Sand News

A company’s lack of requirements for crew to regularly check below-deck compartments led to undetected flooding and the eventual capsizing of a dredging vessel last year on the Mississippi River, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday.Wood Resources' owned and operated non-propelled dredging vessel WB Wood capsized on the early morning of Jan. 16, 2023, during dredging operations. Before the capsizing, the dredge had been in the same location for nine days, pumping sand from the riverbed to a pit on the west bank.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has caused supply chain disruption on the US East Coast but, so far, it has not seen an increase in ocean freight container shipping rates.Data released Monday by Xeneta reveals average spot rates from the Far East into the US North East Coast (including Baltimore) have fallen slightly (-1%) since the bridge collapse on March 26 to stand at USD 5,421 per FEU (40ft shipping container).When including other US East Coast ports such as New York / New Jersey…

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck northeast Taiwan on April 3, causing several wharfs at Hualien port on the east coast to bulge.The affected wharfs are used for sand, bulk cargo discharging, and cruise operations. As a result, port operations are currently suspended, and vessels are only permitted to depart, not enter. Apart from Hualien, no damage has been reported at other ports across Taiwan.Reuters reports that the earthquake, which occurred in Taiwan's sparsely populated…

U.S. shipbuilder Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc (ESG) on Wednesday announced it is teaming up with Dutch shipbuilding group Royal IHC to design and construct a highly automated hopper dredge for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).The diesel-electric vessel, contracted for the Department of Defense, will be constructed at ESG's Allanton and Port St. Joe facilities in Florida for scheduled delivery in 2027.The new 6,000-cubic-yard-capacity medium-class hopper dredge (MCHD) will be based at the Corps’ Philadelphia District…

Van Oord’s cutter suction dredger Biesbosch and trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Apolonia are teaming up to dredge the Prinses Amaliahaven located on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.A consortium of Van Oord, HOCHTIEF and Ballast Nedam has constructed 2.4 kilometres of new quay wall. The new quays are being dredged to a depth of more than 20 metres below sea level. This development means that the Port of Rotterdam Authority is ensuring an expansion of container capacity in Rotterdam.In total 1…

Growth in demand for container shipping imports from China into Mexico in January 2024 increased by 60% compared to 12 months ago, further fuelling suspicions it has become a back door into the US.According to analysts at Xeneta, 117,000 TEU was shipped in January of this year compared to 73,000 TEU in January 2023 (source: Container Trades Statistics).Annual growth in container shipping between China and Mexico had already increased by 34.8% in 2023 compared to just 3.5% in 2022.Peter Sand…

The Unified Command concluded its response to an oil sheen observed offshore of Huntington Beach, California on Monday, but the source of the oil remains unclear.Over the weekend, cleanup crews recovered approximately 85 gallons of product from offshore recovery efforts and removed roughly 1,050 pounds of oily waste/sand and tar balls from the shoreline.The U.S. Coast Guard and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFW-OSPR) collected samples from the offshore sheen and tar balls along the shoreline to help determine the source of the oil.

U.S. importers are playing the waiting game with new container shipping contracts, gambling the rate spike from Red Sea vessel attacks will fade and put them in a stronger negotiating position, shipping industry analysts said.Iran-aligned Houthi missile and drone attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea have forced most container carriers to reroute vessels around Africa and sent spot rates soaring.That price shock is a "gift" that carriers will be giving back when the assaults stop…

The Singapore government has recounted the achievements of Maritime Singapore to date to highlight the nation’s successes as a maritime hub in 2023:Total business spending by key maritime companies overseen by MPA exceeded S$4.8 billion, up from S$4.3 billion in 2022. Twenty-five maritime companies established or expanded their operations in Singapore last year. These included maritime services companies and companies setting up sustainability desks in Singapore as part of their…

Oil stains possibly coming from neighboring Tobago have reached the island of Bonaire, local media said on Monday, prompting authorities to begin organizing protection to beaches and mangrove areas.Since an oil spill from a capsized vessel was first spotted by Trinidad and Tobago's Coast Guard on Feb. 7, it has blackened the Caribbean nation's beaches and is threatening other countries, including Grenada and Bonaire, whose main source of revenue is tourism.Part of Bonaire's East coast…

A 300-acre property along the Mississippi River in Herculaneum, Missouri recently received Port District zoning making way for redevelopment as an intermodal transportation hub and industrial park.Located on the shipping lanes of the Mississippi River, the site has been utilized since the 1700s as a port. With its easy access for barge loading and offloading and the site’s proximity to early lead mines in adjacent Washington County, under early French ownership the port was utilized to ship lead cannonballs and shot to Europe to support Napolean’s army.

