Tuesday, August 06, 2024

 

Largest and Greenest Car Carrier Delivery to Hoegh

largest car carrier
With a capacity of 9,100 units, Hoegh Aurora is the largest car carrier build (Hoegh Autoliners)

Published Aug 6, 2024 4:05 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

Hoegh Autolines celebrated the naming of the largest car carrier which it is also hails as the most environmentally friendly PCTC ever built. The company has a dozen of the Aurora Class multi-fuel vessels on order from China as part of its drive toward decarbonization.

The new Hoegh Aurora is massive with a capacity of 9,100 units. The vessel is 25,200 dwt with a length overall of 656 feet (199.9 meters). The company highlights a broad range of innovations, including strengthened decks and an enhanced internal ramp system so that the vessel can carry electric vehicles on all 14 decks.

The class has moved rapidly the company says from design to the first unit being launched in under four years. Hoegh has already ordered 12 vessels, including EU funding for the last four to be built for ammonia-fueled propulsion, and the company has options for four more vessels. The entire class is being launched with notations from DNV both for “ammonia ready” and for “methanol ready.”

“With the Aurora Class, we are pioneering efforts to combat pollution in a hard-to-abate segment,” says Andreas Enger, CEO of Hoegh Autoliners. “We are setting new standards for sustainable deep-sea transportation, making a significant stride toward our 2040 net zero emissions goal.”

The first vessel of the class, Hoegh Aurora, was named and christened today at the China Merchants Heavy Industry yard in Jiangsu, China, where two other members of the class have also already been launched. The first vessel will go into service immediately the company reports and they expect delivery of two vessels every six months until the first half of 2027. 

 

The third vessel of the class was floated out a few weeks ago with three more building in dry docks at the yard (Hoegh Autoliners)

 

The first Aurora Class vessels will be running on LNG, biofuel, and low-sulfur oil. They are employing 2-stroke main engines from MAN which will give them the ability to transition to emerging fuel options. They are also being outfitted to use shore power and 1,500 square meters of solar panels on the top deck which will reduce electricity production requirements from the generators by 30 to 35 percent.

Hoegh’s goal with the vessels is to transition to ammonia by 2027. The company reports it will be able to reduce carbon emissions per car transported by up to 58 percent from the current industry average.

The company has committed to powering at least five percent of its deep-sea operations with green ammonia by 2030. The goal is to run its fleet on at least 100,000 metric tons of green ammonia by that same year.

They highlight that a broad partnership was involved in developing these unique vessels. The bridge system was supplied by Kongsberg Maritime, while DNV, DeltaMarin, MAN Energy Systems, MacGregor, TGE Marine, Bank of Communications, HD Huyndai, Glamox, and others also participated in the program.

The introduction of the new vessels comes as the sector rushes to introduce more ships to meet demand. Major companies including CMA CGM and now MSC Mediterranean Shipping have entered the sector for the first time while Chinese car manufacturers have launched their own ships. However, the EU’s efforts to impose massive tariffs on the Chinese EVs could have a major impact on demand.

After a Decade of Progress, Thailand is Rolling Back Fishery Regulations

Backers say change is needed to save fishers’ incomes, critics fear overhaul will undermine environmental recovery and progress on human rights

Thai fishermen
SeaDave / CC BY 2.0

Published Aug 4, 2024 2:15 PM by Dialogue Earth

 

 

[By Nanticha Ocharoenchai]

Nearly ten years after Thailand overhauled its vast fishing industry amid concerns over sustainability and human rights abuses, another shake up is on the way.

The government says in order to shore up profitability and lift legal burdens from struggling fishing businesses, it must now amend a landmark fisheries ordinance passed in 2015. Critics say the proposals would put the country’s fish populations, and international reputation, at risk once again.

Fish populations in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea declined dramatically in the decades leading up to 2015, and local campaign groups were reporting widespread illegal fishing and severe abuse of workers. In that year, the European Union (EU) issued a “yellow card” to Thailand – an expression of concern about illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing that can lead to a ban on selling fish to Europe.

This pushed Thailand – which has one of the world’s biggest fishing fleets – to undertake significant reforms. Between 2015 and 2018, the authorities prosecuted more than 4,200 IUU cases and issued fines of over THB 100 million (USD 2.7 million) to boats from overseas. Stringent measures to improve human rights were also brought in, and the EU lifted its yellow card in 2019.

