On Dec. 1 in San Diego, General Dynamics NASSCO began construction on the future USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7), the fifth ship of the Navy’s reclassified Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) program. Dennis DuBard, a long-time NASSCO employee and the Start of Construction honoree, initiated the first cut of steel used to build the vessel. The ship is named in honor of a Marine Corps veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor after he threw himself on an enemy grenade shielding his fellow Marines during the Korean War. “Today, we start construction of the ship that honors the life…
The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Cypress (WLB 210) arrived in Kodiak on Dec. 5, 2021, after transiting from the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland. The Cypress crew transited over 7,600 nautical miles south along the East Coast through the Caribbean and Panama Canal, and north along the West Coast through the Alaskan Inside Passage to her new homeport at Coast Guard Base Kodiak. The crew began preparing the Cypress for her maiden voyage to Alaska in August and will be returning to Kodiak after four months away from home. During her 34 day transit, the Cypress…
The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay has entered into an agreement to acquire the former Georgia Pacific Mill site from current owner, Commercial Development Company (CDC) Inc. of St. Louis. The port said that it intends to rehabilitate the site and return it to service, utilizing the facility for the movement of goods and commodities through maritime, rail , and trucking for both domestic and international markets. The port and CDC are currently in a 60-day due-diligence period that ends before Christmas. The two parties say they intend to finalize the sale before the end of the year. Once…
In November, the Port of Everett, alongside project partners and community members, broke ground on two new waterfront retail buildings as part of the first phase of the port’s 65-acre Waterfront Place mixed-use development. The groundbreaking marked the first retail parcels to be built at the waterfront in over a decade, with plans to build at least one or two new buildings each year to reach full build out by 2026. Port officials and future tenants gave remarks at the Nov. 8 event, followed by a ceremonial groundbreaking to commemorate the milestone. “We have been strategically investing in this destination…
Port of Olympia’s Len Faucher has left for a new job with Jones Stevedoring after nearly seven years as the port’s marine terminal director, the port announced Nov. 30. Faucher became the Port of Olympia’s marine terminal director in January, 2015 after more than seven years as an operations manager with Connecticut-based ship brokerage firm Charles R. Weber. “He has successfully fulfilled the commission goals of diversifying the port’s cargo portfolio by adding dairy cattle exports to Vietnam, organic grain imports from Turkey, a gold ore import from Europe, and rice imports from Thailand while maintaining strong relationships with existing…
SSA Marine, which operates three container terminals at the Port of Long Beach, has become the port’s first terminal operator to transition its fossil-fueled cargo-handling equipment fleet to renewable diesel fuel. Renewable diesel has the same chemical energy as traditional diesel fuel, but is synthesized from sources such as animal fat from food wastes, used cooking oil and soybean oil. The move is expected to achieve a 68% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across SSA’s Long Beach terminals, according to the port. The change involved more than 230 pieces of equipment across the company’s Long Beach terminals. SSA converted its…
I’ll let you in on a little secret: I strongly dislike taxes and fees. Never have been a fan of them. Yes, I know that various types of seaport-related taxes and penalties, like demurrage, tariffs and wharfage, are very important and in many cases, highly necessary. But I’ve never truly been completely on board with the concept of one party tacking on additional fees on top of standard fees levied on parties that they do business with. That being said, I’m definitely rethinking my position now that the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have managed to scare companies…
Foss Maritime has permanently closed its shipyard on Seattle’s Lake Washington Ship Canal. The closure, announced in late October, resulted in 115 layoffs. Foss paid the salaries, benefits and average overtime to the impacted employees through the remainder of 2021, the company said. Sustained losses at the 11-acre shipyard and potential future pension liabilities influenced the company’s decision to close the facility, Foss spokesman Mark Grantor told Maritime Publishing. “Our exit from the shipyard business is consistent with our strategic focus on providing core maritime transportation services and exploring new opportunities in emerging markets,” Grantor said in an email. Further…
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved an agreement with ABL Space Systems to build a spacecraft processing facility at the Port of Long Beach and use the waterfront area for the delivery and shipping of its cargo. Founded in 2017, El Segundo-based ABL Space Systems will take over eight acres of dry land and 1.31 acres of submerged land at the port’s Pier T, formerly part of the Long Beach Naval Station. “It’s exciting to add yet another tenant in the rapidly growing spacecraft technology industry,” Long Beach Harbor Commission President Steven Neal said in a statement.…
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport complex, in coordination with import specialists from the Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising (CPMM) Center of Excellence and Expertise recently intercepted 13,586 counterfeit designer products arriving in a containerized cargo shipment from China. CBP officers discovered handbags, tote bags, shoulder bags, crossbody bags, backpacks, shirts, and pants bearing numerous registered and recorded trademarks, including Gucci, Chanel, Fendi, YSL and Louis Vuitton. CBP officers, in cooperation with U.S. Homeland Security special agents, seized the shipment on November 9, 2021. If genuine, the seized merchandise would have a combined…