Boulogne News

Danish shipping company DFDS announced it has committed to investing in battery-powered vessels to help decarbonize the maritime traffic across the English Channel.Following a meet between French Minister for Foreign Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Olivier Becht and CEO of DFDS, Torben Carlsen, in October, DFDS said it will invest in the innovation and technology necessary to and deploy a fleet of battery-powered vessels in the English Channel by 2030.“We have…

France on Saturday seized a car cargo ship in the English Channel that Washington says was linked to the son of a former Russian spy chief, in one of the first visible displays of the West enforcing sanctions on Moscow over its Ukraine invasion.The "Baltic Leader" was headed to St. Petersburg but was diverted to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. (0200-0300 GMT), Captain Veronique Magnin of the French Maritime Prefecture told Reuters.The vessel was "strongly suspected of being linked to Russian interests targeted by the sanctions," she said.The United States Treasury Department has issued blocking sanctions against the vessel because…

Britain is sending two navy patrol boats to the British Channel Island of Jersey after France suggested it could cut power supplies to the island if its fishermen are not granted full access to U.K. fishing waters under post-Brexit trading terms.Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged his "unwavering support" for the island after he spoke with Jersey officials about the prospect of the French blockade.Johnson "stressed the urgent need for a de-escalation in tensions," a spokesperson for Johnson said. "As a precautionary measure the U.K.

French container line CMA CGM announced that its ship APL Singapura has inaugurated the cold ironing facilities of the Terminal des Flandres in the Port of Dunkirk.By plugging into an onshore electricity supply (also known as "cold ironing"), container ships calling at port can shut down their auxiliary engines while still getting the power they need, particularly in order to maintain controlled temperatures in refrigerated containers (Reefers).This innovative technology has significant environmental benefits, including: Zero emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides and fine particles while ships are at berth, and significantly reduced noise pollution.The cold ironing system installed at the Terminal des Flandres will become fully operational during the first half of 2020.

The technology group Wärtsilä will supply its Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) solution to two of France’s leading ports, Calais and Boulogne. The Wärtsilä VTS will effectively manage vessel traffic in these busy harbors to deliver greater operational efficiency and safety. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in October 2019 by Région Hauts-de-France, the government entity responsible for this tender.The system optimizes planning and traffic monitoring to reduce waiting time for vessels and allow just-in-time pilotage.

DEME, an international group of specialized companies involved in complex marine engineering works, has won a major contract to carry out the deepening of the Elbe fairway in Germany.The Belgian dredging, environmental and marine engineering group said that its German subsidiary Nordsee Nassbagger- und Tiefbau GmbH, based in Bremen, has acquired the maintenance dredging contract on the River Elbe in Germany.The contract has been awarded to a joint venture, including DEME’s German subsidiary, for a period of two years. DEME will maintain the whole 116 km long fairway of the Elbe between the North Sea and Hamburg.The TSHD ‘Marieke’ will…

The project team of Blue Water Shipping, a provider of freight transport solutions, in Marseille, France was entrusted with an exciting job for its client Societe De Constructions, De Reparations Navales Et De Mecanique (SOCARENAM).In early january, a fire pump vessel (weighing 128 metric tons/measuring 24.9 x 6.9 x 3.3 metres) was to be shipped from Boulogne-sur-Mer to Toulon Brégaillon to be operated by Marseille Marine Fire Brigade Division.Blue Water’s scope of the project included engineering, chartering of vessel, loading in Boulogne-sur-Mer, sea fastening and discharging in Toulon Brégaillon. “Due to careful planning and a successful teamwork between Blue Water and SOCARENAM, the entire operation went as planned. This was the second shipment that we have arranged for SOCARENAM.

French fishermen blockaded Calais throughout Thursday, halting shipping movements at France's busiest passenger port and a major entry point to Europe for British goods, in protest at losses inflicted by the practice of electric pulse fishing. A flotilla of fishing vessels set out at dawn from nearby Boulogne, the biggest fishing port, and blocked the narrow shipping channel into Calais, said fisherman Stephane Pinto. A spokeswoman for the port said the fishermen's protest ended at about 1600 GMT though it would take several hours to clear a backlog of traffic.

