Soil News

Hurtigruten is working towards drastically reducing and recycling edible food waste from its fleet operations. A specially designed reactor at one of its ports converts edible food waste into compost used to grow vegetables for Hurtigruten.The initiative encompasses a comprehensive approach to waste management, starting with the sorting of edible food waste onboard Hurtigruten's Original Coastal Express ships during their year-round schedule along the coast of Norway, calling at 34 ports from Bergen in the south to Kirkenes in the north.

New York-based Kalypso Offshore Energy on Monday announced it is teaming up with Dutch marine technology group and shipbuilder Royal IHC to design and construct a Jones Act compliant cable lay vessel (CLV)—the first purpose-built for the U.S. offshore wind market.Under a newly signed letter of intent (LOI), the partners are working together to finalize contract, engineering and construction details to domestically produce a 5,000-ton CLV for anticipated delivery in 2028. The partners have not announced which U.S.

U.S. shipbuilder Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc (ESG) on Wednesday announced it is teaming up with Dutch shipbuilding group Royal IHC to design and construct a highly automated hopper dredge for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).The diesel-electric vessel, contracted for the Department of Defense, will be constructed at ESG's Allanton and Port St. Joe facilities in Florida for scheduled delivery in 2027.The new 6,000-cubic-yard-capacity medium-class hopper dredge (MCHD) will be based at the Corps’ Philadelphia District…

Between January 2023 and February 2024, TDI-Brooks conducted an extensive site investigation program in two offshore wind blocks in state and federal waters. The projects involved surveying in excess of 20,000 line-kms of analogue and either single or multi-channel seismic in lease blocks and cable routes along the coasts of New York and New Jersey. Various tasks were carried out at different stages, such as offshore geophysical surveys, UHRS detailed surveys, archaeological identification surveys…

TDI-Brooks' latest dynamic positioning vessel, the RV Nautilus, has reached the shores of the East Coast of the United States ahead of work for offshore wind sector.After undergoing a six-month retrofit in Las Palmas, the 2000-built vessel will be put to work to provide support for offshore wind projects and various other subsea needs.With the length of 75-meters, the DP2 vessel is equipped with advanced technology, including a Geomil Manta-200 CPT that can be deployed through the mid-ship moonpool.The system can penetrate the soil up to 40-50 meters…

Egypt is studying further expansions of the Suez Canal to extend and complete a second channel of the waterway, the canal's head said on Monday, a move that could allow for higher volumes of shipping and prevent blockages from halting traffic.The comments come as the canal is seeing a sharp fall in revenue due to shipping companies diverting away from the waterway, the shortest route between Europe and Asia, because of attacks by Houthi militants in Yemen against ships in the Red Sea.Any new extension would come on top of current work to extend the second channel by 10 kilometers, and to deepe

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand earlier this month stood with local leaders and environmental advocates at Albany City Hall to demand that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) take additional action to clean up polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) “forever chemicals” in the Hudson River.PCBs are toxic manmade chemicals that can linger in water and soil for decades. Exposure is associated with a variety of serious health conditions, including cancer.From 1947 to 1977, General Electric dumped 1.2 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River north of Albany.

TDI-Brooks' newest vessel R/V Nautilus (formerly known as Nautical Geo) is ready to go to work following a 6-month retrofit period in Las Palmas.The DP2 vessel is currently enroute to the U.S. East Coast to provide support for offshore wind operations. It is expected to be fully prepared for the first offshore wind program by early March.Built in 2000, the 75-meter-long vessel is equipped with the newly-acquired Geomiil Manta-200 CPT, which can be deployed through the mid-ship moonpool.

Advanced water treatment systems are just the start of the cruise industry’s circular waste processing ambitions.Advanced wastewater treatment systems (AWTS) were revolutionary in their day. Indeed, they still are today, but with 77% of the CLIA fleet (202 ships) already using them, and another 40 specified for vessels on order, even more ambitious waste management is coming.Martin Shutler, Principal Engineer, Product Development, at Wärtsilä Water and Waste, notes that in recent…

Van Oord has been awarded two new offshore wind projects: Baltic Power in the Baltic Sea and Greater Changhua 2b and 4 in Taiwan. The contracts have a combined value of more than EUR 500 million. Once operational, the two offshore wind farms will deliver renewable energy to approximately 2.5 million households.The Baltic Power offshore wind farm is being developed by a joint venture between ORLEN (Poland) and Northland Power (Canada). The wind farm will be located in the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea, 23 kilometers from shore.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced over $653 million to fund 41 port improvement projects across the nation under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).The investments—part of the largest dedicated funding for ports and waterways in history, nearly $17 billion through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—are intended to help grow capacity and increase efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland…

