Uncategorized – Page 33 – Professional Mariner

28 Feb

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to buy research vessel

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute has signed a $1.6 million contract for a 60-foot coastal research vessel. The boat will be built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding of Somerset, Mass., for rugged inshore duty in the waters around Cape Cod. One mission will be to service the WHOI's new weather observatory on the Martha's Vineyard south shore. The vessel will sleep six…

28 Feb

Coastal Messenger

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Capt. Roy Getman grabbed a napkin and pulled a pen from his shirt pocket at the kitchen table of the Coastal Missions base in Chemainus, British Columbia. He scattered a series of dots and drew various-sized circles around each. "These dots represent a Christian influence, most likely a church," Getman explained. "And the circles are the spheres of its outreach…

28 Feb

Vessel Traffic System allows Southern California ports to handle growth safely

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

The neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach compete fiercely for business, but when it comes to moving ships in and out of San Pedro Bay safely, the two are eager collaborators. Image Credit: John Gormley Either one by itself would be the largest container port in the United States. Considered as a single transportation complex, which the…

28 Feb

Study calls for identifying bridges most likely to be hit by vessels

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

A new study of accidents involving vessels and bridges from 1992 through 2001 recommends the creation of a national list of bridges vulnerable to collision. Right now there is no national list that addresses safety issues connected with any of the country's 482,000 bridges over waterways. The bridge study came in response to two recent accidents. Left, in May 2002,…

28 Feb

Collisions and Their Causes – third edition

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Thucydides' wry observation in the fifth century B.C. that "a collision at sea can ruin your entire day" could well be the subtitle of Richard Cahill's Collisions and Their Causes. The third edition, published by the London-based Nautical Institute after Capt. Cahill's death, was supervised by Capt. A.N. Cockcroft, whose own work, A Guide to Collision Avoidance Rules, is also…

28 Feb

Coast Guard: Salvage industry must wait for proposed standards.

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

"It's time to get on with it," declared J. Arnold Witte Sr., president of the American Salvage Association, at the National Maritime Salvage Conference held in Alexandria, Va., in September. "Get this regulation passed or throw it away." The Coast Guard's salvage standards have been in the works for about 10 years. In May 2002, the Coast Guard released its…

28 Feb

Staten Island ferry crash leaves 10 passengers dead

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Initial reports indicated that the assistant captain at the ferry's controls may have lost consciousness in the crucial final minutes as the ferry approached land. Because the assistant captain was apparently no longer controlling the boat's speed or direction, the ferry is believed to have been traveling at its full service speed when it crashed. For safety reasons, New York…

28 Feb

New rules for ballast-water management are on the way

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta has directed the U.S. Coast Guard to propose new rules for tighter regulation of shipboard ballast-water management for all ships using U.S. waters. Reducing the introduction of nonnative aquatic species into U.S. waters from ballast water has been a federal goal since 1990. The existing voluntary compliance procedures enacted in 1993 have…

28 Feb

Mariner IDs to incorporate fingerprints

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Mariners around the world will soon be carrying fingerprint-based identification cards, following a meeting in Geneva of the International Labour Organization and the International Maritime Organization. Last updated in 1958 (ILO 108), the new Convention on Seafarers' Identity Documents could go into effect at the end of 2004, but organizations within the United States remain divided about how to implement…

28 Feb

Return of â€˜Big U’ delayed by problems with Pride of America

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Problems over the winter with Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America have put plans to renovate SS United States on hold. SS United States remains at the berth in Philadelphia where it has sat idle for years. NCL, which bought the liner in 2003, says it remains committed to returning the ship to service. Image Credit: Courtesy Mark Perry…