J Arnold Witte News

The American Club reported solid progress during 2015 at the annual meeting of its members held in New York yesterday. Despite a challenging economic climate, the Club’s business developed respectably, and 2016 had started on a positive note. The Club’s tonnage and revenue experienced some attenuation in 2015 as global trade slowed and freight markets continued to struggle. Following the 2016 renewal, year-on-year tonnage entered for P&I and FD&D risks was stable at about 14 million GT for the former and 9 million GT for the latter class of business…

The American Club reported solid progress during 2014 at the annual meeting of its members held in New York today. Despite a challenging economic climate, the club’s business had developed favorably, and 2015 had started on a positive note. Tonnage and revenue grew strongly at the outset of 2014, but faded slightly later in the year as freight markets struggled. However, premium pricing remained firm, despite the enduring effect of “churn” as older, higher-rated vessels continued to be replaced by younger, lower-rated ships.

President & CEO: J. Donjon Marine Co., Inc. offers the marine community full-service solutions to meet every need in the field of marine salvage, dredging, material recycling and related services. Founded in 1964, Donjon Marine’s principal business activities were marine salvage, marine transportation, and related services. Donjon’s controlled expansion into related businesses such as dredging, ferrous and non-ferrous recycling and heavy lift services are a natural progression, paralleling a record of solid technical and cost-effective performance.

The Port of Erie is located on the southeast shore of Lake Erie in a natural bay formed and sheltered by Presque Isle peninsula. Its harbor entrance channel is narrow and 29 feet deep. Dredging is a constant concern. In fact, dredging of harbors around the Great Lakes has been a hot button issue for the maritime industry. Funding is provided by the Harbor Maintenance Tax which is a user fee collected by the federal government to ensure the adequate maintenance and operations of waterway infrastructure by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. On Tuesday, March 4, the Corps released their FY14 budget. It included an additional $25 million for Great Lakes harbors - $13.8 million of which will be dedicated to dredging.

Members of the American P&I Club have elected the first director to come from The People’s Republic of China (PRC). At the annual meeting in New York, Lianyu Zhu of CCCC International Shipping Corporation, Tianjin, was elected to the board for the forthcoming year. Mr. Zhu’s company is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, a major state-owned enterprise (SOE) which is, among other things, the largest port construction and design company in the PRC. The election highlights the American Club’s continuing growth in China in particular and Asia in general, supported by its Shanghai office which it opened in 2007. Servet Yardimci of the Yardimci Group, Istanbul, retired from the board, having been first elected a director in 2000. At the following board meeting, J.

The American Club reported solid progress on several fronts at the annual meeting of its members held in New York. Despite many challenges, including those intrinsic in a struggling maritime sector hampered by anemic growth in global trade, the club made progress in many areas during 2012 and has started 2013 on a positive note. Income came under pressure during the first half of 2012 as the retirement of older, higher-rated vessels and their replacement by newer, lower-rated ships, caused a reduction both in rates per ton and overall revenue by comparison with the position 12 months earlier. While retained claims developed within expectations…

Donjon Marine, Co., Inc., a provider of multi-faceted marine services including marine salvage, heavy lift, dredging, emergency response services and most recently shipbuilding and repair, has named John Noble as Managing Director - Donjon UK. Mr. Noble has worked in commercial shipping since 1962 when he joined HMS Conway, the preeminent pre-sea training school in the United Kingdom. He served as a deck officer in the British Merchant Marine sailing with shipping lines including Blue Funnel and Palm Line. After obtaining his Master Mariners certificate, Mr.

Erie, Pa. – Seajon LLC, a partnership between Seacor Holdings Inc. and Donjon Marine Co. Inc., held an open house and christening of the 34,000-ton capacity self-unloading articulated tug and barge (ATB) Ken Boothe Sr. and Lakes Contender. This ATB is the first of its kind to be built in Erie, Pennsylvania, since 1972. Donjon reopened the yard in December, 2009. "We are so pleased to christen this state-of-the-art ATB here in Erie, and to share in the success with our partner Seacor.

