Empire State Building News

The Suez Canal stepped up efforts on Friday to free a giant container ship blocking the vital trade waterway that has sent shipping rates for oil product tankers soaring and disrupted the global supply chains for everything from grains to baby clothes.Shipping rates for oil product tankers have nearly doubled after the 400 meter long Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, ran aground in the canal on Tuesday.Efforts to free the vessel may take weeks and be complicated by unstable weather conditions…

A containership blocking the Suez Canal like a "beached whale" may take weeks to free, the salvage company said, as officials stopped all ships entering the channel on Thursday in a new setback for global trade.The 400-meter Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, is blocking transit in both directions through one of the world's busiest shipping channels for oil and grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe.The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said eight tugs were working to move the vessel…

The Suez Canal temporarily suspended traffic on Thursday as efforts to dislodge a 400 m (430 yard) long container vessel that has blocked the waterway continued for a third day, with eight tugs working to straighten the ship.The Ever Given vessel, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, ran aground diagonally across the single-lane stretch of the southern canal on Tuesday morning after losing the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm.It is now blocking transit in both directions through one of the world's busiest shipping channels for goods…

An Australian port and a stake in the Empire State Building's operator were among assets acquired by sovereign investors such as wealth funds and state pension funds in the third quarter of 2016, with deals totalling $21.2 billion. The combined value of deals was up 38 percent from the previous quarter, helped by a handful of jumbo-sized transactions in the infrastructure, energy and real estate segments, although the number of direct investments fell to 35 from 43 in the second quarter, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier arrived in Crete on Tuesday, giving its 5,500 crew members a Greek island break after seven months at sea and over 2,000 missions launched against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. Navy extended the Truman's deployment by one month to "keep the pressure" on Islamic State until the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier arrived to take over, Vice Admiral James Foggo, commander of the Navy's Sixth Fleet, told Reuters. The 1,096-feet (334-metre) Truman…

In a history-making run, the largest container ship  CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin will arrive in Seattle Monday, Feb. 29 after visits in Long Beach and Oakland, California. It will visit Long Beach Thursday bringing goods from China. Although the event is not public, people should be able to see the ship from the waterfront area east of the Long Beach Convention Center, and from sections of Alamitos Beach, said Art Wong, a Port of Long Beach spokesman. The 1,310-foot-long container vessel of CMA CGM called at the Port of Oakland after leaving Los Angeles in December, then sailed to China on Jan. 4. It reached Xiamen, China Jan. 30, later calling at the ports of Nansha, Hong Kong and Yantian before leaving for Long Beach Feb. 4. It will stay in Long Beach until Feb. 24.

A quarter-mile-long megaship that's the largest cargo ship ever to visit the U.S. is expected to arrive at the Port of Oakland on Thursday morning, port officials said Tuesday. Longer than an aircraft carrier, the Benjamin Franklin container ship is the largest vessel to ever visit the U.S. Were it tipped vertically, the ship would be taller than the Empire State Building. The 1,300-foot-long Benjamin Franklin, the 10th largest containership in the world, was launched from a Chinese shipyard last month and arrived at the Port of Los Angeles over the weekend. "The arrival of this big ship is a good sign," said Michael Zampa, a spokesman for the Port of Oakland. It is scheduled to arrive at 10:30 a.m.

The CMA CGM Group announced that the CMA CGM GEORG FORSTER called England for the first time on July 6th. With its 1,305 ft. (398m) length and 177 ft. (54m) width, the CMA CGM GEORG FORSTER not only is, with her sistership the CMA CGM KERGUELEN, the CMA CGM Group’s largest containership, but it is also the largest UK flag vessel sailing the seas. This gigantic vessel has a 18,000 TEUs (twenty feet equivalent) capacity: all containers placed together would totalize the distance between London and Southampton.

