Swiss Army News

The November edition of Marine News magazine highlighted a selection of the most notable American newbuilds delivered of 2023—from a first-of-its-kind green towboat, to the lead vessel in a series of game-changing ships to train U.S. mariners.Empire StateAs the lead vessel in a series of five new training ships being constructed to serve America's state maritime academies, Empire State is easily one of the most important U.S.-built vessels delivered in recent memory.Built by Philly Shipyard for the U.S.

Damen Shipyards' division Damen Marine Services has taken delivery of the first of a new class of Damen Multi Cat, a Multi Cat 3313 SD named DMS Snipe. Damen Marine Services, which offers Damen vessels for charter, both fully crewed and bareboat, has described the DMS Snipe as a "Swiss Army Knife of workboats""While Damen’s Multi Cat range is known for its shallow draught capabilities, this new class can draw less than two meters, an exceptional achievement for a 33-metre vessel," Damen said."The Multi Cat 3313 SD continues the Multi Cat ethos of being the Swiss Army Knife of workboats.

The state of Texas is putting into service a fleet of new, highly capable patrol boats as it works to detect, disrupt and deter criminal activity along the Rio Grande."Now, more than ever, it is imperative that our law enforcement officers and Texas National Guard soldiers adopt innovative solutions," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said during a recent visit tour the state’s enhanced assets along the U.S.-Mexico border. According to Abbott’s official website, the Governor has secured $4 billion in funding for Texas' border security efforts.

Dutch heavy lift shipping and offshore transport & installation contractor Jumbo has completed the transport and handling of offshore wind turbine foundation components for Ørsted’s Hornsea Two offshore wind farm in the UK.Supporting DEME Offshore, Jumbo deployed its K-3000 class heavy lift vessel Fairmaster to carry out its scope of transporting 141 monopiles and 131 transition pieces from Rostock, Germany, and Aalborg, Denmark to Eemshaven, the Netherlands.This 152.9 meter-long heavy lift vessel…

The Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group is one of the industry’s largest and most recognized shipbuilders, perhaps best known for its standardized, serial production workboats. Now with several dozen newbuild and repair yards on the map, the company has produced more than 6,000 vessels over its 90-year history—from harbor tugs and offshore supply ships, to ferries and patrol craft. But Damen does not have a shipyard in the United States, and therefore doesn’t directly build vessels for the Jones Act market. Instead, it licenses its designs to U.S.

Moduteh Marine, of Tacoma, Wash., has gained recognition on meeting the stringent conditions of military contracts. In 2020 they completed a contract to build a fleet of five small tugs. These carry the military designation Work Boat Docking.“The mission of the CNIC Work Boat Docking (WB Docking) is to provide waterborne support at U.S. Navy Installations,” said Modutech’s Brian Swindahl. “The boats are required to have the ability to safely assist vessels including submarines for mooring and dry-docking…

The development and construction of multimission vessels (MMVs) remains active across the maritime market.The ability to perform multiple tasks when those different duties are needed is central to an MMV’s value. Multimission capabilities mean that an expensive asset doesn’t sit idle when it isn’t being used for a singular purpose, such as firefighting. This is particularly important for public sector officials who have to weigh costs and benefits across a wide range of demands…

Remontowa Shipbuiding, a member of Remontowa Holding, in Gdansk Poland delivered some impressive and innovative vessels in 2020. In October the third in a series of four electric hybrid ferries for a Norwegian customer, began sea trials, and the fourth dual-fuel (LNG/Diesel Electric) ferry for British Columbia was under construction; sophisticated vessels were built and delivered to foreign buyers.On the domestic front, the yard has also been busy, too. A pair of vessels were delivered to the Polish Maritime Authorities in Szczecin and Gdynia.

Ocean explorer and scientist Dr. Robert D. Ballard opens up on his personal life and his world-famous ocean discoveries like never before in his new book, “Into the Deep.” Best known as ‘the man who found the Titanic,’ Marine Technology Reporter had the opportunity to interview Ballard on the contents of the book, a book released yesterday with a follow-up National Geographic television special scheduled for June 14, 2021, taking a deep dive into his dyslexia, the importance of his family throughout his career…

Scottish inland workboat operator McLachlan Marine said it has added a 19-meter Multicat to its fleet to capitalize on opportunities in emerging sectors including renewables and marine construction. The only vessel of its kind based in the area, Ocean Supporter is designed for inshore work up to 60 miles out and handle up to 40 tonnes of cargo on deck. It has already been busy transferring supplies to boats at anchor off Aberdeen during the COVID-19 pandemic, and supporting dive…

Dennis Bryant provided a link to a story about the USCG Cutter Bear in his March 18, 2020 newsletter. It is a great story about a great ship with a great Captain (Michael Healy) and a great crew. It shows that the right combination of ship and crew can perform miracles.This one ship, its Captain (and his wife who often shipped with him), and its crew did so many things so well that it has become the stuff of legends. I will not further discuss these adventures; some can be found in the article and the rest can be easily Googled.

