pandemic – Page 2 – Professional Mariner

22 Nov

Megayacht demand remains strong in North America despite virus impacts

Professional Mariner StaffAmerican Ship Review, ShipbuildingCOVID, COVID-19, megayachts, pandemic, shipbuilding, yachts

Twelve months ago, 2020 looked to be a banner year for megayachts. Sales were on the rise, clients were interested and yards were buzzing with projects. The 2019 fall boat shows, which informally kick off the yachting industry’s year, saw record attendance both in terms of exhibitors and visitors. The Marine Industries Association of South Florida reported that the 2019…

01 Oct

COVID actions testing relationship between MSC, civilian crews

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsCOVID, COVID-19, Navy, pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the planet in March, a “gangway up” order by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) restricted thousands of civilian mariners to U.S. Navy vessels around the world. Five months later, “civmars” are feeling stressed, neglected and chained to their jobs — if not actually physically confined — by a complexity of coronavirus-related circumstances. Meanwhile, their unions…

01 Oct

Six months into outbreak, cruise lines still repatriating crews by ship

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsCOVID, COVID-19, cruise, pandemic

Though the COVID-19 pandemic brought passenger travel to a halt for all major oceangoing cruise lines, many ships were still sailing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 crewmembers to their home countries in July, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). “What cruise lines have been doing is taking the ships around the world to repatriate crewmembers directly by (sea),”…

01 Oct

Academies get creative to provide sea-term training during pandemic

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsCOVID, COVID-19, Maine Maritime, pandemic, training

For Maine Maritime Academy engineering senior Edward Dennis, a pandemic-necessitated “sail” while docked wound up being more worthwhile than normal at-sea training. “There are fewer of us on board, so we’re getting a lot of one-on-one time,” said Dennis, who trained dockside for a month over the summer aboard the academy’s State of Maine. “We’re really getting more hands-on training…

01 Oct

Faster, safer, cheaper: Drones taking flight for ship inspections

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsCOVID-19, drones, pandemic, surveying, technology

Drones are everywhere these days, from far-flung battlefields to family events. Where they haven’t gone, until recently, is into the confined hull spaces of ships. There, using tools that haven’t changed much in the past century, skilled professionals have been putting themselves at risk — sometimes amid toxic fumes or inadequate oxygen — to seek signs of metal fatigue, corrosion,…