“When Thailand received the yellow card from the EU, it felt like our voices were being heard,” says Piya Tetyam, president of the Federation of Thai Fisherfolk Association. The group says small-scale fishers have struggled to compete with illegal fishing and big commercial vessels in the past and present.

Now, artisan fishers such as Tetyam fear their interests are being undermined by proposals that would favor bigger commercial operators. Among the mooted changes are reduced penalties for illegal fishing, reduced monitoring of vessels, and allowing fish and crew to be transferred between vessels at sea.

Concerns over costs drive case for change

After the 2015 ordinance was enacted, there was a small increase in catch per unit effort – a measure of how easy it is to catch fish and a proxy for how many fish there are – in both the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. Surveys of workers have also reported improvements in conditions and levels of documentation, which can act to discourage exploitation.

But the post-2015 crackdown placed a financial burden on large-scale fishing vessel owners, who have also faced higher fines and greater restrictions on where they can fish and what equipment they can use. Thailand’s commercial fishing fleet has shrunk by a quarter since then, from 13,456 registered vessels to 10,047 in 2022. According to one study, many ship owners have been forced to sell up due to their licences being revoked, and some 60,000 people in the industry have lost their jobs.

Voices including the National Fisheries Association of Thailand (NFAT), which represents the larger commercial sector, have become increasingly loud about the need for change.

In addition to the costs they have imposed on some sectors, the regulations in the 2015 ordinance are viewed as undemocratic by many groups, as they were created via an emergency decree shortly after the 2014 military coup.

It seems politicians are convinced change is needed. In February, the Thai parliament passed eight draft new fishing laws – submitted by the Thai cabinet and seven political parties – in a unanimous 416-0 vote. Now, MPs must create one version and vote on that. The drafts are all broadly aligned on the need to lower monitoring requirements on boats and remove some restrictions on what methods of fishing can be used.

“If an operator commits a misconduct on one vessel, the rest of their vessels would be banned from fishing too. You wouldn’t see this kind of law in other industries,” says Woraphop Viriyaroj, a member of parliament from the Move Forward Party (MFP), which is part of the drafting committee for the reform of the 2015 ordinance.

The overhaul should be finalised in December, according to Viriyaroj.

Rolling back progress?

Human rights advocates, conservationists and artisanal fishers warn the proposed changes will be a step backwards. They believe they are heavily weighted in favour of commercial vessel operators and that reduced monitoring and penalties for rule breaking will encourage illegal fishing that damages the environment. Changes making it easier to transfer catches and crew between vessels at sea could enable laundering of illegal catches into the supply chain as well as labour exploitation, they say.

In March, 16 advocacy groups called for reconsideration in an open letter. “If you read every party’s draft, it’s as if all of them were written by the same person,” said Paphop Siemharn, interim director of the Migrant Working Group, one of the letter’s signatories.

MWG and other groups say citizens have been given little opportunity to provide feedback, with an initial consultation composed only of yes and no questions posted quietly and briefly on a single government online channel.

Many of the artisanal fishers who make up most of the country’s fleet fear they will lose out.

“We’re not focused on competition, but rather fair access to the ocean and how we can protect our food security,” said Tetyam. “What will the government do to create fair rules for everyone?”

Among the proposed changes, a reclassification of trawlers as non-destructive is provoking especially heated debate, as it would make these boats less closely monitored and easier to register.

The fleet of 3,187 trawlers catches most of the fish by tonnage but not by value, says Dominic Thomson, Southeast Asia regional director for the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), another of the NGOs behind the March letter opposing the changes.

According to Department of Fisheries statistics, 46% of the trawler catch in 2019 consisted of “trash fish” – small, often young fish that frequently end up being used to make animal feed. This type of fish fetches THB 7 (USD 0.19) per kg on average. White leg shrimp and squid fetch THB 144 and THB 208 per kg, respectively.

Juveniles of economically valuable species accounted for 64-78% of trash fish caught. If allowed to mature, they could be worth much more.

Trading on reputations

Parliament is also considering changing laws governing the employment of fishers, fuelling fears that the human rights problems seen before 2015 may return.

