Lone Star News

Philly Shipyard on Friday held a keel laying ceremony for the fifth and final vessel in a series of new purpose built, state-of-the-art training ships for America’s state maritime academies.The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) new vessel program – known as National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMVs) – was designed to provide world-class training for America’s future mariners and to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions…

The November edition of Marine News magazine highlighted a selection of the most notable American newbuilds delivered of 2023—from a first-of-its-kind green towboat, to the lead vessel in a series of game-changing ships to train U.S. mariners.Empire StateAs the lead vessel in a series of five new training ships being constructed to serve America's state maritime academies, Empire State is easily one of the most important U.S.-built vessels delivered in recent memory.Built by Philly Shipyard for the U.S.

The Port of Brownsville’s Cargo Dock 3 reconstruction project has secured an $11.5 million grant under the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) new Maritime Infrastructure Program.On September 28, the Texas Transportation Commission approved $240 million in funding for Texas ports to help increase trade, improve safety, and provide a more robust supply chain for the state and the nation. The Port of Brownsville’s Cargo Dock 3 project is one of 31 projects selected to receive funding.The TxDOT grant will assist in funding the comprehensive overhaul of Cargo Dock 3…

Captain Morgan McManus will serve as the Ship’s Master on the Empire State VII, the first in a series of five National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV), which at press time was getting its post-sea trial finishing touches at Philly Shipyard. The project to design, build and deliver the NSMV series is one of the most exciting shipbuilding programs in the U.S. – a government shipbuilding project leveraging commercial shipbuilding efficiencies. For insights, we visited with Captain McManus to discuss the ship, it’s technology suite and its role in helping to educate a new generation of U.S.

Philly Shipyard on Friday delivered Empire State, the lead vessel in a series of five new training ships being built to serve America's state maritime academies. Delivered to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) under its National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) program, Empire State will serve SUNY Maritime College.Scheduled to be delivered through 2026, each of the five purpose-built NSMVs will feature instructional spaces, a full training bridge and space for up to 600 cadets.

With a lame-duck CNO, a divided Congress and the impending launch of the next Presidential election cycle, America’s naval market is locked into something of a fragile and fearful autopilot, cruising inexorably towards whatever excitement 2024 might bring.Materially, don’t expect much change: The demand for naval platforms will continue to outstrip available funding, meaning there will be little movement or growth in America’s major shipbuilding programs of record. The procurement outlines are already set.

Funds managed by global investment firm Carlyle and private equity firm Stellex Capital Management announced they have completed the sale of Titan Acquisition Holdings, a bi-coastal leader in ship repair services and marine and heavy complex fabrication, to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds. The initial definitive agreement of the sale was announced in February 2023 and the final close took place on June 15, 2023.Titan is comprised of Vigor Industrial LLC, an infrastructure, defense…

Texas A&M University at Galveston has taken over a new training ship, the TS Kennedy.The 540-foot vessel will enhance year-round training for Texas A&M Maritime Academy cadets in ship navigation and marine engineering systems, maintenance, safety and security.State maritime academy training ships are federally owned vessels operated by the six state maritime academies to serve cadet-training purposes. Successful legislative efforts in Washington, D.C. secured the transfer of the TS Kennedy from Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) this year and a new National Security Multi-Mission Vessel…

Lone Star Funds has reached a del to buy U.S. shipbuilding and repair group Titan Acquisition Holdings from peer investment firms Carlyle and Stellex Capital Management. Financial terms were not disclosed.Titan is comprised of Vigor Industrial LLC, an infrastructure, defense, and maritime services company based in Portland, Ore.; MHI Holdings LLC, a ship repair, maintenance, and other ship husbandry services company based in Norfolk, Va.; and Continental Maritime of San Diego (CMSD). Key Titan customers include the U.S. Navy, U.S.

With passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains US$370 billion for climate and energy programs, policy experts are forecasting a big expansion in clean electricity generation. One source that’s poised for growth is offshore wind power.Today the U.S. has just two operating offshore wind farms, off of Rhode Island and Virginia, with a combined generating capacity of 42 megawatts. For comparison, the new Traverse Wind Energy Center in Oklahoma has 356 turbines and a 998-megawatt generating capacity.

The Texas A&M Maritime Academy said it has been notified by the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) that the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) expected to arrive on its Galveston campus in 2025 will be named the Lone Star State.The ship, which is slated to be built by Philly Shipyard, is the fourth in a new series of vessels specifically designed to support both maritime training needs and disaster response capabilities.“The Galveston…

Two offshore drilling rigs, previously used for oil and gas exploration beneath the seabed, could soon help with space exploration.Namely, according to multiple reports this week, a company linked to billionaire Elon Musk bought two deepwater semi-submersible drilling rigs last year, with plans - reportedly - to convert them into floating launch pads for Musk's SpaceX rockets.SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies Corp, was founded by Musk back in 2002 to cut space transportation costs and enable the colonization of Mars.According to CNBC, a company named Lone Star Mineral Development, linked to Musk's Space X firm, in July 2020 bought two semi-submersible drilling rigs from Valaris.