From their base deep within a former World War II U-boat pen, Norwegian outfit, OceanTech, is developing a set of robot tools that cling to offshore structures in order to effect inspection, maintenance and repair, or IMR. Old submarine anchorages are now subsea testing and training sites, but the North Sea is still the target. Hundreds of aging platforms and subsea structures require IMR that’s too costly, complex or hazardous for divers or remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs.As he walks us through Dora II…

Seafast Marine has named its renewables service vessel (RSV) Isle of Jura at Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld in The Netherlands.Isle of Jura is a newbuild vessel, constructed at Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld, and is the second vessel built to a new Damen Renewables Service Vessel design.The RSV, according to Seafast Marine, is for use in the offshore and onshore wind industries. As a business based in Ross-shire in Scotland, Seafast Marine was happy to see it painted in the colors of the country’s Saint Andrew's flag.The Damen RSV 3315, evolved from the Multi Cat, is a powerful multi-purpose working vessel, designed to work in shallow as well as deeper waters. It features four azimuth thrusters, a DP2 4-point mooring system, two large cranes, hydraulic shark jaws and an AHT winch.

Many years ago, I received a call from an attorney who wanted me to get on the plane to Houston right away to take a look at damage on two ships that had collided in the approaches to Houston.He told me that both vessels had become confused, had started to turn and managed to occupy the same bit of ocean at the same time. His preliminary analysis indicated that, if he could prove the other vessel turned first, his vessel was in the clear.This was in the late eighties or early nineties, the course recorders had not been running, there was no VDR, and no electronic navigation record.

Damen Shipyards Group has announced that it will be presenting its new design of Shoalbuster to the maritime market during the upcoming Seawork Marine and Workboat Exhibition in Southampton next week. Damen has developed the new 27 meter long, 11 meter wide vessel in response to recent Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) changes concerning crew accommodation capacity.Damen introduced the first Shoalbuster 25 years ago with a view to combine the bollard pull of a Tug with the shallow draught of a Multi Cat.

Being based just across the open border between Canada and America since 1930, Robert Allan Ltd. has developed a deep understanding of the American market and just how our ship designs can be tailored to suit our neighbors’ requirements. America is unique in many ways. The current designs of American towing vessels are largely the result of domestically focused requirements not encountered elsewhere. As a result, Robert Allan Ltd. has had to learn to treat America as unique and not to assume means and methods used elsewhere will suit the U.S. market. A simple example is the use of the U.S.

Oil spills, trash, debris, sediment, chemicals: how do we keep our waterways clean? If an oil spill happens on water, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90) has very clear rules on who is responsible for paying for cleanup costs. Most oil spills can be traced to the spiller – a pipeline owner, oil tanker, shipper, railroad or trucking company. “Pointing a finger” at the alleged party may be why this type of pollution is referred to as “point source.” If the oil spill is ruled an accident and the polluter is not legally responsible…

France has agreed to sell two Mistral helicopter carriers to Egypt for 950 million euros ($1.06 billion) after their sale to Russia was canceled in August, French officials said on Wednesday. Cairo has sought to boost its military power in the face of a two-year insurgency based across the Suez Canal in the Sinai peninsula and fears the conflict in neighbouring Libya could spill over. Egypt's allies are also keen to burnish its image in a region beset by turmoil. "We unwound the contract we had with Russia, on good terms, respectful of Russia and not suffering any penalty for France," Hollande told reporters on his arrival at an EU summit in Brussels.

Two Mistrals were originally destined for Russia. France is in talks to sell two Mistral helicopter carriers to Egypt after their sale to Russia was cancelled earlier this month, two sources close to the matter said on Wednesday. Cairo has sought to boost its military power in the face of a two-year-old insurgency based across the Suez Canal in the Sinai peninsula and fears the crisis in neighbouring Libya could spill over. Egypt's allies are also keen to burnish its image in a region beset by turmoil. A sale would also fit into France's recent strategy of favouring predominantly Sunni Arab nations, both politically and commercially, over their Shi'ite rival Iran.

Hiab launched the HIAB Z-HiPro 191 and HIAB Z-PRO 171 crane. Part of the new HIAB Z-series, the cranes feature the ability to be folded into a Z position and parked behind the drivers cab with the tools still attached. This unique attribute makes them the only models available on the market to be fully optimised for transport, whilst meeting the latest legislation. The Z-series cranes have been designed for applications where speed, efficiency and a high number of load cycles are typically required. For example, customers handling digging, filling, waste handling and other light tool operations will now get the job done faster. With…

I had never personally met with U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft before I sat with him in his office at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., last month, but having sat with a long list of government, military and corporate leaders in my time, my expectations were someone who was confident, focused and, well, commanding. He’s all that and more, but what I did not expect was that the Commandant would be faster than I to the Tweet! (I rationalize by telling myself that his Public Affairs staff offers a quick hand in this regard).

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) says it has delivered a second multi-purpose cargo ship, named 'Rolldock Storm' to Dutch shipping firm RollDock BV. The two versatile new ships, Rolldock Star and Rolldock Storm are 151.5 metre-long, multi-functional, specialised ships designed to transport challenging, heavy loads which do not fit traditional cargo transport moulds. FSV explains that the vessels stand out particularly because of their maximum flexibility and offer a range of different loading and unloading possibilities. Two heavy- duty cranes move cargo weighing up to 700 tons. In addition they boast height-adjustable stern ramps as well as hatch covers which can also be adjusted, making the two ships adaptable to piers of differing heights when in port.

TerraSond Limited announces the return to home base in Alaska of its multi-purpose survey boat 'Luna Sea'. The owners say that this strategic return enhances their capability to serve clients in the Cook Inlet and South Central Alaska. Headquartered in Palmer, Alaska with offices worldwide, TerraSond has a long history of providing high quality geospatial, geophysical, and geoscience survey solutions dedicated to imaging the earth worldwide. The Luna Sea is well suited for performing a wide range of hydrographic and geophysical surveys.