Coastal and Inland News

A newly formed dredging company has placed an order for what will be one of the largest dredges of its kind in the U.S. On October 12, Michael Kerns, President and CEO of Muddy Water Dredging, LP and Bob Wetta, President and CEO of DSC Dredge LLC, launched the project to build the custom 24” dual pump Marlin Class dredge to maintain U.S. navigable waterways.Muddy Water Dredging, LP (MWD) was established in late 2021 with corporate headquarters located in Orange, Texas. Co-owners Michael J. Kerns and Matthew B.

Freight volumes in the port of Rotterdam increased 15% on a yearly basis in the third quarter as international trade continued to recover from its COVID-19 slump, Europe's largest sea port said on Tuesday.Trade flows to and from Rotterdam have been almost 9% higher in the first nine months of the year, with strong growth in almost all segments, the port said."These figures show that the economy is continuing its upward path.

Naval architecture and marine engineering firm NETSCo said it is collaborating with Viking Cruises in preparation for the company's new Mississippi River cruises, launching in 2022 from New Orleans to St. Paul.According to NETSCo, the first phase of the project required vetting the ship design. This included taking into account varying water levels (which can change as much as 50 feet) and determining if the physical size and height of the ship would fit through locks, bridges and other obstacles throughout the entire 2…

The Port of Los Angeles is beginning the hard work of convincing terminal operators, importers, warehouses owners and trucking firms to embrace moving more cargo at night."It's not a single lever we can pull today to open up all the gates," Executive Director Gene Seroka said on Thursday.On Wednesday, the White House gathered stakeholders including retailers Walmart and Home Depot, logistics firms United Parcel Service and FedEx, and electronics supplier Samsung. The companies…

After a slow start to the export season, partly due to disruption from Hurricane Ida, U.S. soy bean inspections ahead of exports have jumped to 1.6 million tonnes in the week ending October 7, according to shipping organization BIMCO. This represents a 90.9% jump from the week before and is the highest level seen since the start of February 2021 which marked the end of the main export season of the 2020/2021 marketing year.U.S. soy bean exports are heavily concentrated at just a few ports.

U.S. offshore wind farm developer Mayflower Wind announced Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding/Duclos Corporation of Somerset, Mass. for the specification, design and manufacture of a Jones Act-compliant, hybrid battery diesel electric crew transfer vessel (CTV).The design utilizes technologies that will provide significant fuel savings and emissions reductions, including the use of lithium-Ion battery energy storage to create a hybrid vessel that will be a bridge to full electrification.

President Joe Biden is pushing to ease supply shortages and tame rising prices in time for Christmas, but unsnarling U.S. supply lines could take far longer, experts told Reuters.Biden brought together powerbrokers from ports, unions and big business on Wednesday to address shipping, labor and warehousing pain in the U.S. supply chain, and announced new around-the-clock port operations in Los Angeles.As his Republican opposition seizes on possible Christmas shortages to connect Biden's economic policies to inflation…

President Joe Biden on Wednesday launched an effort to ease supply chain blockages that are threatening to disrupt the U.S. holiday season, relying on expanded port and shipping operations and urging other businesses to speed up operations.The moves were a first step, Biden said, to pushing supply chains in the United States, the world's biggest consumer economy, to operate faster.Biden brought together powerbrokers from ports, unions and big business to hash out how to speedily address a backlog of products that includes 500…

Tallink Grupp announced it recently signed a charter agreement for its Latvian-flagged cruise vessel Romantika, which has also been hired to provide accommodation at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), taking place in Glasgow, Scotland on October 31– November 12.Several weeks ago, the company said it signed a charter agreement for its Tallinn-Helsinki route cruise vessel Silja Europa to provide accommodation services at the global climate conference in Glasgow from October 21 to November 14.

The Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority met Tuesday in a special meeting to consider the first dredge contract for Project 11, the Houston Ship Channel billion-dollar expansion and deepening program.Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC was awarded up to $95,375,349 to dredge 11½-miles of the 52-mile channel, widening a major portion of the Galveston Bay reach from 530 to 700 feet. The work includes the construction of a new bird island and oyster mitigation.Port Houston negotiated multiple options and selected the approach with the most reduction in overall NOx emissions…

There is no end in sight to the shortage of shipping containers, port congestion and sky rocketing freight rates that have rattled global trade, the chairman of Dubai ports giant DP World said on Wednesday. The bottlenecks have been caused by a combination of COVID-19 lockdowns and an unexpectedly rapid recovery in demand as economies emerge from the pandemic.“These are the complications. Nobody knows how long it’s going to take.

The absence of a dedicated signalman likely led to a bulk carrier’s crane striking a grain facility in Convent, La., in 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found.The contact occurred on November 11, while the bulk vessel GH Storm Cat was completing corn loading operations at the Zen-Noh Grain Corporation facility with its number 1 crane boom. The vessel’s crew was removing a payloader from the number 1 cargo hold, which had been filled. A Zen-Noh Grain Corporation employee attached the crane hook to the payloader and then walked out of view of the crane operator.

President Joe Biden will host a meeting on Wednesday to hail progress in addressing supply chain problems weighing on the economy and threatening the holiday season, while he asks business and union leaders to do more to ease shipping backlogs.The Port of Los Angeles is going to 24/7 operations to ease the shipping snarl there and at the Port of Long Beach, a senior administration official told reporters ahead of the meeting.In addition, three large carriers of goods - Walmart…

Shipments of iron ore from U.S. ports on the Great Lakes totaled 5.4 million tons in September, an increase of 38.8% compared to a year ago, according to trade group the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA). Shipments were a near match to the month’s five-year average.Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 37.4 million tons, an increase of nearly 32.8% compared to the same point in 2020, LCA said.Through September iron ore loadings are 3.9% above their five-year average for the first three quarters.

