B Dock News

At the head of the U.S.’ largest ferry system is Steve Nevey, Deputy Secretary, Washington State Ferry (WSF), which is engaged in a historic modernization to a hybrid-electric fleet. Nevey gives a candid look inside problems during the Wenatchee conversion, with insights on the hybrid electric direction and pace for newbuilds at Eastern Shipbuilding.Steve Nevey did not stumble into maritime. He was raised in it, shaped by it, and by most accounts destined for it. Born in the UK, Nevey grew up in a naval household.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published an assessment of the February 2025 tow rope incident onboard the tug Svitzer Avon.At approximately 1954 on 4 February 2025, the UK registered tugs Svitzer Avon and Svitzer Brunel left the lock at Royal Portbury Dock, Bristol, England to meet the car carrier Auto Eco in the King Road approaches to the lock. Auto Eco had a pilot embarked for the entry into port and was to employ both tugs for a ship assist move into…

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) identified a safety concern after a prototype component used in a mechanical shaft-seal system failed onboard a USCG inspected deep draft vessel.On February 19, 2025, a U.S. flagged crude-oil tanker transiting near Delaware Bay experienced simultaneous failures of its port and starboard shaft seals, resulting in substantial seawater ingress.The crew deployed emergency collars supplied by the seal manufacturer and used the vessel’s emergency bilge system…

LPG, petrochemicals and speciality gas transportation company BW Epic Kosan (BWEK) has partnered with GIT Coatings to advance proactive hull management across selected vessels in its LPG fleet, with five LPG gas carriers coated to date (one more in dry dock) using GIT’s biocide-free graphene-based hull coating technology.The partnership follows strong results from BWEK’s adoption of GIT’s hard foul-release coating, proactive cleaning using onboard robotic cleaning technology and dedicated advisory support.

Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine partners with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) by supplying high-performance, MIL-Spec-approved coatings for a variety of platforms such as aircraft carriers, submarines, armored vehicles and aircraft. Through decades of collaboration with Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), public and private naval shipyards and contractors, Sherwin-Williams provides corrosion-resistant technologies, technical service support and reliable global distribution that extends vessel service life and lowers total ownership costs.

Captain Chris Welch of Kennebunk, Maine, is catching fewer lobsters this spring because spiking diesel prices have made it too costly to take out his fishing boat as often as he normally would.Instead of checking and re-baiting his traps every four or five days to collect the valuable crustaceans, he's doing so every seven to 10 days to conserve fuel."It cuts into your profitability at the end of the day," Welch said after fueling his vessel, Quality Time, on a rainy day at Kennebunk's harbor.

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a setback on Thursday to four American cruise operators that contested $440 million in combined judgments after being accused of unlawfully using docks in Cuba that were seized in 1959 by former leader Fidel Castro's communist government.The justices, in an 8-1 ruling, set aside a lower court's decision to throw out the judgments against Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean Cruises and MSC Cruises. The cruise operators were sued by a U.S.

American Cruise Lines has announced that new riverboat American Encore was christened in Lewiston, Idaho on May 12th. The boat’s inaugural 9-Day Columbia & Snake Rivers cruise departed from Stevenson, Washington on May 6th with guests also enjoying an included hotel stay in Portland, Oregon on May 5th.Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who represented Eastern Washington and the Snake River in Congress for twenty years, was named American Encore’s Godmother. Ms. Rodgers was joined on the ship’s top deck for the ceremonial blessing and bottle smash by cruise guests…

Drive into Corpus Christi and you can feel the paradox that defines many port cities: the waterfront is everywhere, yet the maritime business that powers the place is easy to miss — until you look past the horizon of tanks, docks, and ship traffic and realize you’re staring at one of the world’s most consequential energy gateways.By volume, the Port of Corpus Christi has become a central export valve for U.S. crude oil and a fast-rising platform for LNG — an industrial ecosystem that has grown at a pace few ports can match.

The hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius was due to dock in Rotterdam on Monday morning for disinfection, with Dutch authorities preparing quarantine arrangements for the 25 crew members and two medical staff remaining on board.Local authorities said quarantine facilities had been set up for some of the non-Dutch crew, though it was not clear yet if they would stay there for the full recommended 42-day quarantine period.The Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship had been carrying around…

Anemoi Marine Technologies’ Rotor Sail wind-assisted propulsion system has completed more than eight years of continuous commercial operation after M/V Afros successfully passed its second intermediate dry dock survey.The survey, conducted by Lloyd’s Register in China in April, confirmed the structural integrity and operational condition of the vessel’s four Rotor Sails, Anemoi said.The 64,000-deadweight-tonne Ultramax bulk carrier Afros became the first bulk carrier fitted with Rotor Sails when the system was installed in 2018.According to Anemoi…

