Hard Hat News

Of all the rivers in the world, the St. Lawrence River is undeniably one of the most challenging for mariners.This water highway is at some spots as narrow as a large river and, at others, as wide as a small sea. It has played a vital role over the last three centuries as an important artery for trade, communication, transportation and settlement. And since 1959, the year the St. Lawrence Seaway was inaugurated, it has been a gateway to the heart of the continent.The first European explorers who sailed the St. Lawrence discovered it was not easy to master: it was long, but never calm.

The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding trains shipbuilders and leaders to build some of the highest value maritime assets on the planet: U.S. Navy ships. Dr. Latitia McCane, Director of Education, The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding discusses the challenges and rewards of the job.While most shipbuilders lament the dearth of interest from the next generation to take up a career in shipbuilding, Dr. Latitia McCane, Director of Education, The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding has the opposite problem…

Big investments, lean manufacturing techniques borrowed from the automotive industry, and a more engaged workforce have revamped the Wisconsin shipyard where Italy's Fincantieri SpA builds the Freedom variant of the U.S. Navy's coastal warships for prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. Fincantieri invested $100 million in recent years to transform the 1940s era shipyard into a state-of-the-art facility, where seven LCS ships are now under construction, including three that have already been launched into the river.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the crew of a nearby ship are searching for a crewman who fell overboard while painting the side of a bulk carrier at anchor about 10 miles off Sabine Pass, Texas, Saturday. The crew of the CF Crystal, a Chinese-flagged 738-foot bulk carrier, contacted Coast Guard Sector Houston/Galveston watchstanders at about 9 a.m. Saturday, to report a crewman had fallen overboard. The crew reportedly threw the man a life ring but couldn't reach him, and they saw him submerge shortly after. The USCG dispatched a Station Sabine Pass 45-foot rescue boatcrew, which arrived on scene within 30 minutes and began searching. A MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Houston was also sent to join the search.

NOAA announced it has found the underwater wreck of the passenger steamer City of Chester, which sank in 1888 in a collision in dense fog near where the Golden Gate Bridge stands today. The announcement was made during a press event at Gulf of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary’s San Francisco headquarters at Crissy Field. NOAA’s predecessor agency first located ship in 1890, two years after it sank. The story of City of Chester will be shared with the public in a future waterfront exhibit NOAA will place at the sanctuary office at Crissy Field. The office is the former U.S.

KVH provides and Harvey Gulf employs possibly the most sophisticated on-board SATCOM and related service package on the water. That’s no accident. If quality service, high tech hardware and quality personnel are the common bonds shared by marine communications provider KVH and its customer Harvey Gulf International Marine, then the relationship is probably a match made in heaven. Harvey Gulf, already a long-time user of the KVH suite of services and equipment, is today converting every vessel in their rapidly expanding 60+ fleet to the latest and greatest equipment standard. From where they sit, that means KVH. For its part, the business relationship allows KVH to showcase to every other customer and potential user as to what is actually possible at sea in today’s environment.

Sonetics Launches Wireless Made Easy Trade-Up Program to Provide Reliable Team Communications for Users of Legacy Wired Systems. Sonetics has announced the Wireless Made Easy Trade-up Program for users of legacy wired headsets. The program offers credits up to $150 per wired headset redeemed towards the purchase of completely wireless Apex and Triton headsets providing a cost-effective transition to wireless benefits while upgrading from David Clark, Peltor, Piratecom, Avcom and other legacy systems. Millions of headset users remain tethered to intercom systems, repeatedly repairing unreliable decades-old wired equipment at substantial ongoing cost.

John Poulson Rejoins Management Team. Well-known surveyor John Poulson, a highly-experienced former mariner, is rejoining the American P&I Club’s management team on February 1 as vice president, principal surveyor and head of the survey and technical department. He worked with the club’s managers for several years in the middle of the last decade before moving to GL Noble Denton (as it is now), New York, where he had oversight and responsibility for that company’s operations throughout the Americas.

