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Transportation Systems News

01 Mar 2024

Texas A&M to Reduce Tuition For Merchant Mariner License Students

(Photo: Texas A&M University at Galveston)

Texas A&M University at Galveston said it will reduce fees for current and future out-of-state students seeking a merchant mariner license from the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, in an effort that aims to help the maritime industry fill worsening labor gaps.Texas A&M Maritime Academy students earn their U.S. Coast Guard license while completing one of several license-option four-year bachelor’s degree programs at Texas A&M at Galveston.Effective September 1, under a new three-tiered fee structure approved by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents…

23 Aug 2023

California Opens Applications for Zero-Emission Freight and Marine Equipment

Source: California VW Trust

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District in California has announced the opening of applications for zero-emission heavy duty forklifts, port cargo handling equipment, marine vessel repower and shore power for unregulated ocean-going vessels.Up to $20 million in funding is now available statewide through the VW Zero-Emission Freight and Marine (ZEFM) program. Applications are being accepted and reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis until funding is exhausted.Eligible equipment for the marine vessel repower funding includes combustion-fueled engines in ferries…

25 Jul 2023

Eastern Shipbuilding to Build New Hopper Dredge for the USACE

McFarland is one of four oceangoing hopper dredges owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (Photo: Dave Evinger / USACE)

Panama City, Fla. based Eastern Shipbuilding Group has been awarded a contract to design and build a new hopper dredge for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.The $256,955,264 firm-fixed-price contract will see Eastern design and build the new medium-class hopper dredge (MCHD) for scheduled delivery in August 2027. Eastern was one of three bidders for the project.The new 6,000-cubic-yard-capacity hopper dredge will replace the USACE Philadelphia District's high-powered deep draft hopper dredge McFarland, built in 1967.

01 Mar 2023

Discovery: Historic Shipwreck Found in Lake Huron

Image of the schooner-barge Ironton as it sits on the lake floor today. This image is a point cloud extracted from water column returns from multibeam sonar. Image Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust/NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Researchers from NOAA, the state of Michigan, and Ocean Exploration Trust discovered an intact shipwreck resting hundreds of feet below the surface of Lake Huron. Located within NOAA's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the shipwreck has been identified as the sailing ship Ironton. Well preserved by the cold freshwater of the Great Lakes for over a century, the 191-ft. Ironton rests upright with its three masts still standing."Using this cutting-edge technology, we have not only located a pristine shipwreck lost for over a century…

26 Oct 2022

MRS 2022: Supply Chain Challenges to the Maritime Transportation System

Copyright G/AdobeStock

Inland maritime transportation systems (MTS) play major roles in domestic and international supply chains, with unique challenges related to upstream and downstream sources disruption, accessibility and shifts in commodities, as well as demand and supply imbalances. With a 20% on-time arrival statistic, the U.S. east coast serves as an example for the increasing appeal of inland waterways as a cost-effective, alternative, with Port of Cleveland traffic reportedly increasing 70% between 2020 and 2021.

12 Oct 2022

Vigor Launches MSV(L) Prototype for the US Army

The MSV(L) will replace the Landing Craft Mechanized-8, (LCM-8,) a Vietnam-era watercraft. It is the first major Army watercraft acquisition in more than 20 years. The current Army Acquisition Objective is to build 13 vessels. (Photo: Vigor)

U.S. shipbuilder Vigor launched the first in a series of modernized landing craft for the U.S. Army at its  fabrication facility in Vancouver, Wash.The Maneuver Support Vessel (Light), or MSV(L), will replace the Landing Craft Mechanized-8, (LCM-8,) a Vietnam-era watercraft that is unable to transport some of today's equipment due to the weight of modern combat vehicles. Designed with increased payload capability, increased speed and maneuverability, and improved draft, the MSV(L) will improve the speed and effectiveness of the Army’s dynamic force repositioning in inter-coastal areas…

19 Jul 2022

Subchapter M Phase-in Period Draws to a Close

© Drew / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday marked the end of the four-year Subchapter M certificate of inspection (COI) phase-in period for U.S.-registered towing vessels. Subchapter M, the United States regulatory code dealing with towing vessels and requirements for towing vessel safety, has officially been in place since July 2016, when the U.S. Coast Guard finalized the long-awaited Sub M rulemaking. The first COIs were issued in 2018, and all of the more than 5,000 U.S. domestic towing vessels must have valid COIs on board by July 19…

07 Jul 2022

USACE Awards Mississippi River Harbor Dredging Contract

Representatives of Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, International Port of Memphis and USACE. (Photo: Jessica Haas / USACE)

Houston-based dredging contractor Great Lakes Dredge and Dock has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Memphis District for the rental of a 24-inch hydraulic cutterhead dredge, discharge pipe, and attendant plant for harbor dredging along the Mississippi River.The $7,335,450 contract was awarded June 2, 2022, with an anticipated completion date of February 28, 2023.A total of nine harbors were awarded, with actual dredging scheduled to take place from July 1, 2022, through December 2022.