Proposed changes include loosening the requirement for records of employment, called seaman’s books, that are vital to logging crew. Critics say the relaxation of rules on transferring crew at sea may lead to labour abuses. Mongkol Sukcharoenkana, president of fishers’ group NFAT, told Radio Free Asia that these changes are actually designed to enable the evacuation of sick or injured workers.

“If Thailand is allowed to slip and implement these rollbacks being proposed, it will send a very dangerous signal to other countries in the region that fisheries transparency and labour protection isn’t something they need to invest in anymore,” says Thomson from EJF.

He also warns of potential ripple effects to seafood-processing companies. They may have to reject shipments from suppliers who no longer adhere to their procurement policies around human rights, or face cancelled orders from foreign clients, he says.

This is disputed by pro-reformers. “There is a lot of misunderstanding, especially in regards to labour rights, which is understandable if one only reads one draft of the law,” says Viriyaroj of MFP.

He says the reform is not intended to remove protections but to reduce legislative overlaps of the 2015 ordinance law and another law on fishing labour passed in 2019. Relaxing requirements for seaman’s books should reduce the number of undocumented migrant worker cases since it would make having the correct documentation less burdensome for workers, he adds.

Global eyes on Thai policies

This reform is being seen as a move by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to gain support by prioritising rapid economic growth after he came to power in August last year. There could be consequences well beyond Thai waters.

“You can’t have economic populism and real public policy at the same time,” says Mark Cogan, associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan. 

Cogan warns promises to relax IUU fishing laws would compromise international agreements and ongoing trade talks with the EU and other powers. “You can’t … remake Thailand’s image while also having this nasty image of a human rights abusing, bad labor practice country,” he says.

NFAT’s Sukcharoenkana has dismissed worries regarding Thailand’s global reputation, citing a decrease in both the size and importance of its exports. The EU accounts for around 5% of Thailand’s fisheries exports. But Jaruprapa Rakpong, a professor of international trade law at Thammasat University, cautions that it remains significant, “not just in terms of volume but also value and quality”.

Entry to markets with high standards such as the EU or US also creates trust with both governments and consumers in other countries, says Rakpong. This takes time to build, and failing to adhere to regulations set by these partners would “affect bargaining power in world economics, politics and beyond”.

As the reforms move forward, another yellow card may yet lurk in the future for Thailand’s fishery sector.

Nanticha Ocharoenchai is a Thai environmental writer, currently focused on wildlife, conservation, climate change, Indigenous peoples and environmental solutions. She has contributed to publications such as Mongabay and Bangkok Post, as well as NGOs including WWF and Greenpeace.

This article appears courtesy of Dialogue Earth and may be found in its original form here

Top Image: SeaDave / CC BY 2.0

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

FREE PAUL WATSON!

After Paul Watson's Arrest, Will He Be Extradited to Stand Trial?

Paul Watson arrested
Courtesy Capt. Paul Watson Foundation

Published Aug 4, 2024 5:55 PM by The Conversation

 

 

[By Tamsin Phillipa Paige and Danielle Ireland-Piper]

Sea Shepherd founder and anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has been arrested in Greenland and awaits potential extradition to Japan.

The arrest relates to incidents in the Southern Ocean in February 2010. The charges against Watson include “accomplice to an assault” and “ship trespass”. Both relate to the boarding of the Japanese vessel Shonan Maru No 2 by Pete Bethune, who was captain of the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil. Bethune was detained on the Shonan Maru No 2 and returned to Japan for trial, where he received a suspended sentence. An international arrest warrant was issued for Watson in 2012.

At the time of the recent arrest on July 21, Watson’s ship had stopped for refuelling while en route to intercept a Japanese whaling vessel, the Kangei Maru. He was on board the John Paul DeJoria, owned by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation he founded two years ago.

Watson left Sea Shepherd in 2022, following disputes with directors over the value of direct action and confrontation. He originally founded Sea Shepherd after falling out with Greenpeace for similar reasons.

His arrest brings the issue of whaling back to the fore. Despite a flurry of activity in the courts a decade ago, the issue hasn’t gone away. That’s because Japan withdrew from the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling and its decision-making body in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling.

What is an international arrest warrant?

An international arrest warrant, also referred to as a “Red Notice”, is a request to law enforcement all over the world to locate and provisionally arrest a person.

