Leon's CEO discusses plan to build 4,000 homes near Toronto headquarters

 WILL THEY BE FURNISHED?

Ben Cousins, BNN Bloomberg

Leon’s Furniture Ltd. has received approval to rezone the area surrounding its Toronto headquarters to make way for 4,000 new homes, the company announced Monday.

The 40-acre parcel of land, located next to the interchange between Highways 400 and 401 north of the city, will include a “new flagship retail store and corporate headquarters on the site,” in addition to the 4,000 residences.

The homes will include “townhouses, mid and high rise buildings and community spaces,” Leon’s said.

“I think there's a huge opportunity in the housing market,” Michael Walsh, president and CEO of Leon’s Furniture, said told BNN Bloomberg in a television interview.

“We're really excited about today (and) in the future. For me, this isn't us taking our eye off the ball as it relates to what got us here, which is furniture, mattresses and everything else we sell.”

As a next step for the development, Leon’s said it will complete “secondary plan” with the City of Toronto, which it expects to complete by mid-2025.

“Phase one will be building a new head office and a new retail store and then phase two is part of a master planning of the community,” Walsh said.

“We work with the city on the secondary plan phase … we're hoping to have that done sometime in 2025 and things can move along a lot quicker now that we have the regeneration area decided on.”

The Leon’s home office has been located on the property since 1969.

REIT ambitions

News of the development has come less than a year after the furniture retailer announced plans to create a real estate investment trust in May 2023.

At the time of that announcement, Leon’s noted that it already had more than 5.2 million square feet of real estate already in its portfolio.

“We've got parcels of land across the country,” Walsh said.

Walsh said the plan to grow the REIT won’t go further until interest rates come down.

“We really have to wait till market conditions are there,” he said.

“One of the key factors is going to be interest rates coming down before we can do a REIT, which is going to be a separate company with a separate CEO and a separate board of trustees.”

 

Lawyers urge B.C. Supreme Court to approve iPhone class-action settlement

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press

A lawyer for a group of Apple iPhone users whose devices allegedly slowed down after software updates says consumers will receive between $17.50 and $150 under a settlement agreement negotiated over a class-action lawsuit. A shopper compares two iPhone 15 models on the first day of sales at an Apple Store in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. , THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jae C. Hong

A judge in British Columbia will decide next month whether to approve a multimillion-dollar settlement of a class-action lawsuit against Apple for allegedly slowing down older model iPhones with its software updates. 

Lawyers for the company and class members in a lawsuit originally filed in 2018 were in a Vancouver courtroom Monday, urging approval of the settlement, where consumers would receive between $17.50 and $150, depending on the number of claims that are successful. 

Michael Peerless, a lawyer for the class, told Justice Sharon Matthews that the amounts will be paid out to those who can prove ownership of affected phones that include several iPhone 6 and 7 models. 

He said the settlement was "hard fought" after “lengthy and difficult negotiations" with the company, and said the amounts proposed to be paid out is “in the range that a consumer should hope for.”

Peerless told the judge that similar litigation in the United States provided a "valuable road map" during settlement negotiations, which could see Apple pay out a maximum of about $14.4 million to class members. 

Similar lawsuits were filed in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The settlement agreement would apply for residents in all provinces except Quebec. 

The U.S. case in California saw the company settle with iPhone users whose devices were throttled by software updates, diminishing the phones' performance and battery life. 

The California case settlement range was between $310 million and $500 million. 

Peerless said the claims process will be very "simple," with an online and paper-based option for people to use if they bought devices that had slow performance and battery issues. 

"It provides real, not massively large, but real monetary benefits. It's not a coupon settlement, this is cash and it offers reasonable recovery for what class members suffered," Peerless said. 

It would've taken "multiple more years" to get paid out had the case gone to trial, he said, and there'd be no guarantee of success or a bigger payout had they gone that route.

"The damages in a case like this are difficult to quantify," Peerless said. "There's no real judicial guidance for something like this. We're never going to have a Supreme Court of Canada trilogy about what damages are for a slowed down smartphone.

"But what we were able to do is to negotiate the maximum amount achievable for a very large number of class members in this case," he said. 

He said notice of the settlement was provided to about nine million class members by email, and 10,000 by physical mail, while also receiving "significant media coverage." 