15 Dec 2021

Navy Provides Realistic, Operationally-relevant Test Environment for Technology

Shoreside: Team members collaborate to track and engage a high speed boat straying into an exclusion area. Photo credit: Dave Gentile, Ion

“Synergy” is an overused word. But in the case of the “Advanced Naval Technology Exercises” that are held around the country, ANTX is truly a sum greater than its parts.ANTXs are conducted by the Naval Research & Development Establishment (NR&DE) and hosted at the various Naval Warfare Centers to demonstrate emerging technologies and innovations aimed at solving Navy and Marine Corps problems and addressing mission priorities and gaps. They are not so much exercises, which usually denotes training, but more like technology demonstrations.

06 Oct 2021

Maritime Trade Union Signs on Sea Machines' Autonomous Voyage Project

Deck officers Bridget Quinn and Adam Szloch remotely command the autonomous NELLIE BLY in Denmark from Sea Machines’ Boston control room. The SM300 provides the remote commanders with full shore-to-vessel connectivity and control and includes an active chart environment with live augmented data overlays, state of vessel, situational awareness and environmental data, as well as real-time, vessel-born audio and video from many streaming cameras. (Photo: Sea Machines)

U.S. Coast Guard licensed officers in Boston are commanding an autonomous workboat on a voyage around Denmark.The American Maritime Officers (AMO) trade union has entered into a labor agreement with autonomous command and control systems developer Sea Machines Robotics for the project, which will see AMO-represented merchant mariners support Sea Machines’ first-of-its-kind 1,000 NM autonomous journey.The voyage, which Sea Machines is calling "The Machine Odyssey", aims to prove the world’s waterways are primed and ready for long-range autonomous vessel operations…

05 Jun 2020

Canada Recommends Mariners Wear Face Coverings

© matpit73 / Adobe Stock

Canada's Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced he is expanding the requirements for the use of face coverings by workers and others involved in the country's transportation industry to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.Transport Canada and the transportation industry had already implemented measures such as increased sanitization, health checks for passengers, and allowing passengers to remain in their vehicles on ferries. The new measures requiring face masks are aimed at points in the transportation system where workers must be in close proximity to co-workers and travelers…

20 May 2020

Crew Training for a Future that Includes Autonomous Vessels

© metamorworks/AdobeStock

As we continue to contemplate a future with ships transitioning to automated and autonomous operations, the need for new and innovated crew training will only increase. Our current and future ship crews will need to straddle both new and existing vessel operation technology. This will present challenges, but ones that the industry can address in a proactive manner.Traditionally, maritime skills have changed slowly and new technology was assimilated on the fly in many cases. The Merchant Marine was a place where you learned on the job.

18 Feb 2020

Robust Dredging on America’s Inland Waterways

(Photo: Inland Dredging Company)

Inland Dredging Company helps keep commerce flowing on America’s inland waterway system.Dyersburg, Tenn. based Inland Dredging Company completed dredging projects spanning eight states and across four U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Districts. Beginning in July and finishing in December (2019), Inland Dredging crews dredged ports and harbors along the Mighty Mississippi River, Ouachita River, Red River, Black Warrior River, Atchafalaya River, Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway, and the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway from Apalachicola to Morgan City.Richard Jackson…

10 Jan 2020

USACE Memphis District Dredging Wraps Up

The Inland Dredging Company’s cutterhead dredge Integrity, along with one of its small tugboats, works to dredge the Memphis Harbor/McKellar Lake, which was the last of 10 harbors dredged in the Memphis District during 2019. (Photo: USACE/Jessica Haas)

The Memphis District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has several missions associated with the Mississippi River. One of the most important is to keep the river channel at a depth that allows the river barge industry to dependably transport goods up and down the river.To deliver on this charge, the Memphis District awarded a contract/task order in the amount of $7,987,200 to the Inland Dredging Company in April of 2019. On Dec. 23, 2019, Inland Dredging Co. completed all work with a total of 1…

04 Apr 2019

Liebherr Turnover Tops $11 Billion

Growth for the mobile harbour crane range: The new LPS 420 E is a purely electric gantry crane and operates completely emissions-free (Photo: Liebherr)

The Liebherr Group notched up a company record turnover of $11.8 million in 2018, representing an increase of $828 million, or 7.5 %, compared with the previous year.Despite a slight decline in overall economic growth, revenues from construction machinery and mining equipment rose by 10.8 % to $7,761 million, with especially strong contributions from the Earthmoving, Mobile Cranes and Mining divisions. In the other product areas, which include Maritime Cranes, Aerospace and Transportation Systems…

20 Mar 2019

IAMPE's Newest Class Of Maritime Port Executives

Photo: IAMPE

The International Association of Maritime and Port Executives (IAMPE) has announced the latest group of Maritime Port Executives who completed the accredited seminar the week of March 11th at DHS/USCG Headquarters in Washington, DC.The latest class of graduates include LCDR. William Albright, USCG-MPE; Mr. Zach Bonheim-MPE; Cdr. Charles Bright, USCG-MPE; CDR. Bradely Clare, USCG-MPE; LCDR. Dan Davis, USCG-MPE; LCDR. Leslie Downing, USCG-MPE; LCDR. Jamie Gatz, USCG-MPE; CDR. Jason Gunning, USCG-MPE; Mr. Rajiv Khandpur-MPE; LT. David Liberman, USCG-MPE; LCDR. Ben Mazyck, USCG-MPE; LCDR.

