Joseph Keefe News

A ‘work in progress,’ the North American brown water, shallow draft sectors have experienced a tumultuous year of evolution, changing market conditions, a rapidly shifting regulatory environment and new opportunities. Anything but boring; and within the pages of Maritime Reporter’ & Engineering News’ Annual Yearbook, Joseph Keefe, editor of sister-publication MarineNews, takes a deep dive into the issues driving the domestic waterfront.Workboat EmissionsMore than one year ago, Volkswagon learned the ultimate (and painful) meaning of the iconic U.S. adage of “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time – or at least pay the staggering fine.” And pay it forward, Volkswagen did.

Even Mother Nature Can’t Dent the Enthusiasm at this Year’s MACC.Curtis Bay, MD: On the morning after the Baltimore, MD area received a record 3.5 inches of torrential rain in just 90 minutes, this year’s Multi-Agency Craft Conference (MACC) kicked off without a hitch at the United States Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, MD. That may sound easy, but for those flying in Tuesday afternoon (or like myself, driving in through DC at exactly the moment that the George Washington Parkway flooded badly near the DCA Airport), it was touch and go.Although a proud (although badly aging) graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and a licensed mariner – Chief Mate (any gross tons) and a 1600 Ton Master – this officially was my first command at sea.

The 5th annual inland IMX show coincides with the first ever FreightWeek STL. For transport professionals, supply chain stakeholders and inland operators alike, there was something for everyone. St. Louis, MO: This week’s IMX inland marine industry tradeshow may have been the primary focus for inland stakeholders, but there were many more reasons to be here in St. Louis. Parallel with and coordinating with the 5th annual event was the weeklong FreightWeek STL event intended to spotlight freight and transportation industries, opportunities and to underscore the St. Louis region as a global freight hub. Importantly, the collaboration also highlighted the need for intermodal solutions and not necessarily modal competition.

The inaugural edition of the MarTID Maritime Training Insights Database (MarTID) Report sheds new light on maritime safety and training practices, what works, and what doesn’t. More importantly, its analysis and data emanates from you. The first annual Maritime Training Insights Database (MarTID) Report initiative has been two years in the making. This initiative was developed with the intent of being a shared commitment to safe, efficient and sustainable operations in the maritime industry. Importantly, the detailed 50-page report provides valuable insight, not based on so-called third-party experts, but input from the stakeholder respondents themselves. That means you.

The January/February 2018 edition of Maritime Logistics Professional will focus on today’s cruise shipping trends, how cruise lines are achieving a greener signature, and many other aspects of the global cruise markets.   Additionally, MLPro will feature the World’s Top 20 Cruise Ports. To enter your port, apply at https://cruiseports.maritimeprofessional.com/. Contact MLPro editor Joseph Keefe with questions at 704.661.8475 or at keefe@marinelink. This edition will also feature bonus distribution at Seatrade Cruise Shipping in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Enter your port now.

Make sure your Cruise Port is in our Top 20 Feature.   The January / February 2018 edition of Maritime Logistics Professional will focus on today’s cruise shipping trends, how cruise lines are achieving a greener cruise shipping signature, and many other aspects the global cruise markets.   Additionally, we will also feature the World’s Top 20 Cruise Ports. Simply click the link or go to https://cruiseports.maritimeprofessional.com/ to get started. Enter your port by populating the entry form. This edition will also feature with bonus distribution at Seatrade Cruise Shipping in Fort Lauderdale, FL.   Enter your port now. Contact MLPro editor Joseph Keefe with questions at 704.661.8475 or at [email protected].

Marine News and Maritime Logistics Professional editor Joseph Keefe last week spent 10 minutes with Oregon Public Broadcasting to discuss the fate and the future of Oregon's only deep water port. Listen in to find out more. As ICTSI Oregon, Inc. and the Port of Portland mutually agreed to terminate a 25-year lease agreement to operate the container facility at the Port’s Terminal 6, the agreement allows ICTSI Oregon to be relieved of its long-term lease obligations effective March 31, 2017, pending approval by the Port Commission.

