IMC Brokers Blog

Salvage Code Red - New Flame / Jane

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:31:00 +0100

In National Geographic Channel’s Salvage Code Red, salvors race against time to rescue stricken ships, their cargo and crew, and prevent environmental disaster. Divers venture with helmet cameras inside sunken vessels to capture gripping footage of abandoned behemoths. The series takes viewers inside the bowels of a burning ship while intricate CGI illustrates the immense challenges, and some innovative solutions, in hauling and repairing a sinking vessel.

Part 1/5

Part 2/5

Part 3/5

Part 4/5

Part 5/5

source: http://www.natgeochannel.co.uk/programmes/salvage-code-red

Salvage Code Red - New Flame / Jane written by IMC Brokers in: Salvage

Tags: code red, jane, new flame, salvage

Giant Jellyfish Capsize 10-Tonne Trawler

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:30:00 +0100

Giant jellyfish have capsized a 10-tonne fishing boat after its crew tried to haul in a net full of the stinging creatures off the eastern coast of Japan.

Dozens of Nomura's jellyfish sunk the Diasan Shinsho-maru boat and sent its three-man crew into the sea, The Mainichi Daily News reported.

The organisms can weigh up to 440lbs and grow up to 6ft in diameter.

The three men forced into the sea, near Chosi, were rescued by another trawler.

Waters around Japan have been inundated with the jellyfish this year.

Experts believe weather and water conditions in the breeding grounds off the coast of China have been ideal for the species in recent months.

"The arrival is inevitable," Hiroshima University Professor Shinichi Ue told the Yomiuri newspaper.

"A huge jellyfish typhoon will hit the country."

Nomura's jellyfish have been known to wreak havoc in Japanese waters.

They destroy fishing nets, poison fish in the nets and render them unfit for sale, sting humans and even disable nuclear power stations by blocking pumps used to cool the reactors.

In 2007, there were 15,500 reports of damage caused to fishing equipment by jellyfish in the region, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Many fishermen have tried to keep jellyfish out of their nets by using sharp wires.

source: Sky News

Giant Jellyfish Capsize 10-Tonne Trawler written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: capsize, diasan shinsho-maru, fishing boat, nomura jellyfish

Largest LEGO warship

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:35:00 +0200

How long would the legendary Japanese Warship Yamato be, built out of LEGO bricks?

That’s the question Jumpei Mitsui asked himself since he was a young boy. Now a third year student, Jumpei has answered his own question by building a LEGO model of the Yamato. It took the young Japanese 6 years and 4 months to finish his masterpiece, using 200,000 LEGO bricks.

The LEGO warship is built at a scale of 1/40, weighs over 150 kilograms, measures 6.6 meters from bow to stern and is 1 meter wide at the widest point of the ship.

Jumpei Mitsui finished the LEGO Yamato on April 9, 2009 and he deserves our congratulations. Well done my friend.

Check the link at the bottom for more photos.

http://www.geocities.jp/jun_brick/yamato_m.html

Via: Oddity Central

Largest LEGO warship written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: jumpei mitsui, lego, warship

Anchor Chain Construction

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:06:00 +0200

A great post at gCaptain on anchor chain construction. Go check it out!

Picture by Darren Curtis (http://www.flickr.com/photos/darren_curtis/)

Anchor Chain Construction written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: anchor chain

Offshore Diamond Mining

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:05:00 +0200

The De Beers diamond recovery vessel PEACE IN AFRICA (former Dock Express 20)

When most people think about diamond mining, they picture shafts extending down into the earth for a mile or more, open pit mines and miners wearing hard hats and carrying picks. How many people picture aquatic diamond mining? It sounds exotic, doesn’t it? Offshore diamond mining conjures up images of miners wearing diving helmets, wielding shovels deep under water. It doesn’t work quite that way, though.Offshore diamond mining has actually been going on for a number of years. Obviously, De Beers is one of the leaders, but other companies like Namco, Nambed, Diamond Fields International and Afri-Can are also exploring the seafloor off the coast of Namibia. Contrary to the picture conjured above; the mining is actually carried out with huge vacuum pumps, tubes and ROVs.

There are two (edit: well, actually three) forms of offshore diamond mining, horizontal mining and vertical mining. The most common form is horizontal mining. In this form, an ROV crawls across the seabed, equipped with sensors, suction tubes and equipment to sort out stones that are of the wrong size. In essence, the ROV sucks up any gravel on the seabed and sends it up a waiting ship above. Once on board, real workers get busy sorting through the slurry of gravel and sand, separating the diamonds from the gravel and dirt. The refuse goes back over the side, while the diamonds are stored away.

