Australia's HMAS Ballarat has completed a port visit to Sepanggar, Malaysia as part of a three month South East Asia deployment. She was in the region to enagage with the Royal Malaysian Navy, and load supplies before she returns to Australia for further exercises. Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral David Johnston, said Ballarat’s deployment provided an opportunity to engage with many nations in South East Asia. “Our enduring military to military engagement activities contribute to security and stability in our region,” he said.

Economic stability and sustainable development can be driven by an integrated approach to the maritime sector, including ports, maritime security and facilitation of maritime traffic. Joined-up government policies covering the whole of the maritime sector are critical for the port sector to flourish. These were among key messages delivered by International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Chris Trelawny, who was speaking at the Port Security Technology conference, London, United Kingdom (20 June)…

Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat has completed a passage exercise with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Royal Canadian Navy and United States Navy ships during her South East Asia deployment. The exercise, conducted in the South China Sea from 8-10 June, included Japanese ships Izumo and Sazanami, Canadian ship Winnipeg and USS Sterett. The ships completed close quarters manoeuvres, helicopter operations, personnel exchanges, gunnery exercises and air defence training.

Now, the International Maritime Organization (IMO)  Maritime Safety Committee will start to establish a new international legal framework for the safe operation of autonomous ships, says a statement from Danish Maritime Authority. Together with a number of countries, Denmark, has taken the initiative to include autonomous shipping on the IMO agenda. United Nations' IMO is in line with the proposal and will now start mapping how existing international regulation can be applied to autonomous ships and maritime technologies; technologies that are developing rapidly these years.

Naval leaders from the United Kingdom, France and the United States signed an agreement June 1, designed to increase coordination for anti-submarine warfare activities of the three countries as they operate in the 5th Fleet area of operations. Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) Vice Adm. Kevin M. Donegan signed the trilateral agreement with Vice Adm. Louis-Michel Guillaume, commander, French Submarine and Strategic Oceanic Forces (ALFOST) and Rear Adm. Robert K. Tarrant, commander, Operations of the Royal Navy, at Donegan's headquarters in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The International Maritime Prize for 2005 has been presented to Dr. Tom Allan (United Kingdom), former Chairman of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) and Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to IMO. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, presented the prize to Dr. Allan during a special ceremony (on Monday, 6 November) during the 97th session of the IMO Council, which met at Central Hall, Westminster, London. The International Maritime Prize is awarded annually by IMO to the individual or organization judged to have made the most significant contribution to the work and objectives of IMO. The 96th session of the IMO Council in June 2006 took the decision to award the prize to Dr.

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has announced the delivery of the 500th liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from QP affiliate Qatar Liquefied Gas Company (2) to the South Hook LNG Terminal at Milford Haven in the United Kingdom. The landmark delivery, on Thursday March 24th, was made on board the Q-Flex LNG vessel Al-Hamla. Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, described the delivery as “another significant achievement for Qatar’s LNG industry”. Mr. Al-Kaabi…

T.D. Williamson, Inc. (TDW), provider of equipment and services for pipelines and pressurized piping systems for more than nine decades, is pleased to announce that John Ball recently joined the company as Country Manager, United Kingdom, for T.D. Williamson (U.K.) Limited. In this capacity, Ball is responsible for sales development and execution, the maintenance of operational excellence, and team management. Based in Sheffield, England, and formerly of Applus RTD UK Ltd. and Team Industrial Services…

Maersk Line announced a new direct service between North Europe and Piraeus (Greece). The company will include Piraeus in its Scan Med service. The new rotation will be Gothenburg (Sweden), Bremerhaven (Germany), Felixstowe (United Kingdom), Antwerp (Belgium), Piraeus (Greece), Haydarpasa (Turkey), Ambarli (Turkey), Izmir (Turkey), Gioia Tauro (Italy), Felixstowe (United Kingdom), and Gothenburg (Sweden). The first vessel to enter the new rotation is Maersk Barcelona, departing Gothenburg 23 June 2007 and arriving in Piraeus on 3 July 2007.

Kenya has become the 13th signatory to the Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct – the instrument developed and adopted by countries in the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden that has been a key factor in repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships operating in that region. Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mozambique, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen are other countries to sign it.

Imtech Marine Group and Radio Holland Group announced that a new Radio Holland service location in the southern part of the United Kingdom has been established. The office of Imtech Marine & Offshore in the UK will perform service activities for navigation and communication equipment, trading as Radio Holland. Imtech Marine & Offshore UK will, with direct support from Radio Holland, perform service activities from their service station in the Southampton area. The service area is the United Kingdom including Ireland. Predominantly the office will focus on deep sea and coastal shipping, both on board UK ships as well as serving international shipping visiting UK ports.

On 14 June 2010, Rear Admiral Hudson Peter Hudson CBE handed over the responsibility of Operation Commander of the European Union Naval Force Somalia, Op ATALANTA to Major General Buster Howes OBE. The handover was conducted in the Operational Headquarters in Northwood near London. Rear Admiral Hudson, who joined the operation in June 2009, has been instrumental in the ongoing success of EU NAVFOR and the execution of the Op ATALANTA mission. Rear Admiral Hudson leaves EU NAVFOR to continue his appointment as Commander United Kingdom Maritime Force (COMUKMARFOR) in Portsmouth.

