Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

George Wittich News

05 Nov 2015

American Salvage Association Names New Officers

Immediate Past-President Paul Hankins congratulates new ASA President Todd Schauer (Photo: ASA)

The American Salvage Association (ASA) has elected a new slate of officers at its fall meeting on September 21 in Stamford, Conn. Todd Schauer, Resolve Marine Group was elected President, succeeding Paul Hankins, Donjon Marine Co., Inc., who served as President from 2013-2015. Jim Elliott, T&T Marine Salvage, Inc., was elected Vice President, and David DeVilbiss, Global Diving & Salvage, Inc., was named Secretary/Treasurer. In addition, James Calhoun (T&T Salvage, Inc.), Samina Mahmood (Ardent)…

30 Sep 2013

ASA Names New 2013-2015 Officers

Paul Hankins: Photo credit ASA

Paul Hankins, Vice President for Salvage Operations at Donjon Marine Co., Inc., was elected President, succeeding Tim Beaver, Global Diving & Salvage, Inc., who served as President from 2011-2013. Jim Elliott, T&T Marine Salvage, Inc., was named Secretary/Treasurer. Paul Hankins has over 30 years’ experience in the marine industry after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981 with a Bachelors of Science in Naval Architecture and from George Washington University in 1991 with a Master’s degree in Environmental Management.

01 Jun 2011

Wrecks of the World II: Evaluating and Addressing Potential Underwater Threats

Delegates and speakers from around the globe will converge on the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) in the Washington, DC area Linthicum Heights, MD) US to participate in the second Wrecks of the World conference being held June 6-7, 2011. This is a unique opportunity to meet with global experts to explore potentially polluting wrecks and recent incidents around the world. These wrecks have caused government agencies and responsible parties to look…

07 Jan 2009

ASA Praises Salvage & Firefighting Reg

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…

22 Sep 2003

American Salvage Association Names New Leaders

(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.

18 Sep 2003

American Salvage Association Announces Incoming Slate of Leaders

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.

09 Feb 2004

Feature: Bye, Bye Redbird

Some people hate the subways. During rush hours at least, bodies are crushed unwilling and unwelcome into an unwanted intimacy, violating a million years of biological and emotional evolution. People utilize the subways, even appreciate the subways as the fastest way to get around. During non-rush hours, they're even attractive in their utilitarian way, and yes, there are subway fans and enthusiasts - the biggest concentration, perhaps, on the staff of the New York City Transit Authority itself. But to the riding public at rush hour, they're the monument to alienation, to being alone in a crowd, to urban isolation. They're the archetype of doublethink - you imagine you're a free spirit, even in this claustrophobic crush. If existentialists are not born, surely here they are made.

05 Dec 2001

WTC Clean-Up: Getting Down and Dirty

The enormity of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. have effectively changed the world's collective attitude toward security, particularly in regards to the potential use of the maritime industry as an instrument of destruction. While the events of early September are global in scope, they are also an intimate local affair. As the New York area continues the gargantuan clean-up task, Don Sutherland reports on the maritime industry's role in helping out. It's not so easy to believe two opposites at once. "I try to treat it like an ordinary scrap-removal job," said Capt. Virginia has just left the basin at Pier 25, North River, with a load of debris, bound for the Port Authority Pier 6 in Brooklyn.

15 Oct 2007

ASA Announces New Leaders for ‘08

John A. Witte, Jr., Executive Vice President of Donjon Marine Co., Inc. (Hillside, NJ) has been elected President of the American Salvage Association (ASA). Mauricio Garrido, Managing Director of Salvage for the Americas for Titan, a Crowley Company, (Fort Lauderdale, FL) has been elected ASA’s Vice President, and Tim Beaver, President of Global Diving & Salvage, Inc. (Seattle, WA) has been elected Secretary/Treasurer. In addition, James Calhoun, Senior Vice President, Bisso Marine Co., Inc. (Houston, TX); Paul Hankins, Vice President for Operations, Donjon-SMIT, LLC (Alexandria, VA); Charles Usher, President, Marine Pollution Control (Detroit, MI); and Ken Edgar, Marine Response Consultant (Houston, TX) were elected to ASA’s Executive Committee.

10 Oct 2007

ASA Honors Congressman Cummings

The American Salvage Association (ASA) awarded its Rapid Response Award on October 9, 2007 to the United States Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Chairman of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee. “It is truly an honor to serve as the Chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, and I am equally honored to receive this award,” Congressman Cummings said. As Chairman of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, Congressman Cummings oversees the implementation of the Coast Guard’s $8 billion fiscal year 2007 budget, including the more than $1.1 billion appropriated to fund the rehabilitation and modernization of the Coast Guard’s fleet through the Deepwater procurement program.

11 Jun 2007

ASA Forms Partnership with Coast Guard

The American Salvage Association (ASA) and the United States Coast Guard have executed the Marine Salvage and Firefighting Quality Partnership with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the association and the Coast Guard. Admiral Brian Salerno, Assistant Commandant for Plans & Policy for the U.S. "The parties will interpret and implement this Memorandum so as to supplement and not adversely affect this regulatory relationship." and "The parties shall seek to achieve its purpose primarily through: ... ASA and the Coast Guard have had a long, successful history of partnering on projects, including Industry / U.S. Coast Guard Cross Training…

11 Jul 2006

ASA, ISU Exchange Affiliate Memberships

The American Salvage Association (ASA) has been accepted as an Affiliate Member of the International Salvage Union (ISU). In turn, the ISU has been accepted by the ASA as an Affiliate Member as well. While operating on different continents, the ASA and the ISU have virtually the same mission and engage in similar activities. Those include professionalizing the marine salvage industry, protecting the sensitive marine environment, identifying places of refuge, and developing industry Safety Standards. One of the ISU’s primary objectives is to foster a wider understanding of the salvage industry’s contribution to environmental protection and the recovery of property.

06 Dec 2005

ASA Confers With Chinese Colleagues

The American Salvage Association (ASA) met last week with eight representatives from the Bureau of Salvage and Rescue, China Ministry of Transportation, as well as other related groups from China, to exchange information about how the ASA represents its professional salvage company members in the United States, and how China manages its salvage and transportation program. Leading the delegation was Mr. Wang Zhenliang, Deputy Executive Director of the Bureau of Salvage and Rescue, China Ministry of Transportation. Ms. Diana Zhang, the delegation’s program director, served as interpreter for the meeting. Captain Jim Wilkins, USN, U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage, addressed salvage recovery efforts after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast region.

07 Nov 2005

ASA Announces New Leaders

George Wittich, Senior Vice President of Weeks Marine has been named President of the American Salvage Association (ASA). John Witte, Jr., Executive Vice President of Donjon Marine Co., Inc. (Hillside, NJ), has been named ASA’s Vice President, and Paul Gallagher, Director of Sales – Marine Transportation, Foss Maritime (Seattle, WA), has been elected Secretary/Treasurer.