Officials are investigating how two cargo vessels came to collide in the Welland Canal on Saturday during what should have been a routine manoeuvre. Two vessels collided while transiting Canada’s Welland Canal, in opposite directions last Saturday. In the incident, the Florence Spirit, an 8,935 dwt, McKeil Marine operated, Canadian-flag, general cargo ship collided with the 12,744 dwt general cargo ship Alanis, operated by German based Rambow Reederei and flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda.  The incident was captured on video.

Cryopeak LNG Solutions Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Island Tug & Barge Ltd. to deliver LNG bunkering services in southwest British Columbia. Cryopeak and ITB have developed a design for a 4,000 cu.m articulated tug and barge that is planned to be in operation in 2023. A key feature of the solution is that it will leverage one of ITB existing tugs designed and built in Vancouver to deliver LNG as a fuel to shipping companies calling to ports on the West Coast.

The Canadian Lifeboat Institution will be holding its “Lifeboat Day” open house at the main Ladner Warf on Saturday, 18th July 2020 from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Both the Delta Lifeboat and the Fraser Lifeboat will be alongside – however owing to the pandemic, viewing will be from the wharf only as social distancing will be observed. The public is invited to come, visit and support this important community volunteer service that has a working agreement with the City of Delta to assist Police, Fire and Ambulance when needed, as well as the regular search and rescue duties.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has extended its no-sail order for all cruise ships through to the end of September, in a bid to contain the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus. The CDC’s initial order was issued on March 14 and was subsequently extended to July 24, with the current extension taking the number of days cruise operators will have paused operations to 200.

Backing shipping lines and terminal operators, the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles is asking state and regional regulators to re-examine business and environmental regulations they claimed are costing West Coast ports container volume. They are not seeking to roll back the nation’s strictest environmental regulations, but they are asking regulators to balance clean-air goals and their impact on the cost of moving cargo through West Coast ports. The ports intend to do their part by reducing cargo-handling costs through efficiency measures. Ports will also push for a more equitable formula for distribution of the revenues generated by the harbor maintenance tax on imports. The tax is structured to favor smaller ports with large dredging needs.

Crews have extinguished all known fires aboard US Navy warship, The Bonhomme Richard, that burned for four days at its mooring in San Diego. The fire prompted an evacuation and lead to 40 sailors and 23 civilians seeking aid for minor injuries. The Bonhomme Richard is an amphibious assault vessel commissioned in 1998 which has participated in several military operations and appeared in a Hollywood films. The vessel was undergoing routine maintenance at the time and had about 160 sailors aboard, though it normally carries a crew of roughly 1,000. The ship sustained severe damage and the future viability of the vessel will be determined through a formal investigation.

Carnival Corporation’s Holland America Line cruise brand has announced that Amsterdam, Maasdam, Rotterdam and Veendam will be leaving the fleet and transferring to undisclosed buyers. The ships that have been regular callers in British Columbia have been sold in pairs, with the S-Class Maasdam and Veendam transferring to one company in August 2020, while the R-Class Amsterdam and Rotterdam will move to another company in fall 2020. Carnival Corp has announced plans to resume operations in phases, which would allow them to operate with a smaller fleet on its return. Holland America Line will cancel cruises for the four ships’ deployments, with some select itineraries being assumed by other ships in the fleet.

A New Zealand court has fined a Tauranga-based stevedoring company over $150,000 after a 15-tonne excavator was dropped from a ship’s crane nearly killing five workers due to inadequate training. The incident happened at Northport deep-water in Whangarei, New Zealand when the log carrier, Aster K, was being loaded on 16 July 2017.

ITS has released a new statement reiterating the importance of addressing the crew change crisis. While there has been some positive movement, the progress by many governments to bring in the practical exemptions and protocols needed to support functioning crew changes across the world has been much too slow. There remain hundreds of thousands of seafarers unable to stop working and return home, relieved by fresh crew. While a shortage of international flights is a major factor, the biggest reason remains border and travel restrictions introduced by governments to combat the spread of Covid-19. The ICS has estimated that at least 400,000 seafarers are now affected by the crew change crisis caused by government Covid-19 border and travel restrictions. This includes both those trapped working aboard ships and those waiting to join ships to start receiving wages again for themselves and their families. The statement comes as more than a dozen countries with crucial global shipping hubs agreed to ease port and border restrictions to help seafarers return home.

Several industry majors led by the Port of Rotterdam are rolling out a new pilot blockchain project, in which containers are handled and released without a PIN code: a widely used verification method in this transport segment. The project would involve the use of a new application, Secure Container Release, which replaces the PIN code with a digital signal. The solution is believed to be significantly less susceptible to fraud and is aimed at boosting the efficiency and safety of container handling.