Tag: USCG

The US's largest refinery, Motiva Enterprises, has restarted operations on Monday, after being shut on August 30, due to Hurricane Harvey. In the meantime, US Coast Guard, US EPA and Texas regulators, are working to clean up oil spills caused by industrial facilities flooding from Harvey.

The US Coast Guard is establishing a voluntary inspection program for US-flagged commercial vessel owners/operators who wish to document compliance with the standards of the BWM Convention. 

The LISW event kicked off with a round-up of the latest BWM updates during INTERANKO's seminar in which Tim Wilkins, Environment Director, provided a summary of how the entry into force of IMO’s landmark convention will impact the tanker industry.

Several cruise companies, in addition to US Coast Guard, have deployed ships to support relief efforts to the areas devastated by Hurricane Irma. On Sunday, Irma reached to the western Florida peninsula, as a Category 4 storm, after passing through several Caribbean islands and killing at least 24 people.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority issued a technical alert related to detentions and deficiencies found during USCG examination of cruise ships. During 2016, USCG reported a total of 103 detentions, of which 3 were cruise ships.

A discharge of high sulphur fuel oil was reported on September 4 into the Mississippi River, New Orleans, due to an overfilling of a fuel tank on the M/V Vita Horizon during bunkering operations. The vessel estimates there to be 10-20 barrels of product spilled.

Hurricane Irma is expected to hit the US Virgin Islands Tuesday and mainland Thursday. The storm is currently a Category 5 hurricane and is expected to remain a Category 4 or 5 during the next days. Cruises and shipping interested in transiting those areas, are encouraged to reroute.

During their Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC), starting from September 1st and ending on November 30, the two major Port State Control regimes – Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU – will focus on navigational safety. USCG suggests ways for compliance in case vessels have not complied with the recommended ECDIS IHO standards, now that the CICs have begun. 

The grounded drillship "Paragon DPDS1" that was blocking marine traffic in the entrance of Corpus Christi port, Texas, was recovered on 4 September, the US Coast Guard informed. The vessel ran aground in Aransas Pass, as a result of Hurricane Harvey.