Professional Mariner – June 2022 – Professional Mariner

Buono retiring from USMMA amid ongoing Sea Year challenges

Vice Adm. Jack Buono, superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) for the last three-and-a-half years, has announced his retirement after a maritime career spanning more than 45 years. Buono, 66, is a Brooklyn, N.Y., native and 1978 graduate of the academy located in Kings Point, N.Y. He will formally step down after the June graduation ceremony. The U.S.…

Coast Guard urged to let mariners work while awaiting MMC

The Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) is pressing the U.S. Coast Guard to once again allow entry-level mariners to work on a provisional basis while waiting for their merchant mariner credential (MMC). The service previously allowed such a practice between 1936 and 1992. OMSA, a nonprofit trade group based in New Orleans, wants the Coast Guard to reinstate the Temporary…

New federal funding promises boost for Marine Highway Program

Automotive traffic enters the ferry in Cape May, N.J., and exits in Lewes, Del., making a water journey across Delaware Bay. But in one sense, it hasn’t left Route 9. A new round of federal funding is expected to improve this intermodal movement across America’s marine highways and promote waterborne transport as an alternative to roadway congestion. Nine marine highway…

Microplastic filters turn ships into ‘vacuum cleaners of the sea’

wo European companies have developed a new process that uses oceangoing ships to remove microplastics from the ocean. Wartsila and the Grimaldi Group developed the system, which filters microplastics out of shipboard exhaust water. The filter pairs with existing seawater scrubbers on ships, and it can be placed on either the supply or return side of the seawater stream, according…

New Sandy Hook Pilots station boat enters service in New York

The Sandy Hook Pilots Association has put its new station boat into service at the entrance to New York Harbor. The 208-foot New York is larger and has an improved seakeeping ability than the 137-foot New Jersey and its predecessor, the 182-foot New York. It has a fully staffed mess, pilot lounge and berthing for 28 pilots in 14 staterooms. …

Rebuilding the New Jersey shore, one load at a time

From a vantage point 70 feet above the waterline, the mate and drag tender aboard the articulated tug-barge (ATB) Douglas B. Mackie/Ellis Island collaborated to keep the unit working safely and efficiently. The job entailed sucking up tons of sand from dozens of feet below the surface at a designated location several miles off Sandy Hook, N.J., then delivering it…

Tugboat loses steering, grounds in narrow Alaska strait

An oceangoing tugboat lost its steering while transiting a narrow strait northwest of Sitka, Alaska, and its cargo barge collided with the vessel and pushed it aground. The 3,000-hp Western Mariner ran onto a rocky beach along the Neva Strait after the impact with its cargo barge Chichagof Provider. The grounding on March 21 at about 0300 ruptured a forward…

Ever Forward refloated after 35 days in Chesapeake Bay

Salvage crews freed the loaded containership Ever Forward on April 17, 35 days after it grounded in Chesapeake Bay. The 1,095-foot ship left the navigation channel and became stuck near Gibson Island, north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, on March 13 at about 2100. There were no injuries among the crew, no pollution, and the ship did not block maritime…

Impact with lock gate attributed to captain’s ‘sleep inertia’

The captain of a towboat that pushed its lead barge into a Louisiana lock gate was battling “sleep inertia” at the time, according to federal investigators. The 2,000-hp Ava Claire entered the Leland Bowman Lock in Intercoastal City, La., with two loaded tank barges on March 22, 2021, at 0519. The 298-foot HFL 439 hit the western gate at…

Crewmembers’ effective response contains OSV fire near Hawaii

A fire aboard an offshore supply vessel near Hawaii has been traced to a catastrophic mechanical failure on a diesel generator engine, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. Crew aboard the 243-foot Ocean Intervention contained and extinguished the blaze in the engine room before it could spread to other parts of the ship. No injuries were reported among the…