The new Royal Navy carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has sailed from Portsmouth for her first operational deployment, accompanied by her escorts in the UK’s first carrier strike group in a generation. Her Majesty The Queen was on hand for the vessel’s farewell ceremony. The carrier recently completed an international training exercise to make sure that she and […]
[By Kristopher Karnauskas] As summer in the Northern Hemisphere approaches, forecasters begin watching every bout of rainy weather between the Gulf of Mexico and Africa. Each counterclockwise swirl of wind or burst of puffy clouds there has the potential to organize into a life-threatening tropical storm. About half of the tropical storms that formed over the past two […]
U.S. shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries conducted demonstration tests for its new unmanned surface vessel. Autonomous and unmanned applications are drawing broad attention both from navies around the world but also for their potential in a range of commercial operations. The tests and demonstrations were conducted on a 27-foot vessel the Proteus USV. The vessel was […]
Hamburg-based chemical tanker operator John T. Essberger is set to acquire eight new tankers as part of its plans to modernize its fleet with ships that can increase energy efficiency by 30 percent. The company announced that it has signed final agreements with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard to build four 6,600 dwt stainless steel parcel […]
In another sign of recovery for the cruise industry, European river cruising is scheduled to resume operations in July 2021. With international travel restricted, only a limited number of river cruises had operated in Germany during the summer of 2020 but were suspended when travel restrictions were increased with the second wave of the coronavirus […]
A newly-founded ship assist operator in British Columbia has ordered two all-electric tugs from Turkish specialists Sanmar Shipyard, adding to the world’s small but growing list of battery-powered towing vessels. HaiSea Marine, a partnership between B.C.’s Haisla Nation and shipbuilder/operator Seaspan, will be providing docking and escort services at the future LNG Canada natural gas […]
Swiss authorities announced that they have completed an agreement for the release of a Swiss product tanker that has been detained by Nigeria for over three years. The detention created an international incident that the Swiss had taken to the United Nation’s maritime court. According to a statement from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign […]
On National Maritime Day, in addition to honoring mariner heroes from 1776 forward, I also like to reflect on the significant challenges that the merchant marine faced during the preceding 12 months. This year, that exercise was eye opening! We were well into the pandemic by this time last year, with supply chains already disrupted […]
The Biden administration is expected to accelerate efforts to develop offshore wind farms in the coming months and one of the most lucrative contacts that are moving toward auction is for sections of the New York Bight. Companies are beginning to prepare for the upcoming auctions, which will be part of New York State’s efforts […]
[By Malcolm Cook] On 20 March, the Philippine government’s National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea reported that more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels, with suspected members of China’s maritime militia on board, had congregated around Juan Felipe Reef (aka Whitsun Reef) and appeared to be neither fishing nor needing to seek shelter (as claimed by […]
Sanmar is in the process of delivering three high-performance ultra-modern tugs in a row to different European operators working in Portugal, Italy and Estonia. All three are at sea and heading for their new homes. One Sanmar Terminal class tug is on its way to MedTug SA to operate out of the port of Sines, […]
Efforts to provide COVID-19 vaccinations for seafarers are continuing to accelerate while the unions continue to call for efforts to make the vaccines more widely available. Developed nations around the globe are responding to the calls to make the vaccine more widely available to include crew members from all countries and some efforts are even […]
