News Briefs – Page 80 – Pacific Maritime Magazine

19 Jun

Aqueos Corporation Completes Virginia Wind Farm Project

Sarah SpanglerNews, News Briefs

California-based Aqueos Corporation has completed a diving contract for support of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) Generation Project development on the US East Coast. The project required extensive upfront planning and detailed project development. Aqueos deployed an IMCA compliant diving system and personnel onto a 175-foot class lift boat to support the work. The work consisted of trenching the HDD pull in conduit, installation of sealing flanges, pull-in monitoring operations and protecting the HDD exit site by installing 45-tons of washed local gravel. This project provided Aqueos with an opportunity to present our capabilities to leaders of the Offshore…

01 Jun

AMHS Limits Operations Due to COVID-19

Pacific MaritimeNews, News Briefs

Despite an expanded budget (see Pacific Maritime Magazine, May 2020) the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) does not plan to expand ferry service until COVID-19 travel restrictions are relaxed and demand for passenger service increases. As of the end of April the ferry system was only operating two services, one linking Southeast communities around the Upper Lynn Canal and a shuttle operation between Ketchikan and Metlakatla. Sailings to Pelican and Tenakee Springs, which were to have been resumed in May, have been canceled, as have runs between Valdez and Cordova on Prince William Sound, and there is currently no connection…

01 May

Auto Carrier to Test Bio-Fuel

Pacific MaritimeNews Briefs, Propulsion Technology

United European Car Carriers (UECC), jointly owned by Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Sweden’s Wallenius Lines, has begun a three-month trial testing of bio-fuel supplied by Amsterdam-based GoodFuels in its ro/ro vessel Autosky. The testing will involved use of 3,000 tons of sustainable biofuel by the 6,670-dwt auto carrier which operates between Zeebrugge, Belgium and Santander, Spain. The use of bio-fuel, which requires no changes to the ship’s engines, is expected to result in a reduction of more than 6,500 tons of CO2 emissions on a well-to-wake basis. UECC also has a pair of ro/ro newbuilds under construction that…

01 May

Australia’s New Icebreaker Delayed 19 Weeks

Pacific MaritimeArctic, News Briefs

Delays continue to plague Australia’s new icebreaker Nuyina being built by the Damen shipyard in Galati, Romania (see Pacific Maritime Magazine, Jan 2020). The new vessel, to be outfitted at the Damen facility in Holland, is now not expected to arrive at its home base of Hobart, Tasmania until November of this year. Because of this, plus required crew familiarization training, its first Antarctic voyage has been delayed until January of next year. The Australian Department of the Environment and Energy is studying contingency plans in order to have supplementary shipping capability available to undertake Antarctica station resupply operations in…

01 May

Australia Contracts Icebreaker Replacement

Pacific MaritimeNews, News Briefs

The Australian Antarctic Division has contracted Luxembourg-based Maritime Construction Services (MCS) to resupply several Australian research stations in Antarctica between December of this year and March 2021 because of delays in construction of the new Australian icebreaker Nuyina by Holland’s Damen Group (see Pacific Maritime Magazine, Jan. 2020). For the work MCS will supply its ice-classed multi-purpose vessel Everest, a state-of-the-art 25,000-kW ship with 1,400 square meters of deck space and accommodation for 140 personnel in 100 cabins. The DP3 rated vessel, which is equipped with several deck cranes of varying capacity, will also be available for underwater work and…

01 May

Banks Ending Support for Offshore Drilling in the Arctic

Pacific MaritimeNews, News Briefs

The Switzerland-based UBS Bank has joined several other investment companies in pulling funding and support for new offshore drilling projects in the Arctic, a move that could affect future funding for oil and gas projects in Alaska. A number of US banks, including Wells Fargo & Co, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, have already announced similar policy shifts, stating they were no longer supporting new projects in the region in an effort to tackle climate change. Although major oil companies in Alaska are not too dependent on banks for their projects because they can use their own cash flow, the…

14 Apr

AltaSea to Offer Virtual Education Platform for Homebound Students

Sarah SpanglerNews, News Briefs

By Karen Robes Meeks To help students homebound because of COVID-19, AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles is kicking off “Project Blue @Home,” a virtual education platform aimed at providing science-based programming with real-world applications. Project Blue @Home allows students to engage with AltaSea staffers and leading marine science and exploration experts via live video chats, video question-and-answer sessions and pre-packaged lessons. The first video question-and-answer session is scheduled for April 17 and will feature Ocean Exploration Trust founder Dr. Robert Ballard, who located the doomed relic of the Titanic in 1985. Ballard’s 64-meter research vessel E/V Nautilus is based at…

01 Apr

BC Ferries Orders Another Salish-Class

Pacific MaritimeNews Briefs, Propulsion Technology

After receiving its first two hybrid-electric ferries in January from the Damen yard in Romania (see Pacific Maritime Magazine, Feb 2020) BC Ferries expects to receive its fourth Salish-class LNG-fueled ferry from Poland’s Remontowa yard in 2022. The mid-size vessel, which will be able to carry at least 138 vehicles and up to 600 passengers and crew, will replace the 1965-built Mayne Queen which is limited to 58 vehicles and 400 passengers and crew.

01 Apr

AMHS Charters Tour Boat for Ferry Service

Pacific MaritimeNews, News Briefs

The Alaska Marine Highway System was forced to charter a tour boat from Sitka-based Allen Marine to operate several voyages between Juneau and the towns of Kake, Angoon and Tenakee in late February and early March after all but one of the ferry system’s vessels were out of service. Allen Marine had previously supplied one of its boats to transport passengers stranded by the breakdown of the system’s mainline ferry Matanuska earlier in February.

01 Apr

American Countess Enters Service

Pacific MaritimeNews, News Briefs

New Albany, Indiana-based American Queen Steamboat Company (AQSC) has placed its newest vessel, the 245-passenger riverboat American Countess, in service on the Mississippi River alongside its American Queen and American Duchess. Converted from the 24-year-old casino boat Kanesville Queen by Gulf Island Shipyards at Houma, Louisiana, the vessel makes use of four Caterpillar 3516 diesel-electric generators of a combined 5,760 kW output powering three 650-hp electric drive motors turning three Schottel SRP 330 rudder propellers to give a service speed of 12-knots. In addition, a pair of Schottel 300-kW tunnel thrusters have been installed to enhance berthing and overall maneuverability…