Gulf Of St Lawrence News

The state of Great Lakes port infrastructure is one of the biggest issues facing the U.S. and Canadian maritime industries. According to the America Great Lakes Ports Association, “Due to years of inadequate funding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been unable to maintain Great Lakes navigation infrastructure. Over the next five years Great Lakes navigation channels will require $540 million of dredging to maintain authorized channel dimensions. Breakwaters and other federal…

An emerging technology to fish for lobsters virtually ropeless to prevent whale entanglements is exciting conservationists, but getting a frigid reception from harvesters worried it will drive them out of business and upend their way of life.Injuries to endangered North Atlantic Right Whales ensnared in fishing gear have fueled a prominent campaign by environmental groups to pressure the industry to adopt on-demand equipment that only suspends ropes in the water briefly before traps are pulled from the water.The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch…

Emissions reductions have been confirmed for the first laker to feature a diesel-electric drive train, after the initial weeks in service of Canada Steamship Lines’ new self-unloader Nukumi. The vessel arrived in Halifax in time to take up duties for the 2022 Great Lakes season complete with patented Direct Drive Electric technology from Berg Propulsion.Built by China’s Chengxi Shipyard, the delivery also marks a bulk carrier market debut for Direct Drive Electric - an integrated solution developed by Berg to make high efficiency electric propulsion easier to adopt.The 26…

Highlighted in Marine Technology Reporter's MTR100 is the work and technology ongoing in the halls of academia. The most recent report released by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasized our warming planet, an expected announcement for many in the scientific community. Faced with the confirmation that human activities have caused an increase in global temperatures, research has turned to seeking answers in the planet’s natural systems. How does each part of the global carbon cycle work and how may it be impacted by the changing climate?

Marine shipping drives 90% of global trade, moving over 11 billion tonnes of containers, solid and liquid bulk cargo across the world’s seas annually. Almost all consumer products we buy — or the raw materials required to make them — arrive at Canadian ports via ship.Each year, Canadian port facilities handle about 340 million tonnes of goods, worth about $400 billion. Roughly 25% of Canadian exports and imports, by value, are transported by marine shipping.Despite their economic importance…

Canada Steamship Lines' 41-year-old self-unloading bulk carrier Salarium has reached the end of its service life and will be dismantled at a ship recycling yard in Turkey, CSL Group announced.The long-serving 35,656 DWT bulker made its final voyage at the end of 2019, loading salt in Bécancour, Que. on December 19 for discharge it in Oshawa, Ont. on December 27. The vessel was then laid up in Toronto until April 2020 when it was moved to Montreal.A CSL Group spokesperson told MarineLink the company will finalize the ship recycling yard in Turkey next week…

Canada's new eye in the sky will help detect oil spills and other marine pollution, and monitor ship and endangered whale movements.Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced that Transport Canada has acquired a new addition to its National Aerial Surveillance Program’s aircraft fleet in an effort to enhance prevention measures needed to respond to marine pollution incidents faster and more effectively, and to better protect marine ecosystems and habitats.The De Havilland Dash 8 aircraft…

Transport Canada,  the department within the Government of Canada,  says it’s lifting speed restrictions for cargo ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence after recent surveillance failed to detect North Atlantic right whales in shipping lanes.There weren’t any whales in the shipping lanes where speed had been reduced, Transport Canada pointed out, adding that the lower speed limit had driven cargo ships out of the lanes so they could take more direct routes through areas where the animals are known to gather.Over the past month, Transport Canada’s National Aerial Surveillance Program has greatly intensified surveillance with 240 flight hours over 44 missions, which is more than one a day.

Transport Canada has issued a $6,000 fine to a vessel that allegedly breached mandatory speed limits introduced by the federal government in parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced.Endangered whales such as the majestic North Atlantic right whale deserve to swim danger-free in Canadian waters. That is why the Government of Canada has introduced several measures to address risks they face by marine shipping and fishing activity.One of the implemented measures includes speed restrictions in certain zones in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and when a vessel contravenes the restriction…

Algoma Central Corporation, the largest fleet of dry and liquid bulk carriers on the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Waterway, is adding the crews from 27 of its vessels to an expanding network of whale watchers. For the first time, the crews on Algoma’s self-unloaders, bulkers, tankers and cement carriers will collect data about the whales they see on their journeys this summer."Algoma is committed to providing sustainable and environmentally responsible marine transportation,” said Gregg Ruhl, Algoma’s Chief Operating Officer.

After 60,000 hours of service, crab fisherman Robert Ross decided that his 19-liter Cummins 1150M had earned a rest. The 500 HP engine had been a perfect match for his 72- by 26-foot aluminum boat so he ordered up a new Cummins KTA19-M3 at 500 HP, continuous duty, from his local supplier Cummins Sales and Service in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in eastern Canada. Ross had his well-maintained 39-year-old boat, the Kara-Matt, hauled out at a shipyard and Dugas Equipment Ltd. of Caraquet, New Brunswick took on the repower.

Transport Canada has issued a $6,000 fine to the owner of Panama flagged bulk carrier Federal Cardinal after the supramax vessel allegedly failed to comply with vessel speed restrictions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In August Canada put in place a temporary mandate for vessels of 20 meters or more to slow to a maximum of 10 knots due to the increased presence of whales in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence, between the Quebec north shore and just north of Prince Edward Island – a rule that will remain in effect until the whales have migrated away from the area.