Denmark-headquartered ferry operator Scandlines has opted to install a rotor sail on board a second vessel in its fleet after equipping the hybrid ferry Copenhagen with its first wind auxiliary propulsion unit in 2020.Berlin, a sister vessel to Copenhagen, also operates on the Rostock-Gedser route but, unlike Copenhagen, is flagged by Germany.Scandlines has had more than a year to collect data on how the Norsepower rotor sail works on Copenhagen, and what effect it has on the route.Scandlines’ COO…

Britain said on Wednesday that people should buy normally for Christmas and there would be no shortage of gifts after shipping containers carrying toys and electrical goods were diverted from the country’s biggest port because it was full.Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, has diverted some vessels from Felixstowe port in eastern England because a lack of truck drivers means there is nowhere left to stack containers at the port.“I’m confident that people will be able to get their toys for Christmas,” Conservative Party co-Chairman Oliver Dowden told Sky.

A high-tech workboat is more than halfway through its record-setting journey to autonomously circumnavigate Denmark.The Nellie Bly, equipped with Sea Machines autonomous command and control systems, arrived in Laeso, Denmark on Saturday, marking the halfway point of the 1,000-nautical-mile autonomous voyage.The journey, which Sea Machines is calling "The Machine Odyssey", officially commenced on September 30, when the Nellie Bly departed Cuxhaven, Germany, (near Hamburg) for Denmark. The vessel has a crew on board but is being controlled by U.S. Coast Guard licensed officers in Boston.

A study commissioned by trade association Interferry has revealed startling statistics on the far-reaching extent of the global ferry industry’s value to the world economy.Research into the latest pre-Covid full-year figures found that, in 2019, ferries carried 4.27 billion passengers – on a par with aviation – and 373 million vehicles across a worldwide fleet of 15,400 vessels. Among other findings, the industry provided 1.1 million jobs, contributed $60 billion to the world…

Marine robotics company Ocean Infinity announced it has acquired Red Rock, a technology company with solutions that will enable autonomous port operations, an enabler for future uncrewed shipping.Red Rock is developing digital and autonomous solutions in an effort to revolutionize lifting and handling both onshore and offshore.The acquisition will combine Ocean Infinity’s ‘Armada’ robotic vessels and low emission operations with Red Rock’s ability to develop hardware and software solutions for remote and autonomous handling.

In a typical year, the waters surrounding British Columbia’s Port of Vancouver host approximately 3,000 deep sea commercial vessels and 19 of the 35 ferries operated by BC Ferries, one of the largest ferry operators in the world. These waters are also home to a wide variety of aquatic wildlife, including the southern resident killer whales (SRKW), which have been listed as endangered in Canada since 2003.With vessel-generated acoustic disturbances identified by Fisheries and Oceans Canada as one of four key threats to the SRKW…

Tech companies Sinay and 3D CityScapes are teaming up to create hyer realistic digital twins for ports.3D CityScapes uses advanced technology and artificial intelligence to create digital twins, hyper realistic representations of the real-world. Now with Sinay, it will create interactive 3D environments for ports and the maritime industry.“This partnership will create living, breathing digital ports,” said 3D CityScapes’ Director of Digital  Experience Salman Hussain.3D CityScapes will offer the digital twin as a hyper realistic component to Sinay’s technology and sensor data information.

Jeffersonville, Ind.-based barging company American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL) has agreed to acquire and preserve 649 acres of woodland wildlife habitat and will pay an additional $2 million for damages stemming from a 2008 oil spill on the Mississippi River, near New Orleans.The company has already paid $1.32 million to reimburse the federal and state trustees for their past damage assessment and restoration planning costs after one of its barges discharged approximately 6,734 barrels (282,828 gallons) of No. 6 fuel oil into the Mississippi River upriver of New Orleans in July 2008.

Boat builder Silver Ships is partnering with Auburn University’s Industrial Design program and the Auburn University Shellfish Laboratory (AUSL) to create concepts for an oyster farming boat design.Beginning this fall, Silver Ships, AUSL and students within Auburn’s industrial design program will focus on designing several concepts for a new boat to support oyster farming operations. The class offers third-year students the opportunity to engage in their first substantial design…

The first bulk U.S. soybean cargo from the Texas Gulf Coast in about six months was loaded and shipped last week from a Cargill Inc terminal, in a sign of shifting trade flows in the wake of Hurricane Ida, traders and shipping sources said.The vessel Spar Rigel was loaded early last week with about 55,000 tonnes of soybeans at Cargill's Houston terminal, an outlet that typically loads mostly wheat and sorghum grown nearby, according to a shipping vessel lineup seen by Reuters.The…

Since the 1980s there has been a remarkable revival of ferry services in many U.S. waterfront cities, but COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the most profitable component of these services: the commuter runs. With post-COVID work-at-home arrangements and part-week in-office work, these ferry services have suffered a tremendous loss of income. But there are glimmers of hope that a recovery is likely, although in a different form, in a different world.Commuter runs are often the bread and butter portion of a ferry services…

China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Weihai, China has cut first steel for Finncanopus, the second of two Superstar ro-pax vessels ordered by Finnlines.Construction of the series' first vessel, Finnsirius, started earlier this year, and keel-laying is scheduled to take place in April 2022. So-called mock-ups have been built of cabins, as well as public spaces, to check and test the quality and fine-tune details.Freight drivers, who are frequent travelers on the Finland–Sweden line…

