East Coast News

Canadian dry-bulk shipper Algoma Central Corporation announced the purchase of a 2008 built product tanker which will become the seventh tanker within the Algoma Tankers Limited fleet.A press release from the provider of marine transportation services said that the purchase demonstrates Algoma’s commitment to continuing to safely and efficiently ship petroleum products on the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway and East Coast.“We are extremely pleased to add a vessel to our Algoma Tankers Limited fleet as customer demand continues to strengthen in this segment…

In a major developement, international consulting group COWI announced it plan to increase its presence in the USA significantly with the consultancy contract with Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts – the first major US offshore wind energy project.The Denmark-based specialist in  engineering, environmental science and economics said in a release that the project is part of a masterplan to construct 10 GW offshore wind farms.The next seven years will see 10 GW offshore wind farms be developed on the northern East Coast – including Massachusetts…

Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV) will be deployed to investigate containers lost from a cargo ship in heavy seas off Australia.The YM Efficiency, operated by Taiwan shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, was sailing from Taiwan to Sydney in early June when it lost dozens of containers overboard amid five-meter swells in the Tasman Sea, about 30 kilometers off Australia's east coast.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), citing serious potential impacts to local fishing and the environment…

Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, and Yang Ming announced the strategic cooperation with CMA-CGM, COSCO, OOCL to enhance their Mediterranean-U.S. East Coast service AL6 (Atlantic 6) to deliver a more efficient and comprehensive service quality.The improved service is consolidating the AL6 service (operated by Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, and Yang Ming), and the Amerigo service (operated by COSCO, CMA-CGM, OOCL) into one larger loop with a deployment of six 8,000-TEU vessels (three by Hapag-Lloyd…

South Korea's largest shipping line Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) said it will invest 3.153 trillion won ($2.84 billion) for 20 new large containerships to be delivered by June 2021.In June this year, the company signed letters of intent for ship orders with South Korea's top three shipbuilders Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries.DSME and Samsung will build seven and five 23,000 TEU vessels respectively, which are expected to deliver in the second quarter of 2020.

French energy major Total and Adani Group have signed an agreement to jointly develop multi energy offers to the Indian energy market. This cooperation includes Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Fuel Retail.The Adani Group is an Indian private conglomerate active in 50 countries and specialized in commodities trading, port infrastructures and logistics, as well as energy production and distribution.This strategic partnership between Total and Adani Group will allow to create a major footprint in LNG business and a new retail network of 1…

Hurricane Michael is expected to strengthen today in the Gulf of Mexico, with the Florida panhandle directly in its dangerous path.Thousands of local residents in Wakulla, Gulf and Bay counties have been ordered to leave. Forecasters now say that Michael could be a Category 3 storm when it makes landfall on Wednesday. That prediction, if true, would make the storm the strongest to hit this area in at least a decade.As of 3 AM CDT on Tuesday, Michael was a Category 1 storm, with sustained winds of up to 90 miles per hour.

A 479-foot asphalt tanker was towed into New York Harbor after an engine room fire left the vessel disabled off the U.S. East Coast.Early on October 5, U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders in Woods Hole, Mass. received a report that the Hong Kong-flagged tanker Feng Huang AO loaded with asphalt and bound for New York Harbor suffered a fire in its engine room while transiting 57 miles southeast of Nantucket Island.The flames were extinguished using the ship’s installed carbon dioxide fire suppression system.

NACC Alicudi is reported to be the world’s first cement carrier equipped with IMO Tier III compliant diesel engines driving the bulk handling system. Converted in 2017 with a Van Aalst dry bulk handling system, the vessel became a unique and state-of-the-art 120m self-discharging cement carrier, with a cement handling system is based on compressors and vacuum pumps, driven by Tier III Scania engines. Together they form the heart of the unique vacuum-pressure system for pneumatic conveyance of cement…

Hurricane Michael, now a Category 4 storm, will be the second hurricane in two months to significantly affect ports on the U.S. eastern seaboard. Eastern North Carolina in particular is only now recovering from Florence.The U.S. Coast Guard has set conditions X-Ray for ports in Georgia and South Carolina in preparation for Hurricane Michael. The storm is now expected to make landfall by Wednesday afternoon. While gale force winds are expected within the next 48 hours, these ports can remain open to commercial traffic.

A French cruise company and ship’s Master have been fined $70,000 and $30,000 respectively for endangering human life and entering a prohibited zone following a grounding incident in the remote New Zealand Subantarctic islands.French company Compagnie du Ponant and Captain Regis Daumesnil, a French citizen, were sentenced Tuesday in the Wellington District Court after pleading guilty to charges following the January 2017 grounding of the cruise ship L’Austral on an uncharted rock…

Canadian operator One Ocean Expeditions (OOE) announced it has recommissioned a 1991-built expedition cruise vessel.RCGS Resolute, previously Society Adventurer and later Hanseatic, was built in the early '90s as one of the industry’s first purpose-built passenger expedition cruise vessels.With the arrival of RCGS Resolute, OOE said it will continue to offer sailings to remote destinations such as Canada’s East Coast, the Canadian High Arctic and Antarctica, and will introduce new destinations including Central and South America as well as the North Atlantic Islands.“One Ocean Expeditions’ fle

The Panama Canal closed its 2018 fiscal year with a record tonnage of 442.1 million Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS), which represents a 9.5 percent increase from the previous year, the Panama Canal Authority reports.With this tonnage, the Panama Canal surpasses the cargo projections of 429.4 million PC/UMS tons for FY 2018, as well as the 403.8 million PC/UMS tons registered in FY 2017."The Panama Canal continues to exceed our expectations, reinforcing every day the importance of the waterway's expansion and its impact on global maritime trade," said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano.

