There’s plenty to go around for everyone, no matter it comes from.I will admit that attending the 2024 Workboat Show in the Big Easy just ten days after settling into the MarineNews Editor’s chair (for this, the second time around) had my full attention. The event typically evokes the specter of drinking from the proverbial fire hose in routine times
The 2024 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea is to go to two sets of nominees: the captain and crew of the oil tanker Marlin Luanda for containing a fire after the ship was struck by an anti-ship missile; and the captain and crew of the tugboat Pemex Maya for their rescue of six shipwrecked people from four different vessels during a hurricane.
With the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard FY 2025 budget requests offering uninspiring news for traditional shipbuilders, industry observers might be forgiven for checking out and dismissing 2024 as just another dull year in the frustrating business of government shipbuilding.But with an election season underway and an increasingly disorderly sea
As a speed boat carrying more than a dozen Somali pirates bore down on their position in the western Indian Ocean, the crew of a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier sent out a distress signal and called an emergency hotline.No one reached them in time. The pirates clambered aboard the Abdullah, firing warning shots and taking the captain and second officer hostage
Somali police and international navies were preparing on Monday to attack a commercial ship that was hijacked by pirates last week, the Puntland region's police force said, two days after Indian commandos rescued another cargo vessel held by pirates.The MV Abdullah was hijacked off the coast of Somalia last week
A cargo ship abandoned four days ago in the Gulf of Aden after it was hit by missiles fired by Yemen's Houthis is still floating despite taking in water, and could be towed to nearby Djibouti, industry sources said on Wednesday.Shipping risks have escalated due to repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait by the Iran-aligned Houthis since November. U.S.
Six crew members of a Sri Lankan fishing trawler hijacked by suspected Somali pirates have been rescued, Sri Lankan officials said on Monday.The hijacking on Sunday was the latest in a series of attacks that have fueled fears of a resurgence of Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea waters after years without a successful raid.
Anyone who knows Aaron Smith, president and CEO of OMSA, knows that he is passionately focused on the U.S. maritime industry and staunchly defending the U.S. Jones Act fleet and mariners. We caught with Smith on the sidelines of the Workboat Show in New Orleans last week. Highlights of the conversation are below – including an update on the American Offshore Worker Fairness Act – the full
The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) has confirmed that its digitalized Ship Inspection Report Program (SIRE 2.0) is scheduled to ‘go-live’ on Monday 2 September 2024 and become the standard tanker inspection tool for the marine industry.The final transition to SIRE 2.
Pacific Northwest shipbuilder Vigor on Tuesday announced it has begun low rate initial production (LRIP) on the Maneuver Support Vehicle (Light) (MSV(L)) vessel at its facility in Vancouver, Wash.The new generation 117-foot U.S. Army landing craft, which replaces the Vietnam-era Landing Craft Mechanized 8 (LCM-8)
A rule change is making it easier for experienced U.S. mariners to return to sea after time away from the industry.A new policy letter from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) temporarily extends the renewal grace period for a Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC), commonly referred to as a Coast Guard license or credential, from one year to six years
Austal USA formally handed over USNS Cody (EPF 14) to the U.S. Navy as representatives from both parties signed official delivery documentation onboard the ship. Austal USA and the Navy’s Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) program team successfully completed acceptance trials on the EPF 14 in the Gulf of Mexico in December signifying that the ship was ready for delivery to the Navy.