Jill Yates, a lawyer for Apple, told the court the company has never admitted wrongdoing.

"Apple, throughout, has taken a position that it has done nothing wrong here," she said. "These claims are novel and they are not ones where Apple agrees that anything was wrongfully done." 

The judge has reserved her decision on approving the settlement until Feb. 21, 2024. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2024.

Activist Gildan shareholders critical of late May date for special meeting

Jordan Fleguel and Ben Cousins, BNN Bloomberg

Gildan Activewear has set a special shareholders meeting for May 28 to vote on a request to replace the majority of the clothing maker’s board, frustrating some shareholders who were pushing for an earlier meeting.

It’s latest development of an increasingly bitter activist investor campaign.

The meeting stems from a shareholder requisition from investment firm Browning West, and it’s expected to serve as a vote on whether to reinstate ousted and embattled CEO Glenn Chamandy.

“Browning West is asking Gildan shareholders to vote to remove the majority of Gildan’s directors and replace them with Browning West’s eight nominees with the intention that those nominees will reinstate Glenn Chamandy as CEO,” Gildan said in a written statement.

Chamandy was let go by Gildan’s board of directors in early December and replaced with Vince Tyra. Chamandy maintains he was ousted without cause and a number of Gildan investors have since called for him to be reinstated.

Shareholder response

In a statement, Browning West said it called for a March date for the special meeting, and argued Gildan’s board is “demonstrating a complete disregard for sound corporate governance” by setting a late May date for the meeting.

“It appears the board has learned nothing from its recent string of ill-conceived decisions and publicity stunts, which seem to have only succeeded in alienating shareholders,” Usman S. Nabi and Peter M. Lee of Browning West said in a written statement.

“Indeed, it is as if the board is oblivious to the fact that holders of approximately 35 per cent of Gildan’s outstanding shares publicly support our campaign and efforts to expeditiously reinstate Glenn Chamandy as Chief Executive Officer.”

Turtle Creek Asset Management also expressed frustration with the late May meeting date.

“Despite numerous requests from shareholders to hold the special meeting without delay, the board has decided to call a combined annual and special meeting nearly a month later than its usual timing,” the firm’s statement reads.

“Rather than call the meeting within two or three months, the board appears determined to frustrate and delay shareholders’ ability to hold it accountable.”

‘Unique situation’

David Swartz, senior equity analyst with Morningstar Research Services, told BNN Bloomberg that he’s never seen an activist campaign quite like the one currently playing out at Gildan.
“I've seen a lot of activist campaigns to try to fire CEOs, but this is the first one I've ever seen where activists actually band together to bring back a CEO who had already been fired,” he said.
“This is a completely unique situation.”

The board has consistently defended their decision to remove Chamandy as CEO despite ongoing pressure from some shareholders, and Swartz said that isn’t likely to change.

“Certainly the board will not rehire Chamandy … the board has made it very clear that there's a huge division between how it sees the future of Gildan and Chamandy’s vision and there is no way that they can reconcile,” he said.

Gildan said a “special committee of directors,” made up of a majority of directors not targeted by Browning West, made recommendations on Browning West’s requisition.

The company said that it set the May meeting after numerous shareholders expressed interest in holding a spring meeting to “limit disruption” to the business.

“The selected meeting date will provide shareholders with an opportunity to assess CEO Vince Tyra’s leadership of the company so they can make the most informed decision about whom they assess is the best executive to lead Gildan,” the company said.

Browning West argued that if the board was interested in a speedy resolution, it would agree to the March date.

“The board has acknowledged in its own press release that it agrees with the view of a critical mass of shareholders that a speedy resolution of the current situation is in the company’s best interest, which is precisely what a more urgently called special meeting would provide,” the statement reads. 

Swartz said there’s “a chance” that the majority of Gildan’s board will be voted out at the meeting, paving the way for Chamandy’s return, however he said it would it would be an “extremely strange” way for the saga to end.

Swartz noted that the meeting is still a number of months away, and Chamandy’s successor will be able to use that time to communicate his vision for Gildan and try to win over shareholders.

 

Trans Mountain expansion runs into 'technical issues,' completion delay possible

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is facing delay yet again.

The Crown corporation building the massive project, which had previously stated it expected to have the pipeline in-service near the end of the first quarter, said Monday it has once again run into construction challenges in B.C.

