David Rider News

Buckley McAllister, President of McAllister Towing & Transportation, weighs in on the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the maritime sector.McAllister Towing & Transportation is a long and storied organization based in New York, the original U.S. COVID-19 hot spot that has been transformed from the city that never sleeps into a surreal ghost town. Describe the view from your perspective.All McAllister administrative personnel who can work from home are doing so. Luckily, most office personnel do most of their work online, so the need for actual visits to the office are infrequent.

The Seamen’s Church Institute of New York & New Jersey (SCI) selected Rev. Mark S. Nestlehutt as its new President & Executive Director, succeeding the Rev. David Rider, effective February 18, 2020.With more than two decades of church experience in Massachusetts, Illinois, Maryland, Australia and South Africa, Mark joins SCI from Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania where he serves as Rector. His previous employment and interests include service as an officer in the U.S.

International shipping registries have continued to sharpen their aim taken at a longstanding maritime problem: What is the appropriate response to piracy? As attacks have shifted from Somalia to West Africa, the issue remains at top of mind. Armed guards have proven to be a successful deterrent against attacks. Ship finance and registry lawyer Brad Berman, a Partner at Holland & Knight (H&K), sums up a sea change in views over the past year in views about guns aboard ships, telling Maritime Reporter: “A few years ago most of the shipping industry was against having weapons aboard…

In September 2011, as the monsoon began to blow itself out, there were grave warnings from a number of sources and analysts that the shipping industry could expect to see a significant surge in pirate activity as conditions in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean became more favorable. But as conditions cleared, the anticipated increase in pirate activity failed to materialize, to the surprise of many in the industry. This was all the more remarkable given the business model of Somali pirates…

Further to our previous media releases detailing a potential new trend in pirate tactics in an area of the Red Sea off Eritrea (see Figure 1), Neptune Maritime Security has had the opportunity to examine the available data through our Intelligence Bank, including material supplied by intelligence sources, and presents the following report to interested parties. In July, pirate activity off Eritrea was limited to small numbers of pirates mounting similarly small-scale attacks on shipping. while underway in position 13:27N-042:39E, approximately 27nm NW off Assab, Eritrea.

Yesterday, the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York & New Jersey (SCI) sold its 241 Water Street facility to the Blue Man Creativity Center School. At the same time, SCI commits itself to remain a New York-based institution, as it has been since its founding in 1834. Amid terms of sale, SCI retains its corporate offices at 241 Water Street. In addition to Water Street and Port Newark, SCI administers seafarer hospitality and education sites in Paducah, Ky., Houston, Texas, and Oakland, Calif. “This transaction provides SCI with the best of both worlds,” stated SCI President and Executive Director David Rider. “SCI remains in the heart of lower Manhattan, where we have been since 1834 and which remains an indelible part of our mission and identity.

The National Waterways Foundation elected new officers and trustees at its recent meeting on October 3, 2007 in Houston, TX. Newly elected Foundation officers are Peter Stephaich, Chairman, Campbell Transportation Co., Chairman, succeeding Joe Pyne, President/CEO, Kirby Corporation, and Terry Becker, President, Riverway Co., Treasurer. R. Barry Palmer, WCI, President and CEO, was re-elected as Secretary. Re-elected as Foundation trustees were Craig E. Philip, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ingram Barge Company; H. Merritt Lane, III, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canal Barge Company; Howard H. Brent, Peter Stephaich and R. Barry Palmer.

Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) welcomes Pamela Stephens as a new full-time chaplain based in the Port of Houston for its Ministry on the River program. In July, Chaplain Stephens joined Ann Mills in Paducah (KY) and the Rev. Jim Wilkinson in Louisville (KY) to coordinate SCI’s pastoral care network along 2,200 miles of America’s inland waterways. “Pam’s home base at SCI’s Houston Center will mean that the resources of the Institute are available to her as she provides pastoral care to more river and coastal mariners working in this region. A ministry of presence in the Gulf Region will take her from the bayous of Texas and Louisiana to the everglades of Florida,” said the Rev. David Rider, SCI's Executive Director.