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A fresh sequence of strikes have ben announced for the UK port of Felixstowe, the UK’s largest for container traffic

Fresh strikes have been announced from September 27th to October 5th after 82% of surveyed members of the Unite union, which represents 1,900 blue-collar workers at the port, rejected a 7% pay offer.

The union has asked for a pay rise to match the UK’s inflation rate, which is predicted to hit 13% later this year.

Felixstowe handles near to 50% of the UK’s containers and the recent eight-day strike in late August, caused significant disruption.

“We are very disappointed that Unite has announced this further strike action at this time. The collective bargaining process has been exhausted and there is no prospect of agreement being reached with the union,” the Port of Felixstowe said.

The planned Felixstowe strike will coincide with a two-week walkout by Liverpool port workers which is set to start on September 19th.

Source: https://insurancemarinenews.com/insurance-marine-news/date-set-for-new-strike-at-felixstowe/

Around 1,500 military and civilian personnel from NATO and partner countries are gathering in Portugal this month for two maritime exercises aimed at testing the interoperability of new maritime unmanned systems. Both exercises are being held in areas around the Troia Peninsula.

The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled a plan to accelerate development of next-generation floating offshore wind farms by slashing the cost of the technology by 70% and setting a goal for it to power 5 million U.S. homes by 2035.

The announcement was the latest in the White House’s push to bolster the nation’s fledgling offshore wind industry as part of its climate-change agenda.

Wind turbines that float on the ocean’s surface are an emerging technology necessary for projects off the coasts of California, Oregon and Maine, where the depth of the water precludes the use of standard, fixed equipment.

Floating offshore wind technology is in early stages of development in Europe, where there are a few small projects.

Thursday’s announcement of efforts to support the technology’s advancement will position the United States “to lead the world on floating offshore wind and bring offshore wind jobs to more parts of our country, including the West Coast,” the White House national climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, said on a call with reporters.

By 2035, the United States aims to have 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity along its coastlines, officials said. The goal is aligned with the administration’s other target for permitting 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030.

As a first step, the Interior Department will hold a lease auction for areas off the coast of California later this year.

In addition, the Department of Energy will commit nearly $50 million to fund research, development and demonstration projects for floating offshore wind. The Energy Department wants to bring the cost down by 70% to $45 per megawatt-hour by 2035.

The effort is included in the department’s “Energy Earthshots” initiatives, which are meant to spur innovation in emerging clean technologies like hydrogen, energy storage and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Source: https://www.marinelink.com/news/us-sets-target-floating-offshore-wind-499497

The NTSB has released the results of its investigation into the collision of a moving train with the towboat Baxter Southern on the Upper Mississippi in late 2021, finding that the towboat’s crew were not aware that they had temporarily berthed the bow of a barge over a rail line.

On November 13, 2021, the towboat Baxter Southern was downbound on the Mississippi, pushing four empty barges for a destination in Louisiana. At about 2200, the wind picked up with gusts of up to 35 knots, making navigation difficult for the 700-foot-long empty barge tow. The forecast showed that the winds would continue through the night. After consulting with the pilot, the master ruled out continuing onwards to the next lock or trying to turn around and head back upriver. Instead, they decided on a plan to push the barges up against a bank to wait for better weather conditions.

Using a non-ECDIS electronic chart system, they selected a site with a magenta dashed line around it where there were no trees or visible obstructions. They were aware that there was a rail line in the area but did not believe that it was a substantial risk. Because of the rough weather, no lookout was posted on the bow as they approached the bank.

At 2336, the barge tow’s bow rake was pressed up against the bank, and the master left the bridge. Three crewmembers were sent forward to verify that the bow was not overhanging the track.

Before the deckhands reached the head of the tow, they saw the lights of an approaching train coming around the bend some 2,000 feet to the north.

At about 2342, the conductor and the engineer saw the barge tow and the towboat, but were not concerned; it was common to see barges pressed up against the bank in this area. Following protocol, they accelerated down a straight section of the track, heading towards the barge.

One minute later, when the locomotive was about 300 feet from impact, the engineer realized that the barge’s bow was overhanging the rail bed, and he pulled the emergency brake. The pilot, who was still on the bridge of the towboat, saw what was happening and put the throttles in reverse to back off the bank – but too late to have an effect.

Nine seconds later, the left side of the lead locomotive struck the barge’s bow and derailed. The second locomotive followed, along with ten hopper cars, including six which went into the river. The engineer and conductor sustained only minor injuries and escaped from the locomotive on their own; none of the crewmembers aboard the Baxter Southern were injured.

After the collision, the master of the Baxter Southern backed off the bank, contacted the Coast Guard and moved upriver to another berthing location. The lead barge had sustained minor denting and scraping with no impact to its structural integrity.

The master and pilot – who each had about 30 years of experience in the towing industry – told investigators that they had not seen the chart symbol with an exclamation point on their ECS chart overlaying the bank area. The symbol would have warned them of a “Barge/Rail Collision Risk” at the site if they had clicked on it. The pilot said he had previously used the same area to temporarily berth barges “probably half a dozen times,” and past AIS data appeared to show that other operators had also used this location.

NTSB concluded that the cause of the casualty was “the tow’s pilot and captain not correctly identifying a caution area on the electronic chart,” and it advised marineers and owners to ensure proficiency in the use of electronic chart systems.

Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/ntsb-train-barge-collision-caused-by-failure-to-read-charted-warnings