Marine Link
Friday, March 29, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Walker News

25 Mar 2024

Demopolis: A Cautionary Tale for Increased Infrastructure Investment

Demopolis Lock—which suffered a recent catastrophic failure—is a cautionary tale for other locks and those in Congress and the White House who may fail to see the urgency and importance of investing in the inland waterways system. (Photo: Chuck Walker / U.S. Army)

Demopolis Lock—which suffered a recent catastrophic failure—is a cautionary tale for other locks and those in Congress and the White House who may fail to see the urgency and importance of investing in the inland waterways system.The nation’s inland waterways lock and dam infrastructure, largely constructed in the 1930s, has seen modernization and rehabilitation across the system, albeit very slowly. Despite those efforts, lock failures continue, and the risk of failure persists.While…

28 Feb 2024

Anglo American Takes Delivery of Final LNG Dual-fuel Bulk Carrier

Ubuntu Liberty (Photo: Anglo American)

Anglo American has taken delivery of its 10th and final dual-fueled bulk carrier powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the company said on Wednesday.The capesize-plus LNG dual-fueled bulk carriers have been built and delivered over the last three years from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co.

26 Dec 2023

Maritime Innovation: Fostering Creativity and Working to Make Bright Ideas Work

© Yellow Boat / Adobe Stock

This is the dawning of the age of AI and Big Data, huge agglomerations of new and transformative energy; almost self-generating, always strengthening and pulling at the reins, seeking to break free and run, a prospect both exciting and terrifying. That image can imply a human is holding the reins. How quaint: these days, AI itself may be holding the reins.In a review of innovation in 2023 – across any industrial or economic sector, not just maritime – AI looms large, a game-changer equivalent to IBM’s programming advances in the 1940s.

18 Sep 2023

NAMEPA Announces Winners of its Marine Environment Protection Awards

Carleen Lyden Walker, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NAMEPA

The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) has announced the winners of the Marine Environment Protection Awards for 2023.Winners include MSC Cruises for Sustainability, Tote Services for the Industry Award, Captain Bridget Cooney as an Individual, Dr. Jason Zuidema for Seafarers, New York Harbor Middle School led by example this year for Maritime Academies, Port XChange for Innovation, Maritime Blue in the Non-Profit category, and NOAA’s OR&R for Government.The Awards will be presented at NAMEPA’s Annual Marine Environment Protection Conference…

12 Sep 2023

Gosport Ferry Undergoes Genset Overhaul

(Photo: Royston)

Royston’s specialist marine engineering team has completed essential repair and a service work on a power plant system used onboard a south coast of England ferry.The 32-meter-long Spirit of Portsmouth, which carries pedestrians and cyclists between Gosport and Portsmouth in Hampshire, has had one of its aft Cummins 6BT generator sets overhauled by Royston engineers at the company’s North East of England workshop facility.This involved a full engine strip down with service work completed on essential parts.

03 May 2023

Marlink Launches Telemar Yachting

(Photo: Marlink)

Marlink, the smart network and ICT solutions company, is bringing together its Telemar US, UK and Italy leisure market operations to create Telemar Yachting, to provide a portfolio of managed services to the yachting market.This combination installation and maintenance of safety and navigation equipment coupled with OmniAccess’ connectivity and cyber security solutions for the yachting segment.Telemar Yachting has been created in response to increasing demand from yacht owners and managers for a more holistic ‘single service’ approach…

23 Feb 2023

CLdN Car Carrier Fitted with Rotor Sails

(Photo: CLdN)

CLdN announced one of its RoRo car carrier vessels is ready for its return to service after being fitted with a rotor sail wind propulsion system.The Luxembourg based company is the latest in a string of ship owners and operators to have turned to wind propulsion systems as a means to reduce fuel burn and emissions amid its journey to improve operational efficiency and its environmental footprint.Now fitted with two 35mx5m rotor sails, Delphine is the first vessel in the CLdN fleet to be fitted with the system and will return to service from Zeebrugge…

07 Feb 2023

TDI Names Walker Director of Lab Operations

Paul Walker (Photo: TDI-Brooks International, Inc.)

TDI-Brooks International, Inc. announced it has appointed Paul Walker as its director of laboratory operations, tasked with leading the company's geotechnical, geochemical and environmental labs.Walker began his career at Humble Geochemical where he was tasked with method development, instrument maintenance, and general lab and project management. He then joined Baseline Resolution where he continued developing and optimizing specialized pyrolysis and hydrocarbon separation methods for onshore and offshore petroleum systems.

