THE GREAT EASTERN SHIPPING CO. LTD

The U.S. Coast Guard said it is pursuing enforcement action against Bouchard Transportation Company after the shipping company failed to comply with a captain of the port order for one of its two vessels anchored in the Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur, Texas, area of responsibility.According to the Coast Guard, tugs Kim M. Bouchard and Danielle M. Bouchard and their associated barges have been anchored off Texas Point since mid-December with no known plans to move and crews unpaid since January, raising safety concerns for the crews remaining aboard as well as the public and other professional mariners, and environmental concerns for the region.

Hines Furlong Line currently has a trio of identical 6,000-horsepower towboats on order at C&C Marine and Repair in Belle Chasse, La.The timing is right to order the high-power newbuilds, said Kent Furlong, president and founder of Hines Furlong Line (HFL), citing the long-term implications of Subchapter M and the industry’s aging higher horsepower line haul fleet as key drivers behind the decision. “Many of the high-horsepower vessels in the HFL fleet are among the oldest,” he said. “And many of the 6,000-horsepower vessels on the market are decades old, and not many have been ordered in the last 30 years.

Operations to raise a livestock carrier that capsized in the Black sea off Romania in November came to a close on Tuesday night, said local marine services firm Gruup Servici Petoliere (GSP).The Palau-registered Queen Hind flipped onto its side shortly after leaving Romania's Midia port en route to Saudi Arabia at the end of November 2019. Its entire crew, most of them Syrians, were rescued. Only 180 of the estimated 14,000 sheep on board survived.The Queen Hind is now docked and normal operations have resumed in Midia Harbor following a "tireless human and technical effort" to refloat the vessel, said Gabriel Comănescu, GSP president and CEO.

A fourth passenger from the cruise ship Diamond Princess moored in Japan has died from the coronavirus, NHK public television said on Tuesday. The passenger was in their 80s, NHK said.Japan has come under fire for its handling of the situation on the cruise ship, which is operated by Carnival Corp (CCL.N) and where hundreds became infected. The number of patients is rising around Japan, with the government set to announce a set of measures to combat it later on Tuesday.Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Muralikumar

The third annual global Maritime Training Insights Database (MarTID) survey is open through February 29, 2020.Make sure your voice is heard. Take the MarTID 2020 survey today:Vessel operator survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020MarTIDOperatorMETI survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020MarTIDMETISeafarer survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020MarTIDSeafarerMarTID is a non-commercial, joint initiative of the World Maritime University, Marine Learning Systems and New Wave Media, launched in 2018 with the completion of the inaugural survey and publication of the 2018 Training Practices Report, which can be found, along with the 2019 report, at www.MarTID.org.