Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by Mikael Lind et al.

Published Jun 8, 2022 11:17 PM by The Maritime Executive

A fire aboard the harbor tour boat Spirit of Norfolk spread through the vessel and left it burned out above the main deck level, photos released by the U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday show. 

The Spirit of Norfolk caught fire on Tuesday afternoon while it was conducting a harbor tour for elementary school students just off Naval Station Norfolk. 108 people were on board the 190-foot vessel, including 89 school children. Passengers reported that the smoke and fire came from the direction of the engine room, and videos from the scene showed smoke emerging from the stern. To ensure the safety of the passengers, the crew moved them to the weather deck, and fireboats arrived shortly after to respond to the emergency. 

A second excursion boat, the Victory Rover, was brought alongside and the passengers were transferred over safely. Two crewmembers remained aboard Spirit of Norfolk as she was towed to a pier at the naval base for a firefighting response. The station's own fire crews led the effort, which focused on hull cooling. The fire ultimately burned forward through the passenger compartments and up through the pilothouse, photos provided by the U.S. Coast Guard show.

On Wednesday, response crews set up a dewatering pump to begin removing firefighting water from within the hull. The pumped-out water is being stored in tanks in order to address any possible contamination and prevent pollution, and a barge will arrive Thursday to provide additional tank volume. 

No pollution has been reported, and the vessel and the area around it are under monitoring as response efforts continue. The vessel was still smoldering as of Wednesday evening, and fire crews remain on scene to respond to a reflash if needed. 

The fire is under investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard and the NTSB, and officials plan to provide more information on Thursday. 

Published Jun 10, 2022 3:45 PM by The Maritime Executive

Frontline and famed investor John Fredriksen are continuing to increase the pressure to complete their proposed merger with Euronav by acquiring additional shares of the Belgian shipping company. Fredriksen’s plan to combine the two companies into one of the largest tanker owner-operators continues to face opposition from the Saverys family which is the largest shareholder of Euronav. Despite losing in their effort to elect a slate of opposition directors to the board of Euronav, the family is reportedly still working...

Published Jun 10, 2022 2:41 PM by The Maritime Executive

In a keynote address at the Posidonia conference, ABS chief Christopher J. Wiernicki made a bold announcement: the class society believes that "net zero cannot realistically be delivered without efficient carbon capture and storage technology" for ships. Onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) is a technology in the early stages of commercial development. Typically deployed in combination with a scrubber, an OCCS system captures a percentage of the CO2 from the exhaust stream and stores it on board. The percentage...

Published Jun 10, 2022 2:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

Senior officers of the Indonesian Navy met with the media on Friday to deny reports of officers soliciting payments from tankers being detained in Indonesia waters. Reuters on June 9 published for the second time reports that officers from the Indonesian Navy were asking for payments of up to $375,000 to release tankers being detained for illegally anchoring near Batam, an island 20 miles south of Singapore and home to the island nation’s naval base. "I need to convey that...

Published Jun 10, 2022 1:19 PM by Mikael Lind et al.

[By Mikael Lind, Wolfgang Lehmacher, Sara Åhlén Björk, Sandra Haraldson, Christopher Påhlsson, Risto Penttilä, Kirsi Tikka, and Richard T. Watson] The maritime industry is highly dependent on fossil fuels and emitted about 1.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) in 2020, equivalent to about 3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is more than the world's 5th GHG emitting country. However, given the cross-border nature of the maritime sector, it is not addressed in the national determined contributions (NDCs)....

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