Blockbuster News

The first fatal accident aboard a deep-sea tourist submersible is certain to raise calls for additional safety regulations, but industry experts say any new measures may be impossible to enforce given the international nature of the business.Moreover, they say the tragedy of the Titan submersible that imploded during its expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic was an outlier, given that the maker of the vessel opted against certifying the vessel, defying industry convention.All five people aboard the Titan…

The five people aboard a missing submersible are thought to be dead, according to the company that owns the vessel, bringing a grim end on Thursday to the massive search for the vessel that was lost during a voyage to the Titanic."These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans," OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement. "Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families…

Search teams detected underwater sounds while scanning the North Atlantic for a tourist submersible that vanished with five people aboard during a deep-sea voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard said early on Wednesday.The detection of the sounds by Canadian aircraft on Tuesday, day three of the search, was reported by the Coast Guard as the clock ticked down to the last 24 hours of the missing craft's presumed oxygen supply.Robotic undersea search operations were diverted to the area where the sounds seemed to originate…

Rescuers were in a race against time to find a missing submersible on Tuesday, two days after it lost communication while taking wealthy tourists to see the wreckage of the Titanic in deep waters off Canada's coast.One pilot and four passengers were on board the submersible that disappeared on Sunday. The operating company said it had the capacity to stay underwater for up to 96 hours - giving those aboard until early on Thursday before air ran out.U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral…

A submarine on a tourism expedition to explore the wreckage of the Titanic has gone missing off the coast of southeastern Canada, according to the private company that operates the vessel and the U.S. Coast Guard.OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement on Monday that it was "mobilizing all options" to rescue those on the underwater vessel, which typically has five people on board.British billionaire Hamish Harding is among the passengers, according to a social media post from a relative.The Coast Guard said on Twitter that a boat on the surface…

The inland waterway system, flowing through the United States heartland, is a microcosm of all that has been happening in 2020: trade tensions, infrastructure issues, shifting trends in fuel consumption and the pandemic that has gripped us since the winter months. Shortly after the initial coronavirus outbreak here in the U.S., maritime workers were deemed to be “essential”, paving the way for cargo flows to recover from their springtime nadir. As COVID-19 infections turned up on U.S. shores, the boats continued plying the waterways, albeit with reduced volumes in some cases.

Japan's biggest shipbuilders Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United (JMU) have formalized their business alliance by agreeing to enter into a capital tie-up amid blockbuster mergers in South Korea and China.According to Jiji Press, with the alliance, the shipbuilders aim to strengthen their international competitiveness at a time when South Korean and Chinese rivals are going through major realignment to grow stronger.Under the basic deal Imabari Shipbuilding plans to buy a nearly 30 pct stake in JMU via a shares purchase. The duo plans to finalize the agreement within the 2019 fiscal year, ending in March 2020.The partners will establish a new company that will design, build and market commercial vessels, including tankers, cargo ships and vehicle carriers.

ITC Global, a provider of satellite communications to remote and harsh environments, has announced its three-year contract extension with Youth With A Mission Medical Ships Australia, Ltd (YWAM MSA). Under terms of the agreement, ITC Global will provide critical connectivity services to the nonprofit’s medical ship serving the Papua New Guinea (PNG) region, along with new crew welfare services for staff leisure use not previously available to the YWAM team. The all-volunteer-operated vessel based in Townsville…

A two-year project to dismantle and recycle the decommissioned U.S. Navy vessel USS Ranger (CV-61) has recently concluded. Ordered in 1954 and commissioned in 1957, the Ranger was the first U.S. carrier vessel built as an angled-deck ship from inception. She served in the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, and earned 13 battle stars for her service in the Vietnam War. During her 37 years of service, she also appeared in blockbuster films such as Top Gun and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:ENT) has expanded its portfolio of live programming delivered by satellite to cruise ships with the addition of new channels for crew members from India and the Philippines. Global Eagle is now delivering TV programs from Viacom 18 Colors and the ABS-CBN Filipino channels. Known for its popular drama series and blockbuster reality TV programs, Colors has become a Hindi-language cultural touchstone. It is a part of Viacom 18 Media, one of India’s fastest-growing entertainment networks. The Filipino Channel (TFC) features a broad range of drama, comedy, reality TV shows, entertainment news, game shows, current affairs, feature films and talk shows from the Philippines’ leading channel ABS-CBN.

Debt-laden Farstad Shipping gets lifeline; billionaires Fredriksen and Roekke join forces. Hit by the oil industry recession, Norwegian offshore service vessel (OSV) operators Farstad Shipping, Deep Sea Supply and Solstad Offshore announced plans to merge on Monday to counter the downturn. Under the deal Farstad is to complete a financial restructuring via a debt-for-equity swap and new share issue, and will then be merged with Deep Sea Supply and Solstad Offshore, controlled by Norwegian billionaires John Fredriksen and Kjell Inge Roekke respectively. With a combined fleet of 154 ships, the new combined company, Solstad Farstad, will be the biggest owner of large vessels in the supply…

A Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) historian has recently uncovered information that sheds new light on the loss of the World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA 35). In the final days of the war, Indianapolis completed a top secret mission to deliver components of the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima to U.S. forces in theater. After dropping those components off at Tinian in the Marianas Islands, Indianapolis headed to Leyte, an island in the Philippines, when it was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine just after midnight July 30, 1945.

