Friday, December 9, 2016

BC Ferries Pilot Project Reduces Vessel Energy Consumption

By Mark Edward Nero

On Dec. 6, BC Ferries released the results of a pilot project that reduced the energy consumption of the passenger vessel Queen of Oak Bay by the equivalent of 30 sailings.

The process initially started in 2013 with an audit to assess electrical energy usage. In a follow up project through to 2015, BC Ferries partnered in the development and demonstration of an energy optimization software tool. This software was deployed to collect and manage electricity data for more than 20 areas on board the ship and provided generator metrics as well. The benefits of the initiative, BC Ferries says, were a reduction in fuel consumption, cost and associated carbon emissions, as well as improved asset life and reduced maintenance costs.

Since the initial energy audit, a number of initiatives have been implemented, including:

• Installation of variable delivery pumps to improve the efficiency of steering hydraulics, resulting in an estimated savings of 38,000 kWh per year;

• Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) to improve control of accommodation fans, estimated to save about 200,000 kWh annually;

• Replacement of car deck lighting with more efficient LEDs, likely to save over 115,000 kWh per year, and;

• Additional projects, including air conditioning plant upgrades and solar film coating for windows.

BC Ferries says consumption reductions from the above initiatives are being monitored in the new software and are on target for a reduction of more than 272 tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to removing about 57 passenger vehicles per year.

The company also said similar measures will be rolled out to other existing vessels where possible and that energy efficiency measures can be designed into new build vessels.

This project, which was supported by Transport Canada and is a joint initiative with 3GA Marine, Clearlead Consulting and Panevo Services, had an objective to develop and demonstrate a Ship Service Energy Optimization software tool that would provide an audit function to determine major ship service power consumers and enable an optimization function from both a technological and operational perspective, thereby reducing emissions.

“Thanks to the Transport Canada-sponsored initiative and deployment of the new energy software, not only can we actively measure energy usage, we can also put control variables in place across the system to ensure savings,” BC Ferries’ Vice President of Engineering Mark Wilson said.

Alameda’s Bay Maritime Buys Svendsen’s Boat Works

By Mark Edward Nero

Alameda, California-based Svendsen’s Boat Works has been acquired by Alameda’s Bay Maritime Corp., the companies announced Dec. 6.

Svendsen’s Boat Works had been a family-owned and operated company since 1963. The sale also includes Svendsen’s Marine Distributing, Svendsen’s Metal Works, Svendsen’s Chandlery and Svendsen’s Marine International.

Alameda’s Bay Maritime is the parent company to Bay Marine Boatworks, Bay Ship & Yacht and its affiliates of Bay Propeller, Bay Engineering & Design, Bay Machine & Fabrication, the Fleet Services Division and Bay Industrial & Marine Supply.

Svendsen’s is expected to continue operating under the Svendsen’s name and provide full-service boat repair at its boatyard at the Alameda Marina, as well as supply marine products to commercial customers through its established distribution network.

Sean Svendsen will continue as General Manager of Svendsen’s.

“Our customers will find that it’s business as usual,” he said. “We’re also very excited about the opportunity for growth and expansion of our Svendsen’s brand through synergy created with the Bay Maritime group of companies.”

Established in 1977, Bay Maritime and its affiliates are owned and operated by President Bill Elliott and General Manager Alan Cameron, and include a full-service ship repair facility in Alameda, Bay Ship & Yacht, as well as a full-service boatyard in Richmond, Calif., Bay Marine Boatworks.

“Svendsen’s has been one of our chief product suppliers for decades, so we know the company and its employees well, and intend to continue the innovative path established by the Svendsen family for the past five-plus decades,” Bay Maritime President Bill Elliott said.

Robert Allan Ltd., Turkish Shipyard Ink Tug Contract

By Mark Edward Nero

Vancouver, British Columbia-based naval architect and marine engineering company Robert Allan Ltd. has signed a contract with Uzmar Shipyard of Turkey for a new high performance escort tug project.

The two companies signed the documents at the recent International Workboat Show, held Nov. 30 through Dec. 2 in New Orleans.

“I am delighted to witness the signing of this design contract with Uzmar that will spur the building of new market leading tugs allowing owners to quickly respond to today’s demanding tender requirements,” Jim Hyslop, Robert Allan Ltd.’s Manager, Project Development, said.

Uzmar has built more than 90 Robert Allan Ltd. designed tugs and workboats since the first project in 1996, ranging in size from 15-meter aluminum catamarans, to 36-meter escort tugs, to 46-meter shallow draft pushboats.

This contract covers a new RAstar 3000-W design setup to accommodate propulsion packages of up to 90 tons of bollard pull while still staying under 500 GT.

