MarEx Newsletter - December 28, 2007

December 28, 2007 | Vol. 5, No. 52 In this issue: New Year's Resolutions From the MarEx Managing Editor President Bush Signs Marine Highway Legislation Long Island Sound Pilots Inch Closer to Long-Awaited Rate Increase Cosco Busan Pilot Voluntarily Deposits License South Korean Oil Spill 20 Percent Worse Long-range identification and tracking of ships - SOLAS amendment enters into force on 1 January 2008 NOAA and VT Halter Marine Launch Third Fisheries Survey Vessel TWIC/MTSA Policy Advisory Council to Provide Additional Guidance to Address MTSA & TWIC Issues Experts to Discuss Turning Vessel Operations "Green" The Government of Canada Assists Georgian College to Build World-Class Marine Simulator and Research Centre AAPA Hails Milestone in Funding for Port Security IBIA Advises Members of Changes to EU Distillate Sulphur Limits SAFETY ALERT HMRMS 04-07 -- Navigation in Restricted Visibility Justice Department Will Not Appeal Stolt-Nielsen Decision Northern Lights' 50th Anniversary New Year's Resolutions From the MarEx Managing Editor Future of MarEx Managing Editor to hinge on status of Bay State legislation in 2008. Read More>>>Back to Top President Bush Signs Marine Highway Legislation The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 contains provisions establishing a formal marine highway program within the federal government. Read More>>>Back to Top Long Island Sound Pilots Inch Closer to Long-Awaited Rate Increase Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) Pilots could achieve first pay increase in 25 years in January 2008; temporary fuel surcharge also expected to be extended. Read More>>>Back to Top Cosco Busan Pilot Voluntarily Deposits License The Coast Guard requested Cota deposit his federal license with the Coast Guard because the service believes he is not physically competent to maintain it. Read More>>>Back to Top South Korean Oil Spill 20 Percent Worse A probe by the Marine Accidents Inquiry Agency last week found that 12,547 kiloliters, not 10,500 kiloliters as originally estimated, were spilled by the Hebei Spirit on December 7. Read More>>>Back to Top Long-range identification and tracking of ships - SOLAS amendment enters into force on 1 January 2008 International Maritime Organization (IMO) press briefing. Read More>>>Back to Top NOAA and VT Halter Marine Launch Third Fisheries Survey Vessel Ship to be Homeported in Pascagoula, Miss; a new NOAA fisheries survey vessel, launched in Mississippi, will be able to study fish quietly without altering their behavior. Read More>>>Back to Top TWIC/MTSA Policy Advisory Council to Provide Additional Guidance to Address MTSA & TWIC Issues First two decisions by LT Fasceski of the Security Standards Branch of the Cargo and Facilities Division have been posted on Homeport. Read More>>>Back to Top Experts to Discuss Turning Vessel Operations "Green" PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2008 will host a panel of government and industry experts to discuss turning a passenger vessel business into a green business. Read More>>>Back to Top The Government of Canada Assists Georgian College to Build World-Class Marine Simulator and Research Centre Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities announces transfer of marine navigation and marine engine room propulsion plant simulators from the Government of Canada to the Province of Ontario, along with federal funding of $1,435,000 for the province to modernize these simulators. Read More>>>Back to Top AAPA Hails Milestone in Funding for Port Security FY 2008 Appropriations Bill Also Funds TWIC Card Reader Pilot Projects. Read More>>>Back to Top IBIA Advises Members of Changes to EU Distillate Sulphur Limits The 0.2 per cent sulphur limit on distillate fuel consumed by ships applies only to marine gas oils used in EU territory with a viscosity or density falling within the ranges defined for DMX and DMA grades under ISO 8217. Read More>>>Back to Top SAFETY ALERT HMRMS 04-07 -- Navigation in Restricted Visibility A USCG Safety Alert and Report developed by the Investigations Office, United States Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads. Read More>>>Back to Top Justice Department Will Not Appeal Stolt-Nielsen Decision While the Division is disappointed with the ruling, it respects the role of the court in making the factual determinations that support the decision. Read More>>>Back to Top Northern Lights' 50th Anniversary Northern Lights, a global leader in the manufacturing of marine diesel generator sets, Lugger propulsion engines and land-based diesel generators, will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2008. Read More>>>Back to Top Copyright © 2007 The Maritime Executive. 3200 S. Andrews Avenue, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 To Unsubscribe, click here.

