Us Office News

This article examines 10 structural safeguards in Coast Guard Suspension and Revocation (S&R) Proceedings that ensure Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decisional independence. These safeguards separate potential agency influences from the ALJ decision making process and are critical to mariner due process and fundamental fairness. We will start with an overview of Coast Guard S&R proceedings, followed by brief discussions of the Administrative Procedure Act, Administrative Law Judges, and U.S. Office of Personnel Management oversight.

The US Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis Commandant has released US Coast Guard Marine Safety Alert 07-23, Critical Insight from Ongoing Investigations into Small Passenger Vessel Fires.The Safety Alert was prepared in response to multiple ongoing investigations being conducted by the U S Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) into fires onboard two certificated small passenger vessels. Both vessels sustained millions of dollars in structural damages.The alert highlights the risk of the open flames that can be used during dinner cruises.

Chevron Corp has stepped up sales of Venezuelan crude oil to rival U.S. refiners, adding PBF Energy Inc and Marathon Petroleum Corp to its list of customers for the crude, vessel tracking and loading schedules showed.U.S. Gulf Coast refiners, which historically processed Venezuelan oil, have shown a renewed appetite for the heavy sour crude grade after Chevron late last year received authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department to expand its operations in Venezuela and resume oil shipments to the U.S. after a four-year pause.Chevron, the last big U.S.

Belgium-based offshore survey services provider GEOxyz announced it has opened its first office in the United States, located in New Brunswick, N.J., as it expands to serve the offshore wind energy industry on the U.S. East Coast"The renewable energy industry in the U.S. is an important market in full expansion and we are thrilled to establish a presence here," said Patrick Reyntjens, CEO of GEOxyz. "We have extensive experience in offshore surveying and we are eager to provide…

The U.S. government has allowed some transactions to take place with a sanctioned oil supertanker in efforts to free the vessel stranded in Indonesian waters, the U.S. embassy in Singapore said on Wednesday. The Indonesian navy has been trying to free the Djibouti-registered ship, Young Yong, which ran aground off Indonesia's Riau Islands on Oct. 26 near a gas pipeline. The U.S. last week issued sanctions against an international oil smuggling network it said supports Hezbollah and Iran's elite Quds Force…

The Port of Virginia and the US Army Corps of Engineers today signed the agreement committing the federal government to begin its financial investment in the construction effort to widen and deepen the commercial shipping channels and Norfolk Harbor.With a group of federal and state officials in attendance, Virginia Port Authority CEO Stephen A. Edwards and Col. Brian P. Hallberg, the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Norfolk District commander, signed the Project Partnership Agreement.

GAC Bunker Fuels has opened a new office in Westport, Conn. to help global customers decarbonize in American ports and beyond.The office will be manned by liquefied natural gas (LNG), biofuel, low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) and marine gasoil (MGO) experts Maurice Lara and John Lindquist, and will be carbon neutral.Beyond aligning with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, GAC Bunker Fuels has pledged zero oil-based bunker sales by January 1, 2030. On 1 September 2020…

Offshore wind installation services company Seajacks UK, as of recently a subsidiary of Eneti, has established an operational base in the City of Virginia Beach, Va.Seajacks has been providing Blue Ocean Energy Marine, a Dominion Energy-owned company, with support services relating to the construction and operation of the first Jones Act compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessel, Charybdis, seen as a key vessel for the development of the U.S. offshore wind industry.The…

A cargo of 1.033 million barrels of Iranian crude oil landed on U.S. shores in March, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed, the second shipment of Iranian oil to be imported into the United States since 1991.The cargo was registered in EIA data released late last week for the month following the seizure by U.S. authorities of the Liberian-flagged tanker Achilleas, which was transporting Iranian crude.The EIA gave no other details on the Iranian cargo, and the agency could not be reached for comment outside of U.S. office hours. Monday is a holiday in the United States.The United States last recorded Iranian crude and petroleum imports of 3…

Who do you call when you need a job done on short notice, in total darkness, under 100-percent ice cover, thousands of meters at the bottom of the sea? In the case of the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), you call your friends in Norway.That is exactly what the Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Lorin C. Selby did when he enlisted the help of the Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaker and offshore patrol vessel, the CGV Svalbard, to retrieve oceanographic moorings containing irreplaceable data.

Marine shock mitigation technology provider Allsalt Maritime Corporation announced Thursday it has opened new sales and support offices in the U.S. and Singapore in response to market growth in the commercial and recreational boating industries.Victoria, B.C.-based Allsalt Maritime, owner of the Shoxs and Kinetix brands, said its new U.S. office is located in Edgewater, Fla., and will be led by newly appointed brand development and U.S. managing director Lisa Wood, a marketing and business development professional with more than 20 years of experience managing brands such as Stanley…

This article will focus on “noncomprehensive sanctions,” which target “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDNs), but otherwise do not prohibit most trade between the U.S. and the target country (if any). While there are multiple noncomprehensive sanctions programs, we will focus on three: Venezuela (which can be thought of as quasi-comprehensive), Global Magnitsky (human rights) and Hong Kong. Russia also has a substantial noncomprehensive sanctions program, which we will address in a later article.NONCOMPREHENSIVE SANCTIONS PROGRAMS: IN GENERALThe U.S.

