U. S., DEPT. OF THE NAVY COMMANDER (SEALIFT)

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.

There’s a barge full of reasons why many operators turn to ATBs.A  mainstay of the U.S. coastwise dirty and refined products trades, articulated tug barges (ATB) have increasingly filled a void left as the fleet of Jones Act tankers (with crew complement requirements exceeding that of tugs) has aged out. With the cargo capacity of the larger ATBs – some with barges exceeding 300,000 barrels capacity – rivalling that of workhorse tankers that had served oil consuming regions, the concept certainly makes sense from a supply and distribution perspective.With 50,000- to 150,000-barrel-capacity ATBs now widespread, the units have also gained share as substitutes for towed barges.

The future USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) completed builder’s trials February 22 after spending three days underway in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Navy said. The trials were conducted by the shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), Ingalls Shipbuilding Division.The ship was previously underway for Alpha trials in December, and will be underway again in March for acceptance trials, which will be conducted by the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey.“The Navy and our dedicated shipbuilders have continued to make strides towards delivering this exceptional capability to the fleet, and performed well during builder’s trials,” said Capt.