Port Authority News

Pirates attacked a South Korean-flagged cargo ship in the South China Sea early on Monday, stealing thousands of dollars in cash and even the sailors' shoes, South Korean authorities said.Two people sustained minor injuries when seven pirates boarded the CK Bluebell and made off with $13,000 and belongings including mobile phones, clothes and shoes from the 22-strong crew, officials from the oceans and fisheries ministry said.Tougher policing has made piracy less frequent on the strategic shipping route in recent years.The dry bulk vessel CK Bluebell had set sail from its anchorage off Singapo

Florida's Jacksonville Port Authority (JaxPort) has achieved a record number of container and auto moves during the first three quarters of fiscal year 2019.According to a press note, JaxPort moved nearly one million containers, a six percent increase over the same period last year during this time.. The port also moved nearly 535,000 auto units in this period, an increase of seven percent over the same time in FY18. JaxPort’s fiscal year runs Oct. 1 – Sept. 30.JaxPort’s Asian container volumes continue to grow, up eight percent so far in FY19, with more than 334,000 Asian containers moved.

The port of Rotterdam could recently boast a European first: a ship bunkered LNG (liquefied natural gas) while transhipping containers at the same time.The largest port in Europe, located in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands said in a press release that this major step in the sector-wide acceptance of LNG as a transport fuel for shipping was taken by Containerships Nord.The procedure, known as simultaneous bunkering, allows ships to significantly cut their port call times. The operation took place at the RST terminal at Prins Willem Alexanderhaven in Rotterdam.

Port authorities in Asia are getting ready to enforce IMO 2020 with the help of Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science’s X-MET8000 handheld XRF analyzer.The Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation informed that it has recently delivered X-MET8000’s to both the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) as they get ready to enforce the IMO’s (International Maritime Organization) MARPOL Annex VI regulation that will come into force on 1 January 2020.The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore…

Now that the United States finally can envision steady winds blowing from the Atlantic Seaboard due to a pipeline of offshore wind farms on the horizon, the maritime industry can finally step up and earn some of the benefits. This includes shipbuilding, port construction, and worker training. This article reviews the key developments and forecasts the growth in maritime jobs.The federal and state governments share responsibility for developing offshore wind farms and bringing the wind into the power grid and…

SEA\LNG, a multi-sector industry coalition, created to accelerate the widespread adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, has announced that the Port of Virginia has become the first port in the US to join them.A press release from the LNG body quoted Peter Keller, Chairman, SEA\LNG, as commenting: “We’re very pleased to welcome the Port of Virginia as our first US port member. The US has vastly increased its LNG export capacity since the industry really took flight in early 2016, inspiring development in LNG bunkering capabilities on the East and West Coasts.

According to multiple media reports including CNN, an 18-month-old toddler fell 150 ft. to her death from the deck of Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas while the ship was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.CNN, which cited comments from the local port authority spokesperson, reported that the incident occurred in a dining hall on deck 11 of the ship when the toddler's grandfather sat the girl in a window but subsequently lost his balance.

More women are joining the maritime ranks in a variety of professions within the industry, said International Maritime Organization (IMO).To encourage this trend, IMO supported a training course aimed at female officials from maritime and port authorities.According to the UN body, 25 women from 17 developing countries took part in the two-week "Women in Port Management" course, hosted in Le Havre, France (24 June - 5 July).The course covered lectures on port management, port security, marine environment, facilitation of maritime traffic, marketing, port logistics and other topics.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has announced that reclamation work for Tuas Terminal Phase 2 began ysterday (4 July), with the installation of the first caisson.Singapore’s next-generation trade hub has commenced at a ceremony attended by Dr. Lam Pin Min, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health.MPA awarded the Tuas Terminal Phase 2 reclamation project to Penta-Ocean Construction Co. Ltd/Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd/Boskalis International BV (PHB) Joint Venture in 2018.

New fireboat will provide enhanced firefighting and rescue capabilities for maritime and commercial space. The Canaveral Port Authority will receive $1.5 million in funding from the State of Florida to support the acquisition of a specialized fireboat to provide marine firefighting and rescue capabilities for Port Canaveral and the surrounding communities. Port Canaveral’s Marine Firefighting Rescue Vessel (MFRV) will be purpose built to offer enhanced fire protection and response…

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) picked its port director, Lisa Wieland, to be its next Chief Executive Officer(CEO), bypassing the other finalist, a member of the city's power elite, for one of the most influential public-sector jobs in the state.Board of Directors voted to offer Wieland the position of CEO and Executive Director for a five-year term. Contract negotiations will occur at a later date.The search firm Isaacson, Miller sought a diverse candidate pool for the position and more than 100 applications were received.

