Offshore Wind Energy Facility
To be Constructed in Massachusetts
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the construction of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal in Massachusetts, which will be the first facility in the U.S. designed to support the construction, assembly and deployment of offshore wind projects. It will be a multipurpose facility that will enable the Port of New Bedford to handle high-volume bulk and container shipping, as well as large specialty marine cargo. 

The project is expected to go out to bid to prospective developers within the next several weeks and to be completed in 2014. The final cost of the terminal is estimated to be approximately $100 million.

Apex Companies LLC's (Rockville, Maryland) waterways division will serve as Massachusetts' permitting, design and construction consultant.

Construction will include dredging and removal of contaminated sediment for the passage of deepwater vessels, construction of a 1,000-foot-long extension to the existing South Terminal bulkhead, placing of the clean sediment generated from the dredging behind the bulkhead to create additional acres of productive land for staging commercial-scale offshore wind projects, and construction of a confined aquatic disposal cell offshore for contaminated soils.

Caption: A map of the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Source: Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs press release

Two Dead in Black Elk Gulf Explosion,
BSEE Demands Company Improve Safety Performance
On November 16, an explosion and fire occurred aboard Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC's (Houston, Texas) West Delta 32 platform in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 17 miles southeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana. There were 22 workers on the platform at the time of the incident. One was found dead, and nine were injured, one of whom died last Thursday. Eleven workers were safely evacuated.

The fire was extinguished within an hour. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed following an over flight that there is no visible sheen. The production platform has been shut in since mid-August.  

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) notified Black Elk last Wednesday that the company must take immediate steps to improve its safety performance on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This precedes any potential enforcement actions following the conclusion of the bureau’s investigation into the incident.
 
“Black Elk has repeatedly failed to operate in a manner that is consistent with federal regulations,” said BSEE Director James A. Watson.
 
By December 15, the company must submit a performance improvement plan that details the steps it will take to ensure compliance in its operations. If the company does not demonstrate improved performance, it will face further enforcement actions, which could include revocation of its designation as an operator on all its facilities on the OCS.

Caption: An explosion and fire on Black Elk's West Delta 32 platform in the Gulf of Mexico on November 16. (Photo Credit: KLFY-TVIO)

Source: Black Elk Energy, BSEE press releases 

California Denies PG&E Geophysical Survey Application Due to Environmental Concerns
San Francisco, California-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) plans to study offshore earthquake faults near the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant were denied earlier this month by the California Coastal Commission, which sided with environmental groups’ concerns about the welfare of nearby marine life, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

PG&E had submitted a proposal to conduct high-energy seismic survey operations in waters offshore of San Luis Obispo County, and temporarily install and operate an array of seismic monitoring devices onshore. Active air-gun operations, generating an acoustic pulse of approximately 230 to 252 decibels at the source every 11 to 20 seconds, would have been limited to about 17 days: 9.25 for surveys, five for equipment calibration and testing and two for contingency.

PG&E acknowledged the survey’s environmental effects, offering to fund a monitoring program and cease air gun use if marine mammals drew near. The commission found that it did not have enough data to determine if these methods were the least environmentally damaging and that the plant being earthquake safe, as PG&E insisted, regardless of any new data meant there was no need to put marine mammals at risk.
 
Caption: PG&E's Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California. (Photo Credit: PG&E)

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, California Coastal Commission report

Brian Anderson Joins C & C Technologies
Brian Anderson (pictured) announced last Tuesday that he has accepted the position of autonomous surface vehicles (ASV) technical sales manager at C & C Technologies' (Lafayette, Louisiana) Houston, Texas, offices. He will pursue market expansion for the line of powered ASVs now being built and operated by C & C through its sister company, ASV Ltd. (Portchester, England). 

Previously, Anderson was vice president of oil and gas sales for Liquid Robotics Inc. (Sunnyvale, California), vice president of marketing and sales for SeaBird Exploration Americas (Houston) and vice president of marketing for Fugro Robertson Ltd. (Llandudno, Wales).

Source: C & C Technologies press release 

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Shipwreck on Fire Island
Hurricane Sandy has fully exposed a buried wrecked schooner on the Fire Island National Seashore in New York, Newsday reported. It is the remains of the Bessie A. White, a four-masted coal schooner built in 1919, wrecked in 1922 and periodically uncovered by storms, the National Park Service said. The wooden ship is a post-Civil War cargo vessel built before 1880, the Long Island Maritime Museum said. 

Fire Island is a barrier island that was entirely submerged in the wake of Sandy. The dune that had buried the wreck eroded about 72 feet, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Archaeologists and park officials are documenting the remains before the sea reburies the wreck with sand.

Caption: A wrecked schooner has been exposed on Fire Island by Hurricane Sandy. (Photo Credit: Cheryl Hapke/ U.S. Geological Survey)

Source: Newsday, OurAmazingPlanet 

Sea Tech Survey: How Was Business in 2012?
Did your company have record sales this year? Was a certain market area booming while another fizzled?

Sea Technology magazine wants to know.

Your answers, which will be kept anonymous and confidential, will be used in the annual Firing Line Report article to be published in our January 2013 issue. This report summarizes the climate for the oceanographic/marine markets in 2012.

The anonymous questionnaire of 10 questions, which will take only a few minutes to fill out, is available online here.

Industry input was invaluable in putting this year's Firing Line Report together, and we greatly appreciate your feedback for the 2013 edition.

We look forward to hearing from you.
___________________________________________________

New in Sea Technology...