BP: Venture Global Can’t Justify Calcasieu Pass Delay
Oil and gas producer BP Plc told federal regulators on Wednesday that it has reviewed confidential commissioning documents and does not believe Venture Global LNG needs more time to begin commercial production.Venture Global LNG's Calcasieu Pass plant has been at the center of a long-running dispute involving energy companies including BP and Shell over access to LNG from the plant.Venture Global is expected to become the second largest U.S.
Coast Guard Apprehends Nine Suspects in $829,000 Cocaine Bust
In a major drug bust, the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier transferred 79 kilograms of cocaine and nine suspects to federal authorities in Puerto Rico on Monday. The contraband, with an estimated wholesale value of $829,000, was seized as part of an extensive multi-agency operation.The interdiction, which involved the Coast Guard’s Western Hemisphere Strategy, the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force Initiative…
Explosion Kills Two on Icon Offshore Supply Vessel
Malaysia-based Icon Offshore Berhad has confirmed that two seafarers were killed and another badly wounded during an incident on board one of its platform supply vessels (PSV).The fatal incident involving Icon Offshore's Icon Amara occurred on August 2, 2024 at approximately 10:30 p.m. at the Sapar Alpha platform near Bintulu, Sarawak, the company said. According to local media reports, a violent explosion…
Equinor, Dominion Win US Central Atlantic Offshore Wind Auction
Norway's Equinor and U.S. power company Dominion were the winning bidders in a U.S. government offshore wind auction of two areas off the coasts of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, the U.S. Interior Department said on Wednesday.The offshore wind lease sale generated less than $93 million in winning bids, making it among the least lucrative of those held by the Biden administration.U.S. President Joe Biden has put the development of offshore wind at the forefront of his climate change agenda…
Wallem Names Benito Director of Business Development & Marketing
Ship management company Wallem Group announced it has appointed Luis Benito as its new group business development and marketing director, effective August 19, 2024.In his new role, Benito will be responsible for driving sustainable profitable revenue growth across the group, overseeing Wallem’s business development, marketing, brand, and communications teams. He will work closely with Wallem’s Ship Management…
Containership Order Book Expected to Rise, Hapag-Lloyd Says
The global ship order book, representing 18% of the world fleet, is expected to increase, but within plausible levels, the head of German container liner Hapag-Lloyd told analysts on Wednesday."I expect the 18%, which as such is not worrying, to nudge up a bit, but delivery windows are long and so it does not have to be a problem," said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of the company, which is the fifth-biggest worldwide in terms of operating tonnage.The company reported lower net profit in the first hal
Latest Missile Tech Could Give US Navy an Edge in the South China Sea
The U.S. Navy's deployment of new extremely long-range air-to-air missiles in the Indo-Pacific could erase China's advantage in aerial reach, experts say, part of an intensifying focus on projecting power amid high tensions in the region.The AIM-174B, developed from the readily available Raytheon SM-6 air defense missile, is the longest-range such missile the United States has ever fielded and was…
Callan Marine Awarded $104 Million Texas Dredging Project
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District (SWG) on Monday awarded a $104 million contract to Galveston-based dredging contractor Callan Marine for the deepening of the Brazos Island Harbor (BIH) Ship Channel in South Texas.In partnership with the Port of Brownsville, USACE will deepen a 13-mile stretch of the ship channel by 10 feet, bringing the authorized depth to 52 feet. This…
Marlink Introduces Flexible Starlink LEO Data Plans for Maritime Users
Digital solutions company Marlink has introduced flexible and bespoke Starlink LEO internet plans within its hybrid network solutions.The new plans allow customers across maritime, onshore and offshore energy, enterprise and leisure boating industries to benefit from a range of connectivity plans from 10GB to unlimited data, depending on their needs.The plans enable customers to create and customize their own Starlink allowance packages depending on their specific business requirements…
Corio Teams Up with Brazilian Shipyard to Assess Its Offshore Wind Hub Potential
Offshore wind developer Corio Generation, a Macquarie Group company, and Brazilian shipyard and marine construction company Estaleiros do Brasil (EBR) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore how EBR’s facilities could support future offshore wind projects off Brazil’s south coast.Corio and EBR will look at how EBR’s existing infrastructure, located close to Rio Grande port in Brazil’s southern province of Rio Grande do Sul…
Study: ChatGPT Poses Fake News Threat but not Existential Threat to Humanity
ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) cannot learn independently or acquire new skills, meaning they pose no existential threat to humanity, according to new research from the University of Bath in the UK and the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany.The study, published as part of the proceedings of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, reveals that LLMs have a superficial ability to follow instructions and excel at proficiency in language…
Panama Lures NCL and RCI into Home Port Visits
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has chosen the port terminals of the province of Colón and the province of Panama (Panama Cruise Terminal) as home ports.Between December 2024 and December 2025, there will be four NCL embarking/disembarking operations there for the Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Gem. There will also be two operations for the six-star ship Sirena, belonging to the exclusive fleet of the luxury cruise company Oceania Cruises…
US Retailers Rush Holiday Imports Amid Fears of Strikes and Supply Chaos
Retailers are fueling a summer rush of imports to the United States this year as companies guard against a potential strike by port workers and ongoing shipping disruptions from attacks in the Red Sea ahead of a shortened holiday shopping season.Container imports and freight rates surged in July, signaling an earlier than usual peak season for an ocean shipping industry that handles about 80% of global trade.July is expected to be the peak for U.S.
