On June 12, 2017, the Coast Guard's national Director of Inspections and Compliance formally recognized PVA's Flagship Safety Management System (SMS) as an acceptable method for developing and implementing a company specific voluntary SMS. In a letter to PVA's Executive Director, Capt. Jennifer Williams stated, "The U.S. Williams' letter also acknowledged that vessel companies that effectively implement PVA Flagship SMS will be recognized and considered by local Coast Guard inspection offices for reduced scope of inspections under the Coast Guard Risk Based Decision Making policy for small passenger vessels. In response to the letter, PVA's Executive Director John Groundwater stated, "We are pleased with the Coast Guard's formal recognition of the PVA Flagship SMS program.

Crowley Maritime Corporation has appointed Paul S. Manzi as the company’s new vice president of safety, security, quality and environmental stewardship (SSQE), effective July 1. Manzi, who will be based in Jacksonville and report to Carl Fox, senior vice president, corporate services, succeeds Charlie Nalen, who is retiring after 36 years of service to Crowley. Reporting to Manzi will be Daniel Smith and Ketra Anderson, who are both directors of SSQE based in Seattle. Manzi joined Crowley last year as director of health and safety…

Shawn Garry has joined Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. as Vice President of Regulatory Compliance and Inspections, tasked with ensuring that the company achieves regulatory compliance and meets SubChapter M requirements. Garry will be the primary contact for Gulf Coast region internal and external vetting, SIRE, ABS, USCG and ISM. Prior to joining Bouchard, Garry worked at the U.S. Coast Guard as an Engineer of the Watch Afloat, Senior Marine Inspector, and Marine Casualty Investigator. Morton S.

An Irish naval ship rescued 712 people including pregnant women and infants off the coast of the Libyan capital of Tripoli as part of an international migrant rescue effort, Ireland's Defence Forces said on Monday. The LÉ Eithne ship led the rescue of multiple vessels in distress 40 kilometres north-west of Tripoli throughout Sunday. Six migrants, including one baby, were revived from states of unconsciousness. The ship will transport the people, including 14 pregnant women and four infants below the age of four months, to a designated "port of safety" to be handed over to Italian authorities. "I'm very proud to say all lives were saved, no lives were lost.

Eighty-seven vessels owned or managed by Crowley Maritime Corporation recently received the Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA)’s annual Jones F. Devlin Awards in recognition of their 2016 safety records. Each year, the CSA grants Devlin Award certificates to manned merchant vessels that have operated for two or more years without incurring a Lost Time Injury (LTI), highlighting the skills and dedication of the crewmembers responsible for safe vessel operations. Crowley’s 2016 Devlin Award-worthy vessels together have achieved 670 years of service without an LTI.

On Wednesday, June 7, 2017 the Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA) awarded 43 Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. operating vessels the Jones F. Devlin Award, recognizing their safety achievements in 2016. These 43 vessels operated a total of 364 years with no lost-time injuries. The CSA grants Devlin Award certificates each year to manned merchant vessels that have operated for two or more years without incurring a Lost Time Injury (LTI). “Bouchard continues to hold safety as a top priority…

The U.S. maritime industry publicly recognized the merchant mariners responsible for safe ship operations at the Annual Safety Awards Luncheon held on June 7, 2017. In all, 211 people, representing 53 companies and their subsidiaries attended the annual industry-sponsored event where 1,582 vessels with 10,604 cumulative years of accident free operation were recognized. Since 1958, the Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA) has also sponsored the Safety Achievement Award program which recognizes outstanding feats of safety that contribute to saving a life, a ship or other property.

Facing incoming Tropical Storm Cindy, offshore oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico have begun evacuating platforms and rigs as the storm moves north-westward toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. Data from offshore operator reports submitted to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) as of 11:30 CDT today indicate that personnel have been evacuated from a total of 40 production platforms, or 5.43 percent of the 737 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Personnel have been evacuated from one rig non-dynamically positioned (DP) rig…

Crowley Maritime Corp. has appointed Susan “Suz” Michel as vice president of human resources and learning, bringing all aspects of human capital management under her leadership – from talent acquisition to training and professional development to long-term employee retention. Michel joined Crowley in 2004 and most recently served as vice president of organizational development and change leadership. She will remain based in Jacksonville and continue to report to Carl Fox, senior vice president of corporate services.

International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Marine Safety Committee (MSC) adopted amendments to SOLAS2020 that raise the damage stability requirements for passenger vessels in the event of flooding caused by a collision. These changes used as a basis a series of EU and European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) funded cooperative research projects conducted by academics, shipyards, ship operators, owners, classification societies and ship design consultants over several decades. “To their great credit…

Everyone responsible for safety or training in their organization is aware that everything is changing in the maritime world. The worker demographic has shifted; regulatory demand is rising; and compliance is more complex. Accidents are more public and the consequences more severe. Ignoring this changing operational context means we are creating risk for tomorrow – a risk that increases every day until finally something gives. It has become increasingly difficult and risky to operate in today’s environment using yesterday’s tools and processes.

ABS said it has been awarded a Third Party Organization (TPO) contract by the Cooper Group of Companies to support compliance with U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Subchapter M requirements. “ABS anticipated the needs that would surface when the Subchapter M regulations were published and allocated resources to develop a range of solutions,” said ABS Americas Division President, Jamie Smith. The newly signed contract establishes ABS as the exclusive Subchapter M TPO for Cooper Group and its subsidiaries, Crescent Towing, Cooper Marine & Timberlands and Plimsoll Towing.

