Hill News

Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Chairman of the House Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, was presented with Waterways Council, Inc.’s (WCI) 23rd Annual Leadership Service Award on February 4, for championing the Nation’s inland waterways and the Chickamauga Lock project. The award was presented at a Capitol Hill reception."Throughout his tenure in Congress, Congressman Fleischmann has supported the modernization of the Nation’s inland waterways and of Chickamauga Lock…

A comprehensive suite of Furuno navigation and communication systems have been installed aboard Federal Hill, a new Baltimore Class high-speed pilot boat recently delivered to the Association of Maryland Pilots by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding.Designed for demanding harbor pilotage in all seasons, Federal Hill relies on Furuno’s NavNet TZtouchXL Multi Function Displays (MFDs) to support safe, efficient operations in congested waterways and challenging conditions. The wheelhouse features dual 16" TZT16X MFDs with a networked DRS6ANXT Solid-State Doppler Radar…

Wallem Group, a leading global maritime partner, is celebrating the centenary of moving its headquarters to Hong Kong.The celebrations will be marked by a special event on November 12, 2025 in the presence of Guest of Honour Hong Kong Finance Secretary, commemorating 100 years since the relocation—22 years after Norwegian shipbroker and agent Haakon Wallem formed Wallem & Co. in 1903.By 1925, Haakon had earned the nickname "Typhoon Wallem," reflecting his energy and business acumen and his deployment of both to support Chinese shipowners.In the 100 years since…

Small importers for large U.S. retailers rushed in China-made strollers and wares meant for spring and are storing the goods in their own warehouses to avoid the big tariff bills that had been threatened over the next month.Before Sino-American talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur eliminated the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump's 100% tariffs on Chinese imports starting November 1, importers were expecting to shoulder the staggering levies.In response…

Amrize has launched the MV Tamarack, a 12,500dwt carrier with a capacity of over 10,000 cubic meters of cement.The vessel was delivered by Holland Shipyard in The Netherlands and is managed by CSL’s Canadian division, Canada Steamship Lines.The MV Tamarack replaces two older ships with a single, streamlined, high-performance vessel. Equipped with diesel-electric propulsion, advanced manuvrability systems, shore-power compatibility, noise insulation and energy-saving cargo handling…

Construction has started on the operations and maintenance (O&M) base for the 1.1 GW Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm at Montrose Port in Angus, Scotland.The base will expand Inch Cape’s existing presence at Montrose, where its marine coordination center is already located, and confirms the port’s role as a major Scottish offshore wind hub.Local contractor Pert Bruce Construction is delivering the project, which includes an O&M office, a 600 square metre warehouse, quayside facilities…

“In a global marketplace, supply and demand in one area of the world can greatly impact the agricultural production in another. American products are shipped worldwide …” is how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) describes the backdrop for international trade. The inland and coastwise waterway systems serving the United States (where agricultural cargoes are an important component) are sometimes regarded as insular highly specialized marketplaces. However, they are indeed elements of much larger trading networks that are influenced by global economic…

U.S. President Donald Trump wants a pay raise for troops, more high-tech missiles and drones in next year's defense budget, while cutting Navy jobs, and buying fewer ships and fighter jets to save money, according to budget materials posted Wednesday.At $892.6 billion, the defense and national security budget request is flat compared with this year.The budget, which also includes nuclear weapons-related activities carried out by the Department of Energy and increases funding for homeland security…

Tugboat and towboat owners across the nation eye fuel efficiency and emission reduction technologies and techniques in advance of increasingly stringent regulations.he first half of 2025 has seen a great deal of attention on emissions from vessels, with an eye towards their continued reductions in the coming years. Mid-April saw the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s much anticipated Maritime Environment Protection Committee’s MEPC 83 meeting participants lay out plans for reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years…

A key U.S. warship arrived in Australia on Saturday ahead of joint war games and the first summit between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump, which is expected to be dominated by military issues.The America, the U.S. Navy's lead amphibious assault ship in the Indo-Pacific, entered Sydney Harbour as the first of three ships in a strike group carrying 2,500 sailors and marines, submarine-hunting helicopters and F-35B fighter jets.More than 30,000 personnel from 19 militaries have begun to arrive in Australia for Talisman Sabre, the largest Australian-U.S.