In a statement on its website, Trans Mountain Corp. said Monday it has encountered "technical issues" and needs additional time to determine the "safest and most prudent actions for minimizing further delay."

The company said the technical issues were discovered between Jan. 25 and Jan. 27 during construction work in the Fraser Valley between Hope and Chilliwack, B.C.

"Trans Mountain is fully focused on the completion of the pipeline and will not be providing (media) interviews at this time as it works towards the anticipated in-service date in the second quarter of 2024," the company stated.

The Trans Mountain pipeline is Canada's only oil pipeline to the West Coast and its expansion will increase the pipeline's capacity to 890,000 barrels per day from 300,000 bpd currently.  

Its construction, which is more than 98 per cent complete, has been underway for more than three years. Canadian oil producers have already begun ramping up production in expectation of the additional export capacity, which is expected to improve the prices Canadian oil companies receive.

But Trans Mountain Corp. has been racing against the clock as it deals with difficulties drilling through hard rock in B.C. 

Its initial request to use a different size of pipe for the location in question was denied by the Canada Energy Regulator due to concerns around pipeline quality and integrity. 

Trans Mountain Corp. then asked the regulator to reconsider, saying in December that the project could face a worst-case scenario of a two-year delay in completion if it was not allowed to alter its construction plans.

After an oral hearing in Calgary earlier this month, the regulator then agreed to allow a pipeline variance, as long as Trans Mountain Corp. abided by a number of conditions, including testing and documentation requirements for the pipe materials.

The Trans Mountain pipeline is owned by the federal government, which purchased it in 2018 in an effort to get the expansion project over the finish line after it was scuttled by previous owner Kinder Morgan Canada.

The project's costs have spiralled through the course of construction from an original estimate of $5.4 billion to the most recent estimate of $30.9 billion.

Trans Mountain Corp. has blamed the ballooning costs on a number of things, including evolving compliance requirements, Indigenous accommodations, stakeholder engagement and compensation requirements, extreme weather, the COVID-19 pandemic and challenging terrain.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2024.

Trans Mountain's completion will be 'hugely positive' for Canadian oil industry: analyst

Daniel Johnson , BNN Bloomberg

The Trans Mountain pipeline project is inching closer to becoming operational and a commodities analyst says Canada’s oil sector will benefit significantly once the pipeline project comes online.

The Trans Mountain is set to begin filling with crude in February, a key step toward becoming fully operational. Randy Ollenberger, managing director of oil and gas equity research at BMO Capital Markets, told BNN Bloomberg that the news is “hugely positive” for the Canadian oil sector. However, on Monday the company behind the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion said it encountered a technical issue delaying the completion date.

“This will be the first time in more than a decade we have spare pipeline capacity exiting the base. This is big, I think investors have forgotten about how big this could potentially be for the sector,” Ollenberger said in a Monday interview. 

Spare pipeline capacity will also reduce volatility for Canadian oil prices, Ollenberger added. As a result, he anticipates companies operating in the sector will receive better valuations and higher stock prices. 

Oil price impacts

In today’s commodity markets, Ollenberger said Canadian producers are competing to sell oil, which results in discounted prices. 

“We're going to be moving into a market where buyers are going to be competing to buy Canadian oil,” he said. “That price competition, we think, will result in a better price for Canadian oil relative to other benchmarks in the world.” 

Cash flow

This change in market dynamics is likely to benefit heavy oil producers in the Canadian industry, according to Ollenberger. 

“A company like MEG Energy, which is 100 per cent heavy (oil) with no downstream operations, they will see a substantive increase in their cash flow,” he said. 

With files from Bloomberg News 

 

Report: HMM Sale in Jeopardy as Delays Emerge in Negotiations

Negations for the sale of HMM have reportedly hit delays (file photo)

PUBLISHED JAN 31, 2024 5:13 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

The proposed sale of a controlling interest in South Korea’s largest carrier, HMM, and the eighth-largest carrier in the container segment, is reportedly encountering difficulties with reports in the Korean media that the negotiations are behind schedule and in danger of collapse. The unions have opposed the planned privatization since it was announced and now there are reports that the fluid state of the container shipping market has created additional challenges for the deal.

