Congressional and Agency Actions to Implement Changes to U.S.-Flag Vessel Safety Requirements Three Years after the M/V El Faro IncidentOctober 1, 2018 marked three years since the tragic sinking of the M/V El Faro – ranking as one of the worst maritime disasters in U.S. history and resulting in the highest death toll for a U.S. commercial vessel sinking in almost 40 years. Following this incident, both the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and U.S. Coast Guard spent considerable effort to investigate this incident.
SunStone Ships continues to break new ground in the specialty/expedtion cruise sector with the announcement of the signing of an agreement to build another two Infiity class vessels in China. According to SunStone President and CEO, Niels-Erik Lund, “Our charterers are anxious to enjoy the advantages of our cutting-edge technology, like the Xbow design, along with the significant operating efficiencies offered by the INFINITY Class. So, we’re moving as quickly as possible to get them into the market.”The Infinity class ships are 104 x 18 m with a 5.
Australia's chief cyber security chief said on Tuesday an investigation into the hacking of defense contractor Austal Ltd could take years, rejecting a local media report that his agency had concluded the attack originated from Iran.Austal said earlier this month hackers had breached its defenses to gain access to ship designs and that some staff email addresses and mobile phone numbers were accessed.The attack triggered an investigation by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), the country's top cyber security unit.
Global consulting firm AlixPartners, in a new paper entitled, “Too many ships, too few rigs: why recovery is still a distant dream for the OSV sector,” warns that companies counting on a quick return to stability in the OSV sector are in for a rude awakening.The September report goes on to say that OSV companies continue to face pressure due to a radically changed oil industry and must take quick and decisive action in order to survive in what should be considered the ‘new normal.’Separately, VesselsValue.
Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV) will be deployed to investigate containers lost from a cargo ship in heavy seas off Australia.The YM Efficiency, operated by Taiwan shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, was sailing from Taiwan to Sydney in early June when it lost dozens of containers overboard amid five-meter swells in the Tasman Sea, about 30 kilometers off Australia's east coast.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), citing serious potential impacts to local fishing and the environment
A Norwegian navy frigate that collided with an oil tanker last week was almost completely submerged on Tuesday despite efforts to salvage the sinking vessel, pictures taken by the Norwegian Coastal Administration showed.The ship's plight off the Norwegian coast is, however, not disrupting the nearby Sture crude oil export terminal. "We are in normal operations," said a spokeswoman for the plant's operator, Equinor.The Norwegian military has been working since Thursday to salvage the ship by tethering it with several cables to the shore. Some of these had broken.
Wind power is set overtake coal, nuclear and gas to become the EU’s largest power source well before 2030. This is according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2018 World Energy Outlook.According to the IEA’s projections, wind energy will become the EU’s largest power source in 2027, overtaking coal, nuclear and then gas in the process. This is compared to the IEA’s last projection made in its 2017 World Energy Outlook, where it said this would happen “soon after 2030”.
India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued a draft scheme on wind turbines in India. Known as the ‘Indian Wind Turbine Certification Scheme’ (IWTCS), the draft has been prepared in consultation with the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Chennai."The IWTCS is a consolidation of relevant National and International Standards (IS/IEC/IEEE), Technical Regulations and requirements issued by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), guidelines issued by MNRE and other international guidelines," said a government statement.
South Korea's Big Three shipbuilders - Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) - have hit record low in workforce.According to a report in Business Korea, the total number of employees in South Korea's Big Three shipbuilders has plunged a whopping 27 percent compared to 2011.The “big three” shipbuilders had 36,757 employees on the payroll last year, down 27.04 percent from 50,377 in 2011.
Novatek Gas and Power Asia, wholly owned subsidiary of Russia’s largest independent natural gas producer Novatek, shipped a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced from the Yamal LNG project to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).The LNG cargo was delivered to Fujian LNG Terminal in China via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) by an Arc7 ice-class LNG carrier in 20 days, completing the NSR part of the journey in 7.5 days.
The provider of shipping transportation services Diana Shipping announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Glencore Agriculture B.V., Rotterdam, for one of its Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Maia.The global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels said in a press release that the gross charter rate is US$13,300 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period until minimum January 1, 2020 up to maximum March 31, 2020. The charter commenced as on Novvember 13th.
Containership lessor Global Ship Lease, announced a new time charter with ANL, a wholly owned subsidiary of CMA CGM, for the 2003-built, 2,207 TEU containership GSL Keta (formerly Delmas Keta).The containership charter owner informed that the new charter, commencing on or around November 20, 2018, is for a period of between seven and 10 months (at charterer’s option) at a rate of $8,450 per day, up from $7,800 per day under the preceding charter.