Greece's privatizations agency transferred shares corresponding to a 16% stake in Piraeus Port Authority to Chinese port operator COSCO Shipping after an amendment to a previous concession agreement, it said on Thursday.Last month Greek lawmakers amended a deal with COSCO allowing it to raise its stake in Greece's biggest port of Piraeus, paving the way for Greece to secure a major investment.Under a 2016 privatization deal, COSCO Shipping bought a 51% stake in Piraeus Port Authority for 280 million euros ($328 million) and committed to mandatory investments worth about 294 million euros over

Horisont Energi, a company working to develop its blue ammonia project in Norway, has signed a deal with liquid bulk storage company Koole Terminals to develop an ammonia terminal and storage facility at the Port of Rotterdam, for further distribution.Horisont Energi is developing the Barents Blue project in Norway's north, Europe's first large-scale carbon-neutral ammonia plant with offshore carbon storage. Gas for the project will come from Equinor's and Var Energi's offshore fields in the Barents Sea.

Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.7 million tons in September, an increase of 10.4% compared to a year ago, trade group the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) reports. Limestone cargos were above the month’s five-year average by 5.2%.Loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 3 million tons, an increase of  12.2% from 2020, while shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 684,234 tons, an increase of 8.3%, LCA said.Year-to-date the limestone trade stands at 21 million tons, an increase of 9.1% compared to a year ago.

Crowley Maritime Corporation on Thursday opened a new Rhode Island office for its New Energy division, to advance the development and operation of offshore wind energy installations.The new office, the opening of which was announced by Crowley and Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee, is located at CIC Providence in the Innovation and Design District.Crowley's plan is to provide landside and marine logistics solutions during all phases of the offshore wind lifecycle to customers throughout the United States.

Kongsberg Maritime (KM) announced it has been awarded a contract with Finnish shipyard Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) to deliver propulsion and steering equipment for two new car and passenger ferries. The vessels will be operated by the Australian company TT-Line for the regular Spirit of Tasmania ferry service – a 10.5-hour journey across the Bass Strait between Melbourne, Victoria and Devonport, Tasmania.Each vessel will be fitted with two of KM’s Promas combined propulsion and steering systems…

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. on Wednesday announced the creation of a new subsidiary, Ship4wd, a digital freight forwarding platform offering an online self-service end to end shipping solution.Launching October 18, 2021, Ship4wd is intended to be a one-stop-shop international shipping service targeting U.S. and Canadian small and medium-sized businesses importing and exporting from China, Vietnam and Israel, ZIM said. The Ship4wd platform consists of both sea and air shipping services up to the final destination…

Fred. Olsen Express has taken delivery of a new high-speed ferry, Bañaderos Express, built by Austal Philippines. Captain Juan Antonio Rojas and the crew of Bañaderos Express formally accepted the vessel from Austal Philippines president and general manager Wayne Murray at a COVID-safe ceremony held at the company’s Balamban, Cebu shipyard.The Austal Auto Express 118 trimaran is the second and final vessel in a A$190 million series ordered by the Canary Islands operator in 2018. The first vessel, Bajamar Express was constructed by Austal Australia and delivered in July 2020.

Maritime digital payment solutions provider ShipMoney announced a new client agreement with SeaDream, enabling the luxury yachting company to ensure its crews are able to manage their finances wherever they are in the world.By using ShipMoney’s digital maritime payment solutions, SeaDream’s crews now have access to their wages in real time so they can transfer money, make scheduled payments, buy goods online and check currency exchange rates before committing to a transaction…

Oil spills into ocean waters, subject to winds and tides and spreading swiftly over wide areas, are difficult to clean up.The 3,000-barrel weekend spill off the coast of southern California is nowhere near as disastrous as mega-spills like the Deepwater Horizon explosion that sent millions of barrels of oil into U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico. But swift movement of the liquids can kill wildlife and foul beaches before cleanup teams are deployed. Federal and state responders begin fighting oil spills by deploying diving teams…

Uruguayan company Corporación Navios replaced a Liebherr long duty cycle crane with a permanently installed harbor crane type FCC 300. The recently erected harbor crane will be used for dry bulk handling of barges in hoppers at the terminal in Nueva Palmira, Uruguay. The now total of three harbor cranes is expected to increase the terminal's handling rates and generate operating synergies, as the crane operators will work with the same type of crane on all operations.Corporación Navios has been working with Liebherr cranes for 30 years.

The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) on Monday commissioned the newest Staten Island ferry, SSG Michael H. Ollis.The 320-foot, 4,500-passenger vessel was built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group ass the first in a series of three new Ollis Class ferries due to enter service for Staten Island Ferry.The three Ollis Class double ended 4,500 passenger ferries, are designed by Elliott Bay Design Group, each featuring four ABS Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) L12ME23B @ 750…

Eastern Shipbuilding Group is one of America’s leading shipbuilders. Perhaps best known for its history building tugs, towboats and offshore supply vessels, the company is today finding success in other markets, with notable build projects underway for the U.S. Coast Guard, Staten Island Ferry and dredging contractor Weeks Marine. Eastern’s president Joey D’Isernia weighs in on the yard’s current workload, market drivers and the challenges overcome and on the horizon.Where do you see the best opportunities for Eastern Shipbuilding Group today?We see a lot of opportunity in the defense sector…

