Trends - Professional Mariner

Maritime industry labor challenges persist despite cooling economy

Recruiting and retaining employees remains a challenge within the maritime industry, although insiders say there are many opportunities for advancement for those who pursue a career on the water. Steve Haft, vice president of human resources for Saltchuk Marine Shared Services in Seattle, Wash., said the company finds employees from many places. This includes U.S. maritime academy graduates as well…

Tips for starting a maritime career

At McAllister Towing, before applying for a position, we recommend applying for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). After receiving your TWIC, you must obtain a Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) through the National Maritime Center (NMC) by submitting your application to the nearest of 19 Regional Exam Centers (REC). The REC will forward your application to NMC for evaluation. Once your…

Flexible SCR solutions favored for smaller workboats

In a few short months, the San Francisco Bar Pilots will take delivery of a new vessel designed to handle rough waters outside the Golden Gate Bridge. The 67-foot aluminum launch is under construction at Snow & Company in Seattle. It features the same Camarc Design hull used by pilots up and down the West Coast. The propulsion package sets…

Nudging the industry toward a greener future

Tore Hoem looked across the vast fjord on a frigid Arctic afternoon on Svalbard, some 1,250 miles north of Oslo, Norway, and predicted the weather would hold. “The sea looks OK,” said Hoem, the adventures director for tour company Hurtigruten Svalbard. “I don’t expect too much wind. We might have a bit of waves. Let’s see.” Moments earlier, he guided…

Coastal port congestion making inland container service more appealing

Supply chains are stressed. The biggest United States ports struggle to process container after container of imported goods. Given this challenging environment, some shippers believe container-on-barge (COB) service on the inland waterways might be a long-term solution. Building out that service, however, remains the challenge. There is general agreement that there is great potential to increase container movement by…

3D tugboat design comes to life

Signet Maritime Corp. has begun construction on the first commercial vessels in the United States developed using a purely 3D design process. The tugboats will be built to the Advanced Rotortug design by Robert Allan Ltd., which places two azimuthing drives forward and one aft. The concept was first developed by Dutch company Kotug, and tugboats outfitted with this propulsion…

Military contracts drive demand for new patrol boats

The United States Navy operates some of the most advanced, most capable warships in the world. And when those vessels are in port, the service relies on a force of smaller crafts to keep its ships, sailors and installations safe. That’s the concept behind the Force Protection-Medium (FP-M) patrol boats currently under construction at Lake Assault Boats in Superior,…

Federal port funding targets supply chain, ‘green’ upgrades

The marine terminal in Portsmouth, Va., has known busier times before, and it will see busy times again. Thanks to a change in the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s (DOT) funding strategy, marine terminals and cargo facilities around the country can now use DOT port money for projects beyond freight-handling and infrastructure improvements. And those changes will take…