Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd.

Initial investigations into the Beirut port blast indicate years of inaction and negligence over the storage of highly explosive material caused the explosion that killed more than 100 people, an official source familiar with the findings said.The prime minister and presidency have said that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilizers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures."It is negligence," the official source told Reuters, adding that the issue on storing the material safely had come before several committees and judges and "nothing was done" to order the material be removed or disposed of.

The cruise industry has voluntarily suspended U.S. cruises until at least October 31, a month beyond the no-sail order date set by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."We believe it is prudent at this time to voluntarily extend the suspension of U.S. ocean-going cruise operations to October 31," trade group Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said in a statement on Wednesday.CLIA represents more than 95% of global cruise capacity, including the world's largest cruise lines such as Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises.

BAE Systems has begun construction on the MV Magdalen, an 8,500 cubic yard capacity trailing suction hopper dredge for Weeks Marine, Inc. Executives from the two companies gathered this week at the BAE Systems Mobile shipyard to oversee the initial cutting of steel for the vessel’s first module, which will weigh 130 tons. When complete in 2014, the entire vessel will measure 340 feet long and 79 feet wide, with a draft of 27 feet.  “A tremendous amount of effort has led us to this point,” said Vic Rhoades, director and general manager at BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards Alabama. “As a team, we will move forward together to construct and deliver the finest dredge for the U.S.

Ecochlor said it has received Type Approval from the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) for the IMO BWMS Code (MEPC.300(72) / revised 2016 G8) standards. The new certification applies to the entire range of Ecochlor ballast water management systems (BWMS), with flow rates of between 500 m3/hr. and 16,200 m3/hr., meaning that vessel owners may continue to install Ecochlor’s BWMS after the IMO BWMS Code October 28, 2020 deadline.Ecochlor's BWMS uses a two-step treatment process to treat ballast water; filtration and chlorine dioxide. Treatment is during uptake only, with no discharge neutralization step required.

Three cranes collapsed at India's largest container port on the outskirts of Mumbai due to strong winds on Wednesday, police and port officials said.Heavy rainfall has hit India's west coast since Monday night, flooding parts of the financial capital. Wind speeds picked up on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.No one was injured when the cranes collapsed at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar said in a Tweet.The port is still assessing the impact of the collapse on the operations, its chairman, Sanjay Sethi, told Reuters.