Dozens of Greenpeace activists in Rotterdam port used a ship, buoys and a small flotilla of kayaks on Monday to block traffic around Shell’s Pernis refinery, Europe’s largest, as part of a campaign seeking a ban on fossil fuel advertising.Police ended the blockade after several hours and the port’s authority said economic disruption to the wider harbor was minimal.The action comes as Greenpeace and more than 20 other environmental groups began seeking a million signatures for a European Union-wide ban on adverts and sponsorships by oil and gas companies…

The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) announced the availability of the 2020 edition of Dredging in Figures, an annual review of the global open dredging markets. The annual report focuses on the state of the dredging industry in 2020, with an overview of the essential role of dredging in regards to the industry’s key drivers as well as the annual turnover of the world’s open markets. According to the latest Dredging in Figures, the dredging industry’s annual…

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday said workers who use cranes attached to boats to load equipment onto offshore oil rigs are not "seamen" exempt from overtime pay under federal wage law, reviving a collective action against liftboat operator All Coast LLC.The full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 15-2 to deny en banc review to All Coast and reinstated a three-judge panel's unanimous February ruling that said the workers were engaged in industrial activities that had no bearing…

Dubai ports giant DP World sees no early end to disruptions in global supply chains that have set off delays at ports and logistics hubs around the world, its chairman said on Friday.The disruptions, a result of pandemic lockdowns and an unexpectedly rapid recovery in demand, have also led to shipping container shortages and skyrocketing freight rates."I really don't think it's going to be resolved this year, DP World's Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem told Reuters on the opening day of Expo in Dubai…

A public-private partnership will aim to establish Salem Harbor as the Massachusetts’ second major offshore wind port.Vineyard Wind, set to be the first ever commercial scale offshore wind farm in the U.S., will work with Crowley Maritime Corporation and the City of Salem for the project.The agreement, part of the “Commonwealth Wind” proposal, is contingent upon the company winning an award by the State of Massachusetts, which is currently evaluating offshore wind procurement bids.Earlier this month…

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy Ports America, one of the largest marine terminal operators in the United States, from investment firm Oaktree Capital Management LP.While no valuation was given in the announcement statement, the deal values Ports America at over $4 billion, according to two sources familiar with the matter.The transaction comes amid heightened interest in logistics, with supply-chain disruption in focus as the…

Supply constraints thwarting global economic growth could still get worse, keeping inflation elevated longer, even if the current spike in prices is still likely to remain temporary, the world’s top central bankers warned on Wednesday.The disruptions to the global economy during the pandemic have upset supply chains across continents, leaving the world short of a plethora of goods and services from car parts and microchips to container vessels that transport goods across the seas.“It’s ...

Through a complex operation to offload bulk salt, NORDEN is optimizing the supply chain for customer Empremar.At a chemical plant in California, 30,000 tonnes of salt is being offloaded from a bulk carrier onto a private terminal. The salt will be taken directly to the plant and used to make chlorine.This shipment is one of eight per year that NORDEN will make for Chilean salt miner Empremar. While NORDEN has been shipping salt to the US for Empremar for 20 years, this is the…

Greek lawmakers on Thursday approved an amended deal with Chinese shipping group COSCO that will allow it to raise its stake in Greece’s biggest port of Piraeus, paving the way for Greece to secure a major investment.Under a 2016 Greek privatisation deal, COSCO Shipping bought a 51% stake in Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) for 280 million euros ($328 million). It then committed to mandatory investments worth about 294 million euros over five years to purchase an additional 16% stake for 88 million euros.COSCO was due to fulfil this key condition by August…

The technology group Wärtsilä has received marine sector commercial certification for compliance with the EU’s Stage V standards. The Stage V legislation, which came into force in 2020, tightens restrictions on non-road engines and equipment, and sets stricter limits on emissions, especially particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The certification applies to the total solution, including the Wärtsilä 14 engine and exhaust after-treatment system, and was received…

Eric Venable recently joined HDR as the new federal transportation director.HDR has a long history of providing key transportation expertise to the federal government, whether federal highways, coastal ports, defense installations or more.Venable brings more than 25 years of experience in operations, finance, strategic marketing, business expansion, client and subcontractor relations, and contract negotiations for federal, public, and private maritime and industrial clients. He most recently served as the director of ports and maritime for another firm…

Great Lakes Shipyard, a division of The Great Lakes Towing Company, has recently been awarded government contracts amounting to more than $1.9 million.The contracts, which could be valued at nearly $2.5 million if all options are exercised, include haul out, maintenance, and repair work of the following vessels: U.S. Coast Guard: Cutter KATMAI BAY; and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Detroit District Floating Plant (Tug DEMOLEN and Crane Barge VELER); and Buffalo District Barge BC6214.Great Lakes Shipyard is a regular provider of maintenance and repair services to the federal government…

Could you imagine designing your own car or truck or airplane, and then trying to build it? Unless you’re Elon Musk, you most likely couldn’t.Today’s consumers don’t want to solve their own problems, they want turnkey solutions, and they want them now. In what industry—other than maritime—do you see customers designing their own products, putting them out for bid, and then dealing with time and cost overruns? Yet, in the maritime world most acquisitions are long, drawn-out processes…

As the average length of the journey increases, partly due to port congestions in China, soaking up capacity and pushing up spot rates, shipowners will likely be enjoying high freight rates until the end of the year.Iron ore spot freight rates from Western Australia, to Qingdao, China have jumped 163% to USD 21.82 per tonne on 28 September 2021 compared with the same time last year. For a very large ore carrying Capesize ship transporting 200,000 tonnes of iron ore, this represents an increase in freight revenue from USD 1.66 million…

On September 18, Portland Port held the official naming ceremony of the newest tug to enter the fleet, the Rupert Best.It was announced earlier this year that the new tug would be arriving at Portland Port following its construction in 2019. The tug was built in Turkey to a Robert Allen design, the Sanmar Sirapinar class ‘RAmparts 2200’ azimuth stern drive tug will improve and help support the port’s ability to welcome larger vessels.The multimillion-dollar tug entered service earlier this year shortly after the passing of Commander Best.