These modern escort tugs will have the following key features: an overall length of 30 meters; a moulded beam of 13.20 meters; and an overall maximum draft of 5.70 meters.

The vessels are expected to begin construction in Turkey in early 2017 and be available for delivery to international clients in 2018.

Marcon Brokers Sale of 2 McAllister Tugs

By Mark Edward Nero

On Dec. 5, Coupeville, Wash.-based vessel and barge broker Marcon International reported its seventh and eighth tug sales of the year: the deliveries of the 4,300 HP, tugs Colleen McAllister and Katie G. McAllister to Port City Marine Services of Muskegon, Michigan.

The 124-foot by 33.1-foot tugs were built in 1967 and 1966 respectively by Gulfport Shipbuilding Corp. of Port Arthur, Texas for Gulf Coast Transit, a subsidiary of TECO Transport & Trade of Tampa, Florida. McAllister Towing & Transportation of New York purchased both tugs from TECO Transport in 2003. The Colleen McAllister and Katie G. McAllister are both fitted with raised forecastle bows and elevated pilothouses with 45 to 47-foot heights of eye and powered by twin EMD 12-645E5s with Falk 4.27:1 gears and fixed pitch open props.

Towing gear consists of Markey TYS 36 single drum, two-speed tow winches with a capacity of 2,200’ of 2.25” wire. Tugs are classed ABS +A1, Towing Service, +AMS, Unrestricted Service.

The Colleen McAllister left New York City for Muskegon under tow of the Katie G. McAllister.

Estimated time of arrival is just prior to Christmas, depending on weather and seaway traffic.

The new owners say they intend to outfit both tugs with Bludworth AT/B connection systems and utilize them in a similar capacity to their 4,300 HP Prentiss Brown and Bradshaw McKee tugs, which Marcon brokered in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Marcon says that with the sale of the Colleen McAllister and Katie G. McAllister, it has brokered a total of 321 tugs with a total of 998,457 HP for sale or charter in the last 35 years, and that it hopes to break the 1,000,000 HP mark by year’s end.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Princess Cruises to Pay $40 Million in ‘Magic Pipe’ Case

By Mark Edward Nero

Santa Clarita, California-based Princess Cruise Lines has agreed to plead guilty to seven felony charges stemming from its deliberate pollution of the seas and intentional acts to cover it up. Princess will pay a $40 million penalty – the largest-ever criminal penalty involving deliberate vessel pollution – and plead guilty to charges related to illegal dumping of oil contaminated waste from the Caribbean Princess cruise ship.

The plea agreement was announced Dec. 1 by the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in Miami.

Princess Cruises is a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise company. As part of the plea agreement with Princess, cruise ships from eight Carnival cruise line companies – Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line NV, Seabourn Cruise Line Ltd. and AIDA Cruises – will be under a court supervised Environmental Compliance Program for five years.

The compliance program will require independent audits by an outside entity and a court appointed monitor.

The US investigation was initiated after information was provided to the US Coast Guard by the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency indicating that a newly hired engineer on the Caribbean Princess reported that a so-called “magic pipe” had been used on Aug. 23, 2013, to illegally discharge oily waste off the coast of England.

The whistleblowing engineer quit his position when the ship reached Southampton, England. The chief engineer and senior first engineer ordered a cover-up, including removal of the magic pipe and directing subordinates to lie.

According to papers filed in court, the Caribbean Princess had been making illegal discharges through bypass equipment since 2005, one year after the ship began operations. The discharge on Aug. 26, 2013, involved about 4,227 gallons, 23 miles off the coast of England within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone. At the same time as the discharge, engineers simultaneously ran clean seawater through the ship’s overboard equipment in order to create a false digital record for a legitimate discharge.

In addition to the use of a magic pipe to circumvent the oily water separator and oil content monitor required as pollution prevention equipment, the US investigation uncovered two other illegal practices which were found to have taken place on the Caribbean Princess as well as four other Princess ships – Star Princess, Grand Princess, Coral Princess and Golden Princess.

Also according to court papers, Princess has undertaken remedial measures in response to the government’s investigation, including upgrading the oily water separators and oil content monitors on every ship in its fleet and instituting many new policies.

If approved by the court, $10 million of the $40 million criminal penalty will be devoted to community service projects to benefit the maritime environment; $3 million of the community service payments will go to environmental projects in South Florida; $1 million would be earmarked for projects to benefit the marine environment in United Kingdom waters.

Maersk Line to Acquire Hamburg Sud

By Mark Edward Nero

Danish shipping company Maersk Line says it has reached an agreement to acquire German container shipping line Hamburg Süd.

