California State Legislature News

The 14th Annual California Maritime Leadership Symposium, slated to take place February 19-20 at the Sacramento Convention Center, attracts key members from California’s State Legislature and representatives from California’s ports and the maritime industry. The symposium aims to encourage productive dialogue among maritime industry leaders and communicate port needs to California decision makers. The symposium is hosted by a broad-based coalition of the maritime industry, headed up by the California Association of Port Authorities…

Harley Marine Services is  a  environmental protection and stewardship within the marine industry and has been since its founding in 1987. They have developed a robust, multi-faceted environmental management program that is innovative and designed to have participation throughout each operating area of the company including the offices, shops, tugs and barges and at every level from deckhands and clericals to the CEO. Since receiving ISO 14001 environmental certification in 2008…

On October 30, the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority Board of Directors appointed Steve Castleberry as the WTA’s new Chief Executive Officer. He will take the helm on January 1, 2004. Castleberry has been serving as the WTA’s manager of System Planning since shortly after the inception of the organization. Prior to joining the WTA, he served as deputy director of the Alameda County Transportation Authority. (ACTA) As Chief Executive, Castleberry will be responsible for implementing the ferry expansion plan recently approved by the California State Legislature.

Senator Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) introduced the "States Prevention of Oil Tanker Spills Act" (S. 2506), which seeks to reinstate Washington state oil tanker safety laws overturned by the Supreme Court in Intertanko v. Locke and United States v. Locke. In a press release, Senator Gorton said, "I disagree with the Court's decision, because I believe Washington State should be allowed to protect its shores as it sees fit." The Gorton legislation would reinstate the right of all states to adopt additional standards beyond existing federal requirements governing the operation, maintenance, equipment, personnel and manning of oil tankers. While the legislation would apply to all coastal states, Gorton's interest is focused on recently overturned Washington statutes.

The California state legislature is considering a new tax on shipping containers that would cost an estimated $34m a year to Hawaii shippers, The Pacific Business Journal reported. More than 80 percent of goods consumed in Hawaii are produced elsewhere and shipped to the islands, and 90 percent of those are shipped through the California ports of Oakland and Long Beach on the ships of Matson Navigation Co., Horizon Lines and Pasha Hawaii Transport. California State Senate Bill 974 would impose a $30 fee per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard measure of maritime shipping capacity) on every cargo container traveling between California and Hawaii. Most cargo containers are at two TEUs so it amounts to a $60 container fee in most cases.

In terms of new deliveries, the West Coast ferry industry will probably not see another period to match the past 18 months for some time. All three of the large government-operated ferry systems in the Pacific Northwest - Washington State, BC Ferries and the Alaska Marine Highway System - received new tonnage, as did a number of smaller operators along the coast. Still under construction are two high-speed vehicle-carrying catamarans for BC Ferries and a single passenger-only high-speed cat for Washington State. In addition, the Nichols Bros. yard at Freeland, Wash. is completing a 40-knot catamaran for operation between southern California and Catalina Island, and a second 35-knot cat for deployment in Alaska by the Brad Phillips organization.