News

Japan's navy has persisted in the pursuit of a usable, durable electromagnetic railgun, continuing a hunt that the U.S. Navy has (for public purposes) abandoned. Its Acquisition Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) has recently conducted what it believes to be the first successful test firing of a railgun at a target vessel in the world, and has released images of the trial shots.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion in an ongoing case challenging the licensing for the construction of the Empire Wind offshore energy project, citing the lack of merit in the opposition’s claims and defending the licensing process.

The Port of Long Beach, California, is reporting that all its terminals have resumed operations a day after the dramatic container collapse on a berthed vessel. Pier G, where the vessel Mississippi is berthed, is open and operating except for the immediate area around the vessel.

Officials gathered in the Port of Rijeka, Croatia, to mark the arrival of the first commercial container vessel as the port transitioned from trial operations. Rijeka Gateway, they reported, represents the largest private investment in logistics in Croatia, and it becomes the most modern and technologically advanced container terminal in the region.

German police in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein confirmed media reports that they boarded a cargo ship on the suspicion that it was being used for launching drones and spying on critical infrastructure.

The containership Marie Maersk is still making its way to Malaysia after fighting a box fire, and now the carrier reports it has declared General Average. Maersk is using the well-established law to share the cost of the firefight, which required bringing in additional resources but appears to have limited the scope of damage to the vessel and its cargo.

There are renewed quality concerns for the most popular marine fuels, and especially for very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) used by many vessels to meet emission requirements. A range of sediments and impurities raises concerns not only of accelerated wear but also clogs and failures of critical components in the fuel system that can cause unplanned stoppages or blackouts.

The issues of mis-declared or improperly packed cargo in containers are again being highlighted in new data from the World Shipping Council. The trade group reports based on port state inspection data that the number of containers found with potential safety issues has risen to more than 11 percent, which extrapolates to approximately 27.5 million containers annually based on an estimate that the industry transports 250 million boxes a year.

India’s Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) published a draft circular outlining steps it plans to take against a group of 86 vessels, which it says have recurrent reports of seafarer abuse, problems with working conditions, have been detained by port authorities, or are operating without proper paperwork.

Two major offshore wind developers,  Ørsted and Iberdrola, have efforts underway to save their offshore wind projects in the United States. The companies are reportedly trying to win over the Trump administration, which opposes offshore wind energy, by emphasizing the larger investments in the United States.

Canada is working to increase its ship recycling capacity on the West Coast in order to accommodate an influx of end-of-life vessels in the near future. The Royal Canadian Navy is expected to retire several of its warships starting this fall.

Nearly two years after the project was unveiled, construction started today in China for what is likely to become the world’s first ammonia-fueled containership. The project, which is being led by CMB.TECH, as part of its efforts to accelerate the transition in the shipping industry, will launch a vessel that they report will transform short-sea shipping and demonstrate the potential of ammonia as a low-emission fuel.

Last week, South Africa announced postponing a key naval exercise with China and Russia slated for November. This has been interpreted as a move to avoid the exercise coinciding with the G20 summit, scheduled in South Africa in the same month.

Leidos, the IT and defense tech company behind the Sea Hunter drone boat, has come up with an autonomous commando team delivery craft for the Royal Navy - a new and unusual application of naval autonomous technology.

Russian officials are again highlighting the growth of shipping and specifically containership along the Northern Sea Route. In just 10 days, they expect the first containership following an international route to European ports will start an NSR transit, while data shows a slight increase in traffic so far this year along the Arctic shipping route.

The Portuguese Navy confirmed earlier media reports that an operation is underway off the coast after a containership requested assistance. The vessel said there were boarders aboard, and unconfirmed media reports said at least two crewmembers had been locked in the engine room.

Electric vehicle fires have been a major source of concern for ro/ro operators for years, and several operators have banned them from carriage. EV battery packs can self-ignite if cells overheat or develop internal faults; they can also catch fire from a nearby heat source, like a burning conventional vehicle.

A supervisor identified as a Brazilian national overseeing construction of an FPSO vessel at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Geoje, South Korea, was killed on September 3 during testing on the under-construction vessel.

The transition brings the CCG's maritime domain experience into the mission of defending Canadian sovereignty, Canada's government said in a statement, much like the U.S. Coast Guard model. Some elements from Fisheries and Oceans Canada are also making the switch.

A man who claimed to be a survivor of the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking has been arrested outside a government office in Seoul after he demanded a meeting with the president's office. The man was allegedly in possession of a weapon in a public space, a chargeable offense in South Korea.