Coordinating Committee News

The U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS) COVID-19 Working Group (C-19 WG) is encouraging mariners from all segments of the U.S. maritime industry to anonymously complete the “Mariner Mental Health Needs during Covid-19” online survey here.The confidential survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and asks mariners about COVID-19, mental health, and their experiences and feelings when on board vessels during the challenges of this pandemic. No mariner identification data is collected.CMTS…

As commercial shipping and energy activities picks up in the Arctic region, the prospect of accidental oil spills in this pristine environment remain a concern. In response, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking the lead – through the U.S. Coast Guard – to develop a subsea robotic system to map and report on spills.“Because of ice coverage and the tyranny of distance, it is difficult to get resources and assets up in the Arctic in a quick manner,” said Kirsten Trego, Executive Director of the Coast Guard’s Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research.

A coalition of maritime business and industry organizations sent a letter to key Members of Congress on Friday, March 24 urging funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to further support efforts undertaken by the State of Illinois to slow, stop and reverse the migration of Asian carp, an aquatic invasive species, through cost-effective measures. In the letter, the UnLock Our Jobs (UOJ) coalition members review the record of success that the GLRI has had in working with the State of Illinois to develop a range of strategies to control Asian carp…

International Maritime Organization (IMO) is supporting countries in western Africa to enhance their national search and rescue (SAR) services with a regional training course and meeting taking place in Lagos, Nigeria this week. The activities are assisting Member States under the “Nigeria SAR Region” (Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe) to develop their regional SAR Plan and to increase regional cooperation. The training course (21-23 November) covered the duties of search and rescue “On-Scene Coordinators”, which was followed by the third meeting of the regional SAR Coordinating Committee.

Researchers tackle the tough problems despite a lack of funding and official incentives to move forward. Progress, in particular for Arctic spill response equipment and techniques, is being made. Even in the messy but now seemingly distant wake of such environmental disasters such as the Exxon Valdez grounding and the Deepwater Horizon accident, domestic oil spill response requirements still provide little or no incentive for responders in the U.S. to develop and deploy new equipment. Elsewhere, other countries (especially Norway) have better options for testing and approving systems using an intentional spill. Here at home, this approach has been recommended especially for the Arctic by many stakeholders, to no apparent avail.

Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus announced today that the first ship of the next generation of fleet replenishment oilers (T-AO 205) will be named USNS John Lewis after the civil rights movement hero and current U.S. representative of Georgia's Fifth Congressional District. The announcement was made at a ship-naming ceremony held at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C. "As the first of its class, the future USNS John Lewis will play a vital role in the mission of our Navy and Marine Corps while also forging a new path in fleet replenishment," said Mabus. Lewis' dedication to the civil rights movement began in earnest while he was still a young man, when he organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research (ICCOPR) unanimously approved the Oil Pollution Research & Technology Plan (OPRTP) for FY2015-2021 at the committee’s quarterly meeting Sept. 29, 2015, in Arlington, Virginia. The purpose of the plan is to provide current assessments of the nation’s oil pollution research needs and priorities. This is the first update to the plan since 1997. "The research needs focus on the tools and technologies employed by the Coast Guard On-Scene Coordinators to address oil spills in the marine environment," said Bill Vocke, who works for the Coast Guard's incident management and preparedness policy directorate at Coast Guard Headquarters and also serves as ICCOPR’s executive director.

Denise Rucker Krepp, former Maritime Administration Chief Counsel who currently advocates on behalf of the U.S. domestic ship recycling industry, issued a statement at the Coast Guard Shipping Coordinating Committee Meeting March 12, 2014, in Preparation for the April 2014 Maritime Environment Protection Committee Meeting. Below are her comments. Good morning. My name is Denise Krepp and I am representing EMR-Southern Recycling. As I mentioned last year, EMR-Southern Recycling is the premier metal recycling operation in the U.S.

President Obama pledged in his first four years of office to have a more transparent government. He issued a memorandum on transparency and open government on his second day in office directing agencies to make information more available to the public in a timely manner. Sadly, the Administration has failed to achieve this goal and its decision making processes have become more opaque. The public has a right to know how the Administration develops its policies and this can only occur if the Administration is open and transparent.

The ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation) spoke out against a temporary injunction that throws out striking dockers from Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, Port of Hong Kong. On January 30, the ITF Hong Kong Dockers Coordinating Committee comprised of Hong Kong Storehouses, Transportation and Logistics Staff Association (HKSTLSA), the Union of Hong Kong Dockers (UHKD) and the Hong Kong Docks and Ports Industry Unions (HKDPIU) called for dialogue with Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT) and its subcontractors over decent working conditions for all workers regardless of their employment status. In response to a lack of dialogue from the company and its disregard for the union's call for pay parity…

The US Arctic Research Council (ARC) in association with others, reports on research & mitigation measures for oil spills in the Arctic marine area. This “white paper” is a compilation of research on oil spills in ice-covered Arctic waters and recommendations for future work. ARC identify research entities in governmental, nongov- ernmental, industrial, and private organizations, and provide an inventory of research projects. (3) the fate of oil and its effects on the environment. Following this summary is a discussion of the work of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research (ICCOPR), whose mission is to coordinate oil pollution research among the federal agencies.

Andrew Altendorf is the CEO and majority owner of Acme Environmental Inc. Acme’s history spans almost 50 years and the firm is recognized as a pioneer in the manufacture of oil spill containment booms and other oil spill recovery items. A U.S. Coast Guard classified OSRO, Acme and Altendorf support numerous customers in Oklahoma and the Midwest with their emergency response. He has been the President of the Spill Control Association of America since November of 2010. Prior to taking the reins as President, he served on the SCAA Board of Directors for 5 years.

