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Thomson News

06 Nov 2023

In Brazil's Amazon, Cargill Grains Ports Meet Local Resistance

© JR Slompo / Adobe Stock

For centuries, riverside communities, including the "quilombola" descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped from plantations and ranches, have shared Xingu Island in Brazil's Amazon Basin.Its inhabitants live in brightly painted wooden houses overlooking rivers where small boats crisscross between islands and Abaetetuba city on the mainland to trade fish, seeds and fruits gathered from the Amazon forest in their backyard.In 2016, however, strangers docked on Xingu Island, in Para state


10 Jul 2023

Deep-sea Mining: A New Gold Rush or Environmental Disaster?

Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-sea Exploration

In the depths of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, trillions of potato-shaped rocks are scattered across the seabed - containing minerals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese vital for new green technologies in the global energy transition.In this ocean region - the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) - an abundance of the rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, is increasingly fuelling debate about the mining of metals needed to produce technology such as batteries for electric


28 Dec 2022

Wanted: A Sea-change in Climate Finance for Oceans

© Jason / Adobe Stock

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


01 Nov 2022

Ghana's Historic Slave Forts are Being Swallowed by Rising Seas

Cape Coast Castle - Ghana / ©demerzel21/AdobeStock

For 21 years, Fort Prinzenstein's caretaker James Ocloo Akorli has watched the Gulf of Guinea's tempestuous waters eat away at both his livelihood and his heritage.The 18th century Danish citadel, set along Ghana's palm-fringed coastline, was once the last stop for captured Africans before they were forced onto slave ships bound for the Americas.Today, three-quarters of the UNESCO World Heritage site has been swallowed by the sea."There have been mornings after a storm when I have come to find large parts of the fort have just disappeared


19 Apr 2022

Gall Thomson Launches Emergency Mooring Release System for Offshore Applications

Credit: Gall Thomson

Gall Thomson has launched an innovative new automatic actuation system, promising to minimize safety risks associated with the manual emergency release of mooring systems during FPSO tandem offloading ocean towage, heading control, positioning and decommissioning-"PODx minimizes the risk of personnel injury, damage to equipment and subsequent downtime by remotely releasing mooring hawser chains under full load, quickly and safely," the company said.According to Gall Thomson, PODx utilizes release bolt technology that automatically separates on demand


12 Apr 2022

Thordon Bearings Wins Order from Maritime Partners

(Image: Thordon Bearings)

Thordon Bearings Reports it has secured a contract to supply a range of water-lubricated and grease-free bearings for installation to several fleet boats under construction at the FMT Shipyard & Repair facility, for workboat owner Maritime Partners.Twelve twin-screw push boats are scheduled to be delivered from the Louisiana shipyard with equipment that includes RiverTough tailshaft bearings, ThorPlas-Blue rudder bearings with Pucker Seals, ThorPlas-Blue steering linkage bushings


02 Nov 2021

Bangladesh's Hazardous Shipyards Launch Race for Cleaner, Safer Future

Illustration - Credit: saintmichel85/AdobeStock

When Samrat Hossain first started cutting up old ships weighing thousands of tonnes in a southeast Bangladesh shipbreaking yard a decade ago, all he would wear was a cap or a helmet.But these days, the 27-year-old spends nearly an hour each day before work putting on his protective gear, which includes special masks, gloves, boots, and a suit."A lot has changed in the last 10 years. Before, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) was not a factor. But today we are not allowed to work without it


28 Oct 2021

Thordon Celebrates 110 Years in Business

The CCGS Martha L. Black is fitted with Thordon’s propeller shaft bearings, Water Quality Package and rudder bearings at Heddle Shipyards in dry dock (Photo: Thordno Bearings)

Navies, shipowners, shipyards, and organizations have offered the best of birthday wishes to Canada’s Thomson-Gordon Group, the parent company of water-lubricated polymer bearing pioneer Thordon Bearings, as it celebrates its 110th anniversary this fall.Among several well-wishers, Claude Tremblay, Directorate General Maritime Equipment Program Management National Defence, Royal Canadian Navy, wrote: “Congratulations to Thomson-Gordon Group for 110 years of Canadian innovation and pioneering. We are proud to rely on your top-quality products.

