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Saga Cruises’ first newbuild boutique cruise ship is to be christened during a ceremony at the Port of Dover, UK on 5 July 2019. Spirit of Discovery will be the first vessel to be named at Dover in more than a decade, which will also make her the first to be christened at Dover Western Docks following a £250 million (US$330 million) redevelopment. “As the place that Saga’s first cruise ship set sail from more than 20 years ago, Dover was ‘the natural choice,” said Nigel Blanks, Saga’s COO.

The Coast Guard assisted in the rescue of four crewmembers from a shing vessel after it capsized near Sabine Pass on Tuesday morning. Eighth Coast Guard District watchstanders in New Orleans received an emergency position indicating radio beacon signal from the 65-foot shing vessel Captain M&M, which provided an approximate location of the vessel, and launched an Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew. Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders launched a Station Sabine 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boat crew and sent out an urgent marine information broadcast with the vessel’s location.

The Government of Greenland (Naalakkersuisut) has voiced its support for International Maritime Organization’s ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic region. Namely, the government has agreed to actively work for a ban on HFO in Arctic shipping, covering both navigation and transport of HFO in the region. The move follows an analysis undertaken by Greenland, which showed that an HFO ban on sailing will be associated with a socioeconomic cost of around DKK 8.1 million (USD 1.27 million) per year. The authority explained that HFO should be avoided due to dangers involving maritime casualties which can have major environmental and economic consequences.

New South lock at Kiel Canal out of order on Sept. 19 from 08.00 am until 13.00 hrs pm due to maintenance work, North lock remains operational

(Bloomberg) — The Port of Wilmington in North Carolina remains shut in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, freezing shipments of everything from fertilizer to textiles. Florence dropped as much as 40 inches (102 centimeters) of rain in some places as it passed over Wilmington on its way through North and South Carolina. Several major surrounding highways were flooded, limiting access to the coastal city and the port. The port said Tuesday that it plans to start receiving vessels at the end of the week and resume truck operations on Sept. 24.

The heaviest single piece of equipment ever to move on Washington highways came through the Port of Longview recently and will require a trailer as long as a football field to move it to its destination in Central Washington. Portland-area heavy equipment mover Omega Morgan is partnering with the Washington State Patrol and Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office to move a windmill transformer that weighs nearly 1 million pounds from the town of Roosevelt to a wind farm in Goldendale. The transformer, weighing in at nearly 1 million pounds, was originally shipped on the cargo vessel Heino from South Korea into the Port of Longview, where it was loaded on a train and shipped to the Columbia River Gorge. The transformer is extremely heavy but not that long. To spread the weight out so it does’t damage roads or bridges, it is suspended from a trailer measuring 360 feet long and 21 feet high.

Time is fast running out on the Kolkata port, which has been grappling with disruptions ever since a bridge connecting the southwest of the city collapsed on 4 September. Because of restrictions imposed on movement of goods vehicles, cargo despatches have declined, and unless the police start to ease the flow of traffic, the port is staring at a container pile up, say key officials. In the immediate aftermath of the bridge collapse, container movement from the port fell sharply to around 900 a day compared with an average of around 1,700-2,000. Restrictions were imposed and goods vehicles were allowed to ply for only seven hours a day compared with 16 before the accident took place. Also, they were initially allowed to ply only at night, between 11pm and 6am. Restrictions have since been eased and goods vehicles are being allowed to ply for up to 10 hours at night and three hours during daytime, said a key official at the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), who asked not to be named. As a result, despatches are now down by only around 15%, or about 300 containers a day, but “this arrangement cannot be dragged out”, he said. The port and other related authorities, such as customs, are not geared to work 10 hours every night, he added. Source: Livemint

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - It's as much a sign of the changing seasons as the yellow leaves and bulky jackets: The last cruise ship of the year, in Anchorage, docked Monday morning and will leave about 10 p.m. the same night. The cruise industry as a whole is one of the bright economic spots in what has been a less-than-exciting past few years. "It is doing very, very well. The demand has stayed," Ralph Samuels, vice president of external relations for Holland America Line, said. According to the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation's 3-year outlook, growth in cruise passenger traffic this year and next will pump another $100 million into the Alaska economy, and push total summer visitor spending to well over $2 billion. Samuels calls this year a "record" and says next year will most likely be the same. "About 1.2 million, that will be a record year for cruise traffic this year," Samuels said, "next year will be probably 1.3 million. So it will be another record year." Samuels says that about 60 percent of the total traffic that arrives in Alaska gets here by ship. He says out of the other 40 percent, a quarter of those visitors have previously cruised to Alaska and have returned to the state on their own. "Alaska is a unique enough destination to be very different, but it is still affordable enough to go to," Samuels said.

Portuguese stevedoring unions are planning to stage a 24-hour strike on September 20, bringing the port operations in Leixoes and Lisbon to a halt. The strike period had started on September 10, and will last for a month, ending on October 8. However, the strike is only in force for the extra time periods except for the planned one-day stoppage planned for Thursday. Shipping companies are already feeling the impact and have announced measures. “This strike will unfortunately affect the normal activities in the ports of Leixoes and Lisbon, mainly vessel’s arrivals and departures

UAE-based port operator Gulftainer has signed a 50-year concession deal with the state of Delaware to operate and develop the Port of Wilmington. Under the agreement, which was signed by Gulftainer’s subsidiary GT USA, the company would invest will see an expected investment of up to USD 600 million in the port to upgrade and expand the terminal and to turn it into one of the largest facilities of its kind on the Eastern Seaboard. The investment includes USD 400 million on a new 1.2 million TEU container facility at DuPont’s former Edgemoor site, which was acquired by the Diamond State Port Corporation in 2016. Plans for the port also include development of all cargo terminal capabilities at the facility and enhancement of its overall productivity.

