Alto News

U.S. Army Mariners assigned to 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) aboard the LCU 2032 Palo Alto rescued an overboard fisherman 10 miles off the western coast of Obi Island, Indonesia Sept. 1, 2023.Sgt. Seth Leonard, a watercraft engineer, was on the bridge of the ship when he observed the typical calm waters in the path of the ship were more active than usual.“I noticed what looked like someone waving their arms, which is the signal for distress in water,” said Leonard.

Palo Alto, Calif. based AI shipping optimization company Bearing announced it has appointed Jim Daly as chief operating officer.“We’re excited to have Jim on board as we steer the maritime shipping industry toward more sustainable operations with our AI-driven solutions,” said Dylan Keil, CEO and co-founder of Bearing. “He understands the importance of our mission and he’ll be an integral part of our leadership team, helping us scale and create impactful technology to make maritime…

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation, the largest provider of dredging services in the United States, announced the receipt of several major dredging awards totaling $138.8 million.The awarded work includes Trujillo Alto Design and Build for the Lago Loiza (Carraízo) Dredging Project (Maintenance, Puerto Rico, $93.1 million); Townsends Inlet to Cape May Inlet Project (Coastal Protection, New Jersey, $28.8 million); Palm Beach Harbor Maintenance Dredging Project (Maintenance, Florida…

Gustavo Alcides Diaz, an Argentine fisherman and hunter from a river island community, is at home on the water. The Parana River once lapped the banks near his wooden stilt home that he could reach by boat. Fish gave him food and income. He purified river water to drink.Now the 40-year-old looks out on a trickle of muddy water.The Parana, South America's second-largest river behind only the Amazon, has retreated this year to its lowest level since its record low in 1944, hit by cyclical droughts and dwindling rainfall upriver in Brazil.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is embarking on a new chapter in its ocean research with the construction of a state-of-the-art ship, a vessel named in honor of MBARI’s founder, David Packard. The R/V David Packard will be capable of accommodating diverse expeditions in Monterey Bay and beyond to further the institute’s mission to explore and understand our changing ocean.It will measure 50 x 12.8 m with a 3.7 m draft, designed to  support a crew of 12, plus a science crew of 18.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Air National Guard completed a four-day, long-range, joint rescue mission to medevac a critically injured 39-year-old man aboard a cargo ship located approximately 1,300 miles west of San Francisco, Friday.The Hong-Kong-flagged bulk carrier Ocean Applaud contacted 11th Coast Guard District command center watchstanders Monday regarding a crewmember who reportedly fell 30 feet while working on the vessel.Due to the limited offshore range of Coast Guard aircraft…

An injured crewmember aboard a Taiwanese flagged containership was medevaced approximately six miles from the San Francisco Bay, Friday evening, the U.S. Coast Guard said.San Francisco Vessel Traffic Service personnel contacted Coast Guard Sector San Francisco watchstanders, reporting a crewmember of the 1,092-foot containership Yang Ming Unanimity had fallen and struck his head on the ship’s radar mast creating a laceration on his forehead as the ship was making its way toward…

While the task to name only five 'Top' yachts of the year, Maritime Reporter & Engineering News' Lisa Overing gives it her best shot in the January 2019 edition.M/Y TIS: “Size Matters”The age-old question of whether or not size matters is typically directed at men. However, since a ship is called she, Maritime Reporter’s top spot for greatest yacht of 2018 is the class of 2018’s largest launch, M/Y TIS, a 111-meter, six-deck superyacht by Lürssen with exterior styling and interior design by Winch Design.In spite of her massive size…

Grant “Twiggy” Baker (ZAF) claimed victory today at the Puerto Escondido Challenge, besting a field of 24 of the world’s best big wave surfers in towering 20-to-35 foot surf off the coast of Mainland Mexico’s Puerto Escondido. The first event of the 2016/17 World Surf League (WSL) Big Wave Tour (BWT), the Puerto Escondido Challenge, tested the top big wave chargers with enormous and difficult beachbreak conditions. Baker, 2013/14 BWT Champion, put on a stunning performance in Mexico, storming to victory in the Semifinals before his impressive showing in the Final. “Yesterday was pretty difficult out there so I didn’t have a great heat but I made it through,” said Baker. The South African showcased technical and precise surfing throughout the Final.

