NTSB Releases El Faro Investigation Video

By MarEx 2018-09-18 17:44:44

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a video summarizing the NTSB investigation of the October 1, 2015, sinking of El Faro and the loss of all 33 mariners aboard. The video examines the NTSB’s determination of the cause of the accident and discusses associated recommendations to improve marine safety. It also highlights the three missions undertaken to retrieve the voyage data recorder and document the wreckage, which was found 15,000 feet beneath the ocean's surface. In February,...

Ferry Burns and Sinks off Sulawesi

By MarEx 2018-09-18 21:38:22

On Friday afternoon, the wooden ferry Fungka Permata V burned and sank off Banggai Laut, a group of islands off Sulawesi, Indonesia. She was carrying about 150 passengers and crewmembers at the time of the sinking. Response officials received notification of the accident at about 1600 hours, and a rescue vessel arrived on site at 1700 with military servicemembers and police officials on board. They rescued 114 passengers and 12 members of the crew, including 28 individuals who sustained injuries. According...

Credit: Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force Facebook page

Japan Conducts Submarine Drill in South China Sea

By MarEx 2018-09-18 21:32:21

Japan has conducted its first peace-time submarine drill in the South China Sea. The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force submarine Kuroshio, commanded by Captain Yasuteru Ueta, along with the helicopter carrier Kaga and two destroyers, Inazuma and Suzutsuki, conducted the drill last Thursday and then made a port call at Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay earlier this week. It was the first call by a Japanese submarine at the strategically important port since World War II. In response to the drill, China...

U.S. Industry Groups Organize to Oppose Tariffs

By MarEx 2018-09-18 19:20:40

The American Petroleum Institute, the American Association of Port Authorities, the National Retail Federation and a wide array of business associations are banding together to voice their opposition to the Trump administration's escalation of tariffs on Chinese goods. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the imposition of 10 percent tariffs on an additional $200 billion in imports from China, including consumer goods like electronics, food, toys and furniture. The tariff rate on this list is set to expand to...

Langley Douglas’ main deck during a previous voyage, with about 18,000–20,000 pounds of squid in the hog pen. (Photo by crewmember)

Twenty-Five Foot Basking Shark Led to Fishing Vessel Capsize

By MarEx 2018-09-18 18:45:17

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has released an investigation report into the sinking of the commercial fishing vessel Langley Douglas in September 2017, noting the presence of a 25-foot basking shark in the catch and the captain's subsequent decision making. The 79-foot-long, 143-gross ton vessel developed a port list, capsized and subsequently sank 60 miles east of Cape Charles, Virginia. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescued the five people on board. No injuries or pollution were reported. The Langley Douglas...

U.S. Accuses Russia of Violating Sanctions on N. Korea

By MarEx 2018-09-18 18:38:31

On Monday, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused Russia of deliberately flouting U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea's nuclear program, then working to hide its actions. "Russia is actively working to undermine the enforcement of the Security Council’s sanctions on North Korea. Its violations are not one-offs. They are systematic," she alleged in an address to the Council. "Russia has not simply looked the other way as its nationals and entities engage in activities explicitly prohibited...

Greenland Government Agrees to Back Arctic HFO Ban

By MarEx 2018-09-18 18:19:11

Greenland’s Naalakkersuisut (government) has issued a statement saying that is supports a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil by Arctic shipping. The Greenland government’s statement, published on the Naalakkersuisut’s website says (in translation) that: “Naalakkersuisut has agreed to actively work for a ban on HFO in the Arctic, via the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO). The prohibition must cover both navigation and transport of HFO in the Arctic. Naalakkersuisut's position on the case has awaited...

Coast Guard Responds to Flooding as Florence Departs

By MarEx 2018-09-18 15:02:00

Hurricane Florence has moved inland from the Carolinas and weakened into a tropical depression, but the rescue and recovery effort in the Mid-Atlantic is far from over. In Wilmington, where the storm made landfall, rainfall upstream means that rivers are still rising and floodwaters are still spreading. The Coast Guard, National Guard, U.S. Army, state and local SAR efforts have continued as the floods prompt new emergency response requests. Cary, NC swift water respnse...

Hamburger Hafen Lifts World's Biggest Propeller

By MarEx 2018-09-18 11:00:24

On Sunday, a floating crane belonging to Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) loaded the biggest ship propeller in the world onto a container vessel. HHLA (one of the Port of Hamburg's terminal operators) often loads cargoes from specialty metalworking firm Mecklenburger Metallguss GmbH (MMG) onto ships in Hamburg. However, the latest propeller, with a weight of 110 tonnes and a diameter of 34.5 feet, was larger than any before it. These shipments are not containerized upon arrival at the pier,...