Maryland bans cellphone use by cargo ship pilots

The Maryland Board of Pilots has decided to enact a rule change that forbids on-duty pilots from using their phones.

Efforts to free the giant container ship are continuing after the 400m-long vessel became stuck in the Suez canal. Local authorities attempted to dislodge the 220,000 ton vessel from the banks of the canal using tug boats, but the megaship remains stuck more than one day after it ran aground.

A container ship is reported to be stranded off the coast of Gibson Island in the Chesapeake Bay. Marine Tracker lists the ship as the Ever Forward and that it is aground. It appears there are several tugboats out of Baltimore trying to assist. The company that operates the ship, Evergreen, is the same one that was responsible for the ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal a year ago.

Finally!!! The last section of the ship was removed from the site and taken to port for final salvage. While there is still a lot of clean up remaining this is a big mile stone in the salvage operation of the Golden Ray which capsized over 2 years ago on 9/8/2019 in the sound of St Simons Island, Georgia. Included is the movement of the section along with footage taken from a boat trip at the site and at the port. Some of my best video in the 2 years I've been filming. So I hope you enjoy...

The growing influence of AIS data and analytics has shed the light on the increasing demand for new, smarter solutions in the maritime domain. During this interactive session, we discuss with AIS industry experts how we can take oceans of data and turn it into streams of actionable intelligence for better decision-making and more efficient and transparent shipping.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a Marine Accident Brief about an accident that occurred in March 2019, involving the towing vessel Dixie Vandal, noting that the BNWAS alarm didn't prevent the fatigued pilot from falling asleep.

On the first day of the "IMPA safety ladder campaign 2020", Joris Stuip, Vice President PTR Holland is rightly upset about obviously fake and manipulated certificates at Pilot Ladders. They are playing with the safety of the pilots.

The technology group Wärtsilä has delivered a navigation simulator and specific mathematical models to the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK) in the city of Rauma, Finland. These will be used as an essential enabler in the Intelligent Shipping Technology Test Laboratory (ISTLAB) project, which aims at creating a technically precise testing environment for remotely controlled, autonomous vessels. The contract with Wärtsilä was signed in the 4th quarter of 2019.