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Photo at link (give 'em some hits) The first cargo of liquefied natural gas has set sail from the Dominion Energy Cove Point LNG export terminal in Maryland, where the newly constructed liquefaction facility is undergoing final commissioning. The commissioning cargo of natural gas left the Cove Point facility on the Chesapeake Bay on Thursday, March 1, according to Dominion Energy. The cargo was loaded onboard the LNG tanker, Gemmata. Shell NA LNG is providing the natural gas needed for liquefaction during the commissioning process. Once commissioning is complete, the Cover Point terminal will produce LNG for ST Cove Point,...

Anyone know of anyone coming from North Carolina to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the next 3-4 weeks who could put the 3/4 ton truck on a trailer or tow it with a tow bar to TX for a fee? Please private message me if you know someone. Helping a conservative fellow who is going to restore it & needs it in Texas.

The tanker was carrying 136,000 metric tons (nearly 1 million barrels) of condensate when it collided with the Hong Kong-registered freighter CF Crystal late Saturday. The 21 members of the Crystal's all-Chinese crew were rescued.

Bloomberg article, Link only.Two yuge orders for new container ships by leading shippers.Link to article.

MV North Star. Photo: TOTE TOTE Maritime Alaska, a division of TOTE, Inc., has announced that it will convert two of its diesel-electric roll-on/roll-off ships to dual fuel operations using liquefied natural gas (LNG). The two vessels, ‘North Star’ and ‘Midnight Sun’, are both currently powered by four MAN 58/64 engines running on HFO. But, working with MAN Diesel & Turbo’s after-sales division on the conversion, the engines will be retrofitted to run on cleaner-burning LNG fuel. The contract between TOTE and MAN was signed in April 2017 and covers the design, development, and testing of a first-of-its-kind dual-fuel kit....

Shell Trading (US) Company announced Tuesday it has finalized a long-term charter agreement with Q-LNG Transport, LLC for an ocean-going LNG bunker barge with the capacity to carry 4,000 cubic meters of LNG fuel. The bunker barge will be the first of its kind to be based in the United States, and will supply LNG to marine customers along the southern East Coast of the U.S. and support growing cruise line demand for LNG marine fuel. “This investment in LNG as a marine fuel for the US will provide the shipping industry with a fuel that helps meet tougher emissions...

A new partnership between Rolls-Royce and Google will see ships become smarter and self-learning thanks to advanced machine learning algorithms. It will also bring the company’s vision of a fully autonomous ship setting sail by 2020 a step closer to reality. Rolls Royce announced this month that it will use Google’s Cloud Machine Learning Engine across a range of applications, designed to both make today’s ships safer and more efficient, and to launch the ships of tomorrow. Initially the machine learning engine will be used to further train existing AI algorithms designed to power the image recognition systems of vessels....

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says it is deeply concerned over proposed legislation that would ban crude oil tankers from operating in Canadian waters off Northern British Columbia. The Canadian Parliament is giving consideration to legislation that would have the effect of establishing a moratorium on the shipment of crude oil in the waters of Northern British Columbia. The proposed legislation is known as Bill C-48: An Act respecting the regulation of vessels that transport crude oil or persistent oil to or from ports or marine installations located along British Columbia’s north coast. The ICS, representing the world’s national...

Full title: Mississippi River cargo shipping costs SOAR - Prices of goods go HIGH as mighty river goes LOW! Video at link. Vlogger documents unusually dry conditions in Mississippi and resulting increases in shipping costs, and resultant anticipated cost increases passed on to consumers. Expected to impact exports.

Petroleum tankers pictured at the Port of Tampa Bay, September 13, 2017. Photo: Port Tampa Bay Phillips 66 has taken advantage of the U.S. Department of Homeland Securities’ temporary Jones Act waiver applying to tankers in response to fuel shortages in the southeast United States in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Argus Media reported Thursday. The foreign charter comes as an “armada” of at least 26 U.S.-flagged vessels carrying millions of gallons of fuel and other refined products head for Florida, the American Maritime Partnership said. According to Argus, Phillips 66 used the waiver to charter the Marshall...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday said it was temporarily waiving the Jones Act for tankers to ensure enough fuel reaches emergency responders and affected areas during Hurricane Irma and in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The waiver was signed Friday by Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke and will be in effect for seven days. The waiver is specifically tailored to transportation of refined petroleum products in hurricane-affected areas. It includes shipments of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Louisiana to South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Puerto Rico. The DHS...

