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The Baltimore Sun News

08 Aug 2016

Helen Delich Bentley Dies at 92

Helen Delich Bentley (Image courtesy of the U.S. Congress)

Helen Delich Bentley, a former journalist and a U.S. Republican congresswoman from Maryland who gained global attention by smashing Japanese goods to protest Tokyo's trade policies, died over the weekend at the age of 92, officials said. Bentley upset a longtime Democratic congressman to win a U.S. House of Representatives seat in 1984, a year in which Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in the presidential race helped bring several new faces from the party to Congress. The five-term congresswoman was a staunch advocate for the port of Baltimore and the state's maritime industry.

03 Mar 2014

LNG Foes go to the Mat in Maryland

Maps of Indian and Japanese ports paper the walls of a Dominion Resources Inc conference room in a small Maryland town, population 1,835, known more for crabbing and bird watching than global trade and the U.S. natural gas revolution. Dominion, an American energy company long focused on U.S. markets, hopes to begin an expansion worth billions of dollars at its Cove Point complex on Chesapeake Bay later this year. As part of the plan, compressors fired by a new power plant would cool gas to -260 degrees F (-162 C) until it becomes the hot global commodity known as liquefied natural gas, or LNG. But if environmentalists, including a group that has led the charge against TransCanada Corp's long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline, get their way, Dominion won't soon be shipping anything anywhere.

17 Oct 2013

Port Operations Halted as Baltimore Strike Continues

Photo: Maryland Port Administration

Multiple sources reported that a longshoremen labor strike at the Port of Baltimore Wednesday morning has forced the closure of the port’s major terminals. All cargos at the port's public marine terminals continue to be affected and no ships are operating. The strike was brought into effect by a vote held Tuesday night where the International Longshoremen's Association Local 333 rejected a local contract with the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore, which represent the port's employers of longshoremen, The Baltimore Sun reported.

14 Mar 2013

Former Congresswoman Honored by Maryland Senate for Port Efforts

Former U.S. Congresswoman and maritime authority Helen Delich Bentley was honored by the Maryland State Senate for her tireless efforts to promote Baltimore's port and "make government work for all' by helping the Port realize its economic development potential. Bentley, a past chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, spoke passionately of her decades of public service on behalf of the Port in receiving the First Citizen Award on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. As maritime editor of The Baltimore Sun, she operated in "the battle zones so that our great Port of Baltimore could compete with New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk," and simultaneously produced, edited and narrated the TV series "The Port That Built a City and State," which ran for 15 years.

16 Mar 2011

Bentley to be Feted by National Maritime Historical Society

Photo courtesy BSY Associates Inc.

Helen Delich Bentley will be an honoree at the National Maritime Historical Society's Washington Annual Award Dinner beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, at the National Press Club, 529 14th St., NW, Washington, DC, 20045. A former chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission and five-term U.S. Congresswoman representing Maryland's 2nd Congressional District, Bentley's history of advocacy for the Port of Baltimore was highlighted in 2006 when the Port was officially renamed The Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore by Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich.

22 Nov 2010

Investigating the USCG’s Administrative Law Judge System

On September 14, 2010, the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General posted its much anticipated report addressing the very serious allegations of misconduct made against the U.S. Coast Guard’s Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) system by former ALJ Jeffie J. Massey. In short, the Inspector General’s office concluded that it “was not able to substantiate” Judge Massey’s allegations against her former superior, Chief ALJ Joseph N. Ingolia, and numerous members of his staff, members of the ALJ Docketing staff, members of the Coast Guard Commandant’s staff and several USCG Investigating Officers who were involved in cases then pending before Judge Massey.

10 May 2004

Ship Disposal Encounters Enviro, Political Hurdles

By Joan M. Bondareff and Charles T. In 2001, Congress directed the Maritime Administration (MarAd) to dispose of all obsolete vessels in its inventory by September 30, 2006, and to do so "in the manner that provides the best value to the Government." At present, MarAd has 104 non-retention ships not under contract in three locations around the country-James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia, Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas, and Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in California. MarAd is using a variety of ship disposal options, which include domestic and foreign dismantling/recycling to accomplish this directive. Both have been controversial and foreign scrapping has prompted litigation. This article describes what MarAd is doing and what laws are implicated in this mission. The U.S.

