$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

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