The Red Notice for Watson is based on an arrest warrant or court order issued by Japan. Importantly, a Red Notice is not a finding of guilt and the presumption of innocence still applies.

Now the arrest has been made, Japan is seeking extradition. The request went to Denmark because Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory.

What is the basis for the charges?

Two international treaties provide Japan with a legal basis for the charges laid against Watson.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea, Japan can grant its nationality to ships, as it did with the Shonan Maru No 2. Nations have exclusive jurisdiction over ships flying their flag when that ship is on the high seas (international waters). This means Japan can treat the boarding of the Shonan Maru No 2 as if it happened on Japanese territory.

Japan may also argue the boarding of the Shonan Maru No 2 was an act of piracy. Under the convention, Japan would need to show the boarding was a case of:

illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed […] on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship.

The sticking point for Japan may be whether or not the boarding can be considered to be for “private ends”.

The convention for the suppression of unlawful acts against the safety of maritime navigation may also apply. In short, this grants jurisdiction over certain types of offences when they occur on board a ship flying the nation’s flag. For example, Japan may argue the alleged conduct of Watson and/or his colleagues was “an act of violence against a person on board a ship if that act is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship”.

Will Denmark extradite?

Extradition is often governed by a specific extradition agreement between two nations, as well as by a nation’s own domestic law. For example, the Extradition Act in Denmark permits extradition in certain circumstances. However, it also has limitations on that power, including to prevent double prosecutions, where a person faces trial more than once for the same conduct.

Extradition will not apply to prosecutions of crimes that are not also an offence in Denmark, abandoned prosecutions, or where a court accepts there is a risk that the person concerned:

will be subjected to persecution affecting his life or freedom or otherwise of a serious nature because of his or her origin, membership of a particular ethnic group, religious or political beliefs or otherwise because of political circumstance.

The relevant court in Denmark can also decide that extradition is temporarily suspended on serious humanitarian grounds.

Extradition is as much political as legal

In many ways, extradition is a fusion between “executive power” and the powers of the courts and the prosecutors, as well as involving foreign policy considerations. For this reason, it can be as much political as legal. This is why we have seen calls from other countries, such as France, for Denmark to abandon the arrest and not agree to extradition.

Political pressure can sometimes be effective in such cases, particularly in countries where there is ministerial discretion around whether to extradite.

What next?

Ultimately, Japan may choose to abandon its interest in prosecuting a warrant that is more than ten years old.

Or it may choose to exercise its full legal power in pursuing Watson, with the goal of deterring anti-whaling advocacy. However, this would likely attract criticism from other nations, given very few support whaling activity, and reduce willingness to cooperate with Japan on other extradition matters.

Either way, the tension between environmental advocacy and other commercial and legal interests is obvious. The law can – and should – find better ways to balance these interests, especially in the midst of an environmental crisis.

Tamsin Phillipa Paige is a Senior Lecturer at Deakin University.

Danielle Ireland-Piper is an Associate Professor, ANU National Security College, Australian National University.

This article appears courtesy of The Conversation and may be found in its original form here




 

 

Resolve Marine Completes the Defueling of Grounded $3M Yacht

Obsession
Courtesy USCG

Published Aug 1, 2024 6:01 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

Resolve Marine and subcontractor Clean Harbors have finished emptying the fuel tanks of the 74-foot sailing yacht Obsession, which went aground on an environmentally-sensitive reef just off Culebra Island, Puerto Rico on July 21.   

The bulk fuel removal recovered about 800-1,500 gallons of diesel from the yacht's four tanks and day tank. The pollution prevention response is still "far from over," according to Capt. Luis Rodriguez, Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator, but the completion of the removal of most of the diesel is a significant step towards protecting the environment. Luckily, the boat's fuel tanks were not damaged by the grounding, and no water pollution has been reported. The responders are still working to identify and remove any remaining petroleum and other potentially-damaging materials.

The reef is home to many protected species, and the grounding prompted an emergency consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on possible Endangered Species Act impacts. The unified command has had to consider and manage potential effects on four species of sea turtle, two shark species, and seven species of coral. 

A reef damage assessment is under way, thanks to the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and NOAA. The two agencies have recovered several species of live coral that can be used to repopulate the damaged area later if needed. 

