In a move to restore full domestic ferry service by summer, Governor Bob Ferguson said that Washington State Ferries (WSF) will delay the hybrid-electric conversion of two of the state’s largest ferries. The decision comes as WSF works to increase its operational fleet, ensuring that 18 vessels are in service simultaneously for the first time since 2019.
The first thirty days of the new Trump Administration have brought sweeping changes throughout the federal government. We take a pause to assess where things stand for maritime stakeholders and what may be coming next in Washington, DC, for our industry.A Maritime DirectiveFor those that work in the U.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday warned Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino that Washington will "take measures necessary" if Panama does not immediately take steps to end what President Donald Trump sees as China's influence and control over the Panama Canal.Mulino, after the talks with the top U.S.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke with Donald Trump on Thursday and congratulated him on winning the U.S. presidency on the "Make America Great Again" slogan as officials in Seoul worked to prepare for "significant" economic changes.Yoon and Trump held a 12-minute phone call and discussed the close security and economic ties of their two countries across all areas
Australia said on Wednesday it would invest billions of dollars over the next two decades to expand a shipyard in Western Australia that would become the maintenance hub for its nuclear-powered AUKUS submarine fleet.The government will make an initial investment of A$127 million ($85 million) over three years to upgrade facilities at the Henderson shipyard near Perth
The United States expanded sanctions against Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors on Friday in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel, the administration of President Joe Biden said.The U.S. move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran's economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs.
Three shipyards have expressed interest in building a long-awaited series of new hybrid-electric car and passenger vessels for Washington State Ferries (WSF).Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland, Wash.; Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, Fla. and Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia have sent pre-qualification packages after WSF earlier this year invited shipbuilders to bid
Washington State Ferries announced it has canceled the sale of two retired vessels after the buyer failed to meet its contractual obligations and left a tugboat crew abandoned in Puget Sound.Sold in August for $100,000 apiece, the decommissioned WSF ferries Elwha and Klahowya had been sold to Nelson Armas, who has gained approval from the U.S.
Russian navy ships churned into Havana harbor on Wednesday, a stopover the U.S. and Cuba said posed no threat but which was widely seen as a Russian show of force as tensions rise over the Ukraine war.Small groups of fishermen and curious onlookers lined the Malecon seafront boulevard in light rain to welcome the ships as they passed the 400-year old Morro castle at the harbor's entrance.
Deliveries will begin in 2028 if all goes well. Delays and escalating costs have bedeviled the procurement process up until now.Washington State Ferries on Thursday published an invitation to bid on building five new hybrid-electric ferries, an overdue achievement that promises to eventually bring more reliability to cross-Sound ferry service.
A global maritime court found on Tuesday that greenhouse gases constitute marine pollution, a major breakthrough for small island states threatened by the rise in sea levels caused by global warming.In its first climate-related judgment, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea said emissions from fossil fuels and other planet-warming gases that are absorbed by the oceans count as
The El Nino climate phenomenon, not climate change, drove lower rainfall last year that reduced the Panama Canal's water levels and contributed to shipping restrictions that disrupted global trade, a study released on Wednesday found.Prioritizing water for human consumption rather than for the canal also played a role in shipping restrictions