As glacier melt in the Arctic continues to accelerate, the foot of the Atlantic's most powerful ocean current keeps pressing harder and harder on the brake pedal, resulting in the weakest Gulf Stream in the last 1,000 years. The slowing Gulf Stream water currents is threatening shifts in U.S. and European weather, as well as coastal sea levels including in New York and Boston. The cooling above the Northern Atlantic would only slightly reduce the continued warming of the continents. The scientists certainly do not expect a new ice age, thus the imagery of the ten-year-old Hollywood blockbuster ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ is far from reality. However, it is well established that a large, even gradual change in Atlantic Ocean circulation could have major negative effects.

One doesn’t usually think about cranes when talking about dredging, but cranes form a big part of the niche business. And, even though Indusign/E-Crane Worldwide has over 200 cranes in operation since Lieven Bauwens and Geert Watteeuw partnered up over 20 years ago, they are perhaps not that well known in dredging circles on this side of the pond. The Belgian company has tons (pun intended) of experience engineering their balance cranes. During that time, their equilibrium crane has more than proven itself in the scrap industry…

Disney Ship is “Frozen” in Alaska. Nay...The ships are not really stuck — being “Frozen” is all about Disney’s blockbuster movie and it’s now spreading to the ships especially, the ones going to Alaska and Europe. Disney will offer brand-new experiences inspired by the film on select Disney Cruise Line voyages in mid-2015. Frozen film enthusiasts will have the opportunity to embark on an entire cruise inspired by the movie. Disney Cruise Lines have just announced that they will offer an immersive experience - including a deck party, three-song stage show and character meet and greets - on board select Disney Magic and Disney Wonder sailings.

Norway’s Alu Design is set to make its Hollywood debut in the latest Transformers blockbuster, with the news that its MH OCH 300 operator chair has secured a role in Paramount Pictures’ Transformers: Age of Extinction. The seat, created for Aker Solutions in 2012, will now be seen “at the heart” of the film’s set design, starring alongside actors such as Mark Wahlberg, Kesley Grammer and Stanley Tucci. It’s a bewildering development for Kristiansand-based Alu Design, a market leader in the design and manufacture of advanced pilot chairs and deck rails. The firm created the chair to offer new ergonomic and user-friendly standards for operators working in the restricted space of Drillers Cabins on offshore rigs… not for science fiction action films.

The IP-MobileCast content delivery service developed by KVH Industries, Inc., for its mini-VSAT Broadband satellite network is now live, constituting a maritime industry first that will enable seafarers in the middle of the ocean to have affordable access to daily digital newspapers, television news, sports updates, music, new-release blockbuster movies and TV programs via a multicasting service. KVH  recently completed successful beta testing of IP-MobileCast, and is making the…

As the new Hollywood blockbuster Captain Phillips premiers around the globe, InterManager has welcomed the focus the movie brings to the role of the seafarer. Captain Phillips, which stars Tom Hanks in the title role, retells the story of the kidnapping by Somali pirates of the US-flagged containership Maersk Alabama. InterManager, the international trade association which represents the world’s ship and crew managers, says the movie’s worldwide appeal will raise the profile of seafaring and help broaden understanding of what a life at sea is like.

UK's A&P Falmouth completes a multi-million pound refit of Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) 'Argus' as part of the company’s through life support “cluster” contract with the Ministry of Defence. The Italian-built ship was originally a container ship and was requisitioned in 1982 for service in the Falklands War. This summer RFA Argus can be seen playing a starring role in the Brad Pitt zombie blockbuster World War Z, parts of which were filmed aboard in Falmouth in 2011. RFA Argus is a Primary Casualty Receiving Facility…

Imtech Marine developed an IPTV solution specifically suitable for merchant and special vessels. The IPTV system enhances the crew comfort on board and helps the ship owner retain its valuable crew. It is based on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and offers interactive multimedia services such as television, video, audio, text and graphics delivered over IP-based networks. The system reduces costs by eliminating the cable TV infrastructure and works via a plug-and-play IP network. The Imtech Marine IPTV solution offers TV and a package of regularly refreshed high class content like blockbuster movies, top TV series, music, news and sports.

Yacht Path Marine Group were contracted to transport the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' 140-ft replica tall ship across two oceans. The 270-ton, 140-foot custom-build pirate ship 'Black Pearl', was loaded aboard a BBC heavy lift vessel in Barbers Point, Hawaii for the three-week voyage to St. Thomas, USVI. The replica pirate ship "Black Pearl" was most famously known for her role in Disney's blockbuster 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise, and was constructed over the hull of another vessel, the "Sunset", which was once used to service the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico.

The cyclical nature of the oil business has blossomed into full bloom during the latter part of 2000, as a host of political power plays have sent oil prices on a virtual rollercoaster, albeit mostly up, helping to send it soaring as high as $37/barrel at the time of this writing. The business of accurately predicting the direction in which oil pricing will go has seemingly become less of a science and more of a speculative game. While it was the Asian financial crisis which led prices to the cellar in 1997, it is another crisis — the potential advancement of hostilities in the Middle East — which have helped to send the price back up to near decade (read: Gulf War) heights.

According to an AP story, real-life piracy often sounds like a scene in a Hollywood blockbuster: Pirates hit a luxury cruise ship with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns off a lawless African country. The cruise crew tries to ram both pirate boats, uses an earsplitting high-tech weapon on the attackers and evades them. That was the real-life situation the crew and passengers of the Seabourn Spirit found themselves in off Somalia last weekend. With piracy common in some areas and terrorism fears present after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, cruise lines say they train their crews and have security measures to respond effectively to these threats.