14 Sep 2021

SafeSTS, Gall Thomson Launch PTX to Improve STS Transfers Safety

Image courtesy of Gall Thomson

Unexpected mooring breakouts are a risk during offshore STS operations. SafeSTS and Gall Thomson aim to offer a solution, launching the Protective Transfer System (PTX). Using the flip-flap marine breakaway coupling technology used within other Gall Thomson products for more than 20 years, the PTX is designed to provide rapid, safe, on-demand release within the marine hose transfer system.An ultra-compact system which includes its own HPU and transport and reset skid, the PTX is located directly over the vessel’s manifold drip tray


05 Aug 2021

Profile: Anna Galoni CEO, Thordon Bearings

Anna Galoni CEO Thordon Bearings TG Group. Photo courtesy Thordon Bearings

While new to the CEO seat, Anna Galoni is long-tenured at Thordon Bearings, having worked in the company for more than 15 years, joining the Burlington, Ontario-company in 2007 after graduating from Queens University with a Masters’ Degree in Epidemiology. The new leader of this family-owned company, Galoni shares her insights on the business and technology.Thordon Bearings is a, global business which designs and manufactures a range of non-polluting, oil and grease-free bearing systems


04 Aug 2021

SafeSTS Offers new ‘Green’ Tech for STS Transfers

Photo courtesy SafeSTS

A new ship-to-ship cargo transfer system has been developed and patented by SafeSTS for the Dynamic Positioning (DP) shuttle tankers sector, designed to increase flexibility and efficiency for the export of oil from offshore fields.Traditionally, shuttle tankers are only used in DP mode to load from floating production, storage and offloading platforms, with subsequent transfer to export tankers taking place in side-by-side ship-to-ship transfer operations. The SafeSTS Transfer


20 Jul 2021

Maritime Reporter TV: Interview with Anna Galoni, CEO of Thordon Bearings

Maritime Reporter TV's Greg Trauthwein has interviewed Anna Galoni, the recently appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Thordon Bearings Inc., a Thomson-Gordon Group company.Galoni joined the Burlington, Ontario-headquartered company in 2007 after graduating from Queens University with a Masters’ Degree in epidemiology.

02 Jun 2021

Lawsuit Challenges ExxonMobil's Exploration and Production Activities in Guyana

A landmark lawsuit filed against Guyana's government, arguing that oil production fuels climate change, could bolster legal action as court cases involving energy companies and state authorities surge, according to lawyers and environmentalists.The constitutional claim - the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean - asserts that oil exploration and production led by U.S. oil major ExxonMobil off the South American country's coast is unconstitutional, said the case's lead lawyer Melinda Janki.Filed by two Guyanese citizens in late May before the tiny nation's constitutional court, the lawsuit centers on the duty of the state to protect the environment for present and future generations


04 May 2021

Galoni Named CEO of Thordon Bearings

Anna Galoni has been appointed CEO of bearing and seal specialist Thordon Bearings Inc., a Thomson-Gordon Group company. (Photo: Thordon Bearings)

Anna Galoni was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Thordon Bearings Inc., a Thomson-Gordon Group company.Galoni joined the Burlington, Ontario-headquartered company in 2007 after graduating from Queens University with a Masters’ Degree in epidemiology. Prior to her appointment in April, she held a number of senior roles in various departments including human resources director, new product development director and, subsequently, chair, Thordon Bearings, a position she continues to hold.Her appointment follows the retirement of Terry McGowan


27 Mar 2021

TECH FILE: Acoustic Tech Used to Understand Climate Change in the Arctic

The R/V Sikuliaq during a cruise to research sea ice in the Beaufort Sea. Photo ©: Onpoint Outreach

Major changes are occurring in the ocean. Climate change and subsequent melting sea ice are not necessarily good changes. Why are acoustic Doppler current profilers an invaluable tool to get a complete picture of the Arctic’s changing wave conditions in the context of climate change?In the Arctic, the end-of-summer sea ice extent in 2020 was the second-lowest in the last 42 years.“The ice used to melt out in June or July. Now it melts out in May. It used to come back in September or October.

18 Mar 2021

Thordon Bearings Names Groves VP of Sales

Scott Groves (Photo: Thordon Bearings)

Thordon Bearings has promoted Scott Groves to Vice President – Sales, with a mandate to “grow profitable sales” and build upon the company’s leading position in the global pollution-free bearings and seals markets. He officially started in his new role on March 11, 2021.Terry McGowan, CEO and President, Thomson-Gordon Group, Thordon Bearings’ parent company, said, “I am very pleased to announce that Scott has accepted the VP Sales position. As interim sales director, he has thrown himself into the role, helping us navigate uncertain and challenging times.

