Tag Archives: coast guard

Okaloosa County Sets Tentative Date for SS United States Project

Posted on by
Reply

Okaloosa County Sets Tentative Date for SS United States Project

Okaloosa County officials are planning to sink the SS United States this April, according to a report by Fox10 News.

Set to become the world’s largest artificial reef, the former ocean liner will be sunk 22 miles west of Destin-Fort Walton Beach.

Acquired by Okaloosa in 2023, the 1952-built vessel is currently being prepared for the operation in Mobile.

The process included remediation and decontamination of all of the ship’s interior areas and outside decks.

Carried out by Coleen Marine, the project also saw the removal of the ship’s two funnels, as well as its main mast, which will be used in a future land-based museum.

According to Fox10 News, Okaloosa County has already removed all the oil and fuel that were still onboard the vessel.

“She had 200 tanks onboard, so all that fuel and oil had to be removed. What they do in that process is suck it out of there and take it to an environmentally safe area,” Nick Tomacek, Okaloosa County Public Information Officer, was quoted as saying.

Contractors removed other hazardous materials as well, including non-metal parts, ensuring the deployment is clean and not harmful to the environment it aims to benefit.

Other modifications were also made to ensure that the vessel will land upright underwater following the assisted sinking operation.

He added that final Coast Guard inspections are set to start soon, with the exact deployment date dependent on weather conditions.

“While some folks did not want to see her sink, this is the next phase of the SS United States’ life, and she’s going to be enjoyed by divers, anglers and enthusiasts for years to come,” Tomacek said.

Okaloosa County also plans to livestream the reefing event on the Destin-Fort Walton Beach YouTube channel.

Out of service since 1969, the SS United States spent most of the last three decades docked at a commercial dock in Philadelphia.

Port Canaveral CEO Supports Executive Order for Cybersecurity Regulations

Posted on by
Reply

Following a new executive order to create cybersecurity regulations for U.S. Ports issued by the Biden administration, Capt. John Murray, the CEO of Port Canaveral expressed his support for the measures, according to a press release.

On Wednesday, Feb. 21., the Biden administration issued multiple cybersecurity directives aimed at shoring up vulnerabilities at US maritime ports that could be exploited by hackers and addressing security risks from Chinese-made cranes, according to CNN.

This new executive order will require U.S. ships and port facilities to report cyberattacks while giving the Coast Guard greater authority to inspect or control ships that present a known or suspected cyber threat.

In addition, the Coast Guard will impose new cybersecurity requirements on the operators of the Chinese-made cranes to mitigate the risk they pose, according to Rear Adm. John Vann, head of the Coast Guard Cyber Command.

Murray hailed the decision and said: “Maritime cybersecurity requires constant and consistent efforts for ports.

“Port Canaveral teams have worked closely with the Coast Guard to ensure our IT and port security practices align with state and federal directives. All measures and protections aimed at securing our port community are welcomed.”

Zero Emissions Target: First LNG Cruise Ship to the U.S.

Posted on by
Reply
Mardi Gras

Anticipating the first LNG-fueled cruise ship to sail out of a U.S. port, Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras, Tom Strang, senior vice president of maritime affairs for Carnival Corporation, told Cruise Industry News that the company has worked closely with Port Canaveral, the LNG supplier, the Coast Guard and other stakeholders, paving the way.

“There were little formal rules existing on ship-to-ship bunkering,” he explained, “so together with Shell and Port Canaveral, we have agreed to follow the standardized processes we developed for our bunkering operations in Europe, in Tenerife and Barcelona. Our LNG ships pretty much share the same technical platform enabling us to follow the same processes and procedures.”

Strang noted that crew and officers have been trained in the bunkering operation at CSMART where Carnival built a full-scale mock-up bunkering rig.

In addition, an engineering simulator was built for training purposes, and pilots also travelled to CSMART to learn how the ship will handle.

Explained Strang: “With LNG, the rate of loading of the engines is slightly slower with a gaseous fuel than with conventional fuel, but working with the engine manufacturer, the shipyard and Valmet’s automation engineers, we have been able to negate any major issues.

“Also, if there is an emergency and full power is needed immediately, the engines will switch over to diesel and you get an immediate response.”

In addition, some MGO has to be burnt routinely to keep it moving through the tanks, he added. It is also used as a pilot fuel for the LNG.

Bunkering by barge in Port Canaveral, the process for the Mardi Gras will take about six to eight hours, according to Strang. That is longer than conventional bunkering, and the goal is to find ways to speed up the process, while obviously maintaining safety, he noted.

LNG will take Carnival all the way to IMO’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target as far as the newbuilds are concerned. “We have 21 new ships on order,” Strang said, “and 10 of them are LNG, after the AIDAnova, which entered service late last year.

“The percentage of the fleet with LNG will be high. Later we will also see how we can continue to reduce our carbon emissions by potentially introducing biogas or synthetic gas into the supply chain.”