Torch News

Swire Shipping commemorated the opening of its new Japan branch office in Tokyo on February 21,2024 with an event at The Palace Hotel in Tokyo, marking Swire Shipping’s official return to Japan with a physical presence.A highlight of the evening was the Kagami-biraki ceremony – the customary breaking open of a sake barrel – a tradition steeped in respect and appreciation. Esteemed long-serving former employees of Swire, who had served the company with dedication in the past, shared a toast of sake alongside the current Japan team onstage.

The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) announced its president Caroline Yang has been reelected for another two-year term.In addition, seven ordinary members of the SSA were first elected during the association’s 27th AGM on June 28. The 2023/2025 council also co-opted four members into their council. There are two more members that the elected council will need to co-opt into the council.Yang has been at the helm of the association through some of shipping’s most challenging times.

Italian companies Comau and Fincantieri presented today  the first result of their joint collaboration with Automatica: MR4Weld (Mobile Robot for Weld), a mobile robot, an innovative outdoor automation solution, designed to improve the quality, performance and well-being of operators during labor-intensive welding activities.The MR4Weld mobile robot is being tested and will be used in the Fincantieri shipyards to autonomously weld steel structures, with the possibility of increasing operations up to to 3 times compared to a manual process…

It's nearly 45 years since the tragedy on the ANCO Duke where seven crew died at the bottom of the tank they were cleaning. “I was working on chemical tankers then. All the crew felt this terrible loss of life and took on tank entries with a heightened safety focus,” says Captain Dave Watkins, Deputy Director of the confidential near-miss reporting service CHIRP Maritime. Since then, enclosed space deaths still occur, although not in the number they did.Watkins has years of experience on chemical and VLCC tankers as an officer and master…

Four mariners were rescued in dramatic fashion from a tugboat that was sinking in Sabine Pass, Texas, on Friday.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Houston-Galveston command center were notified at 5:38 a.m. that the crew of the 71-foot tug Sea Cypress hailed mayday on VHF-FM channel 13 and reported they were capsizing while moored near the mouth of the Sabine Pass channel.Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of…

The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday said it had recovered the body of one person after a vessel carrying Cuban migrants capsized off Florida's Little Torch Key, adding it rescued nine people and was searching for five others. Survivors told rescuers a total of 19 people were originally on the homemade vessel and that four people drowned immediately after it capsized, Coast Guard spokesperson Nicole Groll said. Rough seas and winds of 30 miles per hour made an already dangerous voyage more perilous, she said.

While the average person may have a little trouble placing the name Jan De Nul, as in “JDN Group”, that’s not necessarily the case throughout parts of Europe and in nautical circles. There the Belgium-based company is known for its dredging capabilities and high-profile projects in Dubai and the Suez Canal.In addition to dredging, JDN is building a reputation as a global player in its other business segments: offshore services, civil engineering, and environmental. Today, the company continues to invest heavily in all areas of the business.

A third crude tank caught fire and collapsed at Cuba's main oil terminal in Matanzas, its governor said on Monday, as an oil spill spread flames from a second tank that caught fire two days earlier in the island's biggest oil industry accident in decades.Cuba had made progress fighting off the raging flames during the weekend after drawing on help from Mexico and Venezuela, but late on Sunday the fire began spreading from the second tank, which collapsed, said Mario Sabines, governor of the Matanzas province…

Tanker owner/operator Ardmore Shipping Corporation on Wednesday announced the planned departure of its current chief financial officer Paul Tivnan and appointment of new CFO Bart Kelleher, effective September 28, 2022.Anthony Gurnee, Ardmore's chief executive officer, said, Kelleher and Tivnan will overlap and work together from September 1 to "achieve an orderly and well-planned transition".Kelleher brings to the role more than 25 years of progressive experience in the maritime, finance, energy and industrials sectors, having most recently served as chief executive officer of Chembulk Tankers. He previously served as both Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the firm, and prior to that, was the chief operating officer of Principal Maritime Management.

Jeff Chittim, ESAB’s North American Senior Product Manager for Heavy Industrial Products, discusses how WeldCloud online applications and the ESAB Heavy Industrial Product Line are a powerful tandem to help shipyards improve weld quality and efficiency.While automation has gone a long way in making shipyards more efficient, today shipbuilding remains a hands-on endeavor, with a dearth of ‘welders and fitters’ being a common lament.Technology companies such as ESAB, a global supplier of welding and cutting solutions across industries…

Savannah-based Colonial Group Inc. has announced a new era of leadership as it prepares to mark a major milestone in the company’s history in 2021.Christian B. Demere (Demere) has been named chief executive officer, succeeding his father, Robert H. Demere, Jr. (Demere Jr.), who had been in the position since 1986. Colonial Group has continued to operate as a privately held business since 1921 through the chairmanships of its founder, Raymond Demere; his son, Robert H. Demere Sr.; and Robert’s son, Demere Jr.“The time has come to pass the torch to the fourth generation,” said Demere Jr.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to restore Britain’s navy to its position as Europe’s most powerful maritime force on Thursday, highlighting that shipbuilding could also help heal divisions between the four nations of the United Kingdom.With repeated polls suggesting most people in Scotland now support independence, Johnson was keen to press the case for how England and Scotland can work together.He announced plans for 13 more frigates as well as committing to a new generation of warships…

