Gulf Marine Services Moving Operations To Zayed Port

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A contract has been signed by UAE-based port operator Abu Dhabi Ports with offshore contractor Gulf Marine Services (GMS) for setting up a shipbuilding facility at Zayed Port in which GMS will construct and maintain its offshore support vessels that serve the region’s oil and gas industry.

Under the deal, Zayed Port, as a regional hub for the cruise industry, and general and bulk cargo, will lease the new facility to GMS for three years.

GMS, which specializes in the operation of self-propelled self-elevating support vessels (SESVs), is also known as jack-up barges, plans to move all vessel construction, repairs, and mobilizations to the new yard.

The company’s construction and maintenance yard is currently located in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi. By the relocation, Zayed Port is expected to bring substantial benefits to GMS’ business, as the new site is double the size, increasing the yard to 42,500 sq. Ft.

GMS is going to bring subcontracted fabrication work in-house, generating cost savings with the larger capacity. Besides, the location of Zayed Port is operationally more efficient being closer to the channel, with access to the sea requiring just one day’s passage instead of up to six days required from Mussafah due to tidal conditions.

The move will be phased from now to March 2016 when the company’s latest newbuild vessel, GMS Sharqi, is scheduled for completion at the Zayed Port site. GMS’ head office will remain in Mussafah and for supplementary purposes, the yard there will continue to be used.

“GMS’ new facility at Zayed Port is the latest extension of Abu Dhabi Ports’ significant services to the exploration and production sector, which is vital to the economy of the UAE and the region. Zayed Port and two adjoining ports―Freeport and New Freeport―are playing a major role in the important services to this crucial sector,” said Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports.
Followed the relocation, comes with a makeover at Zayed Port which saw container and RoRo cargo traffic being moved from there to the Khalifa Port, opening up the space for the GMS facility.

Terminal A Extension Project Approved

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An environmental assessment certificate to Rio Tinto Alcan for the Terminal A Extension project in Kitimat has been issued by Environment Minister Mary Polak and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone.
After considering a review led by British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office, the decision was made.
The ministers have issued the certificate with legally enforceable conditions that have made them confident to conclude that the project will be constructed and operated in a way that ensures no significant adverse effects are likely to occur from the project.

The certificate conditions were developed followed by consultation and input from Haisla Nation, government agencies, communities, and the public.

Key conditions :
To avoid impacts to fish and fish habitat;
Control marine water quality from dredging and take action if thresholds are reached;
Control marine mammals during pile driving and prevent injury to marine mammals;
Manage and monitor the dredge disposal site, including adaptive management measures in the event that the effects of contaminants are not mitigated to the extent predicted;

Keep the services of an environmental monitor throughout the construction phase, with the authority to stop work if necessary to prevent or reduce adverse effects; and carry out measures to protect marine mammals during construction. Besides, Rio Tinto Alcan proposed a number of design changes during the environmental assessment, which based on feedback received during the process.
Various federal and provincial authorizations would be required by the Terminal A Extension project to proceed.

Besides, the Environmental Assessment Office will co-ordinate compliance management efforts with other government agencies to make sure that the office is satisfied that certificate conditions are met throughout the life of the project.

The project is the extension of the existing Terminal A wharf by up to 250 meters to accommodate bulk carriers. It will take the place of existing facilities for the import and export of bulk materials.
Besides the wharf extension, the project includes a barge ramp, tug dock, and laydown area. The project will involve dredging over for three years, with a dredge disposal site for contaminated dredged sediments and laydown soils and disposal at sea for other sediments.

Construction is expected to take over three years, with the extension in operation for more than 50 years.

Panama Canal Expansion Reaches 96Pct Completion

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It is announced that the long-awaited expansion project of the canal has reached 96 percent completion by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP).
According to ACP CEO/Administrator Jorge L. Quijano, reinforcements of cracked locks detected in August this year are scheduled to be completed mid-January 2016, as assured by the project’s contractor Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC). This will be followed by testing of locks reinforcements and additional testing in February.
The ACP plans to test a chartered vessel in the Atlantic locks will occur (following conversations with GUPC) in April, which means that the official inauguration of the project has been pushed back again, as World Maritime News reported earlier.
The date for the inauguration ceremony is yet to be selected, however it is expected to be in the second quarter of 2016. This will be followed by the commercial opening of the expanded canal.
“We are very close—only four percent remains to complete the project,”Quijano said.“An expansion of the Panama Canal has never been done and we should all feel very good about where we are today.”
“After a successful year, we look forward to being able to provide the benefits of the new Canal to our customers and the people of Panama.”
The new locks will allow for the passage of between 10 and 12 Neopanamax vessels in approximately 40 daily transits through the Panama Canal.

Vi Port Authority Board Oks Overruns For Dredging

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The board of the Virgin Islands port authority has covered a US$2.2 million overrun in the cost of dredging around the cruise piers at the Austin Monsanto Cruise Terminal by approving reallocating funds from the 2014 Marine Capital Programme bond series.
Besides, a contract has been approved to begin a feasibility study immediately to identify at least two options for the location of a second cruise ship dock in Crown Bay, St. Thomas.
In 2014, the funding for the dredging came from bonds was issued. The board has budgeted an An initial US$3.5 million for the dredging of the entryway to the Port Authority’s cruise terminal on St Thomas. But the project is costing more than they expected before.

Whatcom Waterway Cleanup Dredging Underway

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A $35 million cleanup in the Whatcom Waterway is in full swing. Port of Bellingham has just released this video that shows progress on the Whatcom Waterway dredging scheme.

Port of Oakland Dredging in Full Swing

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The Port of Oakland is nearly a third of the way through its annual maintenance dredging program for 2015.

By November, the Port plans to scoop 185,000 cubic yards of sediment from 17 deep-water shipping berths. The goal of the $3.7 million projects: maintain 50-foot depths so container ships aren’t stuck in the mud.

The port said it has dredged 45,000 cubic yards of material from six berths since dredging began in August. It will clear another 140,000 yards of material from 11 additional berths.

The dredging season is restricted to this time period to protect endangered fish and fowl. Sediment dredged from Oakland berths is being deposited at the Montezuma Wetlands on Suisun Bay. The 2,400-acre marsh is being restored as a shorebird habitat.