Soon after the grounding, the owner informed the Coast Guard that the salvage project would require "efforts which exceeded his capacity." After learning this, the USCG quickly federalized the response, tapped the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF), and hired Resolve Marine to defuel the boat. (Under OPA 90, the vessel owner may still be billed for the Trust Fund cleanup cost and fined for any pollution after the response is done.)

The unified command continues to work with the owner on plans to remove the vessel from the reef. In the meantime, a salvage company vessel will remain on site, along with the project manager and the yacht's captain, in order to monitor the wreck's condition and change out any sorbents as necessary.  

The vessel can be identified as the Sunreef 74 Obsession, a 2015-built luxury catamaran sailing yacht with modern amenities. It was up for sale as recently as 2022 for an asking price of $3 million. 

 

Meyer Floats Out Disney’s Next Cruise Ship as Restructuring Talks Continue

Disney cruise ship
Disney Treasure under construction in Germany is due to enter service in December (Disney Cruise Line)

Published Aug 6, 2024 5:55 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship was floated out at the Meyer Werft shipyard as part of a significant expansion of the entertainment company’s cruise operations. The construction step came as talks are also continuing about the restructuring and financial bailout for the shipyard which needs to be supported by the German government.

The new Disney Treasure (144,000 gross tons) is the second of three new cruise ships ordered by Disney for the cruise line and is a sister ship to the Disney Wish introduced in 2022. The vessel is 1,119 feet in length (341 meters) and with an overall width of 128 feet (39 meters), the ship had just three feet of clearance on each side as it was backed out of the massive building hall on Saturday, August 3. There was a crowd assembled outside to see the “birth” of the cruise ship. Disney had its Captain Mickey Mouse on hand for the event.

The cruise ship came out stern first from the building hall with a tug pulling the vessel from the structure and guiding it to the outdoor fitting out berth. Work will be ongoing to complete the uniquely Disney-themed interiors with the shipyard reporting the cruise ship will make its Ems conveyance to the ocean in the second half of September.

The new cruise ship has 1,246 passenger cabins and suites with a capacity for approximately 4,000 passengers and 1,555 crew. As with the first ship, Disney Wish, the Disney Treasure, and an under-construction sister ship Disney Destiny, they are all LNG powered. 

Disney’s creative teams oversee all the designs for the cruise ship, which is themed by Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel and drawing from the company’s stories including Aladdin, Coco, and Zootopia. Among the unique spaces will be the Haunted Mansion Parlor, a bar inspired by the iconic Disney Parks attraction. The Disney Treasure is scheduled to enter service on December 21, 2024, sailing from Port Canaveral, Florida on 7-night cruises.

 

Cruise ship had three feet of clearance on each side as it came out of the building hall in Germany (Disney Cruise Line)

 

She is the next step in the expansion which will see her sister ship Disney Destiny introduced in November 2025. Under construction at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, the ship will have a hero and villains interior theme décor. This ship will be homeported at Port Everglades in Florida operating 4- and 5-night cruises to the Bahamas and Western Caribbean.

Disney Cruise Line is also launching partnerships for its next phase of growth. They formed a partnership with Singapore Tourism for at least five years and in 2025 will introduce the Disney Adventure. The 208,000 gross ton cruise ship, which is the restyled Global Dream which was building for Genting Hong Kong before the group went bankrupt, will be Disney’s first cruise ship to be homeported in Asia. It will have accommodations for approximately 6,700 passengers and 2,500 crew and will operate 3- and 4-night cruises.

The owner and operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort, Oriental Land Co., also recently announced a Disney partnership to build a cruise ship to operate from Japan. They have contracted for a fourth sister ship to the Disney Wish to be built by Meyer Werft and is expected to commence cruising by early 2029.

With this latest order as well as two large cruise ships for Carnival Cruise Line, Meyer Weft highlights that it has a strong orderbook stretching through 2028. Increased costs of building the cruise ships after the pandemic and from the war in Ukraine however mean that the shipyard needs to raise more than €2.7 billion ($2.95 billion) to finance the shipbuilding projects. Its banks are also requiring €400 million ($437 million) in new equity.