14 Jul 2000

Heightened Scrutiny On Ship Scrapping

Ever since two enterprising reporters for the Baltimore Sun decided, in 1997, to take a closer look at ship scrapping, first at a Baltimore shipyard dismantling a Navy ship, and subsequently an in depth review of scrapping conditions in Alang, India, the light of public attention has been shining on this oldest of maritime practices. With this scrutiny, the world of scrapping ships will be forever changed — hopefully for the better. Following the end of the Cold War, the Navy's downsizing its fleet, and the requirement to replace tankers with more modern and environmentally safer ships, the demand to decommission and dispose of obsolete vessels is increasing at a pace more rapid than the capacity exists to handle this demand. Certainly, this is true in the U.

25 Jun 2007

Cummings: The Scales of Coast Guard Justice Must be Balanced

Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, responded to allegations contained in a June 24, 2007 Baltimore Sun investigative article that the practices followed in the U.S. Coast Guard's administrative court system are unfair to mariners accused of violations of law or operating procedures. "As both Chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee and a lawyer, I find the accusations presented in the Baltimore Sun article deeply troubling. "I will not comment on any pending litigation. Nevertheless, as a general rule, our judicial system must assure the fair treatment that is guaranteed by our constitutional principles of due process and equal protection.

19 Dec 2006

Judge Halts Dredging Near Md. Shipyard

A Baltimore County judge ordered the owners of the Sparrows Point shipyard to temporarily stop dredging in the Patapsco River in Maryland. A Circuit Court Judge granted a temporary injunction to stop contractors from removing sediment in the river near the Key Bridge at the request of a group of Dundalk-area residents also opposed to a liquefied natural gas terminal planned for the site, according to a lawyer for the group. The Greater Dundalk Alliance's LNG opposition team alleges in its court filing that the dredging is stirring up toxins that will harm nearby residents and the Chesapeake Bay. The community group, however, must post a $750,000 bond by today to cover the company's revenue lost by not dredging, in the event that the contractors are allowed to resume the work.

14 Aug 2006

New Speed Limit to Save Whales?

Federal officials are considering speed limits for large ships that could reduce collisions with whales, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration held a hearing on the proposals last Thursday in Baltimore. While conservationists applauded the limits, officials in the shipping industry say the limits could be bad for business. Under the proposals, ships longer than 65 ft. would be limited to 10- to -14 knots at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and outside several major Atlantic ports. A decision on the speed limit is expected by spring. (Source: Baltimore Sun)

21 Feb 2006

Water Taxi Lawsuit Planned

Two insurance firms representing the company whose water taxi overturned in Baltimore's Inner Harbor in 2004, killing five people, plan to sue the U.S. Coast Guard, alleging that the maritime service certified the vessel for too many passengers. The companies, which paid confidential settlements to the victims on board the Lady D after it capsized in a sudden storm between Fort McHenry and Fells Point, said the vessel was not properly tested for stability by the Coast Guard before it was put to use. And, the lawsuit is expected to say, it never should have been permitted to carry 25 people. If successful, the suit could shift at least some attention for the accident away from the captain…

14 Feb 2006

Dubai Finishes Buying P&O

Reports indicate that Dubai Ports World, a state-owned international port operator, cleared its last major hurdle yesterday in acquiring a British company that helps run several U.S. terminals the companies said yesterday. The acquisition of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., whose shareholders agreed yesterday to accept Dubai Ports World's offer of 3.9 billion pounds, or $6.8 billion, in cash, would create the world's third-largest port operator, with 51 terminals in 30 countries. It will also give the aggressive Dubai a larger foothold in the booming trade between Asia and the United States. P&O officials have said they expect the company to be run separately out of London and do not expect changes in U.S.

28 Jan 2003

HISTORY:Rescuing the Rescuer

According to the Baltimore Sun last April 21, 100,000 visitors came to town the day before, just to see the boats. Most had arrived for the Volvo races, an endurance test of sorts. But without so much press, from as far off as Seattle, another 48 came for a ship whose endurance was legend already. For a near half-century with the Coast Guard, the Tamaroa fought famously bad seas - and before that, enemy fire. Her quiet admirers arrived Balto with scrapers in hand, wrenches at the ready, plans in mind. Tamaroa had taken world wars and nature's wrath in stride. But civilian life got her down. Her preceding nine years were spent in near-isolation, open to intruders and the elements, gathering rust. April 20 was the day all that would change. Some of the 48 came to relive, some to renew.