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17 Mar 2024

US Coast Guard Cutter Accidentally Discharges Diesel Fuel off California

FILE PHOTO: USCGC Alder (WLB-216). (Photo: Kenneth Honore / U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard said one of its buoy tenders accidentally discharged approximately 500 gallons of diesel fuel 30 miles offshore of Fort Bragg, Calif., Friday morning.The vessel, USCGC Alder (WLB-216), was enroute to Humboldt Bay when the incident occurred, the Coast Guard said.Members of Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Incident Management Division notified interagency stakeholders and are investigating the oil spill and cause. They are also evaluating potential impacts to sensitive sites.

13 Mar 2024

MARAD Announces $500 Million in Funding for Port Infrastructure

© trekandphoto / Adobe Stock

As a part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $500 million in Federal Fiscal Year 2024 funding through MARAD’s Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).Investments made under the PIDP focus on modernizing the Nation’s coastal and inland waterway ports as well as strengthening its supply chains and economic security for generations to come.

11 Mar 2024

Source of Huntington Beach Oil Spill Uncertain

Source: U.S. Coast Guard

The Unified Command concluded its response to an oil sheen observed offshore of Huntington Beach, California on Monday, but the source of the oil remains unclear.Over the weekend, cleanup crews recovered approximately 85 gallons of product from offshore recovery efforts and removed roughly 1,050 pounds of oily waste/sand and tar balls from the shoreline.The U.S. Coast Guard and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFW-OSPR) collected samples from the offshore sheen and tar balls along the shoreline to help determine the source of the oil.

11 Mar 2024

Coast Guard Will Not Enforce New California Rule, Citing 'Safety Concerns'

© Jill Clardy / Adobe Stock

(The Center Square) - The U.S. Coast Guard says it “will not enforce” a new California Air Resources Board regulation, citing “safety concerns.”The Coast Guard and business organizations oppose CARB's requirement that commercial harbor craft install diesel particulate filters (DPF) linked to a number of fires. Seventeen states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for giving an exemption to California alone to enact its own air standards that, by power of its market size…

11 Mar 2024

No Remaining Recoverable Oil Sheen Seen off California

Source: U.S. Coast Guard

The U.S.

06 Mar 2024

US Container Shippers Slow Walk New Contracts, Eye Easing of Red Sea Rate Hikes

© Mariusz / Adobe Stock

U.S. importers are playing the waiting game with new container shipping contracts, gambling the rate spike from Red Sea vessel attacks will fade and put them in a stronger negotiating position, shipping industry analysts said.Iran-aligned Houthi missile and drone attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea have forced most container carriers to reroute vessels around Africa and sent spot rates soaring.That price shock is a "gift" that carriers will be giving back when the assaults stop…

04 Mar 2024

Risk Reigns in Ocean Shipping, Industry and Economic Experts Say

© dbvirago / Adobe Stock

Risk is the "new normal" for the global ocean shipping industry that handles 80% of global trade as pressure from geopolitical tensions, rising protectionism and climate change mounts."There are going to be global tensions ... and I think global dangers, at a level we haven't seen since the end of World War II," former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at the opening of S&P Global's TPM24 container shipping conference in Long Beach, California, on Monday.Houthi missile and drone attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are top of mind…

01 Mar 2024

US Navy Accepts Delivery of Future USS Kingsville (LCS 36)

(Photo: U.S. Navy)

The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the future USS Kingsville (LCS 36) at Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Ala., March 1.Kingsville is the 18th Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) constructed, and is the first ship ever named after Kingsville, Texas.The LCS class comprises fast, optimally manned, mission-tailored surface combatants that can operate in both near-shore and open-ocean waters to counter 21st-century coastal threats.Kingsville successfully completed Acceptance Trials on February 1 and will be commissioned later this summer…

26 Feb 2024

Xeneta Appoints Chief Product Officer

Fabio Brocca courtesy of Xeneta

Fabio Brocca after being appointed Chief Product Officer at ocean and air freight rate benchmarking platform, Xeneta.Brocca was previously Head of Product for Global Transportation Technology at Amazon.“Amazon showed me the importance of working backwards from the customer and how a best-in-class tech company is run.“When you are transforming an industry, you must think long term. What we think is needed today may not be what’s needed tomorrow, so it is a continuous pursuit of innovation.“There is a beautiful quote from Jeff Bezos where he says…

