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21 Dec 2021
New Fully-electric Towboats Will be the First in the US
A series of four fully-electric, zero-emissions towboats announced this week are set to become the first built in North America as vessel owners and operators continue to explore new avenues to decarbonize.The new towboats, designed to support cleaner container transport in America's ports and inland waterways, will be built for New York-based Zeeboat and available for charter from 2025. Notably, they'll run entirely on battery power…
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20 Dec 2021
Canada’s First All-electric, Zero-emissions Ferry Enters Service
A newly retrofitted electric ferry is the first in Canada to enter service powered by a zero-emissions, lithium-ion power and propulsion system containing no diesel fuel components.PortsToronto’s 96-foot Marilyn Bell I, used for transporting passengers, vehicles and supplies the short distance to and from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on Toronto Island, returned to operations last week following a 20-week conversion, and is now sailing 100% emissions free.St.
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10 Dec 2021
Maersk Unveils Design for Methanol-fueled Containership
A.P. Moller-Maersk this week unveiled images and new design details for its series of eight 16,000 TEU containerships powered by carbon-neutral methanol.The groundbreaking vessels, ordered in August 2021 from South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries for expected delivery by early 2024, will feature an innovative dual-fuel engine setup that can operate on methanol and conventional low-sulphur fuel. With 16…
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09 Dec 2021
Costamare Orders Eight New Containerships, Buys Seven Secondhand Bulkers
Shipowner Costamare Inc. announced it has ordered eight newbuild containerships and acquired seven secondhand bulk carriers.The Monaco-headquartered company said Thursday it signed contracts with an unspecified Asian shipyard for two 13,000 TEU capacity newbuilds and exercised options under a previous agreement for two more of the same capacity plus four additional 15,000 TEU capacity vessels. Each…
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08 Dec 2021
USCG Says Sexual Assault Offenders Will Be Held Accountable
The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday issued a statement expressing its commitment to crack down on sexual assault offenders in the maritime industry.The statement comes as the Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) and lawmakers grappled with a raft of new sexual assault and harassment allegations revealed online by current and former cadets at America's federal and state maritime academies. The U.S.
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17 Nov 2021
Geoquip Marine Accused of Jones Act Violations
An American offshore services trade group is accusing Swiss-headquartered Geoquip Marine of violating the Jones Act, a U.S. law requiring seaborne cargo shipped between two U.S. points to be carried by American-built, -crewed and -owned vessels.A report published by the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) alleges that Geoquip Marine's Geoquip Saentis—a Chinese-built, foreign-crewed and Bahamian-flagged vessel—transported subsoil samples from points on the U.S.
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17 Nov 2021
Asia's First Newbuild SOV Launched in Vietnam
Asia's first newbuild service operation vessel (SOV) has been launched in Vietnam.The hybrid-electric TSS Pioneer is being built by Vard Vung Tau for owner Ta San Shang Marine Co., Ltd, a joint venture between Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL) and Ta Tong Marine Co., Ltd. (TTM). It is scheduled to be delivered in early 2022.The 6,000 GT vessel will be time-chartered to Orsted Taiwan Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Denmark-based Ørsted…
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16 Nov 2021
American Offshore Services Orders Four Jones Act CTVs
American Offshore Services (A-O-S) announced Tuesday it has ordered four hybrid-ready crew transfer vessels (CTV) from Blount Boats to service the United States' emerging offshore wind industry.In the years ahead, it's expected that potentially dozens of CTVs will be built as part of a new fleet of Jones Act compliant vessels required to support the construction and long-term service of a pipeline of new offshore wind farms slated to sprout up along the U.S. East Coast.
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12 Nov 2021
Infrastructure Bill a Huge Boost for US Inland Waterways
The $1 trillion infrastructure package headed to President Joe Biden to sign into law will provide a welcome funding injection for America’s inland waterway infrastructure.The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was approved by Congress on November 6 and is expected to be signed by President Biden next week. The plan has money for everything from roads, bridges, ports and rail transit…
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11 Nov 2021
Interview: Will Roberts, President, Foss Maritime
Will Roberts joined Seattle-based Foss Maritime in 2017 as chief commercial officer, and in 2018 he was named chief operating officer. Prior to joining Foss, Roberts held a number of leadership roles for marine systems and services provider Rolls-Royce, rising to senior vice president, customer and services–Americas. A U.S. Navy veteran, Roberts served as a qualified deck and engineering officer aboard the fast attack submarine USS Honolulu. He graduated from the U.S.
