U.S. Court Upholds Seafood Import Ban to Protect Vaquita
The U.S. Court of International Trade has denied the Trump administration’s request to lift a ban on certain seafood imports caught with gillnets that kill the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. In July, the court ordered the government to ban such imports from Mexico’s Gulf of California and this ruling upholds the earlier decision. As few as 15 vaquita remain, and almost half the population drowns in fishing gillnets each year. Absent immediate additional protection, the tiny porpoise could be...
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Inpex Ships First LNG Cargo from Ichthys Project
The first shipment of LNG has departed from the Ichthys LNG Project in Australia. The shipment left its onshore gas liquefaction plant in Darwin, Northern Territory, and is destined for the Inpex-operated Naoetsu LNG terminal in Niigata Prefecture in Japan. Ichthys is scheduled to gradually increase its production volume of LNG to approximately 8.9 million tons of LNG per year when it reaches its production plateau – this is equivalent to more than 10 percent of Japan’s annual LNG import volume....
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World's Oldest Intact Wreck Found in the Black Sea
The British-led Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project claims to have found the world's oldest intact wreck, a Greek sailing vessel dating back to 400 BC. The wooden hull is so well-preserved because it lies a mile below the surface of the Black Sea, where an abnormally low level of oxygen in the water slows decay. "A ship, surviving intact, from the Classical world, lying in over two kilometres of water, is something I would never have believed possible," said lead...
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U.S. Navy Seeks Maritime Industry's Input for Unmanned Vessel
The U.S. Navy is seeking information from industry about possible existing platforms that could satisfy its specifications for a new Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle, an autonomous, medium-endurance, medium-speed vessel capable of carrying three TEU of containerized payload. The project described is an ambitious combination of unmanned vessel technology and military-specific requirements. It is nearly identical to a request issued by NAVSEA's Littoral Combat Ship Unmanned Systems Program last year, which sought information for a Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle with comparable specifications....
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E2open Acquires INTTRA, the Top Ocean Freight Platform
Cloud-based supply chain software company E2open announced Monday that it will purchase INTTRA, the leading neutral booking platform for containerized freight. The two firms say that their integration will "streamline the information flow between manufacturers, suppliers, shipping service providers [and] carriers." INTTRA was founded by a consortium of ocean carriers in order to simplify the booking process for freight forwarders and BCOs. Its networked booking platform covers 60 carriers and 35,000 shippers, and it handles the digital "paperwork" for one out of...
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Ferry Runs Down Moored Yachts in Fog
At about 0800 hours on Sunday morning, the Isle of Wight ferry Red Falcon struck two yachts at the entrance to Cowes Harbor while attempting to enter during heavy fog. The UK Coastguard and two local RNLI lifeboat teams deployed to search the area in the event that any occupants of the yachts needed assistance, but later confirmed that no one was in distress. One person aboard a private vessel had cried out to alert the crew of the ferry...
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IMO Moves Forward on GHG Reduction Plans
The work to deliver the IMO initial strategy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships has moved forward with the approval of a program of follow-up actions during Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 73) this week. The program of follow-up actions is intended to be used as a planning tool in meeting the timelines identified in the initial IMO strategy, which was adopted in April 2018. The initial strategy refers to a range of candidate short-, mid- and long term...
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AWO Releases Fatigue Risk Management Guide
The American Waterways Operators has released a new safety resource: Developing a Fatigue Risk Management Plan: A Guide for Towing Vessel Operators. Designed to help towing companies take a proactive approach to fatigue prevention by incorporating fatigue risk management plans into their safety management systems, the guide was recently endorsed by the Coast Guard-AWO Safety Partnership's National Quality Steering Committee. The guide is the latest milestone in AWO's two-decade effort to reduce the risk of fatigue-related accidents in the towing...
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Raye Montague, Naval Engineering Pioneer, Passes at 83
Raye Jean Montague, the developer of the U.S. Navy's first computer generated draft for a warship design, passed away October 10 of congestive heart failure. She was 83 years old. Montague was born in Arkansas in 1935, when overt discrimination was still legal and ubiquitous. She attended segregated schools in Little Rock and graduated in 1952, 12 years before the Civil Rights Act. Montague wanted to attend the University of Arkansas' engineering program,...
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