Sailor Too News

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.

Founded as the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and renamed Military Sealift Command in 1970, MSC today not only support the Navy, but we are the Department of Defense's provider of all sealift. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently interviewed Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, U.S. Navy, for insights on the service today and it’s needs to grow in the future.What makes MSC so vital to the Navy’s fleet and our military forces around the world?When we  look at the history of contested logistics in World War II…

Chemship commissioned its first ship with wind assisted ship propulsion. This makes the MT Chemical Challenger the first chemical tanker in the world to be equipped with sustainable wind technology. The ship will serve on shipping company Chemship’s Trans-Atlantic route between the East Coast of the United States and the Mediterranean.This week four 16-metre-high aluminum wind sails were installed on board the 134-meter-long vessel. The VentoFoils from Econowind create a direct wind surface of 180 m2.

The 2023 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea has been presented to Caleb Halle, Aviation Survival Technician Second Class (AST2) of the United States Coast Guard (USCG). He was recognized for the outstanding courage, endurance and determination he showed during the rescue of the seven-strong crew of the tugboat Legacy in January 2023.AST2 Halle, based at the Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, received the award at the annual IMO Awards Ceremony in London. The ceremony…

Canada's understaffed and resource-stretched navy is in "a critical state" and might not be able to carry out its basic duties next year, the top admiral said in a YouTube video released this week.The comments by Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee are an unusually blunt expression of unhappiness from the military over the state of the armed forces. Canada only spends about 1.3% of its annual gross domestic product on defense, much less than the North Atlantic Treaty Organization target of 2%.In the video…

Two U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested on charges of handing over sensitive national security material to China, U.S. officials said Thursday.Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, was charged with conspiracy and bribetaking in connection with taking nearly $15,000 in exchange for photographs and videos of sensitive U.S. military information, the officials said. U.S. Navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, whose age was not disclosed, was charged with conspiring to send national defense information…

A 112-year-old tall ship has toppled over during a drydock maintenance period in South Africa.The Netherlands-registered Europa fell over during an attempt to transfer the steel-hulled barque back into the water from drydock at a Cape Town ship repair facility, leaving one crewmember with minor injuries."The injured sailor is receiving the necessary medical care and is doing well, given the circumstances," the ship's operator Bark Europa said. "He is currently in stable condition…

Maritime communications and connectivity company Navarino and radio and satellite communication (satcom) solutions provider Cobham Satcom have extended their strategic partnership based on integration of next generation SAILOR XTR antennas with Navarino’s global connectivity services.Navarino, the world’s largest Inmarsat Fleet Xpress Value Added Reseller, also offers a full portfolio of Ku-Band solutions leveraging networks from Intelsat and SES. With Cobham Satcom as a partner…

Sailing cargo ships are making a genuine comeback.Japanese bulk carrier MOL is operating a wind-assisted ship. American food giant Cargill is working with Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie to deploy WindWings on its routes. Swedish shipping company Wallenius is aiming for Oceanbird to cut emissions by up to 90%. The French start-up Zephyr & Borée has built the Canopée, which will transport parts of European Space Agency’s Ariane 6 rocket this year.I researched the decarbonisation of the shipping industry.

Researchers from NOAA, the state of Michigan, and Ocean Exploration Trust discovered an intact shipwreck resting hundreds of feet below the surface of Lake Huron. Located within NOAA's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the shipwreck has been identified as the sailing ship Ironton. Well preserved by the cold freshwater of the Great Lakes for over a century, the 191-ft. Ironton rests upright with its three masts still standing."Using this cutting-edge technology, we have not only located a pristine shipwreck lost for over a century…

A Marshall Islands registered chemical tanker came to the aid of a sailor in distress Saturday morning in the Caribbean Sea, approximately 57 nautical miles southeast of Puerto Rico.U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan received a VHF-Channel 16 communication from the sailing vessel Tao at 1:45 a.m. Saturday reporting the vessel lost steering and the sole boater on board, an 80-year-old man, had lost the ability to simultaneously access the vessel’s compass and emergency…

Operating on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from day one in service, the MV George III, the first of Pasha Group’s two new ‘Ohana Class’, Jones Act-qualified containerships, features a state-of-the-art engine, an optimized hull form, and an underwater propulsion system with a high-efficiency rudder and propeller. George III is the first LNG-powered vessel to fuel on the West Coast and the first to serve Hawaii. The 774-ft. Jones Act vessel surpasses the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2030 emission standards for ocean vessels.

A U.S. Navy sailor was found not guilty on Friday of starting a fire that destroyed the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard in San Diego in 2020.Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays was acquitted of charges of arson and the willful hazarding of a ship, Commander Sean Robertson, a spokesman for the U.S. 3rd Fleet, said in a statement.The decision followed a two-week court-martial in which Navy prosecutors argued that Mays, who was 19 at the time of the blaze, started the fire due to disgruntlement with his work.