American shipping companies are spending more than $120 million to repair and maintain their fleets of Great Lakes bulk carriers this winter.The fleet of U.S.-flagged ships, known as "lakers", can move more than 90 million tons of cargos annually, including iron ore, stone, coal, grain, salt and sand. Each year after the shipping season draws to a close, these vessels enter shipyards and repair facilities around the Great Lakes for a period of winter maintenance and repair. This…

A dredging and sand replenishment project at Southern California's Solana Beach is about halfway complete, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.The project, which reduces coastal storm damage and erosion along a 7,200-foot-long stretch of shoreline, includes construction of a 150-foot-wide beach fill using 700,000 cubic yards of compatible sediment.Operations started Jan. 17 and are on schedule to wrap up in mid-March, according to Caleb Lodge, coastal engineer with the Corps' Los Angeles District.“They’re doing about seven or eight loads a day…

Cargo volumes moved by U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters in 2023 increased 6.5% compared to 2022, according to latest figures from trade group the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA).The 81.4 million tons of cargo transported by the U.S. laker fleet 2023 was 1.2% above the fleet’s five-year average, LCA said.Iron ore cargos totaled 42.4 million tons, an increase of 13.4% compared to a year earlier, while limestone shipments increased by 3.9% to 24.6 million tons. Sand shipments increased by 12.4%.Coal cargos were down 9.7% to 8.4 million tons.

When people hear about underwater reefs, they usually picture colorful gardens created from coral. But some reefs are anchored to much more unusual foundations.For more than a century, people have placed a wide assortment of objects on the seafloor off the U.S. coast to provide habitat for marine life and recreational opportunities for fishing and diving. Artificial reefs have been created from decommissioned ships, chicken transport cages, concrete pipes, rail cars and more.We study how ocean-dwelling fish use artificial reefs in the U.S. and beyond.

Container shipping rates for key global routes have soared this week, with U.S. and UK air strikes on Yemen stirring concerns of a prolonged disruption to global trade in Red Sea, one of the world's busiest routes, industry officials said on Friday.U.S. and British warplanes, ships and submarines launched dozens of strikes across Yemen overnight in retaliation against Iran-backed Houthi forces for attacks on Red Sea shipping, widening regional conflict stemming from Israel's war…

Missile strikes by the US and UK against Houthi militia in Yemen has brought heightened tensions across the region with disruption to ocean freight shipping set to deteriorate further.At approximately 2.30am (Sanaa/Red Sea time) today, Friday, the US and UK military carried out air strikes on targets in Yemen in response to Houthi militia attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, which have totalled 27 since November 19.“We want to see safe, risk-free voyages through the area for vessels and the situation must calm down for that to happen," said Peter Sand, Chief Analyst, Xeneta.

Recent hostilities in the Red Sea have thrown global shippers of vital goods for a loop - but it is hardly the only issue that big carriers are facing as 2024 kicks off.Giants like Maersk say the industry, which handles 90% of global trade, faces the possibility of significant disruptions, from ongoing wars to droughts affecting key routes like the Panama Canal. Complex vessel schedules are likely to be knocked out of sync for giant container ships, fuel tankers and other commodity haulers throughout the year.That will increase delays and raise costs for retailers like Walmart…

Toymaker Basic Fun's team that oversees ocean shipments of Tonka trucks and Care Bears for Walmart and other retailers is racing to reroute cargo away from the Suez Canal following militant attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.Suppliers for the likes of IKEA, Home Depot, Amazon and retailers around the world are doing the same as businesses grapple with the biggest shipping upheaval since the COVID-19 pandemic threw global supply chains into disarray, sources in the logistics industry said.Florida-based Basic Fun usually ships all Europe-bound toys from its China factories via the Suez Canal…

Humans have sailed the world’s oceans for thousands of years, but they haven’t all reached port. Researchers estimate that there are some three million shipwrecks worldwide, resting in shallow rivers and bays, coastal waters and the deep ocean. Many sank during catastrophes – some during storms or after running aground, others in battle or collisions with other vessels.Shipwrecks like the RMS Titanic, RMS Lusitania and USS Monitor conjure tales of human courage and sacrifice, sunken treasure and unsolved mysteries.

Continued missile attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea have plunged supply chains into chaos, and consumers around the world will have to pay the price, according to Xeneta.Latest data from the industry analyst shows spot rates in the ocean freight shipping market spiked by 20% since Friday after major shipping liner companies such as Hapag Lloyd, MSC and Maersk announced they are avoiding the Red Sea amid the attacks by Houthi militia.Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand said…

If the global commercial fleet reduced its speed by 10%, it would reduce underwater radiated noise by 40%, but nothing’s ever that simple.The main thing holding the shipping industry back from reducing its underwater radiated noise (URN) is not a lack of appropriate technology. It’s argued that many of the technologies being implemented today to reduce fuel consumption also reduce noise. So, the noise reductions could essentially come at no net cost to the shipowner, but there’s a lack of regulation and a lack of targeted incentives…

As low water level continue to plaque the Panama Canal, shipowners and managers are paying the price in the form of longer hauls and higher fuel (and emissions) costs to deliver product to market.In one example, oil tanker Cururo is taking the long way from Houston to Chile: sailing the length of South America's Atlantic coast, across the Strait of Magellan and heading up the Pacific coast before discharging.The voyage could take 32 days and travel more than 10,000 nautical miles (18…