MarEx Newsletter - December 20, 2007

December 20, 2007 | Vol. 5, No. 51 In this issue: Season's Greetings & a Holiday Message From MarEx HELPING ONE OF OURS The MarEx Mind Reader: All I Want for Christmas is . . . North and South Korea Fail to Agree on Maritime Border MarEx Readers Respond to Last Week's OPED Piece, "Perfect Visibility: Marine Pilots Receive Renewed Scrutiny" Second Largest Norwegian Oil Spill U.S. Coast Guard Provides Details of M/V BARKALD and S/V ESSENCE Collision Sinking Chemical Tanker Raised in China Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Oil Spills From Non-Tank Vessels Worst South Korean Oil Spill Update National Transportation Safety Board to Release EMPRESS OF THE NORTH Report Tanker Company Fined $4.9 Million for Falsifying Records and Obstruction of Justice Coast Guard Holds Media Roundtable Discussions With Acquisition Directorate in Washington Containerized Cargo at Port Everglades Tops 6 Million Tons for First Time Maritime Dinner Program Season's Greetings & a Holiday Message From MarEx Some final thoughts and good cheer as we head into the holiday break. Read More>>>Back to Top HELPING ONE OF OURS Rosie, the daughter of Blanckenburg,a friend of the maritime community in San Francisco, was recently gravely injured and needs our help. Please read. Read More>>>Back to Top The MarEx Mind Reader: All I Want for Christmas is . . . The (likely) holiday wish list(s) of Maritime Executive readers. Read More>>>Back to Top North and South Korea Fail to Agree on Maritime Border The long dispute over the Northern Limit Line (NLL) sea border between the Koreas remains unresolved after a three-day-long meeting between generals from each country. Read More>>>Back to Top MarEx Readers Respond to Last Week's OPED Piece, "Perfect Visibility: Marine Pilots Receive Renewed Scrutiny" This week's mailbag is heavy; MarEx readers sound off in large numbers. Read More>>>Back to Top Second Largest Norwegian Oil Spill About 25,000 barrels of crude were discharged into the North Sea last week; the spill occurred while a tanker was taking on oil from a loading buoy in the Statfjord offshore oil field in Norway. Read More>>>Back to Top U.S. Coast Guard Provides Details of M/V BARKALD and S/V ESSENCE Collision Collision in Long Island Sound between bulker and sailing vessel resulted in one death in September of 2006; Coast Guard investigation blames failures in procedures aboard both vessels. Read More>>>Back to Top Sinking Chemical Tanker Raised in China The vessel, carrying 609 tons of liquid caustic soda, that began sinking last Friday in China's Yangtze River was successfully raised on Monday. Read More>>>Back to Top Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Oil Spills From Non-Tank Vessels December 18 meeting of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries & Coast Guard of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation stems largely from the aftermath of the Cosco Busan spill in San Francisco Bay. Read More>>>Back to Top Worst South Korean Oil Spill Update Cleanup of the 10,500 tons of oil spilled in South Korea when a Hong Kong-registered tanker collided with a barge continues; the spill is the largest in the country's history. Read More>>>Back to Top National Transportation Safety Board to Release EMPRESS OF THE NORTH Report NTSB to release factual reports on Empress of the North cruise ship accident; no interviews will be conducted. Read More>>>Back to Top Tanker Company Fined $4.9 Million for Falsifying Records and Obstruction of Justice United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut Press Release provides details of falsification of records to conceal the overboard dumping of waste oil from the M/T Kriton into international waters and its efforts to impede the investigation of the U.S. Coast Guard. Read More>>>Back to Top Coast Guard Holds Media Roundtable Discussions With Acquisition Directorate in Washington RADM Gary T. Bore asserts that Coast Guard Acquisition performance "a year down the road" has yielded substantial improvements in its processes, especially where Deepwater is concerned. Read More>>>Back to Top Containerized Cargo at Port Everglades Tops 6 Million Tons for First Time Containerized cargo surpassed six-million tons for the first time ever, according to the South Florida seaport's newly released waterborne commerce statistics for Fiscal Year 2007. Read More>>>Back to Top Maritime Dinner Program The Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Foundation has joined with the Northeast Coast Branch of the Nautical Institute for a special Maritime Dinner Program. Read More>>>Back to Top Copyright © 2007 The Maritime Executive. 3200 S. Andrews Avenue, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 To Unsubscribe, click here.