U.S. soybean exports jumped last week to a six-month peak, while corn shipments were the highest in a month as Louisiana Gulf Coast terminals steadily ramped up operations disrupted nearly a month ago by Hurricane Ida, preliminary data showed on Monday.The export pace remained well below normal for this time of year as some terminals remain shuttered or running at reduced capacity after the storm flooded and damaged some facilities and wrecked the region's power grid.Ida crippled overseas grain shipments weeks before the start of the Midwest harvest and the busiest period for U.S.

The two new fire boats of the Flotte Hamburg were ceremonially christened Dresden and Prag on September 23 by their two sponsors, Dresden's Second Mayor Annekatrin Klepsch and Prague's City Councillor for Culture Hana Třeštíková. In the presence of Hamburg's First Mayor Peter Tschentscher and CEO of Hamburg Port Authority Jens Meier, the ships then went on a short sea trial in the Port of Hamburg.Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher said, "The new fire boats Prag and Dresden ensure safety in the port and can run emission-free with their plug-in hybrid drives.

Master Boat Builders, Inc. on Monday announced it will construct two new tugboats in its Coden, Ala., yard for Suderman and Young Towing Company of Houston, Texas.Under a contract order signed in February 2021, Suderman & Young will receive two vessels scheduled for delivery starting in July 2022. This summer, Master Boat Builders laid the keel for the first of the vessels.The tugboats will have an overall length of 85 feet, beam of 38.5 feet, and produce a bollard pull of over 52 metric tonnes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Friday awarded a $139 million construction contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC. (GLDD), to complete the third phase of the landmark Port of Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project (CIP). The four-phase infrastructure project will increase the Corpus Christi Ship Channel depth from -47 feet Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) to -54 feet MLLW and widen it to 530 feet, with an additional 400 feet of barge shelves.Phase 3 will extend west of the La Quinta Junction through the Chemical Turning Basin in the Port’s Inner Harbor.

Wärtsilä will supply the engines for two new pusher tugs being built for the Brazilian operator Hidrovias do Brasil at the Uzmar Shipyard in Turkey. There is an option for an additional two vessels. The Hidrovias fleet already includes a number of vessels operating with Wärtsilä engines, and their operational dependability and competitive lifecycle cost were cited as key considerations in the award of this latest contract, which was signed in the second quarter of 2021, Wärtsilä…

Sterling Plan B (SPBES) announced the appointment of long-time inland waterways shipping consultant Leen Schipper to the position of Vice President, Inland Waterways Europe with SPBES.SPBES said it sees increasing opportunities for marine battery use in the inland waterway shipping market, as customers move toward decreasing their climate change impacts through electrification.Schipper, who is Dutch, has an abundance of knowledge regarding inland waterway shipping in the Netherlands and in Europe as his family has worked in the field for generations.

The Puget Sound Pilots are pleased to announce the hiring of Charles Costanzo as Executive Director.Costanzo joins Puget Sound Pilots after over a decade at The American Waterways Operators where he served as General Counsel and Vice President – Pacific Region.“We are thrilled to have Charlie join PSP as our new Executive Director and we are confident that his strong background in advocacy and marine safety will serve PSP for years to come,” said Puget Sound Pilots President Ivan Carlson.

JAX LNG, a small-scale LNG facility located along the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Fla., recently completed the first fueling of a marine vessel in the United States with a blend of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and renewable LNG (RLNG).JAX LNG loaded the RLNG/LNG blend into the Clean Jacksonville bunker barge to fuel the Isla Bella. The Isla Bella is the world’s first LNG-powered container ship and was put into service by TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico in 2015. Element Markets supplied the renewable natural gas (RNG) used to produce the RLNG via renewable thermal certificates (RTCs).

McAllister Towing announced on Thursday it has signed a contract for the construction of two new tugs to be built at Washburn & Doughty Associates (W&D) in East Boothbay, Maine, with an option for two additional vessels.The 93- by 38-foot tractor tugs will each offer 84 metric tons bollard pull, further enhancing McAllister’s East Coast fleet with the ability to service its customers largest ships and bring McAllister’s tractor fleet to 39 tugs with a total of over 182,000 horsepower…

The technology group Wärtsilä and Wasaline, the Finnish–Swedish ferry operator, have signed a 10-year Optimized Maintenance agreement covering the company’s new ferry, the Aurora Botnia. The agreement was signed in June 2021, but became effective in September.Built at the RMC shipyard in Finland, the Aurora Botnia ranks among the most environmentally-friendly RoPax ferries in the world. The ship’s propulsion is based on a hybrid solution featuring the highly efficient Wärtsilä 31DF dual-fuel engine and batteries.

