Shelter Island News

As the novel coronavirus and its impacts continue to spread across America, U.S. shipbuilders, by and large, continue to build. While most yards have been deemed essential to marine transportation and/or national security and have been able to maintain operations, the situation at and around every shipyard is different, and there are several builders across the country that have had to temporarily suspend activity. In either scenario, it’s far from business as usual for America’s…

Marine News recently visited the Blount Boats facility in Warren, Rhode Island. While the year 2019 might be the ‘year of the woman’ in the eyes of the International Maritime Organization, the two women at the head of Blount Boats – Marcia & Julie Blount– have been a driving force in the U.S. boatbuilding market for decades. As Blount’s celebrates its 70th anniversary, read about the storied yard’s promising future.Founded in 1949, Blount Boats is a full-service shipyard with a customer base comprised of a variety of commercial and government entities including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S.

The Council of American Master Mariners is holding its annual Professional Development Conference. CAMM has issued "a call for papers."The event takes place on 25 April 2019. Details to follow:Where: Island Palms Hotel & Marina, 2051 Shelter Island Drive in San Diego, California 92106 United StatesTheme: Who is Really in Command of the Ship?Benefits for Presenters: Presenters get one night free with meals on day of Conference. Ten minutes from San Diego Airport.For more Details…

Women make up only an estimated two percent of the global maritime industry. In the U.S., the statistics are a little better, with less than eight percent of ship and boat captain operator roles held by women.Still, for a female to have the opportunity to train up to ship captain is considered “unique.” However, as predictions are being made that there will be a shortage of more than 140,000 deck or ship officers worldwide by 2025 (BIMCO/ICS), we will see more accomplished women take the helm and lead the industry forward.

Rhode Island boatbuilder Blount Boats said it has signed a contract with South Ferry Company to construct a new steel passenger/vehicle ferry for Shelter Island, N.Y.The 101’x 40’ double-ended ferry, to be named Southern Cross, will be built to carry a deck load of 260,000 pounds. The vessel will be a sister ship to two other Blount-built ferries designed by DeJong & LeBet for South Ferry, the Sunrise delivered in 2002 and the Southside delivered in 2009.Main propulsion will be provided by two Caterpillar series C-18 Tier III & IMO II Certified each rated at 470 HP at 1,800 RPM.

Over time, the Blount shipyard has built more than 365 vessels. Today, Blount Boats’ clients include Fire Island Ferries, Casco Bay Island Transit District, Puerto Rico and Municipal Islands Maritime Authority, Spirit Cruises, Circle Line Statue of Liberty (Hornblower), South Ferry on Shelter Island, Long Island, and the Kwajalein Army Base on the Marshall Islands. Blount has been building high quality, innovative shallow draft designs for 66 years. Blount’s designs have created…

Over time, the Blount shipyard has built 363 vessels, including such iconic designs as the 130-foot, 600-passenger Miss Liberty. Built in 1952, the vessel is believed to have carried more total passengers than any other vessel in the world. Hull number 93, built in 1955, the “Blount 65’ made its debut and was an immediate success with ferry, commuter and excursion operators. Just under 65’ long, it was an important “break point” in Coast Guard regulations. During the late 1950s, Blount designed the Botruc for the offshore oil and gas industry.

Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound Command Center was notified at approximately 5:20 p.m., via VHF Channel 16, that a 38-foot pleasure craft was tipped over with the motor still running and six mariners in the water just south of the Greenport Ferry North Terminal. Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick O’Halloran, 27, a boatswain’s mate at Station Chatham, was nearby on a private vessel and was the first on scene just 4 minutes later, to assist the mariners out of the water. “I’ve been in the Coast Guard for three years and it was unreal watching this happen in front of me,” said O’Halloran, a Shelter Island, N.Y., native. “I realized I needed to make sure they were safe and that the boat was away.

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three people Tuesday who were stranded on Shelter Island, near Beach Haven after their 18-foot boat became grounded during a hunting trip. A man used a cell phone to report he and two other people were stranded on the island after they were hunting and their boat grounded during low tide. The men reported they were very cold despite being dressed appropriately for hunting in cold temperatures, but had no immediate medical concerns. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City located and hoisted the three men. They were transported to the air station, where their care was transferred to awaiting emergency medical services personnel. “They were about 15 miles away and we were there in seven minutes,” said Capt.

In testimony before Congress, PVA President Bill Clark told legislators that the Coast Guard’s centralized system for issuing merchant mariner credentials must be improved. Captain Clark, who is also co-owner and operator of South Ferry, Inc., of Shelter Island, N.Y. testified before the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on the subject of the Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center and Mariner Credentials. “PVA is aware of too many instances in which a mariner has been prevented from working because of credentialing processing delays,” said Captain Clark. •    Coast Guard credentials are essential for a mariner to be able to obtain a new job or to continue in an existing one. Delays threaten a mariner’s livelihood.

By participating in an EPA-funded study of copper-free paints, Hornblower Cruises & Events is pioneering efforts to protect marine life and minimize boating impact in San Diego Bay. Researchers will spend the next two years comparing the effectiveness of ten test paints recently applied to the hull of the San Diego-based M/V Newport Hornblower. "We're doing some experimental painting," said Jim Unger, vice president of Hornblower Cruises and Events. "Traditionally, bottom paint has had toxins – either heavy metals or other biocides – that get into the water system. The Port of San Diego has partnered with Hornblower on the study, which responds to a 1996 San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board report identifying high levels of dissolved copper in Shelter Island Yacht Basin waters.

