Steve Nevey Tapped to Lead Washington State Ferries
Steve Nevey has been selected to serve as assistant secretary for the Washington State Ferries Division, the state's Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar announced on Thursday. Nevey will succeed Patty Rubstello, who is stepping down as head of WSF after more than 33 years of service with the Washington State Department of Transportation.A career mariner, Nevey progressed directly from high school to a maritime academy in the U.K. For the past two years he has served as directorâŠ
Insights: Blake Powell, JMS Naval Architects
Blake Powell, president at JMS Naval Architects, discusses his career, company and latest trends in naval architecture and marine engineering.Please give a brief professional bio, including education, experience and overview of current duties as president of JMS Naval Architects.I earned my degree in Naval Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where I attended on a Navy ROTC scholarship and was commissioned as a Diving and Salvage Officer after I graduated.
OSG Pledges $90,000 to Mass. Maritime Academy Foundation
Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) announced a three-year pledge in the amount of $90,000 to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy as the US. shipping company continues to promote women to receive training to enter the maritime industry.OSG said its pledge will go to undergraduate and sea term scholarships and sponsorship of the Academyâs Womenâs Network and Sea, Science and Leadership Career Exploration Program. Scholarship recipients will have ongoing interaction with OSG and the opportunity to become familiar with OSGâs business and fleet of vessels.
Newport News Shipbuilding Continues Hiring Push
HII said its Newport News Shipbuilding division continues to make progress in the area of workforce development acceleration, and is meeting hiring demand for skilled trades positions through community outreach efforts and on-site hiring events.The shipyard recently participated in the Whatâs Next for Success Foundation career and job fair held at the Hampton Roads Convention Center. Hundreds of people, including local high school students, met with NNS talent acquisition representatives to learn about career opportunities at the shipyardâŠ
2023 Robert Allan Memorial Scholarship Award Recipients Announced
The Trustees of the Robert Allan Memorial Scholarship Trust and Robert Allan Ltd. Have awarded two scholarships for the 2023/2024 academic year.Awards have been made to Samuel Shanks of Port Alberni, BC, and Zachary Greenham of St. Johnâs, Newfoundland.Shanks is a second-year student of mechanical engineering at the University of Victoria, focussed on a career in marine engineering. Throughout high school and university he has gained considerable experience working in various aspects of the marine world.Greenham is a fourth-year student of naval architecture at Memorial University.
Labor Shortages, Climate Change & Technology: Theyâre All Related
Many problems in our âNew Worldâ can be solved more quickly than ever due to the speed at which information now travels. Gone are the countless long days of research, because often our questions can be answered instantaneously at a computer terminal or on a handheld mobile device. Traditional investment, research, science and industry have all attempted to reconfigure their business practices to accept that information speed. Unfortunately, government regulation and bureaucracy have notâŠ
More Bahamas Maritime Cadet Corps Grads Are Opting for Shipping Careers
The Bahamas Maritime Cadet Corps (BMCC), which was first established by The Bahamas Ministry of Transport in 2004 to introduce high school students to employment opportunities in the maritime sector and build national capacity, said more graduates than ever this year have chosen to enter a career in shipping related industries.Many of this yearâs 97 graduating students are opting to join the Royal Bahamas Defence Force or are considering further maritime education. A large numberâŠ
Insights: Mike Ellis, CEO, American Commercial Barge Line
There is no shortage of challenges confronting the U.S. barging industry, and executives such as Mike Ellis, CEO at American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL), are leading their companies past hurdle after hurdle. The Jeffersonville, Ind.-based company, which owns a fleet of approximately 150 towboats and moves a fleet of some 4,500 barges (including roughly 3,500 operated by ACBL), is focusing on factors it can control while planning and investing for the future.The weatherMother Nature is often unkind to the barging industry.
Career Moves: US Offshore Wind Powering Up
In addition to wind, offshore wind demands human energy, individuals with knowledge and skills first to build and then operate and maintain the dozens of projects required to meet President Bidenâs 2030 goal of 30 GW of offshore generation. In an October 2022 National Renewable Energy Laboratory report â âU.S. Offshore Wind Workforce Assessmentâ â the authors estimate that it will require, on average, between 15,000 and 58,000 employees annually, depending on domestic content scenarios, to build out a huge new wind machine.Mariners and mariner training are integral to offshore wind.
US Maritime Industry Working to Solve the People Puzzle
For companies active in all parts of the commercial maritime sector, finding and holding onto the workers they need to build, operate and service the industryâs wide range of vessels has been challenging. Simply put, the labor market is tight, and the problem is not getting any easier to solve.Mike Ellis, CEO at American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL), said a continued shortage of qualified personnel has been the most pressing issue for ACBLâand probably for the barging industry as a whole. âThere's been so much demand on people.
MGBW Workers Complete In-house Welding Program
Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW), a family-owned boat repair and construction facility, is pleased to announce that 30 of its boatbuilders recently graduated from MGBWâs in-house Welding Certification Program. The Welding Program was launched in 2021 with support from a Small Shipyards Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD). In total, $859,250 was spent to develop the curriculum, secure an instructor, equip the welding classroom andâŠ
In Memoriam: E. John Michel, MRCM (DV) USN (Ret), Chief-of-the-Boat, Bathyscaph Trieste
REMEMBERING MY SHIPMATE JOHN MICHELWe met in January 1959 when I became the first Officer in Charge of the Navyâs newly acquired Bathyscaph Trieste and John was the first USN enlisted man to be assigned to the project. We were based at the Naval Electronics Laboratory in San Diego. Trieste was unique as there were only two deep diving manned submersibles in the world. The French Navy had the other. Our team learned about the bathyscaph more by âapprenticeshipâ than through any sort of formal learning process.
