San Pablo News

American Cruise Lines announced it will begin offering California cruises starting in 2023.The U.S. river and small ship coastal cruise line will offer a new eight-day round tris from San Francisco exploring the San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, the Napa River and the San Joaquin River, with stops in San Francisco, Napa, Vallejo, Stockton and Sacramento.“American continues to expand the possibilities for exceptional domestic small ship cruises across the country. Exploring this…

The Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun (BOPC) announced that its next Pilot Trainee Training Program Selection Examination will be held in June 2022 at the California State University Maritime Academy in Vallejo, Calif. Applications are due no later than April 15, 2022.The BOPC typically conducts maritime pilot trainee training program selection examinations every two to three years, or when there is a need for licensed pilots. The last examination was held in 2019.

San Francisco Bay boat designer and manufacturer Moose Boats said it has been awarded a contract to construct multiple 75-foot semi-displacement USCG Subchapter-T passenger catamarans for Westar Marine Services in San Francisco, Calif. The first vessel will commence production in the spring of 2017. The aluminum catamarans will be equipped with Twin Volvo D13 turbo diesel engines with Volvo IPS3 drives, achieving a service speed of 25 knots and exceptional close quarters maneuverability.

San Francisco’s Jensen-designed super pumping fireboat is like none that came before her. As a result, the City by the Bay is prepared like never before, for its next crisis. Christened on October 17, appropriately enough on the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the city of San Francisco’s first new fireboat in almost 60 years is an especially unique boat, designed and built for a specific purpose. When the infamous quake burst the domestic water lines beneath San Francisco, it left local firefighters scrambling for a water source from which they could fight the fires that ensued. Today, Fireboat 3 – named locally by a young grade school student as the St.

Kvichak Marine Industries, Inc. was recently awarded a contract for construction of a 60’ aluminum catamaran research vessel for the California Department of Water Resources designed by Incat Crowther, Australia with design guidance and customer representation by Jensen Maritime Consultants. The vessel’s primary application will be monitoring water quality, phytoplankton, zooplankton and benthic macro-invertebrates. The vessel will be operating in the San Francisco Bay Estuary, San Pablo Bay Estuary and the Pacific Ocean within five miles of shore and the adjoining inland waterways.

Jensen Maritime, a wholly owned Crowley Maritime Corp. subsidiary, has been selected to provide detail production engineering and construction management on an 88' x 25' Super Pumper NFPA Type II Fireboat for the San Francisco Fire Department. Jensen completed the fireboat contract-design for the city in 2012. “We are proud to work with the San Francisco Fire Department again,” said Johan Sperling, Jensen vice president. Vigor Industrial will build the vessel at its 27-acre facility in Seattle.

Surrounded on three sides by water with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Golden Gate Strait to the north, and San Francisco Bay to the East, the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) currently relies on two old and refurbished fireboats, the Phoenix (built in 1954) and the Guardian (built in 1951) to serve as fire protection assets for the waters around the City. San Francisco requires fireboats for a wide range of protective coastal duties. Since San Francisco lies near a major earthquake fault line…

A major winter storm is forecast for the San Francisco Bay this week. The storm is forecast to impact the entire Bay Area region, Monterey, and Lake Tahoe. Patchy fog, heavy rain, gale force winds (in excess of 34 knots) and increased wave action are expected Wednesday night, 10 December 2014 through Thursday 11 December 2014, with weather abating and showers expected on Friday 12 December 2014.... This MSIB clarifies USCG Captain of the Port expectations and provides recommended actions in preparation for heavy weather conditions forecast for the San Francisco COTP Zone. Industry partners should review the applicable portions of the San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun Bay Harbor Safety Plan, implement heavy-weather plans and shall take due diligence to prepare for potential storm impacts.

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and local agencies are responding to a plane crash near San Pablo Bay after two planes collided in mid-air above the Bay Sunday. At approximately 4 p.m., the Sector San Francisco Coast Guard command center received a call about a small Cessna and a WWII-era aircraft that had collided. The Coast Guard launched four rescue boat crews and one rescue helicopter crew and established a temporary safety zone in the water while the Federal Aviation Administration has established a temporary flight-restriction zone in the area. Debris has been located in the water, but there are no signs of the downed pilot at this time. The incident is under investigation. The USCG asked Mariners in the area to contact their nearest Coast Guard station if they find any debris in the water.

Fireboat to be Equipped with Six Fire Monitors and 26 Manifold Valves for High-Volume Water and/or Foam Firefighting. Jensen Maritime Consultants, Inc., a Crowley company, has been chosen to design a custom "super pumper" fireboat to enhance the City of San Francisco Fire Department's (SFFD) marine fire fighting and response capabilities on water. This high-volume water and foam pumping NFPA Type II fireboat will feature six fire monitors and 26 manifold valves, allowing for more than 16…

The Coast Guard responded to a report of a tank vessel which grazed the bottom of the channel on Dec. 19. No pollution was reported or sighted by response personnel. At 5 a.m., Coast Guard Sector San Francisco received a report that the Marshall Islands-flagged Tank Vessel Cape Brasilia had touched the muddy bottom of the Pinole Shoal Channel. The 577-foot tanker immediately moved back into deeper water without incident, assisted by two tugs. The Coast Guard immediately launched vessels from Coast Guard Station Vallejo and Coast Guard Station San Francisco to search the area for signs of pollution. At first light, an HH-65 Dolphin Helicopter from Air Station San Francisco conducted a thorough overflight of San Pablo Bay, with negative sightings of pollution.

The tanker Cape Brasilia is escorted by a Coast Guard vessel and tug after touching the bottom of the channel in San Pablo Bay, north of the San Francisco Bay. The tanker scraped the bottom of the channel, and immediately moved back into deeper water without incident. The vessel is currently being moved to anchorage nine, where investigators will examine the vessel to ensure there is no structural damage or pollution potential. Several Coast Guard assets, including boats, and a helicopter verified that no pollution resulted from this incident. The cause of the incident is under investigation.

The U.S. Coast Guard has designated waters of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, Carquinez Strait, Suisun Bay, Sacramento River, San Joaquin River and connecting waters as a regulated navigation area (RNA) for the purpose of prohibiting vessels carrying liquefied hazardous gas (LHG) from anchoring in these waters and requiring such vessels to proceed directly to their intended offload facility. The rule comes into effect on June 28. 69 Fed. Reg. 30203 (HK Law).

When the State of California, long a leader in reducing air-pollution, announced the Carl Moyer Program to reduce NOx emissions, towboat owner Aaron Lind and his family decided to get on board. The program is supported by a one-time appropriation of $50 million dollars for the 2000/2001 fiscal year. A significant portion of this amount was allotted for Carl Moyer Program incentive grants, as a means to reduce emissions from heavy-duty engines. These grants cover the incremental cost of cleaner on-road, off-road, marine, locomotive and stationary agricultural pump engines, as well as forklifts and airport ground support equipment. Beginning in summer 1999, grants became available through participating air pollution control and air quality management districts grants.

Fireworks exploded over the Bay Bridge and thousands of people crowding the waterfront near the new ballpark gasped in admiration. Some of the best seats for the spectacle are along the north side of Pier 50, home of Westar Marine Services where owner's and employees share a barbecue in honor of the annual display sponsored by a local radio station. But the folks at Westar are more than passive observers, the tugs that are managing the fireworks barges are contracted from Westar. This annual fireworks event sums up Westar Marine Services' role on San Francisco Bay. They are the company that takes on all of the niche jobs that others with their large investments in big horsepower and Z-drives can't afford to be doing.