Vessel Owners News

Incidents involving container ships, although not new, have made the news much more frequently of late. In 2011 the Container Incident Notification System (CINS) was established to allow container ship owners to self-report incidents that might be of concern the other members of the group, and today CINS has 17 vessel owner members.The cases of the Yantian Express, Maersk Honam, MSC Flaminia, MSC Daniela, are some of the most recent examples of container ship fires. The rise in the rate of container ship fires…

Loy Stewart, Jr. is President, Detyens Shipyards. He is a 1991 graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point where he earned a degree in Marine Engineering. After several months sailing on the Sealift Atlantic, Loy began working at Detyens as a Ship Superintendent and coordinated work on numerous commercial and navy contracts. In 1996, when the Detyens Shipyards were divided into separate profit centers, Loy Jr. was promoted to Profit Center Manager of the Wando facility. In 2002 he was made PCM of the Main Yard in North Charleston and promoted to Executive Vice President in 2003.

Born at the University of Michigan in the early 1990s, Bristol Harbor Group (BHG) has grown into a diverse and widely respected naval architecture and marine engineering firm. Cory Wood, Vice President and one of the four co-founders of BHG, discusses the companies past and design drivers to power its future.The University of Michigan runs one of the most prestigious naval architecture and marine engineering programs in the country, but when Cory Wood entered U of M, he did so with the intent of becoming an aerospace engineer.

GTMaritime has seen exceptional growth in the use of its secure, maritime optimized email software and other cyber-security solutions as vessel owners and operators step up a gear to harden onboard networks and protect their ships from digital threats. Many have been spurred into action by IMO’s decision to bring cyber-security under the remit of the ISM code from 2021.Some 5,677 vessels are now employing solutions from GTMaritime’s portfolio – an increase of more than one-third over the past year.

State-owned oil company Qatar Petroleum announced the commencement of Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) bunker supply operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC) Port.The VLSFO marine fuel offering has been initiated in advance of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2020 regulation for a 0.50% global Sulfur limit for marine fuels which will come into effect 1st January 2020.Qatar Petroleum, in conjunction with Qatar Fuel (Woqod), initiated bunkering services in Qatar…

Maritime autonomous surface ship (“MASS”) technology continues to advance at a rapid pace around the globe. Although it’s not being embraced as quickly in the United States commercial market as other parts of the world, U.S. industry professionals and regulators look forward to continued development and implementation as a means to improve efficiency and safety.OpportunitiesThe U.S. Maritime Administration (“MARAD”) hosted “Achieving Critical MASS: Spotlight on the U.S. Vessel Automation Industry” July 22 and 23, 2019, encouraging discussion between U.S.

Kongsberg and MAN Energy Solutions have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the purpose of exploring the potential for collaboration on a common data infrastructure for the maritime sector.The collaboration will broaden the value offering to vessel operators, improve return on investment in digital solutions and increase the adoption of secure connectivity.Under the MoU, MAN Energy Solutions is set to investigate the possibility of using Kongsberg Digital’s data-infrastructure solution…

The InvaSave mobile ballast water treatment system from Damen Green Solutions has demonstrated beyond doubt its capability to help ships meet the incoming D2 standard. All vessels will be required to comply with the standard which came into force on September 8th this year.This summer the InvaSave crew teamed up with local service provider Tradebe Santander  (Tradebe Company) to receive ballast water from a tanker in Gijon. What appears to be a simple exercise has significant…

Associated Terminals runs an impressive mid-stream cargo handling operation on the Lower Mississippi River, unloading bulk carriers with high-efficiency cranes loading a carousel of barges. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News/MarineLink.com spent some time with Todd Fuller, President, Associated Terminals to discuss the operation.For those not in the know, provide an overview of the Associated Terminals assets in your New Orleans midstream cargo ops.Associated Terminals operates 13 deep draft midstream berths and 11 deep draft fixed dock facilities on the lower Mississippi River.

Vessel owners rarely carry cargo for their own account. More commonly by far, a vessel owner will charter its vessel to another party to carry their (or their sub-charterer’s) cargo. The contracts can vary widely – from voyage charters or contracts of affreightment to time charters to negotiable bills of lading (not to mention the more complex arrangements that one often sees for container cargos). But in most instances, vessel owners are in the business of transporting cargo on behalf of others and, all going well, of being paid to do so.

