Pirate gets 30 year prison sentence
In the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Judge Raymond A. Jackson today sentenced Jama Idle Ibrahim, a/k/a Jaamac Ciidle, of Somalia ,to 30 years in prison for
Legal
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
U.S. court convicts five Somalis of piracy
A federal jury in Norfolk, Va., on Wednesday convicted five men from Somalia of engaging in piracy and related offenses in their attack on the USS Nicholas. It is believed to be
Indian warship fires warning shots ahead of Restis bulker
The Indian Navy today fired warning shots ahead of a Restis Group bulker, the 57,000 dwt Bahamas-flag Dynamic Striker. The ship, managed by Restis’s Enterprises Shipping and Trading, arrived in Mumbai October
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
Somali pirates hijack chemical tanker
Early this morning, Nov.11, the MV HANNIBAL II was pirated whilst on route from Malaysia to Suez. Eu Navfor says the 24,105 tonne chemical tanker, a Panamanian-flagged vessel ,was carrying vegetable oils
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
Pirates extort record ransom
The 319,360 dwt, Marshall Islands registered, Samho Dream with a crew of five Koreans and 19 Filipinos, was released at around 11:30 p.m., Saturday night, according to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The owner, Samho Shipping, reportedly paid a ransom of more than $9 million — the largest amount thus far extorted from a shipowner by Somali pirates.
The ship had been seized approximately 600 nautical miles off the Somali coast carrying roughly $170 million worth of Iraqi crude oil.
An official from the Foreign Ministry said yesterday that “the Samho Dream is currently being escorted to a safe location by the Korean naval ship Wang-gun from the Cheonghae Unit, and is expected to land at the port of Salalah in Oman this Thursday.”
The president of Samho Shipping, Sohn Yong-ho, told Joonang Daily that the crew is in good condition, but he would not disclose the exact amount paid to the pirates, nor how much of the ransom came from insurance payouts.
The Singapore-registered chemical tanker MV Golden Blessing was also released by pirates Saturday, It had been seized on June 28 and carrying a crew of 19 Chinese was released for a reported ransom of $2.8 million.
November 8, 2010