Donjon Marine Co., Inc. has been awarded a $41 million-dollar, ceiling-priced, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-award-fee contract for marine salvage, salvage-related towing, harbor clearance, ocean engineering and point-to-point towing services to support the U.S. Navy’s Director of Ocean Engineering, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving. In addition to the salvage component of this services agreement, Donjon was also awarded a contract to supply the U.S. Navy with Engineering Support Services on a worldwide basis. These contracts were competitively procured, with the Naval Sea Systems Command reviewing all submitted proposals. “Donjon is very pleased to continue to partner with the U.S. Navy as its commercial marine salvage and engineering support contractor,” said J.

Donjon Marine Co., Inc., along with partner Seacor Holdings Inc. announced the completion of the tugboat, Ken Boothe, Sr. The 10,700 hp tug will work as an Articulated Tug/Barge ( ATB) in conjunction with a 34,000 ton capacity self unloading bulk cargo barge. The tugboat was constructed in the Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair facility over the last 14 months. The still-to-be-named cargo barge is scheduled to be delivered in early Spring of 2012. "We are very pleased to see the completion of this state-of-the-art towing vessel, and to share in the success with our partner Seacor.

Patrick J. O’Hern has joined Donjon Marine Co., Inc.’s Shipbuilding and Repair as a consultant. He brings more than 35 years of shipyard experience in the Great Lakes region to this position as a result of his longtime employment at Bay Shipbuilding Company located in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., where he last served as Vice President and General Manager.   “We are pleased to announce the addition of Pat O’Hern and we welcome his experience and history of success to the Donjon management team.  Under Pat's leadership, many vessels constructed within the Great Lakes were built specifically for a number of coastal markets, so his success in both fresh and salt water markets is noteworthy,"  said J. Arnold Witte, President and CEO, Donjon Marine Co., Inc.

Donjon Marine, Co., Inc. announced that President and CEO J. Arnold Witte has joined the Board of Trustees of the Noble Maritime Collection, a museum and study center located in a former dormitory at the famous retirement home for mariners, Sailors' Snug Harbor in Staten Island, N.Y. The museum celebrates the people and traditions of the working waterfront. Witte was named to the Board, along with Shelagh E. Mahoney, President of the Eastern Salt Company, and Captain Timothy J. Ferrie, a 30-year member and full branch pilot of the United New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Association. The announcement was made by James J. Devine, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Noble Maritime Collection and President of New York Container Terminal.

Crowley Maritime Corporation announced that Todd Busch, the company's senior vice president and general manager of technical services, which includes Crowley subsidiary Titan Salvage, has been elected president of the International Salvage Union (ISU). Busch was elected during the ISU's 55th general meeting in Boston this week. He succeeds Arnold Witte, who will continue to be a member of the ISU's executive committee. Busch joined Crowley in 1987 as an ordinary seaman and since that time served aboard company tugs as a chief mate.

The American Salvage Association (ASA) is pleased with the announcement on December 30 that the United States Coast Guard's Marine Salvage and Firefighting Regulations have been posted for public inspection and were published on December 31st in the Federal Register. The long-awaited marine salvage and firefighting regulations are expected to go into effect within 30 days of their publication and will provide for the customary 18-month period for compliance. The regulations, called for in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 after the Exxon Valdez casualty, are more important now than ever before as the nation faces the threat of terrorist incidents in the marine transport sector…

International Salvage Union (ISU) President Arnold Witte had called on all sectors of the shipping and insurance industries to approach the issue of salvage and spill prevention with “fresh thinking and open minds.” Speaking at the ISU’s Associate Members’ Day conference in London on April 2, he said the cost of failure to prevent pollution can run into billions. Against this background he urged the P&I community – responsible for payment of pollution claims – to accept that new approaches to reward for salvage and spill prevention have a significant role to play in reducing the financial impact of pollution claims and, at the same time, contributing to lower levels of ecological and economic damage.

