Southeast United States News

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge Clean Canaveral completed its first barge-to-ship bunkering of a cargo vessel at Port Canaveral’s South Cargo Berth 4. JAX LNG, along with Polaris New Energy, handled the LNG refueling of the Damia Desgagnés on the ship’s inaugural call to Port Canaveral. The asphalt/bitumen tanker Damia Desgagnés completed her discharge of cargo and then JAX LNG proceeded with Desgagnés’s first barge-to-ship bunkering of LNG. The seafarers safely transferred approximately 400 cubic meters of LNG from North America’s largest LNG bunker barge…

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued the order granting authorization for siting and constructing of the proposed on-water Jacksonville liquefied natural gas (LNG) Export Facility, developer Eagle LNG Partners LLC announced.The LNG export facility and terminal, planned in Jacksonville, Florida, will have a production capacity of approximately 1.65 million LNG-gallons per day with 12 million LNG-gallons of storage plus marine- and truck-loading capabilities located on-site.“The FERC authorization for Eagle LNG’s Jacksonville LNG Export facility has been many years and countless hours in the making. As one of only a handful of greenfield LNG project proponents to obtain their FERC Order…

In the southeast United States, the Port of Savannah, Georgia is now open with a 36-foot draft restriction and the Ports of Brunswick, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina remain closed to commercial operations following Hurricane Dorian.Assessment teams are conducting surveys of channel depth, verifications of aids to navigation and inspections of port facilities.“Maintaining safe and efficient operations on our region’s waterways is a top priority,” said Captain John Reed, Sector Charleston Commander.

The La Niña weather pattern is likely to transition to ENSO-neutral conditions during the April-May period, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. ENSO-neutral refers to those periods in which neither El Niño nor La Niña is present, according to CPC. There is a more than 50 percent chance of ENSO-neutral conditions prevailing through the northern hemisphere summer in 2018, the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) said in its monthly forecast.

The Southeast United States is expected to be hit with fuel shortages in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, as the storm barrels toward one of the largest energy-consuming regions in the country. Some states are already experiencing supply constraints as motorists fill up tanks as an emergency precaution. The region is not known for energy production, but there are significant storage facilities directly in the path of the storm that have already been evacuated. Roads in Florida…

A recent NOAA study, published in the journal PLOS One, shows “living shorelines” — protected and stabilized shorelines using natural materials such as plants, sand, and rock — can help to keep carbon out of the atmosphere, helping to blunt the effects of climate change. This study, the first of its kind, measured carbon storing, or “carbon sequestration,” in the coastal wetlands and the narrow, fringing marshes of living shorelines in North Carolina. “Shoreline management techniques like this can help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere while increasing coastal resilience,” said Russell Callender, Ph.D., acting director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. Carbon can be stored or “sequestered” in plants when they take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis.

The Coast Guard Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to the education and welfare of all Coast Guard members and their families, announced today that its annual Tribute to the United States Coast Guard Seventh District will take place on November 13 at the Marriott Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. During the event, emceed by Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, chairman and CEO of Active Interest Media, Inc., the Coast Guard Foundation will pay tribute to former Commandant of the Coast Guard and former Seventh District Commander, retired Admiral Thad Allen.

The Port of Everett Seaport is adding additional lift capacity to its operations in March 2015, with the purchase of a new, 150-ton GHMK 7608 mobile harbor crane. The nearly $5.1 million investment, which was authorized by the Port Commission, will allow the Port of Everett to better accommodate its niche market of overdimensional cargoes, and provide opportunity to compete for new heavylift business. “We are investing in our infrastructure and cargo handling equipment to continue with our reputation of safe and excellent service, quick and efficient turnaround times and huge lift capacity,” said Carl Wollebek, the Port of Everett’s Chief Operating Officer.