On April 6, Mammoet, a service provider specializing in engineered heavy lifting and transport, completed a load-out of the first set of four modules bound for the FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) P66 vessel. This is the first of eight FPSOs currently under construction for oil production in Brazil. The end client, TUPI BV, is a consortium composed of Petrobras Netherlands BV (PNBV, 65 percent), the British Gas Group (BG Group, 25 percent) and Galp Energia S.A. (10 percent), working on the ongoing development of the Lula Alto field, located in the Santos Basin, Brazil.

As the aftershocks from a massive 8.2 magnitude quake that rattled northern Chile entered a third day, basic services were still out in the port city Iquique nearest the epicenter and residents fearful of tsunamis were fleeing into the hills. Iquique, an important port for freight travelling between Asia and South America, is shut for now. Even when ships are allowed to resume docking, it may struggle with a labor shortage, as many of its workers are holed up in Alto Hospicio, the port head told Reuters on Thursday.

A tsunami early warning was announced at 18:16 hours on Sunday, in the regions of Arica and Parinacota, Iquique and Antofagasta. According to pointing SHOA, the odds of a minor tsunami occurs between the towns of Arica and Tocopilla in mainland Spain, reports BioBio Chile. Citilng information from The National Seismological Centre, University of Chile, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake was recorded, with epicenter located 75 kilometers Southwest of Pisagua, and a depth of 20.6 kilometers. Meanwhile Onemi reported the following on the Mercalli intensity scale.

There has been a significant increase in shipyard construction in Brazil in yards large and small alike. Maritime Reporter’s Contributing Editor in Brazil visited Brasa Shipyard in Rio de Janeiro and spoke to Philippe Levy, Country Manager for SBM Offshore, who is one of the yard directors. Brasa Shipyard is building FPSO deck modules for integration onto FPSO hulls. “Brasa shipyard was created by Synergy and SBM in order to simplify FPSO module integration for FPSOs leased to Petrobras for pre-salt oil production,” said Philippe Levy, Country Manager for SBM. Since Brasa shipyard is located in the city of Niterói, across Guanabara Bay from the city of Rio de Janeiro, SNV managed to resolve three major bottlenecks at the same location.

Hong Kong headquartered FP Marine Risks provides insurance program to INTTRA network members via INTTRA's e-commerce platform. Leveraging the buying power of the INTTRA network, INTTRA members can elect to purchase cargo insurance at competitive rates during the shipping process through Alto, FP Marine Risks’ online insurance platform. Effective immediately, shippers can click a link to request a quote from FP Marine Risks through the INTTRA platform, embedding the ability to purchase cargo insurance into their shipping workflow – automating and streamlining the insurance buying process and eliminating duplicate, error-prone data entry. Insurance certificates are issued online and serviced by Lloyd’s of London broker FP Marine Risks.

Petrobras announce negotiations are under way to contract 2 Floating Production & Storage Units (FPSO's) for connection to wells in the Santos Basin. Petrobras and its partners in Block BM-S-11, BG E&P Brasil and Petrogal Brasil, announce negotiations are under way for the contracting with consortium QGOG/SBM (Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás S.A./ SBM Offshore) of two FPSOs for production development at Lula Alto and Lula Central, in Lula Field, in the pre-salt cluster of Santos Basin. Each FPSO will be connected to 18 wells, 10 of which are production wells and 8 injectors. Production is expected to begin in January 2016 at Lula Alto and in March 2016 at Lula Central. Each FPSO will have a processing capacity of 150,000 bpd of oil and 6,000,000 m3/day of natural gas.

