Northeast United States News

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have launched an 18-month initiative to gather extensive weather, ocean, and wildlife data near the sites of active offshore wind farms and lease areas off the coast of the Northeast United States.This effort, which is part of the third phase of the Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP3), seeks to gather high-quality data to improve the design and operation of offshore wind turbines and wind farms.

Most of the media coverage of offshore wind development in the United States focuses on the leases of the offshore areas where the wind turbines will be located. However, equally important is the landside dimension of these projects, including the manufacture, installation, maintenance and operation of the turbines. Several awards made in the last two rounds of funding under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) show how offshore wind now offers an additional direction of port development for which funding is available.

The November edition of Marine News magazine highlighted the most notable newbuilds delivered in 2022. From sturdy and nimble workboats, to the first new Jones Act laker in a generation, each vessel on display showcases the industry’s engineering prowess and technological ingenuity, with the focus on improving efficiency in operations. The maritime industry has no shortage of challenges to overcome, and each of Marine News’ top vessels will, in one way or another, aid efforts to tackle them.Mark W.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter William Chadwick (WPC-1150) was commissioned Thursday at Coast Guard Base Boston, as the first of six Fast Response Cutters to be stationed in the city.Admiral Steven Poulin, Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, and Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander, 1st Coast Guard District, oversaw the ceremony, as Lt. Cmdr. Tyler Kelley assumed command of the 154-foot cutter and its crew. Under Kelly’s command, the 24-person crew will now conduct missions offshore of the Northeast United States.Built by Bollinger Shipyards…

Baltimore-based Vane Brothers announced it has take delivery this month of the final boat in a series of four 3,000-horsepower Salisbury Class push tugs. Named the Charles Hughes, Vane’s newest addition is the 20th Maryland-built towing vessel to join Vane Brothers’ fleet since 2008.Designed and constructed by Chesapeake Shipbuilding Shipbuilders and Naval Architects of Salisbury, Md., Vane’s Salisbury Class push tugs have a molded depth of only 10.5 feet, making them well suited for working in confined, shallow-draft waterways.

Maritime classification society ABS will class the first U.S.-flagged Jones Act offshore wind farm service operation vessel (SOV) ever ordered.The vessel, ordered last year, will be engineered, constructed, and operated by Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) for long-term charter to service the planned Revolution Wind, South Fork Wind, and Sunrise Wind offshore wind farms in the northeast United States.Edison Chouest Offshore, Ørsted, and Eversource in November 2020 announced the execution of a long-term charter agreement for the provision of the SOV.Matt Tremblay…

Offshore vessel operator Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) will build and operate the first-ever U.S. flagged Jones Act compliant Service Operations Vessel (SOV), used for offshore wind farm operation and maintenance works.Edison Chouest Offshore, Ørsted, and Eversource announced Thursday the execution of a long-term charter agreement for the provision of the SOV."The SOV will be engineered, constructed and operated by ECO as an integral part of the operation and maintenance of the Revolution Wind…

The promise of a vibrant U.S. offshore wind business has been long in the making. While questions remain on timing and pace, there is renewed confidence in the offshore wind sector, particularly in the northeast United States (global pandemic notwithstanding). Investment in the sector had escalated to start 2020, embodied best by Reinauer Group and its WindServe Marine unit, which when combined with its Senesco Marine boatbuilding and logistics hub give its an ‘ A-to-Z, soup-to-nuts’ enviable position to build…

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently visited the Blount Boats facility in Warren, Rhode Island. The year 2019 might be the ‘year of the woman’ in the eyes of the IMO, but the two women at the head of Blount Boats – Julie & Marcia Blount (pictured) – have been a driving force in the U.S. boatbuilding market for decades, building on the business that their father Luther Blount built starting in 1949. As 2019 is Blount Boat’s 70th anniversary, a full story on the yard, it’s history and evolution will appear in the October 2019 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News…

Without sacrificing utility or features, the Metal Shark 75’ Endurance and the Moose M3 models both provide multi-missioned platforms for the cash-strapped municipal sector. A crowded field for today’s domestic boatbuilders and a highly competitive marketplace finds builders trying to position their output and designs to a place that separates them from the pack. One place to do just that is in the market for maritime security workboats, particularly when it comes to local, state and municipal buyers. Municipal and state buyers want a great deal for their declining budget dollars. In response, builders are sharpening their pencils and putting together vessels that offer not only bang for the buck…

Domestic container volume continued its steady performance in the second quarter of 2013 with 9 percent year-over-year gains, largely attributable to a strong big box segment, with total intermodal traffic rising by 2.4 percent for the quarter, reports industry trade association IANA. International volume was unable to build on its solid Q1 growth, falling 1.3 percent in Q2 after posting 3 percent gains in Q1. This decline can be attributed to surprisingly weak shipments in June, with loads falling 6 percent from a year ago.

Senesco Marine of North Kingstown, R.I. launched the largest commercial floating dry dock in the Northeast United States on May 7, 2013. Senesco built the dry dock for Caddell Dry Dock and Repair Co. of Staten Island, N.Y. The dry dock has a lifting capacity of 7,300 LT, is 420 feet long, and has a 100-foot wide open pontoon deck between its 30-foot tall wing walls. JMS Naval Architects (JMS) of Mystic, Conn. designed the dry dock for Caddell to accommodate large tank barges, tugs, workboats and Coast Guard Cutters.