17 Mar 2021

Carbon Emissions from Trawler Fishing on Par with Aviation -Report

© Andrei Stepanov / Adobe Stock

Trawling of the ocean floor by fishing fleets releases roughly the same amount of carbon emissions into the water as aviation puts into the atmosphere each year, researchers said on Wednesday, calling for greater protection of the planet's seas.In a study published in the journal Nature, a team of 26 scientists and conservationists said marine protected areas (MPAs) are an effective tool for restoring biodiversity, expanding seafood supplies and storing climate-heating carbon.But at present


11 Mar 2021

Widow of Bangladesh Shipbreaker Pursues Test Case on Worker Safety

© saintmichel85 / Adobe Stock

A Bangladeshi woman whose husband died dismantling an oil tanker in a local shipyard was given the green light this week to keep pursuing a claim for compensation from a UK company linked to the vessel in a test case for the shipbreaking industry.Britain’s Court of Appeal threw out a request by London-based shipbroker Maran (UK) Ltd for the negligence case to be dismissed, the second appeal the company has lost.Hamida Begum’s husband, Khalil Mollah, 32, fell to his death in 2018 while breaking up the tanker Ekta in the Bangladesh port of Chattogram


02 Mar 2021

Fishermen Turn to Apps and AI to Tackle Climate Change

© ducgiang1206 / Adobe Stock

From weather predicting apps to using artificial intelligence to monitor the fish they catch, small-scale fishermen and coastal communities are increasingly turning to digital tools to help them be more sustainable and tackle climate change.Overfishing and illegal fishing by commercial vessels inflict significant damage on fisheries and the environment, and take food and jobs from millions of people in coastal communities who rely on fishing, environmental groups say.In addition


13 Jan 2021

Ocean 100: Profits from World's Seas Dominated by 100 Companies

© Ranimiro / Adobe Stock

Just 100 companies account for most of the profits from the world’s seas, researchers said on Wednesday, calling on them to help save the oceans from over-fishing, rising temperatures and pollution.Together, the companies generated $1.1 trillion in revenues in 2018, or about 60% of the total, according to a study that sets out for the first time which firms profit the most from marine industries.Oceans play a critical role in capturing planet-warming gases, absorbing around 25% of all carbon dioxide emissions.

29 Dec 2020

UAE Emerges as Hub for Companies Helping Venezuela Avoid US Oil Sanctions

In June, the United States imposed sanctions on half a dozen oil tankers managed by established shipping firms. It was a major escalation of American attempts to choke off Venezuela’s oil trade.Within weeks, a little-known company based in the United Arab Emirates took over management of several tankers that had been shipping Venezuelan oil. The vessels got new names. And then they resumed transporting Venezuelan crude.The company, Muhit Maritime FZE, is one of three UAE-based entities identified by Reuters that have shipped Venezuelan crude and fuel during the second half of this year. Their role emerges from an examination of internal shipping documents from Venezuela’s state oil company as well as third-party shipping and vessel tracking data.

22 Dec 2020

Satellites Expose Risks of Forced Labor in Global Fishing

© whitcomberd / Adobe Stock

Fishing vessels with crews of forced laborers behave in systematically different ways to the rest of the global fleet, according to a study purporting to be the first to remotely identify vessels potentially engaged in modern slavery.Using satellite data, machine learning and on-the-ground expertise from human rights practitioners, U.S. researchers found up to 26% of about 16,000 industrial fishing vessels analyzed were at high risk of using forced labor.As many as 100,000 people are estimated to work on these high-risk vessels, many of whom are potential victims of forced labor.

09 Dec 2020

Wallenius Bets on Wind-powered Cargo Ships

(Image: Wallenius Marine)

Two centuries after the first coal-powered steamships crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a Swedish company is designing a futuristic throwback: a huge, wind-driven cargo ship that could help end the fossil fuel era and limit climate change.Shipping accounted for 2.9% of man-made greenhouse gas in 2018, and the industry’s share of planet-heating emissions has been rising in recent years, according to the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization.One solution may be to turn the clock back to pre-industrial times and again hoist sails to carry cargo around the world.Sweden’s Wallenius Marine AB