Licensing News

Founded as the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and renamed Military Sealift Command in 1970, MSC today not only support the Navy, but we are the Department of Defense's provider of all sealift. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently interviewed Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, U.S. Navy, for insights on the service today and it’s needs to grow in the future.What makes MSC so vital to the Navy’s fleet and our military forces around the world?When we  look at the history of contested logistics in World War II…

On December 13, 193 blocks were auctioned in Brazil’s oil and gas licensing round, signaling strong optimism for the industry, according to Wood Mackenzie.Highlights from these bid rounds included:• The total amount in bonuses was US$85 million• 44 blocks were acquired in the Pelotas Basin, a frontier area. Petrobras will operate 29 and Chevron 15• All Basins managed to attract bids, even Parana Basin• A single Brazilian operator, Elysian, acquired 122 onshore blocks• BP, Equinor…

Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said on Thursday it was seeking proposals from companies to supply methanol as a marine bunker fuel at Singapore from 2025.The call emerged ahead of an expected uptick in methanol-powered ships, as companies ramped up orders of such vessels amid plans to cut carbon emissions with cleaner fuels.The proposals have to look into methanol supply sources, the bunkering operation model at a commercial scale and ways to physically transfer methanol.The move is aimed at scaling up methanol bunker supply at Singapore…

Esgian has published its Week 49 Rig Market Roundup highlighting new drilling activity in the North Sea and a new licensing deal in Morocco.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesSerica Energy is continuing with plans for its four-well drilling campaign in the UK North Sea, scheduled for 2024 and early 2025. The campaign will be carried out using the semisubmersible COSLInnovator. All four wells are production wells. The first well in the campaign will be a sidetrack of an existing well (B1z) on the Bittern field.

Galileo and Odfjell Oceanwind are collaborating with Vår Energi on a floating offshore wind project at the Goliat platform outside Hammerfest in Norway. The partnership has been strengthened with The Kansai Electric Power Company Inc., a Japanese utility company, joining the team.The offshore wind park will be connected to the Goliat platform using the existing power cable to shore. The purpose of the project is to demonstrate floating offshore wind technology in Norway, as well…

Fuel flexibility may be a key driver for recent developments in gensets, but the perennial goals of lowering CapEx and OpEx remain.Fuel flexibility is one of the pillars of decarbonization that is being embraced by genset OEMs. Fuel efficiency, a second pillar, goes hand in hand with that because new fuels will be more expensive, but these concerns come in addition to the on-going drive to reduce CapEx and OpEx for shipowners.MAN Energy Solutions introduced its auxiliary MAN 35/44DF CD engine in June 2023. It is designed to be future-proof and will be ready for methanol operation by 2026.

International energy companies, from Germany's RWE to Spain's Iberdrola, are urging Japan to beef up offshore wind power auctions and make investments more attractive, amid soaring installation costs as competition for suppliers grows worldwide.Although desperate to ease its heavy dependence on energy imports from the Middle East and Russia, Japan is coming late to offshore wind, but some industry players say it is taking a more cautious approach that puts it at a disadvantage."It's a global race and we can't look at it in isolation…

For centuries, riverside communities, including the "quilombola" descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped from plantations and ranches, have shared Xingu Island in Brazil's Amazon Basin.Its inhabitants live in brightly painted wooden houses overlooking rivers where small boats crisscross between islands and Abaetetuba city on the mainland to trade fish, seeds and fruits gathered from the Amazon forest in their backyard.In 2016, however, strangers docked on Xingu Island, in Para state…

The European Commission said on Friday that it would not extend a ban on imports of Ukrainian grains into Ukraine's five EU neighbors due to expire on Friday."It has concluded that thanks to the work of the Coordination Platform and to the temporary measures introduced on 2 May 2023, the market distortions in the 5 Member States bordering Ukraine have disappeared," the European Commission said in a statement.Restrictions imposed by the European Union in May allowed Poland, Bulgaria…

Maersk and Hong Lam Marine have conducted the world’s first ship-to-container ship methanol bunkering operation of a Maersk’s container vessel at the Raffles Reserved Anchorage in Singapore.This was also Singapore’s first methanol bunkering and it was conducted with the support of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), government agencies and research institutes.Maersk’s container vessel – the world’s first container vessel sailing on green methanol – was successfully refuelled with approximately 300 metric tonnes of bio-methanol via Hong Lam Marine’s Singapore-registered tanker…

A joint venture between HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Saudi Arabian Development and Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments has held a groundbreaking ceremony for an engine factory in Saudi Arabia.The engine plant will be built in an area of 150,000 square meters in the King Salman Global Maritime Industries Complex in Ras Al-Khair near Jubail, a city in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. It will begin full-scale production in the fourth quarter of 2025.The maximum annual production capacity will be 30 two-stroke low speed engines…

Grand Isle LNG is proposing to build an LNG export facility, thirteen miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana, in Plaquemines Parish, promising significant economic benefits to the region.The proposed deepwater port is a platform-based modular design; its pipeline access, and its nearshore location will result in one of the least expensive and safest operations on the market today. Importantly, all platforms and many components of the facility will be Louisiana made by Louisiana energy workers.Located in federal waters of the West Delta Blocks in depths ranging from 68 to 72 feet…

In addition to wind, offshore wind demands human energy, individuals with knowledge and skills first to build and then operate and maintain the dozens of projects required to meet President Biden’s 2030 goal of 30 GW of offshore generation. In an October 2022 National Renewable Energy Laboratory report – “U.S. Offshore Wind Workforce Assessment” – the authors estimate that it will require, on average, between 15,000 and 58,000 employees annually, depending on domestic content scenarios, to build out a huge new wind machine.Mariners and mariner training are integral to offshore wind.

