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American Merchant News

21 Feb 2024

ARC Keeps the Cargo Rolling

Flags on M/V ARC Defender.
Image courtesy ARC

With a fleet of nine U.S.-flag RoRo ships, American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group (ARC), is the U.S.’ premier commercial RoRo carrier of U.S. government and military cargo. As the world becomes an increasingly contentious place, Eric P. Ebeling, President & CEO, ARC, discusses the vast capabilities of the ARC fleet and logistics network, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead for U.S.-flag ships in the international trade.By the numbers’ is a simplistic means to gauge the size and shape of any shipping company…

05 Feb 2024

ARC Adds Ninth US-flag RoRo Vessel to Its Fleet

(Photo: ARC)

American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group Inc. (ARC) added ARC Honor as the ninth American flag roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessel to its fleet.“This tremendously capable and flexible U.S.-flag ship is crewed by American merchant mariners and now operates in ARC’s global network supporting America’s national defense and economic security through trade,” said Eric Ebeling, ARC President & CEO. The vessel is ARC’s fourth large car/truck carrier (LCTC) vessel.The former Tulane was re-flagged to American registry and re-named the ARC Honor on February 2, 2024.

31 Jan 2024

Houthis Say They Targeted US Merchant Vessel

© Genya / Adobe Stock

Yemen's Houthis on Wednesday said their naval forces carried out an operation targeting an "American merchant ship" in the Gulf of Aden hours after firing missiles at U.S. Navy destroyer Gravely.They targeted the "American merchant ship KOI ... with several appropriate naval missiles," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement.The Liberian-flagged container ship Koi is operated by UK-based Oceonix Services. The company's fleet includes the oil tanker Marlin Luanda…

17 Oct 2023

US Bolsters Its Sealift and Tanker Support Fleets

The United States has bolstered its fleet of U.S.-flagged sustainment sealift vessels and product tankers to support the Department of Defense (DoD) during times of armed conflict or national emergency.The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) in recent months has been building up fleets of commercial vessels under its Maritime Security Program (MSP) and Tanker Security Program (TSP), and on Tuesday it announced full enrollment in each.The newly selected MSP vessels Liberty Power and Tulane operate under Liberty Global Logistics, LLC of Lake Success, N.Y. and American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group Inc.'s (ARC) shipowning component Fidelio Limited Partnership of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., respectively.

22 May 2023

US Celebrates National Maritime Day

Source: American Maritime Partnership: Florida Commerce Secretary Laura DiBella was joined by representatives from the American Maritime Partnership, Florida Maritime Partnership, JAXPORT, Crowley and TOTE to celebrate National Maritime Day in Jacksonville, FL.

Each year on May 22 the US celebrates National Maritime Day. May 22 was declared National Maritime Day in 1933 to honor the SS Savannah’s departure from Georgia to England in 1819 to become the first successful steam-powered ship to successfully cross any ocean. The US Merchant Marine has been a pillar in the country’s foundation of prosperity and security. They power the world’s largest economy and strengthen ties with trading partners around the world, all while supporting our military forces by shipping troops and supplies wherever they need to go.During World War II more than 250…

15 Dec 2022

U.S. Navy: Building the Architecture Framework for New Guided Missile Frigates

An artist’s rendering of the new Constellation (FFG 62)-class guided-missile frigate. Marinette Marine Illustration. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released)

“If we desire to secure peace,” President George Washington once observed, “it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.” During the late 1790s, the U.S. government commissioned naval engineers and shipbuilders to design and build large warships capable of agile maneuvering and stowing an excess amount of weapons.With the passing of the Naval Act of 1794, Washington secured the authorization to procure the Navy’s first six frigates – a wooden-hulled, three-masted warship with either a 38 or 44-gun capability.

20 May 2021

National Maritime Day

© Lefteris Papaulakis/AdobeStock

“I hold no branch in higher esteem, than the Merchant Marine…”That is a quote from General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander of the Pacific in WWII. That one sentence sums up National Maritime Day. Inasmuch if it were not for our glorious Merchant Marine and maritime industry, we may not even have been a nation at all.National Maritime Day is the day we honor our American Merchant Mariners for protecting our freedom and for their dedication to promoting American commerce together with the accomplishments of the U.S. maritime industry.

26 Jan 2021

US Maritime Industry Praises Biden's 'Buy American' Order

President Joe Biden signs the Strengthening "Buy American" Provisions, Ensuring Future of America is Made in America by All of America’s Workers executive order (Photo: The White House)

President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order aiming to use government spending to strengthen domestic manufacturing and create markets for new technologies, in a move widely praised by America's maritime industry.The executive order, titled Strengthening "Buy American" Provisions, Ensuring Future of America is Made in America by All of America’s Workers", calls for increasing the amount of U.S. content that must be in a product for it to be considered made in America under existing "Buy American" requirements.