French fishermen blockaded Calais on Thursday, halting shipping movements at France's busiest passenger port and a major entry point to Europe for British goods, in protest at losses inflicted by the practice of electric pulse fishing. A small flotilla of fishing vessels set out at dawn from Boulogne and others were expected to join from Dunkirk, said fisherman Stephane Pinto. "The Port of Calais is closed due to French fisherman blockade. Currently no ship movements in the port," P&O Ferries Freight said on Twitter. A Calais port spokeswoman said negotiations were underway and that port authorities expected the blockade would be lifted by midday.

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) congratulated the Port Boulogne Calais for achieving the Port Environmental Review System (PERS) certification, the only port sector specific environmental management standard provided by the EcoPorts Network. The PERS certificate was handed over to the port during the ESPO General Assembly by the ESPO Chairman, Eamonn O’Reilly, the ESPO Secretary General, Isabelle Ryckbost and the EcoPorts Coordinator, Sotiris Raptis. Compliance with the PERS standard is independently assessed by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance and the certificate has a validity of two years. There are currently 25 ports in Europe and its neighbouring countries in the EcoPorts Network certified by PERS.

Employees of a ferry service recently sold by Eurotunnel renewed a blockade of the northern French port of Calais on Monday after a court rejected their bid to extend the service's charter contract with Eurotunnel. Access to the boats on the docks was not possible in the afternoon, said union and port sources. Strike action by around 400 workers last week led to major traffic jams of lorries, prompting migrants around the port to try and stowaway on trucks bound for Britain. Eurotunnel, the operator of the undersea rail link between England and France, in June agreed to sell its Calais-to-Dover ferry business to Denmark's DFDS to end a lengthy battle with British competition authorities.

Kongsberg Maritime and Lycée Maritime Jacques Cassard in Nantes have signed a contract for the delivery of an advanced Engine Room Simulator. Lycée Maritime Jacques Cassard is the eighth of twelve French Regional Maritime Vocational Schools to use K-Sim Engine for highly realistic maritime engine room training courses. K-Sim Engine full mission simulators are already installed at LPM of Boulogne-sur-Mer, LPM Ciboure and LPMA Jaques-Faggianelli to Bastia (Corsica), while five other schools including Nantes have chosen K-Sim Engine desktop systems.

Norway based boat handling system and specialised davit supplier Vestdavit has been contracted by French shipyard Socarenam to supply the davits for a new 50 m patrol boat which it will build for the French customs. Vestdavit will supply two davits, one PAP6000 and one PAP3250 davit which will give the patrol vessel the capability of launching and recovering RIBs up to 9.5 m long in sea state 6. Rolf Andreas Wigand, Managing Director, Vestdavit, said, “Socarenam is an important builder of sophisticated patrol vessels and we are pleased to land our first order with them.

Osiris Projects, part of Bibby Marine Survey Services, announce the start of construction by French shipbuilder Socarenam in Boulogne, of a sister ship to 'Bibby Tethra', to be named 'Bibby Athena'. A few subtle changes to the design for the new vessel reflect the company’s development into shallow geotechnical sampling and a more challenging offshore market. Launched in 2011, Bibby Tethra has proven the overall success of the small waterplane area twin hull (SWATH) design in maximising stability and seakeeping ability in challenging sea conditions, while consistently achieving quality data.

Euroferries' express Ramsgate – Boulogne cross channel service to launch in 2013 with the Austal hi-speed 102m trimaran. The vessel will arrive in January 2013, with the service becoming fully operational between Boulogne and Ramsgate during February 2013. The service will offer 4 daily crossings, catering for passengers, cars and luxury coaches. The trimaran is capable of achieving speeds in excess of 40 knots thus enabling Euroferries to provide one of the fastest channel crossings available.

