CATEGORIES

Risk expert: Maersk cyberattack ‘final straw' to protect public

Risk expert: Maersk cyberattack ‘final straw’ to protect public

Admiral: Coast Guard not ‘aggressively enforcing' response rules

Admiral: Coast Guard not ‘aggressively enforcing’ response rules

Coast Guard on course to replace ‘long overlooked' inland tenders

Coast Guard on course to replace ‘long overlooked’ inland tenders

Ready For Launch: Unmanned Ships Coming With Potential And Risk

Ready For Launch: Unmanned Ships Coming With Potential And Risk

Powerful McAllister z-drive Flexes Its Muscles In Maine

Powerful McAllister  z-drive Flexes Its Muscles In Maine

Crew Escapes, Barges Break Free As Mississippi River Towboat Sinks

Crew Escapes, Barges Break Free As Mississippi River Towboat Sinks

‘Late and insufficient' rudder cited in allision, 30-barge breakaway

‘Late and insufficient’ rudder cited in allision, 30-barge breakaway

Towing

Industry officials apprehensive about cuts in Trump’s ‘skinny’ budget.

A Fond Look Back, From Below, At America's Premier Ocean Liner

Robert Sturm, a 1956 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate, spends every Thursday back on campus at Kings Point, N.Y.

Canada's Plan To Protect Oceans Fails To Quell Tanker Criticism In BC

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an oceans protection plan in November amid the outcry over a fuel spill off British Columbia, uncertainty about a proposed tanker ban in the region, and a highly contested pipeline expansion that will increase the flow of oil there.

El Faro's Last Hours: 'Heartbreaking' Transcript Answers Some Questions, Raises Others

El Faro, above, sank on Oct. 1, 2015, during Hurricane Joaquin. An NTSB diagram, below, shows the ship’s route and key VDR data points.

Training Rules Still 'Gray Area' For Us Operators Adopting LNG

In the past few years, liquefied natural gas (LNG) has made steady headway in the United States as a marine fuel. But while operators have moved ahead with training for mariners on these vessels, the U.S. regulatory framework remains a work in progress.

Towing Companies Working To Get Up To Speed With Subchapter M

Now that Subchapter M — the U.S. regime for the inspection of towing vessels — is law, the next step will be for companies to begin the compliance process.

Gulf Island Order Leads Drive To Obtain More Data At Sea

While newbuilds in the research sector during the past year didn’t rise to the scale of USNS Maury, a 353foot survey ship delivered to the Navy in 2016 by VT Halter Marine, there was activity involving smaller ves sels at nearly a dozen North American yards.

Stacked OSVs Stifle Gulf Yards; Market Hot For US Boxships

The past year was not kind to many sectors of the foreign shipbuilding industry, and in many respects North American shipyards followed suit as the continued slump in oil prices pushed orders for offshore supply vessels to the brink.

Midship Marine Newbuild Positioned To Fight Gulf Spills

The 95-foot J.L. O’Brien, delivered in February, is the fourth oil spill response vessel (OSRV) built by Midship Marine Inc. for Clean Gulf Associates, a nonprofit cooperative in New Orleans.

Florida Newbuild Provides Advanced Platform For Research

When it came time to replace its aging workhorse R/V Bellows, the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) planned to do what it has always done: Buy and retrofit a used boat.

Westport's New 125 Hits Sweet Spot For Megayachts

When a yacht builder or designer knows its audience, it may do things that seem out of the ordinary at first to those not in the know — think hydrofoils, axe bows and SWATH (small-waterplane-area twin hull) designs — each of which had its place in the commercial maritime sector but wasn’t of interest to private yachting until the benefits, and apparent needs, were realized.

Bill Aims To Take Trust Fund ‘Off Budget' To Boost Harbor Maintenance

New legislation proposed in Congress would eliminate the appropriations bottleneck affecting the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, taking it “off budget” to ensure the nation’s ports are properly maintained.

Technology In Hand, Model Maker Builds On History Of Craftsmanship

Bill Brewer, a craftsman at Built To Scale in Fair hope, Ala., glues piping on a replica ATB ammonia barge being constructed for Savage Services.Vessel models measuring 24 to 36 inches typically cost from $7,500 to $8,500.

Bulker Drifts Into Mississippi River Dock After Breaking Anchor Chain

Crew aboard Star of Abu Dhabi dropped anchor at a Mississippi River anchorage on a clear spring evening following a long voyage from the Canary Islands. Soon afterward, the captain signaled he was finished with the main engine. 

Ship Operators Balance Cost, Value Of Keeping Crews Plugged In

Crew connectivity for mariners, particularly on blue-water vessels, has emerged as an important issue in the “care and feeding” department. At the same time, the growing demand to integrate all aspects of maritime business electronically is putting a new focus on expanding communication capacity, particularly via the Internet.

IMO Grants Two-Year Reprieve For Ballast Water Treatment Compliance

Vessel owners operating under International Maritime Organization regulations were given an additional two years in July to comply with Ballast Water Management Convention requirements. However, vessels operating in U.S. waters still must comply with Coast Guard regulations stricter than the IMO’s protocol.

CBP Drops Plan To Tighten Jones Act Rules On Offshore Equipment

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has withdrawn a proposal to revoke or modify certain interpretations of the Jones Act that impact domestic vessel operators, particularly exemptions related to equipment carried for offshore oil and gas companies.

Coast Guard Suspends Hudson Anchorage Plan, Orders Risk Review

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the rulemaking process for establishing new Hudson River barge anchorages to conduct an additional assessment of the waterway.

Cuts, Fees In Trump's Infrastructure Plan Disappoint Towing Industry

Although President Trump has unveiled a record $1 trillion plan to rebuild infrastructure in America, the maritime community is extremely concerned about proposed cuts to several major inland waterway and port programs.

War Days Over, Modified LCM-8 Pulls Duty In Peaceful Northwest Story

Young people growing up on Puget Sound and coastal British Columbia in the 1950s and ’60s could attend a Saturday afternoon movie to see landing craft carrying Marines to amphibious landings on beaches in the South Pacific.

Marine Safety Rails Grabbing Attention Of North American Operators 

From their origin in the world of sailing to deployment on work boats across Europe, marine safety rail systems have expanded their foothold and are now gaining traction in the North American commercial maritime market.

Harley Marine pulls industry into Tier 4 era

Some tugboats are built for long-distance ocean towing, while others are nimble and powerful enough to dock big ships. Harley Marine Services’ Earl W. Redd is the rare vessel that performs both jobs equally well.

Vane Brothers Welcomes Another Model-bow Workhorse

In an era where more operators are using articulated tug-barge units to move oil and fuel, the model bow tugboat might seem like a throwback.