Apart from a few isolated weeks here and there, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have barely slowed or even noticeably affected the marine projects sector. Ports and other coastal developments continue to be established developed and improved almost constantly.
With the world's container, tanker, bulker and specialised ships growing ever larger and deeper, our ports have continually to be rebuilt, deepened and generally expanded and improved so as to handle them. Obviously, these developments require ever larger and more capable dredgers and other coastal construction vessels.
The same applies to crane vessels, trenching and rock piling ships as well as flat top materials carrying barges and the tugs that move them and work boats that service them. Even hydrographic vessels and robots are part of the ongoing and ever growing process.
It seems that even the much-neglected and badly congested United States is about to see some massive development of its maritime infrastructure with President Biden's much promised and hyped multi-trillion dollar spending programme soon to commence.
In Asia, of course, marine projects have been flourishing for half a century with port development having continued virtually non-stop. It is even seeing a boom in "island building" in parts of the South China Sea!
It is a hyper-active sector involving vast numbers of very busy boats and ships. Many of the new ones will be presented here on Baird Maritime over the next few days.
– "For the first time, hydrodynamic and navigation simulation models will be integrated with data collected in the field in real time, allowing for the evaluation of the hydrodynamic impact on the channel and on the neighbouring strips in relation to maritime traffic."
– "Offshore wind shows every sign of being as speculative and volatile as the offshore oil and gas sector it is supposed to replace."
– by Hieronymus Bosch, anonymous commentator and Baird Maritime's insider in the world of offshore oil and gas operations
– "If you take a step back and look at what is happening in the world, you can't deny that there is a clear push to come out of the coronavirus crisis with a stronger focus on sustainability and renewable energy."
Remember to come back every day to see the latest news, opinion and vessel reviews!
Any news or views about the global marine project sector? Send it through to editor@baird.com.au ASAP (between now and November 26), so we can add it to this current edition of Marine Projects Week!
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