Port Royal News

Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Carlos Del Toro announced that a future John Lewis-class oiler, T-AO 205-class, will be named after American abolitionist and social activist Harriet Tubman.SECNAV Del Toro made the announcement during an Emancipation Celebration at Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Church Creek, Md. National Park Service Director Chuck Sams, who is also a U.S. Navy veteran, joined Secretary Del Toro for the announcement at the park.The future…

China's military said on Wednesday that it had monitored and warned a U.S. warship that had sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, a mission that happened shortly after China carried out drills near the island.The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal conducted a "routine" Taiwan Strait transit through international waters "in accordance with international law" on Tuesday, the second such mission in two weeks.The United States has been carrying out such voyages about once a month…

Carnival Corp (CCL.N) said on Tuesday a majority of its ships' itineraries were unchanged despite a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, which has threatened to stall a recovery in the cruise industry.The world's largest cruise operator, however, said a few destination ports were reviewing their protocols and processes due to the fast-spreading new variant.Many passengers and media reports, including those from CNN and Euronews, said authorities of a few ports in the Caribbean…

Royal Caribbean Group reported a billion-dollar net loss for the fourth straight quarter on Monday, as the cruise operator continued to be affected by a coronavirus-triggered halt to voyages.Cruise operators have been shoring up cash reserves by issuing new shares, selling assets or raising billions of dollars in debt over the last few months as the virus outbreak brought the industry to a virtual standstill.With its ships not sailing, the company’s total revenue for the reported quarter plunged to $34.1 million from $2.52 billion last year.

Royal Dutch Shell has provisionally booked a tanker to load a crude cargo at Libya's Zueitina terminal on Oct. 3, potentially the first since January at the recently reopened port.The Amoureux tanker is expected to load a 1 million barrel cargo and then discharge in Singapore on Oct. 22, Refinitiv Eikon shipping data showed.Shell declined to comment on the booking.Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) lifted force majeure on crude loadings at the port on Sept. 22.The north African country has seen an uptick in export activity this week following the easing of the blockade imposed by eastern forces in January, which the NOC said cost the country around $10 billion in lost revenue.The Delta Hellas oil tanker loaded a 1 million barrel crude cargo for Unipec…

Royal Huisman, a Dutch shipyard that specialises in the building and repair of sailing yachts, said that it will take over the Holland Jachtbouw facility in Amsterdam for further expansion.The facility, which entered the ownership of the Port of Amsterdam on May 14, will now be leased to Royal Huisman, which will dedicate the yard to its future new-build and refit projects."With the arrival of Royal Huisman, the port of Amsterdam has attracted yet another yacht manufacturer with a Royal Charter," said a release from Amsterdam port.Royal Huisman is the second superyacht manufacturer to join the port of Amsterdam community, following Feadship Royal van Lent, which opened its facilities there in 2016.

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 Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) has awarded Damen Shipyards Group a contract for two new Stan Patrol 4207 vessels. Because the shipbuilder had both vessels available on stock, delivery is expected within the coming months. Damen said it is currently completing minor modifications before the outfitting process is concluded. On completion, two teams of JDF representatives will fly to the Netherlands to sail both vessels back to Jamaica with Damen’s own expedition team. Depending on weather conditions…

Following a record-setting month of container volumes achieved in May, the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) board of directors looked ahead to a favorable 2016 fiscal year today with the adoption of a financial plan that includes continued cargo growth, increased operating revenues and significant capital investments. The plan projects pier container volume of 1.15 million boxes during FY2016, a 7.2 percent increase over projected totals for the current fiscal year. Strong growth at the inland port is also planned…

Royal Dutch Shell's quest to return to Arctic drilling for the first time in three years could face delays after Seattle ruled that the city's port must apply for a permit for the company to use it as a hub for drilling rigs. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, a Democrat who has fought against new projects by coal and oil companies, applauded the requirement by the city's planning department. "This is an opportunity for the port and all of us to make a bold statement about how oil companies contribute to climate change, oil spills and other environmental disasters - and reject this short-term lease," Seattle's Mayor Ed Murray said on his website. The Puget Sound region has a decades-long history as a hub for equipment used in energy drilling in Alaska.

The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) announced today that October volumes were up nearly 17 percent year over year, continuing a growth trend in container traffic well above the organization's financial plan. SCPA handled 164,672 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in October, up from 141,049 TEUs moved during the same month last year. Fiscal year to date, TEU volumes are up 14 percent and nearly 13 percent ahead of plan. As measured in pier containers, October volume increased 19 percent over the same month last year, with 94,470 boxes moved.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has announced that it has entered into an agreement with The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the cruise company to develop the next phase of Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, N.J. The $55 million project will include the construction of a new, state-of-the-art guest terminal, with 125,000 sq. ft. of check-in, customs and immigration, and luggage processing space, as well as a 900-car parking structure and pier improvements. The new…

Edward Lundquist talks to welder and apprentice instructor Ashley Wilber at BAE Systems Ship Repair’s Norfolk shipyard. Tell me how you came to be a welder here at BAE Systems Ship Repair. I have been here at BAE Systems going on seven years now. I was just doing odd jobs out of high school – Hardee’s, driving jobs like delivering pizzas – anything that was making money. I have a cousin, who at the time was an electrician apprentice, and he was telling me about the shipyard. I’d never heard of a shipyard even though I drove past it all the time.