Sea Star Line informs that as part of its long term program related to chassis utilization, commencing Monday, June 2, 2014, it will introduce a new chassis program for shipments moving to and from the Southeast United States. From the above date, Sea Star Line will no longer provide chassis, having partnered with Flexi-Van Leasing, Inc. to provide shippers, consignees, or their agents (motor carriers) with chassis directly. “The decision was made to expand the chassis program because it supports our service commitment to the trade, while positioning us for the future.” stated Jim Wagstaff, vice president of operations for Sea Star Line, LLC.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. announced that it has placed a purchase contract on property where it hopes to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel terminal in Jacksonville, Fla. This would be the first LNG facility on the Eastern seaboard to specifically supply LNG for the maritime, heavy-duty trucking and rail industries. The planned facility is the first project to be developed by Eagle LNG Partners, the recently-announced consortium of Clean Energy, GE Ventures, GE Energy Financial Services and Ferus Natural Gas Fuels, formed to jointly deliver the cleaner-burning, less-costly fuel in the United States. “Establishing LNG capacity in Jacksonville is a critical strategic effort to enable LNG fueling throughout the Southeast region for our various market segments…

It has been informed by the Louisiana Maritime Association that Disturbance 33 has become less organized during overnight hour. All of the showers and storms that were present yesterday dissipated. The disturbance is located near the eastern Yucatan Peninsula and is moving to the northwest near 13 mph. A turn to the north is expected during the next 24 hours. As forecasted, the main part of the disturbance will move toward the northern Gulf Coast by Saturday or Sunday, bringing heavy rainfall to the southeast United States, and could remain to the south in the Bay of Campeche.

Domestic container volume continued its steady performance in the second quarter of 2013 with 9 percent year-over-year gains, largely attributable to a strong big box segment, with total intermodal traffic rising by 2.4 percent for the quarter, reports industry trade association IANA. International volume was unable to build on its solid Q1 growth, falling 1.3 percent in Q2 after posting 3 percent gains in Q1. This decline can be attributed to surprisingly weak shipments in June, with loads falling 6 percent from a year ago.

Naval Architects Matt Bierwagen and J. Reed Ameel Join the Growing Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Group. RESOLVE Engineering Group, LLC has added two Naval Architects to its full-service naval architecture and marine engineering group in New Orleans, LA. Matthew Bierwagen joined RESOLVE from Trinity Yachts, LLC and Trinity Offshore, LLC, Gulfport, MS, where he was Staff Naval Architect. His experience includes shipbuilding, manufacturing, new product design and engineering for both private yachts and commercial vessels. Bierwagen is a graduate of Virginia Tech and holds a B.S.

This and recent agreements with Port of Miami and Port of Palm Beach solidify Florida Inland Port’s position as the premier inland port / integrated logistics center serving the southeastern U.S. Florida Inland Port today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that creates a strategic alliance with the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT). The alliance between one of Florida’s largest seaports and the state’s first rail-oriented, integrated logistics center helps to pave the way for improved flow of goods throughout Florida and the Southeast United States. Similar to the recent agreements with the Port of Miami and the Port of Palm Beach…

Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc., Bayou La Batre, Ala., has met a major corporate milestone by delivering the M/V John Grimsley #59 on Saturday, October 10, 2009 and the M/V Isla San Luis on Tuesday, October 13, 2009. The M/V John Grimsley #59 designed by John Gilbert, is a 140-ft long by 42-ft wide, 9.2-ft draft, towboat vessel that is four-decked and is outfitted for service in areas restricted to overhead clearances and draft limitations. She is powered by two EMD 710 12 CYL engines driving 99” propellers through Nico MGN 5023Z gearboxes. There are two Cummins generators to support ship’s power.

The Coast Guard’s newest cutter will arrive at its homeport at Pier Papa on the old Navy base in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday. The Coast Guard Cutter Oak, a 225-ft. buoy tender, is the eleventh ship of the Juniper Class and was christened on January 26, 2002 in Marinette, Wis. The Oak and its crew left Marinette November 2 and traveled through the St. Lawrence River and down the Atlantic seaboard. The Oak and crew will join sister cutters, now operating in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which form a new fleet of technically advanced and highly capable buoy tenders. Lt. Cmdr. James M. Cash assumed command of the newly built cutter Oak on October 17, 2002. He and his five officers and 42 member crew’s primary mission is to maintain the largest buoys in the Coast Guard inventory.