MarEx

Articles posted by the international team of staff writers at The Maritime Executive.

Wärtsilä Ballast Water Management Systems Successfully Tested

By MarEx 2018-07-20 18:10:36

The technology group Wärtsilä announces that its Aquarius UV Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) has successfully completed all testing procedures required for United States Coastguard (USCG) type approval compliance. The documentation for full USCG type approval is being finalised for submission and awaits only final input from DNV-GL, the USCG approved independent laboratory. This follows type approval for the Aquarius UV from the International Maritime Organization in 2011, as well as Alternate Management System (AMS) acceptance from the USCG. AMS...

Fincantieri Wins Contract for Saudi Multi-Mission Surface Combatant

By MarEx 2018-07-20 18:03:16

The United States government awarded to a Lockheed Martin-led team, which includes Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), an Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA), to advance work in support of the construction of four Multi-Mission Surface Combatants ships, as part of the Foreign Military Sales program for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Fincantieri will be the builder at the Marinette yard in Wisconsin. The UCA, awarded in an amount of up to $450 million, will fund detailed design and planning in support of...

Nigeria Halts Cargo Arrivals for Cosco and Maersk

By MarEx 2018-07-20 17:40:29

Operations at Nigeria's main container terminals and their environs have experienced significant disruption over the past week, with regulators denying access to two major ocean carriers and truckers blocking port access freeways. On July 14, the Nigerian Port Authority suspended the local operations of Maersk Line, Cosco Shipping, Africa Port Services and Lagos & Niger Shipping Agencies for ten days over an alleged failure to provide holding space for empties. The NPA asserted that a shortage of storage bays was to blame...

Korean Firm "Finds" Wrecked Warship and Trove of Gold

By MarEx 2018-07-20 16:25:05

Another firm has laid claim to the discovery of the Dmitrii Donskoi, a Russian warship from the Age of Sail that was scuttled in the Sea of Japan in 1905. The new claimant, a South Korean company called Shinil Group, says that the wreck contains 200 tons of gold in bars and coins - an amount that would offer a commodity value of $8 billion at today's spot prices. However, Shinil put the valuation much higher, at $130 billion, and it asserted...

Founding Chairman of South Street Seaport Museum Passes

By MarEx 2018-07-20 14:37:33

The South Street Seaport Museum announced Friday the passing of its founding chairman, Jakob Isbrandtsen, a prominent figure in American shipping and a dedicated advocate for the preservation of New York's maritime history. According to the museum, Isbrandtsen and founding president Peter Stanford were responsible for the institution's beginning and its success. Isbrandtsen financed the purchase of the windjammer Wavertree, the museum's first ship, and he arranged the real estate deals that allowed the museum to buy Schemerhorn Row, a historic...

Crowley Takes Delivery of LNG-Fueled Con/Ro

By MarEx 2018-07-20 13:52:59

On Friday, shipbuilder VT Halter announced the delivery of Crowley's new LNG-powered con/ro El Coquí, one of the first vessels of its type in the world. The Jones Act-qualified vessel will serve Crowley's liner service route between Florida and Puerto Rico, alongside her soon-to-be-delivered sister ship, the Taíno. Each vessel can carry about 2,400 TEU of containerized cargo - including outsize 53-foot boxes and up to 300 reefers - plus about 400 vehicles stowed in its interior ro/ro holds. Crowley says...

Ride the Ducks Boat Sinks, Killing 17

By MarEx 2018-07-20 10:12:55

A Ride the Ducks tour boat sank near Branson, Missouri on Thursday, killing 17 out of 31 on board and injuring seven. On Thursday evening, two "Ride the Ducks" amphibious tour boats departed the dock at Branson for an outing on Table Rock Lake. At approximately 1815 hours, a line of severe thunderstorms blew through the area, bringing winds of up to 65 knots and waves of five feet. The two duck boats made for shore; one made it to...

New Spanish Sub is Too Big to Berth at Home Port

By MarEx 2018-07-19 20:50:25

Spain's newest submarine, the S-80 Plus, is too big to fit at its home port. A redesign to correct a buoyancy problem left it 30 feet longer than originally planned - about nine feet too long for the submarine slips at Arsenal de Cartagena, the Spanish Navy's sub base. Due to a miscalculation during the design phase - a misplaced decimal point, according to a former defense procurement official - the original S-80 hull form turned out to be too heavy by...

New Vehicle Terminal Planned for Southampton

By MarEx 2018-07-19 19:50:30

The Port of Southampton is to build a new vehicle terminal as the latest phase a £50 million ($65 million) investment by Associated British Ports (ABP). The new £15 million ($19.5 million) multi-storey facility will be built in the Eastern Dock and will provide storage for a further 3,000 vehicles. It is expected to be completed in 2019. ABP has already invested more than £32 million ($42 million) over the past five years to support the automotive industry. Many of...

MAIB: Spun Bearing Led to Explosion and Fire

By MarEx 2018-07-19 19:10:03

The UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released its report into the engine failure and fire aboard the ro-ro ferry Wight Sky last September. According to the agency, the failure - which led to the injury of the Sky's engineer - may have been caused by the entry of debris into the engine during its installation. In July and August 2017, the Sky's #2 main engine suffered a series of failures, beginning with an undiagnosed coolant loss problem. A...