Articles – Page 38 – Pacific Maritime Magazine

Port of Los Angeles Nets $20M Federal Infrastructure Grant

The Port of Los Angeles and a range of elected officials and industry leaders joined U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sept. 7 to celebrate the award of a $20 million federal infrastructure grant for a critical road-railway grade separation project at the port. “We’re proud to be here marking such important progress being made, but also recognizing that there is so much more to do to fix the supply chains that were torn up by the pandemic and to make them more resilient for years to come – and right here we have a great example of that,” U.S.…

Austal USA to Build Saildrone Surveyor USV

Northern California-based ocean drone operator Saildrone has reached a partnership with Austal USA for designed to meet the growing demand for Saildrone’s uncrewed surface vehicles, known as Saildrones. The 65-foot Saildrone Surveyor is designed for deep ocean mapping and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications, above and below the surface. The Surveyor, which was developed and designed by Saildrone, will be manufactured exclusively by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. The new partnership, which was revealed by the companies at the end of August, provides the U.S. Navy and other government customers a solution for maritime domain awareness, hydrographic survey and other…

Oil Pipeline Operator to Pay Almost $13 Million Over Huntington Beach Spill

Amplify Energy Corp., operator of the underwater pipeline that broke and released thousands of gallons of oil into Huntington Beach, Calif. waters in 2021, has agreed to pay close to $13 million as part of a plea agreement with the U.S. government, the company announced Aug. 26. To settle all federal criminal issues associated with the spill, the Houston-based oil and natural gas company agreed to pay a $7.1 million fine over three years and pay back $5.8 million to government agencies for responding to the spill. The company also agreed to plead guilty to one count of misdemeanor negligent…

Agreement on Tilbury LNG Projects Signed

Under a newly inked agreement announced earlier this month, FortisBC Holdings Inc. and the Musqueam Indian Band will work together to ensure that Tilbury natural gas projects will be beneficial to both parties. Tilbury LNG projects include the Tilbury LNG Expansion Project and the Tilbury Marine Jetty Project, which would allow ship-to-ship LNG fueling at Canada’s Port of Vancouver and bulk export for LNG. Phase 1A of the expansion calls for adding a 46,000-cubic-meter storage tank and LNG liquefaction capacity of 0.25 million tons annually. “Musqueam is looking forward to being an equity partner with FortisBC at Tilbury, on the…

USCG Shuts Down Illegal Southern California Charter Vessels

The U.S. Coast Guard shut down three illegal charter vessels operating in Southern California over Labor Day weekend, the Guard announced. Sector San Diego halted two illegal charter vessels and their voyages while they carried passengers for hire. Meanwhile, the USCG teamed up with the Marina Del Rey Sheriff’s law enforcement to stop Beirut, a 58-foot pleasure boat operating an illegal charter vessel with 15 passengers. The vessel is in violation of not having a valid certificate of inspection, not having a Coast Guard-licensed captain, running in coastwise trade without the appropriate certificate of documentation endorsement and for failing to…

Pasha Hawaii’s New LNG-Powered Vessel Christened at POLB

Pasha Hawaii’s newest vessel, powered by liquefied natural gas, was christened during a Sept. 1 ceremony at the Port of Long Beach. Accompanied by speeches and the breaking of a champagne bottle, the ceremony marked the start of regular service of the m/v George III, one of the cleanest container ships to call at Long Beach. The 774-foot LNG-fueled containership is the first of two new “’Ohana Class” vessels to join Pasha Hawaii’s fleet, serving the Hawaii-Mainland trade lane, according to the company. The George III made its initial call at the Port on Aug. 17 when it became the…

Seattle Port Commissioner Goes on Nordic Trade Mission

Port of Seattle Commissioner Ryan Calkins traveled in September with a delegation from Washington state on the Nordic Study and Trade Mission being led by Gov. Jay Inslee and the Washington Department of Commerce, the port announced Sept. 9. The mission encompassed travel to Finland, Sweden, and Norway and included visits to the U.S. Embassies in Helsinki and Oslo, the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the KTH Royal Institute and the Wallenberg Wood Science Center in Stockholm, the Maritime Competence Center in Aalesund, Norway, and to Oceantech Innovation, Trondheim, which delves into technology aimed at supporting “offshore wind, aquaculture…

Port of Oakland OKs Clean Energy Project Design Contract

The Port of Oakland has approved a $2-million design contract for a clean energy project at the Northern California seaport, the port announced Aug. 22. Engineering design consulting company Burns & McDonnell has been selected to perform the work, which would involve injecting green technology and resiliency elements to the electrical infrastructure design of a project to serve the former Oakland Army Base and Outer Harbor areas and bolster its electrical grid resiliency. That electrical infrastructure encompasses “solar generation, battery storage systems, a fuel cell and the replacement of a substation and connecting circuitry.” The goal is to create renewable…

Prince Rupert Port Authority Opens Fairview-Ridley Connector Corridor

The Prince Rupert Port Authority’s (PRPA) Fairview-Ridley Connector Corridor formally opened on Aug. 24 with an official ribbon cutting ceremony. The Connector Corridor was developed by PRPA as a critical component of the Prince Rupert Gateway’s intermodal ecosystem, a closed loop system of road and rail infrastructure that connects transloading and marine terminal operations within the port’s existing footprint. The road and rail corridor directly links Fairview Terminal, both current and future capacity, with future import and export logistics sites on South Kaien Island and Ridley Island, that the port authority has said will offer new opportunities for Canadian businesses…

Carbon Emissions Down 46% at Seattle’s Port-Owned Facilities, Operations

The Port of Seattle’s annual greenhouse gas emissions inventory, which was released Aug. 9, shows that it cut emissions from its own operations by 46% in 2021 as compared to the 2005 baseline. The port’s Aviation division became the first major operating division to meet Seattle’s ambitious goal to reduce owned and controlled emissions by 50% by 2030. The massive reduction came almost entirely from the purchase of renewable natural gas produced from landfill waste, the port said. The port has indicated that it expects to eliminate all carbon emissions from port-owned and controlled sources by 2040, and for all…