17 Jan 2019

Bill to Honor U.S. Merchant Mariners of WWII Introduced

Rep. John Garamendi introduced House Resolution 550, aka the Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act, in Congress Tuesday.The bill aims to award a Congressional Gold Medal to merchant mariners who served in World War II. The Gold Medal is one of the highest honors awarded in the United States.“Throughout the Second World War, our armed forces relied on the Merchant Marine to ferry supplies, cargo and personnel into both theaters of operation, and they paid a heavy price in service to their country,” said Garamendi.“The Merchant Marine suffered the highest per capita casualty rate in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II. An estimated 8,300 mariners lost their lives, and another 12,000 were wounded, to make sure our servicemembers could keep fighting.

10 Jan 2019

CAMM: A Call for Papers

Captain Jeff cowan, President, CAMM

The Council of American Master Mariners is holding its annual Professional Development Conference. CAMM has issued "a call for papers."The event takes place on 25 April 2019. Details to follow:Where: Island Palms Hotel & Marina, 2051 Shelter Island Drive in San Diego, California 92106 United StatesTheme: Who is Really in Command of the Ship?Benefits for Presenters: Presenters get one night free with meals on day of Conference. Ten minutes from San Diego Airport.For more Details…

10 Oct 2018

Lady Washington Opens for Public Visit

Tall Ship Lady Washington will be docked at Jack London Square at the foot of Broadway, Saturday and Sunday, informed a press release from Port of Oakland.Visitors can experience maritime history by taking a vessel tour for a small donation to the floating museum. There are also ticketed sailing trips on San Francisco Bay.Lady Washington was built in Aberdeen, Washington, by the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority and launched in 1989. She is a full-scale replica of the first American vessel to make landfall on the West Coast of North America in 1788 and the first American merchant ship to trade in Honolulu, Hong Kong and Japan.In 1787, after the Revolutionary War, she was given a major refit to prepare her for a unprecedented trading voyage around Cape Horn.

21 Sep 2018

USMMA to Celebrate 75th Anniversary

(Photo: USMMA)

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point (USMMA) will celebrate 75 years since initial dedication in 1943, at homecoming this weekend. Events scheduled include a 75th anniversary dinner, the season’s first home football game for the 2-0 Mariners, a parade by the Regiment of Midshipmen, and the ceremony of Beating Retreat.“We are pleased to welcome alumni classes, families and friends for a jam-packed homecoming weekend at USMMA, especially the 75th anniversary events,” said George Rhynedance…

02 Jul 2018

BOAM Charity Calls on LIBOR Chancellor for Funding

BOA Veteran Jim Rainsford, Vice Admiral Mike Gretton, and Campaign Chairman Veteran Graeme Cubbin (Photo: Polaris Publishing)

The charity behind a campaign to build a Battle of the Atlantic memorial on Liverpool’s waterfront has urged the government to support the project with money from the LIBOR bank fines fund. The Battle of the Atlantic Memorial (BOAM) campaign began fundraising in January. It hopes to secure $2.9millon to create a monument on Liverpool’s Pier Head, dedicated to the estimated 100,000 people who lost their lives during the World War Two battle, as well as those who served and survived.

08 Jan 2018

Battle of the Atlantic Memorial Planned in Liverpool

Left to right: BOA veteran Jim Rainsford, Vice Admiral Mike Gretton campaign chairman, veteran Graeme Cubbin (Photo: Battle of the Atlantic Memorial Campaign)

A fundraising campaign to build a international memorial dedicated to the estimated 100,000 people who lost their lives during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II, as well as those who served and survived, is being launched in Liverpool. The Battle of the Atlantic Memorial (BOAM), the charity leading the campaign, will stage a press call with war veterans on the Liverpool’s iconic waterfront to launch the fundraising effort to build the 28 meter monument in the shape of a merchant ship split in two.

31 Aug 2017

Sailing Ships: Ship of the Future?

The Quadriga sustainable shipping project – an initiative from Hamburg-based Sailing Cargo, aims to build the world’s biggest sailing cargo ship. (Image: Lloyd's Register)

For as long as there has been a need to transport cargo there has been a maritime industry. Throughout that history both owners and mariners have worked to devise ways of saving costs, making faster transits, and carrying more cargo. In 1819 the Steam Ship Savannah made maritime history by being the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, sounding eight bells for the traditional cargo carrying tall ship. Although that eight bell sounded for quite some time, the future of shipping arrived with Savannah. In 1911 M.S.

