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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Recruiting News

27 Feb 2024

GAO: Coast Guard Should Address Workforce Recruitment and Retention Challenges

Chief Warrant Officer Aaron Studie climbs a Jacob's ladder to perform a vessel inspection. Marine inspectors board boats in dry dock, moored at a pier, anchored and in rare occasions while underway. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Darryl W. Bradshaw)

The Coast Guard has struggled for years to recruit and retain a sufficient workforce. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the non-partisan, fact-based arm of the Congress, has published multiple reports related to the Coast Guard’s workforce including recruitment and retention challenges. Three of these reports published in 2022 and 2023 have resulted in 17 GAO recommendations to address these issues, but as of today, 16 remain open and need to be addressed. Implementing…

09 Feb 2024

Metal Shark Boosts Production Capacity with Third Louisiana Facility

(Credit: Metal Shark)

U.S.-based boat builder Metal Shark is expanding its presence in its home state of Louisiana with the addition of a third manufacturing facility and a new recruitment effort.The expansion follows the recent divestiture of its Alabama-based ship refit and repair business, after the company sold its operations to Birdon America.With a new 40,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Metal Shark is looking to boost its production capacity.Together with its nearby Jeanerette and Franklin production facilities…

08 Feb 2024

Insights: Blake Powell, JMS Naval Architects

Blake Powell, President, JMS Naval Architects (Photo: JMS Naval Architects)

Blake Powell, president at JMS Naval Architects, discusses his career, company and latest trends in naval architecture and marine engineering.Please give a brief professional bio, including education, experience and overview of current duties as president of JMS Naval Architects.I earned my degree in Naval Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where I attended on a Navy ROTC scholarship and was commissioned as a Diving and Salvage Officer after I graduated.

06 Feb 2024

Birdon Acquires Metal Shark's Bayou La Batre Shipyard

(Photo courtesy Birdon Group)

Australia's Birdon Group announced its U.S. subsidiary has reached a deal to acquire Metal Shark Boats' shipyard in Bayou La Batre, Ala.Birdon America said it will utilize the 32-acre facility for vessel repair work as well as newbuild activity, including construction of the U.S. Coast Guard's $1.187 billion 27-vessel Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) Program awarded to Birdon in 2022.Birdon Group CEO, Jamie Bruce, said, “The investment in this facility will not only ensure we deliver on our promise to the U.S.

09 Jan 2024

BAE Systems Begins Building Shipbuilding Academy in Glasgow

(Image: BAE Systems)

BAE Systems announced construction has begun on a new Applied Shipbuilding Academy at its Scotstoun shipyard on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow, as the company bolsters its efforts to develop future talent.Designed to support the development of the entire workforce, from apprentices to senior leaders, the Academy will comprise of a Modern Trade Hall and a Flexible Learning Hub. It will also serve to upskill the existing workforce while attracting new talent.A historic industrial building will be retrofitted to become the Modern Trade Hall…

13 Nov 2023

IMO/ILO Conference on Work at Sea Highlights Collaboration

Source: IMO

The Joint IMO/ILO Conference on Work at Sea held on November 13 involved the sharing of best practices, views and experiences on: ensuring the rights of seafarers and fishers; identifying gaps in the current regulatory framework, including in relation to responsible management; and exploring how governments, industry, IGOs and NGOs can collaborate to improve the relevant international maritime legal framework.In his closing remarks International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F.

01 Nov 2023

ACE Winches Urges Industry to Invest in Young Talent

(Photo: ACE Winches)

Scottish engineering business ACE Winches is calling on industry to invest more in training young people as it expands its own apprenticeship scheme.The Aberdeenshire-based company has welcomed its very first foundation graduate, bringing the number of young people recruited as apprentices to around 300 over the last 30 years.The company's founder and CEO, Alfie Cheyne, a marine engineering apprentice himself when he left school at 16, has called on all industry bosses to recognize…

02 Oct 2023

Jan De Nul Orders Offshore Cable Layer with Record-Breaking Capacity

Fleeming Jenkin - Copyright: Jan De Nul Group

Offshore installation services company Jan De Nul has ordered an extra-large cable-laying ship with an "unrivaled" cable-carrying capacity from China's CMHI Haimen shipyard.The vessel, to be named Fleeming Jenkin, will have a cable-carrying capacity of 28,000 tons, and will serve the renewable energy and subsea cable industry in installing cables over longer distances and in deeper waters. The vessel will be delivered in 2026. "Offshore wind farms go deeper and further offshore, and the interconnectivity between countries and regions become essential for the economy and energy security.