Vertical mining operates differently. A large drill head (6 to 7 meters across) is used to drill into the diamond bearing rock of the ocean floor. The resulting debris is then sucked up to the ship, where it is sorted and graded. With both methods, cargo ships visit on a periodic basis to offload the diamonds and bring new supplies and workers to the mining operation.

There is a third method that has been successfully deployed for marine diamond mining and that is the airlift system. This is a method by which a vacuum is created using compressed air in order to suction the sediment to an onboard separation plant.

How effective is offshore diamond mining? According to some sources, the deposits off the coast of Namibia alone hold over 1.5 billion carats of diamonds. De Beers is actually constructing another ship and ROV for use off the coast of South Africa to mine the diamond deposits suspected to be located in the region. Given the vast wealth of diamonds harvested from the earth in South Africa, this could be an incredibly profitable venture for the troubled diamond giant.

Will offshore diamond mining ever take the place of land-based operations? The experts say it is unlikely, but as the diamond reserves found in traditional locations are mined out, expect the sea to play an ever-increasing role in diamond mining. In addition to diamonds, there are companies that are exploring extinct black smokers (volcanic vents on the deep sea floor) in a search for gold, copper and other precious metals.

With the ever-increasing cost of metals on the world’s hungry markets, new avenues of exploration are continually sought, and the sea floor is an excellent place to look for these resources. As far as diamonds are concerned, the sources being mined at the moment are only alluvial deposits, though other mining methods are being developed to help reach underwater kimberlite pipes and other deposits.

source: abazias

Related articles:

-Diamond Mining Ship aka Peace in Africa

Offshore Diamond Mining written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: airlift mining, aquatic mining, diamond mining, diamond recovery, offshore mining

Antwerp Welcomes Dutch Dredging Decision

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:49:00 +0200

The port of Antwerp gave a qualified welcome to the Dutch government's decision to deepen the river Scheldt, the port’s access to the North Sea.

The Dutch cabinet agreed Friday to a controversial plan to breach dykes and flood 320 hectares of farmland reclaimed from the sea to allow the deepening of the stretch of river that passes through Dutch territory.

Without deepening, the largest container ships can reach Antwerp, Belgium's biggest port, only at high tide.

The port of Antwerp said it welcomes the Dutch government's decision to implement a 2005 Treaty committing it to complete dredging of the western Scheldt by 2009. "However there is no euphoria," the port said.

"We'll save the real celebrations until the dredging work has been completed and the largest ships can reach Antwerp more easily," said Antwerp's port alderman Mar Van Peel.

The port has lobbied for the Scheldt to be deepened to allow independent navigation by ships with a draft of up to 43 feet.

Once the deepening is completed "seven out of ten ships that currently face problems will be able to reach the port of Antwerp without tide constraints, which is of crucial importance for the further economic development of the port," the port authority said.

The dredging, which must be approved by the Dutch parliament, has been fiercely opposed by local farmers and environmentalists.

The delay in deepening work was seen by some in the Antwerp shipping community as a ploy to enhance the position of Rotterdam as it expands its container terminals to handle the latest generation of mega-box ships.

Antwerp, Europe's third largest box hub, handled 3.6 million 20-foot equivalent units in the first half of 2009, down 18.5 percent on the same period in 2008. Rotterdam, Europe's top container port, saw box traffic decline 15 percent in the first half to 4.6 million TEUs.

source: The Journal of Commerce

Antwerp Welcomes Dutch Dredging Decision written by IMC Brokers in: Dredging

Tags: dredging, port of antwerp, scheldt river, treaty

Tugboat mural gets makeover

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0200

© http://www.flickr.com/photos/iestyn/

A familiar wall in Downtown Coos Bay is getting a much needed makeover, as a local artist plans to restore the tugboat mural.

Twenty years ago, Mike Vaughan painted the wall, located near the Boardwalk off Highway 101. And this week, the Coos Bay Urban Renewal Agency approved a contract of no more than $10,000 for Vaughan to restore the mural.

Vaughan says the renovation will bring a lot more color than his original sketch idea, that's currently up.

"People didn't translate that as well as I thought they would," said Vaughan. "And so it's not going to look like a sketch anymore, it's going to be more cull colored and blended better."

But other than making the mural pop, Vaughan says the images themselves will remain the same, claiming, these ships are iconic of Coos Bay's Port.

"The economy is hit pretty hard and so there's not as many ships coming in, which is kind of the murals job to say, when there isn't a ship in, this is what it looks like when there is," said Vaughan.

Work is expected to get underway Friday, which means, the public parking lot next to the wall will be closed off and on for about two weeks, before the project is complete.

source: KCBY-TV

Tugboat mural gets makeover written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: coos bay, mural, tugboat

Mountain Biking on a Tug

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:40:00 +0200

Mountain Biking on a Tug written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: mountain nike, tug florida, tugboat

So, how DO you move a 10-ton dead whale?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0200

(Sangjib Min, Daily Press / September 28, 2009)

Wanted: Someone to move 10 tons of beached blubber off a York River beach in Guinea.