Commercial and military users of electric propulsion systems have experienced failures of the variable frequency drive (VFD) and harmonic filter (HF) systems because the system design, including the VFD, did not have adequate self-monitoring and protection. On a ship, a variable-frequency drive (VFD) can be used to control the speed and direction of rotational motors, such as pumps, propellers and azipod systems. In some cases, these failures have resulted in catastrophic equipment failures causing arcing, fire and explosions of capacitors. In September of 2010, the Cunard Carnival cruise ship RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2) was underway in the Mediterranean when an explosion occurred in the aft main switchboard room resulting from the failure of one of 12 capacitors in a harmonic filter…

A strong delegation of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS) led by Chairman Theodore Veniamis visited the 23rd Posidonia Exhibition today where they met with many decision makers from the global marine community who converged to Athens once again to participate at the world’s biggest shipping trade event. The UGS members visited major exhibitors across the vast four halls of the 60,000 square-metres Metropolitan Expo and met with representatives from Far Eastern, US and European shipbuilders, marine equipment suppliers and classification societies. “This is the best and biggest Posidonia ever with more than 1,800 exhibitors from almost 90 countries.

The Greek Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikramenos presided today, Monday June 4th over the official opening ceremony of the international shipping exhibition Posidonia 2012. Many government officials, foreign diplomats and representatives of Greek and international maritime organizations attended the inauguration ceremony of Posidonia, the premier event of the global shipping industry. In his address, the Greek Premier said: “The participation of so many exhibitors at this year’s Posidonia…

It’s been a year since we first told you here in Maritime Reporter about the effort to update and rewrite the IEEE-45 Standard for Electrical Installations on Ships. At that time, we urged qualified experts to offer suggestions and volunteer to join in the effort as members of the committee. Thanks to those who agreed to support the committees work, a great deal of progress has been made, says Moni Islam, chair of the IEEE-45 Standard Coordinating Committee. However, he says, there is still important work to be done and volunteers are still needed, especially now that some of the work is coming to a conclusion. The IEEE-45 standard was first released in 1920.

The U.S. Arctic Research Commission believes that the U.S. needs a robust research program to address spill response in broken ice, as shipping moves into the Arctic Ocean and offshore oil drilling - in several Arctic nations - moves forward. Mead Treadwell, chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, prepared testimony for the August 20 field hearing in Anchorage of the U.S. Senate's Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Treadwell told the committee that, contrary to laws passed by Congress after the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in 1989, a significant national oil spill research program does not exist, nor is one planned to fit the special needs of the Arctic. It was anticipated that the U.S.

The Shipping Coordinating Committee, sponsored by the US Department of State, will conduct several meetings in Washington, DC.  On May 22, the Subcommittee on Flag State Implementation will meet to prepare for the upcoming session of its counterpart group at the IMO.  Topics on the agenda will include port state control guidelines on seafarers’ working hours and marine casualty investigations.  On May 27, the Subcommittee on IMO Administration and Budgeting and the Subcommittee on IMO Technical Cooperation will meet to prepare for the upcoming sessions of their counterpart groups at the IMO.  73 Fed. Reg. 28545  (HK Law)

The Shipping Coordinating Committee, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, will conduct two meetings. On March 23, it will meet in Washington, DC to prepare for the next session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). Items on the agenda include recycling of ships; prevention of air pollution from ships; and anti-fouling systems. The second meeting, also on March 23 in Washington, DC, will present the results of the recent Diplomatic Conference on Ballast Water Management. (HK Law).

The Shipping Coordinating Committee, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, will meet in Washington, DC on February 3, 2004 to prepare for the upcoming Diplomatic Conference on Ballast Water Management for Ships. The Diplomatic Conference is scheduled to take place in London on February 9-13, 2004. 69 Fed. Reg. 3187 (Source: HK Law)

Agreement has been reached between Kværner and its largest shareholder, Aker Maritime, on a comprehensive industrial and financial solution for the Kværner group. This solution means that Kværner will secure additional equity through share issues and through the merger of Aker Maritime's core business with Kværner Oil & Gas. It builds on the main lines of the modified Yukos plan presented by Aker Maritime last week. Kværner's other large shareholder, Russia's Yukos Oil, has announced its support for the new solution and has withdrawn its original proposal. Negotiations are continuing with the bank coordinating committee on modified lending terms, and agreement on a recommended solution is expected within 24-48 hours.

The Shipping Coordinating Committee, sponsored by the US Department of State, will hold two meetings in Washington, DC. The first meeting, on January 22, is to prepare for the upcoming session of the IMO Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment. Topics on the agenda include the longitudinal strength of tankers and prevention of accidents with lifeboats. The second meeting, on January 30, is to prepare for the upcoming session of IMO Sub-Committee on Bulk Liquids and Gases. Topics on the agenda include evaluation of safety and pollution hazards of chemicals and requirements for carriage of bio-fuels and bio-fuel blends. 73 Fed. Reg. 1394 (HK Law).

The Shipping Coordinating Committee, sponsored by the US Department of State, will meet in Washington, DC on February 19 to prepare for the upcoming session of the IMO Sub-Committee on Standards for Training and Watchkeeping. Topics on the agenda include safe manning levels of ships and unlawful practices associated with certificates of competency. 73 Fed. Reg. 6547 (HK Law).