U.S.DEPT.OF TRANSPORTATION-MARAD

Substandard maintenance was found to be a major contributing factor at the root of a 2018 engine room fire aboard the DFDS ro-ro vessel Finlandia Seaways in April 2018, U.K. accident investigators found.The Lithuanian registered vessel was in transit from Zeebrugge, Belgium to Rosyth, U.K., when it suffered a catastrophic main engine failure that caused serious structural damage to the engine and a fire in the engine room. The vessel’s third engineer, who was on duty in the engine room at the time, suffered serious smoke-related lung, kidney and eye injuries during his escape.According to a report by the U.K.

PT. Graha Trisaka Industri has awarded tug design contracts to Robert Allan Ltd. for a RAmparts 3200-W and a TRAktor 3200-V. The tugs will be built and operated by Taiwan Navigation Co. Ltd. under a long-term charter contract for CPC Corporation, Taiwan.PT. Graha Trisaka Industri is an affiliate of PaxOcean Group, Singapore with the shipyard located in Batam, Indonesia. PaxOcean and Robert Allan Ltd. have worked together successfully on a number of projects including dual fuel tug of RAmparts 2800-DF design for PSA Marine, Singapore. Four other Robert Allan Ltd. TRAktor 3200-V tugs for Formosa Chemistry and CPC Corporation respectively are also under construction at the same shipyard.

Winds of change are sweeping the maritime industry as vessel owners and operators seek ways to reduce vessel emissions. A new containership concept from Detlev Löll and TECHNOLOG joins a raft of new wind-powered cargo vessel designs aimed at reducing, or in some cases, entirely eliminating shipping emissions.The partners have designed a sailing ship that can carry 500 containers across the world's oceans with zero emissions, not only in favorable winds, but also in calm or unfavorable areas. The concept includes hydrogen and battery systems to enable the vessel to operate emissions free even during poor wind conditions.

NOAA will begin to implement its sunset plan for paper nautical charts this month, starting with the current paper chart 18665 of Lake Tahoe. After August, NOAA’s electronic navigational chart will be the only NOAA nautical chart of the area.This is the first traditional paper chart to be fully supplanted by an electronic chart as part of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey Raster Sunset Plan, which includes a new process to notify mariners of the transition of individual paper charts to electronic charts. These charts are easier to update and maintain, keeping mariners safer with up-to-date information on marine hazards.

Cox Powertrain, a British manufacturer of high-power diesel outboard engines, announced it has raised £9 million from existing shareholders and a further £3 million loan from HSBC UK Equipment Finance to allow the company to expand and ramp up production of the CXO300 outboard engine.Since 2007, Cox Powertrain has been continuously backed by private investors. Production of the CXO300 began in May 2020 and since then, the CXO300 has been shipped to more than 16 territories across the globe.The CXO300 is built at Cox Powertrain’s HQ in Shoreham, U.K., where £6.