No, that is not a misprint. Nor is it a job for the weak of nose.

A rotting, 25-foot female juvenile humpback whale that is Gloucester's ripest resident hasn't budged since it beached Monday near the Perrin River.

"It's still there," said Christina Trapani, assistant stranding response coordinator with the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center's Marine Stranding Program.

Workers with the Marine Stranding Program are scrambling to find a way to lug the whale off the beach.

"It's just not an easy task," Trapani said. "We've had some offers of help, but you really have to be specialized on whale transport."

Trapani said she has contacted commercial tugboat operators in hopes of finding someone to tow the whale away. Trapani would like to perform a necropsy on the whale in hopes of determining its cause of death and for other research.

"We're still trying to figure out if we're going to bring it to the landfill," Trapani said.

Which raises another issue for Trapani: "Who's going to put it on the truck?"

Trapani said she has seen heavy equipment lift whales onto large trucks. That's not a possibility in this case, however.

"Logistically, where this whale is, you can't do heavy equipment," Trapani said.

The humpback whale was spotted dead in the Chesapeake Bay by a tugboat operator Saturday morning. The Coast Guard tracked the whale into the Mobjack Bay later in the day.

By Monday, winds and tides had taken the dead whale into the York River. By midday, it had beached on the shore off Bonniville Road in Guinea's Jenkins Neck.

On Monday, Trapani and a crew of volunteers carved up small sections of the whale for tissue samples and took sections of fins.

Despite some noticeable bruising on the whale, Trapani has no better idea what might be the cause of the whale's death.

"We'll get a better idea as soon as we can get the necropsy," Trapani said Monday afternoon. "And hopefully that will be tomorrow."

Whale facts

    • A typical humpback whale calf is about 30 feet long.
    • Humpback whale calves leave their mothers at age 2.
    • An average adult humpback whale is 50 to 55 feet long.
    • An average adult humpback whale can weigh 44 tons.
    • Humpback whales can live for 45 to 50 years.

source: Daily Press

So, how DO you move a 10-ton dead whale? written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: beached, guinea, towage, whale

US World War II tank dredged from Manila Bay

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:04:00 +0200

(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

The Philippine coast guard says the wreckage of a U.S. tank has been dredged from Manila Bay's muddy seafloor more than 60 years after the end of World War II.

Spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said Wednesday the M4A1 Sherman tank was accidentally discovered Saturday stuck in mud 15 to 20 feet (4.5 to 6 meters) underwater by a dredging company near the mouth of Pasig River.

Balilo says there appears to be no human remains inside the tank. It was discovered without its turret and tracks.

He says a Japanese 105 mm cannon was recovered nearby in July.

Manila was the scene of heavy fighting between U.S. and Japanese forces during the liberation of the Philippines in 1945, and war-era arms and ammunition have been found in the city.

source: Reuters

US World War II tank dredged from Manila Bay written by IMC Brokers in: Dredging

Tags: dredging, manila bay, philippines, sherman tank, tank

Super Yacht 'Samar' Visits Antwerp

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0200

Not entirely sure what she is doing Antwerp, but impossible to miss, the stylish (& lavish) super yacht Samar.

When Samar was commissioned, she represented the largest yacht to be built in the UK since Britannia was launched. On her uppermost deck, a helicopter is stowed aft, while a Jacuzzi that can accommodate a crowd is forward. Among our favorite features of hers are the leather-lined pedestal chairs that are positioned next to the spa pool. Even better, the chairs can recline, for the utmost in comfort while catching some rays (or relaxing in shade, thanks to a bimini that can cover the entire area). You can test one out yourself, as Samar entered the charter market for the first time last fall; her weekly rate is 650,000 euros (about $1.02 million at presstime).

The yacht provides accommodation for an Owners party of 12 (in 7 staterooms) with a crew of 26. The owner’s stateroom is independent on the main deck, there are two VIP cabins on the lower deck (one twin and one double), as well as 2 double cabins on lower deck, and one small double on the bridge deck.

She provides a wet dock in the aft garage for a 33’’ CrisCraft ridged hulled tender and there are four further tenders onboard. The helipad is designed to house a Bell 407 helicopter with refueling facilities, three Jet Skis and a MINI Cooper cabriolet.

Luxury yacht SAMAR is powered by a diesel-electric propulsion system consisting of three Wärtsilä 1,530-kW diesel generators and two 2,414-hp drive motors with twin fixed-pitch, five-bladed propellers. Combined, they provide the yacht’s top speed of 16.5 knots and a cruising speed of 12 knots.

