Effective Friday March 9, U.S. Customs and Border Protection may issue claims for liquidated damages and/or penalties against importers, carriers or bonded custodians for importing wood packaging material (WPM) in violation of the regulations. Liquidated damages result from a breach…
High velocity water sprays combined with low water discharge rates are changing the way shipboard fires are fought. The eruption of a fuel fire in the engine room of the cruise ship Nordic Empress (see sidebar) was controlled and extinguished…
The plating of the oil tanker Castor corroded up to seven times faster than normal, causing massive cracks across its deck that put the ship at risk of explosion or a hull rupture, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has…
Marcon International recorded 441 tugs for sale worldwide in its July 2004 market report. Of these, 162 were still single-screw boats. A number of innovative companies have found ways to upgrade and use these vessels in contemporary situations. The barge…
When a foreign ship arrives at the sea buoy of a West Coast port, direction of the vessel passes to a state-licensed pilot who navigates the vessel into the harbor and then brings the vessel alongside the dock with the…
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) was originally conceived as a safety and navigation aid for ships at sea. Mandated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and implemented and enforced by member states, AIS provides information otherwise unavailable to a crew.…
Towing vessels will be required to undergo U.S. Coast Guard inspection as a result of new legislation that is expected to have a profound effect on the industry. C.F. Campbell is a 4,000-hp ocean-capable tug built in 1975 by Halter…
The editors of Professional Mariner have presented the Plimsoll Awards for 2004 to Capt. Douglas J. Grubbs of the Crescent River Port Pilots' Association and to the U.S. Coast Guard's Research and Development Center in Groton, Conn. Grubbs and the…
Advances in propulsion technology continue to be the driving force in new ship designs. This 807-foot ferry represents a vision of the future developed by Wärtsilä Corp. and Kvaerner Masa-Yards. The 4,200-dwt ro-pax vessel, capable of carrying 2,000 passengers employs…
Patrick McCormack's routine as the first engineer aboard the 750-foot containership Horizon Anchorage cracked at 0800 hours. "When I came into the engine room, I could smell engine-cooling water," said McCormack. Horizon Anchorage on its way north from Tacoma, Wash.…
The rest of the world has baseball bats, bicycles, skis and sailing yachts made either all or in part from carbon-fiber materials. Now the age of carbon fiber is finally making its way down into the machinery spaces of American…
By Dom YanchunasFor Capt. Rory Sheridan and deck hand Paul Monti, it was supposed to be a routine pilot transfer from a bulk freighter in San Francisco Bay. Instead, the two crewmembers of the pilot vessel Golden Gate found themselves…
Marshall Foss, shown here assisting a bulk carrier in San Francisco Bay, is one of two Foss Maritime tugs testing a system for accurately measuring the strain put on towlines during assist jobs. [Courtesy Foss Maritime] For tug masters, it's…
Harbor craft and oceangoing vessels will soon run cleaner at America's two biggest ports. The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have agreed on a joint five-year program to reduce smog in Southern California. The San…
For the tugboat industry, it's one of the most famous towing operations in years. Yet it almost didn't happen--twice. On Dec. 5, McAllister Towing and Transportation Co. successfully delivered the historic USS Intrepid to dry dock in Bayonne, N.J. For…
The Seamen's Church Institute recognized the crew of Justine Foss and the crews of Eli Maersk and Clementine Maersk with the organization's Lifesaving Awards at the Silver Bell Awards Dinner in New York on June 1. Jean R. Smith, executive…
The decision to expand the 92-year-old Panama Canal should provide a major boost to East Coast and Gulf ports, even those that cannot handle post-Panamax vessels. By building locks capable of handling much larger ships, and widening and straightening channels,…
