Recreation Department News

Japanese Tsunami Pontoon Beached in Oregon

EPA/Oregon Parks and Recreation Department informs AFP that the Japanese consulate has confirmed the large dock, which measures 7 feet tall (2.1 meters) by 66 feet long (20.1 meters) by 19 feet wide (5.8 meters), is debris from the March 2011 tsunami. A commemorative plaque on the dock showed it was one of four owned by Aomori Prefecture that broke loose from the port of Misawa on the north. One of the four docks turned up several weeks later on an island south of Misawa, but the other two are still missing…

History Repeats Itself In the “City of Brotherly Love”

A new development within the realm of U.S. Shipbuilding — the new Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard (KPSI) is poised to be one of the most efficiently outfitted commercial shipyards in the world. The shipbuilding company, which occupies approximately 114 acres on what used to be the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, utilizes a section of the former Naval yard, which was closed down in 1996 by the U.S. Government due to lack of funds. Further revitalizing this historical landmark, was KPSI's decision to utilize the yard's original drydocks that date back to WWII. But the facility is hardly stuck in the 1940s as it boasts a full array of modern shipbuilding technology and systems. Recently, Ron McAlear, hailing from Litton Avondale and a U.S.