03 Mar 2017

MV Liberty Passion Joins US MSP Fleet

Photo: Port of Beaumont

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao welcomed the newest vessel to the Maritime Security Program (MSP) in the port of Beaumont, Texas. Renamed the M/V Liberty Passion, it is the third ship owned by Liberty Global Logistics to join the MSP fleet. “Today we are celebrating a public-private partnership that is strengthening America’s Merchant Marine, as well as America’s Armed Forces,” said Secretary Chao. “U.S.-flagged vessels are a critical component in our domestic commerce, moving $467 billion worth of goods between ports in the U.S.

01 Mar 2017

Last Port of Call for the U.S. Merchant Marine?

Part II in a two-part series, continued from the January 2017 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News. Read Part I here. If reliance on the foreign commercial market is risky because of uncertain reliability, then what of U.S. Government ownership of a fleet of vessels? That has also been on the menu since the early 20th century. President Woodrow Wilson proposed in September 1914 that the U.S. Government acquire commercial cargo vessels. Congress disagreed, which delayed enactment of the President’s proposal until the Shipping Act, 1916. A compromise was struck to permit U.S. Government ownership as a war time measure – but all vessels so acquired had to be sold to private owners within five years of the end of the war.

06 Feb 2017

Last Port of Call for the US Merchant Marine?

(Photo: © Lefteris Papaulakis / Adobe Stock)

The privately owned U.S.-flag foreign trading fleet, which is an essential component of U.S. sealift capability, stands on the edge of a precipice. The fleet – roughly stable in terms of cargo carrying capacity from 2000 to 2012 – has declined from 106 vessels in 2012 to 78 vessels at October 30, 2016 primarily because of a substantial decline in available U.S. Government-reserved cargo. The size of the fleet has reached a point where the viability of the U.S.-flag industry involved in foreign trade – including its trained mariners…

03 Jan 2017

The American Club Celebrates Its Centenary

	Joe Hughes, Chairman and CEO of the American Club’s managers, Shipowners Claims Bureau, Inc. (Photo:  American Club)

The American P&I Club was founded in New York nearly a century ago. To celebrate its first 100 years, a book entitled The American Club: A Centennial History has just been published. The book tells the story of the Club across ten decades of maritime and marine insurance history both within the United States and across the world. Its author is Richard Blodgett, a former Wall Street Journal reporter whose previous credits include histories of the New York Stock Exchange, Kohler and Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The American Club was founded in February, 1917.

31 Mar 2016

LNG Engine Set in Crowley's New ConRo Ship

Image: Crowley

The main engine has been set onto Crowley Maritime Corporation’s new vessel, El Coquí, the first of two new Commitment Class ConRo (combination container and Roll/On-Roll/Off) ships that will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) for use in the ocean cargo trade between Jacksonville and Puerto Rico. “This state-of-the-art engine technology will add efficiency while continuing to reduce impacts on the environment, one of Crowley’s top priorities,” said John Hourihan, senior vice president and general manager, Puerto Rico services.

24 Jun 2016

Admiral of the Ocean Sea Award Recipients Named

The United Seamen's Service (USS) 2016 Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards (AOTOS) will be presented to Arthur E. Imperatore, Founder and President of New York Waterways; Donald Marcus, President of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots; and Christopher Wiernicki, Chairman and CEO of American Bureau of Shipping. The maritime industry's most prestigious awards will be presented at the 47th annual gala industry dinner and dance at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, New York City, on October 28, 2016. Recognition will also be given to American seafarers for specific acts of bravery and heroism while at sea. General Kenneth Wykle…

31 Oct 2016

Wiernicki Receives Admiral of the Ocean Seas Award

Christopher J. Wiernicki (Photo: ABS)

ABS Chairman, President and CEO, Christopher J. Wiernicki, was honored for his contributions to the maritime industry by the United Seamen’s Service (USS) as a recipient of the Admiral of the Ocean Seas Award on October  28, 2016 in New York. “I am humbled to accept this award, not for me, but rather on behalf of the more than 5,000 worldwide employees of ABS and the 1.5 million mariners who day in and day out keep this industry moving and our global economy expanding,” Wiernicki said. The award is conferred on those who have made noteworthy contributions to the maritime industry.

04 Nov 2016

Three Maritime Leaders Receive United Seamen's Awards

Arthur E. Imperatore, Founder and President of New York Waterways; Captain Donald Marcus, International President of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots; and Christopher Wiernicki, Chairman, President and CEO of the American Bureau of Shipping, were recipients of the maritime industry's most prestigious Admiral of the Ocean Sea awards presented at the 47th annual United Seamen's Service gala industry dinner and dance October 28, 2016. The event was held at the at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, New York City. Recognition was also given to American seafarers for specific acts of bravery and heroism while at sea. (See separate news release).