Photo: Philly Shipyard The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has awarded a total of $9.8 million to 18 U.S. small shipyards to help pay for industrial modernizations that will increase productivity and allow the country’s small shipyards to compete more effectively in the global marketplace. The funding was awarded through MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant Program. “Small shipyards play a significant role in our country’s maritime sector, which contributes to our economy, security, and infrastructure,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “In addition, these grants will support local communities by creating jobs for working families.” Small shipyard facilities...

With Merkel and Macron at the helm, there is little political will within the EU to avert the next migrant catastrophe. With less than 50 days until the German election, Germany’s intelligence services have warned of a large migrant wave set to hit the country, comparable to the one that overwhelmed Europe two years ago. “The new large refugee wave is already under way,” wrote Austria’s leading newspaper Kronen Zeitung today, citing German Security services. The story was broken by the German newspaper Die Welt in its Sunday edition: Security services believe that the number of asylum seekers in Germany...

Another effort is under way in the Senate to repeal the Jones Act sponsored by Senator John McCain of Arizona. The law, originally enacted 97 years ago by Senator Wesley L. Jones of Washington State under section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, focused on: Increased growth of American marine commerce Improving remedies to American mariners if injured on the job Providing for national security interests Today the Jones Act refers to federal statute 46 USC section 883 which controls coastwise trade within the United States. Essentially the Act prohibits foreign flagged vessels from engaging in coastwise trade...

ROCKY MOUNT — An intermodal CSX rail hub proposed for Rocky Mount will bring 1,500 jobs to North Carolina. The facility, called the Carolina Connector Hub, is expected to be operational by December 2019. “Good transportation is essential to economic growth. You can take it to the bank,” said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-Wilson, sponsor of the “Jobs First: Building for Our Future” forum held Friday. More than 100 people attended the event at the historic Helen Gay Train Station in Rocky Mount. Built in 1903, the station was acquired by the city of Rocky Mount in 1995 and restored in...

CAMERON PARISH, LA (KPLC) - The face of Cameron Parish will soon be changing. A massive, 500-acre port will be built over the next four years on the Calcasieu Ship Channel, creating close to 4,000 permanent jobs - doubling the employment in the parish. Peterson Offshore Group, a Dutch international energy logistics management company, signed a letter of intent Wednesday with Port Cameron to lease 1.2 million square feet in Part Cameron's Logistics Center. Peterson will co-manage the port. For Ted Falgout, executive director of Port Cameron, Cameron Parish is the perfect location for this project. "I think seeing these...

Jones Act ships under construction at Philly Shipyard, fomerly Aker Philadelphia Shipyard. File Photo Jones Act shipbuilder Philly Shipyard announced Friday that it has entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) with a leading, blue chip Jones Act operating company for the construction and sale of up to four containerships with planned deliveries in 2020 and 2021. The identity of the operating company has yet not been disclosed, but Philly Shipyard indicated that the vessels would be based on a similar design to the two Aloha-class containerships it is currently building for Matson, Inc. Friday’s announcement follows news from last...

(Note: On Wednesday, the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix released a statement saying that tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma, an aggressive type of cancer, was associated with Senator McCain’s blood clot. The statement added that the tissue of concern was completely resected during last Friday’s procedure, and the Senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options, which may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. The statement went on to say that “the Senator’s doctors say he is recovering from his surgery ‘amazingly well’ and his underlying health is excellent.” It is unclear...

President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing an executive order that will require all U.S. food aid to be transported on American ships, according to four sources with knowledge of the deliberations. Currently, 50 percent of such aid must be transported on U.S.-flagged vessels. The sources said Trump is considering going as far as doubling that to 100 percent, a move likely to stir opposition from both Republicans and Democrats.

Our nation’s ports are the lifelines of our economy. In 2016, foreign trades through U.S. ports were valued at $1.5 trillion—$475 billion exports and $1.0 trillion imports were moved by vessels. When goods travel through ports, it means they are traveling via ship. NOS is in the business of making sure that mariners—and the goods they are transporting—make it to their destinations safely and quickly. Just as airplane pilots need to know current weather and ground conditions, ship captains need to know exactly what's going on in the water and in the air. NOS monitoring systems supply mariners with the...