Olympia News

Senator Wesley Livsey Jones gave his name to the famous “Jones Act” governing U.S. domestic maritime trade. But what do really know about him? It turns out that he was much more than a leading merchant marine policy maker. (i)Jones had a long career in the U.S. House of Representatives before he was a Senator, was an effective legislator, an astute politician, one of the hardest working legislators of his era, and always viewed as honest and forthright. His many maritime legislative successes included the Merchant Marine Act…

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced more than $703 million to fund 41 projects in 22 states and one territory that designed to help improve port facilities through the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program. Following is the full list of FY 2022 Port Infrastructure Development Grant Awards:ALASKANorth Extension Stabilization Step 1 Project ($68,700,000), Anchorage, AlaskaThe Project will reconfigure and realign the shoreline within the “North Extension” (the area north of the existing general cargo terminals) at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage, Alaska.

Firefighters battling for a third day a blaze on a ferry sailing from Greece to Italy recovered on Sunday the body of a passenger listed as missing, Greek authorities said.It is the first reported fatality after rescuers managed to take at least 281 out of 292 passengers and crew to safety from a blaze which broke out on the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia early on Friday.The ferry had been on its way to the Italian port of Brindisi from Igoumenitsa in Greece when it was engulfed…

Two people are trapped on a ferry that was engulfed in a blaze as it sailed from Greece to Italy early on Friday, the coastguard said, after scores of others passengers and crew members were rescued.A total of 239 passengers and 51 crew were onboard the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia when the fire broke out and rescue vessels had taken most of them to the island of Corfu where ambulances were waiting, the Greek coastguard added."We were woken up around 4:20 a.m. Within an hour we had left the ship ...

The Greek island of Corfu welcomed its first cruise ship of the new season on Tuesday, hoping much awaited tourists will help salvage losses incurred during 2020 due to the coronavirus.Corfu port authorities said some 600 tourists from countries including Italy, France and Germany were on board the Costa Luminosa, operated by Italy's Costa Cruises, and all safety measures were being adhered to in the port.Some of the passengers expressed their delight at being able to travel again."It's freedom, enjoying life, you really feel much better. You're not in prison anymore, you're free and that really does you good," said French tourist Robert Maran from Lyon.Greece opened its doors on Saturday to tourists from the EU and other key markets such as the United States…

For the Design issue Greg Trauthwein asked me to write about a favorite ship design. I have no favorite ship design, or should say there are simply too many that are truly worthy of mention. But when considering favorite designs, ship designers (and builders) do carry a strange curse. Unique among engineers (and artists, architects, and industrial designers) their creations only live for about 30 years. With very few exceptions, in their own life time, ship designers get to see the disassembly of most of their creations. I am not aware of any other creations that are so readily tossed aside.

One of Puget Sound's oldest surviving wooden tugs is being restored after sinking in Hood Canal in the summer of 2017.Built in 1906 by James Hall, the tugboat Parthia had a long-life servicing ships that called to Washington's Capital City, Olympia. Beyond working, she is also a five-time winner of the Olympia Harbor Days vintage tugboat races - a true icon of the city's waterfront.After the vessel sank while under private ownership, several members of the Puget Sound Maritime…

Olympia Harbor Days Festival and Tugboat Races, the 47th edition, has been canceled for 2020 due to health and safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement comes from the Olympia Kiwanis Club Board of Directors after much discussion about how to keep the festival safe for all – from attendees and tugboat crews to vendors and volunteers. The festival was to be held Labor Day Weekend, September 4 – 6, 2020. The festival is an Olympia Kiwanis Club event.“We want to keep our community…

American/British-owned German cruise line AIDA Cruises announced that model and TV host Franziska Knuppe christened  AIDAmira in Palma de Mallorca.AIDAmira is the fourth ship in the AIDA Selection program, sailing longer itineraries to exotic locales, similar to her function for Costa.After a debut cruise in the Mediterranean until December 4, 2019,  the cruise line will take the new Selection ship to Sète in the south of France, the Catalan metropolis of Barcelona, and back to Palma de Mallorca.From May to September 2020 the AIDAmira will be sailing from Corfu on cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean.The itinerary takes in Athens, Santorini, Crete and Brindisi in Apulia. A separate itinerary calls in Malta, Sicily, Crotone in Calabria, Olympia and Cephalonia.

