Port News

Morton S. Bouchard, III, fourth generation leader of family-owned Bouchard Transportation, has been ordered to step down from his role as chief executive officer as the Long Island-based tug and barge operator continues to navigate through bankruptcy and a string of legal challenges.Bouchard, the company's CEO since 1992, was ordered out of his role last week by a bankruptcy judge in Houston, and Matthew Ray of restructuring advisor Portage Point Partners has been appointed as…

Texas-based hydraulic repair, manufacturing and rental company Logan Industries says will offer a high-alloy welding scrubber repair service from all coasts of the U.S. for the global marine shipping and cruise line industries.Exhaust scrubbers enable a ship to maximize the use of lower cost fuel while minimizing harmful emissions. Installed in the diesel engine exhaust stacks in ships, scrubbers provide a water shower that rains down in the exhaust stack while the fumes rise up and out.

A U.S. naval destroyer docked on Sudan’s Red Sea coast on Monday in the latest sign of thawing relations with the United States, a day after a visit by a Russian frigate.The visits are a sign of international competition for influence in Sudan, which sits in a volatile region bridging the Horn of Africa, the Gulf, and North Africa, following the 2019 overthrow of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir.Some 300 marines standing at attention aboard the USS Winston S. Churchill were greeted by a Sudanese military band in Port Sudan…

Venezuela’s oil exports rose in February to over 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), their highest level in 10 months, pushed by more sales of fuel oil cargoes to new clients in Asian markets, according to Refinitiv Eikon’s tanker tracking data and documents.A growing number of clients with no track record in oil trading has been helping Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA to allocate crude and fuel in Asia, especially since the U.S. Treasury Department halted oil swaps by PDVSA’s long-term customers in the last quarter of 2020 as part of tightening sanctions.These buyers…

It's no longer news that the U.S. is set to become the next big offshore wind market, with an IEA 2019 report forecasting 40 GW of installed offshore wind capacity in the country by 2040, which will require a $100 billion investment.To meet this expected growth, both in the fixed-bottom wind farms and the floating wind farms, the U.S. market will require a large amount of wind farm support vessels of various types, with the current fixed-bottom wind turbine installation fleet non-existent, and the foreign-flagged vessels not an option, for the most part.

Galveston, Texas-based dredging contractor Callan Marine said it has hired Greg L. Harner as its new chief operating officer.A 36-year veteran of the construction and maritime industry, Harner brings experience in infrastructure development for deep-water seaports, port security, resort developments, marine terminals, cruise terminal facilities and commercial building projects within the U.S. and Caribbean.Maxie McGuire, President of Callan Marine, said, “I have known Greg for more than 20 years…

Israel on Sunday broadened its search for the ship behind an oil spill that blackened its beaches with tar after investigators ruled out one of the suspected tankers.An Israeli team, in coordination with Greek authorities, carried out a surprise inspection of the Minerva Helen while it was docked at Athens’ Piraeus port. The ship is no longer suspected of being responsible for the spill, said Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.Minerva Helen’s operator had denied any…

An Israeli-owned ship hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman strategic waterway has arrived at a port in Dubai, where is it is due to be assessed in dry dock.The MV Helios Ray, a vehicle-carrier ship, was hit overnight between Thursday and Friday by a blast above the water line that a U.S. defence official said ripped holes in both sides of its hull.Israel’s defense minister on Saturday said that an initial assessment had found that Iran was responsible for the explosion. There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials.The blue and white ship is now berthed in Dubai’s Port Rashid…

The longest Offshore Patrol Vessel ever built by Vittoria Shipyard was delivered this morning to the Maltese government by Luigi Duò, president of Vittoria Shipyard, during a ceremony that took place in the facilities of the Venetian company. Representing Malta was brigadier Jeffrey Curmi, commander of the armed forces. The OPV P71 is a 75-m-long vessel designed and constructed by the Venetian shipyard that specializes in building ships up to 100 meters in overall length for military, paramilitary, commercial, transportation and work-related use.

A U.S. Navy warship operating in the Middle East has a dozen cases of the novel coronavirus, while another warship in the region is investigating whether some of its members are also infected.The USS San Diego which has the confirmed cases is at port in Bahrain. It sails with about 600 sailors and Marines aboard.The guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, which carries some 380 sailors, is expected to pull into port for further testing. The port was not disclosed.“Once we became aware of possible COVID-19 aboard USS San Diego (LPD 22) and USS Philippine Sea (CG 58)…

Spanish government veterinarians were on Friday inspecting hundreds of cows crammed aboard a ship that returned to port after months at sea in which the animals endured what one NGO described as “hellish” conditions.The Karim Allah docked at the southeastern Spanish port of Cartagena on Thursday after drifting for months through the Mediterranean, struggling to find a buyer for its 895 cattle, which were rejected by several countries over fears they had bovine bluetongue virus.“The inspection will continue throughout today.

