Southern Chile News

Norwegian cruise and travel operator Hurtigruten Group will cut short a voyage in the Antarctica region following an outbreak of the coronavirus, the company said on Thursday.Ten people on board the MS Roald Amundsen cruise vessel had tested positive for COVID-19, and the ship will return to port in Chile two days ahead of schedule, said a spokesperson for Hurtigruten Expeditions, a subsidiary of Hurtigruten Group.The ship, carrying some 362 passengers and crew, had set out for…

Dubai-based port operator DP World says it will buy a 71.3 percent stake in Chile's Puertos y Logistica SA, taking control of two key port terminals in the South American state.According to a filing on Nasdaq Dubai, where the state-owned port operator is listed, the group bought the 71.3% stake from Minera Valparaiso and other shareholders associated with Chilean conglomerate, the Matte Group.The statement quoted DP World Group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as saying the deal allows his firm now to serve customers at five key points in South America."Under the tender process DP World will offer [US$502mn] in consideration for 100% equity ownership. As of 30 September 2018, Pulogsa had net financial debt of $226m.

Todd Schauer is Director of Operations at Resolve Marine Group, as well as President of the American Salvage Association. After graduating from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a degree in Naval Architecture in 1991, he followed that up with graduate degrees in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. And, while his considerable U.S. Coast Guard experience includes shipboard engineering, marine safety, advanced engineering and emergency response, he is best known for his longtime role in the commercial salvage business.

A "red tide" outbreak is widening in southern Chile's fishing-rich waters, the government said on Wednesday, deepening what is already believed to be one of the country's worst environmental crises in recent years. The red tide - an algal bloom that turns the sea water red and makes seafood toxic - is a common, naturally recurring phenomenon in southern Chile, but the extent of the current outbreak is unprecedented. The southern region of Los Lagos has been affected in recent weeks by the largest red tide in its history, prompting fishermen deprived of their livelihoods to angrily demand more support from the government. Now there are signs that Los Rios, the neighboring region to the north, has also been affected, local officials warn.

MAN Diesel & Turbo received an order for three MAN 6L21/31 gensets to power a wellboat newbuilding for Patagonia Wellboat, the Chilean fish-farming operator. The order is the latest in a long history of wellboat references for MAN Diesel & Turbo in Chile’s domestic fish-farming industry, the company said. The new wellboat, to be built at Asenav in Valdivia, Chile, will be the first vessel in a new generation of wellboats designed and developed by Asenav in cooperation with Patagonia Wellboat. Engine delivery is scheduled for Q4 2015 with vessel delivery expected May 2016.

KVH Industries, Inc. announced major capacity increases for its mini-VSAT Broadband network at the OilComm conference in Houston today. The capacity upgrades on key South American beams have resulted in as much as three times the forward and return link capacity for KVH’s maritime VSAT customers in the area. One upgrade has boosted coverage and performance for several key markets in Brazil: the oil and gas industry, whose major production and exploration activities are centered offshore…

TradeWinds Towing announced the addition of the former Seabulk tug "Challenger" to its fleet. This 3,800 bhp tug with nozzles is presently on an endurance tow to southern Chile. The Challenger and 300-ft x 100-ft heavy deck barge, Marmac 300, (in ballast) will come free in early February in southern Chile. This equipment is available to pick up cargo from the west coast of South, Central or North America. Tug Challenger will then come free in the U.S. Gulf in the first half of March. Length, o.a.

Chile, the world's No. 2 salmon exporter, hailed a U.S. Department of Commerce decision to eliminate anti-dumping duties on Chilean salmon from six local companies. The United States is the largest market for Chile's fast-growing salmon industry, with 29 percent of total salmon and trout exports heading there last year. "I want to express the government's deep satisfaction with the United States' elimination of the anti-dumping measures for some of our salmon exporting companies," Chile's Economy Minister Jose de Gregorio said. The U.S. slapped an average anti-dumping duty of 4.57 percent on Chilean salmon imports in 1998 after determining that producers in this South American nation engaged in the unfair trading practice…

Built to a design by Seattle-based Elliot Bay Design Group, the Chilean pocket cruise ship "Mare Australis" made her maiden voyage this past November. With a crew of 44 catering to the needs of only 127 passengers, this is a unique alternative to the usual mass cruise ship industry. Even the cruise route is unique with the ship offering expeditionary cruises to the Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia through the Tierra del Fuego with terminus at Punto Arenas in Chile and Ushuaia in Argentina. The cruise includes visits to a number of glaciers and passes through parts of the Strait of Magellan and Beagle Channel. Constructed at the yard of ASENAV (Astilleros y Servicios Navalas S.A.) the ship is 70.1 by 13.4-m with a depth to the first deck of 4.26 m.

An oil tanker that ran aground in a remote southern Chilean fjord in late May spilled 92,600 gallons (350,528 liters) of crude, leaving an oil slick 70 miles (112 km) long and damaging wildlife and a salmon farm, the Chilean Navy said on Wednesday. Maritime authorities initially dismissed the incident, which occurred on May 25, saying the leak had been negligible and had caused no damage to the environment. But the Navy on Wednesday admitted the spill was worse than first announced. "There is a slick measuring 70 miles," Commander Bernard Johnson, a spokesman for the naval district in the southern area of Chiloe, said. The Panamanian-registered vessel Jose Fuchs…