C Transport Maritime (CTM), the vessel management company in the dry cargo ocean transport industry, announced that four of its current members have added seven more vessels to the Supramax Revenue Sharing Agreement (RSA) in July and August 2019.According to the Monaco-based provider of ship management service, Chandris (Hellas) added the M/V Serene Juniper (57,185 dwt, 2011 built at STX Dalian).D’Amico Group added the M/V Medi Hakata (58,078 dwt, 2014 built at Shin Kurushima) , M/V Medi Manila (57,903 dwt, 2014 built at Tsuneishi Zhoushan), M/V Medi Yokohama (57,905 dwt, 2014 built at Tshuneishi Zhoushan) and the M/V Medi Segesta (58…

The biennial Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum will be held from May 28-29, 2019, at the Domotel Kastri Conference Center, in Athens’ northern suburbs. Here there will be more than 30 senior cruise executives responsible for ports and destinations from the world’s biggest cruise lines, including MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Holland America Group, Disney Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines and Celestyal Cruises among others.Elisabetta De Nardo, VP Port Development…

Norwegian supply shipping company DOF Subsea has been awarded contracts for three remotely operated (ROV) Support Vessels (RSV) with Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras).All contracts have a firm duration of three years and can be extended for another two years, informed the offshore support vessel owner.The vessels allocated for the contracts are Skandi Commander, Skandi Olympia and Skandi Chieftain, all owned by DOF Rederi AS (100 % owned by DOF ASA).Each vessel will be equipped with two state of the art work class ROVs owned and operated by DOF Subsea Group. All three contracts are expected to commence in 2nd quarter 2019. Estimated total firm contract value is NOK 1,3 billion. Skandi Olympia (built 2009) has been on charter with Fugro since her delivery in 2009.

Olympia GR, a 61,222 DWT Ultramax dry bulk carrier, has been successfully delivered to M/Maritime Corp from Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. Recently, the clients of M/Maritime Corp. signed two shipbuilding contracts for the acquisition of two 60,200 DWT bulk carriers to be built at Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. Both vessels, under Hull No. 1961 and Hull No. 1962 are scheduled to be delivered to their Owners between second half of 2019 and first half of 2020. Their full management will be entrusted to M/Maritime Corp. The clients of M/Maritime has also signed a shipbuilding contract for the acquisition of one 37,000 DWT bulk carrier to be built at Saiki Heavy Industries, Onomichi dockyard. The vessel, under Hull No.

The U.S. Navy has a balanced fleet, but it wants to grow bigger and better. Will the budget allow both? Maritime Reporter's March 2017 cover story on the U.S. Navy was all about the numbers. There exists several plans to grow the fleet beyond the current number of 308 ships, the Mitre recommendation of 414 ships, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment 340-ship proposal, and the Navy’s decision to grow the fleet to 355 ships, and the Trump administration’s 350. With so many numbers being bandied about, there are even more suggestions on how to get there.

The Port of Vancouver USA Board of Commissioners today voted 2-1 to hire interim CEO Julianna Marler as the port’s permanent CEO/Executive Director. Marler, who was appointed interim CEO by the board in May 2016, was one of three finalists for the position. The other two were Edward Galligan, current Executive Director of the Port of Olympia, and Arthur Scheunemann, former President and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Seattle and King County. “We had three highly qualified candidates, and that made this a hard decision,” said commission President Brian Wolfe. “This was a rigorous process,” said commission Vice President Eric LaBrant. “Julianna was stacked up against the best of the industry and she’s the most qualified candidate.

Ocean Rig UDW Inc, the offshore drilling contractor, posted revenue of $452.6 million in the second-quarter, beating Wall Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $385.7 million. The company has reported second-quarter profit of $155.6 million. The company said it had profit of $1.83 per share. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 71 cents per share. "Despite the continued positive operational performance of the Company (fleet utilization for the second quarter of 96.3%) the market conditions remain extremely negative. Oil companies continue to reduce their offshore budgets and as more floaters come off contract in the next six months…

Raytheon says it has appointed Thomas A. Vecchiolla as president, Raytheon International, Inc., effective immediately. In his new role, Vecchiolla will be responsible for leading Raytheon's international business team worldwide. Vecchiolla will report to John Harris, vice president, business development, Raytheon Company, and CEO, Raytheon International, Inc. and will be based in Washington, DC. "Tom's impressive depth of industry knowledge and strong customer relationships, combined with his political expertise and military background, provide him with a strong foundation to advance Raytheon's focus on global growth and customer success," said Harris.

