Cemex News

U.S. construction materials firm Vulcan Materials Co said on Monday that Mexican security forces illegally took possession last week of its port terminal in southern Mexico, as an extended legal battle over its nearby limestone mining activities plays out.The incident took place last Tuesday night at the terminal in the popular tourist hub of Playa del Carmen, and follows a five-year fight with the government over Vulcan's concessions punctuated by sharp criticism from the country's president last year.Vulcan…

The first of Damen’s new Marine Aggregate Dredger class, a 103.5 meter MAD 3500, has been launched at Damen Shipyards Galati (DSGa) in Romania. The vessel, to be named the CEMEX Go Innovation, is the result of close cooperation between CEMEX UK Marine and Damen and represents the first of a new generation of efficient and economical dredgers specializing in the extraction of sand and gravel from the seabed.The ceremony involved the full team from owner CEMEX UK Marine as well as representatives from Damen’s head office in Gorinchem…

Screening installation Marine Aggregate Dredger (MAD) 3500 has been fully assembled at the Damen Dredging yard.Last week the completion of the assembly of the screening installation of the CEMEX Go Innovation was celebrated at the Damen Dredging yard. The screening installation is designed for the aggregate dredger type MAD3500 currently under construction. This hopper dredger features several innovative elements, including the fully re-designed screening installation.All major offshore aggregate dredgers are fitted with a screening installation. The screening process is vital to controlling the required grain size of a hopper load.

The Marine Aggregate Dredger CEMEX Go Innovation, currently under construction for CEMEX Marine UK, is fitted out with a submersed dredge pump. This dredge pump is directly driven by an electric motor – and not an arbitrary one.As a first, the dredge pump drive is a permanent magnet 1,400 kW unit, that last week it underwent a large array of tests – passing them all effortlessly.The hopper dredger is designed for mining marine aggregates at -55 m below sea level. The submersed Damen dredge pump is directly driven by a continuous electric motor – that is, without a gear box in between.Moreover, the electric motor forms an integral part of the trailing pipe structure. But the story does not end there: the air filled e-motor is of the Permanent Magnet type.

The USCG Captain of the Port has updated vessel traffic coordination directives. Facility cargo operations as of March 25, 2019 include Limited Opening of the San Jacinto River during Daylight Hours and Resumption of Cargo Operations.This MSIB is issued in regard to vessel traffic and facility cargo operations as a result of the chemical fire at ITC Deer Park in the Upper Houston Ship Channel (HSC).As of March 25th, 2019, the U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) has opened the San Jacinto River to allow for vessel traffic during daylight hours only.

Damen Shipyards Group recently held a keel-laying ceremony for the CEMEX Go Innovation at Damen Shipyards Mangalia in Romania. The vessel is the first Damen MAD – the next generation of marine aggregate dredgers. The construction of the new vessel is drawing upon collaboration with multiple companies within the Damen Group, as well was with external partners, working together towards the development of a new standard in marine aggregate dredging.Damen has designed the future-proof vessel for long-lasting durability for operations in North Sea conditions over the coming decades.

Royston Diesel Power said its enginei EFMS (electronic fuel management system) has been specified as part of the newbuild program for the first dredging vessel commissioned in 20 years by CEMEX UK Marine.The new £30 million vessel has been designed to extract sand and gravel from depths of up to 55m, including in the challenging conditions experienced in the North Sea. Under construction at Damen Shipyards Galati, in Romania, the 100m long, 7,000 metric ton vessel, CEMEX Go Innovation…

With nearly three dozen shipyards spattered across the globe, Damen Shipyards Group based in the Netherlands is one of the world’s most active shipbuilders. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News examines the flurry of activity perpetuated by the shipbuilding and repair conglomerate.The Damen Shipyards Group reported a turnover of €2 billion in 2017, a year in which it delivered 165 newbuilds, including 64 tugs and workboats, five offshore vessels, 40 high-speed craft and ferries, 12 pontoons and barges, 23 dredging and specialty vessels, 16 vessels for defense and security and five yachts.

Damen began work on the construction of a dredging system for the first Marine Aggregate Dredger (MAD). This vessel, which is being built at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania for Cemex UK Marine Ltd., is designed to extract sand and gravel from the sea bed at depths of up to -55 meters.According to the builder CEMEX asked Damen to develop a system with no inboard dredge pipework, something which has never been done on a vessel of this size before. The thinking behind this was…

Wärtsilä said it bagged a contract in March to provide the engines, propellers and control system for a new, large-size hopper dredger being built by the Netherlands-based shipbuilding company Damen Shipyards Group. The vessel has been ordered by Cemex UK, supplier of building materials.Wärtsilä will prepare the engines ready for use with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology to reduce emissions, making the vessel compliant with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Tier III regulations.

CEMEX UK has signed a contract with Damen Shipyards Group to build the first in a new generation of Marine Aggregate Dredgers, the owner’s first newly commissioned dredger in 20 years. Steel cutting will take place later this year, and the vessel is expected to be delivered at the end of 2019 from Damen Shipyards Galati, in Romania. The vessel has been designed to maintain operations in North Sea conditions, with capability to extract sand and gravel from the sea bed at depths up to 55m.