Nonprofit Honors Boysie Bollinger for Outstanding Achievements
Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education, today announced that Donald T. âBoysieâ Bollinger, Chairman and CEO of Bollinger Enterprises, LLC and retired Chairman and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards, has been selected for membership in this prestigious organization. Mr. Bollinger joins 12 other exceptional business, civic and cultural leaders from across North America in receiving 2023 honors.
Great Ships of '22: MV George III, LNG Containership
Operating on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from day one in service, the MV George III, the first of Pasha Groupâs two new âOhana Classâ, Jones Act-qualified containerships, features a state-of-the-art engine, an optimized hull form, and an underwater propulsion system with a high-efficiency rudder and propeller. George III is the first LNG-powered vessel to fuel on the West Coast and the first to serve Hawaii. The 774-ft. Jones Act vessel surpasses the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2030 emission standards for ocean vessels.
Newport News Authenticates Keel for US Navy Sub Arkansas
HIIâs (NYSE: HII) Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division hosted a keel authentication ceremony for Virginia-class submarine Arkansas (SSN 800).The shipâs sponsors are the six women of the historic group known as the Little Rock Nine, the first African American students to attend all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas during desegregation. NNS honored all nine members, including the three men, during Saturdayâs ceremony.The Little Rock Nine made history in 1957 with their response to the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v.
Port of New Orleans Board Elects Jensen as Chairman
Rhe Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) on Thursday elected Jack C. Jensen, Jr. to serve as Board Chairman, succeeding Charles H. Ponstein, whose term as Chairman ended this month. Also elected were Joseph F. Toomy, who will serve as Vice Chairman, and Walter J. Leger, Jr., who will serve as Secretary-Treasurer for the nine-month term.âJack Jensen has brought decades of transportation and logistics experience to this board, and we look forward to hisâŠ
Interferry Conference Set to Focus on Power and People Priorities
Cutting-edge solutions to an unprecedented increase in human and technological challenges will be unveiled when global trade association Interferry stages its 46th annual conference in Seattle this October on the theme of âPower and Peopleâ.As Interferry CEO Mike Corrigan explains, "In a fast-changing operational and environmental climate, the ferry industryâs long-term success depends more than ever on two main factors. We need to attract dedicated people who are interested in pursuing a rewarding maritime career and help them achieve the qualifications required by our industry.
Hydrogen as Fuel: Possibilities, ButâŠ
Hydrogen is everywhere. You know that from high school chemistry. And you also know it from Marine Newsâ almost daily updates about H powered vessel projects around the world.As a fuel that could potentially replace fossil fuels, H is in the spotlight. Perhaps the brightest spotlight, at least in the U.S., is within the Department of Energyâs âEnergy Earthshotsâ initiative.R&D on H was the first such Earthshot announced last year. DOE wants the âHydrogen Shotâ program to âaccelerateâŠ
HIIâs Newport News Shipbuilding Announces Big Hiring Push
Global defense and technologies company HII announced Tuesday that the companyâs Newport News Shipbuilding division plans to hire approximately 5,000 people this year to meet the shipbuilding needs of the Navy. The shipyard anticipates hiring nearly 21,000 people within the next decade as HII fulfills orders for U.S. aircraft carriers and submarines.âWe at NNS are driven to support the men and women in uniform, to serve the nation, by delivering great ships,â said Xavier Beale, vice president of Human Resources and Trades for Newport News Shipbuilding. âThis is not just a job.
Eye on Design: What is Old Can Be Green Again
The use of certain technologies is rarely a stand alone decision. The switch from sail to steam did not happen overnight and they actually coexisted for over a century, where, based on available technologies, in certain applications steam was more attractive and in other applications sail was more attractive.The eventual dominance of screw propellers over paddle wheels was not even driven by technological considerations, but rather by a tug of war between a paddlewheel propelled vessel and a screw propelled vessel.
Looking for a Good Deal? Learn to Take Advantage of Interns
For the future of the industry, hire interns, both college and high schoolers. And pay them: none of that silly privileged unpaid intern crap that occurs in non-maritime industries.I generally wait until I receive the printed issue to read Maritime Reporter and Engineering News, and when I read the August edition, I was both delighted and frustrated, mostly because of the two articles on shipbuilding workforce development.There is so much STEM wheel spinning and to see reportsâŠ
USCG Commissions Sentinel-class Cutter Clarence Sutphin Jr.
The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned its 47th Sentinel-class cutter, USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. (WPC 1147), into service on ThursdayBuilt by Bollinger Shipyards and officially delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on January 6 in Key West, Fla., Clarence Sutphin Jr. is Patrol Forces Southwest Asia's (PATFORSWA) sixth 154-foot Sentinel-class cutter.Vice Adm. Steven Poulin, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area commander, presided over the commissioning ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City.
Seafarersâ House to Honor Carnival's Arnold W. Donald
Arnold W. Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation & PLC, has been selected as the recipient of Seafarersâ House International Golden Compass Award for 2022. The award is given each year to those who have achieved distinction in the maritime world, those whose vocation or avocation has been the sea, or those who have ministered to or otherwise assisted seafarers.Donald grew up in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans with 27 foster brothers and sister. His parentsâ generosity made a significant impact on his life.