Former President George H.W. Bush, prepares to signal the launch of two "dead loads" off the flight deck of the Precommissioning Unit (PCU) George H. W. Bush's (CVN 77). "Dead Load" launches test the ship's catapult systems ability to launch aircraft. The ship is under construction at Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipyard. U.S. From Pre-Commissioning Unit George H. Marking a milestone in the construction of the U.S. Navy's newest aircraft carrier, Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) George H.

3PS, Inc. A. L. ACL INDUSTRIES, INC. Product: A/COM LADDERS, INCLINED LADDERS, VERTICAL LADDERS, GANGWAYS, BATTENS, GRATING, LADDER TREADS, CUSTOM FABRICATIONS IN ALUMINUM, STAINLESS, FIBERGLASS. ISO-9001 REV2000 REGISTERED. ADAMS LAND AND MARINE Ltd. Product: Cargo pumps, Water Pumps, Hoses, Air Compressors, USCG Certified Tankerman,etc. Allied Systems Co. Appleton Marine, Inc. 3030 E. Product: Johnson Cutless Bearings, Duramax DuraCooler, Duramax BoxCooler, Johnson Demountable Keel Coolers, Johnson Stuffing Boxes, Duramax Shaft Seals, Johnson Commercial Fendering and Dock Bumper. E-Crane Intl U.S.A. Hyde Marine, Inc. P.O. InterOcean Systems, Inc. Product: Deck Winches for All Applications & Loads. 79 So. McElroy/Catchot Winch Co. PO. BOX 4632, BILOXI, Miss. Morgan Marine WRM Inc.

You'd think it would be easy to start a tugboat museum. First, get an old tugboat. Clean-up some rust with a pad of coarse steel wool, slap-on a coat of paint, and presto, you're ready to sit in the booth and sell tickets. Everyone would applaud your efforts because, first, everyone loves tugboats and all they represent - solid construction and earnest purpose, hard work and benevolent contributions to civilization. And second, because old tugboats, all spiffied-up, are handsome sights, an alluring environmental decoration wherever they're found. And third, because the design of tugboats, like most of society's tools, has undergone great change, and the old ones are dying-off fast. You'd think everyone would support your labors at preserving a noble cultural heritage.

Some of the newest OSHA regulations impacting the shipyard industry deal with Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE). When this set of standards was first published, many questioned the need for them - after all, how complicated are hardhats, safety glasses or steel-toe boots? At first glance, a PPE program does not seem very complex or difficult to implement; however, I have found this is a consistently deficient area in the safety audits I have performed. When I visit workplaces, I often find inappropriate PPE is being used or PPE is not being used at all. The identification of the appropriate PPE associated with a particular task or job classification is the first step in an effective PPE program.

A splashing debut with new innovations could best describe the inauguration of Celebrity's Millennium, which occurred in England this past summer. Ironically, the splashing part of the gas turbine-powered vessel's debut is what is now causing headaches at the Miami, Fla.-based company. It seems that the slapping of the water against the vessel's hull is causing excess vibration. Quick to offer a remedy is Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), which was awarded the repair contract from Celebrity in August. The company, which brainstormed with Celebrity's executives on September 8 at Kingsmill's conference facilities in historic Williamsburg…

The man-made chasm, large enough to swallow the Titanic whole, yawns before him. To reach the bottom takes an elevator, a hard hat and no fear of heights. But for Ivan Lasso, superintendent of the Panama Canal's Pacific locks, entering the void is all in a day's work. The huge 85-year-old lock chambers need a routine overhaul. When the locks were hand-poured in 1913, they were the largest reinforced concrete structures ever, allowing engineers to dream up skyscrapers they would later build in Manhattan. Tall as a six-story building, the 700-ton riveted steel Miter gates - 88 in all in the 50-mile (82 km) canal's three flights of locks - established Pittsburgh as a steel town.