Bunker operations at the port of Hong Kong resumed Tuesday after being suspended over the weekend and Monday due to Typhoon Mangkhut, which made landfall on Sunday. The Hong Kong Observatory had removed all warnings related to the typhoon as of 12.05 am local time Tuesday (0405 GMT Monday).

Great South lock at Brunsbüttel out of service due to maintenance works fro 07.00 am until 15.45pm today on September 18, 2018

Kinder Morgan Inc reopened fuel terminals in South Carolina on Sunday after Tropical Storm Florence passed through the area, a spokeswoman said in a statement. “Kinder Morgan’s recovery and start up efforts have begun,” said spokeswoman Katherine Hill. The company is working with authorities to re-enter its facilities in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Monday. Additionally, construction activities at the Elba Island liquefied natural gas terminal are expected to resume on Monday, she said. Source: Reuters

Ferry KM FUNGKA PERMATA V on Sep 14 caught fire, burned out and sank in position 02 00S 123 22E south of Banggai island, east of Central Sulawesi, Banda sea, while en route from Baubau, southeast Sulawesi, to North Maluku island. 126 people including 11 crew were rescued, at least 10 died, 8 still missing. There’s a confusion as to total number of people on board – it is said, that there were 146 passengers and 12 crew, but only 91 passengers are listed in manifest.

On September 15, 2018, at approximately 2:45 a.m., Ferryland RCMP were called to a fishing vessel that was on fire. The vessel was docked at the Witless Bay Marina. Witless Bay Fire Department attended and extinguished the fire. The vessel was significantly damaged. There were no people in or near the boat. The Fire Commissioner's Office was contacted and attended the scene. The investigation is ongoing.

Portuguese stevedoring unions are planning to stage a 24-hour strike on September 20, bringing the port operations in Leixoes and Lisbon to a halt. The strike period had started on September 10, and will last for a month, ending on October 8. However, the strike is only in force for the extra time periods except for the planned one-day stoppage planned for Thursday. Shipping companies are already feeling the impact and have announced measures. “This strike will unfortunately affect the normal activities in the ports of Leixoes and Lisbon, mainly vessel’s arrivals and departures.

Great South lock at Brunsbüttel out of service due to maintenance works fro 07.00 am until 15.45pm today on September 19, 2018. Great North lock and both small locks are operational

The PORT OF KIEL is completely restructuring the access area to the Ostuferhafen and has begun the partial demolition of a former grain storage facility. The demolition along with the integration of adjacent areas will free up 2.8 hectares in the port access area on which expanded hard standing space can be created for trucks, trailers and cars. So far separated pre stowage sectors can now be combined outside the ISPS-zone. Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the PORT OF KIEL (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) said: “Cargo handling in the Ostuferhafen has increased in the last few years. The new access area will mean we can optimise logistics, accommodate the needs of forwarders for more space and handle more cruise shipping passengers.” A sum of €7.25 million overall is being invested in the project and funding from the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein has been applied for. The restructuring of the port access area involves the demolition of some 13,000 m² of warehousing as well as structural engineering, road works, drainage, lighting and the securing of the site. Access to the Ostuferhafen is guaranteed to remain unimpeded throughout the whole of the reconstruction period, which will last until the spring of next year.

The Port of Tacoma has announced: “With air quality returning to healthy levels, service at all terminals in Tacoma are expected to be up and running by 1 p.m.” Excerpts from a KING 5 article titled ‘Stay indoors: Air quality warning issued as Tacoma scrap fire burns’: An overnight fire at Simon Metals scrap yard in Tacoma weakened the surround air quality Monday morning, forcing the Port of Tacoma to put operations on hold. The fire began around 2 a.m. and by 10 a.m. air quality around downtown Tacoma fluctuated between moderate and unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Bunker operations at the port of Hong Kong was suspended Monday due to Typhoon Mangkhut, which made landfall on Sunday. While the Hong Kong Observatory has lowered the typhoon warning from strong winds signal T3 to standby signal T1 at 2:40 pm local time (0640 GMT), the wind was still strong, accompanied by high swells, market sources said. “We can deliver in-port location but terminal loadings are still suspended, and pilotage has not resumed,” a supplier said Monday. Terminal and barge congestion is expected when operations resume. “Loadings at the terminal will be jammed from Tuesday, barges are currently empty,” another supplier said, adding that operations were expected to resume on Tuesday. At 3 pm local time, Mangkhut was estimated to be about 720 km west-northwest of Hong Kong and was moving at about 20 kph, according to the observatory. It was expected to move across southern China and weaken gradually, it added. At the Asian close Friday, 380 CST bunker fuel for delivery at Hong Kong was assessed at $464/mt, down $3/mt from Thursday. Source: Platts