The 18,000 TEU capacity containership the CMA CGM Georg Forster was delivered to the CMA CGM Group on June, 2 in South Korea. With its 1,305 ft. (398m) length and 177 ft. (54m) width, the CMA CGM Georg Forster is the group’s second 18,000 TEU capacity vessel to be delivered. Six vessels will compose this series of vessels named after great explorers, that will have  the CMA CGM Group’s largest containership capacity. This gigantic vessel has a 18,000 TEU (twenty feet equivalent) capacity. All containers placed together would totalize around the distance between Hamburg and Hanover.

The Georgia Ports Authority welcomed the largest ship ever to call on the Port of Savannah today when the ZIM Tianjin docked at Garden City Terminal. "This 10,000-TEU vessel represents the future of U.S.-Asia shipping," said Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis J. Foltz. The ship measures 1,145 feet long by 150 feet wide. Stood on end, it would stand nearly as tall as the Empire State Building (1,454 feet, including its antenna). The vessel's route originated in Qingdao, China, arriving on the U.S. East Coast via the Suez Canal. "The port call by the ZIM Tianjin is another example of the strong and long standing professional relationship between GPA and ZIM," said ZIM Vice President Brian Black.

In a word, Pieter Schelte is BIG. Founded in 1985, Swiss-based Allseas Group S.A. is specialized in offshore pipeline installation and subsea construction. The company employs more than 2,500 people worldwide and operates a fleet of specialized, in-house designed and developed pipelay and support vessels. The company is known for its daring and imagination in ship design and technological innovation. The newest Allseas vessel, Pieter Schelte, is a huge ship, composed of two super-tanker hulls connected by a wide central work platform or slot, much like a catamaran.

Pieter Schelte Heerema, one of the largest ships in the world with a length of more than three football fields, arrives at the port of Rotterdam for the last works before it is operational. Pieter Schelte Heerema, one of the largest ships in the world, which is capable of lifting oil platforms weighing almost five times the weight of the Eiffel Tower, arrived Thursday in Rotterdam for the last work before it goes into service. The nearly 400-metre (440-yard) long crane ship arrived in Europe's largest port from South Korea where it was built at DSME’s Okpo shipyard, ahead of starting work lifting rigs and laying pipelines this summer. The vessel is 124m (407ft) wide and 382m (1,253ft) long – as long as the Empire State Building is high.

Sonardyne’s Ranger 2 Ultra-Short Baseline (USBL) acoustic positioning system has been selected by the Swiss-based Allseas Group for the world’s largest pipelay and platform installation/decommissioning vessel, Pieter Schelte. Built by Daewoo Heavy Industries in South Korea, at 382 meters long and 124 meters wide, Pieter Schelte is almost as long as the Empire State Building and as wide as London’s Big Ben is tall. When complete early next year, the vessel will be able to lift loads of 48…

The 488-meter-long-hull of Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility has been floated out of the dry dock at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) yard in Geoje, South Korea, where the facility is currently under construction. Prelude will unlock new energy resources offshore and produce approximately 3.6 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum (mtpa) to meet growing demand, 1.3 mtpa of condensate and 0.4 mtpa of LPG. and to remain on location for approximately 25 years.

SSA Terminals (Oakland) announces the expansion of its Port of Oakland marine terminal facilities. SSA Terminals (Oakland) is expanding its Oakland International Container Terminal (OICT) operations to meet the growing needs of the maritime industry. With the expansion, OICT is the largest container terminal in Northern California, providing a 271-acre facility and servicing 20 international carriers. The enlarged OICT will consist of 5 contiguous berths, stretching no less than 6,000 feet, all with a water depth of 50-feet and with 10 Post-Panamax cranes ready to handle the largest vessels.

Exxon Mobil plans to develop a floating liquefied natural gas project to develop the Scarborough field off the coast of Western Australia. Exxon, whose partner in the field is Melbourne-based BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), expects to make a decision on whether to go ahead with the floating LNG venture in 2014 or 2015, with the project starting production in 2020 or 2021, reports Bloomberg. In Australia, Shell is developing the Prelude floating LNG vessel -- expected to be as long as the Empire State Building and weigh six times as much as the biggest aircraft carrier -- after costs for onshore LNG plants in the country surged. While Exxon’s floating LNG facility in the Carnarvon Basin off northwest Australia is expected to be about 495 meters (1,624 feet) long and 75 meters wide.

