This year, despite innumerable challenges and setbacks, a great number of new U.S.-flagged vessels made their way into service. In addition to Maid of the Mist's new electric tour boats James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla featured Wednesday, the newbuilds highlighted below are some of the most noteworthy to come out of U.S. shipyards in 2020.DredgerU.S.
The Trump administration on Thursday proposed to loosen Obama-era safety regulations for the oil industry in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska to ease the way for petroleum extraction in the region, an effort that President-elect Joe Biden will likely throw out once in office.The proposal would revise a suite of Obama-era rules crafted to improve safety in the extreme conditions of the Arctic after a
Belle Chasse, La. shipyard C&C Marine and Repair announced Wednesday it has delivered the first in series new 6,600-horsepower triple-screw towboats for Nashville-based Hines Furlong Line.Scarlett Rose Furlong measures 170’ by 50’ with the pilot house eyeline measuring at 39’-3”.Designed by CT Marine based in Portland, Maine, the vessel includes three Cummins QSK60-M main engines
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) is making an early return to its Seattle homeport, and its future Arctic operations have been canceled after the 21-year-old medium icebreaker suffered a fire in one of its main propulsion motors last week.The electrical fire was reported at 9:30 p.m.
Plans to develop a new cruise terminal at the Port of Seattle have been derailed by the coronavirus pandemic. The port announced Tuesday it has called off a request for industry proposals for a joint investment to build and operate a proposed new cruise terminal to serve the Alaska market.“Our current focus remains on public health,” said Port of Seattle Executive Director Steve Metruck.
Carnival Corp’s Princess Cruises said on Wednesday its voyages would remain suspended through the end of summer as reduced flights and travel bans around the globe bring the industry to a virtual standstill.Holland America Line, Carnival’s another unit, said it has canceled all cruises for Alaska, Europe and Canada and New England for the year
Crowley Fuels took delivery Tuesday of its new Alaska Class 100,000-barrel, articulated tug-barge (ATB), which will be used to transport petroleum products for the Alaska market, from Bollinger Shipyards.Crowley will operate the 483-foot ATB for Alaska-based Petro Star Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) under a long-term charter.
Small shipyards in the U.S. are critical to the nation’s maritime operations and economic security. Typically family-owned and employing less than 1,200 workers, America’s small shipyards support more than 400,000 jobs, employ more than 100,000 Americans directly and contribute tens of billions in gross domestic product, according to the U.S.
Several workers on a BP Plc oil platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico have tested positive for coronavirus, the company said on Wednesday, a day after a worker at BP's operations in Alaska also tested positive.The cases are the first recorded among oil workers in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, and follow a positive test at an Equinor offshore project in the North Sea.
As the novel coronavirus and its impacts continue to spread across America, U.S. shipbuilders, by and large, continue to build. While most yards have been deemed essential to marine transportation and/or national security and have been able to maintain operations, the situation at and around every shipyard is different
On March 24. 1989, the single-hull tanker Exxon Valdez was departing the Port of Valdez, Alaska with a full load of North Slope crude oil (approximately 1.26 million barrels) destined for Long Beach when it grounded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound. The resulting oil spill (approximately 258,000 barrels), while not the largest in US history, was clearly the most important.
The U.S. state of Alaska is so far distant from the worst medical ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, but its economy is in critical condition. Alaska is especially vulnerable because it depends on oil, tourism and fisheries – basic industries that are reeling from the global coronavirus pandemic – and the state government gets most of its revenue from investment earnings that have now