28 Feb

Six men evacuated from bulker die when their rescue copter crashes in the Bering Sea

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

Six crew from the Malaysian-flagged bulk carrier Selendang Ayu are missing and presumed dead after a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, which was rescuing them after their ship foundered on a shoal off Unalaska Island, Alaska, crashed into the Bering Sea on Dec. 8. Selendang Ayu lies in two pieces after running aground and breaking apart off the Aleutian Island of…

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28 Feb

Crewman dies after OSV collideswith Tanker

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating an April 28 collision between the oil tanker Genmar Strength and the offshore supply vessel René I, which resulted in the death of one of the OSV's crew. The bow of René I remains visible in the Sabine-Neches Ship Channel near the juncture with the Gulf of Mexico.    Image Credit: Courtesy U.S. Coast…

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27 Feb

DP taking on a larger role in response to the oil industry

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing

The search for oil and gas has been a driving force in the development of dynamic positioning systems. Drill rigs, for obvious reasons, must maintain a fixed position above the ocean floor. As rigs moved off the continental shelf into water too deep for jack-up rigs or where conventional mooring or anchoring systems were not feasible, computer controlled DP systems…

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27 Feb

Call of the sea brings retired executive back to his first love

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

In 1965 my June graduation from the New York Maritime College was followed by an August wedding to my high school sweetheart. After one of my around-the-world voyages that lasted almost six months, my bride suggested, "Why don't you think about getting a legitimate job?" I had never suspected that sailing on ships in the merchant marine wasn't, but for…

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27 Feb

Helicopters rescue 23 crewmen but salvage team member dies

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

The entire 23-man crew of the listing 55,328-gross-ton vehicle carrier Cougar Ace was rescued on July 24. However, a member of a salvage team put aboard to conduct an inspection of the listing ship was killed in a fall. Marty Johnson, 40, a Titan employee from Issaquah, Wash., died after he slipped on the deck and hit his head. He…

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27 Feb

History of liner SS United States to be told in documentary film

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

To former merchant mariner Nicholas Landiak, it's obvious why "Big U" is considered the greatest ocean liner ever built. Landiak had been accustomed to working aboard World War II-era freighters when, in 1952, he was named first engineer of the new SS United States. The 990-foot ship was the largest passenger vessel ever built in the United States. At 241,000…

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27 Feb

Southern California ports launch ambitious drive to cut air emissions

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News

Harbor craft and oceangoing vessels will soon run cleaner at America's two biggest ports. The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have agreed on a joint five-year program to reduce smog in Southern California. The San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan will require ships, trucks, trains and cargo handlers to reduce diesel emissions, and…

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27 Feb

Boston pilot becomes third to die in fall from ladder during 2006

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

A veteran Boston pilot fell to his death on Oct. 24 while climbing a pilot's ladder as he tried to board the 46,000-gt bulk carrier Baldock, moored at the Eastern Minerals Terminal at Chelsea, Mass. Robert G. Cordes, who had been a full pilot with the Boston Pilots Association since 1976, was climbing the rope ladder, with wooden steps, when…

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27 Feb

World’s largest containership enters service

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

"Very large" was the understated description A.P. Moller-Maersk Group provided of its newest containership when it was delivered on Sept. 1, 2006, at the company's Odense Steel Shipyard in Denmark. Emma Maersk is 1,303 feet long. Its beam of 184 feet allows it to stow 22 rows of containers across, four rows more than the next largest ship in service.…

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27 Feb

Decision to expand Panama Canal locks should benefit East and Gulf Coast ports

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News

The decision to expand the 92-year-old Panama Canal should provide a major boost to East Coast and Gulf ports, even those that cannot handle post-Panamax vessels. By building locks capable of handling much larger ships, and widening and straightening channels, the Panama Canal Authority will dramatically increase the canal's capacity and allow the transit of vessels up to 1,200 feet…

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