“The Kieler Woche regatta – an international top sailing event and at the same time the biggest summer festival in northern Europe – is setting new standards and attracting in-creasing numbers of cruise ships”. The comment comes from Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG). This year for the first time, a record sixteen cruise ships have berthed in the port of Kiel during the festival, which is being held from June 21st to June 29th. Three of them – the “MSC Orchestra”, the “Braemar” and the “Adonia”, along with an inland river cruise ship – were joining the big Windjammer Parade, which is the maritime highlight of the Kieler Woche and was being held on Saturday June 28th.

1804 - The brig USS Syren (Siren), commanded by Lt. Charles Stewart, captures the Tripolitan brig Transfer off the coast of Tripoli, renaming it Scourge after being taken into US Navy service. 1903 - The Honduras Expedition, made up with USS Marietta, USS Olympia, USS Panther, USS Raleigh, and USS San Francisco, embark and operate in Honduran waters during a period of civil strife. 1917 - Loretta Walsh becomes the first woman Navy petty officer when sworn in as chief yeoman. 1943 - USS Herring (SS 233) sinks the German submarine U 163 off the Bay of Biscay. The sub was responsible for sinking USS Erie (PG 50) on Nov. 14, 1942. 1944 - USS Angler (SS 240) completes the evacuation of 58 U.S. citizens, including women and children, from the west coast of Panay, Philippine Islands.

Sembcorp Marine’s wholly-owned subsidiary Sembawang Shipyard has secured a Floating Storage Production Offloading (FPSO) conversion contract worth about S$600 million from Saipem SA, France for the conversion of Two FPSOs for the Kaombo Project in Offshore Angola. Sembawang Shipyard was awarded this milestone contract on the strength of its capabilities and established track record in the field of FPSO conversion, modification and upgrading work. Under the contract, the Shipyard is responsible for the conversion of 2 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) sister ships into 2 turret-moored FPSOs for the Kaombo project located in offshore Angola, approximately 150 km from the coast.

1917 - The first U.S. convoy left Hampton Roads, Va. to cross the North Atlantic after entering World War I. During the 18 months of war while American vessels escort convoys through the war zone, 183 attacks are made by submarines, 24 submarines are damaged and two are destroyed. 1918 - USS Olympia (C 6) is anchored at Kola Inlet, Murmansk, Russia, to protect refugees during the Russian Revolution. 1939 - Vice Adm. Allan McCann's Rescue Chamber is first used to rescue 33 men from the sunken USS Squalus (SS 192). Four Navy divers receive the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions on May 24-25 to rescue the trapped men. 1945 - Patrol bomber PBM aircraft sink Japanese Special Coast Defense Ship No.21 off the China coast, Task Force 58 attacks airfields on southern Kyushu.

A Celestyal Cruises ship suffered structural damage to its bow and was forced to dock at Turkey’s port of Gallipoli after it collided with the Marshal Islands-flagged product tanker STI Pimlico on Saturday June 27th 2015 and at around 1:28 am local time. Celestyal Cruises informed that all 852 passengers and the 382 members of crew are well and so are the crew members of the tanker. Except that three incidents have been reported, involving minor injuries for two members of crew and one passenger. They received first aid  and their health and well-being are in absolutely no danger.The cruise ship has only suffered some structural damages and awaits inspection from its class surveyor.

Cyprus-based Ocean Rig UDW Inc said on Monday that it signed a $1.1 billion three-year contract with Brazil's state-run oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, to extend a lease on two ultra-deepwater drilling ships. Petrobras, as the Brazilian oil company is known, will get the ships, the Ocean Rig Corcovado and Ocean Rig Mykonos, for 1,095 days, Ocean Rig said in a statement. The period and price translate into an average rate for each of the vessels of $502,283 per day. The Corcovado was expected to earn an average day rate of $464,800 and Mykonos $459,700 in the second half of 2014, according to Ocean Rig's second-quarter financial statements. Ultra-deep water is considered water deeper than 1,500 meters (4,921 feet).