Maritime News – Page 9 – Professional Mariner

Congress passes law targeting shipping fees, port congestion

President Joe Biden has signed a bipartisan law aimed at addressing port congestion, skyrocketing overseas shipping costs and other issues amplified during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) updates shipping regulations last modified in 1998. The law gives the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) new oversight and enforcement tools to target unfair shipping practices or pricing. “There…

Women take the helm at U.S. Coast Guard, Maritime Administration

The U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd) are both under new leadership. President Joe Biden instated Adm. Linda Fagan as Coast Guard commandant during a change-of-command ceremony on June 1 in Washington. About three weeks earlier, the U.S. Senate confirmed retired Navy Rear Adm. Ann Phillips as MarAd administrator. Fagan is the first woman to lead any…

Report: Offshore wind towers interfere with marine radar

Maritime vessel operators need to be aware of new and heightened concerns about how offshore wind (OSW) towers can interfere with and degrade radar systems. Mariners can be impacted on at least two fronts, one being interference with marine vessel radar. According to a report released earlier this year by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), wind towers undercut…

Foss tugboat crews rescue man floating on the Columbia River

Crews aboard the Foss Maritime tugboats Betsy L. and P.J. Brix were preparing a barge tow on the Columbia River, just up from the Bonneville Dam, when someone on board spotted what they thought was unusual debris floating downriver. Capt. Eric Braden aboard the towboat P.J. Brix and his counterpart Capt. Dane Howard on Betsy L. initially thought it…

Key actors in Coast Guard test-fixing scheme plead guilty

Two former U.S. Coast Guard employees have pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in a test-score-fixing scheme in Louisiana, and charges against another former employee have been upgraded. Dorothy Smith and Beverly McCrary pleaded guilty on Feb. 24 before Judge Barry Ashe to conspiracy to defraud the United States, U.S. Attorney Duane Evans announced in New Orleans this spring. The maximum…

Buono retiring from USMMA amid ongoing Sea Year challenges

Vice Adm. Jack Buono, superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) for the last three-and-a-half years, has announced his retirement after a maritime career spanning more than 45 years. Buono, 66, is a Brooklyn, N.Y., native and 1978 graduate of the academy located in Kings Point, N.Y. He will formally step down after the June graduation ceremony. The U.S.…

Coast Guard urged to let mariners work while awaiting MMC

The Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) is pressing the U.S. Coast Guard to once again allow entry-level mariners to work on a provisional basis while waiting for their merchant mariner credential (MMC). The service previously allowed such a practice between 1936 and 1992. OMSA, a nonprofit trade group based in New Orleans, wants the Coast Guard to reinstate the Temporary…

New federal funding promises boost for Marine Highway Program

Automotive traffic enters the ferry in Cape May, N.J., and exits in Lewes, Del., making a water journey across Delaware Bay. But in one sense, it hasn’t left Route 9. A new round of federal funding is expected to improve this intermodal movement across America’s marine highways and promote waterborne transport as an alternative to roadway congestion. Nine marine highway…

Microplastic filters turn ships into ‘vacuum cleaners of the sea’

wo European companies have developed a new process that uses oceangoing ships to remove microplastics from the ocean. Wartsila and the Grimaldi Group developed the system, which filters microplastics out of shipboard exhaust water. The filter pairs with existing seawater scrubbers on ships, and it can be placed on either the supply or return side of the seawater stream, according…

New Sandy Hook Pilots station boat enters service in New York

The Sandy Hook Pilots Association has put its new station boat into service at the entrance to New York Harbor. The 208-foot New York is larger and has an improved seakeeping ability than the 137-foot New Jersey and its predecessor, the 182-foot New York. It has a fully staffed mess, pilot lounge and berthing for 28 pilots in 14 staterooms. …