New York Governor vetoes proposed LNG port

 

The project, which had been proposed by Liberty Natural Gas, LLC, required approval from both Governor Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Christie under the federal Deepwater Port Act.

Governor Cuomo detailed his full position in a letter to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

“My administration carefully reviewed this project from all angles, and we have determined that the security and economic risks far outweigh any potential benefits,” said Governor Cuomo. “Superstorm Sandy taught us how quickly things can go from bad to worse when major infrastructure fails – and the potential for disaster with this project during extreme weather or amid other security risks is simply unacceptable. Port Ambrose would also hinder the local maritime economy in a way that negatively impacts businesses throughout Long Island, and that is simply unacceptable. This is a common-sense decision, because vetoing this project is in the best interests of New Yorkers.”

The Deepwater Port Act requires approval from the governor of each adjacent coastal state before a deepwater port license is issued. For the Port Ambrose project, both New York and New Jersey are adjacent coastal states.

Governor Cuomo’s review found that the project posed inherent and unanswered security risks to the region. The potential for catastrophic impacts during extreme weather events was also found to be unacceptable. Additionally, the project posed significant disruptions to commercial and recreational maritime activities, and would also have interfered with a critical off-shore wind power project proposed by the New York Power Authority.

Average main engine damage claim tops $500,000

Entitled “Main Engine Damage,” the report investigates more than 1,000 Hull and Machinery claims relating to over 5,400 vessel years of statistics.

“Main engine damage makes up nearly 35% of machinery claims costs,” says Lars Malm, Director, Strategic Business Development and Client Relationship for the Swedish Club. “It is the most expensive category of claim with an average cost of over half a million U.S. dollars per claim. Yet most engine damage, as with so many claims we see in many different areas of our business, remains related to incorrect repairs and maintenance. Numerous cases have been noted where damage occurs shortly after the engines have been overhauled by ship or shore staff.”

With an average cost per claim of $926,000, lubrication failure is still the most costly cause of damage to the main engine, due to consequential damage to expensive parts such as crankshafts etc.

“We are seeing crew with insufficient experience and training; experts not in attendance at major overhauls; contaminated lubrication oil and contaminated bunkers; and engine components not operated or overhauled as per management instructions,” says Mr Malm. “It is a catalog of errors which can only be remedied by the implementation of a proper management system, backed up by comprehensive audit and inspection.”

The report contains good news for the Korean shipbuilding industry: vessels built in Korea, which account for almost 31% of the Club’s entries, have contributed to only 12% of the total cost of main engine claims in the last three years.

Despite technical advances since the Swedish Club published its last report on this topic in 2011, vessels with low speed engines continue to incur proportionally fewer claims than those with medium and high speed engines, with 57% of club entries in this category responsible for only 40% of main engine claims cost.

You can download the full report HERE

Port of Galveston welcomes Texas’ largest cruise ship

 

“The repositioning of Liberty of the Seas to the Port of Galveston represents Royal Caribbean’s confidence in the Port of Galveston’s efficient cruise operations and ability to attract passengers on its Freedom class ships,” said Mike Mierzwa, Port Director. “We are excited to homeport the largest cruise ship to sail from the State of Texas.”

Carnival Cruise Lines and Disney Cruises also operate out of the Port of Galveston. IN 2013, the Port of Galveston handled 1,208,802 passengers.

The 1,112 ft x 185 ft Liberty of the Seas will offer seven-night Western Caribbean cruise itineraries, including Isla Roatan, Honduras; Belize City Belize; Cozumel, Mexico; Falmouth, Jamaica; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Costa Maya, Mexico as ports of call.

 

BW Pacific scrubs IPO plans

NOVEMBER 13, 2015 — Singapore based BW Pacific Limited, the product tanker operation of Andreas Sohmen-Pao-led BW Group, said today that, “under the current market conditions,” it has resolved not to proceed

New Norwegian rescue vessel named for Idar Ulstein

It is the first vessel in the society’s new Ulstein class and is named for long time Ulstein Group CEO Idar Ulstein.

The Ulstein Group has financed the major part of the total NOK 38 million costs.

The boat will be stationed in Fosnavåg, and succeed the RS Emmy Dyvi, which is currently based there.

“This is a gift in memory of Idar Ulstein, Ulstein Group’s CEO and Chair of the Board through many years, who passed away in 2012. Idar Ulstein was a great supporter of RS. This donation, honoring his life and contribution to the maritime industry, will potentially help save the lives of many people experiencing difficulties off the Norwegian coast,” said Tore Ulstein, Chair of the Board in Ulstein Group.

The 22 m rescue vessel has a top speed close to 40 knots. By using powerful twin engines and a water jet, she combines high speed with large bollard pull.