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03 Nov 2021
Matson Targets Net Zero GHG Emissions by 2050
U.S.-based Matson, a carrier in the Pacific, said this week it will reduce its fleet greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40% by 2030, and achieve net zero fleet GHG emissions by 2050.The Honolulu-headquartered company joins peers such as Denmark-based Maersk and Switzerland-based MSC on a growing list of international shipping companies to reveal decarbonization plans that go beyond the International…
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28 Oct 2021
More than 100 Containers Lost from Zim Kingston
More than 100 containers have been lost from a fire-stricken containership off British Columbia, well above original estimates, the Canadian Coast Guard said.Initial reports indicated that the Malta-flagged Zim Kingston lost roughly 40 boxes near the Strait of Juan de Fuca, on October 22, after heavy weather caused the vessel to list 35 degrees while traveling from Busan, South Korea to Vancouver, Canada.A fire that broke out on board on October 23 led to the loss of additional containers…
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27 Oct 2021
Final Section of Golden Ray Shipwreck Removed
The largest shipwreck removal project in American history is drawing to a close.On Monday, salvage personnel removed the final section of the overturned car carrier Golden Ray, which capsized in the St. Simons Sound near Georgia's Port of Brunswick in September 2019.The ensuing salvage project—considered to be the largest and most complex in U.S. waters—required more than 3 million collective manhours…
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15 Oct 2021
Biden Appoints Ann Phillips as MARAD Administrator
President Joe Biden intends to nominate Ann Phillips to serve as Administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) at the Department of Transportation (DOT), the White House announced Thursday. The position has been vacant since Mark Buzby resigned from the role in the wake of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January.If confirmed, Phillips, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral and currently the first Special Assistant to the Governor of Virginia for Coastal Adaptation and Protection…
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15 Oct 2021
Wreck of USRC Bear Found off Nova Scotia
The decades long mystery of a missing U.S. Coast Guard Ship has finally been solved. U.S. Revenue Cutter (USRC) Bear, lost at sea in 1963, has been found on the seafloor about 90 miles south of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, NOAA Rear Adm. Nancy Hann announced Thursday.Widely considered one of the most historically significant ships in American history, Bear was purchased by the U.S. government and first put into service by the U.S.
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04 Oct 2021
Interview: Joey D’Isernia, President, Eastern Shipbuilding
Eastern Shipbuilding Group is one of America’s leading shipbuilders. Perhaps best known for its history building tugs, towboats and offshore supply vessels, the company is today finding success in other markets, with notable build projects underway for the U.S. Coast Guard, Staten Island Ferry and dredging contractor Weeks Marine. Eastern’s president Joey D’Isernia weighs in on the yard’s current workload…
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09 Sep 2021
It’s European Design, But Built For The Jones Act Market
The Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group is one of the industry’s largest and most recognized shipbuilders, perhaps best known for its standardized, serial production workboats. Now with several dozen newbuild and repair yards on the map, the company has produced more than 6,000 vessels over its 90-year history—from harbor tugs and offshore supply ships, to ferries and patrol craft. But Damen does not have a shipyard in the United States…
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01 Sep 2021
Noble Drillship Damaged by Hurricane Ida
The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday it is responding to a drillship that reportedly sustained damage as Hurricane Ida ripped through the Gulf of Mexico and into…
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01 Sep 2021
ZIM Opts for Five More LNG-fueled Containerships
Israeli container shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd announced on Wednesday that it has exercised its option to long-term charter five additional 7,000 TEU liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel newbuilds from containership lessor Seaspan Corporation.Under the initial deal announced in July, ZIM has already entered into long-term charter agreements for ten 7,000 TEU LNG vessels scheduled to be delivered from the fourth quarter of 2023 into 2024.
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24 Aug 2021
Containership Captain Charged Over Cable Strike in Australia
The master of a containership has been charged in Australia after his vessel allegedly dragged anchor through a protected zone and damaged a subsea communications cable off the West Australian coast.