Renewable energy company RWE said Thursday it would create an offshore wind operations hub at Grimsby’s Royal Dock, on the UK’s east coast.The new ‘Grimsby Hub’ will expand the existing Triton Knoll offshore wind farm base and will be the home for RWE’s specialist team for major component exchanges and offshore repairs. As part of the move, RWE’s 1.4 gigawatt (GW) Sofia offshore wind farm will also locate its operations and maintenance activities to the new hub in the future.RWE expects the new facility will accommodate around 140 RWE employees…

Manitowoc, Wis., shipbuilder Burger Boat Company announced it has begun work on a new vehicle and passenger ferry for the Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority (EUPTA), located in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.Due to launch Summer 2022, the 92-foot steel ferry will operate year-round on the St. Mary’s River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula between Barbeau, Mich., and Neebish Island. The ferry was designed to operate in the harsh winter environment and through the solid ice conditions it will encounter on its route.The ferry is designed by Seacraft Design, LLC of Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

Shell has awarded a contract to a Singapore-based firm Penguin International Limited, to design, build and operate at least three fully electric ferries which, when operational, will be the first fully electric ferry service in Singapore and a first for Shell globally.Expected to set sail in the first half of 2023, the new 200-seater single-deck ferries will be used to transport passengers between mainland Singapore to Shell’s Energy and Chemicals Park on the island of Bukom,…

Indian officials said on Tuesday they had seized nearly three tonnes of heroin originating from Afghanistan worth an estimated 200 billion rupees ($2.72 billion) amid the chaos following last month's takeover of the country by the Taliban.Afghanistan is the world's biggest illicit opiate supplier, but since taking power, the Islamist Taliban have said they plan to ban the drug trade, without giving details on how.Two people had been arrested in connection with the haul and investigations were ongoing…

After a 30-day voyage from Altinova, Turkey, SAAM Towage's newest tug SAAM Palenque has arrived in Colón, Panama, where the company provides towage services on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.SAAM Towage Country Manager in Panama, Matia de Luiggi said, “We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this new tug, which will be an important reinforcement for our fleet. A compact vessel with advanced fire-fighting systems, it has all the technical specs for safely, efficiently serving…

Somerset, Mass. shipbuilder Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation delivered a new Chesapeake class pilot boat to the Associated Federal Pilots in Venice, La.With a deep-V hull designed by Ray Hunt Design, the new all-aluminum launch measures 52.6’ overall, with a 16.8’ beam and a 3.10’ draft. Powered by twin Volvo Penta D-16, EPA Tier 3-certified diesel engines, each producing 641 Bhp at 1800 rpm; the vessel’s top speed is 26 knots. A Humphree interceptor trim control system…

U.S. grain exports increased last week as shippers along the Louisiana Gulf Coast recovered from flooding and widespread power outages caused by Hurricane Ida's Aug. 29 landfall, but volumes were much lower than normal, preliminary data showed on Monday.Just seven export vessels were loaded with grain and soybeans at Louisiana Gulf Coast terminals in the week ended Sept. 16, down from 23 vessels in the same week last year, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data showed.Ida crippled overseas grain shipments weeks before the start of the Midwest harvest and the busiest period for U.S.

Among transportation planners, “resilience”, describing the ability to bounce back from adversities, both economic and other, has become a top consideration as we increasingly must “expect the unexpected.” The U.S. waterway system, covering the network of inland rivers and coastwise waterways, has seen a mix of good and not so good. As the 2020-2021 pandemic moves toward winding down, a recovery from the dismal 2020 is underway, but activity on the rivers is uneven. Ken Eriksen…

Terral RiverService announced September 1 the acquisition of the assets of Vidalia Dock and Storage Company, Two-J Ranch Inc., 363 Dry-Dock & Repair LLC, and Natchez Marine and Towing Inc. the premier fleet and yard operator in the Vidalia La., and Natchez, Miss. areas. According to Terral, the acquisition includes a total of four towboats, a dry dock and rock yard. In addition, Terral has acquired all of Vidalia Dock and Storage’s fleeting locations on the Mississippi River located…

Severe, unforecasted winds caused a containership to breakaway from a pier and damaged equipment at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal in New Orleans on Aug. 2, 2020, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.As longshoremen loaded and unloaded cargo from containership CMA CGM Bianca a sudden, localized thunderstorm passed through the area. Ten of the vessel’s 16 mooring lines parted in the high winds, and the ship moved away from the pier. Containers lifted by shoreside gantry cranes struck the ship.

Supply chain issues tied to liner shipping have been front page news throughout 2021; just about everyone agrees that there’s a problem. The underlying cause is right out of Economics 101: a surge in demand for moving containerized cargo, in the face of “inelastic” throughput capacity (which includes vessels and their landside interfaces to surface transportation, trucks and rail) that could not handle the swell, attributable to re-stocking of containerized cargo as economic activity recovered from the pandemic induced jolts.

Barge freight costs for moving grains in the Midwestern United States spiked on Thursday due to ongoing logistical problems more than two weeks after Hurricane Ida, while CHS Inc said the timeline to reopen its terminal remains uncertain.CHS Inc, a farmer cooperative and grain trader, said it expected its Myrtle Grove, Louisiana, grain export terminal to be operational by the height of the U.S. corn and soy harvest but could not be more specific.The terminal, which unloads grain barges and loads ocean-going vessels for export…

Several south Louisiana ports are requesting federal assistance to bolster recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ida.On August 29, Ida made landfall in southeast Louisiana as a category 4 storm, heavily impacting local infrastructure, waterways and communities.The Lower Mississippi River opened three days later, and by September 2, the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) resumed limited operations and became fully operational September 7. Although operations resumed, there remains ongoing assessment of needs, and supply chain disruptions also continue.

Offshore wind developer Parkwind has selected the Port of Mukran as a service base that will serve its Arcadis Ost I wind farm, in the Baltic Sea, offshore Germany.Earlier this week, Parkwind, wind turbine maker Vestas, and construction firm Ems Maritime Offshore (EMO) signed the lease agreements for the O&M building in the Port of Mukran, the easternmost deep water port in Germany.The signing ceremony marked the start of the building development where up to 40 professionals will oversee and service the operations of the 257 MW wind farm Arcadis Ost 1.