16 Feb 2024

Red Sea: Far East-US Spiraling Ocean Freight Rates Set for Decline

© MAGNIFIER / Adobe Stock

Spiraling ocean freight rates from the Far East to the United States, caused by the Red Sea crisis, may have peaked, with some relief on the horizon emerging for the shippers, according to the latest analysis from Xeneta, and ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform.The latest data released by Xeneta indicates a peak may have been reached after spot rates from the Far East into the US declined slightly since the last round of General Rate Increases (GRIs) were implemented at the start of February.Into the US East Coast…

15 Feb 2024

For Ferries to Go Green, Governments Will Need to Provide the Green

© jjfarq / Adobe Stock

Whether it is from international organizations or state government agencies, there is growing pressure on ferry operators to meet stringent goals to reduce the environmental toll from their operations.The California Air Resource Board’s Commercial Harbor Craft Regulation issued the most stringent of these policies, which requires all short-run ferries to achieve zero emission by January 1, 2026. But it’s not just California that wants this industry to clean up its act. The United…

13 Feb 2024

Solana Beach Dredging On Track

A split-hull trailing suction hopper dredge, linked to a tugboat, operates Jan. 31 off the shore of Solana Beach, Calif. (Photo: Stephen Baack / USACE)

A dredging and sand replenishment project at Southern California's Solana Beach is about halfway complete, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.The project, which reduces coastal storm damage and erosion along a 7,200-foot-long stretch of shoreline, includes construction of a 150-foot-wide beach fill using 700,000 cubic yards of compatible sediment.Operations started Jan. 17 and are on schedule to wrap up in mid-March, according to Caleb Lodge, coastal engineer with the Corps' Los Angeles District.“They’re doing about seven or eight loads a day…

12 Feb 2024

Austal USA Names Parsons Human Resources VP

Kristin Parsons (Photo: Austal USA)

Austal USA announced it has named Kristin Parsons as the company’s vice president human resources, responsible for the overall development and implementation of company-wide human resources policies, programs and services.“Kristin’s prior experience with Austal USA and her extensive experience as an employment attorney makes her the perfect selection to lead our Human Resources team,” said Austal USA Acting President, Michelle Kruger. “We are excited to have her join our senior…

09 Feb 2024

Steel Cutting Ceremony Held for Fifth NSMV

(Photo: California State University Maritime Academy)

Philly Shipyard on Friday held a keel laying ceremony for the fifth and final vessel in a series of new purpose built, state-of-the-art training ships for America’s state maritime academies.The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) new vessel program – known as National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMVs) – was designed to provide world-class training for America’s future mariners and to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions…

08 Feb 2024

Insights: Blake Powell, JMS Naval Architects

Blake Powell, President, JMS Naval Architects (Photo: JMS Naval Architects)

Blake Powell, president at JMS Naval Architects, discusses his career, company and latest trends in naval architecture and marine engineering.Please give a brief professional bio, including education, experience and overview of current duties as president of JMS Naval Architects.I earned my degree in Naval Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where I attended on a Navy ROTC scholarship and was commissioned as a Diving and Salvage Officer after I graduated.

25 Jan 2024

Californian Port Gets $427M Boost for New Offshore Wind Infrastructure

© creativenature.nl / Adobe Stock

The U.S. government has awarded a major grant to the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District for the construction of a new marine terminal to be primarily used for floating offshore wind-related activities.The grant for the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind MVP (Minimum Viable Port) project comes through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects (INFRA) grant program, which received a substantial funding increase…

24 Jan 2024

Crowley's All-electric Harbor Tug eWolf Delivered

Crowley's eWolf is the first all-electric ship assist harbor tugboat in the U.S. (Photo: Crowley)