The SejlSikkert (SailSafely ) campaign enjoys fair winds and is now backed by more than 300 ambassadors, says a statement from Danish Maritime Authority (DMA). Nautical warnings are now updated daily in the SejlSikkert App (SailSafely App), it said. Six deaths, 516 reported incidents and almost 3,000 unreported incidents speak for themselves – it is still necessary to pay full attention to safety at sea. For two years, the Danish foundation TrygFonden and the Danish Pleasure Craft Safety Board have focused fully on the safety of fishermen and yachtsmen…

Hamburg-based shipping group Reederei Hamburger Lloyd will move its fleet of nine containerships and six bulk carriers to Marlink’s Sealink Plus VSAT package including unlimited L-band backup. Hamburger Lloyd is a long term customer of Telemar Germany and was looking for a communications solution that provides a quality link for downloading ECDIS updates, which is critical to the fleet’s navigational safety. The company also sees that moving from pay-as-you-go L-band communication services to the pay-monthly VSAT model will provide budget predictability and enable it to offer more crew communication facilities. Designed to provide high speed bandwidth at all times…

Now, the International Maritime Organization (IMO)  Maritime Safety Committee will start to establish a new international legal framework for the safe operation of autonomous ships, says a statement from Danish Maritime Authority. Together with a number of countries, Denmark, has taken the initiative to include autonomous shipping on the IMO agenda. United Nations' IMO is in line with the proposal and will now start mapping how existing international regulation can be applied to autonomous ships and maritime technologies; technologies that are developing rapidly these years.

A U.S. warship struck by a container vessel in Japanese waters failed to respond to warning signals or take evasive action before a collision that killed seven of its crew, according to a report of the incident by the Philippine cargo ship's captain. Multiple U.S. and Japanese investigations are under way into how the guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the much larger ACX Crystal container ship collided in clear weather south of Tokyo Bay in the early hours of June 17.

Lloyd's Register (LR) has launched the LR Unmanned Marine Systems Code, a goal-based code that takes a structured approach to the assessment of unmanned marine systems (UMS) against a set of safety and operational performance requirements. With current and expected developments in autonomous and remote systems LR envisages that, within the near future, UMS will enter into widespread use through many sectors of the maritime industry. LR has been active in understanding how it can support the industry to demonstrate safe design and quality manufacture of critical aspects for unmanned systems. The LR Unmanned Marine Systems Code provides an assurance process in order to certify the safe design…

Large shipping losses have declined by 50 percent over the past decade, mostly driven by the development of a more robust safety environment by ship owners, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE’s (AGCS) fifth annual Safety & Shipping Review 2017. In 2016 there were 85 total shipping losses reported, down 16 percent from 101 a year earlier. The number of shipping incidents declined slightly year-on-year by 4 percent with 2,611 reported, according to the review, which analyzes reported shipping losses over 100 gross tons.

Devon Grennan, president and CEO of Global Diving & Salvage, and president of the Spill Control Association of America (SCAA) asks the tough questions. What are the biggest challenges the spill response industry faces in light of the current political and economic climate in the United States? And what is SCAA doing to meet these challenges? I see the primary challenge that the spill response industry – as well as SCAA’s membership – currently has is to manage expectations and competing interests at a unique point in our nation’s energy renaissance.

Austal USA was recognized again as one of the safest shipyards in the country by the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) at their quarterly meeting in mid-May. Austal received the SCA’s  Award for Excellence in Safety - the company’s total recorded incident rate (TRIR) in 2016 was 56 percent lower than the industry average. “This amazing accomplishment is the culmination of years of Austal’s dedication to the safety and health of their workers and SCA is proud to have them as a member shipyard.” SCA President Matthew Paxton said. Austal is a 10-time SCA safety award recipient since 2008. This is the 6th time Austal has been honored with the Excellence in Safety award.

Inspired by the European program for Air Traffic Managemen, the Sea Traffic Management (STM) methodology has been developed by the Swedish Maritime Administration MonaLisa project to define a set of systems and procedures to guide and monitor maritime traffic. The STM Validation project co-financed by the European Union has made the first operational tests with the shore center manufacturers. The key to the interoperability between different systems is the robust underlying infrastructure.

Seattle based Foss Maritime, owner and operator of a fleet of tugs offering maritime transportation and logistics services, has awarded a contract to classification society ABS to support compliance with U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Subchapter M requirements. The contract positions ABS as Foss’ Third Party Organization (TPO), providing a complete suite of Subchapter M services, including TPO surveys, International Safety Management (ISM) compliance, Load Line compliance and audits of its Responsible Carrier Program (RCP).

UK Chamber of Shipping president Dr Grahaeme Henderson has told attendees of the UK Chamber's annual summer lunch how they can lead the way in creating a safer and more prosperous maritime sector. "Shipping, Scottish shipping, is important. It is the lifeblood of the economy providing for the everyday needs of our people, making possible trade with the rest of the world, and creating jobs. Simply put, without shipping, Scotland does not operate," Dr Henderson said. The lunch in Edinburgh was attended by members of the Scottish parliament and the nation's shipping industry.