Brian Smith News

Jack W Fisher, president of JW Fishers Mfg. passed away at home after a brief illness on February 20, 2015. He was 73 years old. The JW Fishers business was started because Fisher, an avid diver, needed an underwater metal detector to use on a salvage project in the mid 1960s. He discovered there was no such device available. Over the next several years he designed and constructed his own underwater metal detector. JW Fishers Mfg. was formed and Jack began building and selling his detectors to other divers.

Contrary to the romanticized portrayal of pirates that have populated folk tales and captured youngsters' imaginations, modern-day pirates pose a clear and present threat to lives, commerce and the environment as they lurk over shipping lanes attacking ships and crew without regard for nationality or cargo. Piracy in the Gulf of Aden not only poses a threat to global commerce, but also threatens aid delivery by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to victims of the ongoing civil war in Somalia.

In another significant executive move at its Philadelphia shipyard, Kvaerner announced the appointment of Brian M Smith, as Vice President, Business Development. Until recently, British born Brian Smith held a similar position with Litton Ship Systems, in New Orleans, where he since 1996 has been employed as Director - Business Development/ Strategic Planning. He will take up his position with Kvaerner in Philadelphia during mid November. Smith is a well-established figure within the American commercial shipbuilding market. Prior to his joining Avondale in 1996, Mr. Smith worked extensively in the marketing, strategic planning and business development area, much of it within the maritime industry.

A crew from the Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Co. rescued three people who were clinging to their capsized boat and shaking in the 59-degree water. The men had been in the water for about 25 minutes when they were pulled aboard a lifeboat from the ferry, the Grand Republic. The mayday call from the boat went out, just as the ferry was preparing to depart from Bridgeport Harbor. Captain O’Neill said the men, employees of a local power plant taking water samples from the harbor, had a hand-held radio and they were able to establish contact fairly quickly. While Captain O’Neil stayed in radio contact to pinpoint the men’s location, the crew prepared the rescue boat and emergency first aid supplies.

Following the announcement in February that unprecedented raw material costs had created a dramatic new cost base for the marine coatings market, the continued record rise in the price of metals has now forced International Paint to apply a surcharge on all copper containing biocidal antifoulings. is a key raw material used extensively in biocidal antifoulings. product types means that it accounts for a significant proportion of product cost. copper has steadily increased four fold in the last 36 months, recent price rises have been dramatic; from $4,000 per ton in the last quarter of 2005 to a peak of over $8,500 per ton* last month. To date, International Paint has largely absorbed these increases.