Smit Salvage Americas News

Alexandria, VA- Donjon-SMIT, the unique provider of Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) Salvage and Marine Firefighting (SMFF) services established by Donjon Marine Co., Inc. and SMIT Salvage Americas, Inc. will be moving its company headquarters from Alexandria, VA to Houston, TX, effective April 1st. The joint venture has been headquartered in Alexandria, VA to facilitate communication with the U. S. Coast Guard as well as compliance with the new OPA 90 Salvage and Marine Firefighting (SMFF) regulations for tank and non-tank vessels.

When Raymond Lord was named President of Donjon-SMIT, LLC just over one year ago, the native Houstonian brought with him more than 30 years of experience within the marine salvage industry, and he joins industry heavyweights John Witte and Douglas Martin at the joint-venture, casualty response and compliance group. Coming from his previous position as Vice President and Operations Manager for SMIT Americas in Houston, Lord now heads up one of the largest, and arguably the most visible nationwide marine service providers.

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…

Donjon-SMIT, an OPA-90 Alliance, has moved its principle office to 909 North Washington Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, Virginia  22314 USA. The relocation to larger facilities was effected in order to support additional staff required to meet the new U.S. Coast Guard Salvage and Marine Firefighting regulations. All phone numbers, including the emergency number, remain the same. The main office number and 24/7 emergency number is 1-703-299-0081. The fax number is 1-703-299-0085. The e-mail address is [email protected]. Paul Hankins, Vice President for Operations, is Donjon-SMIT’s office director. Donjon-SMIT was created December 31, 2004 by marine salvage and casualty response companies Donjon Marine Co., Inc. (Hillside, NJ) and SMIT Salvage Americas (Houston, TX).

Oil skimming was suspended this weekend as bad weather moved toward the site where the tanker T/V BOW MARINER exploded and sank off the Virginia coast Saturday night. Helicopter over-flights showed the oil was mostly in thin sheens on the water, strung out in long streamers, and widely separated, limiting the amount the skimming vessel, the VIRGINIA RESPONDER, was able to recover. The sixth and final member of the crew was released from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. All of the survivors have had an opportunity to meet with diplomatic officials from their native Philippine Islands, and have had an opportunity to call their families. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessel RUDE made a second attempt to obtain images of the sunken vessel with its side-scan sonar.