Philippine Fishermen Fear Floating Solar Farm Could Sink Their Livelihoods
Fishing has been a lifeline for Alejandro Alcones for the past four decades, but he now fears his small boat may be replaced by a floating solar farm on the Philippines' largest lake.Alcones is part of a group of fishermen opposed to the government's plan to place solar panels atop Laguna de Bay, one of the country's biggest sources of freshwater fish, as it looks for renewable energy sources to meet…
ioCurrents Taps MER Equipment as Official Reseller
Seattle-based maritime data analytics company ioCurrents announced it has inked a partnership deal that makes marine power solutions provider MER Equipment an official reseller of its MarineInsight platform.MER Equipment, also based in Seattle, designs, builds, and supports propulsion systems, marine and industrial generators, power distribution systems, and hydraulic power units for commercial fishermen…
Vineyard Wind Cleared to Resume Limited Offshore Turbine Installs
Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova on Tuesday said U.S. safety officials have allowed them to resume limited construction on an offshore wind farm off the Massachusetts coast where a turbine blade shattered last month.Vineyard Wind, owned by Avangrid AGR.N and Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, was ordered to stop power production and construction after a blade broke apart on July 13 and sent pieces of fiberglass into the water that washed up on nearby beaches.In a joint statement…
US Navy Launches Attack Submarine USS Idaho
One of the U.S. Navy’s newest attack submarines, the future USS Idaho (SSN 799), launched from General Dynamics Electric Boat’s Groton, Ct. shipyard into the Thames River, August 6.The "float off," or launch, is a milestone in a submarine's construction, marking the moment it leaves the shipbuilder's facilities and enters the water for the first time, signaling the start of final outfitting, testing…
Towboat Sank Due to Watertight Integrity Issues
The sinking last year of a towing vessel in the Atlantic Ocean was due to a lack of watertight integrity, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday.Jackson Creek Marine's Jacqueline A was transiting the Atlantic Ocean from Virginia to a shipyard in Harvey, La., where the 1981-built vessel was to be brought into compliance with the U.S. Coast Guard's Subchapter M regulations. It began taking on water on August 8, 2023, while off the coast of South Carolina.
New Fireboat Delivered to Cape Coral Fire Department
Theodore, Ala. boatbuilder Silver Ships said it has recently delivered a newly built fireboat to first responders in Cape Coral, Fla.The Freedom 30 aluminum fireboat is the second vessel delivered by Silver Ships to the Cape Coral Fire Department in the past two years.Powered by twin Suzuki DF350 outboards, the 30-foot-long newbuild includes a walkaround cabin and special features enabling fast, fire response missions.
Great Lakes Limestone Trade Down in July
Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.6 million tons in July, a decrease of 14.3% compared to a year ago, according to latst figures from industry trade group the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA). The trade was also below the month’s five-year average by 9.3%.Loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 2.9 million tons, a decrease of 14% compared to 2023, while shipments from Canadian quarries decreased by 15.5% to 651…