Laborde Products recently completed refurbishing and testing of three diesel generator sets for a wind farm in the United Kingdom. According to Joe Manning, manager of Laborde's Channelview operations, these units will provide backup to the wind turbines when the prevailing wind is low. Mitsubishi S16R large bore diesel engines power the generators. Seven total units are involved in the project, each rated from 1,400kW to 2 MW. Because of Laborde's extensive experience with Mitsubishi diesel engines, these units were shipped to their Channelview facility from a project in California where they were operating on biogas. The scope of Laborde's work includes converting the generators from biogas to #2 diesel fuel…

The GAC Group announces key management appointments for its head office and local operations in Oman and the United Kingdom. Group Vice President for Human Resources Jan Farnelid will retire on 31 August and take on a consulting role with the Group until the end of the year. Since 2004, Jan has successfully implemented HR policies and initiatives that underline the importance of GAC’s focus on human capital as a key enabler of its expansion strategy. Taking over Jan’s position…

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract to perform a study for the United Kingdom's Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control (MASC) program. This study will concentrate on a manned rotary-wing solution for MASC, which will provide the future maritime airborne early warning and battle management system. Follow-on phases are expected to further define the preferred option or options, working towards a production contract after further U.K. Ministry of Defence approval. Northrop Grumman's contract is one of several studies that have been awarded. MASC will be the airborne node of the Royal Navy's network-enabled capability -- the third element in its carrier strike capability and, as such, integrated with the Joint Combat Aircraft and the Future Carrier.

Royal Caribbean International announced plans to deploy Independence of the Seas - the third in its new Freedom class of ships - in the United Kingdom, when she debuts in May 2008. to be home-ported in Europe. a rock-climbing wall and a boxing ring. sail the 2008 summer season from Southampton, United Kingdom.

Telenor Satellite Services announced the signing of a contract with Fugro Survey Limited of Aberdeen, United Kingdom, for Sealink maritime high-speed data communications aboard three of the company's survey and research vessels. Under the terms of the annual agreement, Telenor will provide Ku-Band service for two of Fugro's site survey vessels, both operating in the North Sea. Telenor will also install a new combined "quick change" C- and Ku-Band system aboard a third vessel, operating globally. Ku-Band provides Fugro the capability to use high-speed communications applications at sea including LAN and WAN connectivity, video conferencing, and Internet access, while using smaller, less expensive shipboard equipment.

BBC Chartering announces the opening of a new representative office in London, United Kingdom, starting immediately. “We continue to strengthen our position at important shipping hubs for breakbulk, heavy lift and project cargo”, said Svend Andersen, CEO of BBC Chartering. The London branch is the second location of BBC Chartering in the UK and closely cooperates with the existing representative office in Liverpool. Ms. Valeria Salzano, who transferred from BBC Chartering Genoa Srl., was appointed as regional Sales & Chartering Manager for the London office.

Last week two dive support workboats arrived at the Hydrex headquarters in Antwerp. Both vessels can be used for a wide range of operations in Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France. The catamarans are fully equipped as dive support stations with hydraulic cranes, hydraulic winches, nautical and communication equipment and a dive control room. The workboats are stationed at our Antwerp office, where a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment and tools is available at all times. Hydrex has an experienced and certified team of diver/technicians ready to mobilize immediately together with the workboats. They can carry out routine operations as well as highly technical repair work within a very short time frame and without any loss of quality.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that preliminary February steel imports were $2.6 billion (2.9 million metric tons) compared to the preliminary January totals of $2.7 billion (2.9 million metric tons). The January change in steel imports based on metric tonnage reflected an increase primarily in blooms, billets and slabs and a decrease primarily in reinforcing bars, the Census Bureau said. Increases occurred primarily with Brazil, United Kingdom and India, while decreases occurred primarily with Turkey, Korea and Canada. The year to date final statistics through January 2014 showed steel imports of 2.9 million metric tons compared with 2.4 million metric tons through January 2013.

Ships assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 26 pulled into Faslane, Scotland, ready to commence Exercise Joint Warrior 15-1, April 9. DESRON 26 arrived in Faslane with guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio (CG 68) and guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78), ready to participate in Joint Warrior, a semi-annual training exercise conducted in the coastal waters off the United Kingdom. The training, led by the United Kingdom, is designed to provide NATO and allied forces a multiwarfare environment in which to prepare for global operations.

SENER opened an Engineering and Construction division in Manchester to reinforce its presence in the United Kingdom. The group already has work sites set up in the UK and it maintains a close 25-year relationship with Rolls Royce through ITP, a leader in the global market for industrial and aeronautical engines in which SENER (53.125%) and Rolls Royce (46.875%) are the two shareholders. The new office will lend the support needed for ongoing projects such as the construction of two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy.

Technip was awarded by EnQuest earlier this year a large(1) engineering, procurement, installation and construction (EPCI) contract for the Kraken development located in the North Sea,  400 kilometers North-East of Aberdeen and 130 kilometers East of Shetland, at a water depth of approximately 120 meters. - pipeline flooding, hydro testing and leak testing. Technip’s operating center in Aberdeen, United-Kingdom, will execute the contract. The Group will leverage its unique vertical position in the subsea business.