26 Sep 2023

250,000 Seafarers Have Pay Boosted by 6%

Seafarers courtesy of ITF

Seafarers’ unions and maritime employers have signed a four-year agreement that will see significant wage increases and dozens of workplace protections and improvements for over 250,000 seafarers’ serving on more than 10,000 vessels.The International Bargaining Forum (IBF), the forum that negotiates the world’s largest global collective bargaining agreement, agreed terms for the 2024-2027 IBF Framework Agreement last week in Berlin.Seafarers covered by the agreement will receive a 6% wage increase over the next two years (4% wage and compensations increase from January 1…

20 Sep 2023

Svitzer Promotes Hellstrom to Chief Commercial Officer

Mattias Hellstrom (Photo: Svitzer)

A.P. Moller-Maersk's towage arm Svitzer announced it has appointed Mattias Hellstrom as its new global chief commercial officer (CCO), effective from October 1.Hellstrom makes the move to Svitzer’s global business after three years as CCO of Svitzer Europe, and replaces outgoing Global CCO Videlina Georgieva, who was recently appointed managing director of Svitzer Australia.Prior to his role as CCO of Svitzer Europe, Hellstrom was managing director of Svitzer Scandinavia for nearly seven years. He has also held management roles at Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and A.P. Moller – Maersk.

10 Aug 2023

Bollinger Cuts Steel on Prototype Module for First Polar Security Cutter

(Photo: Bollinger Shipyards)

Bollinger Shipyards this week announced it has begun cutting steel at Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. on the first of eight prototype modules that will become the foundation of the first U.S. Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter (PSC), USCGC Polar Sentinel (PSC-1)—the first heavy icebreaker to be built in the United States in 50 years. "Today marks a significant step for both Bollinger Shipyards and the United States,” said Ben Bordelon, President and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards. “After over 50 years, we're back to building heavy icebreakers.

24 Jul 2023

OSG Pledges $90,000 for Women at SUNY Maritime College

(Photo: Overseas Shipholding Group)

U.S.-based shipping company Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) announced its support for women at SUNY Maritime College with a three-year pledge totaling nearly $90,000, in an effort to make strides in reducing the gender gap in the maritime industry and create equal opportunities for all. The funding will go towards scholarships for women and a student government organization at the college, Women of Maritime, which cadets launched to build community and bring more awareness to…

30 May 2023

Retaining Gen Z in the Marine Industry

© alexgombash / Adobe Stock

While people in all generations measured themselves against eternal factors—fellow employees, family, their industry, etc.—Generation Z is fixated on measuring themselves against the world as seen through social media. Coaching them will help them begin to turn inward and measure success against their own goals. One of the keys to retaining your Gen Z workers will be in positively coaching them.Coaching should provide positive feedback about employee contributions. At the same time…

22 May 2023

Time to Meet the US Mariner Shortage Head On

(Photo: Alpha Hernandez / U.S. Marine Corps)

We have a national and economic security crisis on our hands. It is time for Washington policymakers to stop dancing around the facts and looking for small fixes. The U.S. mariner shortage is real and it poses an unescapable threat not only to our ability to establish lines of communication to the U.S. warfighter, but also to our nation’s ability to project power through international trade.Two Congressional hearings held on March 28 illustrate the challenge. First, General Van Ovost…

18 May 2023

Cultivating Tomorrow’s Waterways Workforce

© Marina Tolkacheva / Adobe Stock

The American Waterways Operators (AWO) is taking action to help address an industry need and a national imperative to recruit, retain and develop the next generation of maritime employees.As much as the tugboat, towboat and barge industry contributes to our nation’s prosperity and security today, we are an industry with an incredibly bright future that has even more to offer in the years to come. Our industry is uniquely positioned to be part of the solution as shipper-customers…

18 May 2023

US Maritime Industry Working to Solve the People Puzzle

(Photo: Crowley)

For companies active in all parts of the commercial maritime sector, finding and holding onto the workers they need to build, operate and service the industry’s wide range of vessels has been challenging. Simply put, the labor market is tight, and the problem is not getting any easier to solve.Mike Ellis, CEO at American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL), said a continued shortage of qualified personnel has been the most pressing issue for ACBL—and probably for the barging industry as a whole. “There's been so much demand on people.