12 Feb 2019

New Maritime Connectivity Platform Launched

The Maritime Connectivity Platform Consortium has been established and a Platform launched last Friday during the conference e-Navigation Underway 2019.The Maritime Connectivity Platform (MCP) is an open source technology a digital maritime domain. It brings common internet standards to maritime navigation and transportation systems.MCP enables infrastructures for efficient, secure, reliable and seamless electronic information exchange among maritime stakeholders using available communication systems. MCP is an open and vendor-neutral technology.The platform has been evolving for a number of years. Around 2015, development escalated significantly, when three large projects collaborated on the common use and further development of the technology. These were the E.U.

13 Nov 2018

Virgin Hyperloop One Selects New Chairman

Global hyperloop pioneer Virgin Hyperloop One elects Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as Chairman and Jay Walder as CEO as company leverages new round of funding to begin implementation of hyperloop from Pune to Mumbai.Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem is the Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. Jay Walder, who is one of the world’s leading mass transportation and technology executives, has been appointed as its new CEO. Walder will also join the company’s Board of Directors.The selection of a new senior management team will allow Virgin Hyperloop One to transition its focus from technology startup to mass transportation company beginning with the implementation of the world’s first hyperloop system running from Pune to Mumbai.

17 Sep 2018

The New York Bight – a Hydra of Difficult Issues

File Image: offshore wind operations (CREDIT: CWind)

The greening of America’s energy signature will not come without the usual discussions, regulatory oversight – and opposition from a raft of special interests.Amidst an atmosphere of possible resurgence in the domestic offshore oil energy, maritime stakeholders are also reminded that there is more than one kind of energy available for development off the four collective coasts of the United States. That process is underway in the Great Lakes; it has already happened off of New England.

15 Sep 2018

USCG Navigation Center: Steering a steady course for safe, secure, efficient waterways

Coast Guard Cutter Cypress at sunset. Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Lora Ratliff, U.S. Coast Guard District 8.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s Navigation Center (NAVCEN) is involved in a number of activities that have an impact on all Americans, even if they don’t realize it.From motorists checking directions with their Global Positioning System (GPS) to boaters to ships coming and going to U.S. ports, the NAVCEN plays an unseen but vital role.With a staff of19 officers, 17 enlisted personnel and 19 civilians, NAVCEN falls under the Director of Marine Transportation Systems (CG-5PW) at USCG Headquarters…

11 Sep 2018

Excelerate, TGS Join for Argentina LNG Export Study

Excelerate Energy and Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS) have provisionally agreed to jointly assess the viability of an LNG liquefaction and export project at Bahia Blanca in Argentina.Argentina currently imports liquefied natural gas (LNG) through two floating import terminals, particularly during the country's peak winter consumption.The successful development of Argentina's shale gas reserves resulted in a potential excess of natural gas during the summer months. The project aims at studying the technical and commercial viability of liquefying and exporting natural gas during the summer season, allowing a more sustainable development of shale gas resources and reducing Argentina's annual natural gas net import needs.The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2018…

22 Aug 2018

Five New Marine Technologies @ SMM 2018

Kongsberg Maritime

The SMM 2018 scheduled to take place September 4-7, 2018, in Hamburg, Germany, is held every two years and is the traditional launching platform for a variety of commercial shipping and shipbuilding technologies. Five new marine technologies to look for in Hamburg include:Digitalization & Autonomous SolutionsCompany: Kongsberg MaritimeBooth: B6.104Product: Digital transformation and autonomyKongsberg Maritime will show innovations in its operational, digital and seaborne transportation systems including autonomy and hybrid solutions at SMM 2018.

16 May 2018

Wabash National Corporation Appoints New General Counsel

Wabash National Corporation, a diversified industrial manufacturer and a leading producer of semi-trailers and liquid transportation systems, announced the appointment of Melanie D. Margolin as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. She will oversee all of the company’s legal affairs worldwide in areas such as corporate, commercial, regulatory, intellectual property, ethics, compliance and litigation. She brings 21 years of legal experience in a myriad of substantive areas, both domestically and globally, which will allow her to provide proactive legal advice and develop policies and initiatives that foster Wabash National’s strategic growth plans. “I am pleased to welcome Ms.