Ton Bulk Carrier News

Climate change advocates and seafarers recently gathered for a small conference at the Hudson Valley Maritime Museum in Kingston, N.Y., to discuss the shipping industry’s struggle to achieve sustainability and environmental compliance.The setting, the hamlet of Rondout, N.Y. (within Kingston), holds significance as it was, ironically, a Hudson River port once considered the largest coal port in the world (yes, the world). In 1828, the opening of the Delaware and Hudson Canal enabled coal to be delivered from Pennsylvania to New York City.

Seventeen people were missing after a Chinese fishing boat collided with a Maltese cargo ship and sank in the East China Sea on Saturday, state media reported, citing the country's coastguard fleet. The fishing boat, Lu Rong Yu 58398, had 19 people on board when the incident happened at 3.40 a.m. Beijing time (1940 GMT), the China News Service said, adding that two people had been rescued by passing fishing boats and a search and rescue operation was still underway. China National Radio said that it had hit Maltese cargo ship Catalina, a 40,485 ton bulk carrier, which has continued sailing. They did not specify where in the East China Sea the collision happened.

One year after Hurricane Isaac scattered more than a hundred ships and vessels in the Lower Mississippi River, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) honored two New Orleans-Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots (NOBRA) for their fearless actions in braving gale force winds and a storm surge to rescue several crippled vessels and their crews and prevent further casualties from the Category One storm, announced Captain Michael E. Rooney, NOBRA president. The USCG award ceremony honoring the NOBRA pilots was conducted today at the Maritime Pilots Institute (MPI) in Covington, La.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology  reports that orders in first half 2012 are down by 50.3% year-on-year. The volume of handling orders was a mere 125.87 million DWT by the end of June, down 30.7 percent year-on-year, which can easily lead to the assumption that some shipbuilders will not be able to keep operating in the following months. "We have not received any new orders. If the situation continues, we will have only one ship to build in the second half of this year," says Pan Haiwei, general manager of Wu Zhou Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd in central Zhejiang. Shipbuilders in neighboring Jiangsu province are also barely staying afloat.

NYK Group company, held a get-together on board its 58,000-ton bulk carrier New Pride with guests from the Ishinomaki area in Miyagi prefecture to celebrate the installation of a new mechanical unloader (cargo handling machinery) at the port’s No. 7 Hiyori wharf and to pray for the further recovery and development of the port. Two of the port’s three unloaders toppled into the sea during the Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami, and the port’s handling capacity had since been reduced significantly.

WASHINGTON – Ilios Shipping Company S.A. was sentenced today in federal court in New Orleans for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and obstruction of justice, announced Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno and Jim Letten, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Ilios operated the M/V Agios Emilianos, a 738-foot, 36,573 ton bulk carrier cargo ship which hauled grain from New Orleans to various ports around the world. According to the plea agreement…

B.Navi Ship Management Services (B.Navi) was sentenced to pay $1.5m and serve three years probation in connection with the illegal dumping of oily sludge, bilge wastes, and oil-contaminated ballast water from the M/V Windsor Castle, a 27,000 gross-ton bulk carrier vessel, Ronald J. Tenpas, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Captain William Diehl, Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston announced. Engine room operations onboard large ocean-going vessels such as the M/V Windsor Castle generate large amounts of waste oil. International and law prohibit the discharge of waste oil without treatment by an Oil Water Separator.

Italian shipping company B. Navi Ship Management Services and Chief Engineer Dushko Babukchiev pleaded guilty in connection with the illegal dumping of oily sludge, bilge wastes and oil contaminated ballast water from one of the company’s ships, the M/V Windsor Castle, a 27,000 gross-ton bulk carrier vessel, Assistant Attorney General Ronald J. Tenpas, U.S. Attorney Donald J. DeGabrielle Jr., and U.S. Coast Guard Captain James E. Tunstall announced. B. Navi Ship Management Services pleaded guilty on Feb. 7, 2008, to a two-count criminal information charging it with violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and making materially false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard. Chief Engineer Babukchiev pleaded guilty on Feb.

Cement dust aboard a ship bound for Adelaide has been contaminated by sea water, turning the cargo into cement, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reported. The incident reportedly occurred aboard the CSL Yarra, a 46,000 ton bulk carrier. "A fire hydrant has leaked sea water into a machinery space which has residual cargo from the last discharge," Australian Maritime Union South Australian secretary Rick Newlyn is reported to have said. "It was cement and that's of some concern, but not enough to change the voyage."

The holidays this past year presented unique challenges for the salvage industry in the U.S. On Friday Evening, November 26 (Thanksgiving Weekend) the fully laden 60,000 dwt tanker Athos 1 struck an object on the bottom of the Delaware River causing a sizable crude oil spill and a serious list on-board the vessel. A few days later, on December 8, the fully laden 70,000-ton bulk carrier Selendang Ayu lost power off Dutch Harbor, Alaska. It grounded and broke into two pieces spilling both cargo and bunkers into the sea. As the Athos 1 is a tanker, it had a USCG approved Vessel Response Plan (VRP) which was activated immediately. The "Qualified Individual" (required to be named in her VRP by the USCG) activated her Spill Management Team within minutes.

An Indian-registered vessel that ran aground west of Melbourne in stormy weather last weekend was refloated on Wednesday, Australian maritime officials said. The 50,000 ton bulk carrier Devprayag had about 1,000 tons of fuel oil on board when it ran aground on a sandbar off Portland on Saturday. "The hull hasn't been breached, so there was no pollution," said a spokesman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. "It came off (the sandbar) very easily this morning." The authority said in a statement the vessel had been taken into port for a hull inspection. It was due to sail to Geelong to load grain later this week.

Two ships have broken down in Australian waters on Wednesday, with the larger of the two being buffeted by treacherous conditions in Bass Strait. The 44,000 deadweight ton container ship Maersk Tacoma lost power in heavy seas in Bass Strait and a tow vessel was on its way. "The Maersk Tacoma is drifting in Bass Strait in atrocious weather," a spokesman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. The ship was about 30 km (19 miles) southeast of Wilson's Promontory in Victoria state and drifting towards the Kent group of islands in 55 knot winds and three to four meter seas, the spokesman said. The tow vessel would reach the ship later on Wednesday, he said. An official with Maersk Australia said the stricken vessel was carrying general container cargo.

A French-registered bulk carrier carrying a load of grain from Geelong to Taiwan ran aground in Melbourne's Port Philip Bay on Thursday night, an Australian maritime authority said on Friday. The fully laden 18,600-ton bulk carrier Mirande ran aground just before 10 p.m. on Thursday after reporting steering problems, said the Marine Board of Victoria. "There is no environmental problem, no damage to the hull, the weather is favorable, the ship is in sheltered waters and is sitting on sand," a Marine Board chief executive said. An unsuccessful attempt to refloat Mirande, which has a crew of 18, was made at high tide on Friday morning and another attempt will be made at the night high tide, which is forecast to be at around 9:00 p.m.

The newest vessel in TECO Transport's Gulfcoast Transit fleet is now in service. The M/V Sheila McDevitt - named in honor of TECO Energy's senior vice president, general counsel and chief legal officer - left Tampa for Texas early last week, where it will load a shipment for delivery to the east coast. needs of its growing business. It is the third ship added to the company's diverse fleet, which also includes 13 oceangoing tug and barge units. between the Pacific, Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the United States. Transport. Other TECO Transport businesses include Mid-South Towing and Electro-Coal Transfer. System, TECO Power Services, TECO Coal, TECO Coalbed Methane, TECO Propane Ventures and TECO Solutions.