Politicians and business leaders met with Meyer and its union on August 5 in Papenburg to discuss the restructuring. The company highlights that the discussion followed a recently submitted draft restructuring plan prepared by Deloitte. The company has already agreed to relocate its headquarters to Papenbrug which will include the formation of a supervisory board. There have been positive indications of support with the discussions on the financing set to resume after the summer break in Germany.

 

Carisbrooke Shipping to Demonstrate New Air Wing Design from GT Wings

wind assisted propulsion
Demonstration on the cargo ship is scheduled to start during the fourth quarter of 2024 (GT Wings)

Published Aug 6, 2024 7:41 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

A manufacturing agreement has been reached to proceed with the development of a new generation of air wings as part of the UK government-funded project to expand wind-assisted propulsion. The first prototype of the AirWing Technology developed by GT Wings is scheduled for demonstrations on a Carisbrooke Shipping general cargo ship starting in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Carisbrooke, which operates 5,000 dwt multi-purpose open-hatch and box-shaped cargo ships in Northern Europe to the UK, Mediterranean, and Black Sea, reports it has been in discussion with GT Wings for more than two years ago the technology. The shipping company carries multiple commodities including grain, fertilizer, coal, and steel on its vessels in Europe and has also expanded to larger (10,500 to 13,400 dwt) bulkers for deep-sea trans-oceanic services.

The plan calls for fitting the wind propulsion technology to one of the company’s UK-registered dry bulkers. The Vectis Progress (11,183 dwt) is shown with the air wing. The vessel was built in 2012 in China and is 407 feet (124 meters) in length.

GT Wings reports it has partnered with A20 Manufacturing, a UK design, engineering, and manufacturing business specializing in additive manufacturing, and with KS Composites. A2O said it has been heavily involved in the design for the manufacturing including contributing to the final design for the AirWing to optimize manufacturing.

"Partnering with A2OM and KS Composites is a pivotal step in validating the AirWing,” said George Thompson, GT Wings CEO. “Their composite materials expertise perfectly complements our design and engineering excellence. This partnership is poised to make a significant impact on decarbonizing the global shipping fleet."

The first installation will be a 66-foot (20-meter) AirWing placed at the bow of the Vectis Progress. GT Wings reports that it employs a novel airflow technology to maximize thrust and fuel savings from a small and compact unit. The Patent Pending technology they report is capable of producing exceptional fuel savings of up to 30 percent. 

Carisbrooke said it expects between 5 and 30 percent lower fuel consumption and a reduction in emissions depending on the configuration and deployment. The company points out that the compact and lightweight profile of the technology is critical for general cargo ships such as it operates which have limited deck space.

The University of Briston is also involved in the project contributing expertise in composite structures testing and modeling. 

GT Wings received a £3.7 million ($3.8 million) grant from the UK Department of Transport as part of the fourth round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition. The program provides government support to develop new technologies to decarbonize the UK domestic maritime sector. Companies participating in the program and receiving grants are required to deliver demonstrations, pre-development trials, and feasibility studies between April 2024 and March 2025


 

Port of Virginia Expands Intermodal Rail to Reach Midwestern Markets

Virginia rail
Courtesy Port of Virginia

Published Aug 6, 2024 7:13 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

After two years of work, the Port of Virginia's central rail yard project is operational and in service at Norfolk International Terminals. The yard expands the port's ability to compete in Midwestern containerized freight markets, which are served in large part by intermodal rail. It is a step in a series of major infrastructure projects that are designed to set Virginia apart as an East Coast gateway for shippers and ocean carriers. 

"Modernizing and expanding the capability at NIT’s central rail yard gives us additional rail capacity ahead of the completion of the first phase of expansion at NIT’s North Berth [next year]," said Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority. "Cargo volumes coming to the US East Coast are steadily increasing and moving the cargo to market by rail, over The Port of Virginia, is smart business."

The central yard consists of two bundles of rail tracks and three electric RTGs, installed at a cost of $83 million. The state of Virginia and the federal government covered half the cost. Taken together, the new rail infrastructure increases the port's on-dock container-on-rail capacity by a third, adding up to 450,000 TEU per year of throughput over CSX and Norfolk Southern. 