The significance of Lloyd’s Form (LOF), will provide the focus for the International Salvage Union’s Associate Members’ Day conference in London on April 2. This theme was chosen as 2008 is LOF’s centenary year. Peter Lee, the ISU’s Vice-President, will provide an overview of salvage in the Far East. The morning programme also includes a paper marking LOF’s Centenary year. The Lloyd’s Form theme will continue with a presentation from ISU President Arnold Witte on “LOF and the defence of the marine environment.” This will examine, inter alia, the case for Environmental Salvage Awards. The conference then departs from its normal structure. The entire afternoon will be devoted to a major casualty simulation, concerning a challenging LOF salvage operation.

Salvors have welcomed the International Maritime Organization’s adoption of Guidelines on the Control of Ships in an Emergency. The Guidelines, adopted by the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee, were considered by the ISU’s Executive Committee. ISU President Arnold Witte said: “These Guidelines are a significant contribution to marine casualty management. They promote a clear chain of command and, most importantly, they also clarify issues related to the fair treatment of seafarers involved in marine incidents. The Guidelines call on the Master to cooperate with the Salvage Master “to the maximum extent”. The Coastal State should allow the salvor access to the casualty.

Arnold Witte has been elected President of the International Salvage Union. He is the first Past- President of the ISU to assume the office for a second term. In addition, delegates at the ISU’s recent General Meeting - held in Cape Town - elected Source: ISU

(ASA). Vice President, Donjon Marine Co., Inc. new Secretary/Treasurer. Fairbanks. maritime security, the status of pending U.S. immunity and the salvors' role in environmental protection," he continued. "The association owes many thanks to J. of Donjon Marine Co., Inc., who served as ASA's first President. that we will be ever-grateful," Fairbanks said. representing North America's professional salvors. professionalism and improve marine casualty response in American coastal and inland waters.

Richard Fairbanks, President of Titan Maritime, LLC (Fort Lauderdale, FL), has been named President of the American Salvage Association (ASA). George Wittich, Senior Vice President of Weeks Marine (Cranford, NJ), has been named the association's Vice President, and John Witte, Jr., Executive Vice President, Donjon Marine Co., Inc. (Hillside, NJ), has been named ASA's new Secretary/Treasurer. "We are very excited about ASA's incoming leadership," said Richard Fairbanks. "Among the areas the association will focus on throughout the year are maritime security, the status of pending U.S. salvage regulations, and responder immunity and the salvors' role in environmental protection," he continued. "The association owes many thanks to J.

While there is a plethora of marine service companies, many of them family-owned, few can boast six family members actively involved in the business at the same time. Donjon Marine Co., Inc. in Hillside, NJ, is one company to know if you haven't heard of them before. Led by J. Arnold Witte, Sr., Chief Executive Officer and President of the company he founded in 1967, Donjon is a multi-faceted marine service company that offers salvage and wreck removal, but through a controlled expansion, boasts a serious diving capability, marine engineering and heavy lift services, towing, dredging, barge chartering, demolition, and spill clean-up and pollution prevention services.

The American Salvage Association (ASA) recently held its first general meeting in New Orleans. ASA initiated its 4-C's Program: Communication, Co-operation and Competent Completion. ASA members agreed to the increased capital expenditures, expanding training and an experienced labor pool to complement the expanding interest by the U.S. Federal Government as well as States in the field of marine casualty response. "We are certain history has amply demonstrated that a prompt, effective salvage response is by far, the most efficient, cost effective road to success in protecting our marine environment as well as the general public," said Arnold Witte, ASA's president. "Our interest now is to continue to build a response for the future.

Responding to the need for a presence and to assist in the professionalization of the U.S. marine salvage and firefighting response, nine U.S. salvors have joined together to form the American Salvage Association (ASA). The initial group has participated in a vast amount of all of the significant salvage and wreck removal cases that have occurred over the last 10 years in the U.S. The Association's current membership is comprised of: Bisso Marine; Crowley Marine Services; Donjon Marine Co.; Marine Pollution Control; Resolve Marine Group; Titan Maritime Industries; Weeks Marine; Smit Americas; and T&T Marine Salvage. Membership is currently open to any U.S. salvage contractors who are committed to the present and future state of their industry. At the Association's premiere meeting, J.