Donjon: All Service, All in the Family
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.
SMIT Salvage Team Responds in S. Africa and Venezuela
SMIT Salvage has been busy responding and providing emergency pollution prevention services to casualties off the South African coast and in the Orinoco River. SMIT is currently assisting the products carrier Nino and the general cargo vessel TMP Sagitarius. Both vessels went aground on rocks off the coast of East London, between Durban and Port Elizabeth, on July 18 within hours of each other. During June, SMIT was awarded three LOF contracts involving a grounding in Venezuela and two casualties with engine problems off the South African coast. On June 22, the 39,607 dwt Grigoroussa 1 dragged her anchors in the Orinoco River, Puerto Ordaz. The 1976-built vessel was nearly fully laden, carrying 35,000 tonnes of coal upriver.
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.