An investigation into the damage to the Balticonnector gas pipeline is currently focused on the role of the Chinese NewNew Polar Bear container vessel, Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Friday.Early on Oct. 8, a gas pipeline and a telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia were broken, in what Finnish investigators said may have been sabotage, though they have yet to conclude whether it was an accident or a deliberate act.On Tuesday, Sweden said a third link…

During the IADC Annual General Meeting in Barcelona, IADC President Frank Verhoeven revealed the winner of the Safety Award 2023: Boskalis for its improved safety design of the water box.Boskalis introduced new water boxes for sand fill areas, a design which is touted as greatly improving safety for its employees. The water boxes have been designed, calculated and constructed in such a way that the risk of implosion due to soil pressure is eliminated.Using an adjustable platform on the outside of the water box…

TDI-Brooks increases its vessel capacity by adding a 75-meter DP2 vessel,  R/V NAUTILUS to its fleet, a ship that can offer a variety of offshore assistance with subsea services, construction aid, exploration, production, ROV and diving support, and scientific marine research and survey mapping, along with military support.This vessel is currently about 60% through its retrofit period in Las Palmas, scheduled to complete its shipyard period in late September 2023 and then transit to Trinidad for several geotechnical coring projects.

Heerema Marine Contractors has completed the installation of 24 turbines for Parkwind’s Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind farm and most turbines are already producing electricity. Three remaining turbines will be installed later this year.The 257 MW offshore wind farm is located in the German section of the Baltic Sea, northeast of the island of Rügen. It is expected to generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of up to 290,000 households. "This marks the end of the first…

UAE-based contractor MAR Marine & Building Contractor has taken delivery of a new cutter suction dredger (CSD) that it will utilize at the Al Hamriyah Port expansion project.Built by Damen Shipyards Group, the CSD500 has been named MAR 22. “We are happy to welcome the MAR 22 to our marine equipment fleet,” said Paul Abou Rjaili, Operations Manager at MAR Marine. “We are further reinforcing our dredging equipment and capabilities, and this customized dredge exactly matches our…

Rovco, a UK-based subsea robotics and survey firm, has signed a three-year charter with Glomar Offshoreof the multipurpose support vessel, Glomar Supporter.The company said the charter was part of its growth strategy within its site characterizing business unit, and market a significant expansion of the company’s offshore hydrographic, geophysical, and shallow geotechnical survey capabilities."Responding to high client demand amid a rapidly growing offshore wind market, Rovco…

The oceans are inextricably connected to the health of the planet, and of humans: they absorb up to 30% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 90% of excess heat, and over 3 billion people — almost half the global population — depend directly on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods.Healthy coastal ecosystems are also critical to the world’s ability to withstand the impact of climate change. Not only do mangrove forests, for example, hold four times the amount of carbon per hectare as tropical forests…

Rivers are critical corridors that connect cities and ecosystems alike. When drought develops, water levels fall, making river navigation harder and more expensive.In 2022, water levels in some of the world’s largest rivers, including the Rhine in Europe and the Yangtze in China, fell to historically low levels. The Mississippi River fell so low in Memphis, Tennessee, in mid-October that barges were unable to float, requiring dredging and special water releases from upstream reservoirs to keep channels navigable.Conditions on the lower Mississippi may be easing somewhat…

Dutch offshore survey company Fugro has expanded its geotechnical vessel fleet with the Fugro Quest vessel. According to Fugro, the vessel is equipped with advanced deep-water technology."Fugro uses this type of vessel to determine the exact composition of the soil; the resulting data are essential to establish the optimal location and design of offshore developments, such as wind farms," Fugro explained.The Dutch company also says that the vessel provides increased personnel and operational safety…

As 2022 moves into its final months, low water levels and drought form the basis of the news impacting inland waterways operators and barge companies. In the first week of October, numerous barges were reported grounded in the Mississippi River, particularly south of Baton Rouge. This has consequences: barge rates jumped 218% in St. Louis, compared to 2021.Low water was so severe that on October 7 Ingram Barge CEO John Roberts issued a force majeure notice (force majeure - unforeseeable…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday stressed the need for Europe to diversify its relations to ensure it is not dependent on any one nation, a day after he pushed through a decision to let a Chinese firm invest in a terminal at the country's largest port.Businesses must ensure that they have multiple supply chains to obtain their goods and that their investments are not concentrated on just one country, added Scholz in a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens."Those who had not considered this carefully enough for a long time are doing it now in lig

Irving Shipbuilding Inc. announced it has cut first steel for the future HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, marking the official start of production for Canada’s sixth and Final Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) for the Royal Canadian Navy built under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.Construction of Canada’s future combat fleet begins at Irving Shipbuilding’s Marine Fabricators facility in Dartmouth, N.S. The resulting 70,000 pieces are fabricated in a strategic sequence to meet…