East Coast News

The midstream services provider to the offshore oil production industry Teekay Offshore Partners announced that in accordance with previously noted financing plans, it has secured a new $450 million revolving credit facility for sixteen shuttle tankers.The facility will be used to refinance the existing revolving credit facility dated September 8, 2017, currently fully drawn with outstanding amount of $445 million, and for general corporate purposes, it said ina press release.The…

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said Canada would spend an estimated C$15.7 billion ($11.7 billion) to renew its coast guard fleet and that it would partner with a new shipyard to complete the project.Two Arctic icebreakers will be among a total of 18 new ships ordered, Trudeau told reporters in Vancouver. They will be built by Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax on the east coast, while 16 multi-purpose vessels will be built by Vancouver Shipyards on the west coast."Our…

The Port of Tyne, which comprises the commercial docks in and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear in the northeast of England, is increasing their offer to potential offshore wind manufacturers.Offshore wind could provide 30% of Britain's electricity generation by 2030, and the Port of Tyne is perfectly placed to support this growing renewable sector.Announcing that the ‘Tyne is right’ to utilise its location, within 100 nautical miles of Dogger Bank, Hornsea, Seagreen and Sofia…

UK towage company SMS Towage has purchased two tugs from Damen Shipyards. The first vessel, called Manxman, was handed over on April 12, just seven days after contract signing. The contract for the second vessel, to be called Marksman, was signed on May 1 with a delivery date scheduled for June 7th. Both vessels are Damen ASD Tugs 2411, and mark the first Damen tugs for SMS Towage.Established in 2002, SMS Towage started towage activities on and around the Humber Estuary on the UK’s east coast.

Today, the Panama Canal completed a trial transit of Evergreen’s Triton, the largest vessel in dimension and container cargo capacity to pass through the Expanded Canal since it opened in June 2016.The Neopanamax containership Triton, which has a Total TEU Allowance (TTA) of 15,313, a 20-row beam of 51.2 meters and a length of 369 meters, transited northbound from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.Similar to the milestone Q-Flex transit completed on May 12, today’s achievement was made possible by an increase to the maximum allowable beam for vessels transiting the Neopanamax Locks.

The Panama Canal completed a trial transit of Evergreen’s Triton, the largest vessel in dimension and container cargo capacity to pass through the Expanded Canal since it opened in June 2016.The Neopanamax containership Triton, which has a Total TEU Allowance (TTA) of 15,313, a 20-row beam of 51.2 meters and a length of 369 meters, transited northbound from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.“We are excited about the opportunities enabled by the Triton’s trial transit,” said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L.

Svitzer Australia has welcome two new vessels to its fleet in 2019, as two UZMAR-built RAstar 3200 series tugboats begin the journey from Turkey to their respective home ports.A delivery ceremony was hosted by UZMAR on 12 March 2019 for the two tugboats, Svitzer Ruby and Svitzer Redhead.The 85-tonne bollard pull tug, Svitzer Ruby, will join Port Kembla in May 2019, and the 80-tonne bollard pull tug, Svitzer Redhead, will join the team in Fremantle in late April 2019.The vessels…

Hapag-Lloyd says repairs have completed on board the fire-stricken containership MV “Yantian Express” in Freeport Harbour, Bahamas and will depart on Wednesday May 15th."The vessel is currently berthed at the terminal in the Bahamas. Reloading of all containers previously discharged ashore for inspection has now been completed," said a press release from the  Accordingly all cargoes, whether security has been provided or not, are now on board the Yantian Express  German-based cargo container shipping line.Dependent on final technical approval of vessel class…

DNV GL has secured a classification contract for WindServe's new Crew Transfer Vessel.WindServe Marine, LLC (WindServe) has awarded DNV GL a contract for classification of one purpose-built offshore Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) for Ørsted North America (Ørsted). The contract covers the construction of the BMT-designed vessel, which will be the first offshore wind vessel built in the United States to class requirements.The high-speed aluminum catamaran is a custom design from the U.K.-based BMT Group (BMT), who has extensive offshore wind experience and a large portfolio of offshore wind vessels, including 49 CTVs, currently operating in Europe. The new state-of-the-art design from BMT is built specifically for U.S.

Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind has entered into an agreement with the offshore wind support services provider WindServe Marine LLC to construct a two purpose-built offshore crew transfer vessels (CTVs).The first CTV will be built by US Workboats in Hubert, North Carolina and used for Orsted’s Coastal Virginia offshore wind farm, followed by subsequent service on northeast projects.The second CTV will be built by WindServe’s affiliate shipyard, Senesco Marine, in North Kingstown, Rhode Island…

The Coast Guard commissioned the newest California-based 154-foot Fast Response Cutter in San Diego, Wednesday.The Benjamin Bottoms is the fourth Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutter (FRC) to be homeported at Base Los Angeles-Long Beach.While these ships will be based in San Pedro, they will operate throughout the 11th Coast Guard District, which includes all of California and international waters off of Mexico and Central America. "Radioman First Class Benjamin Bottoms is a Coast Guard hero," said Adm. Charles Ray, the Coast Guard vice commandant.

