Tradewinds News

The McMurdo Docking Pier, constructed by Gunderson Marine & Iron (GM&I) and designed by Glosten for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, hassuccessfully arrived at McMurdo Station, Antarctica following a 9,159 nautical mile voyage across the Pacific Ocean and Southern Ocean.The pier, towed from the Pacific Northwest by TradeWinds Towing, was underway for 69 days, averaging 5.5 knots over the course of its journey. This total includes four days of route adjustments to avoid severe Southern Ocean weather systems.

Silverback Marine has been awarded a multimillion-dollar DoD contract for its new OX series truckable tractor tug.Designed in collaboration with Elliot Bay Design Group of Seattle, Silverback Marine partnered with Darley Defense to secure the contract. Thespecific department of the DoD will remain anonymous until the first vessel is delivered, scheduled for late 2025.For illustrative purposes, Silverback Marine received permission from industry friends including Tradewinds Towing…

Sanctions on shipping companies are undermining safety at sea and pose dangers for trade as ship standards are impacted, the chief executive of sanctioned Russian shipping group Sovcomflot said.The European Union imposed sanctions on Russia's state-owned and top tanker company Sovcomflot (SCF) and its CEO Igor Tonkovidov, according to the measures published in the EU's Official Journal on Monday.Earlier this year, the U.S.

Managing risk to embrace enabling technologies can build resilience amid volatility, says OrbitMIEmbracing enabling technologies necessary to navigate greener seas can be a market differentiator for maritime leaders as adopting data-driven business processes can build resilience amid increasing volatility - but this also means managing innovation risk, according to OrbitMI CEO Ali Riaz.Shipping faces an increasingly complex and rapidly changing environment, with market volatility driven by evolving environmental and other regulation…

The SMM 2024 trade show will run from September 3-6 this year, and organizers are expecting more visitors and exhibitors than last time; the exhibition halls are nearly fully booked.“We are expecting more than 2,000 international exhibitors from 70 nations,” says Claus Ulrich Selbach, Business Unit Director Maritime and Technology Fairs & Exhibitions at Hamburg Messe und Congress. “We are overwhelmed by the response. We are actually setting-up an additional hall to accommodate all requests.

As deals continue to be concluded into Alang, the Indian ship recycling sector remains on a positive footing overall, with Pakistan and (especially) Bangladesh still lagging behind, reports cash buyer GMS.Despite steel plate prices coming off by about US$ 11/Ton and the Indian Rupee weakening marginally over the course of the week, the overall outlook for India remains positive.Several ship recyclers from the sub-continent markets were gathered at the annual Tradewinds Ship Recycling Conference in Singapore this week…

In 2007, scholar Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who holds a doctorate from the University of Paris, wrote a bestselling book titled “Black Swan,” which proposed a theory involving unpredictable events with significant impact. Taleb believed that a black swan event was an outlier with significant impact and, once it occurs, is the source of deep reflection and rationalization. Since the book’s publication, a significant number of research efforts have been developed to consider possible black swan events that significantly impact the Maritime Transportation System (MTS) and the Maritime Global Commons.

The Panama Canal is a strategic crossroads for maritime traffic, and is arguably one of the most important maritime developments in the past century. Here we take a deeper dive into the history behind that famous strip of waterway.The present canal, which saw its first vessel transits in 1914, along with possible alternatives through Nicaragua and Mexico, had actually been on the minds of merchants, explorers and military/political strategists since the Age of Exploration in early 1500’s.

At today’s opening press conference of the international maritime trade fair in Hamburg, political and business leaders discussed current challenges facing the shipping industry. The focus of the debate was on the 0.5 percent sulphur limit for ship fuels which will take effect on January 1,  2020, and the industry's goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping in half by the year 2050. Roughly 2,300 exhibitors and the extensive conference program accompanying the trade fair will deliver answers to the industry's complex questions. Roughly 50,000 visitors are expected to attend.

The world is filled with marine exhibitions and conferences. What is special about SMM 2018?The sheer dimensions of this trade fair are stunning: 93,000 square meters of exhibition floor in 13 halls, and 50,000 expected industry visitors from more than 120 countries make SMM the world's biggest trade fair for the maritime sector. Even more important is the quality of the fair's 2200 exhibitors which cover the entire value chain of the maritime industry. This allows us to claim international technology and innovation leadership once again.At the exhibition stands…

A sunken derrick barge has been raised from the Gulf of Mexico seafloor following several months of planning, engineering, on-site preparations and the heaviest salvage lift ever accomplished in the Americas, said marine services and wreck removal specialists Resolve Salvage and Fire Americas.The 350 ft x 100 ft derrick barge DB1 sank 30 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on October 22, 2017, when adverse weather caused it to drag anchors and contact the offshore platform that the DB1 was engaged in removing.

Mairéad Ní Cheóinín has been appointed to Seafarers UK as the charity’s new Corporate Fundraising Manager where her focus will be on engaging with the commercial maritime sector. Mairéad brings a wealth of business development, marketing experience and industry knowledge to the position from her previous roles, working with Steamship Mutual P&I, TradeWinds, Informa PLC in London and the Irish Maritime Development Office in Dublin. Mairéad joins the grant-giving, campaigning and fundraising charity at an exciting time, as it celebrates its Centenary and is looking ahead to the next phase of its future. Her role will be to raise awareness of Seafarers UK’s wider impact within the maritime charity sector.