Iran has agreed to release the crews of two Greek tankers it seized in May in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker in Greece, a Greek seafarers union said.The months-long diplomatic impasse has strained relations between Athens and Tehran as tensions grow between Iran and the United States.The crews will be replaced, allowing their return to their countries of origin soon, the PENEN union for seafarers on commercial ships said on its website on Sunday. It was not clear whether the two Greek tankers, the MT Prudent Warrior and Delta Poseidon, would be released, it said.On Monday, the Greek shipping minister confirmed that one Delta Poseidon crew member was returning to Greece."A Greek sailor from the vessel Delta Poseidon…

The U.S. Navy accused a sailor of setting the 2020 fire on the USS Bonhomme Richard, but it refuses to release records in the case as the law requires.Despite a 2016 law requiring more transparency of court-martials, the U.S. Navy is refusing to release nearly all court documents in a high-profile case in which a sailor faces life in prison.Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays, 21, has been charged with aggravated arson and hazarding a vessel in the 2020 fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard.

Ukraine's decision to allow its seafarers to leave the country despite wartime restrictions will free up vital manpower for both Ukrainian grain exports and the wider global shipping industry, industry figures told Reuters.The move, officially confirmed this week, is part of efforts by Ukraine to maximize its grain shipments via a UN-brokered corridor through the Black Sea, which lifted a Russian blockade of Ukraine's south coast when came into effect in early August."We understand…

Cobham Satcom, provider of radio and satellite communications solutions to the maritime and land has expanded its SAILOR XTR portfolio with the introduction of two new Ka-band antenna systems for Telenor Satellite’s THOR 7 VSAT services.The one-meter SAILOR 1000 XTR Ka and 65-centimeter SAILOR 600 XTR Ka leverage Cobham Satcom’s most advanced VSAT technology platform to secure high availability of broadband service on the THOR 7 satellite, used for a full range of network applications…

A 62-year-old French man survived for 16 hours in an air bubble inside his capsized sailboat in the Atlantic Ocean before being rescued by Spanish coastguard divers in what they described as an operation "verging on the impossible".The 40-foot (12-meter) Jeanne SOLO Sailor sent out a distress signal at 20.23h on Monday from 14 miles from the Sisargas Islands off Spain's northwestern Galicia region, the coast guard said.

The global oil market was thrown into chaos on Thursday after Russia invaded Ukraine, with top buyers of Russian oil struggling to secure guarantees at Western banks or find ships to take crude from one of the world's largest producers.At least three major buyers of Russian oil have been unable to open letters of credit from Western banks to cover purchases on Thursday, four trading sources said, citing market uncertainty after the Russian invasion.Russia produces every 10th barrel in the world and oil prices jumped to above $105 per barrel on Thursday, their highest since 2014, due to fears of disruptions.In the Black Sea, a Turkish-owned ship was hit by a bomb off the coast of Ukraine's port city Odessa…

A bulk carrier assisted in the rescue of an injured mariner sailing solo off the coast of Australia.After receiving a distress beacon from a 10-meter yacht with a 70-year-old solo crew member located 167 kilometers east of Double Island Point, Qld., the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) diverted the Malta-flagged merchant vessel Skiathos to the yacht's location.The 229-meter-long Skiathos found the yacht and brought the vessel alongside.AMSA tasked the Melbourne-based Challenger jet and a Brisbane-based CHC helicopter to attend the scene…

A lack of Coast Guard icebreaking assets is hampering U.S.-flag shipping on the Great Lakes, according to industry coalition the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force.“The inefficiency introduced into the Great Lakes Navigation System by inadequate Coast Guard icebreaking resources impacts the carriers, their customers and the entire North American Manufacturing supply chain,” said Jim Weakley, President of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, and the Lake Carriers’ Association. “The men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard do the best they can with the resources they are provided.

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced that a future John Lewis-class replenishment oiler (T-AO) ship will be named USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg to honor the former Supreme Court Justice and women’s rights activist.The future USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg (T-AO 212) will be the first U.S. Navy ship to bear her name.“As we close out women’s history month, it is my absolute honor to name the next T-AO after the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She is a historic figure who vigorously advocated for women’s rights and gender equality,” said Del Toro.

Radio and satellite communications solutions provider Cobham Satcom announced its partnership with Inmarsat on its new generation of Ka-band antennas, the new SAILOR XTR GX-R2 series, to be deployed on the Global Xpress network.Developed with future satellite constellations in mind, and in line with Inmarsat’s ORCHESTRA architecture – the first-of-its-kind network that seamlessly integrates multiple orbits and terrestrial 5G – the SAILOR XTR antenna series combines the best of…