The rail investment echoes the development strategy of the Port of Savannah, which has the largest on-terminal rail yard in the U.S. Completed in 2021, the "Mason Mega-Rail" facility doubled Savannah's intermodal rail capacity to two million TEU. It was built from the start to reach inland markets as far away as Dallas or Chicago. 

The NIT central rail yard is one part of Port of Virginia's $1.4 billion plan to attract bigger ships in bigger numbers. It is also expanding NIT's north berth and dredging out its channel to a depth of 55 feet, which will make it the deepest port on the U.S. East Coast. 

 

Tokyo Gas Invests in Portuguese Floating Wind Farm to Develop Expertise

floating offshore wind
Tokyo Gas is investing in the Portugese project which uses Principle Power's foundations (Tokyo Gas)

Published Aug 6, 2024 6:55 PM by The Maritime Executive


 

Japan’s Tokyo Gas, the primary provider of natural gas to the main cities in the country, is expanding its investment in the floating offshore wind sector as it looks to develop expertise as Japan’s offshore wind power industry begins to develop. Tokyo Gas has been an investor in Principle Power, a U.S. developer of floating foundations, and now the Japanese company will buy a stake in Portugal’s WindFloat Atlantic, the first floating semi-submerged offshore wind farm.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tokyo Gas reports it will acquire a 21.2 percent stake in WindFloat Atlantic, from Ocean Winds, a joint venture between Portuguese utility EDP and France’s Engie. Ocean Wind is also an investor in Principle Power alongside Tokyo Gas.

WindFloat Atlantic is located about 12 miles off the northern Portuguese Coast in the Atlantic and has been operating since 2020. It has three units each with a capacity of 8.4 MW or a total output of 25 MW. The project was developed over 10 years and is designed to demonstrate the potential for floating offshore wind turbines. It uses Principle Power’s floating foundation system WindFloat which Tokyo Gas highlights is structurally stable in conditions up to 65-foot waves and wind speeds over 86 mph. 

Tokyo Gas highlights it is the company’s first participation in an overseas floating offshore wind power generation project. Terms of the investment were not announced.

“We will utilize the knowledge and experience gained from this project to work towards the large-scale commercialization of floating offshore wind power in Japan,” said Kentaro Kimoto, Executive Vice President and Head of GX Company, Tokyo Gas. Through its participation in this project, Tokyo Gas aims to accumulate experience in operating floating offshore wind power generation, particularly in acquiring advanced O&M methods that make full use of digital and next-generation technologies. 

The company highlights that there are high expectations for the expansion of floating offshore wind power generation in offshore areas of Japan with favorable wind conditions. Japan’s topography however has few areas for the traditional fixed bottom wind turbines. Most of the coastal areas are deep ocean. 

Ocean Winds which was launched in 2019 has goals to have 5 to 7 GW of offshore wind power in operation or under construction by 2025. It is also targeting a further 5 to 10 GW in the development stage.

The Japanese government has set a target of 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 using a combination of fixed bottom and floating turbines. In the following decade, it looks to rapidly grow offshore energy generation to 45 GW by 2040.
 

 

GREAT LAKES

Not NAABSA-Ready: Laker's Load Plan Caused Grounding and Hull Damage

Boland
John J. Boland during discharge operations (NTSB file image)

Published Aug 6, 2024 4:18 PM by The Maritime Executive


 

The National Transportation Safety Board has released its report on the double grounding of the laker John J. Boland in April 2023, and it found that a faulty load plan and inadequate SMS guidance on underkeel clearance set the conditions for a casualty. 

On April 21, 2023, the self-unloading laker John J. Boland was alongside the Carmeuse Americas dock at Port Dolomite, Michigan, moored with her port side to the pier. The controlling depth at the pier was 23 feet, and the offgoing first mate's load plan called for maintaining a draft of 26 feet 8 inches or less, based on NOAA water level gage data. 

At 1517 hours, the shoreside conveyor on the pier began loading the Boland's holds. The first mate was on deck supervising, and his oncoming relief arrived at about 2000. The new first mate took over supervision of the loading in the early hours of the 22nd. 

The work continued until about 0815 in the morning, and then the crew set about trimming the vessel by adding small amounts of cargo to different hatches fore and aft.