The Samar ranked #41 in the 2008 Top 100 World's Largest Yachts.

Y: 2006; B: Devonport, England: N: Laurent Giles Naval Architects; H: steel

More pictures here, here and here.

Super Yacht 'Samar' Visits Antwerp written by IMC Brokers in: National

Tags: laurent giles, samar, super yachts

Giant wave machine crashes into the sea

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:39:00 +0200

A PIONEERING plan to create power from the waves suffered a major setback last night when an 80 tonne generator capsized off the Suffolk coast.

The seabed off Southwold was being used to test a new way of harnessing power from the waves which could ultimately generate electricity on a large scale.

But as the experimental wave generator, weighing 80 tonnes, was being towed into position on a floating pontoon yesterday, the pontoon capsized. Local shipping had to be warned as the 18 metre (59ft) high generator was floating loose and drifting with the tide.

It was later connected to one of the tugs which had been towing the pontoon and towed to a safe location at Dunwich Bay, near the beach, where it was out of the way of shipping.

The drama unfolded at 12.30pm as it was being towed into position by two tugs. For reasons which are still not clear, the pontoon capsized, dumping its expensive cargo into the sea. None of the crew were hurt. It was not clear whether the machine itself was badly damaged or whether it will be able to be salvaged and put up as planned.

The wave energy machine was being put in place five miles off Southwold for a year-long sea trial, which was intended to gather detailed information on how the machine performed. It is planned as the forerunner to full-size wave farms which could power 60,000 homes.

Mario Siano, watch manager at Yarmouth Coastguard, said: “We are pleased to say there were no injuries sustained to any of the crew on board. There were no pollutants on board. The tugs remain on scene until a salvage operation is put into place.

“All appropriate authorities have been informed and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency counter-pollution officer is aware and is monitoring the situation.”

Southend-based Trident Energy and their wave energy plans were featured in Leonardo Di Caprio's eco-documentary, The 11th Hour, and were described last year by energy and climate change minister Lord Hunt as “a very exciting project by Trident”.

When the test model was unveiled in Lowestoft earlier this year, company founder Hugh-Peter Kelly said: “It's our aim to crack wave energy…We want to prove to the world that this works, and that Trident can produce grid-ready AC electricity.”

The machine's inventors say its strength is in its simplicity. No hydraulic equipment or air compression is needed and there are few moving parts. The machine stands on a giant pair of legs, supported by submerged pontoons anchored to the sea bed, to hold it above the waves. The framework for the machine has been built by Lowestoft marine engineers Small and Co.

Special floats move up and down with the waves to drive generators, which convert the motion into electricity. Special sensors to detect stormy conditions pull the floats up automatically and protect them from serious damage until the danger has passed.

Trident Energy could not be contacted last night.

source: EADT24

Giant wave machine crashes into the sea written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: renewable energy, tidal enery, trident energy

Germany clears plan for offshore wind park zones

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:05:00 +0200

Germany's cabinet on Wednesday adopted a plan to speed along the construction of offshore wind parks in the North Sea, paving the way for a targeted 25,000 megawatts of capacity to come on line by 2030.

Germany, one of the leading onshore wind power nations, aims to move turbines out to sea in order to help them meet national climate protection targets which in a first step envisage renewable energies contributing 30 percent of all power by 2020.

Wind supplies six percent of German power and this is meant to double to 12 percent under the 2020 scenario.

Wednesday's plan involves creating zones suited to the construction of wind parks in coordination with the interests of environmental protection and the shipping industry.

Transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee said that 12,000 MW of offshore wind power could be obtained by 2020.

Another plan to create wind park zones in the Baltic Sea was due to be approved in the autumn, he said.

Tiefensee said that offshore wind technologies could provide 30,000 jobs.

Power consumers under subsidizing laws for renewable power must pay above-market rates for wind power fed into the transmission grid.

Environmental organization NABU in a statement welcomed the decision as some 21 approved offshore projects are in the pipeline off the German coasts.

"This initiative comes at the right time as the big energy utilities prefer to bank on a lengthening of old nuclear plants rather than building new wind parks in the sea," NABU said.

source: Reuters

Germany clears plan for offshore wind park zones written by IMC Brokers in: Renewable Energy

Tags: 25000 megawatt, north sea, offshore wind park

Reuben Margolin - Kinetic Sculptures - Magic Waves

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:30:00 +0200

The Magic Wave is a version of the Square Wave, but with some major changes. Instead of a grid supported by 81 cables, The Magic Wave has a light blue aluminum grid suspended by 256 cables. And instead of two perpendicular waves, its motion is an addition of four variable-amplitude waves: two structured as single-wavelength, and two as double-wavelength. And there is an overall height mechanism that raises and lowers the entire wave simultaneously.