30 Nov 2022

3-Year Deal: Survitec to Maintain Life Saving Equipment on Valaris' Offshore Rigs

©Survitec

Offshore drilling operator Valaris has extended its service agreement with Survitec, a provider of survival technology solutions, for another three years.The master service and supply contract, originally signed in 2016, covers the annual and five-year inspection, servicing, and maintenance of LSA, including lifeboats, davits, and fast rescue crafts across Valaris’ global fleet of 11 drill ships, 5 semi-submersibles and 36 jack-up rigs.Survitec said:"An extensive network of more…

31 Oct 2022

Cyber Attacks On the Rise at US Ports and Terminals

© Mariakray / Adobe Stock

Cyber attack attempts are becoming more common at U.S. ports and terminals, according to findings published this week by law firm Jones Walker LLP.The firm publicly released the findings of its 2022 Ports and Terminals Cybersecurity Survey, examining cybersecurity preparedness in U.S.-based ports and terminals. The report outlining the results of the survey is authored by four of the firm’s attorneys and the findings was presented by two of them, Jim Kearns and Andy Lee, during the Inland Rivers…

05 Oct 2022

Mainprize Offshore's Wind Farm Service Vessel Hits the Water

Credit: Manor Marine

UK-based Manor Marine has recently launched an offshore wind farm service vessel being built for Mainprize Offshore.With lifting assistance from Ainscough Crane Hire, Manor Marine launched the Mainprize Offshore Ltd vessel MO8 into the water in the last week of September, following several months of building onsite in Portland, Dorset.The MO8 will undergo internal fitout and final works before sea trials and delivery to Mainprize Offshore later this year.Mainprize Offshore ordered the 26-meter Supa Swath catamaran, designed by Walker Marine Design, in 2021.

08 Sep 2022

Hyundai Mipo Building Hybrid RoRo Ships for CLdN

(Photo: CLdN)

Wärtsilä and logistics provider CLdN have jointly developed an innovative hybrid design for two new RoRo vessels. The propulsion arrangement is such that the ships can operate as gas/diesel-mechanical vessel now, or in the future as gas/diesel-electric vessel. The vessels are being built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyards in Korea.The Wärtsilä hybrid system includes Energy Storage Systems, two large PTO/PTI generators and electric motors, multidrive converters, and the Wärtsilä Energy Management System that controls and optimizes the hybrid operations.

23 May 2022

BP, Rio Tinto in Year-long Marine Biofuel Trial

Credit: BP

Mining giant Rio Tinto has entered an agreement with the oil major BP to start a one-year biofuel trial to reduce carbon emissions from Rio Tinto’s marine fleet. Under the trial, BP is supplying Rio Tinto with marine biofuel for approximately 12 months. The fuel will be trialed on Rio Tinto’s RTM Tasman bulk carrier on a mix of Transatlantic and Atlantic-Pacific routes, in what has been described as "one of the longest-duration marine biofuel trials to date." "Sustainable biofuels…

09 Mar 2022

Rotor Sails To Be Installed on CLdN RoRo

Image © HR Wallingford

Norsepower has announced an agreement signed with CLdN to install two tilting Rotor Sails on board a 2018-built Ro-Ro vessel to improve ship fuel efficiency and carbon emissions reduction. Preparations are currently taking place with the installation anticipated to be completed by December 2022.The MV Delphine, a vessel with a cargo capacity of close to 8,000 lane meters, transits between the UK, Ireland and Europe and is the largest short sea Ro-Ro vessel operating in the world today.

23 Feb 2022

Mainprize Offshore Orders Another Wind Farm Service Vessel from Manor Marine

©Manor Marine

UK-based Manor Marine UK Ltd has secured a contract with Mainprize Offshore to build a second offshore wind farm service vessel, following the win of the building contract for the MO8 in 2021. The second vessel to be built at the site in Portland, UK, for Mainprize Offshore, the MO9, will be another 26-meter Supa-Swath catamaran designed by Walker Marine Design and due for delivery in early 2023.The build of the MO9 will mark the seventh crew transfer vessel constructed by Manor Marine…

02 Feb 2022

Senior Surveyor Sean Murphy Joins ABL Boston

Sean Murphy (Photo: ABL Group)

AqualisBraemar LOC ASA Group's (ABL Group) operations in the USA announced the new appointment of Sean Murphy as Senior Surveyor based in Boston, adding to ABL’s strengths in both the local maritime and offshore renewables industries.Murphy is a chartered naval architect and marine engineer, and a graduate of Webb Institute with a masters in engineering management from Duke University.He has extensive experience in marine casualty investigations for various interests, serving as an expert witness in his field.

