Arabian Est. for Trade & Shipping Ltd.

VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, MS has emerged the victor in one of the most prized and coveted shipbuilding contracts in recent memory, a $746m deal to build the Coast Guard's lead Polar Security Cutter. If two additional ship options are exercised, the total deal could approach $2B.The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy, through an Integrated Program Office (IPO), awarded VT Halter Marine Inc., of Pascagoula, Mississippi, a fixed price incentive (firm) contract for the Detail Design and Construction (DD&C) of the Coast Guard’s lead Polar Security Cutter (PSC).  The initial award is valued at $745.

Navies operate on a spectrum between deterrence and defense, to include offensive operation, support of foreign policy, and power projection to civil affair and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.  Many have constabulary responsibilities, and it could be argued that, with the exception of the largest navies, most are more like a coast guard than a military force in their normal responsibilities.Every Navy is different.  Yes, they all share similar challenges of acquisition, maintenance, manpower, basing, communications, information systems and the usual requirements of a military service, compounded by harsh maritime environment.

Singapore on Tuesday said its plans to build the world's biggest container terminal in a single location were on track, as it held a ceremony to mark a milestone in the initial construction phase of the mega-project.Tuas Terminal is set to open progressively from 2021, six years after work began, and it is expected to be capable of handling 65 million twenty-foot long shipping containers per annum when fully completed in 2040.Once completed, the terminal is slated to become the world's largest container terminal in a single location, said Quah Ley Hoon, chief executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

Seabed survey and ocean exploration company Ocean Infinity said it has conducted urgent subsea search, inspection and operations on the wreck of the MV Grande America, which sank in the Bay of Biscay on March 12.Grande America capsized and sunk last month after its cargo of containers and vehicles caught fire during a voyage from Hamburg to Casablanca.Having entered into an agreement with marine services and salvage company Ardent, Ocean Infinity deployed its fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) to locate the wreck.

Middle East natural gas giant Qatar Petroleum (QP) issued an invitation to tender for the reservation of ship construction capacity required for a fleet of over 100 liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.The world’s largest LNG producer said in a statement that the vessels will serve QP’s North Field Expansion (NFE) project which will increase Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 million tons per annum (mta) to 110 mta starting in 2024.In addition to addressing shipping requirements for the North Field Expansion Project