Korea’s two state-controlled financial institutions, Korea Development Bank and Korea Ocean Business Corporation, the long-term debtors of the company, in December, reported they had selected Harim Group as the winning bidder in the proposed sale of a controlling stake in HMM. After years of discussion, the financial institutions launched the sale process in the summer of 2023 seeking to sell nearly 58 percent of the shares of HMM as the first step in a return of HMM to private control.

Harim, a poultry company that also owns bulk shipping company Pan Ocean, offered nearly $5 billion for the controlling stake. To complete the deal, the company would have to raise significant external investments. They made the bid in conjunction with a private equity firm JKL Partners, who had also been their partner on the acquisition of Pan Ocean. When the joint bid was selected, there were already reports in the media that they had included stipulations that KDB and KOBC were rejecting.

According to the reports in the Korean media citing unnamed sources in the banking and finance community, Harim is now questioning HMM’s competitive position in the market after the announcement that Hapag-Lloyd would be leaving The Alliance for a new collaboration with Maersk. HMM, along with Ocean Network Express and Yang Ming are the other participants in the collaboration, but Harim is reportedly seeking information on the operation of The Alliance, which the reports said HMM considered confidential. The question is HMM’s ability to continue to compete in the European markets after losing the largest member of its alliance. They are also citing the European Union and UK’s decisions to later this year end the exemption from antitrust regulations for the three industry alliances.

The media reports also suggest Harim is demanding full management control of HMM. KDB and KBOC, which will continue to hold convertible bonds equal to nearly 30 percent of the company, reportedly wanted to continue to have a role in the management and the ability to name external directors. In the bid, Harim was reportedly asking for a three-year moratorium on the conversion and sale of the additional bonds and a preemptive right for new shares of HMM. They also reportedly wanted to restrict dividends to provide retained capital to fund HMM’s growth.

Harim is said to be planning a significant equity raise selling shares of Pan Ocean to help fund the HMM acquisition. JKL would also provide significant external capital, which according to the unions will weaken HMM’s financial position and ability to expand and compete. The unions fear HMM’s expansion into dry bulk would be canceled to reduce the competition with Pan Ocean.

The unions reportedly sent a letter again calling for the end of the proposed sale. They are also suggesting the downturn in the container market would lead to a loss of employment and the sale will endanger the Korean shipping industry.

After selecting Harim as the preferred bidder, the process called for completing a sale agreement. KDB reportedly wanted the sale agreement completed this month and had publicly said they expected the transaction to be completed in the spring. Neither KDB nor Harim would comment on the rumors saying that the negotiations were still ongoing to conclude the purchase agreement.

 

CMA CGM Orders Its First Methanol Conversion as Focus Shifts to Biofuels

CMA CGM will undertake its first methanol refit in 2025 (file photo)

PUBLISHED JAN 31, 2024 3:34 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

CMA CGM is joining the growing list of shipowners moving to test converting in-service vessels to operate on methanol. China State Shipbuilding Corporation is reporting a contract signing yesterday in China for the first conversion project for the French shipping company which so far has mostly invested in LNG-fueled ships. 

Few details were released on the specifics of the project but it appears CMA CGM will be testing the conversion with one or two 9,300 TEU ships built nearly a decade ago. Chinese media reports on the contract signing are saying the first vessel conversion will take place in mid-2025 requiring approximately three months. If successful, reports are saving an entire class of six to 10 ships could be converted. 

CMA CGM follows the path of other major shipowners which are also looking at the conversion to methanol-fueled propulsion. Maersk signed a similar conversion order last October which is expected to start later this year. One of the company’s 15,000 TEU vessels, Maersk Halifax, reportedly will be the first to be retrofitted with the company saying it was exploring converting additional vessels in the class which was built between 2017 and 2019 when the vessel’s special survey is due.

Several other shipowners have also reported conversion projects. Included in the container segment is COSCO while Hapag-Lloyd is reported to be working with Seaspan and MAN on a conversion project. Other segments have also reported exploring the process for conversion, including Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings which started a project with MAN. Norwegian is the only one of the large cruise lines that decided to forego LNG and proceed directly to methanol.

