboard – named the OXE Diesel – for maritime security agencies, yacht tenders, municipalities and military applications.As Trace Laborde, Marine Manager for Laborde Products, said, “The OXE diesel is the complete package, a true diesel engine. It’s great for any maritime application that requires fuel efficiency, simple maintenance, compliance with all European and EPA Tier 3 regulations, and unmatched performance.

The Research Vessel Bob and Betty Beyster is a purpose-built coastal research vessel designed for efficient operations offshore Southern California and throughout the Channel Islands. Based at the Scripps Nimitz Marine Facility and operated as a shared-use facility, Bob and Betty Beyster provides scientists, students and engineers a capable, safe and economical platform for research and teaching.R/V Bob and Betty Beyster is a 42-foot scientific workboat with a range of 500 nautical miles, a cruising speed better than 25 knots, and a capacity for six scientists and a boat operator.

Partners in an initiative to cut air pollution and protect whales have announced results from the 2017 program and publicly recognized the 11 shipping companies who participated, reducing speeds to 12 knots or less in two regions. For the first time the program included speed reduction zones in the San Francisco Bay Area in addition to the Santa Barbara Channel region. The voluntary incentive program started July 1 and ended November 15, 2017. Automatic Identification System (AIS) data for ship speeds in the program verified that more than 140 transits were successful in reducing speeds to 12 knots or less, and more than half of these were successful in achieving a bonus incentive for slowing to 10 knots or less.

ABB said it is providing the shipboard systems and systems expertise that will support the research voyages undertaken by ‘By the Ocean we Unite’, a charitable organization whose mission is to highlight the damage done by the millions of tons of plastics that end up in the world’s oceans every year. The group has installed a state of the art Marine Advisory System including SPOS Onboard weather routing software from MeteoGroup, on the sailing yacht Fantastiko to help crew route-plan and monitor weather conditions on a research voyage in waters off Rotterdam…

The shipwreck remains of a historic U.S. Coast Guard cutter have been discovered off of Southern California 100 years after the vessel was lost at sea. In its heyday, the Coast Guard Cutter McCulloch – commissioned in 1897 as a cruising cutter for the U.S. Treasury’s Revenue Cutter Service, a predecessor of the Coast Guard – saw its share of action, having served with Commodore George Dewey in the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898 as part of the U.S. Asiatic Squadron that destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first major battle of the Spanish-American War.

Offshore engineering firm the Global Marine Group (GMG) reported a busy first five months of 2017 with a strong outlook for the rest of the year. The company said all key assets from the GMG fleet are currently mobilized, either supporting maintenance zone agreements around the world, or on installation, maintenance or repair contracts. “As we head into the summer months, we are extremely pleased about our robust activity level, which we feel is a reflection of our high performance standards…

The Merchant Navy Medal (MNM) has been awarded by the industry for meritorious service since it was established in 2005. Last year it was elevated to a State award, with presentations conducted by HRH The Princess Royal at Trinity House on 15 November. This year, the closing date for the receipt of nominations is Friday 19 May. Details of the awards ceremony will be promulgated in due course. Eligibility for the MNM is limited to those who have served, or are serving, in the Merchant Navy or Fishing Fleets of the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands who have shown devotion to duty and exemplary service, which has been of particular value and has constituted an outstanding example to others.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL)  is pleased to announce that the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary has honored MOL with an award for the company's participation in the 2016 Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) incentive program. Launched in 2016 by NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and Volgenau Foundation, the VSR program is a voluntary program that incentivizes containerships to slow down to speed at or below 12 knots, thereby reducing air pollution and enhancing protection of endangered whales in the Santa Barbara Channel.

Britain’s largest independent ship repairer and marine engineering services provider Burgess Marine said it has recently completed its winter refit season in Cherbourg, completing three ferry refit projects over the three-month time span. Despite Brexit, Burgess Marine said business has boomed as the company has completed two refits for Wightlink and one for Condor Ferries at its 5,000T syncrolift facility in the French port. He added, “We have the technical management, knowledge…

Evergreen Line has received recognition for its excellent performance in a voluntary environmental and ecological protection program, which started on July 1 last year and ended on November 15. The initiative was aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions of vessels and avoiding whale collisions by encouraging slow sailing speeds in California's  Santa Barbara Channel region. The recognition ceremony took place on January 23, 2017. Vessels enrolled in this program were required to reduce speeds to 12 knots or less within 95 nautical miles of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. This practice helps to minimize the emissions of greenhouse gases and thus reduce their influence on air quality within the port community.

The number of cars taken by ferry has increased from 8.6 million in 2015 to nearly 8.8 million in 2016, a 1.7% increase. This is the fourth successive year of growth according to the annual results of the ferry industry. 2016 Ferrystat figures released today by Discover Ferries, the industry body for ferry operators, reports that growth for car travel by sea is up by 473,000 in the past four years; up from just 8.3 million car crossings by sea in 2012. Discover Ferries member ferry operators include Brittany Ferries, Caledonian MacBrayne, Condor Ferries, DFDS, Irish Ferries, Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, Northlink, P&O Ferries, Red Funnel, StenaLine and Wightlink.

atchstanders at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach operations center, received a report Thursday night from the 45-foot motor lifeboat crew at Coast Guard Station Channel Islands that four of the members were struck twice with a laser while transiting near the Channel Islands Harbor entrance. Crewmembers reported that the laser came from shore and once they energized their blue law-enforcement light, the laser desisted. After a medical evaluation, there were no reported injuries associated with the incident. The Coast Guard said that pointing handheld lasers at Coast Guard vessels and aircrews is dangerous and illegal. Pointing a laser at an aircraft is a federal crime and a felony offense under Title 18, United States Code, Section 39A.

Stephanie Mutz makes a living plucking sea urchins from the Santa Barbara coast and selling the prickly treasure to upscale restaurants in Southern California. Now, she needs new hunting grounds. The coast, thought to be one of the world's best places for harvesting sea urchins, suffered its worst oil spill in 46 years this week, forcing authorities to ban fishing in an area 23 miles (37 km) long by seven miles (11 km) wide. "That was one of my predominant fishing spots, so I just have to think of a Plan B," said Mutz, who supplies restaurants from Santa Barbara to Orange County, including the Michelin-starred Providence in Los Angeles.