The Panama Canal announced that it expects to receive approximately 234 cruise ships through the Panamax and Neopanamax Locks during the upcoming 2018-2019 cruise season.The first transit was on Oct. 5 with the Seven Seas Mariner, on a northbound transit travelling from the U.S. West Coast to the U.S. East Coast."As the second full cruise season with the Expanded Canal, we aim to build off our recent milestones and success," said Panama Canal's Senior International Trade Specialist Albano G. Aguilar.

Canada’s National Shipbuilder Irving Shipbuilding celebrated the handover of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Fredericton to the Royal Canadian Navy following the completion of an extensive docking work period.The Halifax-headquartered shipyard said in a press release that the docking work period included routine maintenance and upgrades to ensure the longevity of HMCS Fredericton, a Halifax-class frigate.More than 400 of Halifax Shipyard’s 1,900 employees worked on HMCS Fredericton’s docking work period, including shipbuilders who are members of Unifor Local 1.

Petrofac, the international oil and gas services provider, leading a consortium with Saipem  and Samsung Engineering, has received an award notification for Thai Oil Public Company Limited’s (Thai Oil) Clean Fuels Project on the East coast of Thailand.The overall project value is around US$4 billion, of which Petrofac’s share is around US$1.4 billion, and will be completed over a period of approximately four years.The project will transform the existing oil refinery in Sriracha, Chonburi, into an environmentally-friendly facility, which will produce higher quality transportation fuels.

Global energy sector supplier NKT has confirmed turnkey order for Moray East offshore wind farm project."NKT has signed a Preferred Bidder Agreement (PBA) for delivery and installation of export cable systems to the prospective offshore wind farm project Moray East," said a press release from the company.NKT and the project developer, MOWEL, Moray East Offshore Windfarm Ltd, owned by EDP Renováveis S.A., ENGIE and Diamond Generating Europe Ltd., have signed the final binding agreement on the project.

An interview with Rear Admiral Ronald A. Boxall, Director, Surface Warfare (N96), conducted by Capt. Edward Lundquist, U. S. Navy (Ret.)The theme of the recent SNA West Coast Symposium was “Take a Running Fix.” So what’s your “fix” right now about where we are regarding surface warfare?The SWO Boss is thinking about that from a man/train/equip standpoint, and being able to ensure that we’re trained to the best we can, that we’re manned properly, and have the equipment we need.

Due to the application of BMP protection measures by the Master, his crew and the private security team, the piracy attack was thwarted and the crew and vessel remained safe.The Master had already evacuated the crew to the citadel when the embarked Armed Security Team (PAST) responded to the attack. There was a sustained exchange of fire before the skiff with several armed people on board broke off and changed course away from the MV.Following the collective advice of industry and military counter-piracy operations…

Jim Newsome, president and CEO, highlights cooperation and collaboration.South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) president and CEO, Jim Newsome, presented the annual State of the Port to an audience of approximately 600 customers, elected officials and shipping industry representatives at the Charleston Area Convention Center. Jim’s presentation focused on the Port’s successes, strategic infrastructure investments to support continued container volume growth, new initiatives to increase Port productivity and overall industry trends that will impact the Port in the future.

Danish wind energy giant Orsted completed its previously announced takeover of Deepwater Wind from D.E. Shaw group in a deal valued at $510 million.The company closed the transaction of acquiring 100% of equity stake held by D.E. Shaw group in Deepwater Wind, which was announced in October this year, after securing approval from the US competition authorities.The new combined organization—Ørsted US Offshore Wind—will be able to deliver clean energy to every coastal state in the densely-populated east coast corridor between Massachusetts and Virginia.

The Australia Pacific LNG project (APLNG) said that it has signed a deal to buy gas from neighboring Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG ) project and for both projects to share infrastructure.Under the tolling agreements, the QCLNG project will be able to transport and process gas and water from the Arrow Energy Surat Basin fields using available capacity in existing Australia Pacific LNG-QCLNG joint infrastructure. The infrastructure sharing arrangements will commence from 2020 and continue until 2035…

The Indian Navy has inducted a Submarine Rescue System with a Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) along with associated equipment.According to a government press release, this system has a side scan sonar for locating the position of the submarine in distress at sea, providing immediate relief by way of posting Emergency Life Support Containers with the help of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and thereafter rescuing the crew of the submarine using the DSRV itself.In a submarine accident, rapidity of response is most crucial to safety of life.