News
Two Missing After Workboat Accident on Mississippi
by The Maritime Executive
Friday, January 18, 2019
Two crewmembers from the spill response vessel Louisiana Responder are missing after a small boat accident on the Mississippi River near Bootheville, Louisiana.
On the morning of January 16, the vessel was hoisting a small launch on board when a line parted, according to local media. Five crewmembers went into the water, and two - identified as Katelyn Carlisle and Rueben Arellano - remain missing.
Boat and helicopter crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, the Branch Pilots and the local sheriff's office conducted a search for 27 hours. The Coast Guard suspended its search operation on Thursday after covering about 130 square nautical miles of territory.
“Suspending our search is never an easy decision to make,” said Cmdr. Michael Wolfe. “The Coast Guard, along with local and state responders, spared no efforts over the past day, but unfortunately we did not locate the missing individuals. Our prayers and condolences are with the families of the missing individuals.”
River traffic was closed during the initial response and reopened at 2000 hours on Wednesday. The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
Interview: Mark Dickinson, General Secretary of Nautilus International, Talks Seafarers’ Pay, Working Conditions, Criminalization and More
by Editorial
Friday, January 18, 2019
Interview by Paul González-Morgan (Marine Strategy) – Mark Dickinson, is General Secretary of the trade union Nautilus International, with members in waterborne transport sectors all over the world – from deepsea oil tankers to river cruises. Mark has spent over 40 years in the maritime industry, which began when he joined the British Merchant Navy as […]
Sing Fuels Adds New Athens-Based Trader
by Ship Bunker
Friday, January 18, 2019
Stella Lykouri joins with immediate effect.
Box Carriers Gaining from Oil Price Slump, Brexit and Robust Rates
by The Loadstar
Friday, January 18, 2019
By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – Today’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) shows a marginal decline in spot rates to North Europe, but there was a jump in rates for the North American market, which is good news for ocean carriers just weeks before new annual transpacific contract negotiations commence. The SCFI recorded a 0.9% fall […]
Bunker Jobs: Senior Bunker Surveyor / Petroleum Inspector / Operations Manager for Europe
by Ship Bunker
Friday, January 18, 2019
Seeking a highly experienced and motivated individual to fulfill this role.
After Billion-Barrel Bonanza, BP Goes Global with Seismic Tech
by Reuters
Friday, January 18, 2019
By Ron Bousso LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Buoyed by the success of seismic imaging that found an extra billion barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, BP is looking to take its latest technology to Angola and Brazil. The software used in the Gulf, based on an algorithm created by Xukai Shen, a geophysicist […]
America's Only Heavy Icebreaker Arrives in Antarctica
by The Maritime Executive
Friday, January 18, 2019
The 150 crewmembers of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star arrived Thursday in Antarctica along with a resupply vessel during Operation Deep Freeze – a joint military service mission to resupply U.S. interests in Antarctica.
Homeported in Seattle, the 42-year-old ship is the United States’ only operational heavy icebreaker, and the crew - which has not been paid since December - is making their sixth deployment in as many years to directly support the resupply of McMurdo Station.
Operation Deep Freeze is a joint military service mission in support of the National Science Foundation – the lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program. Since 1955, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has assisted in providing air and maritime support throughout the Antarctic continent. This year marks the 63rd anniversary of the annual operation.
Each year, the Polar Star crew creates a navigable path through seasonal and multi-year ice, sometimes as much as 21-feet thick, to allow a resupply vessel to reach McMurdo Station. The supply delivery allows Antarctic stations to stay operational year-round, including during the dark and tumultuous winter.
The 399-foot, 13,000-ton Polar Star arrived after completing an 18-mile trip through the ice to McMurdo Sound, where 400 containers will be offloaded from the supply ship Ocean Giant.
Presently, the U.S. Coast Guard maintains two icebreakers – the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, which is a medium icebreaker, and the Polar Star. Protecting national interests in the Polar regions is essential to ensure the Coast Guard’s national defense strategy and search and rescue capabilities are ready for action, but in order to do so, the icebreaker fleet requires modernization.
Commissioned in 1976, the Polar Star is showing its age. Reserved for Operation Deep Freeze each year, the Polar Star spends the winter breaking ice near Antarctica, and when the mission is complete, the Polar Star returns to dry dock in order to complete critical maintenance and repairs in preparation for the next Operation Deep Freeze mission. Once out of dry dock, the ship returns to Antarctica, and the cycle repeats itself.
During this year’s deployment, one of the ship’s electrical systems began to smoke, causing damage to wiring in an electrical switchboard, and one of the ship’s two evaporators used to make drinkable water failed.
