DNV unveils concept design for LNG-fueled VLCC

Classification society DNV has taken the wraps off a new crude oil tanker concept. The Triality ship is fueled by LNG, has a hull shape that obviates the need for ballast water

DNV unveils concept design for LNG-fueled VLCC

Classification society DNV has taken the wraps off a new crude oil tanker concept. The Triality ship is fueled by LNG, has a hull shape that obviates the need for ballast water

Whistle blowers rewarded in pollution case

Here’s another case involving “magic pipes” and golden whistles. Atlas Ship Management Ltd., a Turkish corporation, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Fla. to federal charges of making false statements

Singapore invests in marine fuel cell research

Singapore is investing up to Singapore $6 million (US$ 4.5 million) in maritime fuel cell research. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Temasek Polytechnic (TP) have signed a Memorandum

Intersleek delivers big fuel savings for NSCSA

Eight Very Large Crude Carriers are achieving Very Large Carbon Cuts. A detailed performance analysis of a National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) tanker confirms that the company has achieved substantial

Buzzards Bay spill costs Bouchard $6 million more

The Department of Justice, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the state of Rhode Island announced today that Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. and its affiliates will pay more than $6 million to settle

Consortium explores nuclear power for ships

Nuclear powered merchant ships could be sailing again sooner than many might suppose. That’s the view of Lloyd’s Register CEO Richard Sadler. The classification society is a member of a newly formed

Suisun Bay ships to be recyled at Mare Island

 

They cover the cleaning and recycling of two Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet ships, the SS Solon Turman and the SS President. The two ships are scheduled to be towed from Suisun Bay to the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard facility in December.

The award is the first made to Allied Defense,which has long been trying to resurrect Mare Island’s closed dry docks.

The two Suisun Bay ships could be delivered to two of the former naval shipyard’s dry docks as early as next month. But the Mare Island Strait must be dredged first.

The Reporter, Vacaville, Calif., quotes Jay Anast, Allied Defense Recycling business operations director as saying that dredging will begin soon after the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission grants a project permit,

The Reporter says the company received its overall environmental permits in recent months. It also signed a lease with dock owners Lennar Mare Island in August, and was qualified to bid on ship recycling contracts at the end of September.

The Maritime Administration offered Allied Defense Recycling a “no-bid” contract, citing delays and funding issues in its partnership with a Bay Area ship-cleaning facility that prepares ships for dismantling outside the area, according to The Reporter.

“The Obama Administration is running full-speed ahead in its commitment to cleaning up the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “These contracts will help the local economy while advancing our mission of maintaining the Fleet in a safe and environmentally-sound manner.”

In October 2009, the Obama Administration called for expedited cleanup of the fleet site and improved protection of the unique marine environment and surrounding bayside communities, setting a goal of removing 57 ships by September 30, 2017. Eleven ships were removed in the past year, surpassing the planned schedule of removing 10 ships in 2010.

“This is further evidence of our commitment to clean up Suisun Bay,” said Maritime Administrator David Matsuda. “The Mare Island recycling facility will bolster our efforts to remove obsolete ships and reduce environmental risks to the Bay.”

MARAD currently cleans the hulls of obsolete ships before towing them nearly 5,000 miles through the Panama Canal to recycling facilities on the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic coasts. Using the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard site will enable the ships to be recycled while avoiding the lengthy tow to ship recyclers in other areas.

In the past MARAD has sent ships for disposal to recyclers as far away as the U.K. provoking protests and headlines about “ghost ships” and “toxic ships.”

November 10, 2010

$2.1 million penalties in Gould pollution case

Galliano, La., headquartered Offshore Vessels LLC (OSV), formerly Edison Chouest Offshore Vessels LLC, was on Thursday sentenced in U.S. District Court in New Orleans to pay a criminal fine of $1,750,000 and remit a payment of $350,000 as community service to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The community service funds are to be used to study polar water pollution and protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the Antarctic region. OSV also will serve a period of probation for three years, during which it will be required to operate under an Environmental Compliance Plan.

OSV pleaded guilty on July 22, 2010, to knowingly discharging waste oil from one of its vessels, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS).

“The criminal fine in this case will serve as a strong deterrent to all vessel companies, American and foreign, against deliberately violating the laws enacted to protect oceans,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “The required payment will provide a means of studying polar water oil pollution and its impact on Antarctica’s fragile marine ecosystem.”

OSV owned and operated the R/V Laurence M. Gould (R/V Gould). The R/V Gould was a 2,966 gross ton American-flagged vessel that served as an ice-breaking research vessel for the National Science Foundation on research voyages to and from Antarctica. In its guilty plea earlier this year, OSV admitted that crew members knowingly discharged oily wastewater from the bilge tank of the R/V Gould overboard to the high seas, in violation of APPS. In doing so, they bypassed the ship’s oily-water separator, a pollution-control device. Regulations promulgated under APPS require that oily wastewater be discharged only after it has been sent through an oily water separator.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Criminal Investigative Service. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Daniel Dooher of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dorothy Manning Taylor.

November 6, 2010

New Mitsui bulker cuts CO2 emissions

 

Named the “neo Supramax 66BC,” the new ship is an enlarged version of Mitsui’s best selling 56,000 dwt type handymax bulker, for which it has received over 150 orders

Development of the neo Supramax 66BC design involved extensive consultations with shipowners and operators and investigations of more than 600 ports all over the world. The result is a ship designed to have wide beam (36 m) and shallow draft, taking into account current 56BC trading patters and the expansion of Panama Canal, expected in 2014.

The ship is a general use bulk carrier equipped with deck cranes and suited for the carriage of bulk cargoes including coal, iron ore, wheat, barley, soya beans, etc. It can also carry lengthy/heavy cargoes such as steel pipe and hot coil. Hatch openings are optimized for the existing cargo handling equipment at various ports.

Although the neo Supramax 66BC is larger than the 56BC, its fuel consumption less as a result of adopting Mitsui’s newly developed energy-saving hull form.

The shipbuilder is offering two specifications for the ship – Premium and Standard. The Premium model will achieves a reduction of CO2 emission by about 21 percent on a ton-mile basis with a further reduction of up to about 30 percent with the application of optional software and hardware .

Mitsui is also developing measures to meet future SOx and NOx emission controls and requirements for ballast water treatment system is adopted, which is a hot current topic among maritime industries.

Principal Particulars of the Ship

Length overall 200 m

Breadth 36 m

Depth 18.45 m

Full-load draft 12.9 m

Deadweight 66,000 metric tons

Service speed 14.5 knots

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