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DSD Shipping and engineering officers charged with environmental crimes

  A federal grand jury in Mobile, Alabama, has returned a seven-count indictment charging Det Stavangerske ampskibsselskab AS (DSD Shipping) and four employees with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), conspiracy, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown for the Southern District of Alabama. DSD Shipping is a Norwegian-based shipping company that operates the oil tanker M/T Stavanger Blossom, a vessel engaged in the international transportation of crude oil.  Also indicted were four engineering officers employed by DSD Shipping to work aboard the vessel, Daniel Paul Dancu, 51, of Romania, Bo Gao, 49, of China, Xiaobing Chen, 34, of China, and Xin Zhong, 28, of China. According to the indictment, in 2014, DSD Shipping and its employees conspired to bypass pollution prevention equipment aboard the M/T Stavanger Blossom and to conceal the direct discharge of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water from the vessel into the sea.  The operation of marine vessels, like the M/T Stavanger Blossom, generates large quantities of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water.  International and U.S. law requires that these vessels use ...

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Navigating the uncertainties in the US Ballast Water Programs and Policies

  Gary Croot, President IMESA & Ret. USCG Chief, Environmental Standards Division presentation during the 2015 GREEN4SEA Forum   It is absolutely imperative that you understand that the IMO resolution, that delayed the implementation of the Convention, doesn’t apply at all to the Coast Guard regulations or to the EPA VGP implementation schedule. These two are completely independent of one another.  One of the most important differences, that it will become clearer later, is that the Coast Guard adopted a living vs dead numeric standard for biological efficacy. The convention chose to use viable vs non-viable. Now, as a ship-owner you are probably thinking, I don’t care about that, and you probably don’t except when it comes time to actually purchase a system and determine if it will meet Coast Guard requirements for Type Approval. Additionally, we know that Coast Guard uses Dry Dock Dates vs Survey Dates (those dates aren’t always the same). Below it follows Coast Guard implementation schedule. It’s the same as the VGP implementation schedule and as you can see vessels that have 1500-5000 m3 ballast water capacity, are already required to be in compliance with the discharge standard. BWM Implementation Schedule   How can they do that? ...

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Penalty settlement reached for Tacoma barge oil spill

  Two companies involved in a 2012 oil spill while dismantling an unpermitted barge on the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma have settled their penalties with the Washington Department of Ecology. Tacoma Industrial Properties (TIP) and RV Associates were penalized a combined $24,800 in June 2013 following the spill of around 25 gallons of oil on June 21, 2012. The spill occurred when the two companies were dismantling a derelict vessel known as the Hauff Barge without proper permits, causing a visible oil sheen that covered about 23 acres of the waterway, or an area equal to about 17 football fields. The settlement reached by TIP, RV Associates and Ecology reduces the original penalty from $24,800 to $17,000 in exchange for the parties agreeing to no further appeals or litigation stemming from the incident. The settlement required a $5,000 cash payment, while the remaining $12,000 will be satisfied by a plan that creates a salt marsh along the shore of the Hylebos Waterway. TIP and RV Associates will work with Soundview Consultants, an environmental consulting firm, to create new salt marsh near the site of the spill. The marshland will provide habitat for fish and wildlife, and increase the biological health ...

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US Navy to test and certify 100% drop-in fuels

  The U.S. Navy is to test a production of 100% renewable drop-in fuels on its ships and aircrafts, according to the fuels' developers. Applied Research Associates (ARA) and Blue Sun Advanced Fuels are performing on a Defense Logistics Agency Energy  contract that was awarded for production of 100% drop-in renewable jet and diesel fuel utilizing ARA’s and Chevron Lummus Global’s (CLG) Biofuels ISOCONVERSION technology. The first contract fuel deliveries were made in February of 2015; the remainder of the fuel will be delivered in 2015 and 2016 to support certification and testing of renewable fuels for U.S. Navy ships and aircraft. The contract calls for production of CHCD-76 and CHCJ-5. CHCD-76 is a catalytic hydrothermal conversion diesel fuel, developed as a variation of the commercial ReadiDiesel with the intention to meet the Navy’s F-76 Naval Marine Distillate Fuel spec and qualification protocols. CHCJ-5 denotes a catalytic hydrothermal conversion jet fuel, developed as a variation of the commercial ReadiJet with the intention to meet the Navy’s JP-5 jet fuel spec and qualification protocols. Blue Sun Advanced Fuels, a licensee of the Biofuels ISOCONVERSION technology, converts the renewable oils to crude oil in their 100 barrel-per-day (4,200 gallon-per-day) demonstration-scale Biofuels ISOCONVERSION ...

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2015 GREEN4SEA Forum – William H. Moore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWb6RYZyG5Q&feature=youtu.be Dr. William H. Moore, American P&I Club, presented Club’s guide ‘Welcome to the USA’ and explained how to comply with key regulations of which shipowners should be aware when trading to and from the US during the 2015 GREEN4SEA Forum. The 2015 GREEN4SEA Forum, a PRO BONO event, successfully concluded on Wednesday 22nd of April 2015 in Eugenides Foundation Athens attracting 950 delegates from 25 countries representing a total of 450 organizations. The event organized by SQE4SEA and sponsored by Bureau Veritas, ERMA FIRST ESK Engineering, Lloyd’s Register, Schneider Electric and SKAI in the media for the event coverage. Other sponsors include: ABS, American P&I Club, Chart Industries, DNV GL Maritime, Dorian LPG, Drew Marine, Du Pont/BELCO, ECOSPRAY Technologies, Kyklades Maritime Corporation, Nakashima Propellers, NAPA, Poseidon Med, SKF Marine, SQEACADEMY, SQEMARINE, Transmar Shipping, Trojan Marinex, UK P&I Club, VAF Instruments, Wartsila and Yara Marine Technology.In the beginning, I was straightforward with you propecia before and after has changed my existence. It has become much more fun, and now I have to run. Just as it is incredible to sit.

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US and Canada conclude season's ice breaking operations

  U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard crews concluded the nation’s largest domestic ice breaking operation, after more than four months of ice breaking operations in the Great Lakes. Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, plans and runs Operation Taconite, an ice breaking operation facilitating the flow of commerce across Lakes Superior and Michigan, the northern half of Lake Huron, the St. Mary’s River and the Straits of Mackinac. During the 122 days of the operation, seven U.S. Coast Guard and three Canadian Coast Guard ice breakers spent more than 3,181 hours breaking ice for convoys and assisted in 677 commercial vessel transits to move an estimated 23.7 million tons of dry bulk and liquid cargoes with an estimated value of $829 million. These crucial commodities sustain industrial production and power generation for the Great Lakes region during the winter months. Ice breakers provided direct assistance for 353 of the transits. An additional 3,658 hours of ice breaking established and maintained tracks through the ice-choked waterways of Georgian Bay, Straits of Mackinac, Green Bay, southern Lake Michigan, St. Mary’s River, and across Lake Superior. Coast Guard Sector Detroit coordinates Operation Coal Shovel, an ice breaking operation facilitating the flow of ...

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