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ABS Certify First Drone Specialist for Internal Vessel Inspections

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U.S. ship captain released by Venezuela, charges dropped.

Alaska fisherman survives 26 hours floating in fish crate.

Iran threatens U.S. Navy as sanctions hit economy.

More than 300 fall ill on Royal Caribbean ship; cruise cut short.

Football-size robot can skim discreetly along a ship's hull to seek hollow compartments concealing contraband.

Calif. official: Tsunami damage upward of $40M.

U.S. West Coast port employers seek mediation in dockworker talks.

Kurds ask U.S. court to scrap seizure order, allow crude delivery.

The global COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp decline in vessel traffic in many areas around the world, including vessel-based tourism throughout Alaska, USA in 2020. Marine vessel traffic has long been known to affect the underwater acoustic environment with direct and indirect effects on marine ecological processes. Glacier Bay National Park in southeastern Alaska has monitored underwater sound since 2000. We used continuous, calibrated hydrophone recordings to examine 2020 ambient sound levels compared with previous years: 2018, the most recent year with data available, and 2016 for historical perspective. Park tourism occurs mainly in May-September. Overall, the number of vessel entries in Glacier Bay was 44-49% lower in 2020 (2020: n = 1,831; 2018: n = 3,599; 2016: n = 3,212) affecting all vessel classes, including the complete absence of cruise ships and only three tour vessel trips. In all years, we found clear seasonal and diurnal patterns in vessel generated noise, focused from 06:00 to 20:00 local time (LT) in the summer months. Broadband (17.8-8,910 Hz) sound levels in the 2020 Visitor Season were 2.7 dB lower than 2018 and 2.5 dB lower than 2016. Focusing on morning (06:00-09:00 LT) and afternoon (15:00-18:00 LT) time-blocks when tour vessels and cruise ships enter and exit Glacier Bay, median broadband sound levels were 3.3-5.1 dB lower in 2020 than prior years. At the 95th percentile levels, morning and afternoon peak times in 2020 were 6.3-9.0 dB quieter than previous years. A 3 dB decline in median sound level in the 125 Hz one-third octave band in 2020 reflects a change in medium and large vessel noise energy and/or harbor seal vocalizations. Our results suggest that all types of vessels had a role in the quieter underwater sound environment in 2020, with the combined acoustic footprint of tour vessels and cruise ships most evident in the decrease in the 95th percentile loudest sounds. This and other descriptions of the pandemic-induced

U.S. sets sights on shipping companies for sanctions evasions.

U.S. Navy again sails through Taiwan Strait, angering China.

Transportation and warmer ocean temperatures could play a role.

New Study Reveals Maritime Sector's Impact in Pacific Northwest.

A new report by UMAS, commissioned by The Ocean Conservancy titled "The Maritime Fleet of the USA-the current status and potential for the future" shows, for the first time, the scale of U.S. shipping fleet emissions and opportunities to decarbonise the sector. In 2018, carbon emissions from all U.S.-flagged vessels amounted to around 26 million tonnes, approximately 2.4% of global shipping emissions. Domestic shipping voyages accounted for about 70% of carbon emissions from the U.S.-flagged shipping fleet, which presents a unique opportunity for U.S. actions to effectively decarbonize the American maritime sector.

Ocean-based industries like shipping, aquaculture, and wind energy are growing at an unprecedented rate resulting in challenges related to siting and environmental management. As marine aquaculture and other ocean-based industries continue to expand, robust marine spatial planning analyses that reconcile existing ocean uses and integrate pertinent environmental and planning data are critical for identifying compatible locations. In this study, a series of geospatial analyses were used for aquaculture siting within and around a heavily trafficked and highly utilized maritime port in the San Diego Bay area of California, USA. Using a centralized geodatabase representing key aquaculture planning spatial datasets, recommendations for specific areas for aquaculture were developed based on appropriate environmental conditions for candidate shellfish and algae aquaculture species culture systems. Areas that were known constraints were first identified to determine potentially usable areas for shellfish and macroalgae (i.e., seaweed) aquaculture using an exclusion analysis, a type of multi-criteria decision analysis, to eliminate all areas without compatibility. Within the remaining usable area, we further considered shellfish and macroalgae culture system-specific factors within a 'culture systems analysis' to determine where different culture systems have potential for success. This analysis provides a foundation of coastal intelligence for guiding the aquaculture industry and natural resource managers towards appropriate siting decisions. This study can serve as a replicable example of aquaculture spatial planning approaches for siting sustainable aquaculture and other blue economy industries.

Shell Kulluk Grounding Off Alaska Leaves Drill Ship Status Uncertain (PHOTOS).