U.S. Maritime Administrator Capt. Stephen M. Carmel toured Bluecore Energy’s Pier D facility at the Port of Long Beach, where the nuclear startup is developing small modular reactors for floating energy barges. The visit included a demonstration of the company’s SMR test pressure vessel.
The International Port of Coos Bay declared an emergency after rotted timber supports failed on a railroad bridge near Florence, halting service on the Coos Bay Rail Line for nearly a week. A $155,866 repair contract was awarded, with permanent components expected in October.
The heavy-lift ship Black Marlin has delivered China Zorrilla, the world’s largest electric ferry, to Uruguay after a 40-day voyage from Tasmania. The Incat-built vessel will begin service across the Rio de la Plata between Colonia del Sacramento and Buenos Aires.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s new digital credentialing platform, Navita, goes live September 14, replacing the ASAP portal as the primary system for Merchant Mariner Credential and medical certificate applications. The launch continues the Coast Guard’s recovery from a severe post-funding-lapse application backlog.
The Port of Long Beach handled its busiest August on record, moving 919,992 TEUs as U.S. container imports stayed stronger than expected through late summer. Imports rose 3.6 percent year over year, marking the fifth-busiest month in the port’s 115-year history.
Global port congestion has surpassed pandemic-era peaks, with Linerlytica reporting 4.31 million TEUs waiting to berth in late August. Typhoons, strikes, and cascading schedule disruptions are overwhelming gateways from Shanghai to Hamburg, with some Chinese terminals seeing waits of up to 12 days.
Colonial Terminals has opened Foundation 3, a new 25-acre breakbulk facility on the Savannah River, expanding its marine, rail, and trucking capabilities for the Southeast. The facility features an 810-foot heavy-capacity dock, over 14,000 feet of rail track, and 205,000 square feet of storage.
The Port of Hood River hopes to begin removing nine privately-owned boathouses from the Hood River Marina this winter, closing out a policy decision made in 2022. Commissioners issued a request for proposals in August, with contractor proposals due September 18.
SAFEEN Drydocks has installed a 230-metre floating dock, the UAE’s largest, at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Port, expanding capacity for repair and maintenance work on larger commercial vessels and offshore rigs. The dock has a 21,000-tonne lifting capacity alongside 1,000 metres of new quayside.
New Pacific Industrial has launched at the former Kaiser Shipbuilding yard in Vancouver, Washington, debuting with a two-vessel newbuild contract for American Marine Corporation. It marks the first newbuild tug order in AMC’s 50-year history, with vessel design provided by naval architecture firm Glosten.