India has evacuated more than 300,000 people along its northeast coastline by boat, bus and train ahead of a severe cyclone due to make landfall on Friday, with many villagers piling household possessions on to trucks before fleeing their homes.Severe cyclonic storm Fani was churning up the Bay of Bengal about 320 km (198 miles) south-southwest of the Hindu temple town of Puri where special trains were put on to evacuate tourists and the beaches were empty.In total, about 1.2 million people are expected to be evacuated from low-lying areas of 15 districts in the eastern state of Odisha to cyclone shelters, schools and other buildings…

The international midstream services provider to the offshore oil production industry Teekay Offshore Partners announced  that it has secured a new $100 million revolving credit facility for the Piranema Spirit, Voyageur Spirit, and Petrojarl Varg FPSO units.The previous credit facility matured at the same time with a balloon payment of $35 million, said a press release from the company primarily focused on the ownership and operation of critical infrastructure assets in offshore oil regions of the North Sea…

The Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT), an international trade seaport on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, set a new port record today with the arrival of the ZIM vessel Kota Pekarang, the largest container ship to ever call Jacksonville.The 11,923-TEU (container) vessel is operated by ZIM on a service offered by the 2M Alliance, comprised of Maersk, MSC, Hamburg Süd and strategic partners HMM and ZIM.The Kota Pekarang, which transited the Panama Canal from Northeast Asia before reaching the U.S.

Eagle LNG has received a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct the Jacksonville LNG export facility.The Florida-based bulk LNG provider said that this is the final step in the environmental review process before the final Federal Authorization Decision Deadline and anticipated FERC approval of the project.“Achieving this critical milestone is a significant step forward for Eagle’s Jacksonville LNG Export Facility as we continue to advance our efforts to supply clean burning…

Offshore renewable energy is gaining investment support in the United States, particularly on the east coast. While the U.S. is a full generation behind its European counterparts in tapping the wind as an energy source, if current plans come to fruition it could gain ground quickly. Recently we spoke with Astrid Skarheim Onsum, SVP, Head of Wind Aker Solutions, for her view on the path ahead and the growing role and promising future of ‘floating wind.’Please give an overview of your responsibilities as SVP…

Moose Boats rises to the challenge of building its biggest vessel ever. That’s an important step forward for this growing California shipyard. Equally impressive is what’s inside that rapidly developing hull and why those features were chosen.The U.S. boatbuilding scene is a changing landscape of waterfront manufacturing that constantly evolves to meet the inevitable peaks and valleys of demand. Nowhere is that reality more apparent than at California-based Moose Boats. In October 2016, Lind Marine announced the acquisition of Moose Boats.

“A new industry is being established in New York, with the primary stimulus being a state-driven procurement process.”New York State Public Service Commission (PSC), July 12, 2018.To a great extent, this PSC comment provides direct insight into the dynamics behind New York’s pace-setting moves to establish offshore wind. First, this new energy development is deliberate – not left to chance or laissez faire markets. Second, state officials are in control, from choosing a contractor to securing money for payment.

Gulf Drilling International (GDI) has signed a three-year contract with North Oil Company (NOC) to provide drilling services through the drilling rig Dukhan for NOC’s extensive development programmes in Al Shaheen oil field.The Al Shaheen Oil Field is a production oil and gas field off the north east coast of Qatar in the Persian Gulf, 80 kilometres north of Doha.The subsidiary of Gulf International Services (GIS) said in a press release that the signing ceremony was attended by GDI’s Chief Executive officer William Ceppi and NOC’s Chief Executive Officer Jacques Azibert.

Container throughput in ports of Latin America and the Caribbean increased by 7.7% in 2018 in comparison with the previous year.According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), this analysis is based on the performance of a sampling of 31 countries and 118 ports and port areas in the region.According to the annual report unveiled by the United Nations organization – which was called  “port ranking” in prior years – the data largely maintained the heterogeneity seen in throughput behavior in previous periods, both in reference to ports and countries.

North Carolina Ports made history Monday by welcoming its first-ever 12,000 TEU vessel to the Port of Wilmington.The ship, Kota Pekarang, is the largest capacity-wise to call the port. The Kota Pekarang is operated by ZIM in partnership with the 2M Alliance which links Asia to Wilmington.“This is a monumental milestone for North Carolina Ports and the Port of Wilmington,” said Paul J. Cozza, Executive Director, North Carolina Ports. “This is proof of concept that we are big ship…

South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has received an order for the construction of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit on the condition that the client receives approval from its partner and government.The contract worth KRW 1.1 trillion (US$963 million) has been signed with an unnamed Asian shipowner, said a report in Yonhap. The FPSO will be constructed at its main shipyard in Geoje, some 330 kilometers south of Seoul, the company said in a regulatory filing.Although Samsung Heavy didn't announce the name of the Asian customer…

Ocean Network Express (ONE),  a Japanese container shipping company that is headquartered in Tokyo and Singapore,  announced that ONE APUS, with a carrying capacity of 14,000 TEU, was successfully delivered at Kure Shipyard of Japan Marine United Corporation.The sublet owner is Nippon Yusen Kaisha, said a press release from the provider of container shipping and terminal services.This is ONE’s second delivery this year, and the 6th of a series of seven newly built 14,000 TEU magenta containership…