Navy Pier News

For many, the ocean is life. It provides transportation, work, commerce, food, recreation—tales as old as time and shared by people across the globe. These stories are lived day to day, passed down between generations, and shared with the public through various media. Maritime museums assume responsibility to share these histories while honoring the communities shaped ocean exploration and commerce. In a decade where ocean health and climatic events have become a primary focus…

This week, PVA submitted comments in support of the Coast Guard's proposal to reduce the size of the current Navy Pier Southeast Safety Zone within the Chicago Harbor.PVA's Chicago members requested the association's support of this proposal, which would reduce the size of the Safety Zone and provide relief to local operators. Coast Guard proposed this change to allow the Chicago Harbor Lock to remain in full operation during regularly scheduled periodic fireworks displays. As…

Oil spills, trash, debris, sediment, chemicals: how do we keep our waterways clean? If an oil spill happens on water, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90) has very clear rules on who is responsible for paying for cleanup costs. Most oil spills can be traced to the spiller – a pipeline owner, oil tanker, shipper, railroad or trucking company. “Pointing a finger” at the alleged party may be why this type of pollution is referred to as “point source.” If the oil spill is ruled an accident and the polluter is not legally responsible…

Elastec, a U.S. based manufacturer of pollution control equipment, is producing trash and debris collection boats to assist local governments in meeting Clean Water Act standards, aid in the reduction of floating pollutants in waterways and help protect aquatic ecosystems. The trash and debris collection vessel, designed to skim floating litter from harbors and waterways, can also be used for various marine maintenance duties from its 8- by 11-foot work platform. Designed to be maneuverable in hard to reach areas…

Chicago’s Christmas Ship Committee, Coast Guard set for 15th anniversary of re-enactment, delivery of 1,200 Christmas trees for deserving families. The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, serving once again as this year’s “Christmas Ship” and loaded with more than 1,200 Christmas trees, is returning to Chicago for a two-day event re-enacting what was an annual Chicago tradition in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A welcoming for the Mackinaw, by the Chicago Christmas Ship Committee, is scheduled for Friday at 8 a.m.

A Coast Guard cutter crew arrived at Chicago's Navy Pier today for planned icebreaking operations on southern Lake Michigan. Lt. Thomas Przybyla and the crew of the St. Ignace, Mich.-based cutter are in southern Lake Michigan for planned icebreaking operations, including an operation in Burns Harbor, Ind., beginning Wednesday afternoon. uscg.mil

Aboard the tall ship Royaliste, Wayne "Lord Pirate Captain Marcato" Marquardt listens as U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Jack Hambidge of Marine Safety Unit Chicago explains the safety requirements the Royaliste must meet before people may board the vessel for tours during the Tall Ships Festival at Navy Pier in Chicago Aug. 24, 2010. Coast Guard marine inspectors boarded every tall ship before visitors were allowed on to ensure the ships met all the safety requirements. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Jorgensen)

The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport will become the first Department of the Navy command with a virtual world presence when it launches Virtual NUWC on Linden Labs’s 3D online world Second Life at the Undersea Defense Technology (UDT) Pacific Conference in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday, November 5. A virtual research and development facility covering 128 virtual acres representing the NUWC Newport campus dotted with recognizable Newport landmarks, Virtual NUWC is capable of supporting more than 500 avatars at any one time. The campus features replicas of many NUWC laboratories actually located on the NUWC campus, as well as additional facilities, including a visitors’ center, movie theaters, submarine replicas, an electronic library, and underwater exhibits.

It's sometimes said that great harbor cities don't appreciate their harbors, so the city of New York must be an exception. Look what happens every Fourth of July. For years without missing, regular as clockwork, Macy's fireworks display has locked-down the harbor with skies in eruption, which the masses trek shoreward to see. Around either side of that date, the fireworks season brings the burghers of Manhattan, the boaters and bathers of the Boroughs to their esplanades and beaches. Few of them know how those big black barges full of fireworks got there, but lo and behold, there they are.

Northrop Grumman Corporation helped restore the historic aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA-41) for the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum. The Midway was built by Northrop Grumman's Newport News sector and delivered to the U.S. Navy in 1945. After serving nearly 50 years, the ship was decommissioned in 1992 and is now being converted into a museum and memorial. Last November, the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum asked all shipyards in the area for support for the Midway project by repairing and restoring three brow platforms and two brows.

There are several quick conclusions you can draw about passenger boat construction in the new millennium. First it is a smaller market than 10 years ago with far fewer boats being built today than a decade ago. Secondly almost all of these vessels are built on the east or west coast. There are virtually no passenger boats being built in the south. Third, the number one vessel type being built is the ferryboat and more specifically the all-passenger ferry that shuttles people at 25 knots or better. In the years between 1987 and 1993 shipyards all over the country were building 600-passenger excursion-dinner boats in great numbers as sightseeing and dining vessels on America’s great rivers, lakes and bays became increasingly popular.

The Coast Guard proposes to establish permanent security zones on the navigable waters of the Des Plaines River, the Kankakee River, the Rock River, and Lake Michigan in the Captain of the Port Zone Chicago. These security zones are necessary to protect the nuclear power plants, water intake cribs, and Navy Pier from possible sabotage or other subversive acts, accidents, or possible acts of terrorism. These zones are intended to restrict vessel traffic from portions of the Des Plaines River, Rock River, and Lake Michigan. Comments and related material must reach the Coast Guard on or before June 21, 2002. Pier; Dresden Nuclear Power Plant Water Intake; Donald C. Water Intake Crib; Dever Water Intake Crib; and 79th Street Water Filtration Plant. subversive acts.

When was the last time 15 ocean ships docked almost all at once in New York, and undocked again, and sometimes redocked in-between, all in a week? In the near-400 years since the Dutch first arrived, there have been events even larger. But not many of them lately. Lately, large get-togethers of harbor craft in the most visible parts of the port - upper bay and lower North River - usually surround festive celebrations like the Tug Races and their accompanying games, great entertainment for young and old. But more stirring to watch than tugs at play are tugs at work. Barges go up and down the rivers regularly, but shipdocking, the lively part of tugboating, is concealed from the public eye off the remote corners of Staten Island and the containerports of Newark Bay.