A Mariner’s Notebook – Page 24 – Professional Mariner

21 Apr

Shut down unrestricted public Internet access to AIS data

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook

My wife and I were walking along a bluff trail overlooking Washington’s Puget Sound last month with some friends. As we sat there taking a break enjoying some hot coffee from our thermos, an inbound cargo ship passed by. Al asked, “Hey Kelly, what do you know about that ship?” Before I could reply, another in the group blurted out…

20 Apr

Restoring and updating New York’s Wireless Memorial

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook

The Veteran Wireless Operators Association has been working on a project of restoring and up-dating the Wireless Memorial at Battery Park. When the memorial is taken out of storage it will be located on State Street facing Pearl Street. In its new site, it will be passed by thousands of people each week between the Staten Island Ferry and the…

22 Mar

Bidding process needs transparency and competition

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook

Blaine Dempke, president of Markey Machinery Co., a maker of winches, sent the following letter to Matthew J. Hawkins, program director of the National Science Foundation: Matt, We are still reeling from the news that Rapp-Hydema has been awarded the Scientific Handling Systems Integrator tasks for the new ARRV. Having been involved with this project since its 2005 inception, we…

17 Mar

Maintenance payments should be enough to pay the bills

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook

I was the second mate on a 5,000-hp tug in Long Beach, Calif. It was late one January night at the end of a trip towing a 450-foot gasoline barge from the Gulf of Mexico. We’d just broken tow, and all we had to do was bring in a few tug lines used to tie up to the barge and…

12 Feb

A good word for renewal-by-mail

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook

Tom Forbes, a maritime lawyer and part-time sailing instructor in New Orleans with a 100-ton auxiliary sail license, reports that his efforts to renew his Coast Guard license by mail, went very smoothly. Here is what he has to say about his experience: I'd like to put in a good word about the renew-by-mail process I just went through, on…

11 Feb

In pirate zone, an unarmed ship is an unseaworthy ship

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook

In April 2009, the news that the U.S.-flag containership Maersk Alabama had been attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean spread across radio, television and print news outlets worldwide. That morning, a few hours before the media got hold of the story, a captain I know down in the San Francisco Bay area e-mailed me that an old shipmate of…

22 Jan

All crewmembers need to be able to operate watertight doors

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook, Publication > Professional Mariner

In March 2008, my friend Rosel was working as a deck hand on the 189-foot fish processing ship Alaska Ranger (See PM #114) in the frigid waters of the Bering Sea. After leaving Dutch Harbor, the 35-year-old ship fought its way through the ice on its way north. At about 0300 seawater began flooding into the rudder room, adjacent to…

21 Dec

Time for mariners to make their New Yearâ€™s resolutions

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook

Almost every mariner I talk with has an opinion about the recent U.S. Coast Guard Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 04-08, which established physical and medical standards not seen in our industry before. The NVIC details over 201 conditions that require a medical waiver from the Coast Guard — along with the time-consuming review process it involves. This long…

17 Dec

Where is the Masters License Issue Number?

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook

Gentlemen, I am saddened by the demise of a number I was a little proud of. The Masters License Issue Number is no longer printed in the new MMC booklets. (see below) Although I think I understand the reasoning, possibly assuming that a specific License has the same validity regardless of experience, I am disappointed that I can no longer…

06 Oct

The evils of criminalization

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook

The following article by Capt. Michael R. Watson, president of the American Pilots' Association, first appeared in the APA's newsletter, On Station. It is posted here with the permission of the APA. Though fallout from the COSCO BUSAN accident continues and legal proceedings remain sensitive, I feel compelled to discuss a related matter: the criminalization of marine casualties. I have…