Singapore-based Penguin International has selected FUELTRAX to provide electronic fuel monitoring system (EFMS) solutions for its Flex Fighter range of armored multi-role security boats.The aluminum high-speed craft designer, builder, owner will also install FUELTRAX on its own fleet of Flex-42X Executive Fast Crew Boats.Recognizing the increased demand for EFMS by vessel owners and oil majors alike, Penguin is committed to providing the best EFMS solution on the market for their build-for-stock program…

Every day we see more and more news about how the planning for new offshore wind projects continues to expand with the increasing investment from both domestic and foreign interests in these projects. This is resulting in both developers and contractors making logistics plans to secure vessels and crew for the purposes of meeting the demands necessary to crew and operate vessels in support of future wind farm operations. Unfortunately, there are challenges associated with the…

Shipping companies sailing through the Middle East Gulf are being urged to avoid having private armed security guards onboard as the risk of escalation in the region rises, industry associations say.Relations between Iran and the West have become increasingly strained after Britain seized an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar last week and London said its warship HMS Montrose had to fend off Iranian vessels seeking to block a British-owned tanker from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.The most recent incidents followed a spate of attacks on tankers since May around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, which the United States has blamed…

Based in Miramar, FL, ABB Vice President Ed Schwarz is today responsible for developing and leading the newly created new sales team for ABB in North America.He is the firm’s leading advocate for new build opportunities in US and Canada and more importantly, developing the business strategy necessary for bringing hybrid and electric solutions to North America market. A graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering and Shipyard Management in 2000.

Hybridization in the marine world is transitioning from the latest fad to a key part of vessel design and retrofits. Driven in part by a demand for increased efficiency and new waves of global legislation, hybridizing or electrifying a vessel is quickly becoming necessary for organizations. In fact, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules and guidelines for the marine industry call for reduced emissions globally, and some ports around the world have established ambitious…

Coast Guard crews have suspended the search for one person missing after an explosion and subsequent fire at Delong Dock in Whittier, Alaska, Monday.An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, forward deployed to Cordova, searched by air while crews aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Chandeleur and Coast Guard Auxiliary 336 also conducted a search for the missing person.Shortly after midnight, Coast Guard Sector Anchorage watchstanders heard the phrase "Whittier fire…

“If consolidation was the solution to all that ails shipping, then container liner companies would be super profitable. They are not. In ‘commoditized’ sectors of the shipping industry, which by now includes pretty much everything apart from very small niche markets, there is hardly any economies of scale at the company level. As long as bigger is not in fact much better, then meaningful consolidation will not happen.”Dr. Roar Adland, visiting scholar at MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics and Professor at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).Like any other business…

The second report from the historic MarTID survey initiative to study global maritime training practices, investment and thought is now available on the MarTID website. The findings include the following: expenditure on maritime training continues to rise for vessel owners and seafarers; new safety and environmental regulations are driving seafarers training trends; and the prospect of ship autonomy is entering the discussions on future seafarer training.Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry…

The expenditure on maritime industry training continues to rise for vessel owners and seafarers, said asurvey.According to MarTID survey, new safety and environmental regulations are driving seafarers training trends. The study of global maritime training practices, investment and thought, also revealed that the prospect of ship autonomy is entering the discussions on future seafarer training.Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President of the World Maritime University, welcomed the report stating: “For all stakeholders involved in the maritime industry…

Hydrogen fuel cell technology to Satisfy Future IMO RequirementsWith an ongoing push by the maritime community to reduce ship emissions to satisfy IMO MARPOL Annex VI regulations and limit the sulfur content of ships from 01 January 2020 to 0.5 percent world-wide, many ship owners are starting to consider hydrogen fuel cell technology to satisfy evolving emissions regulations. To date, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on research programs to utilize hydrogen fuel cells for transportation.

NBS Maritime, the ship supply company that provides mobile satellite communications for the maritime sector, has announced  a new complete solution 'SeaDirect' for satellite communications with unlimited Internet connection onboard different types of vessels.Among the first NBS Maritime customers using SeaDirect are international shipping companies as well as superyachts, it said.SeaDirect is now available over the areas of the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea…

As of June 1, 2019, Bludworth Marine, LLC has relocated their corporate headquarters to Galveston, Texas. The new location, at 320 77th Street, is minutes from the Bludworth Marine 100' x 300' graving dock location and the Port of Galveston Pier 38 dockside location. This proximity will allow quicker response and service to the continually increasing marine repair service business in Galveston and surrounding areas. The new 3.5-acre site location also includes a 75' x 150' high bay fabrication shop with a 10-ton overhead crane…

Genscape Maritime’s Vessel Coverage of U.S. Inland Waterways offers new perspectives and a leg up on the competition. In today’s transportation markets, information is everything.It was back in 2016 that Genscape announced the complete integration of more than 400 terrestrial AIS antennas in North America, providing an impressive level of data accuracy and visibility into ship movements in the U.S. today, Genscape’s proprietary antenna network offers customers insights into ship movements…