RS Idar Ulstein is outfitted with the latest in modern equipment for tackling demanding rescue operations in difficult weather conditions.

“Short response time is essential to saving lives at sea. With RS ‘Idar Ulstein’ we combine a high-speed vessel with the size needed to operate in the demanding coastal regions,” says Nicolai Jarlsby, President of the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (RS)

The Search and Rescue (SAR) vessel is operated by a crew of three; captain, mate and chief. She will primarily serve coastal, fishing and recreational vessels. As well as emergency lifesaving and rescue, the vessel is designed to perform operations including towing, salvage, diving missions, fire, ambulance and medical transportation. The vessel is equipped with the latest in radar technology and an advanced thermal camera. This makes RS Idar Ulstein a complete rescue vessel.

RS Idar Ulstein was built at the Swede Ship Marine shipyard in Sweden. The RS has an option of building three new SAR vessels in the Ulstein class.

Modernizing the RS fleet is essential. “We still have older vessels stationed along the Norwegian coast. We aim to find donators who can help us financing more vessels in the Ulstein class,” says Mr. Jarlsby.

RS Idvar Ulstein Main characteristics
Length: 22 m
Beam: 6.26 m
Depth: 1.2 m
Propulsion: Rolls-Royce water jet
Engines: Two MTU, each of 1660 hp
Bollard pull: 12 tons
Max speed: 38 knots
Building material:  Aluminum
Working deck with towing winch
Fire capacity of 4,000 liters per minute

Plans for giant Brazil ship repair yard move ahead

Dave Saginaw, Commercial Director of McQuilling Services, LLC in New York and the project Director of the Brasil Basin Drydock Company (BBDC) project said today that the project has progressed into the next phase of implementation.

Additional early stage investment funds have been received and applications for environmental licenses have been submitted toauthorities in Brazil.

“We are extremely excited about the advancement of activities in the development of the new ship repair facility in the northeast of Brazil” said Mr. Saginaw, “We are receiving strong support from both our new investors and from state and local authorities in Paraíba and the municipality of Lucena. We couldn’t be more pleased with our current progress, in the midst of quite a challenging investment climate.”

Celso P. Souza, project manager for the BBDC project said from Rio de Janeiro, “The implementation of the new facility is on schedule. With the filing for the environmental permits and the creation of the environmental impact analysis underway, we are now moving forward with the next stage of facility design and engineering. We envision start of construction by late 2016/early 2017 with first repair operations commencing early in 2019.”

The BBDC shipyard in the Brazilian state of Paraíba will carry the name Empresa de Docagens Pedra do Ingá (EDPI). It will be located inside the harbor near the Port of Cabedelo in the municipality of Lucena and is positioned close to major shipping lanes in the Atlantic basin. The 600,000 square meter facility will be purpose-built for ship repairs, and its two graving docks and hydrolift facilities will be capable of drydocking any ship in the world merchant fleet.

Sea Slice to go to work as wind farm support vessel

It was built in 1996 by Nichols Brothers and Pacific Marine & Supply as as a technology demonstrator for the Navy at a cost of $15 million.

Lockheed Martin’s high-speed SLICE ship technology is similar to traditional Small Waterplance Area Twin Hull (SWATH) vessels except that instead of two torpedo-like submerged hulls supported by short struts, SLICE has four small low-drag hulls placed in two linear pairs.

This reduces hydrodynamic drag, enabling the vessel to travel at higher speeds for a given amount of engine power and reducing the effects of vessel motion on personnel.

The vessel showed excellent seakeeping characteristics at high speeds—35 knots—even in Sea State 5 conditions, during demonstrations for the Navy. But after performing brilliantly for the Navy and taking part in a 2002 fleet battle experiment, it dropped out of the headlines and, earlier this year, was up for sale with a reported price tag of $180,000.

The 104 ft x 54 ft vessel has now been acquired by Denmark’s Advanced Offshore Solutions which will use it as a wind farm support vessel.

Having been shipped to Europe from the U.S. earlier this year, the Sea Slice was towed from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to Esbjerg in Denmark by Brixham, U.K., based Marine and Towage Services Group Ltd.(MTS) using its Dutch-built 25 m multi-purpose tug MT Indus over a two-and-a-half day period in early October.

“European offshore wind continues to be a competitive market place, with a huge potential for innovation,” said Jon Parslow, Managing Director, MTS Group Ltd. “Delivering the Sea Slice in time for the next phase of European wind development, is another example of how we’re continuing to support this maturing industry.”

Kurt Thomsen, Managing Director, Advanced Offshore Solutions said: “We’ve been pioneering different technologies for the offshore wind industry for almost two decades, and the Sea Slice is the latest example of this type of investment. We look forward to deploying the vessel’s impressive capability to the offshore wind market soon.”
Once deployed to a European offshore wind farm, Sea Slice will be used for a variety of tasks including dive operations, surveying and crew and equipment transfer.