Crowley on Wednesday announced it has taken delivery of its groundbreaking vessel eWolf, the first all-electric, ship assist harbor tugboat in the United States.The 82-foot tug, designed by Crowley’s engineering services team and built by Coden, Ala. shipbuilder Master Boat Builders, will enter service at the Port of San Diego this spring following final demonstration trials and completion of Crowley’s microgrid shoreside charging station. The vessel will operate with zero emissions while providing the complete performance capabilities of a traditional tug…

18 Jan 2024

Diesel and Engine Oil Removed from Sunken Tug in California

(Photo: Levi Read / U.S. Coast Guard)

Petroleum product and hazardous material have been removed from a 1940s era military tugboat that sunk in California, the U.S. Coast Guard said.A Unified Command and its contractors completed lightering efforts from the tug Mazapeta, Wednesday.The Mazapeta sunk September 4, 2023, in Little Potato Slough within the San Joaquin Delta, northwest of Stockton, with approximately 1,600 gallons of diesel and engine oil reported to be onboard at the time of the incident.Quantification of recovered product is ongoing…

11 Jan 2024

Classic Boat Updated with Modern Hybrid Propulsion System

(Photo: Transfluid)

A classic 1930s-built boat with a storied history has been updated with a hybrid propulsion system from Transfluid.Originally built in 1937 in Tacoma, Wash., the Western  Flyer is most well known as the boat chartered by John Steinbeck in his 1940 expedition to the Gulf of California chronicled in The Log from the Sea of Cortez. Called “the most famous research vessel to ever have sailed”, the Flyer is a 77ft wooden fishing vessel that has been restored in Port Townsend, Wash. by the Western Flyer Foundation.The boat was recommissioned as a fishing vessel, and a showpiece for green technology.

10 Jan 2024

Salvors to Remove Fuel from Sunken Tug in California

Crews work to place and maintain sorbent boom around the Tug Mazapeta on September 7, 2023. Image credit: California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention & Response.

Salvors are set to begin removing fuel from a 1940s era military tugboat that sunk in California last year, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Mazapeta sunk September 4, 2023, in Little Potato Slough within the San Joaquin Delta, northwest of Stockton, Calif. with approximately 1,600 gallons of diesel and engine oil were reported onboard at the time of the incident.To date approximately 593 gallons of petroleum product have been recovered from inside the containment boom area, which surrounds the sunken tug.

28 Dec 2023

Workboat Power: Alternatives Join Diesel to Power Current—and Future—Vessels

Crowley’s new electric tug eWolf is being built by Master Boat Builders for scheduled delivery in 2024. (Image: Crowley)

Analysts and commentators are quick to point out that fossil fuels will power maritime equipment, and indeed dominate the fueling marketplace, well into the future. However, they will do so alongside new fuels, and new technologies, that will be introduced to the maritime sector in the coming years. In its September, 2023 report “Beyond the Horizon: View of the Emerging Energy Value Chains”, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) explains that, “During the recent 80th meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 80)…

26 Dec 2023

Crowley's All-electric Tug eWolf Starts Sea Trials

Video screen capture from video shared by Crowley on social media.

The first all-electric tugboat built in the United States, Crowley's eWolf, has started sea trials along the U.S. Gulf Coast.The 82-foot ship assist tug, built by Coden, Ala. shipbuilder Master Boat Builders, is expected to enter service at the Port of San Diego in 2024. Video footage of the vessel on sea trials was shared by Crowley on social media.The eWolf is designed to operate on full electric power, producing zero carbon emissions and expected 70 ton bollard pull strength.

19 Dec 2023

NTSB Recommends Pipeline Operators Implement Safety Management Systems

Six segments of damaged pipeline that were removed for replacement. The leak site, circled in red, was observed on the segment shown wrapped in a tarp. (Photo: NTSB)

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is recommending new notification alarms and procedures for potential incursions on pipelines and a change to an anchorage off the California coast following a crude oil release in 2021 caused by ship anchors damaging an underwater pipeline.NTSB investigators determined that the oil leak, which began on October 1, 2021, in San Pedro Bay, resulted from an anchor strike on the pipeline that occurred eight months earlier, when anchors…

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