The overhead mechanics contain 3000 pulleys, 5 kilometers of steel cable, and 9 motors. I consider it a collaboration between myself and the fantastic staff at Technorama, who built it in their basement workshop, and figured out lots of the details (down to the thousandth of a millimeter, and beautifully crafted).

Huge thanks to everyone at Technorama for an awesome experience working there, and a gorgeous wave, and thanks especially to Remo Besio, Thorsten-D. Künnemann, Jürg Neuenschwander and Heinz Ammann for their creativity, technical prowess, and friendship.

Homepage Reuben Margolin

Reuben Margolin - Kinetic Sculptures - Magic Waves written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: kinetic sculptures, magic wave, reuben margolin

Bureau Veritas to class Caspian ice-breaking tugs

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0200

Classification society Bureau Veritas has been chosen to class two different series of sophisticated ice-breaking tugs for service in the Caspian Sea.

The first series is for three plus two 66m loa ice-breaking and ice management tugs with 50 tonne bollard pull and Ice Class IA Super Special Service – North Caspian Sea Icebreaker, with ice-breaking capability up to 0.6 m level ice thickness.

Designed by Aker Arctic, they will be built in the STX RO Offshore Braila yard in Romania for the Caspian Offshore Construction group project in the North Caspian Kashgan oil field.

“These vessels have been designed by Aker Arctic and will be classed by Bureau Veritas, linking two centres of expertise,” explains Gijsbert de Jong, manager, Bureau Veritas. “The vessels have to be very tough to work in the Caspian and Russian waters. The design has been tailor made for optimum performance in the shallow waters of the North Caspian Sea, where the vessels will break level ice up to 60cm thick and can operate year round in ice conditions up to 1m thick.

In addition to towage and pushing barges in open water and in ice conditions, they will be capable of ice management operations in astern working mode, clearing ice rubble. The vessels will be equipped for undertaking firefighting, rescue and evacuation tasks and have deck cargo capability for supply functions. Bureau Veritas experts have evaluated the ship’s hull structure under ice-breaking loads, taking into account the specific conditions of the North Caspian Sea, by performing a direct assessment of the ice pressures under different operating scenarios.”

continue reading

source: Offshore Shipping Online

Bureau Veritas to class Caspian ice-breaking tugs written by IMC Brokers in: Towage

Tags: bureau veritas, classification, ice-breaking tugs

New report predicts increase in offshore expenditure

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0200

A new Douglas-Westwood report commissioned by INTSOK reveals that overall expenditure levels of 19 target countries and 26 key onshore and offshore market sectors is expected to total $2 trillion over the 2009-2013 period.

Within the offshore target markets, expenditure is expected to grow from $163 billion in 2009 to $222 billion in 2013, according to the report. Key drivers include the strong growth in energy demand from the developing countries, increasing tightness in global energy supplies, and a resultant growth in oil prices.

Douglas-Westwood Chairman John Westwood believes that opportunities within the shallow water markets are becoming increasingly scarce and operators are moving to prospects in greater water depths.

source: Offshore Magazine

New report predicts increase in offshore expenditure written by IMC Brokers in: Offshore

Tags: deep water exploration, intsok, offshore expenditures

Belgian Waterways

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:00:00 +0200

Grey : Class I 300 T

Green : ClassII 600 T

Yellow : Class IV 1350 T

Dark Blue : Class V 2000 T

Light Blue : Class VI >2000 T

Larger size map available @ http://www.waterrecreatie.be/images/waterwegenkaarten/sluizenkaart.pdf

Belgian Waterways written by IMC Brokers in: National

Tags: belgian waterways, canals, inland waterways, locks

Russia holds eight after recovering missing ship Arctic Sea

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:30:00 +0200

Russian troops who located a cargo ship that vanished for more than a fortnight, arrested eight suspected pirates when they boarded the vessel off the coast of west Africa, the country's defence minister said today.

The armed hijackers – four Estonian, two Latvian and two Russian nationals – had been in control of the Arctic Sea since boarding it in Swedish waters on 24 July, Anatoly Serdyukov said, according to Russian news agencies.

On the orders of the pirates, the ship's 15-strong Russian crew switched off their location transmitters and sailed towards Africa. The vessel was found 300 miles off the coast of the Cape Verde islands following a joint operation involving Russia's navy and air force, Serdyukov was quoted as saying by Interfax.

The ship was intercepted by an anti-submarine warfare ship, the Ladny, and the crew were freed without a shot being fired, he said.

Read more.

Russia holds eight after recovering missing ship Arctic Sea written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: arctic sea

Former oil rig worker spends 15 years making model of oil rig out of four million matchsticks

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:30:00 +0200

David Reynolds, 51, a former oil rig worker spent 15 years and 10 hours a day building an exact replica of a North Sea platform out of more than four million matchsticks.

