International Institute News

Canada is taking a second crack at developing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry on its west coast a decade after soaring costs and indigenous opposition derailed a previous wave of proposed LNG terminals.This time, companies are focusing on smaller west coast projects they bet will be cheaper and faster to build."Smaller project are easier to manage, especially in Canada," Enbridge chief executive Al Monaco told Reuters in an interview. "The need for global LNG is clearer now than it was before, we're getting a second chance and I hope we don't blow it this time.

A Chinese oil survey vessel that has been embroiled in a tense standoff with Vietnamese vessels in the South China Sea left Vietnamese-controlled waters on Thursday after more than three months, marine data showed.The Chinese vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi 8, was speeding away from Vietnam's exclusive economic zone towards China on Thursday under the escort of at least two Chinese ships, according to data from Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels.China claims almost all the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea but neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.Tension between Hanoi and Beijing…

The United States is struggling to win its allies' support for an initiative to heighten surveillance of vital Middle East oil shipping lanes because of fears it will increase tension with Iran, six sources familiar with the matter said.Washington proposed on July 9 stepping up efforts to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen where it blames Iran and its proxies for tanker attacks. Iran denies the charges.But with Washington's allies reluctant to commit new weaponry or fighting forces…

It took time for China's naval shipyards to hit their straps. For about a decade from the turn of this century, they experimented with new designs, in some cases launching just a couple of each new type of warship for evaluation.The yards absorbed foreign technology, imported some key components and developed local know-how. Quality ruled over quantity. Then they started mass production. New hulls cascaded into the water, mainly from the big shipyards at Shanghai, Dalian, Guangzhou and Wuhan.These yards have been building the full spectrum of warships and support vessels…

An essential event for all Common Marine Inspection Document (eCMID) and Marine Inspection for Small Workboats (eMISW) stakeholders. The forthcoming Accredited Vessel Inspector (AVI) Conference will be taking place at the Novotel at Schiphol Airport Amsterdam on Tuesday April 25, 2017. This Conference is designed to provide a range of updates to AVIs on the current state and future development of the eCMID system. However, it is open to all vessel inspectors who have yet to be…

Maritime Cook Islands (“MCI”), the international ship registry, hassignificantly enhanced its technical department with a series of senior appointments. The new department now has a much stronger presence in the key European market following the appointments of Paolo Favilli, Rachele Andreani, Brendan Smith and Andrea Emanuele Pippa. Brendan Smith is based in Rarotonga, Cook Islands,home of the flag while his three colleagues are based in Europe. The reconstituted department, consisting of experienced professionals with industry-relevant technical expertise, aims to further solidify MCI’s presence in Europe, and to improve service standards to MCI’s clients in the region.

From January 2018 the International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA) will recognize only formal inspection reports conducted using its eCMID database, meaning that paper reports not uploaded into the database will no longer be considered by IMCA to be authorized inspection reports. The whole eCMID system is now based on the principles described in the ISO 19011 Guidance for Auditing Management Systems standard and is aligned with other comparable industry guidance on safety management system assurance.

Crowley Maritime awarded six U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) cadets with Thomas B. Crowley Memorial Scholarships during  the Containerization and Intermodal Institute’s Connie Awards luncheon in Newark, N.J. Crowley’s Jenny Terpenning, supervisor, marine recruiting, presented the scholarships to Midshipmen (MIDN) Stacee Glass, Connor Sexton, John Terselic, Tanner Evans, Dylan Rabbitt, and Chandler Chiappe, all of whom were chosen based on their academic performance, financial need and interest in pursuing a career at sea after graduation.

It is predicted that biofuels will make up 5-10% of the global marine fuel mix by 2030 – meaning that biofuels will represent a crucial role in creating a low-emission future for shipping. In the wake of COP 21 and in advance of any subsequent IMO ruling on the environment, it may seem to many that the shipping industry is in limbo when it comes to improving its emissions footprint. On the contrary, ship owners and operators are increasingly looking for ways to ensure that both existing fleets and new builds maximize their business potential…

Within the framework of the international project Reeh, Tyumen State University in cooperation with the University of Helsinki are planning to create a unique Arctic observation stations. Arctic station of the two universities will be part of a global network of observation points, thanks to which will be able to record all occurring changes in the environment. This was stated by Professor University of Helsinki, a renowned scholar in the field of Earth Sciences Markku Kulmala at the meeting with the governor of the Tyumen region Vladimir Yakushev and guidance of a Russian university, the official portal of the government authorities of the Tyumen region. Scientists believe in the success of a joint operation with the Tyumen researchers.

The CMID (Common Marine Inspection Document) Vessel Inspector Scheme has reached a milestone with the hundredth Vessel Inspector application having been received. The Inspectors accredited so far are based in more than 20 countries, with both the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) and the International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS) actively promoting the scheme globally. IMCA has also announced that CMID Version 9 will go live on September 7. IMCA and the…

Quebec and France have announced plans to create a new bi-national oceanic research network in Rimouski. The proposed creation of this binational institute was formally agreed between the Premier of Quebec, Philippe Couillard, and French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, in Paris. Such an institute aims to bring co-operation and complementarity of France and Quebec in higher education, research and innovation to a new level. It aims to give France and Quebec a competitive positioning joint mechanism in major international initiatives and fuel the development vision of the maritime industry on both sides of the Atlantic. Ultimately, this institute will position together France and Quebec as a leader worldwide for questions regarding the challenges of sustainable maritime development.

