27 Feb

The Seamen’s Church Institute presents lifesaving awards to Foss and Maersk crews

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News

The Seamen's Church Institute recognized the crew of Justine Foss and the crews of Eli Maersk and Clementine Maersk with the organization's Lifesaving Awards at the Silver Bell Awards Dinner in New York on June 1. Jean R. Smith, executive director of SCI, commended the crew of Justine Foss. She praised "the brave crew of the Justine Foss for their…

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27 Feb

New products aim to improve upon life rings

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News

By Dom YanchunasFor Capt. Rory Sheridan and deck hand Paul Monti, it was supposed to be a routine pilot transfer from a bulk freighter in San Francisco Bay. Instead, the two crewmembers of the pilot vessel Golden Gate found themselves in the midst of a frantic water rescue of two men near the anchored ship. A surveyor was transferring from…

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27 Feb

Technological advances helping to take the guesswork out of towline safety

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News

Marshall Foss, shown here assisting a bulk carrier in San Francisco Bay, is one of two Foss Maritime tugs testing a system for accurately measuring the strain put on towlines during assist jobs. [Courtesy Foss Maritime] For tug masters, it's perhaps the greatest eternal mystery. Exactly how many jobs can a towline handle before it's in danger of breaking? How…

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27 Feb

This captain is willing to mow the owner’s lawn

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Gene Pelland said fellow skippers warned him not to accept a job as captain of musician Billy Joel's fleet of pleasure craft. The Rhode Island native pointed out that professional yacht captains live by a simple credo: "Don't mow the owner's lawn." That means captains who work for a private owner want to limit their work to the boats they…

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27 Feb

From a climate zone away, Crowley dispatchers oversee tugs in California

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Jay Martin, a tug dispatcher for Crowley, gazed at his computer monitor, tracking the movement of vessels in the nation's busiest port complex, Los Angeles/Long Beach in Southern California. Martin's job is to make sure the four tugboats operated by his company in Los Angeles/Long Beach are at the right place at the right time. His computer displays in real…

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27 Feb

Perseverance prevails, as tugs wiggle Intrepid free of mud

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News

For the tugboat industry, it's one of the most famous towing operations in years. Yet it almost didn't happen--twice. On Dec. 5, McAllister Towing and Transportation Co. successfully delivered the historic USS Intrepid to dry dock in Bayonne, N.J. For the previous 24 years, the World War II-era aircraft carrier had rested at Pier 86 in Manhattan as part of…

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