The newly-arrived first mate decided to load the forward holds to bring the forward draft to 26 feet 10 inches, knowing that as the crew loaded the after hatches it would raise the bow and balance out the ship fore and aft. However, the bow's draft stopped at 26 feet 7 inches. The first mate immediately knew that the Boland had made contact with the bottom, which he told investigators was a common occurrence during loading (the master agreed that it had happened "numerous" times at the same dock). 

To free the ship from the mud, the first mate swung the ship's self-unloading boom outboard, inducing a starboard list. The master also saw that the vessel was "stuck," and he had the crew haul on a forward leading spring line to pull the vessel's bow off the dock. This maneuver worked, and the crew resumed loading the after hatches. At that time, the forward draft settled at 26 feet 10 inches. 

As the crew and the conveyor operator loaded the after hatches, the vessel took on a starboard list, away from the pier, and the aft draft stopped increasing when it reached 26 feet 3 inches. The vessel was aground again, and the master called a halt to loading.

This time, efforts to free the ship took longer. Once away from the pier at last, it immediately listed to port.

The master decided not to correct the list, and he initially assumed that it had been caused by uneven loading of the cargo. At 1130 hours, he navigated the vessel out into the channel, and then had the crew transfer ballast until they had eliminated the list. 

Since the issues at the dock had prevented an accurate measurement of the vessel's draft marks, the master brought the vessel to a halt at a safe position and ordered the crew to launch the workboat for a draft survey. They checked the draft marks on the port side, sheltered from choppy water, and they recorded the draft as 26 feet 6 inches forward and 27 feet 9 inches aft - over a foot more than planned. 

At about 1445, the master ordered the crew to open the number 1 and 2 ballast tanks to inspect for damage. They found about two feet of water in each tank, and more water was entering the number one and two port ballast tanks. They started up the ballast pumps, which had enough capacity to keep up with and reduce the flooding. 

The master diverted to a safe anchorage in nearby North Bay, Michigan, arriving and anchoring at 1750 hours. 

Class arrived to survey the vessel later on the 22nd. The surveyor found four hull fractures on the port side's bottom plating in the number 1 and 2 port ballast tanks. Some framing members in these tanks were distorted as well, and the number 3 and 4 port side ballast tanks showed distortion to hull plating and framing, but no fractures. 

Courtesy NTSB

The surveyor and the Coast Guard agreed that the Boland could finish its voyage to its destination and discharge its cargo before transiting to a drydock for repair. The cost of fixing the hull damage came to about $775,000. 

NTSB found that the company's draft guidance for the Cedarville dock called for keeping the vessel 12 feet off the pier during trimming, because of a known shoal directly alongside the wharf. That guidance did not get incorporated into the offgoing first mate's load plan. A post-casualty bathymetric survey found that the shoal just off the dock measured about 24-26 feet in depth, and extended about 15 feet out into the channel.  

Courtesy NTSB
 
NTSB concluded that when the oncoming first mate tried to load the Boland down at the bow, he brought the port side of the bottom into contact with the known shoal alongside the pier. When Boland developed a starboard list because the port side was resting on the shoal, the crew tried to correct it by loading more on the port side, placing further stress on the bottom plating. 

"Although the forward draft that it stopped at was still within the limits of the load plan, it exceeded the depth of the shoal by 2 to 3 inches," found NTSB. "Therefore, the load plan for the John J Boland was inadequate because it did not take into account the shoaling at the Cedarville Dock."

NTSB checked the operating company's SMS, and found that it did not specify a safety factor for underkeel clearance for its officers to use in formulating load plans; without guidance, the first mate omitted a UKC safety factor and formulated a load plan that exceeded actual depth alongside. NTSB also concluded that the first mate and master aboard the Boland had become too comfortable with going aground alongside the pier. 

"Based on their previous experience on vessels that had contacted bottom during loading operations without incurring damage, the master and first mate likely became desensitized to the risk of vessel damage associated with grounding," NTSB concluded. 

Internationally, more than a few inland ports accept grounding as a routine condition of cargo operations, and some self-declare that they operate as "not always afloat but safely aground" (NAABSA) terminals. In some regions, this is so common that the charterparty will lay out the division of liability if the ship is damaged during a planned NAABSA grounding; this is a common source of disputes, according to leading insurer Gard. For routine operations in NAABSA ports, some operators purchase purpose-built vessels designed to rest on the bottom during cargo operations.