How Electrostatic Technology Moves from Experiment to Reality Shipyards face mounting pressure to align with the maritime industry’s decarbonization goals. As vessel owners and operators explore alternative fuels, better hull designs and route optimization to cut emissions, shipyards reevaluate their own practices to keep pace. One area of focus includes the coatings application. Among emerging innovations, electrostatic spraying is now gaining traction in global marine projects.Unlike traditional airless spraying…

Ferries are typically designed to operate very close to population centers, contributing to urban pollution while also creating an ideal opportunity for significant in-harbor emissions reduction.Internationally, the world is seeing an imbalance of efforts to develop and implement sustainable solutions in the maritime industry. More specific to ferry electrification and decarbonization, Europe is at the forefront of the effort, while the United States is lagging behind.While ferries present an opportunity for emissions reduction…

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has demonstrated autonomous docking, charging and redeployment capabilities for its WAM-V autonomous surface vehicle as part of efforts to support longer-duration offshore operations.The company said the system enables the maritime drone to approach a dock, secure itself, recharge and return to operation without human intervention.OPT is preparing the technology for integration with its PowerBuoy platform to create offshore charging points capable…

The arrival this weekend of a cruise ship hit by an outbreak of hantavirus is reviving memories for residents of Spain's Canary Islands of the quarantines they experienced during the Covid pandemic.The MV Hondius, carrying 150 people, is expected to reach Tenerife on Saturday, where it will dock after Spain agreed to requests from the World Health Organization to receive it despite protests from the local government.The archipelago was one of the first places in Europe to undergo quarantines during the early days of the pandemic.

A luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak and marooned since Sunday off the coast of Cape Verde was set to leave for Spain on Wednesday after three people, two of them seriously ill, were evacuated.The MV Hondius, with nearly 150 people on board, is expected to dock in Spain's Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, within three days, Spain's health minister said, adding that those still on board were not presenting any symptoms of the disease.Once in Tenerife, if they are still healthy…

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would briefly pause an operation to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing progress toward a comprehensive agreement with Iran."We have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom ... will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump wrote on social media.There was no immediate reaction from Tehran, where it was very early on Wednesday morning.Only hours earlier, U.S.

Medics were working on Monday to evacuate two people with symptoms of the deadly hantavirus after a suspected outbreak on a luxury cruise ship held off West Africa carrying mostly British, American and Spanish passengers, officials said.Around 150 people were still stuck on the vessel after three people - a Dutch couple and a German national - died, and others fell ill, including a Briton who left the vessel and was being treated in South Africa, authorities added.Hantavirus, which can cause fatal respiratory illness, can be spread when particles from rodent droppings or urine become airborne.

C&C Marine and Repair, the full-service shipyard located on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, announced it has surpassed 700 barges blasted at its patented Robotic Blast and Paint Facility.Since opening in November 2018, the 83,350-square-foot, fully enclosed and climate-controlled facility has operated day and night, year-round, processing hopper barges, deck barges, and 10,000- and 30,000-barrel tank barges for customers across the inland marine industry.The facility's three fully automated blasting robots…

Israel risks a diplomatic and legal response from Kyiv if it allows a vessel carrying grain from Russian-occupied Ukraine to dock at the port of Haifa, a Ukrainian diplomatic source told Reuters on Monday.Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported earlier that the vessel Panormitis, which it said was carrying grain from occupied Ukrainian territory that Kyiv regards as stolen, was waiting for permission to berth in Haifa."If this ship and its cargo isn't rejected, we reserve the right to deploy a full suite of diplomatic and international legal responses," the Ukrainian source said on condition of an

U.S. import prices increased less than expected in March, though the trend still pointed to firming imported inflationary pressures as the Middle East conflict boosts oil prices and snarls supply chains.Economists shrugged off the report from the Labor Department on Wednesday and said they expected the oil price surge from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran to show in April's import price data."The less-than-expected increase in import prices most likely reflects timing differences between when the oil that entered U.S.

Maritime software company Carga has released OceanSMART 2.0, a powerful upgrade to its flagship bulk liquid cargo management platform.The release delivers dramatically faster performance, a modernized user interface and a suite of reliability improvements designed to support operational teams working in maritime logistics.OceanSMART users have reported saving as much as $1 million in demurrage costs in a single month, a testament to what the platform’s nomination-to-discharge capabilities make possible.

Continuous design refinement and incremental productivity gains — reflecting the Japanese concept of kaizen — alongside unremitting attention to contractual performance and product quality have seen the country’s shipbuilders maintain a high profile in certain sectors of the commercial vessel market.The industry’s scale, reach and financial returns, though, have suffered from the onslaught of competition from its Asian counterparts, most notably China and South Korea, both of whom the Japanese contend benefit from both overt and covert state financial intervention.By the measure of output…