The following is the 2022 report from the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey. The report to Congress is an annual summary of the health of the Navy’s fleet.
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Category Archives: Merchant Marine
U.S. Maritime Industry Needs Better Business Case to Offer More Support to DoD, Says Panel
MARAD Ready Reserve ships MV Cape Ray (T-AKR-9679), MV Cape Rise (T-AKR-9678) in port near Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on April 6, 2023. USNI News Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The U.S. commercial maritime industry needs more business incentives to make changes that support the Defense Department’s requirements for sea lift, an industry panel said this week. Read More
MARAD Head ‘Not At All Confident’ Ready Reserve Fleet Could be Crewed in a Crisis
Signet Warhorse II towed Military Sealift Command’s Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/Roll-off (LMSR) ship USNS Yano (T-AKR 297) from Newport News Marine Terminal in Newport News, Va., to the Maritime Administration Reserve Fleet in Beaumont, Texas, where the vessel will permanently join MARAD’s Ready Reserve Force (RRF). US Navy Photo
The head of the Maritime Administration “was not at all confident” that all the ships in the Ready Reserve Fleet could be crewed if called to duty in a crisis. Read More
Chinese Naval Aviation to Allow Female, Non-Military College Pilots for the First Time
People’s Liberation Army Navy aircraft carrier Shandong berths at a naval port in Sanya, China. PLAN Photo
For the first time, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is recruiting females and graduates from non-military colleges to be naval aviators, it announced through a recruitment drive released Monday. Read More
U.S. Blames Iran for Drone Attack on Tanker Near Oman
Pacific Zircon Image via Vessel Finder
This story has been updated with more information from U.S. Central Command.
U.S. Central Command and Israeli officials are blaming Iran for a Tuesday attack on an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman. Read More
Expedition to Broadcast Survey of World War II Wrecks Live
Bluefields under the previous name Ormidale, predating 1938. NOAA Photo
The Valor in the Atlantic Expedition will livestream its survey of the historic wrecks of SS Bluefields, a freighter and U-576, a German submarine. Read More
Russian-Owned Super Yachts Going Dark to Avoid Sanction Seizure
Graphic by H I Sutton used with permission
Mega-wealthy owners of the superyachts value privacy and discretion and keep as low a profile their vessels allow and recent events in Ukraine have increased the desire of some superyacht owners to hide their movements.
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Navy Opens Up Military Deep-water Pier to Merchant Ships to Ease California Cargo Crisis
The Navy in partnership with the Oxnard Harbor District (OHD) is providing resources onboard Port Hueneme in direct support of decreasing port congestion in Los Angeles County and reducing the national supply-chain shortage on Nov. 22, 2021. US Navy Photo
With Southern California seaports overburdened by commercial ships and pandemic and supply-driven delays in moving cargo, the Navy agreed to allow cargo-carrying vessels to use one of its military wharves at Port Hueneme, Calif. Read More
Destroyer Performs FONOP, U.S. Navy Disputes Chinese Claim That It Ousted Warship
USS Benfold (DDG-65) as the ship transits the South China Sea conducting routine underway operations on Sept. 8, 2021. US Navy Photo
The U.S. Navy is disputing a claim from China that it chased an American warship out of the South China Sea after the U.S. vessel performed a freedom of navigation exercise. Read More
NTSB 2020 Digest of Maritime Accident Investigations
The following is the National Transportation Safety Board recently released Safer Seas Digest 2020 that summarizes major maritime accidents and lessons learned including the 2017 collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) off Japan and the collision of then-under construction USS Delbert Black (DDG-119). Read More
