Tsuneishi Corporation

President Donald Trump says the U.S. is hashing out a plan to acquire up to 10 additional polar icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard.Trump, who over the yeas has emphasized his administration's commitment to growing the Coast Guard's icebreaker fleet, outlined the new plans in vague terms within remarks delivered at Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Fla., Friday.The President did not specify how the icebreakers would be obtained, or whether the vessels would be newbuilds, purchased secondhand or leased, but he said his administration is working toward a deal with "a certain place that has a lot of icebreakers" to acquire the vessels quickly and at a substantially lower cost.

Singapore has maintained its position as the world's top shipping hub for the seventh year straight, according to a report published by the Baltic Exchange and Chinese state news agency Xinhua.The Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Center Development (ISCD) Index, now in its seventh edition, assesses factors including port throughput and infrastructure; depth and breadth of professional maritime support services; as well as the general business environment in its attempt to provide an independent ranking of the performance of the world’s largest cities that offer port and shipping business services.

Bellingham, Wash. aluminum boat builder All American Marine, Inc. (AAM) said it launched Orca II, the second of two 78-foot aluminum catamarans for Seattle-based customer Great Western Attractions (GWA), who will operate the passenger excursion vessels in Puget Sound.Designed by Teknicraft in Auckland New Zealand, these identical USCG Subchapter T certified vessels were constructed at AAM’s 57,000-square-foot facility on Bellingham Bay. The vessels will be a part of GWA’s multifaceted tourism experience based in downtown Seattle. The first vessel was launched in May.

A newly built grain export terminal has opened for business at the Port of Vancouver on Canada’s West Coast, Canadian grain company G3 announced.G3 Terminal Vancouver is a a British Columbia limited partnership between G3 Global Holdings (a limited partnership between Bunge Canada and SALIC Canada Ltd) and Western Stevedoring Company Ltd.Construction on the facility began in March, 2017 at the site in North Vancouver and is now substantially complete as planned. The facility has for the last several months been safely and efficiently taking in Prairie grain by rail and loading it onto ships as part of a commissioning process. The facility is now in commercial operation.

Former Dredging Contractors of America (DCA) executive director and Weeks Marine’s corporate and government relations director Mark D. Sickles will serve as Interim CEO and executive director as the organization searches for new staff leadership to succeed outgoing DCA head William P. Doyle, who has been appointed to lead the Maryland Port Administration, and Executive Director of the Port of Baltimore.Sickles was unanimously approved by the DCA board of directors and general membership during its annual meeting on July 9. He will assume the interim role on July 24 while the search for a new CEO and executive director is being conducted by Association Strategies, Inc.