Professional Mariner Staff – Page 3

11 Apr

Great Lakes group honors Sen. Stabenow for maritime efforts

Professional Mariner StaffIndustry NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Ports, shipping

(WASHINGTON) — The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) on Wednesday recognized the significant contributions U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has made throughout her congressional career protecting the Great Lakes Navigation System and supporting American jobs with investment in U.S.-flagged Great Lakes shipping. Stabenow, who co-chairs the bipartisan Senate Great Lakes Task Force, has been the driving force behind the…

09 Apr

Chesapeake to build two more Project Blue ships for ACL

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newsshipbuilding

(GUILFORD, Conn.) — American Cruise Lines (ACL) will be adding two more new small ships in 2025, American Patriot and American Pioneer. These 125-passenger sister ships represent the fifth and sixth ships in the company’s Project Blue series of 12 new small ships for the U.S. market. The ships will be built at the company’s affiliated shipyard, Chesapeake Shipbuilding in…

09 Apr

Gladding-Hearn delivers refitted launch to Boston Pilots

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsPilots, shipbuilding

(SOMERSET, Mass.) — Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corp., has delivered the first of the Boston Pilots’ two Chesapeake-class pilot boats undergoing a comprehensive refit. “The vessels are well used and well maintained. Only minor structural repairs were necessary so definitely worthy of refitting,” said Peter Duclos, the shipyard’s co-president. Along with installing new shafts and Brunton propellers, the 53-foot all-aluminum pilot…

08 Apr

Key Bridge update: Salvors removing containers from Dali

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newscasualties, Ports, U.S. Coast Guard

(BALTIMORE) — The Unified Command began to remove containers aboard M/V Dali at the Francis Scott Key Bridge incident site on Sunday. The ship struck the bridge on March 26, causing it to collapse. Salvors are removing containers from Dali as part of the effort to gain access to the portion of the Key Bridge that lies atop the ship.…

08 Apr

ACL acquires American Queen Voyages river fleet

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newsbrownwater

(GUILFORD, Conn.) — American Cruise Lines (ACL) has purchased four American Queen Voyages riverboats plus other assets, according to a bankruptcy court filing reported by Cruise Industry News. “American Cruise Lines is pleased to be the successful bidder for AQV’s river vessels. We look forward to announcing additional details after this portion of the Hornblower Holdings bankruptcy process concludes,” the…

08 Apr

Coast Guard reports increase in ship detentions in 2023

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsPort state control, U.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) — In 2023, a total of 10,959 individual vessels, from 80 different flag administrations, made 81,854 port calls to the United States, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. In all, 8,278 port state control (PSC) exams were conducted. These exam numbers decreased over the 2022 total of 8,706. The total number of ships detained in 2023 for environmental protection,…

04 Apr

Metal Shark launches new unmanned surface vehicles

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsAutonomous vessels, shipbuilding

(JEANERETTE, La.) — Louisiana-based boatbuilder Metal Shark has announced the debut of Prowler, a versatile military craft combining multiple unique technologies to meet the current and near future warfighting requirements of the U.S. military and its allies. The company is also debuting Frenzy, a high-performance, low-cost, amphibious micro unmanned surface vehicle (USV) with a payload-carrying capacity of up to 14…

03 Apr

Key Bridge update: Second alternate channel established

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newscasualties, Ports, Salvage, U.S. Coast Guard

(BALTIMORE) — The captain of the port (COTP) on Tuesday established a second temporary alternate channel on the southwest side of the main channel near Hawkins Point in the vicinity of the Francis Scott Key Bridge for commercially essential vessels. The bridge collapsed March 26 after being hit by the containership Dali. This action is part of a phased approach…

03 Apr

Barge strike temporarily shuts down Arkansas River bridge

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Uncategorizedbrownwater, Tugboats and towing, U.S. Coast Guard

(SALLISAW, Okla.) — The Arkansas River bridge near U.S. Highway 59 and the Robert S. Kerr Lock and Dam was temporarily shut down Saturday after a barge struck it, 2 News Oklahoma reported. The bridge is located south of Sallisaw near the Sequoyah/LeFlore County line. Jonathan Teague, director of Sequoyah County Emergency Management, said officials are still determining what caused…

03 Apr

Iron ore shipments surge on Great Lakes in March

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Ports, shipping

(CLEVELAND) — Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 1.6 million tons in March, an increase of 25.5 percent compared to 2023. Loadings also topped the month’s five-year average by 47.5 percent. Year to date, the iron ore trade stands at 4.4 million tons, an increase of 16.8 percent compared to a year ago. Iron ore shipments are…