蓼食う虫も好き好き

U.S. Transportation Secretary Wants to Rebuild USMMA   In a visit to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pledged to help find the resources needed to restore the institution’s infrastructure – an investment that DOT has not prioritized before.  “You don’t deserve to have an academy that’s dilapidated,” Duffy told…

New Spill Spotted Near Kerch Strait Tanker Wrecks   A new fuel slick has been spotted on the surface near the Kerch Strait, the Russian-controlled waterway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, according to a Russian environmental scientist. The pollution is near the site where two aging tankers broke up and sank…

U.S. Backs Diego Garcia Deal for 99 Years of Rent-Free Access   A deal appears to be in the last stages of negotiation between Mauritius and the UK over the continued use of Diego Garcia, a key base for U.S. naval and air operations in the Middle East and Africa.  This follows President Trump’s approval…

Study: Scrubbers Have Less Environmental Impact Than Low-Sulfur Fuel   Since the introduction of a global sulfur cap in marine fuel oil by IMO (International Maritime Organization) in 2020, there has been uncertainty on the environmental impacts of scrubbers for vessels using heavy fuel oil (HFO). But a new study released last week claims that the environmental impacts…

Iran Has Thousands of Ballistic Missiles. Here’s Where They Are.   The deployment of B-2 Spirit strategic stealth bombers and KC-135 refueling aircraft to Diego Garcia, plus the dispatch of the USS Carl Vinson to make up a second Carrier Strike Group in the region, make up only part of a well-publicized reinforcement of US…

CSSC Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Delivers Final CMA CGM Container Ship [By: Bureau Veritas] Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV) has successfully delivered the CMA CGM TIGA, the last of ten 5500TEU container ships built for CMA CGM at CSSC Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding. This marks the completion of a major project for which BV provided classification services…

Vard Signs a New Contract with Dong Fang Offshore for a Subsea Vessel [By: Fincantieri] Vard, the Norwegian subsidiary of the Fincantieri Group and one of the major global designers and shipbuilders of specialized vessels, has signed a new contract for the design and construction of one offshore subsea construction vessel with Dong Fang Offshore (DFO), a leading provider of…

Work Starts on the First “Fremm Evo” Unit for the Italian Navy [By: Fincantieri] Fincantieri has started construction on the Italian Navy’s first of two next-generation FREMM frigates, known as the “EVOLUTION” version or FREMM EVO.  The milestone was marked with a steel-cutting ceremony held at the Riva Trigoso (Genoa) shipyard.  The construction contract for…

Cruise Passenger Charged with Assault After “Barefoot Dancing” Incident   In recent years there have been many reports of passengers acting badly and even a few brawls aboard cruise ships. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and lawyers are confirming the CEO of a California-based title insurance company was charged in San Juan,…

Shipbuilding Orders Rebound as South Korea Looks to Benefits from U.S. Fees South Korea’s shipbuilding industry is highlighting a rebound in orders in March after a slow start to the year. It comes as the industry looks for ways to benefit from the proposed U.S. fees on Chinese-built ships. To combat the growing Chinese domination…

USACE, Eastern Shipbuilding, Royal IHC Start Construction of New Dredge   The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers joined contractors Eastern Shipbuilding Group and Royal IHC on April 4, 2025, in Panama City, FL for a steel cutting ceremony, kicking off construction of a Medium Class Hopper Dredge (MCHD) to replace the Dredge McFARLAND of the…

St. Johns Ship Building Receives Two New Contracts Valued at Over $17M [By St. Johns Ship Building] St. Johns Ship Building, a Palatka, Florida-based Jones Act facility, today announced the award of two new contracts totaling approximately $17 million in value. The projects include the construction of a state-of-the-art Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) and two…

New Zealand Court of Inquiry Identifies Training in Loss of Survey Vessel The Royal New Zealand Navy released the final results of its Court of Inquiry into the shocking October 2023 loss of its survey vessel HMNZS Manawanui, the first vessel lost by the Navy since World War II. While the preliminary report released in…