27 Mar 2023

DNV Names Roll Richardsen as Director of Cyber Security in Norway

Anette Roll Richardsen - ©DNV

DNV has appointed Anette Roll Richardsen as Director of its Cyber Security business in Norway.DNV said Roll Richardsen would lead a growing team of IT and operational technology security experts as the company rapidly scales to safeguard its customers from emerging cyber risks to critical infrastructure. "Named among Europe’s 50 Most Influential Women in Cybersecurity by SC Media, Roll Richardsen has a track record in leading expert teams in securing society from cyber threats.

05 Jan 2023

Lack of Dredging Could Delay Chevron's Venezuela Oil Exports

© momentscatcher / Adobe Stock

A shipping channel snafu is slowing Chevron Corp’s efforts to load tankers at one of its four Venezuelan joint ventures and bring heavy crude to the United States, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.Washington in November authorized the last major U.S. firm still operating in Venezuela to restore lost output and begin exporting oil as a way to encourage talks between Nicolas Maduro’s government and the country’s political opposition.But a plan to move heavy…

23 Feb 2023

Help Wanted: Build a New Industry

(Photo: Atlantic Wind Transfers)

When Atlantic offshore wind (OSW) projects move into high gear they will kick-start a series of impacts affecting almost the entire East Coast economy, from logistics to transportation to utility projects and, of course, just about every aspect of port and maritime activities.The related topics of workforce development and employment are among the fundamental issues being pushed and pulled by OSW. How workforce development and education and training proceed – and succeed – will be critical for the U.S.

21 Nov 2022

Marine Forces Reserve Eyes a New Small Craft Mission

Vendors presented and showcased four small craft on the water for Marine Forces Reserve, the Defense Innovation Unit and Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory at a small-boat evaluation and demonstration event on Nov. 2, 2022, at the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion headquarters in Tampa, Fla. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Photo By Cpl. James Stanfield, illustration by Cpl. Trystan Taft)

Aligned with its Campaign Plan 2030 strategic themes, “relevant, ready and responsive,” Marine Forces Reserve (MFR) is pursuing the rapid acquisition of small expeditionary watercraft to provide capacity and platforms in support of Service-level Force Design 2030 experimentation efforts.By partnering with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and leveraging their Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) solicitation process, which is an iterative and competitive phased approach that includes vendor presentations and extensive review of materials…

22 Nov 2022

Gender Inequality Still Rampant in the Maritime Longshore Profession

© xy / Adobe Stock

Gender equality has made enormous strides over the past century. In Canada today, women participate in the labour market at much higher rates than they used to — there are almost 3.5 times more women working now than there were in the 1950s.The proportion of women in traditionally male-dominated fields has also grown significantly. The number of female medical residents taking on orthopedic surgery residencies, for example, increased by 111% from 2006 to 2016. In addition, women’s…

03 Jan 2023

Steller Systems to Develop Damage Control System for Ships

© Peter Cripps / Adobe Stock

British naval architecture firm Steller Systems said it has been awarded a contract from the U.K.'s Defence and Security Accelerator to develop an innovative damage control system for ships.Changes to platform design and operation, steady reductions in crew numbers and the accelerating move to uncrewed, autonomous vessels mean that new approaches are required to ensure that damage control measures can continue to be successfully achieved, the company said.Under its recently awarded contract…

05 Dec 2022

Mustang Survival President Jason Leggatt Resigns

Jason Leggatt (Photo: Mustang Survival)

Last week, Jason Leggatt, President of Mustang Survival, and Andrew Branagh, CEO of The Wing Group, announced together that Leggatt has resigned from his daily management position as President.Leggatt will become a member of the Board following his departure, enabling him to provide the Board counsel and strategic guidance for The Wing Group and the Mustang Survival business in a governance role.The Wing Group/Mustang Survival has commenced the search process for a new business unit President engaging the executive recruiting firm Boyden Canada.