CMA CGM has been investing heavily in LNG launching the first large LNG-fueled containerships. The company continues to order additional dual-fuel LNG vessels highlighting an investment of close to $15 billion in decarbonizing its fleet. The company recently reported that it has 35 dual-fuel LNG-powered containerships and will have almost 120 vessels capable of being powered by decarbonized fuels by 2028.

Most of the focus has been on LNG including a report that they backtracked on a plan for methanol instead commencing a newbuild to be powered by LNG. CMA CGM is reported to have placed its first order for methanol-fueled vessels in April 2023 for a total of 12 vessels with a capacity of 15,000 TEU to be built by Dalian Shipbuilding and Jiangnan Shipyard. The company also has a dozen ships on order in Korea to be built by Hyundai Samho which will be dual-fuel methanol ships. CMA CGM is reported to be focused on ships that will be biomethane and e-methane ready.

Beihai Shipbuilding highlighted its long relationship with CMA CGM. Starting in 2018, the Chinese shipyard has carried out conversions for the French company including lengthening vessels, installing hybrid scrubbers and ballast water treatment systems, and propulsion projects. The yard also received an order in 2021 to build ten 5,500 TEU containerships for CMA CGM. 

 

Korean Ministry Thinks $10 Trillion Asset Manager Can't Afford Wind Farms

iStock

PUBLISHED JAN 30, 2024 4:06 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

South Korea's energy regulator has determined that a subsidiary of BlackRock - the world's largest asset manager - has not demonstrated financial capacity to build a two-gigawatt offshore wind complex on the nation's southern coastline. 

As of January, BlackRock has about $10 trillion in assets under management worldwide, more than the combined assets of the American insurance sector. Subsidiary Blackrock Real Assets owns Korea Renewable Energy Development & Operation Holdings (KREDO), the parent company of South Korean developer KREDO Offshore. KREDO Offshore applied for a business license to install 200 wind turbines off the coast of four islands in Sinan, a high-potential region for wind power generation. The license application divided the two-gigawatt project up into five separate wind farms; taken together, the complex would be the largest in South Korea when completed. The cost would be substantial: $7.5 billion, not including long-distance transmission infrastructure.

According to South Korean media, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has rejected all five of the Sinan projects. 

The first issue that the ministry identified with Kredo Offshore's proposal was a "lack of documents to prove financial ability for the potential project," according to the Korea Herald - even though the parent company manages assets worth more than five times the annual economic turnover of South Korea.

The second issue was a lack of grid capacity to handle another two gigawatts of power. Sinan is a rural area and does not have the transmission infrastructure to absorb that much electricity, according to the ministry. The government has plans to develop a long-distance DC subsea transmission line to connect renewables projects in Sinan with power-hungry markets in Seoul - but not for another 12 years. According to the ministry, only one of the five Kredo projects would be able to supply its power to the local grid. 

Amazon Buys Half of an Offshore Wind Farm's Power

Moray West is under construction and due to come online in 2025 (Amazon handout)

PUBLISHED JAN 30, 2024 9:45 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Most offshore wind farms sell their electricity to a utility. Others are owned by a utility and provide the power to their own grid. A small number find a different way to market by selling some of the power to a really big consumer. An EDP/Engie joint venture off Scotland has succeeded in just that, and in a high-tech fashion: in two separate deals, the Moray West project has sold more than half its output to Google and Amazon. 

In a contract announced Tuesday, Amazon has agreed to buy more than 470 MW of generating capacity from Engie, accounting for more than half of Moray West's 880 MW capacity. The deal will support Amazon's goal to run all its operations on renewable power by 2025. 

"Projects like Moray West will play a critical role in decarbonizing Amazon’s operations and the UK grid, with this agreement demonstrating Amazon’s commitment to this ambition," said Amazon's director of energy for EMEA, Lindsay McQuade. 

Amazon is the biggest corporate buyer of renewable power in the UK, the EU, and the world, and it added about one gigawatt worth of capacity to its portfolio in the region in 2023. The newly-announced agreement represents half of last year's total. 

The other big customer for Moray West is Amazon's competitor Google. The California tech giant has agreed to buy 100 GW worth of the wind farm's capacity. After the project comes online, Google's UK operations will run on 90 percent renewable power. 

“People across the UK and Europe are increasingly worried about climate change and energy security. We share that concern and believe technology is an important part of the solution - both by reducing our own emissions, and by helping others to reduce their own,” said Matt Brittin, President of Google EMEA, in a statement at the time.