CEMEX UK Marine Limited has placed an order for the first Damen Marine Aggregate Dredger (MAD). The vessel, which will be built at Damen Shipyards Galati, in Romania, is designed to extract sand and gravel from the sea bed up to depths of 55 meters, including in the challenging conditions experienced in the North Sea. Damen said the MAD is the result of extensive market research and customer consultation. A new, future-facing vessel of this type is aligned with an aggregate industry faced with an aging fleet of vessels and an increased focus on marine activity.

RADM David Callahan for the US Coast Guard (USCG) 8th District presented Meritorious Public Service Awards to two Houston Pilots - Captains Michael McGee and Michael Phiilips - for their bravery last September aboard the crippled and burning tanker AFRAMAX RIVER. The USCG ceremony highlighted the fifth annual meeting of the Lone Star Harbor Safety Committee, announced Captain Robert M. Shearon, presiding officer -- Houston Pilots. Captain McGee and Captain Phillips were dispatched September 6 to the M/T AFRAMAX RIVER at Houston Fuel Oil Berth 3. Due to its large size, this massive tanker required two pilots. Capt. McGee was conning the…

Four Houston-area refineries were unable to receive crude oil from tankers on Tuesday after a portion of the Houston Ship Channel was shut due to a fire aboard an empty tanker, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. In Texas, Valero Energy Corp's Houston refinery, LyondellBasell Industries' Houston refinery, Petrobras' Pasadena refinery and Royal Dutch Shell's joint-venture Deer Park refinery have crude on-site in storage tanks and also have access to long-distance and short-haul pipeline systems. The four refineries have a combined crude oil throughput of 761,505 barrels per day (bpd), equal to 4 percent of U.S. refining capacity. The Coast Guard was conducting assessments about how long it would take to move the Aframax River…

Moody's shocked bond investors this week with a surprise two-notch downgrade that put Brazilian oil company Petrobras in junk territory. The move was seen by some investors as overly assertive, leaving them to add exposure incrementally. "It was aggressive," said Jack Deino, head of emerging market portfolio management and senior portfolio manager at Invesco. "It just reflects the rating agencies' proclivity to shoot from the hip. In late January, Moody's demoted the company to Baa3 from Baa2, warning more ratings actions were on the horizon if the company failed to release audited results. It stuck to its word, exceeding expectation with a cut to Ba2 late on Tuesday. So far, the massive wave of forced selling out of high-grade account portfolios has yet to truly transpire.

Reflecting a significant increase in construction in the Bay Area and the high quality of building materials from British Columbia, the Port of Redwood City said it has experienced a 19% increase in cargo movement across its docks for the fiscal year 2013/2014 that ended June 30. The 12-month figure was 1,784,659 metric tons (MT), up from 1,493,190 MT from the previous fiscal year and the highest at the port since 2006. It also was the third highest in modern Port history, behind 1,833,022 MT in 2005-2006 and 1,908,172 MT in 2004-2005.

The final in a series of five Canada Steamship Lines' (CSL) state-of-the-art, new Trillium Class self-unloading Panamax vessels, the 228-meter long CSL Tacoma, embarked on her maiden voyage from the Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China on Oct. 12, and is making her maiden cargo voyage to San Francisco Bay. She is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Redwood City at noon on Wednesday, November 6, with sand and gravel construction materials from an Eagle Rock Aggregates quarry in British Columbia.

A&P Tees, part of A&P North East, has won an exclusive contract from UK dredge contractor CEMEX UK Marine, part of the CEMEX UK Group, for the drydocking of the company’s three trailing suction hopper dredgers over a five-year period. Due to the severity of the work undertaken by dredgers, it is expected that each vessel will be drydocked on a regular basis. The first vessel, the 5,022 m3 Sand Falcon already visited the shipyard during March/April this year, and the 2,700 m3 Sand Heron and the 4,000 m3 Sand Fulmar are due in the yard during July and August respectively.

New bulk ship CSL Tecumseh made its maiden voyage to the Port of Redwood City on Wednesday, May 29. Named after a respected war chief of the Shawnee Indians in the early 1800s, Tecumseh brought 40,000 tons of construction aggregates from the Orca Quarry in British Columbia. The material was delivered to Cemex Aggregates, a major port tenant. This is an essential material for ready-mix concrete plants from Santa Rosa to San Jose. The self-unloading Panamax-sized ship unloads all of its cargo of construction materials in 18-24 hours. The CSL Tecumseh is the sister ship to The Rt. Hon. Paul E.

At the recent Board of Directors and Council meetings of the international classification society ABS, 26 prominent members of the shipping and offshore industries were elected as new members of the society, as well as a new member elected to its technical committee and two corporate officer positions. Mark W. Angela A. Mike J. Dowdy, Vice President of Engineering, Rowan Companies, Inc. Capt. Angeliki N. Frangou, Chairman & CEO, Navios Maritime Holdings, Inc. Aditya Ashok Garware, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Garware Offshore Services, Ltd. James J. Gaughan, President, James J. Gaughan & Associates Inc. Dr. Ho-Chung Kim, CEO, Daehan Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. Capt. Tae-Jin Kwon, President & CEO, SLS Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. Jong-Ho Lee, President, JINSE Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.