Long-sought Houston Ship Channel expansion gets federal go-ahead
01 Jun

Long-sought Houston Ship Channel expansion gets federal go-ahead

Professional Mariner StaffCargo vessels, Containership, Seaways & Waterways, Tanker Ship, Tugboats & Towing, , , , , ,
After a decade-long campaign by maritime industry stakeholders, Congress has authorized the expansion of the Houston Ship Channel for safer and more efficient navigation. The project will widen and deepen the nation’s busiest waterway, which is accommodating increased traffic and ever-larger ships. The green light came on Dec. 27 with enactment of the Water Resources and Development Act of 2020…
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Transition in the wind as shipping warms to alternative propulsion
01 Jun

Transition in the wind as shipping warms to alternative propulsion

Professional Mariner StaffCargo vessels, Containership, Correspondence, Offshore Wind, Propulsion, , , , ,
In the light of the current scramble for alternative, low-carbon fuels that will take until the 2030s to substantially penetrate the maritime fuel mix, wind propulsion is gaining more attention from vessel owners and operators. Gavin Allwright, the secretary-general of the International Windship Association (IWSA), discusses the uptake of this technology and what is behind a spate of recent public…
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‘High highs, low lows’: Great Lakes-Seaway ports ride out pandemic
02 May

‘High highs, low lows’: Great Lakes-Seaway ports ride out pandemic

Professional Mariner StaffCargo vessels, Seaways & Waterways, , , , ,
The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System carried an impressive amount of cargo in 2020 despite COVID-19 limitations. Overall tonnage for the navigation season, which ran from March 25, 2020 to Jan. 15, 2021, was only down 1.7 percent compared with 2019 for U.S. and Canadian ports that use the waterways.  How was that possible? “Despite the incredible challenges of the…
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