The ship also experienced a leak from the shaft that drives the ship’s propeller, which halted icebreaking operations in order to send scuba divers in the water to repair the seal around the shaft. A hyperbaric chamber on loan from the U.S. Navy aboard the ship allows Coast Guard divers to make external emergency repairs and inspections of the ship’s hull.
The Polar Star also experienced ship-wide power outages while breaking ice. Crew members spent nine hours shutting down the ship’s power plant and rebooting the electrical system in order to remedy the outages.
If a catastrophic event, such as getting stuck in the ice, were to happen to the Healy in the Arctic or to the Polar Star near Antarctica, the U.S. Coast Guard is left without a self-rescue capability.
By contrast, Russia currently operates more than 40 icebreakers – several of which are nuclear powered.
The Coast Guard has been the sole provider of the nation’s polar icebreaking capability since 1965, and is seeking to increase its icebreaking fleet with six new Polar Security Cutters in order to ensure continued national presence and access to the Polar Regions.
“While we focus our efforts on creating a peaceful and collaborative environment in the Arctic, we’re also responding to the impacts of increased competition in this strategically important region,” said Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. “Our continued presence will enable us to reinforce positive opportunities and mitigate negative consequences today and tomorrow.”
Despite Breakdowns and Missed Pay, Polar Star Reaches Antarctica
by The Maritime Executive
Friday, January 18, 2019
The 150 crewmembers of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star arrived Thursday in Antarctica, fulfilling their yearly mission to to resupply America's main outpost on the continent.
The 42-year-old ship is the United States’ only operational heavy icebreaker, and the crew - which has not been paid since December - is making their sixth deployment in as many years to support the resupply of McMurdo Station.
Each year, the Polar Star creates a navigable path through seasonal and multi-year ice, sometimes as much as 21 feet thick, to allow a resupply vessel to reach McMurdo Station. The supply delivery allows multiple Antarctic stations to stay operational year-round, including during the dark and tumultuous Antarctic winter.
The Polar Star arrived after completing an 18-mile trip through the ice to McMurdo Sound, where 400 containers will be offloaded from the supply ship Ocean Giant.
The U.S. Coast Guard maintains two icebreakers – the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, which is a medium icebreaker, and the Polar Star. Protecting America's interests in the polar regions is part of the Coast Guard's national defense mission, along with providing search and rescue capabilities. In order to keep carrying out this mission, the agency says that its icebreaker fleet desperately needs modernization.
The Polar Star is showing her four decades of age, and she is now only capable of one mission per year. She spends the northern hemisphere's winter breaking ice near Antarctica, and when the mission is complete, she returns to drydock on the U.S. West Coast. With a six-month-long drydock period scheduled after every six months, she may well be a contender for the title of the most maintenance-intensive vessel in operation today - especially considering her frequent need for damage control under way.
During this year’s deployment, one of the ship’s electrical systems began to smoke, causing damage to wiring in an electrical switchboard, and one of the ship’s two evaporators used to make drinkable water failed. Like last year, she also experienced a leak from a shaft seal, which halted icebreaking operations until scuba divers could make repairs.
The Polar Star also experienced ship-wide power outages while breaking ice. Crewmembers spent nine hours shutting down the ship’s power plant and rebooting the electrical system in order to remedy the outages.
If a catastrophic event were to happen to the Healy in the Arctic or to the Polar Star near Antarctica, the U.S. Coast Guard is left without a self-rescue capability. By contrast, Russia currently operates more than 40 icebreakers – several of which are nuclear powered.
The Coast Guard has been the sole provider of the nation’s polar icebreaking capability since 1965, and is seeking to increase its icebreaking fleet with six new Polar Security Cutters in order to ensure continued national presence and access to the Polar Regions.
“While we focus our efforts on creating a peaceful and collaborative environment in the Arctic, we’re also responding to the impacts of increased competition in this strategically important region,” said Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. “Our continued presence will enable us to reinforce positive opportunities and mitigate negative consequences today and tomorrow.”
Caterpillar Launches CG170-B Series of Gas Generator Sets with Increased Efficiency, Reliability and Improved $/kW Performance
by gCaptain
Friday, January 18, 2019
Press Release – Caterpillar Energy Solutions is pleased to introduce the CG 170B 50 Hz series of generator sets with increased power output from 1.3 – 2.3 MW, higher reliability and improved return on investment. The increased electrical efficiency – up to 45% Natural Gas (NG) / 43.6% Bio Gas (BG) makes the generator set more […]
FEATURE: Will 2019 be the "Year of Acceleration" for LNG Bunkers?
by Ship Bunker
Thursday, January 17, 2019
SEA\LNG think so, but it remains to be seen if LNG's GHG performance will be a help or hinderance.
