Bill Clark News

Engine Maintenance trumps a tough economy. Bypass oil filtration technology is one way to get there. For the past several years, ferry service and tugboat operators have had one eye on fuel costs and the other on the economy. But worry as they might, there’s not much, if anything, that operators can do to effect change to the economy or to reduce the price of fuel. What they can do, however, is effect change to reduce their company’s operating costs and that’s where proper engine maintenance can make a significant difference.

CPI Marine, a U.S. supplier of inflatable and foam collars for rigid-hull inflatable boats (RIBs), is introducing its new range of products for the international marine market at Seawork International 2013 in Southampton, U.K., June 25-27. The product range on display will include CPI Marine’s patented air bladder systems as well as traditional tubes with multiple air chambers separated by interior baffles. “CPI Marine is the only RIB collar manufacturer offering tubes with internal air bladders,” said Bill Clark, Director of Inflatable Technologies, CPI Marine. “With this patented system, each chamber has its own removable, repairable and replaceable air bladder. The bladder design allows for quick, easy and inexpensive repairs in the event of a puncture to the outer tube.

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.

The first ever unassisted crossing of the North Atlantic just south of the arctic circle in a small, open, Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) has been completed by a team of dedicated adventurers led by Bear Grylls. Traveling from Nova Scotia to John O'Groats via a route which passed just south of the Arctic Circle, the expedition, which has raised around $80,000 for the UK young persons' charity, The Prince's Trust, has been completed a week ahead of schedule despite encountering icebergs and horrendous weather conditions. The expedition, which involved a five-man team sailing the open boat across 3,000 miles of the North Atlantic on a route that saw landfall in Halifax…

Having built over 200 aluminum RHIB's, Silver Ships, Inc. / AMBAR Marine, has grabbed a foothold in the design and construction of aluminum RHIB's - all of which are constructed in accordance with SOLAS regulations. The U.S. Coast Guard operates 90 AMBAR Marine Non-Standard RHIB's and the U.S. Navy Sea Systems Command operates 40 AMBAR Marine Special Service RHIB's. Silver Ships, Inc./AMBAR Marine constructs approximately 43 vessels per year, 80 percent of which are RHIB's while the remaining 20% have been Patrol/Security boats, and various work boats ranging from 23-48 ft. (7-14.6 m). Upon discovery, in 1966 following extensive R&D, Lanness McKee, Sr. uncovered the secret to the most rugged, unsinkable marine construction in the market.

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.