Port Said News

FMC Commissioner Urges Biden to Aid Workers Impacted by Key Bridge Collapse

A Commissioner with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission is urging President Joe Biden to provide aid for local companies and workers suffering from an economic upheaval in the wake of the tragic Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.A letter sent by Commissioner Carl W. Bentzel to President Biden on Monday asks the President to consider using the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) as a model for providing relief workers and industries affected by the temporary…

Fisherman Adrift in Java Sea Rescued by Wallem Crew

A ship under the management of Wallem Group rescued a man who had been adrift in the Java Sea for two days last week after he had jumped from a fishing vessel, reportedly in preference to continuing to work without pay.The man was picked up by Angleviken as the LR2 tanker approached anchorage at Balongan, Indonesia on 20th April, after Capt. Bhanu Kundi sighted a floating object approx. 20 degrees port, at approx. 2.5 nm ahead of the vessel and distance from nearest land approx. 12 nm from the ship at 12.30 local time.

Unified Command Reflects on Key Bridge Disaster Response Efforts

Approximately one month has passed since the Singaporean-flagged container vessel M/V Dali allided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26. The bridge, which connects Hawkins Point and Dundalk, Maryland, collapsed into the lower Patapsco River, bringing all maritime traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore to a standstill.The Unified Command offers its reflection on the response efforts underway:During the incident involving the Dali, eight road crew workers, who were on break from repairing potholes, were present on the bridge when it collapsed.

Esgian Week 17 Report: New Contracts for the North Sea

Esgian reports that new drilling contracts have been announced in the North Sea and West Africa in its Week 17 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsShelf Drilling (North Sea) has secured a letter of award with an unnamed operator, believed to be TotalEnergies, for the 400-ft jackup Shelf Drilling Fortress for a campaign in the North Sea.Noble 12,000-ft 7th generation drillship Noble Venturer has secured new contracts in West Africa with Trident Energy and Rhino Resources…

Nigeria Secures $600 Million Maersk Port Infrastructure Investment

Nigeria secured a $600 million investment in seaport infrastructure from Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk, the presidency said in a statement on Sunday.The investment was secured during a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and Moller-Maersk Chairman Robert Maersk Uggla on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia."We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships," the Nigerian presidency quoted Uggla as saying during the meeting.Nigeria has promised to revamp its ports…

French Carrier Joins NATO Drills as Russian Threat Looms

As Russia's war in the Ukraine drags on now into its third year, NATO today launched one of its biggest naval deployments since February 2022, with French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle under the command of the alliance for the first time.The French nuclear-powered carrier began its mission in the Mediterranean Sea, close to its home port of Toulon. Placing the Charles de Gaulle under NATO operational control for the first time is highly symbolic, not least because the…

'24 Olympic Flame to Ride 3-Masted "Belem" to French port of Marseille

Paris 2024 Olympics organizers on Friday, April 26, received the Games' flame in a handover ceremony in Athens ahead of a 68-day torch relay that will end with the opening ceremony on July 26.The flame arrived at the central Athens' Panathenaic stadium, site of the first modern Olympics in 1896, after an 11-day relay across Greece and following the lighting in ancient Olympia last week.Several thousand fans and tourists sat in the stands of the horse-shaped marble stadium on a sun-drenched afternoon as the head of the Paris Games…

Guangzhou Port Group’s e-tug to Sport Schottel Propulsion

SCHOTTEL will equip Guangzhou Port Group’s latest e-tug with two RudderPropellers type SRP 360 in the LE-Drive variant. The new harbor tug measures 37.9 x 10.5m and will be mainly used for berthing assistance, escorting and towing in the Port of Guangzhou, China. Each SRP has an input power of 1,500 kW and a propeller diameter of 2.2m. The 360-degree steerable thruster combines maximum maneuverability and bollard pull with outstanding efficiency during free sailing, providing…

Situational Awareness System Battles Cognitive Fatigue in Watchkeepers

Today’s evolving maritime security risks pose all-too-familiar threats to international shipping, and as just one of the many causes of fatigue, they add to the cognitive burden already faced by watchkeepers. But Groke Technologies can boost safety onboard, says co-founder and CEO Juha Rokka.Life at sea is already physically and mentally demanding. Crewing levels are tight, work hours are long and irregular, watchkeepers are required to perform administrative tasks while on the bridge…

Cobham Satcom Secures Contract with China TranTech

Cobham Satcom and China TranTech Technologies have signed a contract which includes the largest delivery of SAILOR XTR Ku VSAT antennas to the Chinese market so far, supported by an extensive training and global service program.China TranTech is a subsidiary of China Transport Telecommunication Information Group Company Limited (CTTIC) and the only maritime satellite safety communication provider in China.SAILOR 1000 XTR Ku antennas deliver dependable, high-speed connectivity that vessel crews need to optimize remote marine operations at sea.