MarineNews and Maritime Logistics Professional Editor Joseph Keefe on Thursday spent ten minutes with Oregon Public Broadcasting to discuss the fate and the future of Oregon's only deep water port. Listen in to find out more. As ICTSI Oregon, Inc. and the Port of Portland mutually agreed to terminate a 25-year lease agreement to operate the container facility at the Port’s Terminal 6, the agreement allows ICTSI Oregon to be relieved of its long-term lease obligations effective March 31, 2017, pending approval by the Port Commission.

The annual edition of MarineNews MN100 Market Leaders will soon be upon us. The August edition of MarineNews as always takes a close look at the Top 100 companies in the north American, brown water, shallow draft marine industry. Last year’s honorees came from every sector of the waterfront; from naval architects to vessel operators and all the way to OEM providers of every type. Is your firm a Top 100 caliber maritime stakeholder? In order to be considered, you must apply at the link shown below. It is never too early to get started.

The annual edition of MarineNews MN100 Market Leaders will soon be upon us. The August edition of MarineNews as always takes a close look at the Top 100 companies in the north American, brown water, shallow draft marine industry. Last year’s honorees came from every sector of the waterfront; from naval architects to vessel operators and all the way to OEM providers of every type. Is your firm a Top 100 caliber maritime stakeholder? In order to be considered, you must apply at the link shown below. It is never too early to get started.

I have never been in a hurricane. That’s a fact. Actually, my wife likes to say that whenever there is any kind of natural disaster, I’m typically nowhere to be found. And, when I think about it, I realize that she is right. Whether by accident or by design, that’s exactly how it has played out during the 30+ years that we have been together. Whenever this touchy subject does come up – typically once a quarter – she usually points to one particular event as proof of concept. In August of 1983, long before Katrina left her indelible mark on the U.S. Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans in particular, there was Alicia. On August 18 of that year…

On a beautiful Autumn afternoon in Charleston, SC last month, MarineNews Editor Joseph Keefe had the good fortune to attend the christening on the nation’s first dual purpose, rapid response vessel and pilot launch. As the first vessel to be designed for offshore salvage and firefighting requirements, it was also notably the first commercial application of Volvo Penta’s IPS drive propulsion. The vessel also represents an interesting twist in the Charleston Branch Pilots’ business model. The pilot game is already a pretty good paying gig, but clearly, this group is thinking outside the box.

As I watch the back and forth in Washington – and beyond – on the issue of whether to allow the export of crude oil and LNG, I can only shake my head and wonder why it is even a topic for discussion anymore. I honestly cannot think of a single reason why we shouldn’t. Our European and Asian readers are probably laughing as I discuss the merits of changing a domestic policy that is clearly a remnant from a bygone era. Here at home, though, it’s not really a laughing matter, is it? For more than four decades, the biggest threat to American security was energy – or rather the lack of enough domestic supplies and the use of energy (by others, principally OPEC) as a geopolitical weapon. Those days, at least for North Americans, are long gone. The shale boom is upon us.

So what’s keeping ship operators awake at night these days? Plenty, it seems. Sluggish recovery from a lingering worldwide recession, unsustainable debt loads, endemic overcapacity in most shipping trades, punishing freight rates, rising costs of fuel and regulatory compliance and a lingering sense that ships are not running as efficiently as they could. The last two topics – reducing fuel costs while complying with emission regulations and improving ship operating efficiency – will take center stage at SHIPPINGInsight 2014, scheduled for Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 in Stamford, Conn.

Just last month, the Secretary General of the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) opined that the sixth negotiations round of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) should include concessions from the American side on maritime transportation issues. Specifically, he called for European access to the “feedering” of international cargo in U.S. domestic trades and access to the American dredging and offshore sectors. They didn’t ask for anyone’s first born child, but I suppose that there’s still time to issue that edict before the end of the summer. EU and US negotiators met in mid-July for the sixth Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations.