Today in U.S. Naval History - November 7 1861 - Naval forces under Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont capture Port Royal Sound, S.C. 1881 - Naval Advisory Board submits report recommending the new ships in U.S. Navy be constructed of steel instead of iron. 1973 - War Powers Resolution becomes law. For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.

The Navy will have to upgrade and keep three of four Ticonderoga-class cruisers the service planned to retire in 2013, according to proposed legislation released by House Republicans. The proposal by House Armed Services readiness subcommittee chairman Randy Forbes, R-Va., would keep the Cowpens, Anzio and Vicksburg in the fleet by authorizing needed upgrades. The Navy had planned to retire all three, along with the Port Royal, on March 31, 2013, and three more the following year to meet congressionally mandated budget cuts and to save an expected $4.1 billion.

President Barack Obama sent Congress a proposed defense budget of $613.9 billion for fiscal 2013, Feb. 13. The request for the Department of Defense (DoD) includes $525.4 billion in discretionary budget authority to fund base defense programs and $88.5 billion to support Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), primarily in Afghanistan. Of the discretionary budget, $155.9 billion represents the Department of the Navy's budget request. This is a decrease of $1.4 billion from last year's baseline appropriation. Rear Adm.

With the arrival of calmer springtime weather, Titan Salvage has resumed wreck removal operations in Gibraltar on the New Flame following a busy first quarter in which the company responded to eight salvage opportunities. Among them were the re-floating of the bulk carrier Fedra's forward section in Gibraltar, the re-floating of a general cargo vessel grounded on environmentally-sensitive coral reefs of southern Belize; and the safe delivery of a tank ship involved in a collision and fire off the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding (NGSB), Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $31,800,000 Basic Ordering Agreement for Post-Shakedown Availability (PSA) for DDG 51 class destroyers. The orders to be issued arefor PSA planning and support services and will include advance planning, engineering support, on-site engineering liaison, craft assistance, the ordering and processing of required material in support of PSAs, and the accomplishment of emergent industrial availabilities. Emergent industrial availabilities include, but are not limited to, restricted availabilities, drydocking availabilities, and technical availabilities which may be required from time of ship's delivery through the SCN obligation work and limiting date.

BAE Systems Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, is being awarded a $9,982,999 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-4408) for repairs and maintenance to various shipboard systems on the USS Port Royal (CG-73). Work will be performed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Contract funds in the amount of $11,140 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding (NGSB), Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $31,800,000 basic ordering agreement for Post-Shakedown Availability (PSA) for DDG 51 Class Destroyers.

The Navy has completed a majority of its damage assessment of USS Port Royal (CG 73), which ran aground a half-mile off Honolulu Airport's Reef Runway Feb. The propeller blades, sonar dome and underwater hull were among items damaged on the 567 ft guided-missile cruiser. Critical systems -- such as the vertical launch cell hatches and other weapons systems, the AEGIS radar system, ballistic missile defense capability, surface-search radar, anchors, antennae and gas-turbine engines -- were not damaged.

Divers from the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and the U.S. Navy have been working cooperatively over the course of this week to assess the extent of the grounding scar from USS Port Royal (CG 73) and to undertake emergency restoration activities on the impacted reef. Meanwhile, the guided-missile cruiser entered drydock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Feb. 18 to repair damage sustained when it ran aground the night of Feb. 5 a half-mile off Honolulu Airport's Reef Runway. After three unsuccessful attempts, the Pearl Harbor ship was refloated early Feb.

During the morning hours of February 7, 2009 three members of the American Salvage Association (ASA) provided salvage support to the U.S. Navy's Supervisor of Salvage to respond to the grounding of the USS Port Royal outside of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The 9,600-ton, 567 ft guided missile cruiser ran aground a half-mile off Honolulu International Airport's Reef Runway after leaving port for sea trials. The ASA members mobilized their staffs for a response team consisting of a salvage master…

U.S. Coast Guard and State of Hawaii pollution investigators determined this morning there is no threat of marine pollution after a U.S. Navy ship was freed from a grounding site off Honolulu International Airport's reef runway. The USS Port Royal ran aground a half mile off the runway Feb. 5 and was pulled free by the Navy. A Coast Guard air crew aboard an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter was airborne for an investigation at sunrise. Coast Guard and state pollution investigators aboard the HH-65 reported a sheen of approximately one mile by 100 yards wide.