Now retired, David, from Southampton, is hoping to secure a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for his efforts. He said: "The current world record for a model is 3.5 million matches so I'm just waiting for someone to come and adjudicate."

More Pictures: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/5871275/Former-oil-rig-worker-spends-15-years-making-model-of-oil-rig-out-of-four-million-matchsticks.html

Via Sea-Fever blog

Former oil rig worker spends 15 years making model of oil rig out of four million matchsticks written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: david reynolds, matchsticks, oil platform, oil rig, replica

Mighty Servant 3 Rejoins Dockwise Fleet

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:30:00 +0200

Dockwise Ltd, announces that, through its subsidiary the fully renewed and reinstated Mighty Servant 3 has rejoined the fleet of Dockwise.

The vessel has been under repair at the Grand Bahama Shipyard since January, 2008. The entire vessel has been rebuilt beginning with the steel hull. New machinery, electrical systems and equipment have been installed to the latest standards and designs, using the original functionality and foot print.

"This is a reinstatement project in a magnitude that has never been performed before - no one has ever taken a vessel submerged in 50 meters of seawater for 5 months and brought her back to service. This has been a very unique project," stated Eugène van Dodeweerd, Manager Fleet Supervision Quality & Safety of Dockwise Shipping B.V..

The two Wärtsilä (W12V38A) engines were extracted from the vessel locally, fully dismantled and later shipped in parts to Wärtsilä Netherland's workshop in Zwolle. The accommodations block was extended by inserting an additional layer to accommodate up to 50 persons including crewmembers, visiting clients and personnel. Additionally all interior elements have been renewed and updated to the most modern standards.

"The Mighty Servant 3 will be available to serve customers to the highest operational and safety standards for transport, installation and logistical management projects in the future. The return of this vessel to the fleet is a turning point in reinstatement history," said André Goedée, Chief Executive Officer of Dockwise Ltd.

source: MarineLink.com

Mighty Servant 3 Rejoins Dockwise Fleet written by IMC Brokers in: Heavy Lift

Tags: dockwise, mighty servant 3

Alinghi airlifts yacht over the Alps to the sea [Video]

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:00:00 +0200

America's Cup defender Alinghi began a spectacular airlift of its giant yacht from landlocked Switzerland over the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea, dangling beneath the world's biggest helicopter.

After some two weeks of sailing on Lake Geneva, where it was built, the new 90 foot high tech catamaran is being flown about 300 kilometres (186 miles) to the Italian port of Genoa for its first sea trials.

Watched by a flotilla of boats under bright skies, Alinghi 5 was hauled off Lake Geneva here by a MI-26 heavy lift helicopter, flown in specially from Russia, on the end of long cables.

The mast was airlifted by another helicopter.

Alinghi airlifts yacht over the Alps to the sea [Video] written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: airlift, alinghi, america's cup, helicopter

Somali Pirates Free Italian Tug

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:00:00 +0200

An Italian tugboat and its crew of 16, seized by pirates off the Gulf of Aden in April, have been released, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.

Frattini told Sky Italia TV he had been given the news by the Somali prime minister.

The ship's release was the result of exceptional work on the part of Somali authorities and the Italian intelligence service, he said.

The pirates hijacked the Italian-flagged Buccaneer on April 11 with a crew of 10 Italians, five Romanians and one Croatian and took it to a point close to Las Qoray, a fishing village in a disputed area of northern Somalia.

The ship is now on its way to the port of Djibouti, escorted by naval vessels, said Silvio Bartolotti, general manager of the company that owns it, Ravenna-based Micoperi Marine Contractors.

The ship was not freed as the result of military action and no ransom was paid, Bartolotti said.

The foreign ministry issued a statement expressing great satisfaction with the positive solution of the... hijacking of the cargo ship Buccaneer and the freeing of the Italians on board.

It is said the ship's release was the result of a long process of contacts with the Somali authorities, the collaboration of the Puntland authorities, and the work of the Italian intelligence service.

Las Qoray lies between the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia and breakaway Somaliland.

Puntland has been relatively peaceful compared with southern Somalia, which has been mired in conflict for 18 years, but has become infamous as a base for pirates who have hijacked scores of ships in the busy shipping lanes off the coast.

source: TVNZ

Somali Pirates Free Italian Tug written by IMC Brokers in: Piracy

Tags: buccaneer, piracy, somalia, tug

Tug Boat Accident At Skookumchuck Narrows [Video]

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:06:00 +0200

A tug boat pulling a barge at Skookumchuck Narrows suddenly capsizes trapping one man inside the boat for 10 minutes. Kayaker Dave Fusilli of Team Demshitz http://www.demshitz.com paddles out his Pyranha kayak in an attempt to save the man from the wreckage. Luckily no one was killed and a nearby tug pulled the barge and submerged tug to safety before the tide went out and the rapids of Skookumchuck became dangerous.