Solstad Offshore, a Norway-based offshore vessel operator, on Friday said it had won contracts for the vessels Normand Ranger and Far Seeker in Australia.The Normand Seeker, a large AHTS, has been awarded a contract in Australia with the start slated for the second quarter of 2021.The anchor handler vessel will mobilize from Norway and will then provide support to a major drilling campaign offshore North-Western Australia, securing about one year of utilization for the vessel…

A shipload of Spanish cattle that had been drifting for months due to concerns over the bovine bluetongue disease docked in Spain on Thursday, the government said, but the fate of the animals remains unclear.The Karim Allah left the Mediterranean port of Cartagena on December 17 carrying 895 cattle destined for sale in Turkey. A second ship, the ElBeik, set sail the next day from Tarragona with a cargo of nearly 1,800 cows.Even though the cattle had clean veterinary certificates…

BC Ferries’ newbuild program continues with the launch of its fifth Island Class hybrid-electric ferries last Thursday at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania. When in operation, the yet-to-be named vessel will be one of two assigned to the Nanaimo Harbor – Gabriola Island route.Work will continue on the new ferry until scheduled sea trials in June. Following sea trials, the vessel will be delivered to Point Hope Maritime in Victoria in late 2021 for final preparations. Two-ship service is scheduled to begin on the Nanaimo Harbour – Gabriola Island route by early 2022…

It's the end of an era for the U.K.'s RRS James Clark Ross, which made its final call to Rothera Research Station in Antarctic on February 19 after 30 years of service. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said the polar research vessel will be sold at the end of the 2020/2021 Antarctic season and replaced by the newly built RRS Sir David Attenborough.Rothera was the RRS James Clark Ross’s final call of the ship’s five-and-a-half-month mission to deliver scientific and operational staff to Antarctica, and to resupply the U.K. stations in Antarctica for another year.

The U.S.’ largest energy export gateway and Europe’s leading industrial deepsea port have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that will allow the two global entities to collaboratively improve their global maritime operations.The Port of Corpus Christi and the Port of Rotterdam have outlined a number of shared objectives, which include codeveloping trade and commercial opportunities, fostering an exchange of information, and advancing the development and deployment of innovative technologies specifically related to navigational safety and environmental protection.Sean Strawbridge…

Singapore-based shipping company Pacific International Lines (PIL) will pay $3 million in fines after pleading guilty to felony dumping violations in Hagatna, Guam.The vessel operating company and two engineers were sentenced for illegally discharging oil and for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharges of oily bilge water from the containership Kota Harum in 2019. PIL, chief engineer Maung Maung Soe, and second engineer Peng Luo Hai admitted that oily bilge water was illegally dumped from the Kota Harum directly into the ocean and into Apra Harbor…

Marlink subsidiary Telemar said it signed a five-year service maintenance deal with Fairplay Towage to deliver bridge maintenance services across 50 of the company’s port and ocean tugs in Germany, Holland and Belgium.The contracts will consolidate service of critical bridge navigation equipment to a single provider, and scheduled service will be planned to agreed timeframes.The contract includes managing GMDSS declarations, annual radio survey, annual radar inspection, exchange of reserve-power batteries for GMDSS and SART/EPIRB/GMDSS handheld batteries.

Customs authorities in Hamburg and Antwerp have seized a record haul of more than 23 tonnes of cocaine destined for the Netherlands in two raids this month, Dutch prosecutors said on Wednesday.The two shipments together represented a street value of roughly 600 million euros ($730 million), the prosecutors said, making it the biggest catch of cocaine headed for the Netherlands ever.Prosecutors said a 28-year old Dutchman had been arrested on Wednesday who was registered as the recipient of the containers in which the drugs were found.In Hamburg, Germany, 16.17 tonnes of cocaine were found in o

An ailing crewmember was medevaced from a tanker offshore Port Aransas, Texas, Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi command center received a medevac request at 9:40 a.m. via cell phone from the crew of the Fortunato, a 375-foot liquefied petroleum gas carrier, stating a 41-year-old crewmember was suffering from facial swelling.A Station Port Aransas 45-foot Response Boat – Medium boat crew launched to conduct the medevac.The RB–M boat crew arrived on scene with the Panama-flagged tanker vessel…

Venezuela is shipping jet fuel to Iran in return for vital gasoline imports for the South American nation as part of a swap deal agreed by the two state-run oil firms, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Iran has ramped up assistance to Venezuela since last year as the United States tightened sanctions on both countries, hitting oil exports by state-run firms Petroleos de Venezuela and National Iranian oil Company (NIOC).Iran has sent flotillas of state-operated tankers carrying gasoline and feedstock for motor fuel to Venezuela…

U.S.-flag Great Lakes shipping companies continue to invest heavily in their ships and the region.This year alone these companies will spend nearly $87 million for winter ship repair and maintenance work at shipyards and facilities across the Great Lakes. That includes more than $36 million in Wisconsin, $33 million in Ohio, $13 million in Pennsylvania, and over $4 million in Michigan. The work includes replacing steel plating, engine overhauls, navigation equipment updates, and conveyor belt repairs and replacements.The conveyor belt work is critical as the U.S.

Australian officials will implement a set of extra safety checks for livestock shipping after a string of recent incidents thrust the sector into the international spotlight.From March 1 to August 31, 2021, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) will undertake a focused inspection campaign (FIC) on livestock ships departing Australian ports to ascertain the level of compliance with the maintenance and repair requirements of international conventions. The campaign, to be performed in conjunction with normal port state control inspections…