Incat’s new 367.5 ft ferry for LD Lines, the Norman Arrow, currently runs to the United Kingdom from Tasmania. In order to be prepared for the unlikely event of a boarding attempt by pirates, one of two Masters on board, Captain Guy South comments, “We locked every door and padlocked all the void spaces and access to the cabin was restricted to the port aft door only. We also posted an extra lookout aft throughout the high risk area. “The Norman Arrow’s speed was increased from…

Incat announced the acquisition of its latest 367.5 ft high speed catamaran by France’s LD Lines. The largest ever fast ferry to operate on the cross channel routes between England and France will enter service between Dover and Boulogne on 29 May 2009. The new fast ferry will be the first-ever freight carrying high speed vessel to operate across the Dover Straits and LD Lines becomes the first-ever French ferry company to operate high speed ferries on the short sea routes from Dover.

An Estonian passenger ferry with 49 people on board collided with a Dutch tug off the southern coast of England on Monday, injuring one member of the tug's five-man crew, British coastguards said. No one was hurt on board the RoRo ferry, Neptunia, which was on its way from Folkestone, southern England to Boulogne in northern France. Coastguards said both vessels had been damaged in the collision and had taken on some water. One crew member on the tug suffered a head injury but coastguards said it was not severe enough to require immediate hospital treatment. The boats collided just before 6.00 a.m., six miles (10 km) southeast of the English port of Dover. "The damage caused a small hole in the port quarter of the ferry," the maritime and coastguard agency said in a statement.

A vessel reported to be the most powerful self-propelled and ocean-going cutter suction dredger in the world was christened in Dunkirk, France. The 38,000 hp d’Artagnan is named after a character in Alexandre Dumas’ novel “The Three Musketeers.” Together with d’Artagnan, two auxiliary vessels, Aramis and Buckingham were also christened at the same ceremony. The three vessels will sail under French colors and are owned and operated by Société de Dragage International (SDI), the French subsidiary of Belgian Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering (DEME) Group. The importance of the event was revealed in the christeners of the naming ceremony. For d’Artagnan Mrs.

Paul Stuart Crandall passed away on July 20, 2002 following a massive stroke. A Civil Engineering graduate, MIT class of 1942, and a registered professional engineer, Paul Crandall served 3-1/2 years with the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Water Supply Battalion operating in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany during WWII. Crandall joined Crandall Dry Dock Engineers in 1945 as the fifth generation of engineers to carry on the dry dock business begun in 1854 by his great-great grandfather, William H. Crandall. He served as designer, field engineer, and subsequently principal engineer until 1953 when he became President of Crandall Dry Dock Engineers.

The U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced that at a hearing yesterday the Channel Magistrates Court the owner/skipper of the French fishing vessel, St. Jacques II, was convicted of causing pollution from the Maltese tanker, Gudermes. On the morning of March 23rd last year the St Jacques II was proceeding to fishing grounds off the Thames Estuary from Boulogne. Skipper Loïc Margollé had set a course which took his vessel the wrong way along the South West traffic lane. He then left the vessel in the charge of a young rating, who subsequently fell asleep on watch. In the early hours of the morning the "St Jacques II" collided with the Gudermes, rupturing a cargo tank and spilling oil into the sea.

An oil tanker and a cargo ship collided in the English Channel on Thursday, www.hindu.com reported. No injuries or oil spill were reported. The collision occurred at 7:15 a.m. (GMT) six miles off the French coast and involved the Norwegian cargo vessel Starhurdla, and the oil tanker Cape Bradley, which is registered in the Marshall Islands. England's Dover Coastguard was called in to assist in a French-led operation as the crew of the Starhurdla reported taking on water. A Coast Guard tug boat operated by French and British authorities was used to tow the Starhurdla to Boulogne, France. The Cape Bradley sustained minor damage and was sailing under its own steam to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Bourbon has ordered for two Multi Purpose Supply Vessels (MPSV) from Socarenam, the French shipyard based in Boulogne-sur-Mer. The design of these vessels is based on a concept established by Marine Assistance, and will be developed by the consultant firm Bureau Mauric. "This order for two high-tech Multi Purpose Supply Vessels from a recognized French shipyard reflects our desire to offer our customers high-performance multi-purpose vessels combined with an excellent cost/delivery deadline ratio in line with our Horizon 2010 strategic plan,” said Christian Lefèvre, Executive Vice President and COO, Bourbon. “This contract is proof that French and European naval shipyards can be competitive and offer a solid performance.