GeoSpace-Sea, a new database on Singapore's waters, from its coastlines to the seabed, was launched yesterday (June 28) by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).GeoSpace-Sea aims to provide comprehensive geospatial data for port and coastal planning, among other things, as well as environmental management.MPA, together with 11 other government agencies and the Tropical Marine Science Institute from National University of Singapore, will develop GeoSpace-Sea in phases.“The…

Singapore's Maritime Port Authority (MPA) has suspended the bunker craft operator licence of Inter-Pacific Petroleum Pte Ltd, the MPA said in a statement on Thursday.The MPA suspended the license, which allows Inter-Pacific to operate tankers used to load marine fuel, known as bunker fuel, onto ships, with effect from June 27 until further notice, the statement said.The license suspension occurred after "an enforcement check on a bunker tanker operated by Inter-Pacific Petroleum," the MPA said, without providing further details.The MPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Inter-Pacific could not be reached for comment…

The Alabama State Port Authority (ASPA) announced that maritime executive Richard T. Clark will be its new deputy director.James K. Lyons, director and chief executive officer of the ASPA said that the appointment is effective July 16, 2019.“We conducted a nationwide search with one of the country’s premier maritime and port industry recruiting firms and the Port Authority received resumes from quite a few qualified candidates,” said Lyons. “Clark stood out amongst all the applicants and was selected for this position.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority signed individual Letters of Intent (LoI) with four enterprising new companies that are expected to help make the port more sustainable, more efficient and ‘smarter’.Agreed during the fourth edition of PortXL, an annual innovation programme in which start-ups receive intensive coaching from private-sector experts, the firms that will partner with Rotterdam include Richtlijn Geodesie, Flower Turbines, Ladar Ltd and Planys Tech.In addition, the Port…

Port Authority of Huelva (APH) and Enagás, in collaboration with HuelvaPort, presented the Sustainable Cold Logistics Hub, a project that will be launched in the South Quay of the Port of Huelva through the awarding of the corresponding tender for the construction of cold stores by companies interested in participating."The logistics centre will enhance the competitiveness of the South Quay and its intermodal terminal, providing infrastructures prepared for the booming market of temperature-controlled goods in an extremely well-positioned port…

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said that its training on the International Safety Management (ISM) Code was conducted for nine countries in the eastern and southern Africa subregion.The participanting countries were Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.Thirty-two participants took part in the event, which was hosted by the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation (TASAC) in Dar es Salaam…

A Liebherr LHM 420 Crane is at the heart of a rapidly expanding shortsea shipping success story. Reliability is the key for a port that’s turned the corner, with nowhere to go but ‘up.’Way back in January of 1996, I moved to Richmond, Virginia from Houston, Texas. Still very much in the maritime business as a cargo surveyor and ship expeditor, the Port of Richmond intrigued me, every time I drove past it on I-95. Eventually, I got a tour of the struggling port, courtesy of then port director and retired USCG Captain Marty Moynihan.

Port of Bristol, which comprises the commercial, and former commercial, docks situated in and near the city of Bristol in England, announced that its container terminal capacity has been boosted significantly by the completion of a GBP 9 million upgrade.A release from the port authority said that the investment is a further commitment to the ever-expanding container services offered at Avonmouth and Portbury Docks.James Stangroom, Commercial Manager at Bristol Port, said: “This upgrade is designed to further refine our productivity, and to provide considerable extra capacity to handle an increase in container traffic.“Our container services continue to grow…

A new report from the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) shows the Port of Boston contributed $8.2 billion in economic activity in 2018, up from $4.6 billion in 2012.Smart investments and partnerships have led to growth in jobs, business revenues, and tax contributions, it said.“The finding that the Port of Boston contributed $8 billion in just one year to the regional economy underscores the important role transportation infrastructure plays in the vitality of an area,”…

The SMS Group, a Southampton, UK-based ship repairers and marine engineering services provider, has partnered with the Shoreham Port Authority to provide dedicated alongside ship repair wharfage, and to increase awareness of its Adur dry dock facility.SMS works in the commercial marine, defense and superyacht sectors. The business also operates, in-house, a diving and sub-surface marine engineering division.This partnership expands on the existing relationship with Shoreham Port…

The Croatian subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) at the Port of Rijeka, Adriatic Gate Container Terminal (AGCT) is set to realize a comprehensive expansion plan in the period up to mid-2020.AGCT, in cooperation with the Rijeka Port Authority,  has drawn up plans for a two-phase dredging scheme with the first phase fully-approved, entailing the dredging of 130 meters of quay over its Berths 1 and 2. This will facilitate the berthing of vessels with a length overall (LOA) of up to 400 meters.

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Our Singapore Reefs (OSR) have embarked on a three-year collaboration to promote the importance of Singapore’s marine biodiversity.As part of this partnership, underwater clean-up activities and public outreach events will be organised annually.To kick off the partnership, an underwater clean-up exercise involving 20 volunteer divers, was organised in the waters around Lazarus Island earlier this morning. About 140 pieces of marine debris weighing around 75 kg were retrieved and sorted for proper disposal.The data gathered on the types…