Dominion Energy Gets Federal Approvals for Largest US Offshore Wind Farm

Dominion installed two pilot project wind turbines in 2020 and will now move into full construction

PUBLISHED JAN 30, 2024 1:58 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Dominion Energy received the last two major federal approvals needed to begin construction of its 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) to be located offshore near Virginia Beach. The largest offshore wind farm so far in the United States, it will now move into construction and is expected to be completed by late 2026.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) provided its final approval of CVOW's Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which authorizes construction offshore. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also issued its permit to allow for permitted impacts to U.S. waters, including the route of the electric transmission line that will connect the clean, renewable energy generated offshore to the electric grid onshore.

"Virginia is leading the way for offshore wind as we near the start of offshore construction for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind," said Bob Blue, Dominion Energy's chair, president, and chief executive officer. "These regulatory approvals keep CVOW on time and on budget as we focus on our mission of providing customers with reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy."

CVOW will consist of 176 turbines and three offshore substations in a nearly 113,000-acre lease area off the coast of Virginia Beach. As a regulated utility, Dominion Energy has not faced the same financial challenges as commercial developers. CVOW is proceeding while Ørsted for example has canceled a larger two-phase project planned for the New Jersey coastline and another project in Maryland. Other commercial developers have also sidelined projects in New York State and Massachusetts as they look to rebid their power purchase agreements to reflect the impact of inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain challenges.

"In an important step forward, we are thrilled to see the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project receive two major approvals that will place the nation's largest offshore wind farm right off the coast of Virginia," Senator Mark Warner, Senator Tim Kaine, and Representative Bobby Scott said in a joint statement.

Some onshore construction activities began in Virginia in November 2023 following BOEM's favorable Record of Decision for CVOW. The company reports that construction will quickly ramp up with these last approvals. In addition, initial offshore construction activities related to the export cable and the monopile foundation installation are expected to begin in the second quarter of this year.

Staging for the eventual construction of the wind farm began last October with the arrival of the first monopiles at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal. DEME has been contracted for the installation of the monopolies when the project reaches that stage.

Dominion Energy in 2020 completed the installation of two 12 ME turbines as a pilot project 27 miles off Virginia Beach. They were the first commercial wind turbines installed in U.S. federal waters.  
 

 

Two Cruise Ship Rescues After Happening Upon People Adrift in Small Boats

Norwegian Prima came upon a makeshift boat drifting in the Gulf of Mexico (TikTok Audrey)

PUBLISHED JAN 30, 2024 5:17 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

With more than 300 cruise ships crisscrossing the oceans, these types of rescues are becoming more common 

Two groups of people are thankful for miraculous rescues that happened purely by chance over the past few days by passing cruise ships. In both cases, it was simply luck that the cruise ships spotted the people in distress and were able to rescue them and provide needed medical attention and food.

A TikTok user by the name of Audrey details the first rescue over the weekend while she was on a cruise aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Prima. The 143,500 gross ton cruise ship which accommodates more than 3,000 passengers departed Galveston, Texas on Friday, January 26. According to the video, they were at sea the following day in the Gulf of Mexico when the captain announced to the passengers, that they were turning the ship around.

The crew of the Norwegian Prima had spotted a small boat in the ocean with people “desperately trying to get our attention,” the passenger recounts. As the giant cruise ship approaches, it becomes clear they have come upon a makeshift boat with reports of five to nine people aboard. It appears to be homemade of plywood and a makeshift sail with plastic bottles hung off the side likely to catch rainwater.

Norwegian Prima sends over one of its tenders and retrieves the people who are brought aboard and given medical attention and food. According to the passenger recounting the tale, the captain told them the people had been at sea for six weeks since December 19, having run out of food and water.  They were disembarked in the cruise ship’s first port the following afternoon in Costa Maya, Mexico with images of them being transferred to a waiting ambulance to receive further medical attention on shore.

 

 

Another cruise ship also departing from Galveston, Carnival Cruise Line’s new Carnival Jubilee (180,000 GT with accommodations for over 5,200 passengers) added two more to its passenger list during the day on Monday, January 29. Carnival Jubilee departed Galveston on Saturday and was sailing to Mahogany Bay, Roatan in Honduras when the ship’s team members spotted the two men off the coast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico.

