Mexico News

International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN body, announced that a major five-year project to help protect marine biodiversity has been kick-started at a global workshop at IMO Headquarters in London, United Kingdom (18-20 March).The IMO-executed GloFouling Partnerships project will address bioinvasions by organisms which can build up on ships’ hulls and other marine structures. The project is a collaboration between the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and IMO.Representatives from 12 lead partnering countries…

Marine organisms such as barnacles and zebra mussels have been a long-standing nuisance to ship hulls, causing exterior damage, increased power and fuel consumption and environmental concerns. While anti-fouling coatings help to prevent biofouling,  a new research study suggests that an innovative approach to marine coatings may solve the problem of barnacle and zebra mussel fouling, an approach stems from the MOSI (Marine Organism Sensory Interference) concept. MOSI uses a unique coating tech to interfere with the sensory ability of juvenile barnacles…

Firefighters on Wednesday extinguished a fire at a Mitsui & Co petrochemical storage site outside Houston that has been billowing acrid smoke for days, the company said.The blaze at Mitsui unit Intercontinental Terminals Co in Deer Park, Texas, was put out by 3 a.m., but fire crews continued to spray foam and water on the tanks to help keep them cool and prevent the fires from starting again, the company said in a statement.No serious injuries were reported, it said. Fire officials…

Houston officials and environmental groups raced to expand air monitoring on Tuesday after a raging fire at a Mitsui & Co petrochemical storage site produced billowing acrid smoke that could be seen and smelled miles away.The blaze at Mitsui unit Intercontinental Terminals Co in Deer Park, Texas, burned for a third day after firefighting water pumps broke down for six hours on Monday evening, the company said.The fire began on Sunday when a leaking tank containing volatile naphtha ignited and flames quickly spread to nearby tanks…

A massive fire at a fuels storage company along the Houston Ship Channel may burn for two more days, an official said on Monday as the blaze spread a plume of black smoke across the city, shutting schools in two nearby communities.The fire began Sunday morning in a giant storage tank containing naphtha, a volatile substance used to create octane-boosting components of gasoline.No injuries were reported from the fire but nearby residents were encouraged to remain indoors. The entire city of Deer Park, Texas, a Houston suburb, was told to shelter in doors all day Sunday.

A storage tank fire on the Houston Ship Channel on Sunday has spread to seven petrochemical storage tanks, forcing residents in the suburb of Deer Park, Texas, to stay indoors on Monday, but no evacuations or injuries were reported.The fire, which sent a plume of black smoke across the city's eastern half and was visible from 10 miles (16 km) away , began in a giant storage tank containing naphtha, a volatile component of gasoline, at about 10:30 a.m. (1530 GMT) on Sunday.By evening…

Manila-head quartered port and terminal operator International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) has released solid results for 2018. ICTSI’s box volumes were higher, revenues increased and the group generated higher profit.The port operator said in a stock exchange annoucement that its consolidated volume higher by six percent to 9,736,621 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) (FY2017: 9,153,458 TEUs) and revenue from port operations increased 11 percent to US$1.4 billion (FY2017…

GE Marine's LM2500 gas turbines now power two Littoral Combat Ships built by Austal USA that were recently commissioned by the United States Navy: USS Tulsa (LCS 16) and USS Charleston (LCS 18).The powerful LM2500 gas turbines are “Made in America” at GE’s Evendale, Ohio, manufacturing facility, just north of Cincinnati, Ohio.The commissioning for LCS 16 was held in San Francisco, California, on February 16; LCS 18 was commissioned March 2 in Charleston, South Carolina. According to a U.S.

For Indiana’s state-established, but autonomous Ports of Indiana, 2018 was a record setting year, both for system-wide numbers and among the three individual Ports. These consist of Burns Harbor, on Lake Erie; Jeffersonville, on the Ohio, across from Louisville, KY; and Mount Vernon, also on the Ohio River, about 140 miles downriver from Jeffersonville.Not only were actual numbers robust, but Port officials reported “unprecedented tonnage increases” within the three-port system.

U.S. investment firm Blackstone Group LP said on Sunday that funds affiliated with Blackstone Infrastructure Partners invested in Carrix Inc, the largest marine terminal operator in the United States and the Americas.The company did not disclose the terms of the transaction.Carrix is the parent of SSA Marine and its related affiliates with operations at over 250 port and rail locations worldwide, including 16 container terminals in Long Beach and Oakland in California, Seattle and Tacoma in Washington…

The provider of  comprehensive services to oil and maritime companies,  Chet Morrison Contractors (Morrison) has acquired two pipelay/construction barges and a saturation diving system from an undisclosed seller in a move to double the size of its pipelay barge fleet.Louisiana based energy services company said in a press release that the first asset it acquired is LB Super Chief, a 265 ft x 72 ft ABS-classed pipelay barge with accommodations for 93 personnel. It is outfitted with a 100 KIP pipe tensioner, is U.S.