Louisiana’s only international container port Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) moved more containers in 2019 than at any time in its history, totaling 648,538 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 10% compared to one year ago.The multimodal gateway for global trade said in a press release that the record marks the sixth consecutive year the Port surpassed the half million TEU-mark at its Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, which is operated by New Orleans Terminal and Ports America.“Port NOLA has now seen double-digit growth in total container volumes for two consecutive years, primarily driven by the Panama Canal expansion, exports from Louisiana’s booming petrochemical industry and a growing market for imports,” said Brandy D.

Niels Aalund was elected President of the International Propeller Club at their 93rd International Convention and Conference. The prominent maritime industry stakeholder will serve a two-year term, commencing from October 17th. Aalund, a well-known maritime subject matter expert and executive, also serves as an Officer and as Senior Vice President of the West Gulf Maritime Association (WGMA). WGMA communicates and coordinates with various governmental entities throughout the West Gulf…

Niels Aalund was elected at the 93rd International Convention and Conference in New Orleans on October 17th.New Orleans, LA: Prominent maritime industry stakeholder Niels Aalund has been elected President of the International Propeller Club. Mr. Aalund will serve a two-year term, commencing from October 17th. Aalund, a well-known maritime subject matter expert and executive, currently serves as an Officer and as Senior Vice-President of the West Gulf Maritime Association (WGMA).

Crowley Maritime Corp. awarded Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarships to four California State University Maritime Academy (CMA) cadets at the Containerization and Intermodal Institute’s Connie Awards last night in Long Beach, Calif.The recipients earned the scholarships based on their academic achievement, financial need and their interest in pursuing careers at sea.Spencer Hoffman, a third-year student from Loomis, Calif., is currently a junior studying marine transportation. He serves as a cadet ambassador for the academy.

Drilling wells more than three miles deep in the late 1960s was something that GHK Company and partner Lone Star Producing Company believed would product massive amounts of natural gas. The two companies that began this project discovered in 1974 that South of Burns Flat in Washita County their Bertha Rogers No. 1 rig would reach almost six miles deep, following a deep-sea fishing trip. Averaging 60 feet per day, the rig (at that time) was destined to become the world’s deepest well.

The fourth-largest port in the United States in total tonnage, Port of Corpus Christi has leased land where it hopes to build the nation's first export terminal to load very large crude carriers (VLCC).The Port of Corpus Christi Commission approved today a long-term (50-year) lease agreement with Lone Star Ports, a joint venture between the Carlyle Group and the Berry Group, for approximately 200 acres on Harbor Island to develop a state-of-the-art petroleum export terminal.Featuring the latest in safety, security and environmental technologies, the facility will connect U.S. crude producers with all major international markets.The lease…

Booming U.S. oil exports have set off a scramble to build Gulf Coast ports to handle more than 3 million barrels per day in new supplies expected over the next five years.Of seven proposed oil-export projects, nowhere is the opportunity greater or the competition more fierce than in Corpus Christi, Texas, where three firms are vying to open the state's first deepwater port.Commodities trader Trafigura has taken an early lead with a planned offshore facility that has an easier…

NOVA Chemicals Corporation announced that its subsidiary, NOVA Chemicals Olefins, and a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals (SPMT), have entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding regarding a potential joint venture to develop an ethylene export terminal to be located on the United States' Gulf Coast. The parties will seek market commitment for an anticipated start-up of the terminal by mid-2020. The terminal is expected to have the capability to export 800 kta (1.8 billion pounds) per year of ethylene to the global market. "An ethylene export terminal builds upon NOVA Chemicals' leadership position in the continually expanding North American ethylene industry…

APM Terminals Mobile welcomes Arkansas-based global retail giant Walmart’s plans for a new International Distribution Center to be opened 15 miles from the port. The sixth of Walmart’s US international distribution centers, the Irvington, Alabama facility will handle Walmart’s import cargoes destined for Walmart’s Regional Distribution Centers in the American South. The recently completed Panama Canal lock widening project will permit vessels of up to 13,000 TEU capacity to transit the canal, bringing larger vessels and new opportunities to the deep-water terminal strategically located on the US Gulf Coast. The APM Terminals Mobile terminal opened in September of 2008. With a depth of 45 feet, the facility is currently equipped with two STS cranes capable of a 19-row reach.

RADM David Callahan for the US Coast Guard (USCG) 8th District presented Meritorious Public Service Awards to two Houston Pilots - Captains Michael McGee and Michael Phiilips - for their bravery last September aboard the crippled and burning tanker AFRAMAX RIVER. The USCG ceremony highlighted the fifth annual meeting of the Lone Star Harbor Safety Committee, announced Captain Robert M. Shearon, presiding officer -- Houston Pilots. Captain McGee and Captain Phillips were dispatched September 6 to the M/T AFRAMAX RIVER at Houston Fuel Oil Berth 3. Due to its large size, this massive tanker required two pilots. Capt. McGee was conning the…

On September 24, 2016 the Houston International Seafarers Centers will host their Annual Maritime Gala . Niels Aalund, Senior Vice President, West Gulf Maritime Association, will be honored as the " Bronze Anchor Award” recipient. Niels Aalund, serves as an Officer and as Senior Vice-President, West Gulf Maritime Association, with primary responsibility for advocating on behalf of member companies (steamship agents, vessel owners, and industry stakeholders) with local, state and federal agencies. From organizations such as Washington, D.C, based, National Maritime Association, to the commercial sector, Aalund has provided leadership for a variety of maritime related positions. He has extensive strategic planning experience in both operations and commercial maritime activities.