US Military Starts Pier Construction off Gaza

U.S. troops have begun construction of a maritime pier off the coast of Gaza that aims to speed the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave when it becomes operational in May, the Pentagon said on Thursday.President Joe Biden announced the pier in March as aid officials implored Israel to ease access for relief supplies into Gaza over land routes. Whether the pier will ultimately succeed in boosting humanitarian aid is unclear, as international officials warn of the risk of…

Houthis Target MSC Ship in Gulf of Aden

Yemen's Houthis said they targeted the MSC Darwin ship in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday, as the Iran-aligned group resumed attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea region in solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in the Gaza war.The Houthis also fired a number of ballistic and winged missiles at several targets in Israel's port city of Eilat, the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech on Thursday.The Liberian-flagged MSC Darwin VI ship was in the area of the attack…

First Ship Departs Baltimore Through Limited Access Channel

The first commercial vessel transited through a newly opened channel in the Port of Baltimore following the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.The Fort McHenry Limited Access Channel (LAC) was opened as a temporary solution to provide passage for a limited number of commercial vessels into the Port of Baltimore and a departure opportunity for some deep draft vessels currently unable to leave the harbor since the bridge collapse.The channel—the fourth to be opened…

MOL and Gaz-System Sing Long-Term FSRU Charter for New Polish LNG Terminal

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has signed a long-term time charter party agreement for one floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with the Polish gas transmission system operator Gaz-System, which is the developer and operator behind the future LNG terminal.The FSRU will be constructed by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard and is expected to be completed in 2027. Thereafter, the FSRU will be managed by the MOL group.The FSRU is being built for the project that involves the…

China Harbors Ship Tied to North Korea-Russia Arms Transfers

China is providing moorage for a U.S.-sanctioned Russian cargo ship implicated in North Korean arms transfers to Russia, according to satellite images obtained by Reuters, as U.S. concerns grow over Beijing's support for Moscow's war in Ukraine.Britain's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank said the Russian vessel Angara, which since August 2023 has moved to Russian ports thousands of containers believed to contain North Korean munitions, has been anchored at a Chinese…

Houthis Target Two American Ships

A coalition vessel successfully engaged one anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) launched from the Iranian-backed Houthi "terrorist-controlled areas" in Yemen over the Gulf of Aden, the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) said on Thursday.The ASBM was likely targeting the MV Yorktown, a U.S.-flagged, owned, and operated vessel with 18 U.S. and four Greek crew members, USCENTCOM said in a statement."There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition, or commercial ships," it added.Separately…

Merchant Ship, Crew Reported Safe After Incident off Djibouti

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Wednesday that a merchant vessel and its crew were reported safe after an incident 72 nautical miles east southeast off the port of Djibouti.UKMTO said in an updated advisory note that the master of the vessel had reported an explosion in the water a distance from the vessel."Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity," the note said.Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea region since November in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians fight

Energy Transition: LNG Prices Plummet, Dual-fuel LNG Newbuilds Rise

Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power ships will rise this year on attractive prices, while more dual-fuel vessels join the global fleet. Prices of LNG delivered as marine fuel at the world's largest bunker hub Singapore are at steep discounts of nearly $100 per metric ton compared with conventional 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), industry sources report.That is a far cry from record premiums of more than $1,000 a ton seen in September 2023, based on data from S&P Global Platts published on industry coalition SEA-LNG's website…

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Inks Long-Term Lease for Georgia’s Brunswick Port

Wallenius Wilhelmsen has signed a 20-year lease agreement with the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), with options up to 30 years for Brunswick port expansion, increasing its strategic terminal and processing networkUpgraded and enlarged Brunswick facilities will further expand the scope and scale of U.S. Southeast operations of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, which is the world's largest RoRo vessel operator.The Brunswick expansion will further cement the company’s position as the favored partner for North American customers…

Simulators Track our Changing Relationship with Technology

Simulation-based training has its whole-of-ship/whole-of-team scenarios, but zooming in, the industry is now working on more specific targets.We have a close relationship with technology, evidenced by, for example, the phones we are estimated to unlock around 50-80 times a day. It has changed us. Half the people surveyed in a 2022 King’s College London study said that they feel like their attention span is shorter than it used to be. They are wrong, though, if they think that the average attention span of adults today is just eight seconds, one second less than goldfish.

Maersk Mulls Baltimore Barge Service

Maersk may resume some shipping services at the Port of Baltimore when a temporary channel is opened to give access for commercially essential vessels that remain blocked by a collapsed bridge, the company said."This channel, with a controlling depth of 20 feet, could potentially allow Maersk and other carriers to operate limited barge services into and out of the Port of Baltimore," Maersk said in a statement.The group last Wednesday said the port's alternate shipping channels…

CBED Signs Up Siemens Gamesa for Wind Creation SOV’s First Job

Danish shipowner CBED has signed a contract with Siemens Gamesa for the first offshore wind project for its new SOV Wind Creation as part of the CBED fleet.With the new walk-to-work project, the SOV joins commissioning an offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.The project starts at the end of the second quarter of 2024 and runs for the remainder of the year, thereby securing full activity for Wind Creation until the first quarter of 2025.CBED now has all three vessels in the fleet…

Trans Mountain Expects First Ship to Load from Expanded Pipeline in May

The first tanker carrying crude from the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline is expected to load at the Port of Vancouver in the second half of May, the company building the project said on Tuesday.The expanded pipeline, which will carry an extra 600,000 barrels per day of oil from Alberta to Canada's Pacific coast, will begin transporting crude on May 1 with final line fill completed in early May, Trans Mountain Corp said in an email.(Reuters - Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; editing by Jonathan Oatis)