When dealing with the environmental lobby, there’s really only one thing you need to know. The nautical definition of middle ground is a length of comparatively shallow water having channels on both sides. In everyday language, we might call it a position of compromise between two opposing views or parties. That’s typically what reasonable folks try to achieve when resolving disputes or disagreements. For some in the environmental lobby, however, there’s no such thing as middle ground. And, there never will be. The sooner the maritime industry and its oil & gas cousins wake up to this reality, the better. I must admit that I am increasingly not a fan of the environmental lobby. That’s not to say I don’t support some of its collective goals and missions. I do.

Arguably the best equipped and most environmentally sound maritime campus in the country, Mass. Maritime also finds itself (not by accident) at the leading edge of a fundamental change in how maritime academies deliver education in a changing marketplace. At the heart of that effort is a comprehensive workboat simulation and training program. Clinging tightly to its maritime roots and firmly anchored in the crystal clear waters that surround its picturesque campus, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy last month sent the largest graduating class in its 212-year history out into the workplace. Not all of today’s graduates aspire to go to sea…

Senesco Marine Steps Out Into the Broader Commercial Build and Repair Markets. The largest mid-tier yard in the U.S. Northeast touts deep experience and high standards. Suddenly, operators have another viable choice for newbuild and repair work. After being off the radar for perhaps as many as 12 years – during which the yard was itself quite busy primarily servicing internal Reinauer requirements – Rhode Island-based Senesco Marine LLC has moved more aggressively into the outside commercial markets. Although perhaps representing a somewhat new entity to some clients, Senesco is anything but new on the scene. An accomplished builder of modern tonnage, it is more than capable of taking on any mid-tier shipyard newbuild or repair challenge.

Joseph Keefe, editor of Maritime Professional and MarineNews magazines, last night appeared on Fox Business News' "America's Nightly Scoreboard" with David Asman to discuss the scrapping of a pair of U.S. Navy tankers before they were complete. Joe Keefe Appears on Fox Business News

MARAD helps to fund Mobile Ballast Water Testing Facility. The Maritime Administration, along with the Maritime Environmental Resource Center and Maryland Port Administration, has dedicated a new facility to study the effectiveness of technology to treat invasive species in ballast water. The Mobile Test Platform is a retrofitted barge that will allow ballast water treatment systems to be evaluated in a natural setting at different locations in the Chesapeake Bay region. MARAD provided $1.2 million to help develop the new facility, which is able to test according to both IMO and US EPA Environmental Technology Verification protocols. MarineNews and Maritime Professional Editor Joseph Keefe attended the dedication ceremony on September 27th.

Hyde Marine’s chemical-free, IMO Type Approved ballast water treatment solution packs performance in a smaller footprint. That’s good news for small vessel operators who may soon find themselves impacted by a problem that previously was thought to be a “bluewater” issue. The notion that ballast water treatment and invasive species are both strictly the domain of big, bluewater liners coming from the Far East and other exotic locales quickly went out the porthole last November when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its long-awaited, updated draft Vessel General Permit (VGP) rule. The new rules potentially bring regulations to bear on vessels as small as 79 feet LOA and others, depending on service and routing.

Rhode Island’s economic assets include a surprising number of prominent and lesser known maritime firms. A recent media tour hosted by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) highlighted the Ocean State’s key role(s) in the nation’s maritime industry. As the state of Rhode Island – along with everyone else, so it seems – works to revitalize a struggling local economy, it has become increasingly apparent that the marine industry will play a prominent role in that revival. In March, the Ocean State’s marine trade industry opened their doors to national trade media, showcasing the important work being done here in the ocean state.

Growing reliance on DP technology, a burgeoning global market and the focus on offshore safety means that DP capabilities are no longer optional. The requirement for Dynamic Positioning (DP) capabilities on offshore tonnage is growing in leaps and bounds; directly related to the offshore drilling boom in many parts of the globe. And, says Michael C. Ford, Vice President of Commercial Operations for L-3 Dynamic Positioning and control Systems, “The global market is larger than you would think. For every rig out there, 7 to 8 OSV’s and 2 construction vessels are needed to service that operation. In the next few years, it will involve at least $200 million USD in DP investment.” Ford goes on to say that offshore operations, as a minimum, now demand DP1 capabilities.