 

 

(Courtesy Carnival Cruise Line)

 

Carnival reports the ship stopped and discovered that the two men were in a kayak who paddled over to the cruise ship. They told the crew on the cruise ship they had jumped into the kayak to stay afloat after their sailboat sank. The cruise ship rescued the two men and provided food and water while Carnival’s Fleet Operation Center staff in Miami coordinated their transfer to the Mexican Navy.

With more than 300 cruise ships crisscrossing the oceans, these types of rescues are becoming more common but remain miraculous. 
 

 

Cargo Ship That Had Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Finally Docks in Alaska

Genius Star docked in Alaska a month after reporting a battery fire in two cargo holds (USCG)

PUBLISHED JAN 31, 2024 2:16 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

A month after the Panama-flagged Genius Star XI diverted to Alaska after reporting a cargo fire, the vessel has finally been permitted to dock to prepare for its onward voyage. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that the vessel was permitted to move to the dock in Dutch Harbor, Alaska on January 30 to provide a safer environment and streamline the logistics for the next phase recovery operation.

The 13,600 dwt cargo ship operated by Taiwan’s Wisdom Line was crossing the Pacific when the crew reported a cargo fire. It was contained to the No. 1 hold and believed to have been extinguished with the onboard CO2 system. A second fire was later discovered in the No. 2 hold after the vessel had exhausted its CO2 supply. The Genius Star XI was 225 miles southwest of Alaska when the fire was reported, however, by the time the ship reached Dutch Harbor early on December 30 the USCG reported normal heat signatures from the holds.

The vessel however was held at anchor in Broad Bay while temperature measurements were taken. By early January, they began ventilating the cargo holds with an air circulation system devised by the salvage team while plans were developed for the operation. The holds were initially kept sealed to prevent a reflash, but the plan was later to open them for a visual inspection of the cargo.

The suspicion remains that the fire was in part caused by the shifting of the cargo during rough seas on the Pacific crossing. In the next phase of the operation, the USCG reports salvage teams will work to rescue the cargo and prepare the ship to proceed. They emphasized that no cargo would be offloaded but that crews would work to secure the cargo.

“Moving the ship to a pier allows workers a safer and more efficient environment to work and mitigates work delays caused by weather or rough seas,” said Capt. Chris Culpepper, Captain of the Port for the USCG operation based in Anchorage, Alaska. “Based on the recommendations of several agencies and technical experts we are confident operations can be conducted safely and with no additional risk to the community to expedite preparing the vessel to continue its voyage.”

The Genius Start XI carries 152 CO2 bottles in its fire suppression system. All the bottles were offloaded from the vessel and were being recharged onshore. The Coast Guard is requiring that the system be refilled with the bottles back aboard the vessel before it departs Alaska.

No timeline was reported for the operation and when the vessel would be able to proceed. It left Vietnam on December 10 with a stop in Korea on December 18. The ship was heading to California with its cargo when the fire was reported.

North Atlantic Right Whale Found Dead on Martha's Vineyard

North Atlantic right whale affected by a rope entanglement (NOAA file image)

PUBLISHED JAN 30, 2024 6:18 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

A North Atlantic right whale was found deceased on the northeastern shores of Martha's Vineyard last weekend, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The population is critically endangered, and marine scientists say that each individual is now essential to the long-term survival of the species. 

Females of breeding age are particularly important to the North Atlantic right whale's survival. There are only 70 females capable of bearing offspring, out of a total population of 360 whales. The individual found near Joseph Sylvia State Beach was a juvenile female. 

According to NOAA, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Wampanoag Tribe secured the remains, and a necropsy will be performed. The whale was entangled in a rope near her tail.

“While we don’t know the cause of death yet, we know that entanglements can lead to long-term suffering and death. We also know that entanglements must be prevented to save this species from extinction," said IFAW veterinarian Dr. Sarah Sharp, speaking to Fox News.

Fishing gear entanglement is a leading cause of morbidity and death among North Atlantic right whales, and NOAA is taking steps to reduce the risk. IFAW estimates that nine out of ten North Atlantic right whale deaths are caused by ship strikes or entanglements (out of all cases in which a cause can be determined).