“Giving up our engagement in shipping after an 80 year-long ownership in Hamburg Süd was not an easy decision for my family,” said Dr. August Oetker, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the management holding company of the Oetker Group. “We are very confident, though, to have chosen the best of all possible partners.”

“Maersk will preserve and grow Hamburg Süd and what the brand and the whole organization and a highly dedicated workforce stand for: reliable and high quality logistical services to our customers,” Oetker said.

Hamburg Süd is the world’s seventh largest container shipping line and a leader in the North-South trades. The company operates 130 container vessels with a container capacity of 625,000 TEUs. It has 5,960 employees in more than 250 offices across the world.

“Today is a new milestone in Maersk Line’s history,” Maersk Line and Maersk Group CEO Søren Skou said. “I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement with the Oetker Group to acquire Hamburg Süd. Hamburg Süd is a very well-run and highly respected company with strong brands, dedicated employees and loyal customers. Hamburg Süd complements Maersk Line, and together we can offer our customers the best of two worlds.”

In a prepared statement, Dr. Ottmar Gast, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Hamburg Süd Group said his company was proud to join Maersk Line.

“While gaining access to a superior network and systems we will continue the Hamburg Süd brand and business model offering personalized solutions to our shippers and consignees,” he said. “By joining forces both Maersk and Hamburg Süd will strengthen their product portfolio and cost position to the benefit of their customers.”

Keel Laying Ceremony Held for Young Bros. Tugs

By Mark Edward Nero

On Nov. 29, Louisiana-based Conrad Shipyard held a keel Laying Ceremony for four “Kāpena Class” tugs now under construction for Hawaii-based Young Brothers, Ltd.

On hand for the ceremony was Young Brothers President Glenn Hong; John Parrott, President of Young Brothers’ sister company Foss Maritime; and Tim Engle and Mark Tabbutt with Saltchuk, the parent company of both.

Also attending and delivering remarks were Kommer Damen, Chairman and CEO of Damen Shipyard, and Jim Watson, President of ABS Americas. Several local officials were also present, including Morgan City, Louisiana Mayor Frank Grizzaffi III. Conrad Shipyard Senior Vice President Dan Conrad served as moderator.

Young Brothers, based in Honolulu, is Hawaii’s largest interisland transportation company. Hong explained that the word Kāpena means Captain in Hawaiian and each of the four vessels is to be named after a legendary tug Captain from Young Brothers’115-year history.

The 6,000-horsepower, 123-foot by 36.5-foot vessels are designed to match Young Brothers’ fleet of modern high capacity barges, which were delivered from 2007 to 2010. The tugs are to be built to Damen Stan 3711 design and would be powered by General Electric, 8L250MDC, EPA Tier 4 emissions compliant engines using exhaust gas recirculation.

“We are investing to serve the Hawaiian Islands for decades into the future,” Hong said. “Young Brothers is a company with a long tradition of giving back to the communities we serve, and we are delighted to join with Conrad, a company with a matching philosophy.”

Hong also shook the hands of the members of the shipbuilding team and praised them for their reputation for quality and craftsmanship.

“We wish you well as you bring these ships to life,” he told them.

TraPac to Mandate Oakland Truck Appointments

By Mark Edward Nero

A third marine terminal operator at the Port of Oakland now wants truckers to make appointments before picking up cargo. On Dec. 1, Wilmington, California-based TraPac said it is requiring appointments for all import container pick-ups.

The appointment system, which begins December 6, is expected to reduce waiting times by more evenly distributing truck arrivals throughout the day, according to TraPac.

TraPac is now the third of four terminals at Oakland to require appointments, with the others being Everport and Oakland International Container Terminal. Together they handle more than 90 percent of the containerized cargo moving through the port.

“We commend TraPac for taking this step,” Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll said in a statement. “It’s not easy introducing new operating procedures, but customers and harbor truckers benefit whenever we can speed up container throughput.”

Oakland is one of only a handful of ports nationwide with an appointment system.

TraPac said truck dispatchers can now log on to the nationwide port information system eModal to make appointments for Dec 6 and beyond. The requirement for appointments applies only to loaded import containers, for now.

TraPac said truck drivers won’t need reservations for export deliveries, or to pick-up or return empty containers, and that it would communicate “well in advance” when it plans to expand appointments to all transactions.

Appointments are the second measure implemented at TraPac this fall intended to improve terminal performance. In October, the terminal began opening selective night gates to ease daytime crowding. That same month, port commissioners approved a new lease enabling TraPac to double its Oakland footprint next year.