21 Jan 2022

A Greener and More Ambitious EU Maritime ETS Emerges

© Fokussiert / Adobe Stock

On January 14, 2022 the European Parliament’s Rapporteur, MEP Peter Liese, published his draft report on a proposal to revise the Emissions Trading System (ETS) Directive¹ which forms part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package of climate and energy reforms published on July 14, 2021. The draft report includes a number of ambitious amendments to emissions trading for the maritime sector – the Maritime ETS – which, if agreed, will put more pressure on the maritime industry to switch to cleaner fuels sooner than originally planned.

03 Jan 2022

Diverse Marine to Build New Vessel for Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service

(Image: Diverse Marine)

Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service Ltd. announced it has signed a new vessel construction agreement with shipbuilder Diverse Marine for a first of class 14-meter Medina Class Lifeboat. The vessel has commenced build and will be delivered in 2022.After a competitive international tender process using a design from Walker Marine Design, the construction of the vessel at Cowes on the Isle of Wight completes the evolutionary process that saw the original Medina Class Lifeboat built…

29 Dec 2021

Carnival Says Most Itineraries Unchanged as Omicron Cases Rise

© Sergey / Adobe Stock

Carnival Corp (CCL.N) said on Tuesday a majority of its ships' itineraries were unchanged despite a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, which has threatened to stall a recovery in the cruise industry.The world's largest cruise operator, however, said a few destination ports were reviewing their protocols and processes due to the fast-spreading new variant.Many passengers and media reports, including those from CNN and Euronews, said authorities of a few ports in the Caribbean…

23 Dec 2021

Taylor Energy, U.S. Feds Reach $475M Settlement in Longest-running Offshore Oil Spill

Credit: Studio Barcelona/AdobeStock

Oil company Taylor Energy Co LLC agreed to transfer a $432 million cleanup trust account to the U.S. government and pay an additional $43 million to resolve a lawsuit over its role in the longest-running oil spill in U.S. history under a proposed deal filed in New Orleans federal court on Wednesday.The New Orleans company and federal officials filed a proposed consent decree to resolve claims arising from a 2004 incident when Hurricane Ivan caused one of Taylor's offshore drilling platforms to collapse in the Gulf of Mexico.

25 Oct 2021

VIDEO: Jack-up Vessel Drops Turbine Blades Overboard at Vattenfall's Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm

MPI Offshore, an offshore installation service firm owned by Van Oord, last week accidentally dropped three wind turbine blades into the sea, while conducting scheduled maintenance at Vattenfall's Ormonde wind farm in the Irish Sea, off the UK.According to the Kingfisher incident report, MPI Offshore's MPI Adventure jack-up vessel last week jacked up alongside Ormonde B01 wind turbine and dropped three 61 m turbine blades weighing 126 tonnes in total, and a blade clamping tool weighing 3000-3100kg overboard.A notice to mariners dated October 18 said that the dropped items were in the water adjacent to MPI Adventure near the wind turbine generator B01…

21 Jul 2021

Manor to Build Offshore Wind Service Vessel for Mainprize

Credit: Manor Marine

UK-based shipbuilder and marine services provider Manor Marine has won an order to build a multi-role offshore wind farm service vessel.The 26-meter Supa Swath catamaran, designed by Walker Marine Design, was ordered by Mainprize Offshore. Manor Marine expects to deliver it in the second quarter of 2022.This will be the sixth crew transfer vessel constructed by Manor Marine, but the first vessel built for Mainprize Offshore.It will feature a Supa-Swath hull form, with a 175m2 of deck space…

06 May 2021

Two Harvey Gulf Board Members Resign

(Photo: Harvey Gulf)

HGIM Corp., the parent company to U.S.-based Harvey Gulf International Marine, LLC, announced on Thursday that the holders of over 85% of its common stock, including Gladiator Investments, LLC, an affiliate of Shane J. Guidry, Walker Ridge Capital Management, LLC, an affiliate of The Jordan Company LP, and certain affiliates of Black Diamond Capital Management, L.L.C., have entered into a securityholders agreement. In connection with the agreement, Sherman Edmiston and James Swent have resigned from the board of directors…