October volume at the busiest U.S. seaport fell to its lowest level since 2009 as shippers sent cargo to alternate trade gateways to avoid potential disruptions from ongoing West Coast port labor talks, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said on Tuesday.The data comes as ocean trade activity returns to more normalized levels after booming in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis.
October saw the first offshore construction activity for a commercial scale U.S. offshore wind farm. Two cable layers have commenced the laying of Vineyard Wind’s export cable. This important milestone was also accompanied by complaints around the deployment of foreign flag workboats to support the cable layers.
North and South Korea exchanged warning shots off the west coast on Monday, accusing each other of breaching their maritime borders amid heightened military tension.The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it broadcast warnings and fired warning shots to see off a North Korean merchant vessel that crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea boundary, at around 3:40 a.m.
The Biden administration on Wednesday said it had reinstated bids from a November 2021 Gulf of Mexico sale of offshore oil and gas drilling rights, a requirement buried in U.S. President Joe Biden’s new climate change and drug pricing law.The move comes after a federal judge in January vacated the sale’s results
U.S. shipyards are making improvements to building ships for the Navy and Coast Guard today and in the future. In some cases, it means phasing out one class of ship and getting ready for the next. Or, it can be a drastic make-over.The yards include mid-tier yards all the way up to very large facilities devoted exclusively to warships.
U.S. President Joe Biden vowed during his 2020 election campaign to end federal oil and gas drilling as a major step in his strategy to fight climate change.The U.S. Senate Democrats' $430 billion spending bill agreed this week could kill that pledge. If it passes, it would effectively guarantee continued drilling rights auctions on federal lands and waters for at least another decade.
The U.S. Navy sees its future fleet comprised of more than 350 manned ships and about 150 unmanned ships hoping technology means lower operating costs as it prepares to counter a growing Chinese fleet, according to a Navy report released Tuesday.The plan for the 2040s and beyond underscored "the need to address long-term competition with China and sustain military advantage against Russia".
More than 100 passengers, the vast majority of them school children, were rescued from a passenger vessel that caught fire on Tuesday in Norfolk, Va.The fire aboard the Spirit of Norfolk was reported around noon, while the vessel was on a cruise in the Elizabeth River, near Naval Station Norfolk.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Rear Admiral (Rear Adm.) Ann Phillips, USN, Ret., has been confirmed and sworn in as the 20th Administrator of the Maritime Administration (MARAD). Nominated by President Biden on October 21, 2021, Rear Adm. Phillips was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 10, 2022. She is the first woman to lead MARAD as administrator.
There’s often an upside to being among first-movers in an emerging industry, but many are often stifled by the risk inherent to new ventures. For Crowley, which today is leading the charge on a number of maritime fronts such as sustainability and decarbonization, the jump into U.S.
The United States will hold its biggest ever sale of offshore wind development rights on Wednesday, in an area covering nearly half a million acres off the coasts of New York and New Jersey.It will be the first offshore wind lease sale under the administration of President Joe Biden
Offshore drilling company Seadrill Limited has secured a contract for the West Jupiter drillship with Brazil's Petrobras for work in the Búzios field offshore Brazil. The contract is for a firm term of 1,040 days with the start-up slated for December 2022. The total contract value is about $264 million, including mobilization revenue and additional services.