Sidney Star News

Hvide Marine Incorporated (HMI) and subsidiary Sun State Marine Services, Inc., recently christened the first in a series of new cargo ships at its U.S. shipyard facility in Green Cove Springs, Florida. Constructed entirely on-site by Sun State Marine Services, Inc., the 190-foot 'landing craft' type freight vessel is specially designed and ideally suited for conducting trade with Bahamian and Caribbean markets that have minimal or unimproved facilities. "The landing craft has a reinforced hull that allows use of unimproved landing sites such as beaches or boat ramps by actually grounding the forward part of the vessel," noted Robert J. Coppedge, vice president of Sun State Marine Services, Inc.

Two ships collided on the Atlantic approach to the Panama Canal June 1, spilling an "undetermined" quantity of bunker oil, the waterway's administrators said. The British-registered container ship M/V Sidney Star hit Panama-flagged grain carrier M/V Royal Ocean while approaching the Canal's entrance, sustaining damage to its port side fuel tanks, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said. ACP workers staunched the flow of fuel oil, and the two ships were directed to a Canal anchorage at Cristobal for inspection, the authority said. No injuries were reported.