HERBERT C.JACKSON

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) and a broad coalition of every donor and energy transfer port have sent the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the Energy and Water Development Subcommittees leaders a letter, urging them to reverse a funding diversion and restore critical support for ports through the FY2026 appropriations process.Without restoration of Section 102 and 2106 funding from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), the U.S. port system will lose over $1 billion in direct investment during the remainder of the Trump administration – undermining national security, supply chain resilience, and energy exports, says AAPA.

The federal district court in Anchorage, Alaska, has entered final judgment against three Kodiak-based commercial fishing companies and their manager for multiple violations of the Clean Water Act.The court entered default judgments against company manager Corey Potter and F/V Knot EZ LLC, Aleutian Tendering LLC, and Alaska Tendering Company LLC, and imposed a civil penalty of $1,182,265 for the violations.  The case was filed on October 24, 2024, by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Coast Guard against Corey Potter and three of his related companies.

The military and Coast Guard budgets are established that will benefit the U.S. ship building and repair sector, but what will stimulate the commercial yards?This author has been scratching his head of late, after a thrilling dive into July’s U.S. Big Beautiful Bill Act, and has asked several colleagues where the funding for support commercial shipbuilding can be found? To answer that, we need to look elsewhere and to future programs.Setting the SceneMany column inches have been dedicated to the decline U.S. shipbuilding, whether signaled by the relatively small presence of a U.S.

In a major move to accelerate the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking fleet expansion, Bollinger Shipyards, Rauma Shipyards, Seaspan Shipyards, and Aker Arctic announced a partnership to deliver next-generation Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs) under the Coast Guard’s multibillion-dollar icebreaker program.The collaboration combines U.S., Canadian, and Finnish shipbuilding expertise to meet the Coast Guard’s urgent Arctic mission requirements. Backed by nearly $9 billion in funding secured under President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, the effort aims to deliver the first vessel within 36 months of contract award, using a mature, production-ready design.

Wind Multiplikator, a subsidiary of Danish company Semco Maritime, has signed a long-term charter agreement with Norwegian shipping company Norwind Offshore for a Commissioning Service Operation Vessel (CSOV), set for deployment at an offshore wind farm in German North Sea.The newly built vessel Norwind Maestro is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2026, with a sister ship of the same design available from the fourth quarter of 2025.Both CSOVs will operate directly out of Emden, enabling rapid response times and efficient offshore deployment.The vessels will be used to support maintenance of the 400 MW Global Tech I offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.