The secretary-general and chief executive of BIMCO, Angus Frew  is stepping down for personal reasons. BIMCO expects have found a replacement by the end of this year.Angus Frew has announced he will step down in the summer of 2020, as he wishes to spend more time in the UK and less time working.“In six successful years, Angus has moved BIMCO to the forefront of the shipping industry and made sure our members’ opinions and positions are listened to at the highest levels of government. He will leave an organisation very well prepared to deal with the challenges the industry will face in the coming years,” says Sadan Kaptanoglu, President of BIMCO.Under Angus Frew’s leadership, BIMCO has strengthened its brand and member focus significantly.

esterday at Fincantieri’s shipyard, in Palermo, Italy, Christopher Prelog, Vice President of Fleet Operations for Seattle-based Windstar Cruises, activated the torch to make the first cut in the new steel that will become the newly constructed mid-section of the company’s new ship MS Star Legend. This is the second of three new mid-ship sections being designed and constructed as part of Windstar’s $250 million Star Plus Initiative which aimsto expand and transform the line’s three Star-class vessels.“This is a momentous day for Windstar as we reach another major milestone,” said Prelog.

After reopening its idle barge manufacturing operations earlier this year, Arcosa Marine’s Madisonville, LA, facility launched its first barge on July 25 to a welcoming crowd from the banks of the Tchefuncte River.The tank barge, E2MS 314, constructed for the family owned and operated E Squared Marine Service, LLC (E Squared), was christened by Kevin Morley of Frost Bank, after which Arcosa Inc. president, Thomas Faherty, addressed the crowd. “We are honored by E Squared’s continued trust in Arcosa Marine to deliver the highest quality inland barges to their fleet,” said Faherty.

HGG’S new UPC 450 Ship Profiler is designed to increase cutting and prefabrication productivity by eliminating the need to cut ship stiffeners and spools by hand. HGG production automation combines ship stiffener cutting, 3D profile cutting with optional tube cutting.The HGG UPC 450 Ship Profiler offers full process cutting integration through the HGG ProCAM Software Suite, integrating thermal cutting HGG ProCAD design, HGG ProGRAM work preparation coordination, and HGG’s internationally recognized 3D plasma cutting intelligence.

Two yard workers have died and five others were severely injured yesterday (May 15) in a major explosion on board beached vessel at a shipbreaking yard in Chittagong, Bangladesh, said the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.At around 8:30 AM, a fire broke out on board the vessel BUNGA KELANA 4, beached at Mahinur Ship Breaking yard, also known as Premium Trade Corporation. The flames spread from abandoned waste oil located close to the engine room where workers were torch-cutting steel parts. Mohammod Rubel, 25 years old cutter man, lost his life in the accident. He died on his way to the hospital. Hamidul Islam’s dead body was found on the ship several hours after the explosion.

Today at Fincantieri’s Arsenale Triestino San Marco shipyard, in Trieste, Italy, first steel was cut for the first of three new ships sections as part of Windstar Cruises’s $250 million vessel overhaul program.Windstar’s Star Plus Initiative is a complex and comprehensive small ship lengthening, engine replacement and renovation project that will see the owner renovate half of its fleet in succession. Star Breeze, Star Legend and Star Pride will be cut in half to allow the installation of a new stepped mid-body section that will lengthen each vessel by approximately 25 meters.

IMO’s 2050 deadline to reduce GHG emissions 50% from 2008 levels has set off a gold rush to develop Zero Emissions SolutionsClimate change is the biggest issue facing [all aspects of] the maritime industry, said Kitak Lim, IMO secretary general, in an interview earlier this year with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News. He predicted that shipping could experience as much change in the next 10 to 20 years as it has in the last 100 years, as the industry races to meet a number of challenges…

Belgian dredging, environmental and marine engineering group Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering NV (DEME)'s Board of Directors announced that with effect from January 1, 2019 Luc Vandenbulcke will succeed Alain Bernard as the company’s CEO.Bernard started working for the group in 1980 and has been CEO of DEME since 2006. Over the past 12 years he transformed the group from a purely dredging organization into a diversified marine engineering group with operations worldwide.Under his leadership sales figures increased from €1.1 billion to €2.4 billion (2017), while DEME’s fleet became one of the most innovative and diverse in the industry.Luc Vandenbulcke (KU Leuven, civil engineer) has worked at DEME Group for the past 21 years.

Peter Kim was a new graduate of UBC’s Electrical Engineering program when he saw a posting for an exciting job at Seaspan Shipyards. Even though he did not quite meet the experience requirements for the position – “they were looking for someone with five plus years, I had two years as a co-op student,” laughs Peter – he decided to apply anyway. Long story short, he got the job; is closing in on four years at Seaspan as a Junior Production Engineer; and, it’s fair to say that neither Peter nor Seaspan have looked back.Peter has barely seen the time go by.

The Fohnsdorf Training Center is located in Styria, Austria. To train welders, it uses a virtual welding system – the Virtual Welding simulator from Fronius, the Austrian technology leader. The simulator employs a virtual trainer to provide 1:1 training for the center’s students, an approach that has a positive impact on training quality.A young student carefully guides the welding torch. The weaving motions she makes as she welds the single-V butt weld in front of her appear very composed, an impression that is confirmed by the consistently positive feedback from her trainer.

Louisiana-based shipbuilder eliminates preheat and saves time with Dynasty 400 TIG welders.As a well-known shipbuilder specializing in the design and production of vessels, Metal Shark Boats doesn’t shy away from tackling tough and diverse jobs. It’s a philosophy that has fueled the company’s growth from small shop to major industry player.Launched more than three decades ago as a small family-owned operation crafting custom fishing boats, the transition to Metal Shark Boats began…