In September of 2006, Dominique Smith of the then one tug company Tradewinds Towing came to Laborde Products, to look at the S12R engine for the repower of the Miss Lis, an Alaskan built low profile tug he planned on repowering. Later that same month, the deal was made, and shortly thereafter, the Miss Lis set sail with new Mitsubishi engines and Reintjes transmissions supplied by Laborde Products. Since then, the engines have logged over 30,000 hours travelling throughout North, Central and South America.

In comments before the international Tradewinds Ship Owners Forum in New York City, Maritime Administrator Paul “Chip” Jaenichen highlighted the more than 42,700 jobs, $3.6 billion in labor income and $4.78 billion in GDP associated with employment for shipbuilding and repair in the northeast region. “American shipyards provide a dependable, highly trained workforce that produce, repair and maintain some of the world’s most modern and innovative vessels. Their efforts ensure our…

Eversheds International says that UK trade would clearly be impacted by the Brexit vote. "We saw an immediate effect on currency and share prices, although there are signs that the market is settling down after the initial post-vote furore," says a report by Eversheds. In terms of longer term impact, there are some matters which are already tolerably clear, for example that any changes to the cost of trade with the EU are likely to affect freight volumes at British ports. However, the precise nature and extent of the effect on UK trade will depend entirely on the form of relationship which is ultimately agreed both with the EU and with other trading partners.

The buzzword for the post-Brexit landscape both in Europe and further afield is ‘uncertainty’. No-one really knows the long term effect that Brexit will have on local and global economies, says  Eversheds International. However, as the dust settles following the referendum, market experts, industry analysts and businesses are assessing the position with cooler heads and so, whilst certainty may be a little way off, more concrete predictions and assertions of intent are beginning to emerge. This is evident daily in commentary and news from the shipping and sea trade sector. The international shipping market is fuelled by trade, which in turn depends on the health of the global economy.

On Monday 20th of April 2015, Michael Grey of Lloyds List published the article "Name-calling bullies" where he outlined his opposition to the idea of banning beaching and gave reasons why such a decision would be impractical and unethical for the ship recycling industry. In fact, throughout his article he stressed the improvements of safety and environmental standards which have taken place in facilities in the Indian subcontinent and highlighted the fact that these improvements had been witnessed during a fact-finding visit to Alang, India, by a delegation of Japanese industry and government officials organised by GMS. In his article there are few other arguments worth highlighting…

MISC Bhd  is selling AET Tanker Holdings Sdn Bhd, which owns a fleet of 74 crude oil and product tankers, to US-listed Teekay Tankers Ltd, reports local media. AET is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia's MISC Bhd. and a major global shipowner and operator with a fleet of around 80 tankers including 13 VLCCs, 48 Aframaxes and four Suezmaxes. MISC is a subsidiary of Malaysian energy conglomerate Petronas. “MISC is not in a position to comment on Teekay’s business plans,” the shipping company’s corporate communications arm responded when asked to verify news reported by Oslo-based shipping press Tradewinds. “It is difficult to quantify the disposal gain at this point of time without the actual acquisition price,” Kenanga Research said.

The Greek ferry that ran aground just outside of port on the Aegean Island of Kassos Wednesday night is still stuck. The 227 passengers and 55 crew aboard the Vitsentzos Kornaros are facing the prospect of a third night stuck on the ferry, as the weather that caused the grounding is also preventing a tug boat from conducting recovery operations. The Greek coast guard has said the passengers and crew are in no danger. TradeWinds reported that two fishing boats tried to refloat the vessel yesterday, but without success.

A Greek ferry ran aground on the Aegean island of Kassos overnight, the AP is reporting.      None of the 227 passengers and 55 crew were injured and a tug boat was sent from the Cycladic island of Mykonos to conduct the rescue operation, the Greek coastguard said.      The Vitsenzos Kornaros was traveling from Piraeus to Rhodes, a route with seven stops. It became grounded as it approached the dock at the island of Kassos. Kassos is part of the Dodecanese island complex northeast of Crete, the AP said.      TradeWinds reported that winds reached seven to eight on the Beaufort scale and dragged the ship to the port’s breakwater, where it got trapped.     Enikos.gr has what it says is a video of the ferry battling the winds.

A fire started aboard the Teekay-owned FPSO Petrojarl Knarr this morning. The fire was the second aboard the FPSO unit, which was built in 2014, during its young life at sea. The blaze occurred just a week after the Petrojarl Knarr produced its first oil from the Knarr field in the North Sea. The fire erupted west of the Norwegian coastal town of Florø. The 100-member crew on board were all safe and Norwegian authorities quickly controlled the fire, according to TradeWinds. The previous fire occurred in October, when the unit was working for the UK's BG Group.

Marcon International, Inc. of Coupeville, Washington reported that the 5,570BHP tug Jabbar has been sold by Awal Marine Services of Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain to TradeWinds Towing LLC of Saint Augustine, Florida. Jabbar, meaning “powerful” or “tremendous” in Arabic, was originally built by Main Iron Works of Houma, Louisiana as their Hull 335 for McAllister Towing & Transportation of New York. The twin screw tug was operated by International Tug Service, a joint venture company between McAllister and Arabian American Oil Co. Ltd.

After a 5,233 nautical mile tow of the ocean crane barge Thomas W from Long Beach, California through the Panama Canal, the Miss Lis reached its destination in the Hudson River, New York. The journey took 52 days. Tug and tow departed Long Beach during the first full week of August and arrived in New York in late September. Laborde Products repowered this engine with twin Mitsubishi S12R-MPTA engines rated at 2,800 bhp. The 225' L x 78' W x 15' D, ABS +A1 Ocean crane barge, outfitted with a 400 T Whirley with a 150' boom…