Industry Signals
Kings Point The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committees asks the GAO to investigate possible financial improprieties at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. No money has turned up missing but there are questions about whether the money was spent appropriately.
by Rich Miller
Ambrose Light It was New York Harbor’s beacon for 41 years. Now Ambrose Light is a thing of the past – a victim both of a maritime accident and of progress.
by Dom Yanchunas
Buzzards Bay Massachusetts has created a program that will pay for escort tugs and pilots to guide double-hull vessels transporting oil across Buzzards Bay.
by John Snyder
TWIC The TWIC cards issued to transportation workers are now being required in ports in the Northeast. We take a look at the implementation of the program to see how well it is working.
by Rich Miller
Right Whales NOAA is proposing 10-knot speed limits for vessels operating in areas used by Atlantic right whales for migrating, feeding and giving birth.
by John Snyder
Charles W. Morgan The nation’s oldest commercial vessel, the whaler Charles W. Morgan at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, is about to get a historic overhaul.
by Richard Aichele
Towing
Roehrig Chris Roehrig founded a towing company 30 years ago with a single tug. He oversaw the company’s growth to eight tugs and almost 100 employees. Recently, he sold the company’s assets to K-Sea Transportation. He takes a look at how he and the industry have changed.
by Greg Walsh
Features
Amver Amver is a U.S. Coast Guard program that uses position data from merchant vessels to coordinate mid-ocean rescues. The voluntary program is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Over just the past 15 years, Amver responders have rescued 3,866 people from vessel in danger.
by Dom Yanchunas
NS Savannah The world’s only nuclear powered commercial vessel is in Baltimore for a cleanup. While the future of the government-owned ship is uncertain, the way may be opening up for it to become a museum ship.
by Mac King
Centerspread
New England ferries The Wronowski family of New London, Conn., owns a string of marine companies, including Cross Sound Ferry Services and Block Island Ferry Services. At one end of the fleet is the Long Island Sound ferry Cape Henlopen, a 327-foot, passenger and car ferry. At the other end is the Block Island ferry Jessica W, an Incat-designed wave-piercing catamaran.
by Brian Gauvin
Casualties
Miss Calabash II A charter boat sinks off South Carolina after being engulfed by a quick-moving engine-room fire; 23 passengers and three crew jump into the water, and all are rescued.
by Dom Yanchunas
Valour The fatal capsizing of a tug off the Carolinas has prompted the coast guard to warn the industry to be strict about stability calculations.
by Dom Yanchunas
Galtex A pilot boat operator who was killed when his vessel overturned during pilot disembarkation at Galveston wasn’t lawfully permitted to operate such a boat because of a previous failed drug test.
by Dom Yanchunas
Baldock A Coast Guard report on the death of a Boston pilot in fall from a ladder fall.
by Dom Yanchunas
Trends and Currents
Diesel availability The shipbuilding boom means that boat operators wanting to construct new vessels or repower existing ones have to wait months or even years for delivery of new diesel engines.
by Rich Miller
Firefighting Fighting fires at offshore LNG terminals pose unique problems, including the lack of immediate fire, medical and other emergency assistance.
by Richard Aichele