Australia’s unique enclosed self-discharging transhippers ensure a dust-free supply chain for the Onslow Iron project.Onslow in north Western Australia is a desert. It receives less than 10 inches of rain a year, and for much of the year temperatures reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s known for dust storms that can turn the town red.It’s iron ore country, but the lack of a deepwater port meant that the nearby resources were stranded until Mineral Resources (MinRes) came up with…

Britain said on Monday it would radically change its approach to defence to address threats from Russia, nuclear risks and cyber-attacks by investing in drones and digital warfare rather than relying on a much larger army to engage in modern combat.Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's insistence that Europe take more responsibility for its own security, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged the largest sustained increase in British defence spending since the end of the Cold War.But with limited finances…

A joint venture, comprising NYK, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, MISC Berhad, and China LNG Shipping (Holdings), has held a naming ceremony for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier for QatarEnergy, the first of 12 being built for the state-owned energy company of Qatar.The ceremony was held at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) in China, and the vessel was named Al Tuwar, after the name of a hill in Al Wakrah, a major city in Qatar.The 174,000 m3 vessel is the first of a series of 12 LNG carriers that the joint venture company will build for QatarEnergy…

The Fifth Meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee established under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006) is taking place at the ILO headquarters in Geneva from April 7-11, and maritime charity Stella Maris UK is calling for urgent protections to stop seafarers being forced to choose between shore leave and adequate rest.“This should never be a choice,” said Tim Hill, CEO of Stella Maris UK. “But for many crew, it’s an unacceptable reality. We regularly meet seafarers…

U.S. President Donald Trump's push to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding is finding rare bipartisan support from Americans, with 72% saying the U.S. cannot remain dependent on China and other foreign producers to build ships, a poll released Friday showed.The survey of 2,204 adults, conducted by Morning Consult for the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) on March 10-12, showed strong concern about China's grip on the $150 billion global ocean shipping industry, and the negative national security implications for the United States.Only 11% said the U.S.

The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and some Hong Kong-flagged vessels that are part of a shadow fleet that helps disguise Iranian oil shipments, the Treasury Department said.President Donald Trumpre-imposed a "maximum pressure" policy on Iran in February that includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and funding militant groups.Paknejad "oversees the export of tens…

The National Association of Waterfront Employers (NAWE) said that John Young has joined the association as the new vice president of government affairs.Young brings to NAWE more than 20 years of experience in Washington, D.C., primarily focused on supply chain, infrastructure, and maritime issues. He has served as a senior staffer on Capitol Hill, represented private and public organizations as a lobbyist, been a lead advocate for an international maritime organization and served…

Belgian offshore installation contractor Jan De Nul has secured a contract for the installation of monopiles for 72 offshore wind turbines that will make up the 1.1 GW Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland.Inch Cape offshore wind farm, being developed by ESB and Red Rock Renewables as equal joint owners, recently reached financial close and is now progressing into construction.In that regard, Jan De Nul has been contracted for the installation of the monopile foundations with the offshore heavy-lift vessel Les Alizés…

Congressman James Comer (R-KY), Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was presented with Waterways Council, Inc.’s (WCI) 22nd Annual Leadership Service Award on February 5, 2025, for his championship of the nation’s inland waterways and support of the Kentucky Lock project. The award was presented at a Capitol Hill reception.“Congressman Comer has been a stalwart supporter of the modernization of the nation’s inland waterways, and particularly for the jobs the waterways help create and sustain in his district and in the state of Kentucky…

The bipartisan, bicameral bill will fuel U.S. economy, strengthen national security by responding to China’s threat over the oceans. Currently, the number of U.S.-flagged vessels in international commerce is 80; China has 5,500.Today, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Senator Todd Young (R-IN), Representative John Garamendi (D-CA-8), and Representative Trent Kelly (R-MS-1) introduced the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act, comprehensive legislation to revitalize the United States shipbuilding and commercial maritime industries. After decades of neglect, the United States has a weakened shipbuilding capacity, a declining commercial shipping fleet that is dwarfed by China, and a diminished ability to supply the U.S. military during wartime.

Seaway7, part of Subsea7 Group, has secured a contract for the transport and installation of pin-pile jacket foundations and transition pieces for the 1.1 GW Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland.The contract, valued between $150 million and $300 million, has been awarded to Seaway7 by Cape Offshore Limited, a joint venture between ESB and Red Rock Renewables.The 1.1GW Inch Cape project offshore site is located in the Scottish North Sea, 15 kilometers off the Angus coast, and will comprise 72 wind turbine generators.The turbines of the V236-15.0 MW type…

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the Transport and Logistics Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Shipowners Association and the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board, convened for a trade summit on November 18.The Hong Kong Global Trade Summit drew nearly 300 delegates from 28 countries, including ministers and senior policymakers from 12 nations, the European Commission and international organisations and CEOs of companies from the maritime value chain.The Summit addressed the challenges facing maritime trade including growing political tensions…

In January 2023, U.S. federal agents raided the home of a Tucson maintenance worker who had a side hustle hauling packages across the border to Mexico.They estimate that over the previous two years, the gray-bearded courier had ferried about 7,000 kilos of fentanyl-making chemicals to an operative of the Sinaloa Cartel. That’s 15,432 pounds, sufficient to produce 5.3 billion pills – enough to kill every living soul in the United States several times over. The chemicals had traveled by air from China to Los Angeles…