Ralph Wilson News

The State of North Carolina has been very good to shipbuilding companies along the Gulf Coast. In the last 10 years, nearly a dozen ferries have been built or substantially modernized in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. In just the past two years, the second largest state ferry system in the nation has built two 180-ft. car/passenger ferries and substantially renovated two additional vessels. The two new ferries are literally carbon copies of each other. "They were built from the same set of plans, so it is difficult to get two vessels any more similar than that," said Dan Noe, manager of quality assurance for the North Carolina Ferry Division.

The Coast Guard signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Calcasieu Parish School Board Jan. 9, to put in place the first Coast Guard sponsored Partnership in Education (PIE) program in Southwest Louisiana. Lt. Cmdr. Buddy Reams, Commanding Officer of Marine Safety Unit Lake Charles, and Leonard Miller, Jr., Assistant Superintendent of the Calcasieu Parish School Board, signed the MOU. The objective of the PIE program is to place Coast Guard personnel in direct contact with students at the elementary and secondary levels. Coast Guard men and women will volunteer their time and resources to help students develop to their full potential.