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) issued a notice stating that a public scoping meeting will be held on 20 March in Lake Jackson, Texas to receive comments on the proposed deepwater port (DWP) in the Gulf of Mexico to be constructed and operated by SPOT Terminal Services LLC. Written comments must be received by 5 April. 84 Fed. Reg. 8401 (3/7/19) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-03-07/pdf/2019-04101.pdf(Bryant's Maritime Newsletter)

U.S. LNG to Europe may squeeze out smaller gas suppliers.Shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) have gathered pace in March and Europe is set to stay a top destination for spot cargoes with Asian prices still too low to ship the chilled fuel that far.But winter demand for gas is fading, while steady supplies of gas and LNG have kept inventories well stocked, depressing European gas hub prices. This has raised the question: how many more cargoes can Europe absorb?Suppliers of U.S.

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego has added to its fleet a fourth research vessel, which was constructed by Armstrong Marine. The research vessel Bob and Betty Beyster is expected to launch in mid-April for use in San Diego.Armstrong Marine of Port Angeles, Washington, designed the 42-foot aluminum hulled boat. Pacific Power Group, working closely with Armstrong, fit the vessel with a Volvo Penta IPS 650 propulsion system. This is…

The second in a planned series of interactive workshops to prepare countries for a wide range of potential threats and security situations has been held, in Veracruz, Mexico (26-27 February).The interactive Port Facility Security/Port Security Officer Tabletop Exercise was run by International Maritime Organization (IMO) in collaboration with the Organization of American States Inter American Committee Against Terrorism (OAS-CICTE), following a successful pilot in Panama 2018.According to a press note from the UN body…

The Coast Guard commissioned a new, California-based 154-foot Fast Response Cutter in San Francisco, Saturday, March 2, 2019.The Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward is the second of four Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutters (FRC) to be homeported at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach.While these ships will be based in Southern California, they will operate throughout the 11th Coast Guard District, which includes all of California and international waters off of Mexico and Central America.“This cutter is specifically designed to face today’s threats in the maritime domain,” said Rear Adm.

U.S. shale energy companies are cutting their spending levels in 2019, but they're still planning on increased oil and gas output."US shale companies expect to deliver an average of 15% growth in oil production in 2019 vs. 2018. At the same time, operators say they will cut capital spending by 5% this year," said an analysis from Rystad Energy.The  energy research and business intelligence company has analyzed the recently released earnings reports for the fourth quarter of 2018 from 45 US operators…

Russia delivered a record amount of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe in February, becoming the biggest supplier of the chilled fuel to the continent for the first time.A total of 19 cargoes, or 1.41 million tonnes, of LNG from the Yamal LNG plant in Russia's Arctic reached regasification terminals in Europe in February, with the majority of those going to northwest Europe, Refinitiv Eikon data shows.This is the largest monthly amount of LNG from Yamal to arrive in Europe since the plant was launched in Dec.

The floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel market is anticipated to surpass USD 30 billion by 2025, said a study.The FPSO market is set to witness vigorous growth on account of shifting trends toward offshore exploration & production driven by depleting onshore oil & gas reserves, said a market report by GM Insights.Development challenges including excessive costs, material transportation, environmental conditions and decommissioning associated with fixed infrastructures will further shift the industry focus toward the utilization of these vessels as an alternative…

Commonwealth LNG has received commitments from European buyers to take almost half of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its planned 8.4-million-tonnes-per-year export terminal in Louisiana, Chief Executive Officer Paul Varello said on Wednesday.The Commonwealth project is one of more than 10 LNG export terminals under development or construction in the United States along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to take advantage of soaring demand for the supercooled fuel amid booming…

Singapore's Keppel FELS has delivered the jackup rig, Cantarell IV, to Grupo R with a perfect safety record.The wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) said that as part of the deal, Grupo R has entered into a sale and leaseback agreement with FELS Asset, another wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel O&M.FELS Asset will purchase the rig from Grupo R for US$179m which is equivalent to the balance contract value of the rig. Cantarell IV will be leased back to Grupo R on a bareboat charter at competitive day rates over five years.

North American transportation and logistics player TFI International has announced the acquisition of Toronto Tank Lines (TTIL).Acquisition strengthens TFI’s logistics and specialized tank capabilities throughout North America, said a press note.Founded in 1993 and based in Hamilton, Ontario, TTL specializes in the transportation and storage of food grade liquids, industrial chemicals, specialty oils and waxes throughout Canada, the United States and Mexico.TTL operates storage facilities and a fleet of approximately 75 tank trailers and 45 power units…

Handling 135.1 million tons of seaborne cargoes (down one percent), Germany’s largest universal port can report a respectable result for 2018.Hamburg successfully asserted itself in a difficult environment, achieving a distinct advance on railborne seaport-hinterland transport. In 2018, this category accounted for totals of 46.8 million tons – up 2.7 percent – and 2.44 million TEU – up 4.7 percent.More than 60,000 cargo trains with around 1.6 million freight cars were handled during 2018 on the Port Railway network alone.