The Association of Maryland Pilots has ordered its fifth Chesapeake Class launch from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation, Somerset, Mass. Delivery is scheduled for early 2024.

With a deep-V hull designed by Ray Hunt Design, the new all-aluminum launch measures 52.6 feet in overall length, with a 16.8 foot beam and a 4.8 foot draft.

The vessel is powered by twin Volvo Penta D16, EPA Tier 3-certified diesel engines, each producing 641 bhp at 1,800 rpm and is expected to reach a top speed of over 26 knots, The engines will turn 5-bladed Bruntons NiBrAl propellers via ZF500-1-A gear boxes.

The launch will be equipped with a Northern Lights 12 kW genset.

A Humphree interceptor trim control system, with automatic trim optimization, will be installed at the transom.

The wheelhouse, with a small trunk, is being installed amidships on a flush deck. With electrically heated, forward-leaning front windows, it is outfitted with five NorSap shock-mitigating reclining seats, a baggage rack and three weathertight doors.

The forecastle will include a porta-potty, split upholstered settee/bunk, a tool box

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Portland District officially welcomed its newest hydrographic survey vessel, the Beeman, with a dedication and christening ceremony in Newport, Oregon, Jan. 11.

The vessel was built by Workskiff Inc. of Sedro-Woolley, Wash., and is based on the yard’s 32-foot Commander model with a Furuno USA navigation system and survey package add-on.

The survey station accommodates two monitors with an HD monitor at the helm. Included are ac and DC power outlets for a 3,000-watt AC pure sine wave interior with mitigating shock seating. The exterior is equipped with a slide and swivel server rack, a galley for hot and fresh water, and a black water holding tank. A single beam through hull transducer sits on the bottom of the craft while a universal survey mount sits on the gunwale for over-the-side sonar deployment.

The Beeman, whose name honors the legacy of Ogden Beeman, chief of the Portland District’s Waterways Navigation Branch from 1960-1967, replaces and continues the work of the district’s aging vessel, the Patterson, which surveyed Oregon’s coastal

Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics Inc. has installed its new AI-ris computer vision product onboard a 270-foot U.S. Coast Guard Famous-class Medium Endurance Cutter ahead of an upcoming deployment.

AI-ris uses artificial intelligence to identify and track visual targets of interest. Installation on the cutter was made possible under an ongoing Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Sea Machines Robotics and the USCG Research and Development Center in an effort to evaluate how computer vision systems can be utilized for autonomous navigation, collision avoidance, and target detection. The deployment of AI-ris provides the USCG a new tool for maritime domain awareness and allows Sea Machines to refine its computer vision technology with feedback from the USCG across a range of environmental conditions and operational scenarios.

The collaboration between Sea Machines and the U.S. Coast Guard began in 2020 following the USCG Research and Development Center selecting the Sea Machines’ SM300 remote command and autonomy product for its 29-foot research vessel.

“The close collaboration between Sea Machines and the United States Coast Guard Research and Development

A little fun bit of news coming out of Louisiana as C&C Marine and Repair LLC, Belle Chasse, La., celebrates the holidays with its second annual Christmas light display. This year’s display is prominently located near the company’s main office.

The new display includes a 5,000 horsepower inland towboat, the M/V Kent Furlong, being pulled by Santa’s 20-foot-tall reindeer and led by Rudolph. Also new to this year’s display is a 10-foot Santa steering the reindeer from the boat’s pilot house.

“We received so much positive feedback last year from the community, that I knew that this had to become an annual tradition,” says C&C Marine and Repair’s owner Tony Cibilich. The display is outfitted with nearly a mile of Christmas lights and includes the two 30-foot fabricated Christmas trees, with a 5-foot star on top.

“Our hope is to add a new attraction to the display each year,” says C&C Project Manager Ben Sasso. The display was erected after the Thanksgiving holiday and will stay at its current location until after New Year’s.

“We

The Department of the Interior today announced results from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s wind energy auction for five leases offshore California. The lease sale represents the third major offshore wind lease sale this year and the first ever for the Pacific region. Today’s sale drew competitive high bids from five companies totaling $757.1 million, well exceeding the first lease sales that were held in the Atlantic.

Provisional Winner                                 Lease Area                         Acres                         High Bid
RWE Offshore Wind Holdings, LLC          OCS-P 0561                      63,338                      $157,700,000
California North Floating, LLC                OCS-P 0562                      69,031       

Americraft Marine, a maritime subsidiary of the Logothetis family’s Libra Group, is expanding investment in its Palatka. Fla., based shipyard, St Johns Ship Building, to increase capacity for construction of Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) and other offshore wind related vessels.

In addition to previous commitments from Americraft to its subsidiary, which it acquired earlier this year, the shipyard has also received the final approval of a MARAD grant modification. The investment along with the matching grant will provide for additional equipment and fabrication infrastructure specifically aimed at assisting in the expansion of the yard for the concurrent construction of multiple CTVs, supporting the U.S. offshore wind industry.

St Johns Ship Building currently has multiple Jones Act compliant CTVs under construction with four scheduled deliveries in 2023.

Source: https://www.marinelog.com/offshore/offshore-wind/st-johns-shipbuilding-to-ramp-up-ctv-construction-capability/

The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command has awarded Vigor Marine LLC., Portland, Oregon, a $20,187,816 firm-fixed-price contract for a 90-calendar day shipyard availability for a mid-term availability of the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19). The contract includes a base period and options that, if exercised, would bring its cumulative value to $20,915,538.

Work will be performed in Portland beginning Jan. 16, 2023, and is expected to be completed by April 15, 2023. Working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $20,187,816 are obligated for fiscal 2023 and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the System for Award Management website and one offer was received.

Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N3220523C4142).

Source: https://www.marinelog.com/shipbuilding/shipyards/shipyard-news/vigor-marine-awarded-20-1-million-mercy-contract/

Coden, Ala., based Master Boat Builders, Inc. reports that it has executed a contract to build two new tugboats for New Canaan, Conn., headquartered Moran Towing Corporation. The two tugs will be the first that Master Boat Builders will build for Moran Towing, which traces its roots backs to 1850 and whose coast to coast operations today include vessel towing, bulk marine transportation, LNG support operations, and environmental recovery services.

“We look forward to working with Master Boat on this project,” said Sean Perreault, Vice President, Engineering Services at Moran Towing. “Master Boat has a great reputation for delivering quality equipment on a consistent basis and we hope this new contract will lead to future opportunities for collaboration between the two companies. While we have an ongoing commitment to our traditional suppliers, our demand from customers has given us the opportunity to work with new partners that we hope will become long term relationships.”

Naval architect and marine engineering firm Crowley Engineering Services, which has a long history of designing vessels for Moran, created the