Articles – Pacific Maritime Magazine

Port of Long Beach Dedicates New Fireboat Stations

Long Beach port and city officials recently dedicated two new Port of Long Beach fireboat stations that they say enhance emergency response capabilities on water and land, to better safeguard visiting ships, cargo and waterfront workers. The facilities—Fireboat Station 15 and Fireboat Station 20—are the products of a $109 million port program to preserve business continuity, security and economic interests. “Shipboard firefighting is a challenge for any fire chief,” Long Beach Fire Department Chief Dennis Buchanan remarked during the dedication ceremony, which was held March 1 at Station 15. “These fire stations will allow us to host regional training that…

Maersk Opens Tijuana Warehouse for U.S.-Mexico Cross-Border Capabilities

Shipping and logistics provider A.P. Moller– Maersk has opened a new 30,000-square meter facility (about 323,000 square feet) in Tijuana, Mexico, about 25 miles south of San Diego. Located in Prisma XII, Pacifico Industrial Park in Tijuana, Baja California, the site targets customers in the technology, automotive, retail and lifestyle sectors who are looking for cross-border capabilities, according to Maersk. The company said that its new facility enjoys a strategic geographical advantage, positioned near major commercial ports, such as Los Angeles/Long Beach, California and Ensenada, Mexico. The facility is 15 km (9.2 miles) from the Otay Commercial Port, situated between…

SSA Marine Brings Zero-Emissions Cargo Handling Equipment to San Diego Port

SSA Marine announced in March that it has put into service the first of six pieces of zero-emissions cargo-handling equipment that the company plans to introduce at the Port of San Diego’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal over the next 12 to 18 months. The port has completed the initial installation of the electrical infrastructure needed to support the operation of this equipment, according to SSA. The equipment’s purchase was partially funded by the state of California’s Clean Off-Road Equipment (CORE) voucher program, an incentive project intended to encourage off-road equipment users to purchase or lease currently commercialized zero-emission off-road equipment.…

SF Bay Ferry Secures Millions in Federal Funding for Vallejo Terminal Project

San Francisco Bay Ferry has secured $3 million in federal funding for its Vallejo Ferry Terminal Reconfiguration Project, which aims to improve service, efficiency, climate change resilience and the rider experience by redesigning and rebuilding the key terminal on the ferry’s most popular route. The funding, which was announced in mid-March is included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, recently passed by Congress and signed by President Biden. Funding for the project was secured via support from Congressman John Garamendi (D), who represents Vallejo, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The Vallejo Ferry Terminal Reconfiguration…

Study: New Safety Rules Needed for Methanol-Fueled Vessels

A new fire safety study by global survival technology solutions provider Survitec states that existing firefighting methods used to extinguish machinery space spray and pool fires on conventionally fueled vessels are inadequate when dealing with methanol-based fires. The findings, Survitec said, follow extensive comparative fire tests on dual-fuel marine engines using diesel oil and methanol, carried out amid growing interest in methanol as an alternative marine fuel. “Our tests confirm that traditional water mist fire suppression mechanisms do not perform as expected on methanol pool fires and methanol spray fires,” Survitec Water Mist Systems Product Manager Michał Sadzyński said. “A…

U.S. Labor Unions Request Investigation Into Chinese Shipbuilding

The United Steelworkers Union (USW) on March 12 led a coalition of labor organizations in filing a Section 301 petition, calling on the United States Trade Representative to initiate an investigation into Chinese commercial shipbuilding. “The People’s Republic of China (PRC), over the past two decades, enacted a comprehensive strategy to dominate global transportation and logistics networks, including employing an array of non-market policies. Meanwhile, U.S. shipbuilding capacity continues to diminish,” the USW said in a statement announcing the investigation request. Other unions joining the USW in filing the trade petition include the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,…

Executive Order Expands Coast Guard’s Authority to Address Maritime Cyber Threats

On Feb. 21, President Biden signed an executive order amending regulations relating to the safeguarding of U.S. vessels, harbors, ports and waterfront facilities, updating the Code of Federal Regulations to explicitly address cyber threats. “This executive order ensures Coast Guard authorities are aligned with emerging cybersecurity threats, and reflects the commitment of the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard to safeguard maritime critical infrastructure,” Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy Rear Admiral Wayne Arguin said. Section 70051 of title 46, United States Code, commonly referred to as the Magnuson Act, authorizes the President…

USCG Sector Puget Sound Launches Effort to Curb Vessel Traffic’s Impact on Whales

The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound is engaging in a four-year pilot program that is expected to help minimize the vessel traffic impact on endangered whales in the Salish Sea, the agency announced Feb. 21. Hosted in the Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Service (VTS), the program allows for the Coast Guard to get whale sighting reports from mariners and give close to real-time information on whale locations to mariners through a whale report alert system, according to the Guard. The Coast Guard said that it plans to work closely with international, federal, tribal and state entities as well as…

Kamohoali’i, the ‘Shark God’ Catamaran, Heads for Shark-Infested Waters

BRIX Marine continues to flex in the Hawaii shark tourism space. Washington-based BRIX Marine has delivered the newly built aluminum Classic Tunnel Catamaran (CTC) Kamohoali’i for client Haleiwa Shark Tours of Oahu, Hawaii. The 40-foot length, 14-foot beam vessel dubbed a 4014-CTC is the latest of the BRIX Marine family of Hawaiian shark tour boats. The new 20,560-pound tour boat, which is named after the Hawaiian shark god, is U.S. Coast Guard Subchapter T small passenger vessel certified. “Kamohoali’i is a testament to BRIX Marine’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of marine innovation,” BRIX Marine Managing Director Perry Knudson said.…

The Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Could Something Similar Happen Here?

During the early morning hours of March 26, a 10,000-TEU capacity containership, the Singapore-flagged Dali, suffered a complete power loss, resulting in the massive vessel crashing into a support beam for the Francis Scott Key Bridge near the Port of Baltimore. The cause of the outage is still under investigation, but the allision resulted in the deaths of six construction workers who had been on the bridge repairing potholes at the time, as well as the total loss of the bridge itself. Part of the 1.6-mile bridge was turned into a twisted heap of metal by the 984-foot Maersk-chartered cargo…