Despite Shutdown, BOEM Resumes Work on Offshore Drilling Plan
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the permitting agency for offshore development in federal waters, has recalled 40 furloughed employees to work on the Trump administration's proposed offshore oil and gas leasing plan. The majority of the agency - including the departments that handle offshore wind development - will remain shut. The closure of BOEM has significant implications for the wind industry, according to trade group Business Network for Offshore Wind. “There are a number of big, important offshore wind...
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EIA: Sulfur Cap Effects Will Diminish Over Time
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has predicted that the effects of the sulfur cap on crude oil and petroleum product markets will be most acute in 2020 and will diminish over time. Set to go into effect January 1, 2020, the new IMO regulations limit the sulfur content in marine fuels used by ocean-going vessels to 0.5 percent by weight, a reduction from the previous limit of 3.5 percent. The change in fuel specification is expected to put upward...
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Siemens Gamesa Launches Record Offshore Wind Turbine
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has launched the company’s first 10+ MW offshore wind turbine. The 10MW rating is made possible through a larger generator diameter, and by increasing the rotor diameter to 193 meters (633 feet), the new wind turbine offers up to 30 percent more annual energy production than its predecessor. Its 94-meter (308-foot) blades provide a swept area of 29,300 m². Each blade is almost the same length as one soccer field. The annual energy production of one...
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New Global Alliance Commits $1 Billion to Ending Plastic Waste
An alliance of global companies has launched a new organization to advance solutions to eliminate plastic waste in the environment, especially in the ocean. The cross value chain Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), currently made up of nearly 30 member companies, has committed over $1 billion with the goal of investing $1.5 billion over the next five years to help end plastic waste in the environment. The Alliance will develop and bring to scale solutions that will minimize and...
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Ocean Alliance Unveils Day 3 Product
CMA CGM, COSCO SHIPPING, Evergreen and OOCL have announced the launch of their Ocean Alliance Day 3 Product starting April 2019. The Group claims it will bring the largest service offer on the Transpacific trade with 19 services, a strengthened offer between Asia and Europe with the addition of a seventh service, a large offer between Asia and the Mediterranean with four services, two Transatlantic services linking North Europe to the East Coast of the United States and the Gulf...
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Bill Introduced to Honor U.S. Merchant Mariners of WWII
On Tuesday, Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) joined Representatives Don Young (R-AK) and Susan Brooks (R-IN) to introduce a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the U.S. merchant mariners of World War II. H.R. 550, the Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act, would award one of the highest honors in the United States to the mariners who sustained American armed forces throughout the war. “Our armed forces relied on the Merchant Marine to ferry supplies,...
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IMB: Gulf of Guinea Led the World for Piracy in 2018
The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre has released its global piracy report for 2018, and it warns that the maritime industry experienced a net increase in attacks year-over-year. In particular, the agency recorded a "marked rise in attacks against ships and crews around West Africa." Worldwide, the IMB recorded 201 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery in 2018, up from 180 in 2017. The Gulf of Guinea is particularly dangerous for seafarers: reports of attacks in waters between the Ivory...
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Charcoal Smuggling Finances Somali Terrorist Groups
Terrorists are making over $7 million a year by smuggling charcoal illegally out of Somalia, according to estimates by the Royal Navy. Terrorist organizations like Al-Shabaab in Somalia, where there has been a United Nations Security Council ban on exporting charcoal since 2012, tax and smuggle an estimated 3.5 million bags of charcoal a year, which is often marketed as legitimate to buyers in Gulf nations. At a conference for the multinational maritime security coalition Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), Royal Navy...
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First Photos Show Fire Damage to the Yantian Express' Cargo
The first photos of the fire damage to the container ship Yantian Express have emerged, and the imagery suggests that the extent of the blaze was much smaller than the devastating fire aboard the Maersk Honam in 2018. USMMA midshipman Cameron Brunick (Class of 2021), who is currently embarked on a merchant vessel in the North Atlantic, took what are likely the first published photos of the Yantian Express. The images show thin smoke rising from the containers on...
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