San Diego is the site of the new Fifth Avenue Landing, an elite, stylish superyacht facility that now welcomes the world’s largest and luxurious megayachts. Located adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center within walking distance of several world-class hotels, the Fifth Avenue Landing is a exclusive, 12-slip facility that instantly ranks among the world’s finest. The new facility can accommodate yachts as large as 300 ft. In recent years, San Diego has accelerated its appeal to megayachts with the addition of several privately-owned facilities…

The crew and passengers aboard the ferry Islander rescued Johnny Goodwin, of Southhold, N.Y., within minutes of falling into the cold waters of Gardiners Bay from a work barge on Dec. 19. A combination of skillful seamanship, adherence to Coast Guard safety regulations blended to save Goodwin's life. The Islander and three other ferries from the North Ferry Co. connect Shelter Island with Greenport, on Long Island. The ferries make the two nautical mile round trip from early morning to late night. The Islander was taking a full load of passengers and vehicles to Long Island at dusk when Goodwin fell. One of the passengers aboard the ferry saw Goodwin and alerted ferry captain Edward J.

Knight & Carver YachtCenter has announced that Katherine (Kate) O'Neill has joined the company’s staff as a sales representative based in its Shelter Island (San Diego) satellite office. A native of Australia, O’Neill brings first-hand knowledge and experience in the yacht and charter cruising industries to Knight & Carver. Most recently, she owned and operated Sailing Tours.com, based in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, aboard the 65 ft. cutter "Nirvana." For the past four years, she coordinated private sailing tours aboard the vessel through an arrangement with Club Med Ixtapa and various five-star resorts in the region. Prior to that, O’Neill traveled the western coastal waters of the U.S. and Mexico aboard “Nirvana” for more than a year.

Blount Barker Shipbuilding signed a contract with South Ferry of Shelter Island, N.Y. to build a 101-ft. double-ended ferryboat. The vessel designed by South Ferry and Dejong & Lebet, Inc. is being built to service the half-mile crossing of partially protected inland waters between Shelter Island and the South Fork of Long Island. The 101' x 39’ x 10’-5” ferryboat designed with one open deck and one side island for crew and passengers will be built to USCG Sub Chapter ‘T’ Rules and Regulations for 149 passengers. The ferryboat is scheduled for delivery in June 2002. The all-welded steel ferry to operate on protected inland waters will be powered by two 400hp Detroit Diesel Series, Six Cylinder DDEC Main Propulsion Engines with Twin Disc MG-516 gears (4.5:1).

Knight & Carver YachtCenter, San Diego, Calif., has appointed Sam Brown as CEO. For the past 14 years, Brown has served as legal counsel to the company, whose revenues exceeded $12 million last year. Under Brown's watch, Knight & Carver recently opened new sales offices in Shelter Island (San Diego); additional offices are located in Newport Beach, Calif. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Knight & Carver YachtCenter has promoted Giovanni LoCoco to the newly created position of Vice President/Operations. The announcement was made by Sampson A. Brown, the boat-building company’s president/chief executive officer. LoCoco, who has been with Knight & Carver for 19 years, now oversees all three divisions – new-vessel construction, vessel repair/refits/repowers and wind-turbine blade manufacture and repair. A native San Diegan, Mr. LoCoco joined Knight & Carver as a carpenter in 1984. He has expertise in virtually every department of the company, including all phases of boat building, along with engineering, sales, marketing and business development.

To those not familiar with the New York metropolitan area — the eastern end of Long Island is demographically multi-faceted. Traveling east on the Long Island Expressway, (the Island' main thoroughfare), the 118-mile long island, splits into two "forks," the North and the South. With the hamlets of Greenport and Orient Point situated on the easternmost points of the island on the north, the South Fork boasts the tony Hampton villages and the historical village of Montauk Point — literally the end of the earth before reaching the whitecaps of the Atlantic Ocean. While the two forks may differ in reputation and history — they have one similarity — a small island "sheltered" in between.

When MR/EN traveled up to the New England coast this past fall as part of a New England shipyard swing, we were expecting to meet the great one himself — Luther H. Blount — who could be informally known as the "father" of New England shipbuilding. Blount began his career so many years ago with the construction of a 77-ft. steel catamaran, was the first of many greater and more technologically innovative vessels that would later earn the designation as Blount crafted. Over the years, Blount oversaw the daily operations of his yard, managing to get his hands dirty on the overall production process. Carefully designing every vessel to a tee with a pencil and sketch pad…

The 101-ft. double-ended ferryboat, Sunrise, was delivered to South Ferry, Shelter Island, Long Island on July 30th. The vessel began servicing the half-mile crossing of partially protected inland waters between Shelter Island and the South Fork of Long Island on Friday, August 2nd. The 101’ x 39’ x 10’-5” ferryboat designed by Dejong & Lebet, Inc. was built to USCG Sub Chapter “T” Rules and Regulations for 150 passengers. The vessel is a traditional car ferry with one open auto deck and enclosed aluminum side cabin with pilothouse. The Sunrise can carry a maximum of 50 cars or 4 semi-tractor trailers with a maximum load of 240,000 pounds.