For companies active in all parts of the commercial maritime sector, finding and holding onto the workers they need to build, operate and service the industry’s wide range of vessels has been challenging. Simply put, the labor market is tight, and the problem is not getting any easier to solve.Mike Ellis, CEO at American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL), said a continued shortage of qualified personnel has been the most pressing issue for ACBL—and probably for the barging industry as a whole. “There's been so much demand on people.

Germany's cabinet on Monday approved measures to accelerate the expansion of wind and solar power by simplifying licensing and setting deadlines for permitting procedures, the economy ministry said.Berlin aims to generate 80% of electricity from renewables by 2030, but red tape has been hampering Germany's efforts to meet that goal.The cabinet adopted a package of European Union emergency regulations, agreed last year, to speed up wind and solar permits and clarify the environmental and grid permit deadlines that approving authorities must meet for such projects.The package of measures, which

Konecranes and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) have signed a licensing agreement for the manufacturing and distribution of Konecranes port cranes in India. The first products have been sold under this agreement: two shipyard jib cranes will be delivered to the Cochin Shipyard in Cochin, Kerala province.The agreement between Konecranes and L&T’s Minerals & Metals business unit covers manually operated Ship-to-Shore cranes, Rubber-Tired Gantry cranes and Rail-Mounted Gantry cranes across Konecranes’ brand portfolio. Konecranes shipyard cranes are also included.

The U.S. Coast Guard cited the pilot’s failure to maintain situational awareness and attention while navigating, as well as inadequate bridge resource management as factors that led to the grounding of the 1,095-foot containership Ever Forward in the Craighill Channel earlier this year.The Hong Kong flagged box ship grounded in the Chesapeake Bay on March 13 while transiting with 4,964 containers aboard, en route from the Port of Baltimore to Norfolk, Va. The incident set in motion…

Marine engineering consultancy, BAR Technologies (BAR), said Wednesday that its low-emission crew transfer vessel (CTV) design, the BARTech 30, will be available for the first U.S. offshore wind projects in 2024, following quotes at several U.S. shipyards.BAR said Wednesday it was meeting with the U.S. offshore wind vessel supply chain at a workboat show in New Orleans this week in anticipation of license agreements that will see the CTV type built in the U.S."As the nascent U.S.

Regardless of whether the Republicans seize or the Democrats maintain control of the House and Senate, there is a guarantee that changes in leadership will occur in some of the key Congressional leadership positions that will impact the maritime industry. Two of the most significant Congressional committees of jurisdiction are the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (House T&I) and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Senate Commerce). Both committees have jurisdiction over the U.S.

French engineering firm GTT said it has signed a technical assistance and license agreement with China Merchants Heavy Industries-Jiangsu (CMHI-Jiangsu), a subsidiary of shipbuilding group China Merchants Industry Holdings (CMI), enabling the yard to construct vessels using GTT membrane technologies.GTT and China Merchant Industry Holdings have been cooperating for a decade, with a first Technical Service Agreement signed in 2013 for the maintenance and repair of LNGCs. A cooperation agreement has also been initiated in 2016 for the evaluation of CMHI to implement GTT technologies.

Saipem's giant Saipem 7000 semi-submersible crane vessel is set to return to operation at the Seagreen wind farm site in the UK a month and a half after it was involved in a tilting incident in Norway.As previously reported, in mid-April, Saipem 7000 tilted in a fjord in Norway with 275 people aboard. The vessel tilted during the planned 5 years main cranes load test, when, as Saipem said, the main block wire broke during the test lifting operation and the testing load (two cargo barges) with the main block was released into the water.Now the vessel appears ready to return to work…

Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management (Arcline), is expanding its capabilities to serve unmanned marine vehicles (UXV) through a licensing agreement with DECK Marine Systems (DECK), a developer of systems to deploy and recover vessels and sensors. Through the agreement, FMD and DECK will co-develop an intelligent launch and recovery system (LARS) for use with UXVs, and FMD will have an exclusive license to sell and service DECK’s LARS…

A race is being run by nuclear scientists and ship designers. The prize? “Decarbonization’s” holy grail — believed to be a “small” thorium-fueled, molten-salt rector’s unlimited power to propel sea trade. At the same time, a recently revived discussion among leading marine-nuclear thinkers revolves now around how to put an ultra-modern, as-yet non-existent marine reactor aboard a modern commercial vessel. As with nuclear power generally, shipborne reactors produce national discussion first, then discovery.