Port News

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri said on Tuesday it had acquired a majority stake in information technology company Insis, to widen the range of products and services it offers.The state-controlled group did not revealed the financial terms of the deal, adding that Insis, which employees 100 people, posted revenue of 51.7 million euros ($58 million) last year.Insis, which has its headquarters near the port city of La Spezia, develops products and services in IT, electronics, telecommunications and cybersecurity.Its clients belong to both the public and defence sectors, Finmeccanica said.Reporti

Annova LNG received its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a significant milestone in the development process for the Annova LNG Brownsville Project.“We appreciate the extensive reviews conducted by FERC and the cooperating agencies,” said Omar Khayum, CEO, Annova LNG. “We are pleased they recognize our proactive approach to minimizing our impact on the environment, including investing in mitigation that is above and beyond what is required by local…

Chinese shipyard Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard Group has held a steel-cutting ceremony for four new Azimuthing Stern Drive (ASD) tugs."Series of 6000HP ASD tugboats, which built for Liaoning LongyunShunze Tug Ltd. by our company, were carried out steel cutting. Our guests, President Quzhi, General Manager Tianye, attended the ceremony. It symbols milestone of steel cutting of four tugboats," said a press release from the shipbuilding firm.Liaoning LongyunShunzeTug  is mainly responsible for vessels’ entering and leaving port…

Container throughput in ports of Latin America and the Caribbean increased by 7.7% in 2018 in comparison with the previous year.According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), this analysis is based on the performance of a sampling of 31 countries and 118 ports and port areas in the region.According to the annual report unveiled by the United Nations organization – which was called  “port ranking” in prior years – the data largely maintained the heterogeneity seen in throughput behavior in previous periods, both in reference to ports and countries.

Californian Port of Oakland supports 84,144 jobs in the Bay Area and 20 percent of those jobs are Oakland-based, according to an economic impact study.The study by Martin Associates shows that the Port’s overall economic value—from business revenue, consumer spending, and total value of goods and services—tops $130 billion. The Port and its tenants also contribute $698 million in state/local taxes.The Port said the study shows that growth in its three businesses—Commercial Real Estate…

North Carolina Ports made history Monday by welcoming its first-ever 12,000 TEU vessel to the Port of Wilmington.The ship, Kota Pekarang, is the largest capacity-wise to call the port. The Kota Pekarang is operated by ZIM in partnership with the 2M Alliance which links Asia to Wilmington.“This is a monumental milestone for North Carolina Ports and the Port of Wilmington,” said Paul J. Cozza, Executive Director, North Carolina Ports. “This is proof of concept that we are big ship…

Oceaneering International announced Monday that it has taken delivery of a newbuild subsea construction support vessel, Ocean Evolution, built by BAE Systems in the US.The US-flagged, Jones Act-compliant multi-service vessel (MSV) has completed sea trials and received all necessary ABS and U.S. Coast Guard certifications and is currently in Port Fourchon, La., completing final outfitting and preparing for project work scheduled to begin in June.Oceaneering said the vessel is designed to serve deepwater stimulation and intervention needs with its well stimulation and well intervention design…

Korean Register (KR), its Chairman, management and entire staff offers sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the seafarers who tragically lost their lives due to the sinking of Stellar Daisy. KR reaffirms its commitment to investigating the causes of the sinking, sharing its knowledge and implementing any changes necessary to avoid a similar loss in the future. The factsStellar Daisy was a 266,141 dwt Very Large Ore Carrier (VLOC) owned by Polaris Shipping and flagged with the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

First dual-fuel sister Aframaxes owned by AET, a unit of the Malaysian shipping giant MISC, have completed their maiden ship-to-ship (STS) LNG bunkering.The petroleum and chemical tanker owner announced in a press release that Eagle Brasilia and Eagle Bintulu have successfully completed their STS LNG bunkering at the Port of Rotterdam (POR).The latest in AET’s eco-friendly innovation towards a sustainable industry solution that meets IMO’s 2050 goal, this is their first call to…

The commercial shipping port in New Zealand, Eastland Port achieved an annual tonnage throughput of just under 2.9 million tonnes of cargo in the year to March 2019, slightly down on last year’s record-breaking result.“The 12-month period was another very strong year for throughput at Eastland Port with vessels taking this district’s export product to South Korea, Japan, China, and Singapore,” says general manager Andrew Gaddum.In the year to 31 March 2019, 140 ships handled 2,956,071 tonnes of cargo at Eastland Port.

Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana has secured a 5-year contract with Limetree Bay Terminals due to commence on June 15th, 2019.The company expands its market coverage providing tugboat services to some of the key oil refineries and terminals in the region – South Riding Point Terminal in Bahamas, Nustar Terminal in Statia, Buckeye Terminal in St. Lucia and now Limetree Bay Terminals (Limetree) in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana is delighted to add this contract…

$1 Million Will Go to Projects that Support Cleanup of Marine Pollution, Preservation of Aquatic Life, and Restoration of Shorelines around Newark Bay.A shipping company based in Italy today admitted discharging oily waste and other pollutants into the sea and then lying about it, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito and Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark announced.The company, d’Amico Shipping Italia S.p.A., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court to an information charging it with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

Oryx Energies, a provider of oil and gas products and services, has acquired the majority stake in South African Marine Fuels (SAMF), a bunkering company in Algoa Bay, Eastern cape, South Africa.Founded in 2016, SAMF is a woman-run enterprise with 100% South African staff operating at the only port in South Africa that has licensed offshore bunkering and ship service operations targeting both port calling ships and general passing traffic in this strategic location on the busy East-West routes."Thanks to its integration into Oryx Energies…

Harbour authority Associated British Ports(ABP) has welcomed SMS Towage’s new tug, called Manxman.Manxman has 5,600 brake horsepwoer, offering more power than seven Ferraris and cost GBP5mln.The tug was built by international shipyard group Damen, based in Holland. It’s technically known as the Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) 2411 tug.The new addition, which will bring SMS Towage’s Humber fleet up to a sturdy 10 represents circa £5 million worth of investment.With another seven tugs located across South East Wales Ports…

The Port of Cardiff is expecting a busy cruise season which starts with the visit of the Cruise and Maritime Voyages-operated Marco Polo on Monday (22nd April), said Associated British Ports (ABP).Between May and June 2019, three cruise calls and over 2000 passengers will utilise port facilities and services provided by ABP South Wales at the Port of Cardiff.Richard Butler, Commercial Manager, ABP South Wales, said: “We are looking forward to once again welcoming thousands of passengers to the Port of Cardiff.

Port of Rotterdam posted a record overall freight tonnage in the first quarter of 2019, up 5.1% on the same period last year, thanks to strong growth in container traffic.In total, 123.9 million tonnes were handled compared with 117.8 million tonnes in the same period in 2018."The increase mainly concerned the throughput of containers (+7.3% in TEU, +5.9% in tonnes) and fuels. Mineral oil products, iron ore and scrap throughput fell," said a press release from the largest port in Europe…

The Port of Seattle, celebrating 20 years as a homeport, welcomes the 2019 cruise season with the arrival of the first ship—Celebrity Eclipse, at the Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal at Pier 66.“Over twenty years ago this community turned a novel idea into a nearly $900 million industry and helped the Port become the most environmentally progressive home port in North America,” said Port of Seattle Commission President Stephanie Bowman.“Today that economic opportunity reaches all the way from Eastern Washington farms and ranches that provide food for cruise customers…

The EU Social Partners in the maritime sector, European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) and European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF), welcome the adoption by Members of the European Parliament of the proposal for a Regulation establishing a European Maritime Single Window environment.The industry associantions said in a joint press release that they look forward to the soon expected formal adoption by the Council in order for the Regulation to enter into force and…

The barge of STB-1 owned by the Caspian Sea Oil Fleet of the CJSC Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) has undergone an overhaul. The overhaul has been carried out at the Bibi-Heybat Shipyard.As part of the overhaul, the underwater and surface parts of the barge were cleaned and painted. Along with this, the bottom-side reinforcement of the barge was repaired.At the end of the overhaul, the barge “STB-1” was handed over to the crew members and Registry Classification representatives.

Caterpillar is touting its Multi-Engine Optimizer (MEO) as a solution for existing cruise ships to burn less fuel, run cleaner, keep uptime and reliability high while keeping costs down.Caterpillar's MEO is designed to lay over the top of a vessel’s existing power management system, us-ing proprietary performance maps and control algorithms to advise the system on which engines to operate and at what load. The second, Asset Intelligence (AI), is a total vessel monitoring solution that collects and analyzes data from onboard systems, then provides recommendations on when and how to take action.

Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana won a 5-year contract with Limetree Bay Refining, LLC, commencing June 15, 2019.The company expands its market coverage providing tugboat services to some of the key oil refineries and terminals in the region – South Riding Point Terminal in Bahamas, Nustar Terminal in Statia, Buckeye Terminal in St. Lucia and now Limetree Bay Refining in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana adds this contract for two tugs to the company’s portfolio and believes Limetree Bay Refining will benefit from adding these young vessels to their operation, providing increased capabilities and overall service offerings.

New Research Doubles Service Life Estimate of Marine Workboat Engines, Reveals Big Opportunities for Diesel Emissions Reductions.It turns out that commercial workboat engines are staying in service more than two times longer than predicted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according new research from the Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). That says a lot for the quality of marine engines, but at the same it isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Dutch dredging and heavylift company Royal Boskalis Westminster has been awarded two dredging contracts in Indonesia.On the island of Sulawesi, Boskalis will expand the Makassar New Port container terminal and on the island of Java it will prepare land for a new petrochemical complex. Both projects will be executed in the second half of 2019 and carry a combined value of approximately EUR 75 million.The first project, awarded by construction company PT PP, entails the expansion of a new terminal for the Makassar New Port of port operator PT Pelindo IV by 45 hectares.