Vitol’s Singaporean bunker operations company, V-Bunkers, placed an order to build two electric-hybrid bunker tankers, with the intention to deploy them for harbor ops in Singapore.The bunker tankers are being built at an undisclosed shipyard in China with Electric-Hybrid notation and will employ Energy Storage Systems (ESS) technology comprising Lithium ion batteries for energy storage and anautomated Power Management System (PMS) designed to efficiently manage power consumption to reduce GHG emissions.

Norwegian Electric Systems (NES) has ordered Zinus’ autonomous charging solution for electrification of the ferry connections Bognes-Skarberget and Drag-Kjøpsvik in Nordland county – above the Arctic Circle.From December 1, 2022, both routes will be operated by the ferry company Fjord1. Bognes-Skarberget is an important part of the E6, the main thoroughfare through northern Norway, while the 15-kilometer-long crossing from Drag to Kjøpsvik will be the longest electrified ferry connection in Norway.

Containerized cargo volumes through Alabama's Port of Mobile continue to climb in 2021 as shippers seek uncongested gateways servicing key North American markets. In August, container volumes increased 34% over August 2020 volume, while year-to-date volume posted 27% over the same period last year, the port said Thursday, attributing part of that success to a 37% increase in refrigerated containers due to nearly $74 million in refrigerated facilities investment at the port to support cold cargo supply chains.

As the global cruise industry returns to service, DNV delivers a project for a UVD Robot from Green Instruments and prepares for further demand increase of its Product Assurance service tailored to infection prevention and control for the maritime industry as the benefit of the service is realized.COVID-19 hit the maritime industry hard, in particular, the cruise sector. Since the start of the pandemic, DNV had been called on by vessel owners and operators to support their efforts to address the safety of their passengers, crew, and destinations.

A record 60 container vessels are at anchor or adrift in the San Pedro Bay, waiting to be unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach seaports and another 20 are due to arrive in coming days, a port executive said on Wednesday.With the pandemic still raging around the world, U.S. consumers have not fully resumed previous spending on restaurants and travel, yet they continue to splurge on goods ranging from appliances and home exercise equipment to sweatpants and toys.Volume at the Port of Los Angeles - the busiest U.S.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday approved $1 billion for U.S. Coast Guard shore side infrastructure nationwide and $350 million for a heavy Great Lakes icebreaker as part of its budget reconciliation bill, an action that the Great Lake Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) called “great news for the Great Lakes.”The GLMTF described the heavy Great Lakes icebreaker as desperately needed and expects that a portion of the infrastructure funds will go to good…

The ports of Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City in Texas on Wednesday lifted the "yankee" status they had set ahead of Hurricane Nicholas, which made landfall on Monday, allowing the resumption of inbound vessel traffic, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Nicholas passed through the Texas coast on Tuesday on its way to Louisiana, causing minor floods and leaving over 400,000 customers without power.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy's Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Maryland will shut for about three weeks of maintenance starting around Sept. 20, according to pipeline data and analysts.Officials at Berkshire Hathaway Energy on Wednesday confirmed the pipeline and compressor station maintenance will start on Sept. 20 but would not confirm the shutdown of the liquefaction plant until about the day before an outage.Traders noted the reduction in gas flows to LNG export plants should weigh on U.S.

Energy companies worked to restore pipeline service and electricity after Tropical Storm Nicholas passed through on Tuesday, allowing them to return to repairing the significant damage caused by Hurricane Ida two weeks ago.Nicholas, downgraded to a tropical depression late Tuesday, caused rain, flooding, and power outages in Texas and Louisiana, where some refineries remained offline in the wake of Hurricane Ida. The earlier storm shuttered most U.S. Gulf offshore oil and gas production.Colonial Pipeline, the largest U.S.

In the first seven months of the year Chinese coal imports from Australia have totalled just 780,000 tons as Chinese restrictions on Australian coal have started to hurt, according to Oceanbolt. This represents a 98.6% drop compared with 56.8 million tonnes in the same period in 2020.In the first seven months of 2020, 697 voyages were made carrying coal between Australia and China. Out of these, 59.1% were on Panamax ships while Capesize ships proved the second most popular, accounting for 35.3%.

Saudi Arabia's national oil company Saudi Aramco has signed a memorandum of understanding with energy industry construction and installation firm McDermott to explore the use of McDermott's SAFIRA fabrication yard for construction services for Saudi Aramco's upstream and downstream projects.McDermott's SAFIRA fabrication yard is being developed within Saudi Aramco's King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services in Ras Al-Khair. Once fully functional, the yard will have the capability to fabricate and assemble offshore platforms and jackets…

Hurtigruten Expeditions’ new battery-hybrid powered MS Fridtjof Nansen has made history with the northernmost naming ceremony for a passenger ship—at the location where expedition cruising began in 1896.At latitude 78˚ North in Longyearbyen, Svalbard—often dubbed “next to the North Pole”—the local community joined the celebrations of one of the world’s greenest and most advanced cruise ships.“We are thrilled to celebrate more than 125 years of exploration and adventure travel where it all began.

Inaccurate stability calculations caused the capsizing of vehicle carrier Golden Ray that resulted in $200 million worth of damages, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday.The Marine Accident Report details the NTSB’s investigation of the September 8, 2019, capsizing of the roll-on/roll-off vehicle carrier Golden Ray as it transited outbound through St. Simons Sound near Brunswick, Ga. All 23 crewmembers and one pilot on board were rescued, including four engineering crew who were trapped in the vessel for nearly 40 hours. Two crewmembers sustained serious injuries.

