Jim Watson News

This is the dawning of the age of AI and Big Data, huge agglomerations of new and transformative energy; almost self-generating, always strengthening and pulling at the reins, seeking to break free and run, a prospect both exciting and terrifying. That image can imply a human is holding the reins. How quaint: these days, AI itself may be holding the reins.In a review of innovation in 2023 – across any industrial or economic sector, not just maritime – AI looms large, a game-changer equivalent to IBM’s programming advances in the 1940s.

Conrad Shipyard held the Keel Laying Ceremony for the four Damen Stan 3711 Kāpena Class tugs now under construction for Young Brothers, Limited of Hawaii. On hand for the ceremony was Glenn Hong, President of Young Brothers, Ltd; Jonathan Parrott, President of Foss Marine, Young Brothers’ sister company; and, Tim Engle and Mark Tabbutt with Saltchuk, the parent company of both. Also attending and delivering remarks was Kommer Damen, Chairman and CEO of Damen Shipyard, and Jim Watson, President of ABS Americas. A number of local officials were also present, including Morgan City Mayor Frank P. Grizzaffi III, Port Director Mac Wade and Councilman Lou Tamporello. Dan Conrad, Senior Vice President Conrad Shipyard served as moderator.

LNG America announces the selection of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) as the classification society for North America’s first LNG bunker barges, currently being designed by Jensen Maritime. ABS will assist LNG America in working with shipbuilders and regulators in developing these first-of-their-kind barges that meet or exceed all technical and regulatory requirements. “We are pleased to be working with ABS on this important domestic initiative. ABS has watched ship propulsion move from wind to coal, from coal to oil, and now from oil to natural gas.

Entries are now being accepted for the inaugural SHIPPINGInsight Award, to be presented during the SHIPPINGInsight 2014 Fleet Optimization Conference, Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, 2014 in Stamford, Conn. The award will honor a ship operating company and its technology partners for the successful implementation of an innovative technology or initiative that reduced operating costs and improved operating efficiencies. A panel of independent judges, including maritime journalists, academics and third-party experts, will select the winner, and the award will be presented at a gala awards luncheon, Oct. 1. “Results are often derived from collaborative efforts of multiple parties working together to achieve the desired goals,” said SHIPPINGInsight co-director Jim Rhodes. What results were achieved?

The organizers inform that entries are now being accepted for the inaugural SHIPPINGInsight Award, to be presented during the SHIPPINGInsight 2014 Fleet Optimization Conference, Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, 2014 in Stamford, Conn. The award will honor a ship operating company and its technology partners for the successful implementation of an innovative technology or initiative that reduced operating costs and improved operating efficiencies. A panel of independent judges, including maritime journalists, academics and third-party experts, will select the winner, and the award will be presented at a gala awards luncheon, Oct. 1, 2014. “Results are often derived from collaborative efforts of multiple parties working together to achieve the desired goals…

Maritime industry executives Captain Michael Wilson and Jim Watson are keynote speakers for SHIPPINGInsight 2014, North America’s premier maritime industry technical forum, Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, 2014 in Stamford, Conn., at the Sheraton Stamford Hotel. Wilson, president of Laurin Maritime (Americas) Inc. and chief operating officer of Laurin Maritime, and Watson, president and chief operating officer of ABS Americas, will be the lead speakers at SHIPPINGInsight’s Fleet Optimization Conference & Exhibition on Oct. 1 and 2.

Former USCG Admiral Thad Allen is a transformational leader in the history of the service, a rock through thick and thin. Today he talks about resource allocation, risk management and homeland security. As part of Booz Allen Hamilton’s Justice and Homeland Security business group, Executive Vice President and former U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen leads the development of thought leadership and client engagements regarding the future direction of law enforcement and homeland security. The Coast Guard is under pressure to either pare its mission mix or downscale what it does.

Ben Billings serves as President & CEO of the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA), a nationwide trade association headquartered in New Orleans that represents more than 200 member companies. OMSA’s membership includes approximately 100 firms operating more than 1,200 vessels that provide transportation services to the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world. It’s arguably a very good time to be at the helm of OMSA, with a resurgent U.S.

A tumultuous three years for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, starting with the disastrous Macondo Oil Spill in April of 2010, has come full circle, arriving at a buoyant period for Gulf Cost boat builders, oil & gas developers and the maritime professionals who make it all happen. At the center of all of it is the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) and its President and CEO, Jim Adams. OMSA bills itself as the leading national association of, and spokesman for, the offshore marine transportation service industry. As a central tenet of its existence, OMSA vigorously defends the cabotage laws of the United States and encourages and promotes high standards of safety training and environmental protection.

Secretary Jewell Names Former USCG Vice Admiral Brian Salerno  Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today named former Vice Admiral Brian Salerno as the Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which provides federal oversight for oil and gas operations on the Outer Continental Shelf. Salerno, who retired from the U.S. Coast Guard last year as its Deputy Commandant for Operations, will assume his new position on August 26.

As part of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the oil and gas industry’s ability to respond in the event of a deepwater blowout and ensure that offshore oil and gas production can continue to expand safely and responsibly, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Jim Watson launched an unannounced exercise to deploy critical pieces of state-of-the-art well control equipment to the ultra-deep seabed of the Gulf of Mexico. The exercise employs Helix Well Containment Group’s capping stack system…

As part of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE) commitment to promoting offshore safety at all levels, at all times, Director Jim Watson has announced another step in a series of efforts to further identify, address and manage operational safety hazards and impacts, with the goal of enhancing both human safety and environmental protection on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. This step is also in line with the Administration’s focus on expanding safe and responsible development of our oil and gas resources…

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Jim Watson has announced that the Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee (OESC) will hold its sixth public meeting on Wednesday, January 9, 2013 and Thursday, January 10, 2013 in Washington, D.C. The OESC is a public federal advisory body including some of the nation’s leading scientific, engineering and technical experts. Chaired by former Sandia National Laboratory Director Dr. Tom Hunter, the group consists of members from federal agencies, the offshore oil and gas industry, academia, and nongovernmental organizations.

MWCC to Deploy Capping Stack in Gulf of Mexico. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has initiated the first ever drill designed to deploy critical pieces of state-of-the-art well control equipment to the ultra-deep seabed of the Gulf of Mexico in an effort to exercise the oil and gas industry’s response to a potential subsea blowout. The multi-week exercise, launched at 8:10 am CDT and employing the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC), is part of a series…

Director Watson Visits Arctic Drilling Rigs for First-Hand Look at Safety Equipment, Meets with Alaska Native Community Leaders, Shell Officials; Today holding media conference call to discuss visit and BSEE inspection and oversight activities. As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to safe and responsible offshore energy exploration and development, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Jim Watson today visited the two drilling rigs that Shell has proposed using for exploration activities in the arctic this summer.

The following is a transcript from a May 1, 3:52 p.m. EDT, press briefing by Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security John Brennan on ongoing response to the oil spill following the Deepwater Horizon incident. ADMIRAL ALLEN:  Thank you, Denis. Good afternoon to you all. This afternoon it was announced that I would be the National Incident Commander for this continuing response. I'd like to provide some context at the outset and make a couple of comments about myself personally and some background that I have. And then John Brennan will make some remarks. Regarding this incident, as you all know…