Full story here.

More info: Pender Harbour Message Board

Tug Boat Accident At Skookumchuck Narrows [Video] written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: accident, skookumchuck narrows, tug boat

The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:30:00 +0200

It's Friday. A short, relaxing movie to prepare you for the weekend ;-)

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - shot on 5dmk2 from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan written by IMC Brokers in: IMC Brokers

Tags: aquarium, japan, okinawa churaumi aquarium

More cargo ships laid up at Davao port

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:00:00 +0200

MALALAG, Davao Del Sur, Philippines—More and more cargo ships are being brought here to lay up as the country and the rest of the world suffer from a sharp decline in international cargo volume, according to the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).

In a report on Wednesday, Marina said the number of cargo ships that dropped anchor off the port had risen to 31 since January. At least 29 of the 31 ships docked are owned by large international shipping companies.

Local officials, however, refuse to disclose how much revenue the lay-ups have so far generated following requests of ship owners, citing security reasons.

The port here is considered one of the most ideal berthing areas in the Philippines. It is about 30 kilometers south of Davao City and more than 4 km long and 1 km wide.

The site, which the firm Asia Pacific Chartering Philippines helped develop in 1975, was accredited as a regional anchorage for deep water berthing of tankers and dry cargo vessels, regardless of tonnage and size.

The influx of cargo ships dropping anchor at the port has alarmed police, however.

Superintendent Alberto Lupaz, director of the 1104th provincial police mobile group, said the ships were drawing many people who are impressed by their huge sizes each day.

“We are expecting more lay-ups (docking of ships) at the port in the coming days as the global financial crisis worsens,” he said.

Because of this, Lupaz said terrorists might target the ships, prompting the police to reinforce security at the port.

Senior Supt. Ronald dela Rosa, officer in charge of the provincial police office, said the province has always been known as the drop-off point for people coming from southern and central Mindanao.

He said this was the reason police tightened security in the province to prevent terrorists from slipping in.

Last year, at least two bomb attacks, which killed nearly a dozen people, occurred in Digos City, the province’s capital.

source: Inquirer.net

More cargo ships laid up at Davao port written by IMC Brokers in: International

Tags: cargo ships, davao port, lay up, philippines

Number of wind turbines to quadruple under Renewable Energy Strategy

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:00:00 +0200

The number of wind turbines is set to quadruple over the next decade under government plans to force through wind farm planning applications.

Ministers have put wind power at the heart of a Renewable Energy Strategy, which is due to be released on Wednesday. It will outline how Britain is to meet its target of a 34 per cent cut in CO2 emissions by 2020.

The Government’s plans are likely to include more than 4,000 additional onshore turbines by 2020, many built at beauty spots and on high ground which would make them visible across miles of open countryside.

Another 3,000 turbines would be installed at sea — some of them visible from the coast, though others could be up to 100 miles offshore. Ministers are considering several measures to push wind farm planning applications through more quickly.

Of the 93 applications submitted for onshore wind farms in the past three years, only 35 were approved by local authorities. Another 14 were eventually passed after an appeal but almost half of the original applications failed.

In England, the South East, South West, East Midlands, London and the North West regions have all set targets for installing a combined total 1,310 megawatts of wind turbine capacity by 2010. So far they have installed only 340 megawatts (MW) and have another 66MW under construction.

The worst performing area is the South West, which has so far achieved only 15 per cent of its 2010 target of 355MW and has no wind farms under construction. There are 2,327 onshore wind turbines in Britain, with an average capacity of 1.5MW — enough to power 840 homes. Offshore there are 210 larger turbines, the latest of which have a capacity of 5MW.

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source: Times Online

Number of wind turbines to quadruple under Renewable Energy Strategy written by IMC Brokers in: Renewable Energy

Tags: renewable energy, renewable energy strategy, wind farms

Crew start cutting St Kilda wreck

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 08:30:00 +0200

A salvage team have begun dismantling piece-by-piece a trawler that wrecked on St Kilda more than a year ago.

The Spinningdale ran aground on rocks on Hirta, the main island of the archipelago, in a storm last February.

Its crew were airlifted to safety by a coastguard helicopter. Traps were later set amid fears rats - an animal not found on St Kilda - were on the boat.

The arrival of an articulated lorry on the islands to aid in the salvage operation is believed to be a first.

It was the onset of a violent winter storm that brought the Spanish-owned and crewed fishing boat to St Kilda's shores on 1 February, 2008.

