Expulsion News

China said on Friday it had driven away a Philippine aircraft and multiple vessels near disputed atolls in South China Sea, in the latest in a series of confrontations in the strategic waterway in recent years.The Chinese military said it issued strong warnings and "expelled" a Philippine aircraft that "invaded" airspace above the Scarborough Shoal, without giving a date for the incident.China claims almost the entire South China Sea, overlapping the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Israeli forces stopped 14 boats carrying foreign activists and aid bound for Gaza, flotilla organisers said on Thursday, but 23 boats are continuing to sail towards the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave, according to the flotilla's tracking system.A video from the Israeli foreign ministry verified by Reuters showed the most prominent of the flotilla's passengers, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers."Several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port…

Ship owners could be forced to pay for pollution from their vessels or face bans from European Union ports under draft plans to add shipping emissions to the bloc's carbon market.Shipping does not at present face EU emissions targets, but that is set to change under proposals to make its economy greener which are due to be published next month.A draft proposal, seen by Reuters, would expand the carbon market to cover shipping emissions within the EU, international voyages to the…

Two Russian warships transited the Bosphorus en route to the Black Sea on Saturday and 15 smaller vessels completed a transfer to the sea as Moscow beefs up its naval presence at a time of tense relations with the West and Ukraine.The reinforcement coincides with a huge build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine, something Moscow calls a temporary defensive exercise, and follows an escalation in fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces.Russia's relations with Washington…

The consortium behind the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline has resumed laying pipes in the waters of Denmark, it said on Saturday, despite mounting pressure on the project from Washington.Construction of the link, which would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream pipeline to 110 billion cubic meters of gas per year, was suspended in December 2019 due to the threat of sanctions from Washington.However the German government has stood by the project and late in December a vessel called the Fortuna…

Marine fuel services provider Pegasus Maritime (Singapore) Pte Ltd has lost its licence to operate bunker crafts in the port of Singapore effective July 16, the Maritime And Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore said on Monday.The MPA has revoked Pegasus Maritime's craft operator licence after investigations earlier this year revealed the company had allowed an unlicenced craft operator to use its bunker craft to make bunker deliveries, it said in a statement.Pegasus Maritime did…

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will on Tuesday hail the role of international law in settling regional conflicts, comments apparently aimed at bolstering Australian efforts to build a coalition against Chinese assertiveness. Bishop, in a speech ahead of a special meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Sydney, will not name China but will argue that international law will stabilise a region strained by rival claims in the South China Sea. "The rules-based order is designed to regulate behaviour and rivalries of and between states…

A newly built 60-meter trailing suction hopper dredger Tommy Norton started work to deliver safe and reliable ocean access for the commercial vessels, oil and gas suppliers and commercial fishing fleet that cross the entrance bar to the Gippsland Lakes area. The dredger is the first built by Damen Shipyards Group for Australia, and features propulsion is provided by two SCHOTTEL Rudderpropellers type SRP 330 fixed pitch. Capable of dredging to depths of 15 meters, the dredger…

The Tommy Norton, a Damen Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD) 650 built at Damen Shipyards Yichang has been officially delivered to her proud owner, Gippsland Ports. The first dredger to be built by Damen Shipyards Group for Australia, the 60-meter Tommy Norton has now started work to deliver safe and reliable ocean access for the commercial vessels, oil & gas suppliers and commercial fishing fleet that cross the entrance bar to the Gippsland Lakes area. The maintenance dredging also helps reduce the risk of flooding to local communities.

Biofouling was a backburner issue until 5 March 2017. On that day the Government of New Zealand ordered the bulk carrier DL MARIGOLD out of NZ waters after the vessel’s hull was determined to be excessively fouled with potentially invasive organisms including barnacles and tube worms. The bulker was not allowed back until it showed that the underwater surfaces had been thoroughly cleaned. This was the first known instance of a vessel expulsion due to biofouling. It was also significant…

The Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD) 650 ordered by Gippsland Ports of Victoria, Australia, in December 2015 has recently been launched at Damen Yichang Shipyard in China. The vessel, named Tommy Norton, is now alongside the yard’s new quay undergoing final commissioning, after which she will sail for Shanghai to undertake sea trials. Once those are completed she will sail for Australia on her own keel for dredging trials and delivery. The official handover will take place in August.

The European Council approved a new shipping regulation on the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of CO2 emissions on April 28, 2015, as part of its overall strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The regulation, slated to enter into force on July 1, 2015 with the first reporting cycle will commence in 2018, applies to all vessels over 5,000gt trading in EU ports, excluding fishing vessels, warships, naval auxiliaries, wooden ships of primitive build, ships not propelled by mechanical means and government ships used for noncommercial purposes. From August 31, 2017, all vessels over 5,000gt trading to, from and…

All the benefits of the C300 robotic system are now available in a stationary pedestal system. The 100 percent servo-driven, water-cooled system has an adjustable gun height, intuitive user interface, and does not require compressed air. The gun can be disassembled from the frame, then converted for use on a robot. It offers the same benefits of all DeltaSpot ® systems, such as 100 percent reproducible welds, highest efficiency, expulsion free spot welding and no tip dressing at any time. Visit www.fronius-usa.com for more information.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) has released a report on a bureau-funded study of new and more effective methods of predicting, detecting and mapping the occurrence of gas hydrates in deepwater environments. The study, Multicomponent and Multifrequency Seismic for Assessment of Fluid-Gas Expulsion Geology and Gas Hydrate Deposits: Gulf of Mexico Hydrates, examined the various methods used to locate gas hydrate deposits. If such deposits occur in sufficiently high concentrations, they can be a potential new source of natural gas. “This study is critical to furthering our ability to assess deepwater gas hydrates as a future energy resource,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.

By Jonathan K. During a visit to Charleston, S.C. last month, President Bush touted his proposed 13 percent budget increase for homeland security with U.S. ports being a primary priority. The visit came just six months before these facilities must implement several domestic and international requirements intended to add additional layers of defense and protection from potential terrorist acts. These provisions are contained in the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA), the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS). Domestic implementation of these requirements can be found in the U.S. Coast Guard's recently published security regulations.

Far-reaching international maritime security measures developed and adopted by IMO enter into force on 1 July 2004. The security measures, which include the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code), are in the form of amendments to the 1974 Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention and are aimed at enhancing maritime security on board ships and at ship/port interface areas. They were adopted by a Conference on Maritime Security in December 2002. Other amendments to SOLAS entering into force on the same date include requirements for the fitting of water ingress alarms in holds, ballast and dry spaces on bulk carriers and requirements for radar transponders to be fitted in liferafts carried on ro-ro passenger ships.

The U.S. Coast Guard successfully completed its first week enforcing new international and domestic maritime security requirements of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code and the Maritime Transportation Security Act. “The men and women of the Coast Guard have been very busy enforcing these security requirements since the deadline, but our efforts to ensure compliance were successful because we began this task well before July 1,” said Adm. Thomas H. Collins, commandant of the Coast Guard. From July 1 through July 6 (the most current data which is available), foreign vessels made approximately 1,600 port calls on U.S. ports. On average, over 260 vessels called each day.

Like most other tasks involving two or more parties, maritime security becomes less difficult if each party understands what the others are going to be doing. The method for achieving this understanding in the marine sector, under both the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code and the U.S. Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA), is by means of the Declaration of Security. Declaration of Security (DoS) is defined by the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention as "an agreement reached between a ship and either a port facility or another ship with which it interfaces, specifying the security measures each will implement". Maritime security regulations promulgated by the U.S.