This article will focus on U.S. sanctions generally, including the definition of “U.S. persons,” the application of the facilitation rules, the difference between primary and secondary sanctions, the 50% rule and various maritime advisories. The article will conclude with a few frequently asked questions."Traditionally, U.S. sanctions applied only to “U.S. persons,” which generally means a U.S. citizen or permanent resident; an entity organized in the U.S. (including foreign branches); and anyone in the US."U.S. sanctions overviewTraditional U.S.

The United States on Thursday lifted sanctions on Marshall Islands-based Delos Voyager Shipping Ltd and Greece-based Romina Maritime Co Inc that had been imposed last month over accusations the companies operated in the Venezuelan oil sector.The U.S. Treasury Department’s action lifted Venezuela-related sanctions on four companies, including Marshall-Islands based Adamant Maritime Ltd and Sanibel Shiptrade Ltd, as well as on four vessels.The move, which follows the delisting last month of other Greece- and Marshall Islands-based shipping firms, removed the remaining Greece-based companies blacklisted in June for transporting Venezuelan oil from the U.S.

Inspecting fuel and ballast tanks. Sand-blasting old paint coatings and applying new ones. Removing corrosion on ships, submarines, aircraft and other vehicles.These are some of the unpleasant jobs in naval shipyards and maintenance facilities that could be made safer by pairing human workers with robots. Experts say this could improve the speed and efficiency with which the U.S. Navy sustains its assets—and expand the career paths of current workers (and create new jobs) by teaching them to operate…

It took time for China's naval shipyards to hit their straps. For about a decade from the turn of this century, they experimented with new designs, in some cases launching just a couple of each new type of warship for evaluation.The yards absorbed foreign technology, imported some key components and developed local know-how. Quality ruled over quantity. Then they started mass production. New hulls cascaded into the water, mainly from the big shipyards at Shanghai, Dalian, Guangzhou and Wuhan.These yards have been building the full spectrum of warships and support vessels…

As Oceanology International celebrates its 50th Anniversary, Marine Technology Reporter explores half a century of subsea technology development and discovery. Oceanology International Americas runs February 25-27, 2019 in San Diego.When Oceanology launched in 1969 in the seaside resort of Brighton the world was a very different place. For a start, Brighton was home to the mods and rockers, who would square off against each other on the town’s elegant seafront. The British currency included shillings and ha’ pennies and man had yet to step foot on the moon.More crucially…

The offshore energy boom: more than wind. Domestic offshore wind also promises to generate demand for new, efficiently propelled support vessels. The U.S. offshore wind farm industry, now in its infancy, is on the verge of a massive growth surge, and the boom will be felt throughout the American maritime industry. The U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy reported last year that there is a “robust pipeline of projects to ensure growth in the country’s nascent offshore wind market…

The U.S. office of Becker Marine Systems announced the order for a retrofit of another set of Becker Flap Rudders placed by the Canal Barge Company, Inc. Canal Barge Company is a family-owned, independent marine transportation company headquartered in New Orleans. Chosen for retrofit is the 140-ft. boat Eugenie P. Jones, built in 1975 by the Dravo Corporation. She is a sister vessel of the Susan L. Flap Rudders since June of 2014. Canal Barge Company also has one more set of Becker Flap Rudders on order for a third sister boat.

NORDEN has opened a new office in Vancouver, Canada, as the Danish ship owner seeks to expand its global reach and local presence on the North American West Coast. “The new and increased presence on the West Coast will strengthen NORDEN’s ability to provide customers with transport to and from the Americas and from North America to Asia and enable NORDEN to become even more competitive on local coastwise trades,” the company said. “NORDEN has a strong presence with many port calls on the West Coast.

E-navigation specialist NAVTOR said it has set its sights on the U.S. shipping market with a new office opening in Seattle. The Norwegian business, which has built a global network of facilities since forming in 2011, has, until now, serviced the territory from its Egersund headquarters. However, growing demand Stateside for the firm’s product portfolio has prompted the team to establish NAVTOR USA Inc. NAVTOR launched its ENC service to market in 2012 and, since then, has built a global client base on the back of its mission of making life simpler for navigators…

Facing “sustained positive trend in North American business levels” Bergen-based supplier of davits and other boat launching equipment Vestdavit said it is opening an office in Seattle. According to the company, direct representation will help it build on its existing strong regional reputation. Its davits are already widely used by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and in the offshore oil industry among others. “The opening of the U.S.

For thousands of years sailors have looked out to sea, anticipating the motion of their craft from the waves they see coming. The nature of this constant motion, phasing in and out with the groups of waves, influences the safety of operations, from moving about the deck or rigging to transferring people and materials between craft. Waves and the resulting motions are a key factor in deciding whether to perform an operation. Could you do better than your eyeball for predicting when that next big wave is going to knock you off your feet? When the U.S.