Crew escapes after engine rod failure leads to towboat fire
01 Jun

Crew escapes after engine rod failure leads to towboat fire

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, , , , , ,
The 140-foot City of Cleveland was pushing 18 barges up the Lower Mississippi River when the captain heard a sound similar to a log hitting a propeller.   Moments later, the port engine stopped and flames erupted from the engine room. The nine crewmembers on the towboat escaped to a barge and were later rescued by a good Samaritan vessel. No one was…
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Barge hits St. Johns River jetty, grounds after being towed away
01 Jun

Barge hits St. Johns River jetty, grounds after being towed away

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, , , , , , , ,
A barge carrying coal ash hit a jetty marking the entrance to the St. Johns River east of Jacksonville, Fla., with the breached vessel ultimately grounding more than a mile south on the Atlantic shoreline after being towed away.  The tugboat Margery had the 418-foot Bridgeport under tow when the barge hit a submerged section of the south jetty at…
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Cybersecurity 101: Playing it safe when logging in at sea
01 Jun

Cybersecurity 101: Playing it safe when logging in at sea

Professional Mariner StaffCyber Sercurity, Trends and Currents, ,
Mariners spend less time online than the average landlubber with constant access to Wi-Fi and 5G cell towers, but they often rely on the internet more for managing their lives. Paying bills, shopping or connecting with family and friends during months-long assignments are all done online — using the spotty and often sluggish remote access available to seafaring crews. And…
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Taking on climate change: Carbon capture for marine applications
01 Jun

Taking on climate change: Carbon capture for marine applications

Professional Mariner StaffClimate Change, Correspondence, , , ,
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015 with the intent to peak and then sharply reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to keep the average global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius and preferably limited to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. In response to the U.N. initiative, the International Maritime Organization (IMO)…
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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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Gulf of Guinea hot zone for piracy, crew abductions in 2020, IMB says
02 May

Gulf of Guinea hot zone for piracy, crew abductions in 2020, IMB says

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, , , , ,
Although COVID-19 slowed most maritime activity in 2020, piracy did not face a slump.  In its annual piracy report, the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB) tallied 195 reported incidents of armed robbery against ships worldwide, up from 162 reported in 2019. Much of the activity occurred in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, which is the site of a…
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MarAd authorizes construction of two more academy training ships
02 May

MarAd authorizes construction of two more academy training ships

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, , , , , ,
When alumni return to Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, they’re not drawn to the docks or the football stadium. Instead, they gather around the scale models of previous training ships that the school has used to prepare cadets for their careers at sea. “Whenever we have functions that bring in alumni, you can hear them telling their kids, ‘That’s…
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Provision in defense act bans barge anchorages on Lower Hudson
02 May

Provision in defense act bans barge anchorages on Lower Hudson

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, , , , ,
The controversial issue of tying up oil barges and other commercial vessels along the banks of the Lower Hudson River has been settled by a new federal law. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was enacted on Jan. 1 after Congress overrode President Trump’s veto, includes the ban on tying up. The provision was introduced by U.S. Rep. Sean…
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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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Two die after tugboat sinks in storm on British Columbia coast
02 May

Two die after tugboat sinks in storm on British Columbia coast

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, , , , , , ,
Two mariners died and a third suffered serious injuries after their tugboat sank in a remote British Columbia waterway during a strong winter storm. Capt. Troy Pearson and deck hands Charley Cragg and Zac Dolan were aboard the 36-foot Ingenika when it capsized in the Gardner Canal near Kemano while towing the 200-foot barge Miller 204. The tug’s emergency beacon activated…
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