The Government of Canada has introduced new measures within the CAD 1.5 billion (USD 1.2 billion) Oceans Protection Plan.

CAD 110 million will be spent over five years on charting 23 high-priority commercial ports and near-shore areas to create safer navigation by updating  out-of-date navigational information.

Hercules SLR of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia has been awarded a contract to supply the Canadian Coast Guard with emergency tow kits, equipment and training.

The Marine Weather Information Services Demonstration Project will receive CAD 7.2 million over five years to deploy five smart buoys that will create data for custom weather forecasts.

“The marine safety and navigational improvements from the Oceans Protection Plan announced today (May 16) will help us put safeguards in place for all vessels, including those carrying petroleum products overseas,” Marc Garneau, Canada’s Minister of Transport, said.

Grande Halifax, a pure car and  truck carrier owned and operated by Italian Grimaldi Group, has been christened in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The christening ceremony for the 63,000-ton ship took place at Halterm/Autoport.

Built at the Chinese Jinling shipyards, the Grande Halifax has a length of almost 200  meters, a width of about 33 meters, and a cruising speed of 19 knots and it can carry 6,700 CEU or alternatively 4,000 linear meters of rolling freight and 2,500 CEU.

The Grande Halifax is equipped with four hoistable decksis and able to transport any type of rolling cargo with a height of up to 5.2 meters.

Furthermore, the new carrier is fitted with an electronically-controlled main engine that allows complying with the new regulations for reducing NOx emissions, while the installed scrubber reduces sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions.

The Grande Halifax, together with another four carriers, is deployed on the Mediterranean-North America weekly RoRo service operated by the group, serving the ports of Halifax, Davisville, New York, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Houston, Tuxpan, Veracruz, Antwerp, Valencia, Savona, Livorno, Salerno, Gioia Tauro.

Japanese shippers K Line and NYK Line are set to start an LNG bunkering business in association with Chubu Electric Power and Toyota Tsusho.

The companies are launching two joint ventures: Central LNG Marine Fuel Japan Corporation and Central LNG Shipping Japan Corporation.

The importance of LNG as an environmentally friendly fuel has grown in recent years due to tightening of environmental regulations.  

Compared to heavy fuel, the use of LNG can reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by approximately 30 percent.

Maersk Tankers of Denmark has taken delivery of Maersk Capri, a Medium Range (MR) product/chemical tanker.

The 50,000 dwt vessel was built at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Ningbo, China. It is the second of nine ships which will be constructed under a USD 300 million contract signed in 2015.

According to Maersk, ”... Capri is part of our fleet renewal to sustain a competitive fleet and strong market position in the MR segment.”   

Maersk Tankers will also renew its Long Range (LR) fleet. The company announced plans to buy six LR2 ships from Dalian Shipyard.

Norwegian Cruise Line broke ground on a new cruise terminal at PortMiami on April 26.

Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners recently approved the construction of the 166,500 square feet Cruise Terminal B, which will be able to handle ships carrying 5,000 passengers.  

The Norwegian Encore, the newest vessel in NCL’s Breakaway Plus class, is set to debut in the fall of 2019. The construction of the new facility is scheduled to be completed by that time.