An ocean tug is set to embark on a 1,000 nautical mile autonomous and remotely commanded journey around Denmark to prove that the world’s waterways are primed and ready for autonomous vessel technologies, autonomous command and control systems developer Sea Machines announced on Tuesday.The vessel will depart from Hamburg, Germany on October 1 with full onboard vessel control managed by autonomous technology while operating under the authority of commanding officers located in the United States.

Hurricane Nicholas on Tuesday took another swipe at U.S. Gulf Coast energy facilities, cutting offshore oil and gas output gradually recovering from the last storm and disrupting power to onshore pipeline, gas and chemical plants.Royal Dutch Shell halted production its Perdido offshore oil platform due to heavy winds, and U.S. liquefied natural gas producer Freeport LNG said processing at its Texas coast facility was halted, likely due to a power outage.Power losses briefly cut Colonial Pipeline's main gasoline and diesel lines out of Houston…

The Mississippi River, the second longest U.S. waterway, was temporarily shut to vessel traffic on Tuesday from mile 0 to mile 2 due to dredging operations, the New Orleans Board of Trade (NOBOT) said.The closure, expected to be lifted on Tuesday afternoon, it scheduled to be repeated on Sunday to finish the removal of dredging pipeline. Vessel traffic at the Mississippi has been interrupted several times since late August due to damages caused by Hurricane Ida.(Reporting by Marianna Parraga)

The Port of Houston on Tuesday said all terminals would remain closed due to the effects of Hurricane Nicholas and widespread power outages, and the Freeport Harbor Channel in Texas also suspended vessel movements due to unsafe conditions and power outages, according to notices from both ports.The Port of Houston anticipates resuming vessel movements on Tuesday evening and normal operations on Wednesday, then notice said.(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver)

Brazil's port regulator targeted the local unit of global grains merchant Bunge and two port agents in an investigation announced on Tuesday, threatening the trader's dominant position at a key export hub in the south of the country.The probe, ordered by port regulator Antaq via regulatory decision in the official government gazette, centers on alleged irregularities in a contract to move grain cargos at public terminals in the port of São Francisco do Sul.A regional branch of Antaq in Santa Catarina state will conduct the probe…

TankerTrackers.com has visual confirmation that an Iranian tanker is discharging gasoil in Syria's Baniyas port which is destined for neighboring Lebanon, the online oil shipment tracking service said on Tuesday."Unable to deliver directly by sea to Lebanon due to sanctions, the vessel went instead to Baniyas, Syria, for land transfer," the firm said on Twitter, referring to U.S. economic sanctions on the government in Tehran. Syria is also under U.S. sanctions, so has nothing to lose from receiving the oil.It will require 1…

CMA CGM Group, a shipping and logistics giant, has agreed to make a €25 million investment, including €10 million in quasi-equity, in Brittany Ferries, the largest ferry company operating under the French flag, to support Brittany Ferries’ post-Covid-19 recovery.Brittany Ferries said the partnership would help to unlock synergies between the two companies in passenger and freight transport. "By harnessing the respective areas of expertise of the CMA CGM Group and Brittany Ferries, it will also help promote the development of cross-Channel shipping and underpin France’s position in the sector.

U.S. grain exports slumped to their lowest level in years last week as shippers struggled to restart loading operations along the Louisiana Gulf Coast after Hurricane Ida flooded and damaged grain terminals and knocked out power across the region, preliminary data showed on Monday.Weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grain inspections data, an early indicator of shipments abroad, showed the volume of corn weighed and certified for export last week was the lowest in 8-1/2 years as no grain was inspected along the Louisiana Gulf Coast, the busiest outlet for U.S.

Royal Dutch Shell on Monday began evacuating staff from a U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil platform, and other energy companies began preparing for hurricane-force winds from a second Gulf Coast storm in as many weeks.Tropical Storm Nicholas was about 105 miles (115 km) south of Port O'Connor, Texas, and moving north with winds of 60 miles per hour (97 kph). It could become a hurricane just ahead of landfall on Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.Waves stirred up by Nicholas neared 12 feet (3.7 m) in height were reported outside of Port Aransas…

The Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Monday increased its Hurricane Readiness Status to a high readiness Level 2 ahead of the landfall of Tropical Storm Nicholas.The Port of Corpus Christi remains at Port Condition Level X-Ray from Rockport to the U.S. Mexico border, it said in a release. "Under this condition, owners, operators or agents of all self-propelled oceangoing vessels over 500 gross tons, all barges and their support tugs should review USCG plans to depart or remain in port."(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)

The U.S. Coast Guard announced the appointment of 13 individuals to serve as members of the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC).NMSAC was established in December 2018 to provide advice to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on matters relating to national maritime security, including on enhancing the sharing of information related to cybersecurity risks that may cause a transportation security incident, between relevant Federal agencies and a) State…

The Houston Ship Channel on Monday halted inbound and outbound transit activity head of Tropical Storm Nicholas, a port official said.Nicholas on Monday was making its way towards the southern Texas coast with sustained winds of around 60 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. It could become a hurricane before making landfall.(Reporting by Liz Hampton)

U.S.-based marine services and transportation companies Crosby Tugs and SEA.O.G Offshore have merged to focus on delivering installation support and operations and maintenance services for the U.S. offshore wind industry.“We are looking forward to continuing to support the ever-changing energy market, and with the combined synergies, we are going to be in a better position to service our clients. Our team is ready to drive the future forward.” Kurt Crosby, CEO of Crosby Tugs.The new combined fleet has 130 inland and offshore towboats and a fleet of over 400 barges…