Buttigieg announces more than $241 million in grants for US ports

Buttigieg announces more than $241 million in grants for US ports

(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday announced the award of more than $241 million in discretionary grant funding for 25 projects to improve port facilities in 19 states and one territory through the Maritime Administration’s (MarAd) Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP). These grants demonstrate rapid action on commitments in the Biden-Harris Port Action Plan,…
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Buttigieg to IMO: ‘Very long way to go’ to achieve gender equity at sea

Buttigieg to IMO: ‘Very long way to go’ to achieve gender equity at sea

The following is text of an address by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) General Assembly on Dec. 6: As countries come together for the assembly of the International Maritime Organization, I want to echo the U.S. statement delivered eloquently by Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. The IMO has been central…
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Port NOLA takes delivery of four new post-Panamax gantry cranes

Port NOLA takes delivery of four new post-Panamax gantry cranes

(NEW ORLEANS) — Four new 100-foot-gauge container gantry cranes have arrived at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal at the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA), the culmination of a 15,643-nautical-mile journey from Shanghai, China. The $112 million investment, which included $49 million for the construction and delivery of the cranes, and $63 million to modernize the wharf and extend the…
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Kirby to pay $15.3 million for damages resulting from Houston Ship Channel spill

Kirby to pay $15.3 million for damages resulting from Houston Ship Channel spill

(WASHINGTON) — Houston-based Kirby Inland Marine LP has agreed to pay $15.3 million in damages and assessment costs under the Oil Pollution Act to resolve federal and state claims for injuries to natural resources resulting from an oil spill from a Kirby barge, after a collision Kirby caused. The United States and Texas concurrently filed a civil complaint along with…
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World’s first methanol-fueled towboat to launch in 2023

World’s first methanol-fueled towboat to launch in 2023

(SEATTLE) — Maritime Partners, in cooperation with Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG), e1 Marine and ABB, has announced that M/V Hydrogen One, the world’s first methanol-fueled towboat, will join Maritime Partners’ fleet and become available for charter in 2023 to meet the pressing demand for sustainable towboat operations. Decarbonizing the towboat sector poses substantial challenges, particularly due to towboats’ inherent…
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Great Lakes Dredge signs $92 million contract for Houston Ship Channel widening

Great Lakes Dredge signs $92 million contract for Houston Ship Channel widening

(HOUSTON) — Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. has signed a $92.5 million dredging contract for Houston Ship Channel Widening and Improvement Project 11. This is the first phase of the billion-dollar expansion and deepening program. Dredging is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2022, with estimated completion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Project 11 is an…
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Mate misjudged speed of tow before hitting swing bridge, NTSB says

Mate misjudged speed of tow before hitting swing bridge, NTSB says

(WASHINGTON) — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued Marine Accident Brief 21/23 for its investigation of the Nov. 14, 2020, accident involving the towing vessel Island Lookout and the Centerville Turnpike Bridge near Chesapeake, Va. Island Lookout was transiting eastbound with a crew of four on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, pushing the 295-foot-long barge BH 2903, which…
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AMP applauds ‘critical maritime investments’ in infrastructure bill

AMP applauds ‘critical maritime investments’ in infrastructure bill

(WASHINGTON) — The American Maritime Partnership (AMP) released the following statement Tuesday on President Joe Biden’s signing of the bipartisan transportation infrastructure bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month and was approved by the U.S. Senate in August: “We applaud Congress and President Biden for passing a bipartisan transportation infrastructure bill that invests in our nation’s…
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Maritime stakeholders await boost from infrastructure bill

Maritime stakeholders await boost from infrastructure bill

(WASHINGTON) — Late Friday, just before midnight, the House of Representatives approved the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The House effectively passed the same bill approved by the U.S. Senate on Aug. 10 unamended. Key to the bill's passage was the "de-linking" of the IIJA from a separate, $1.9 trillion social spending bill. Moderates prevailed as House…
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