ESAB Welding & Cutting Products offers a range of welding filler metals for the structural steel industry, including a complete range of Seismic Certified filler metal solutions from Atom Arc, Coreshield, Dual Shield and Spoolarc (with OK Sub-arc Fluxes). A newly released guide outlines the many products available. Seismic Certified products are tested in accordance with the new AWS ‘D’ designator requirements as specified in AWS A5.20. ESAB also offers technical expertise to determine and execute the best solution for a seismic application, from material testing to development of weld procedures to on-time delivery of products to achieve project goals quickly.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NSYE:NOC) has completed builder's sea trials of the nation's newest and most advanced nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). Builder's sea trials provide an opportunity to test systems, components and compartments at sea for the first time. The trials also include high-speed runs and a demonstration of the carrier's other capabilities. "The road to get CVN 77 to this point has been a long journey that started in January 2001 with the detailed design and construction contract…

Broward County’s Port Everglades saluted the U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), this month as the 1,092-foot-long ship and several thousand sailors made their first port call since the ship’s commissioning in July 2003. “Broward County has always been a favorite destination for Navy ships, which is due in part to the many attractions and sites this area has to offer young people, and to the warm reception they receive from our local residents as well as our active Navy Leagues,” said Broward County Mayor Diana Wasserman-Rubin. Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, Jr., Port Director Ken Krauter and mayors from cities within the port’s jurisdiction greeted Commanding Officer Capt. James A.

Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully redelivered the nation's newest and most advanced nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), to the U.S. Navy after a post shakedown availability (PSA). The Ronald Reagan returned to the company's Newport News sector shipyard in December for the PSA, a typical availability in the early life of a carrier that allows the Navy and Newport News team to resolve any items that came up during early cruises and make any last-minute changes and upgrades.

christened the nation's 10th and final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). President of the United States, George H. history to participate in the christening of his namesake ship. to sea," Bush said. the commander in chief to be on board. daughter, Doro Bush Koch. Mrs. sparkling wine across the ship's bow during the ceremony. President George W. during the ceremony as a special guest speaker. George H.W. Virginia Senators John Warner and George Allen; Virginia Gov. Kaine; Adm. Michael Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations; Ronald D. and Mike Petters, president of Northrop Grumman Newport News. aircraft carriers. heat, freezing cold and in the rain," he said. "It is dangerous work. It is difficult and demanding work. And it is noble work.

commissioned Saturday, July 12, 2003, during an 11 a.m. Naval Station, Va.. Vice President Richard Cheney will deliver the ceremony s principal address. Reagan, wife of the ship s namesake, will serve as ship s sponsor. Capt. J. W. to honor America s 40th president Ronald Reagan who was born in Tampico, Ill., Feb. 6, 1911. personnel, Ronald Reagan will be homeported in San Diego as a member of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. News,Va., starting with the ship s keel laying Feb. 12, 1998, and christening Mar. nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall. flight deck that covers 4.5 acres. range and endurance, and a top speed in excess of 30 knots. multi-role SH-60 and MH-60 helicopters. media, and live via streaming video to the web, through the Naval Media Center.

The Navy’s newest and most sophisticated nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), was commissioned July 12, 2003 at the Norfolk Naval Station in Norfolk, Va. Named after America's 40th president, Reagan is the ninth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier built by Northrop Grumman Newport News and the first carrier named for a living president. The keynote speaker for the commissioning ceremony was Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney. Mrs. Ronald Reagan also attended the ceremony and served as the ship’s sponsor. Other ceremony participants included Virginia Governor Mark Warner, Virginia Senator John Warner, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hansford Johnson, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Vern Clark, and Northrop Grumman Newport News President Tom Schievelbein.