Its rusting hulk has lain on the foreshore of Hirta since then.

The crew had sought shelter behind Hirta when their vessel suffered engine failure.

Strong tides and winds gusting up to 60mph forced it aground on rocks at the foot of cliffs, leading to the rescue by helicopter of the 14 crew.

They were winched one-by-one from the trawler's deck as waves battered the boat against the rocks.

Although a feared environmental disaster was averted by pumping thousands of litres of fuel and oil from the vessel, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) wanted its 170 tonne hull removed from the dual Unesco World Heritage site.

A decision to salvage the wreck last year was put off, but in the past few weeks a team of Spanish salvers have arrived on Hirta and have started to remove the Spinningdale piece-by-piece, slicing their way through its steel using oxy-acetylene.

The pieces are being dragged along the shore by cables and winch and then loaded on to an articulated lorry.

source: BBC News

Crew start cutting St Kilda wreck written by IMC Brokers in: Salvage

Tags: salvage, shipwreck, spinningdale, st kilda

Oil-spill invesigators may have a new tool for catching crooks

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 09:00:00 +0200

Spillers beware: Some oil-spill investigations may one day involve a different and perhaps better kind of chemical fingerprinting, if investigators pick up on and decide to use research done at Environment Canada.

The work shows that one particular family of molecules, bicyclic sesquiterpanes, may be better suited to identifying some oils and some refined products than families currently in use.

The research group involved in the work, which is outlined in a recent issue of Journal of Chromatography A, is based at Environment Canada's Emergencies Science and Technology Section.

According to the EC researchers, the families of molecules currently used to distinguish between one oil and another include pentacyclic triterpanes, regular and rearranged steranes, and mono-aromatic and tri-aromatic steranes in the residual oil range. However, because of their high boiling points, the triterpanes and steranes tend to be present in very low concentrations in lighter petroleum products such as jet fuels and mid-range diesels. Or worse, they can be absent altogether.

Bicyclic sesquiterpanes are bicyclic alkanes with various combinations of methyl and ethyl groups attaching to the two carbon rings, which puts the molecules in the C14 to C16 range.

In work they describe as one of the first attempts to carefully quantify sesquiterpanes in samples, the EC researchers found that bicyclic sesquiterpanes occurred in significant concentrations in all of the 14 crude oils they observed. Typical concentrations were around 1,000 to 3,000 micrograms of sesquiterpanes per gram of sample. As for the refined products they studied, the researchers found most mid-range fuels contained a total of 4,000 to 8,700 micrograms per gram, while heavy residual fuels had 255 to 2,000 micrograms per gram. As they had anticipated, there were little or no sesquiterpanes detectable in very light and very heavy fractions: gasoline, light kerosene and heavy-end lubricating oils.

source: Platts

Oil-spill invesigators may have a new tool for catching crooks written by IMC Brokers in: Oil and Gas

Tags: oil-spill, sesquiterpanes

Gas-filled barge runs aground in Columbia River

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:30:00 +0200

© Benjamin Brink/The Oregonian

A barge laden with a million gallons of gasoline remains hard aground in the Columbia River at the mouth of the Hood River after efforts to free it with an additional tugboat failed late Thursday.

Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Ryan Harry says a new plan calls for an empty fuel barge to be brought alongside to transfer gasoline off the grounded vessel, making it lighter so it can be freed from the river bottom. That effort is to start at daylight today.

The Coast Guard and barge operator Tidewater Barge Lines of Vancouver, Wash., have inspected the double-hulled vessel and found no damage, so there has been no environmental impact.

The crew from a tug transporting four barges through the Columbia reported the grounding early Thursday.

source: Seattle Times

Gas-filled barge runs aground in Columbia River written by IMC Brokers in: Salvage

Tags: barge, columbia river, grounding, new dawn

'Spinola' joins the Tug Malta fleet

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:00:00 +0200

Tug Malta Limited has taken delivery of a new VSP terminal-escort tug which has a total power of 7,180 BHP and a bollard pull of over 81 tons. It was built by Armon Shipyards at Gijon, Spain and has been named Spinola. The Voith-Schneider propulsion tractor tug, with an open stern, has two MAK main engines. Spinola is equipped with a fire fighting (FiFi) system class 1, and with full oil recovery equipment on board to combat marine pollution. The vessel is on its delivery voyage to Malta, manned by a Maltese crew under the command of Capt. Herman Thornton, Tug Malta's operations manager. Spinola is expected to arrive in Grand harbour at around noon today. She will be based in Malta and will carry out both harbour towage and salvage/off port towage services. source: The Malta Independent Online

'Spinola' joins the Tug Malta fleet written by IMC Brokers in: Towage

Tags: spinola, terminal tug, tug malta