KIRBY OFFSHORE MARINE, LLC

British special forces stormed a Greek-operated oil tanker in the English channel on Sunday to wrestle control of the vessel from seven stowaways who had threatened the crew in a suspected hijacking.Troops from the Special Boat Service, a navy special forces unit whose headquarters in just a few miles away from where the vessel began showing signs of distress, boarded the Nave Andromeda near the Isle of Wight off southern England.Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel authorized the armed forces to board the ship “to safeguard life and secure a ship that was subject to suspected hijacking”, the defense ministry said.

The owner of an unseaworthy tug boat was convicted of hindering an Australian maritime safety official in Cairns Magistrate Court on October 13.Anthony Roy Wolfe was found guilty, with a conviction recorded on his criminal record for the next 10 years and fined $750 for hindering an Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) inspector who detained Wolfe's ex-navy tug, the Wallaroo.At the time, Wolfe intended on using Wallaroo to transport shipping containers from Cairns to Papua New Guinea under a commercial arrangement, but an inspection in Brisbane revealed serious deficiencies with watertight hatches, defunct firefighting equipment and no life raft on the vessel

Three people were reported missing after an explosion took place on a Russian oil tanker travelling through the Kerch Strait towards the port of Rostov-on-Don on Saturday, the Russian federal maritime agency said.The General Hazi Aslanov was not carrying any oil, and the explosion was likely triggered by leftover fumes, the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport said.A rescue operation was underway, the emergencies ministry said, adding that the emergency services had sent three vessels to help.There were 13 people on board, of whom six had been rescued and three were missing overboard. Four remained on deck, the ministry said.

The extended South End Container Terminal in the Port of Halifax is now complete and is fully operational, having welcomed its first vessel, Zim Tarragona, on Friday.With the extension project finished, the South End Container Terminal operated by PSA Halifax now has the longest and deepest container berth in Eastern Canada with 800 meters continuous length and 16 meters depth. The recent installation of a new Super Post-Panamax (SPPX) crane, the largest in Eastern Canada, brings the total compliment of SPPX quay cranes at PSA Halifax to five.

The U.S. Navy has many assets other than its seaborn vessels to care for, and recently it adopted new standards to protect those that are fuel-related. Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) contracted with Master Painter Institute (MPI) services to establish product standards for interior carbon-steel fuel pipes, interior welded fuel tanks, exterior steel systems and waterfront steel structures. These new standards, known as the MPI 500 Series Standards, are for use in numerous aspects of work involving specialized Department of Defense (DoD) petroleum, oils and lubricants (POL) facilities as well as shoreline structures and construction.