The NACE International Institute has awarded a contract to DNV GL of Dublin, Ohio and APQC of Houston, Texas for data management of the forthcoming International Measures of Prevention, Application, and Economics of Corrosion Technologies study (IMPACT). Under the contract DNV GL and APQC will manage the compilation, analysis and integration of research and data for the IMPACT study. Previous studies on corrosion costs have focused only on costs in the U.S. in a few industry sectors. The IMPACT study will provide a broader range of information by including global data, and by taking a corrosion management practice approach. In addition to analyzing the cost of corrosion, this study will compare global practices in an effort to identify best corrosion management practices globally.

Rosneft Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin and Minister for Education and Science of Mongolia Luvsannyam Gantumur signed an Agreement to arrange the training of citizens of Mongolia in partner universities of Rosneft. The signing ceremony was led by Russian president Vladimir Putin and the president of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj in Ulan-Bator. Rosneft will assist to organization of teaching process for Mongolian citizens at Russian universities, which includes covering expenses on education, migration formalities, domestic transport, accommodation, food, and scholarship. The Company has negotiated the issue of enrollment of the above mentioned applicants to such Russian universities as Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas…

The Government of Canada, the Ontario government and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in hopes of ensuring a smooth transition of the ELA to a new operator. The agreement allows the research facility to remain open while a long-term agreement is finalized. The Experimental Lakes Area is a one-of-a-kind, freshwater research region. The research conducted by scientists from right here in Ontario…

Vice Adm. John Miller, U.S. Navy, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), U.S. 5th Fleet, Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) , spoke to delegates attending the IQPC Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) Middle East 2013 conference just after participating in the 8th International Institute For Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue to discuss the development and implementation of regional security and provided a platform for leaders from more than 30 countries to engage in inter-governmental dialogue on sensitive regional issues.

Henning Nordgulen has been appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of shipbuilders & offshore service providers Bergen Group ASA. Bergen CEO Asle Solheim said he was very pleased that Nordgulen had accepted the engagement: “Mr. Nordgulen has a comprehensive background from leading positions in finance, shipping and industry. Henning Nordgulen (48) has for the last seven years been Director of the corporate division and a member of the corporate management team in Sparebanken Vest.

The Polar Code has been under development at the IMO for a considerable length of time but will reach fruition during 2014 after which it will be offered to the various nations to ratify. The Code seeks to provide a common reference for those ship owners, designers and – more importantly, perhaps – the ship users who will be operating inside the Arctic or Antarctic regions. The South Polar Region is already covered for a host of aspects by the Antarctic Treaty which has now been in force for many years.

Moscow stocks fall 10 pct, rouble down 2.5 pct over war jitters. Ukraine border guards say build-up of Russian armoured vehicles near Crimea. EU ministers meet but no immediate sanctions expected. Russia took a financial hit over its military intervention in neighbouring Ukraine, with its markets and currency plunging on Monday as President Vladimir Putin's forces tightened their grip on the Russian-speaking Crimea region. The Moscow stock market fell by 10 percent and the central bank spent $10 billion of its reserves to prop up the rouble as investors took fright at escalating tensions with the West over the former Soviet republic.

From harassing Filipino fishing boats and monitoring oil exploration off Vietnam to playing cat-and-mouse with the Japanese coastguard, China's expanding fleet of civilian patrol vessels have become the enforcers in disputed Asian waters. The ships of the recently unified Chinese coastguard are a fixture around the disputed islands and shoals of the South and East China Seas. While the ships don't have the weaponry of military vessels, thus reducing the risk a confrontation could get out of control, they still represent a potent show of sovereignty.

From harassing Filipino fishing boats and monitoring oil exploration off Vietnam to playing cat-and-mouse with the Japanese coastguard, China's expanding fleet of civilian patrol vessels have become the enforcers in disputed Asian waters. The ships of the recently unified Chinese coastguard are a fixture around the disputed islands and shoals of the South and East China Seas. While the ships don't have the weaponry of military vessels, thus reducing the risk a confrontation could get out of control, they still represent a potent show of sovereignty. The coastguard is funded by China's State Oceanic Administration, a civilian body, although one U.S. naval officer and security experts said it coordinates its operations with the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The Honorable Greg Rickford, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, and Joyce Bateman, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Center, on behalf of the Honorable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today announced that agreements have been finalized with the new operator of the Experimental Lakes Area, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD ELA Inc.) These agreements mean that the federal government has fulfilled its commitments to ensuring that research at the Experimental Lakes Area can continue under a new operator. “I am pleased to announce that the federal government has secured a new operator for the Experimental Lakes Area…

A mediator from Europe's OSCE security body headed to eastern Ukraine on Saturday seeking the surrender of pro-Russian separatists as the Kiev government declared an Easter truce following a peace accord with Moscow. Gunmen occupying public buildings in Donetsk and other Russian-speaking border towns refuse to recognise an accord in Geneva on Thursday by which Russia, Ukraine and Kiev's U.S. and EU allies agreed that the OSCE should oversee the disarmament of militants and the evacuation of occupied facilities and streets. The coming days may determine whether unrest following the overthrow ofUkraine's pro-Moscow president can be contained. Russia, which annexed Crimea last month in the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War, denies running the separatists or planning to invade.