Certain ships are being ordered to reduce speed because of the deaths of at least 10 North Atlantic right whales in Canada's Gulf of St Lawrence during the past two months, the government said on Friday. The deaths have made 2017 the deadliest year for the endangered marine mammal since scientists began tracking their numbers in the 1980s, researchers said. The ministries of transport and fisheries issued a temporary order for vessels 20 meters or longer to slow to a maximum of 10 knots in the western portion of the Gulf, which stretches from Quebec to north of Prince Edward Island.

ABB will modernize a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker, installing the latest hardware and software onboard the 38 year old Pierre Radisson. As part of the complete upgrade to the ship’s power distribution system, eight new drives will also be installed. The contract includes the option to modernize the other two Coast Guard ships, Des Groseilliers and Amundsen, both of which have clocked up more than 30 years of service. By attaching sensors to onboard equipment, ABB’s expert engineers can help diagnose problems on the vessel from shore.

When it came time to replace the engine in the shrimping boat R.J.H. No. 1 operating in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and GaspéPeninsula in Quebec, mechanical simplicity, reliability and improved fuel economy led the vessel’s owners to opt for a YANMAR 6AYM-WST repower. Installed in 2015 by YANMAR dealer Enterprises Maritimes Bouchard, Inc. and supported by YANMAR distributor Diesel-Bec, the new 6AYM-WST engine runs at 659 mhp 1900min-1 coupled with a Twin Disc MG 518 ratio 5.92:1 marine gear.

The Seafarers’ International Union of Canada (SIU) has launched a lawsuit challenging repeated decisions by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to grant temporary work permits to foreign maritime workers crewing foreign ships operating in Canadian waters. Canadian law requires that ships carrying passengers or goods between Canadian ports (“cabotage”) may only use foreign workers if no qualified Canadian workers are available. “The Government of Canada has allowed foreign workers to take 2100 jobs from qualified Canadian maritime workers,” said SIU President Jim Given. “The Federal Government continues to misuse their authority to grant temporary work permits to foreign workers, while passing over Canadian sailors who are ready to work”.

Johan Roos is Interferry’s executive director of European Union and IMO affairs based in Brussels, Belgium. He took up the newly created regulatory affairs post in September 2011 after previously serving as director of sustainability with Sweden’s Stena Rederi AB. He holds a masters degree in environmental sciences from the University of Gothenburg. In 2000, he left classification society DNV to join ferry operator Stena Line to develop internal environmental management systems and for many years, he was in charge of sustainability issues for all of the Stena group’s shipping activities.

Entry into service of Canadian Coast Guard's new mid-shore patrol vessel, the CCGS Caporal Kaeble V.C., was inaugurated by The Honorable Denis Lebel, Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, on behalf of the Honorable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Mainly used as part of a joint program with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the patrol vessel enhances security and safety along the St. Lawrence River, as well as in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the St.

Hurricane Arthur weakened on Saturday to leave New England and was felt in parts of southeastern Canada with heavy rains and winds, where he left some 250,000 homes and business premises without power. Arthur weakened to a tropical storm on Saturday morning after landfall in the Outer Banks islands of North Carolina on Thursday night as a Category 2 hurricane, spoiling the plans of tourists on a long weekend for the holiday of Independence Day in the United States. North Carolina reported only minor damage from Hurricane, which quickly moved to the northeast. Arthur-now-post-tropical storm was located near Moncton, New Brunswick, after landfall a second time, this time in Canada, on Saturday afternoon, said the Canadian Hurricane Centre.

Fincantieri shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia (Naples) saw the launching today of the "F.-A.-Gauthier", the latest generation ferry that Fincantieri is building for Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ), a Québec Government Corporation that operates in maritime passenger transport. Fincantieri won the order in July 2012, beating the very top international competitors. The ship's name, “F.-A.-Gauthier”, is in honour of Félix-Adrien Gauthier, mayor of the town of Matane (1960-1963) and founder of the Matane–Godbout ferry route. Attending the ceremony for the shipowner were the STQ’s employees designated to represent the Owner at the yard during the construction…

Holland America Line is returning to the pink sands and pastel-colored skyline of Bermuda on seven-day cruises aboard ms Veendam. Sailing roundtrip from Boston, Mass., six departures will sail in May, June and July, and feature three days and nights at Hamilton, the country’s capital known for its gorgeous beaches and abundance of golf courses. Carrying 1,350 guests, Veendam offers a mid-size ship experience in Bermuda that enables the vessel to dock at Hamilton in the center of town. The seven-day voyages spend a day at sea after departing Boston and arrive at Hamilton mid-day with enough time for guests to go ashore and enjoy the town. The ship then spends three nights alongside, where guests can experience local nightlife and dine ashore, if desired.

Canada moved on Tuesday to strengthen its response plan for oil spills at sea ahead of the development of new pipelines that would sharply increase tanker traffic in Canadian waters if they are built. Among the new measures, the federal government said it would remove a per-incident liability cap on a domestic clean-up fund, which means that all the money in the fund could be made available to clean up a single spill. It also pledged to cover spill costs if clean-up funds were exhausted. It also said it will lift its ban on the use of dispersants in cases when using them offers a net environmental benefit. Dispersants are chemicals that break down oil slicks but can also harm marine life.

Seated at his desk with a view of St. John’s harbour, Oceanex Executive Chairman Captain Sid Hynes is highlighting the innovation in the Oceanex Connaigra, Oceanex Inc.,’s 210-m custom-designed container/roll on roll off (Con/Ro) ice class 1A ship that is presently coming to life in the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft mbH & Co. (FSG) shipyard in Flensburg, Germany. Following four years of study and research, the design stage was completed. First steel was cut in October 2012, and the keel was laid on February 11,  2013.