As advances in computing power have made marine training via simulator more mainstream, the majority would contend that the most effective training is on the water, at the helm. While training on real-world vessels can be tough due to time and safety constraints, Massachusetts Maritime Academy maintains its unique solutions: the Manned Model Shiphandling Program on the Great Herring Pond. The Manned Model Shiphandling Program at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy is unique in that it is only one of a handful in the world to offer mariner’s hands-on training courtesy of professionally built…

Cape Wind has selected the joint venture team of Flatiron Construction Corp., Cal Dive International, Inc., and Cashman Equipment Corp. as its construction contractor to build America’s first offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound. Boston-based Cashman Equipment Corp. has constructed many marine projects in Massachusetts and New England and is one of the leading providers of floating marine equipment in the country and provides floating marine equipment worldwide. Colorado-based Flatiron Construction Corp. is one of the leading construction and civil engineering firms in the U.S. “We are excited to build Cape Wind, this project is moving forward and there is no better way for us to enter the US offshore wind market than to help build the first commercial project…

Sea Star Line announced that it is implementing a general rate increase, effective April 1, 2012. The general rate increase of 3.5 percent  increase will be administered on shipments between U.S. ports and Puerto Rico. Sea Star Line cited escalating operational costs as the main driver for the increase. “Sea Star Line remains committed to the Puerto Rico trade and needs to implement rate increases and other activities to help to ensure continued profitability. This will position Sea Star Line to continue to reinvest in the Puerto Rico trade,” said Mike Nicholson, vice president of Strategic Planning & Yield Analysis. Effective March 5, 2012, a new chassis program is effective for shipments moving to and from the Northeast United States (NY/NJ/PHL Region).

While most college students completed their spring semester and departed campus for summer jobs, internships or volunteer opportunities, nearly 250 cadets from the Maine Maritime Academy are utilizing the summer months to gain valuable experience out on the open seas. Launching from Castine, Maine, United States, these young men and women boarded the Training Vessel State of Maine and charted their course east for a cruise through western Europe, including stops in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. However, one of the most unique experiences of the trip was a cruise through the Kiel Canal in Germany, which links the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

For the first time in 63 seasons of scenic cruises on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, the M/S Mount Washington will rely on clean diesel power from a pair of newly installed Cat C32 ACERT marine engines. Through the help of funds from the U.S. government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Mount Washington Cruises received an EPA grant to replace older diesel engines with new “greener” technology. The M/S Mount Washington was one of nine projects funded in the northeast and the only project funded in New Hampshire.

Rhode Island picked Deepwater Wind to develop an offshore wind farm expected to cost more than $1b and provide about 15 percent of the state's electricity. The wind farm was expected to generate about 1.3 million megawatt-hours a year. Rhode Island selected Deepwater after reviewing seven bids on its April request for proposals to build an offshore wind farm. Deepwater was established to develop utility-scale offshore wind projects in the northeast United States. To help seal the deal, Deepwater pledged to make a significant investment in the state of about $1.5 billion with the construction of a regional manufacturing facility in Quonset and creating up to 800 direct jobs with annual wages of $60 million.

Canadian Superior Energy Inc. acquired two major exploration licenses offshore Nova Scotia from the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board. It has been advised by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board that Canadian Superior was successful in acquiring two large offshore drilling licenses totaling 822,000 acres offshore Nova Scotia at the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board's November 1, 2001 Land Sale (See Canadian Superior's website at www.cansup.com to view "Offshore Nova Scotia Maps" and location of new lands and proposed industry wells). Company President Greg Noval said that the two licenses named the "Mayflower"…

K-Sea Transportation Partners L.P. has acquired the 140,000 barrel capacity double-hulled barge S/R New York and the 8,000 horsepower tugboat S/R Everett. This integrated tug barge unit, built in 2000, had been leased by SeaRiver Maritime, Inc., a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, from a financial institution. The purchase price of $34 million was financed using available cash and $25 million in borrowings under a new term loan. The new equipment will begin working immediately and is expected to be accretive to K-Sea's distributable cash flow. K-Sea has also signed a new multi-year contract with SeaRiver to utilize the unit in Exxon Mobil's petroleum products transportation in the Northeast United States. The barge has been renamed DBL 140 and the tugboat has been renamed Lincoln Sea.

K-Sea Transportation Partners has acquired the 140,000 barrel capacity double-hulled barge S/R New York and the 8,000 horsepower tugboat S/R Everett. This integrated tug barge unit, built in 2000, had been leased by SeaRiver Maritime, Inc., a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, from a financial institution. The purchase price of $34 million was financed using available cash and $25 million in borrowings under a new term loan. The new equipment will begin working immediately and is expected to be accretive to K-Sea's distributable cash flow. K-Sea has also signed a new multi-year contract with SeaRiver to utilize the unit in Exxon Mobil's petroleum products transportation in the Northeast United States. The barge has been renamed DBL 140 and the tugboat has been renamed Lincoln Sea.

Conoco Inc. and Maritrans Inc. are jointly developing advanced shuttle tanker technologies to safely transport newly discovered deepwater Gulf of Mexico crude oil reserves to U.S. refineries more economically than current pipeline alternatives. Technologies being evaluated have the potential to greatly reduce the time between discovery and production of deepwater crude reserves. "The industry is actively exploring for the 10 billion barrels of crude oil reserves that are estimated to be contained in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico," said Rob McKee, Conoco executive vice president for exploration production. "Operations in deepwater are expensive, and we are continuously seeking ways to improve the economics of our deepwater program.

Conoco Inc. and Maritrans Inc. are jointly developing advanced shuttle tanker technologies to safely transport newly discovered deepwater Gulf of Mexico crude oil reserves to U.S. refineries more economically than current pipeline alternatives. Technologies being evaluated have the potential to greatly reduce the time between discovery and production of deepwater crude reserves. "The industry is actively exploring for the 10 billion barrels of crude oil reserves that are estimated to be contained in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico," said Rob McKee, Conoco executive vice president for exploration production. "Operations in deepwater are expensive, and we are continuously seeking ways to improve the economics of our deepwater program.