AVEVA (LSE:AVV), has announced it has opened a new office in Helsinki, Finland to support its growing presence in the country and to maximise business opportunities in the power generation industry. The office will offer sales and support for all AVEVA’s products and solutions in both the plant and marine sectors. “AVEVA already has a strong position in the Finnish market so we understand that the demands from these customers are different than those from the other Nordic countries”, Helmut Schuller, Senior Vice President- Central and North EMEA, AVEVA. “This expansion will allow us to address the unique market requirements in Finland by offering local service and support capabilities, as well as strengthening our presence across the Northern European region.

Feds Approve California Sewage Ban and Create Largest Coastal No-Discharge Zone in the Nation. Federal action is unprecedented in geographical scope, will prohibit the discharge of more than 22 million gallons of treated vessel sewage to shorelines and shallow waters in Calif. each year. U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld will today sign a rule that will finalize EPA’s decision and approve a state proposal to ban all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and most other large ocean-going ships to state marine waters along California’s 1,624 mile coast from Mexico to Oregon and surrounding major islands. Today’s action establishes a new federal regulation banning even treated sewage from being discharged in California’s marine waters.

1939-President Roosevelt directed the enlistment of 2,000 new Coast Guardsmen and opened two new training stations. 1947-The U.S. Air Force was formed as a separate military service.  Happy Birthday Air Force!  The Air Force's motto is: "Uno Ab Alto" (One over all). 1989- Hurricane Hugo hit Puerto Rico and eventually made landfall at Charleston, South Carolina, on the 21st.  Coast Guard units conducted search and rescue as well as relief operations. (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

Brenntag announces the signing of a Pan-European distribution agreement with Genencor International, Palo Alto, Calif. Brenntag is established as distributor in most European countries for a variety of Genencor enzyme products. The contract is scheduled at least for 5 years. Genencor’s products are an extension of Brenntag’s product range and will strengthen the company’s position in various market sectors, such as water treatment, food, alcoholic beverages, leather and paper industries. Brenntag’s extensive range of quality products, combined with technology and market expertise, makes the company a unique partner in product development and process improvement.

Inmarsat’s new Fleet F55 service is undergoing evaluation with the U.S. Coast Guard aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Shearwater. The evaluation follows extensive beta testing and successful launch of the Fleet F55 service in April 2003, and forms part of the company ' s 2003 Maritime Field Evaluations (MFEs) program for the service. As part of the evaluation with the U.S. Coast Guard, an EMS Technologies Fleet F55 terminal has been installed on the USCG Shearwater, an 87-foot Island Class coastal patrol vessel based out of Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. Airtime provision for the evaluation is being provided by Telenor Satellite Services, Inc. " The MFE being conducted with the U.S.

Stolt Offshore S.A. accounting adjustments. The adjustments have a positive impact on the Company's net income of $1.4 million. $333.4 million. on net operating revenue of $627.5 million. overstatement of net income in the second quarter. The second adjustment relates to the elimination of a 1998 provision for a tax liability of $3.2 million. This tax liability was proved to be unnecessary following the receipt of an assessment letter from the relevant tax authority.

Stolt Offshore reported that, following the TotalFinaElf announcement of first oil production from the Girassol field, that a major milestone had been reached on this unique field development on which Stolt Offshore has been working for four years. The operator of the field is TotalFinaElf with a 40 percent interest. Other partners are Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited (20 percent), BP (16.67 percent), Statoil (13.3 percent) and Norsk Hydro (10 percent). Girassol is being developed under a production sharing agreement with Sonangol, the national oil company of Angola. Stolt Offshore has been involved in two parts of the development.

The Italian Trade Commission and the Liguria Region are sponsoring an event in La Spezia to facilitate and create collaborations and partnerships between universities, companies, research centers, and other stakeholders in the maritime field. Seafuture will host engineers, designers, manufacturers and distributors of sea-related equipment and technology. The event will feature a number of thematic and technical seminars, forums, and meetings aimed at sharing up-to-date information and data under all institutional, technical and scientific aspects. •    Eco-compatible solutions for ports, ship and coastal areas. Security and control management of anthropogenic activities. Management, control & prevention of high-risk operations, man-caused extreme natural events.