Each year, the U.S. Department of Commerce receives thousands of inquiries from businesses looking to export, many of which involve licensing questions. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), together with other USG agencies, is responsible for export licensing and controls.
Global oil refining capacity is set to increase at its fastest pace on record this year, possibly boosting stocks of products such as diesel, gasoline and marine fuel, the International Energy Agency said.Oil refining capacity will rise by 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) and demand for refined products by around 1.1 million bpd, the IEA said in a monthly report.
On December 22, 2018, a continuing resolution passed by Congress to fund a portion of the U.S. Government into the 2019 fiscal year expired and was not renewed resulting in a partial federal government shutdown. Among the affected Executive Departments are the Department of Homeland Security (which includes the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection)
Global Fishing Watch is teaming up with the United States Coast Guard Research & Development Center (CG RDC) to conduct research on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and share analysis to advance global efforts to improve fisheries management.Global Fishing Watch (https://globalfishingwatch.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced funding for three clean diesel projects totaling $4.7 million to reduce air pollution from aging diesel engines in the Mid-Atlantic region.The funding will go to the Maryland Environmental Service (MES), the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association, (MARAMA) and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (WashCOG).
Regulatory reform is one of President Trump’s priority agenda items. Upon taking office, the President issued a number of Executive Orders focusing attention and demanding action on the myriad of regulations impacting American businesses.Last May, the reform spotlight fell on maritime regulations when the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
As in most if not all industries, the maritime sector experiences many more near-misses than actual casualties. And yet, information regarding near-misses is seldom shared outside the particular company or vessel/facility involved. This is a needless waste of valuable learning opportunities.
Significant moments in naval architecture & marine engineeringThe International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM) was adopted February 13, 2004 to introduce global regulations to control the transfer of potentially invasive species.
A tanker vessel with 19 crew members on board, most of them Georgians, has gone missing in pirate-plagued waters off Gabon in West Africa and no word has been heard from it for a week, the ship's managers and the crew agency said on Wednesday.Communication was lost with the Panama-registered Pantelena at about 2 a.m. local time on Aug.
On June 22, 2018, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a federal government reorganization proposal entitled “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century”. The 132-page document is subtitled ‘Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations’. I have not read the entire report, but I have examined those portions that relate to maritime issues.
The second quarterly report from the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) shows that all 2018 crew kidnappings have so far occurred in the Gulf of Guinea in six separate incidents.A total of 107 incidents were reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in the first six months of 2018.
R.W. Fernstrum & Company, a leading manufacturer in marine heat exchangers, received ISO 9001:2015 certification following an audit performed by Verisys Registrars in May. The scope of Fernstrum's registration includes the engineering, design, manufacturing, and sales of heat exchangers for marine and industrial applications.