As the offshore wind vessel transfer market continues to evolve, owners and operators are finding a need for increased vessel speed and maneuverability, whilst maintaining a smooth ride for onboard technicians to combat seasickness. The SLICE technology should deliver what’s needed

When this video was posted on Youtube in March this year, the Sea Slice was reportedly for sale at $180,000

HHI sees Saudi Aramco MOU as a turning point

The MOU follows discussions on strategic collaboration that were initiated when Saudi Aramco’s Board of Directors visited HHI’s Ulsan, South Korea, complex in April 2015.

Mr. Chung, who represented HHI for all relations with Saudi Arabia and Saudi Aramco, led the efforts that culminated with a signing ceremony presided over by Saudi Aramco President and CEO Mr. Amin H. Nasser at Saudi Aramco’s Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, headquarters.

According to Mr. Chung, the partnership is “a great opportunity to enhance Korea’s shipbuilding and EPC businesses” and continues a contribution to the Kingdom by HHI that goes back to the 1970s when it was awarded a contract to undertake development of the Jubail port (King Fahd industrial port) project.

“This signing is significant as it provides the potential for the creation of another Jubail that creates tremendous growth opportunities for HHI,” said Mr. Chung.

Saudi Aramco has been looking to develop a yard at Ras Al-Khair, 60 km north of Jubail, in coordination with the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) and HHI as potential partners.

The yard would leverage the partners’ offshore business to accelerate localization efforts of Saudi Arabia’s young and promising maritime industry, and its associated supply chain. HHI’s role would include winning shipbuilding vessels while participating in construction and operation of the shipyard and gaining opportunities to provide various value added services.

The project would enable the partners to cater to growing Middle East vessel demand and to build vessel types that it is no longer profitable to build in Korean shipyards.

Also being eyed is a future engine building joint venture that would allow the HHI-developed HiMSEN engine to expand its share of both the marine and power plant sectors in the region.

Another strategic partnership under development relates to HHI’s Middle East EPC business, seen as the seed for a joint cooperation through which a regional EPC champion could be created.

Dumped sludge, lied to USCG, found guilty

 

According to the Department of Justice, evidence presented during the two-week trial demonstrated that in January 2010, DSD Shipping knew that the oily-water separator aboard its106,541 dwt crude oil tanker Stavanger Blossom was inoperable. In an internal corporate memo, DSD Shipping noted that the device could not properly filter oil-contaminated waste water and stated that individuals “could get caught for polluting” if the problem was not addressed. Rather than repair or replace the oily-water separator, however, DSD Shipping used various methods to bypass the device and force the discharge of oily-wastes into the ocean. During the last months of the vessel’s operation prior to its arrival in the Port of Mobile, the M/T Stavanger Blossom discharged approximately 20,000 gallons of oil-contaminated waste water.

The evidence at trial also established that DSD Shipping employees intentionally discharged fuel oil sludge directly into the ocean. Specifically, crew members cleaned the vessel’s fuel oil sludge tank, removed approximately 264 gallons of sludge and placed the waste oil into plastic garbage bags. After hiding the sludge bags aboard the ship from port authorities in Mexico, defendants Chen and Zhong ordered crew members to move as many as 100 sludge bags to the deck of the vessel. There, Zhong threw the sludge bags overboard directly into the ocean.

The Department of Justice says that DSD Shipping, Dancu, Gao, Chen and Zhong, all attempted to hide these discharges from the U.S. Coast Guard by making false and fictitious entries in the vessel’s oil record book and garbage record book. Further, after arriving in Mobile, Chen and Zhong lied to the U.S. Coast Guard about the discharge of sludge and ordered lower ranking crewmembers to do the same.

At the conclusion of trial, DSD Shipping was convicted of one count of conspiracy, three counts of violating APPS, three counts of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering. Defendant Gao was convicted of one count of conspiracy and two counts of obstruction of justice. Defendant Chen was convicted of one count of violating APPS, three counts of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering. Finally, Zhong was convicted of two counts of violating APPS, two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering.

DSD Shipping could be fined up to $500,000 per count, in addition to other possible penalties. Gao, Chen and Zhong face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the obstruction of justice charges

The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Mobile, U.S. Coast Guard District Eight, CGIS and the EPA, Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Anderson, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama, and the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section Trial Attorney Shane N. Waller prosecuted the case.

DSME told to halt work on LPG ships following deadly fire

NOVEMBER 11, 2015 — South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor has ordered a halt  to work on five LPG ships under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering’s Okpo shipyard following

LOAD MORE