On December 16th, the U.S. Coast Guard, Washington State Patrol, and Washington State Ferries will be conducting a joint agency training exercise in Yukon Harbor, southwest of Blake Island. The drill scenario incorporates a multi-agency response to a simulated ferry hijacking. Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams from the Seattle Police Department, Kitsap County Sheriff’s office, and the Washington State Patrol along with the Washington State Ferries, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Bainbridge Island Fire and Police Departments, and Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife will use the opportunity to implement contingency plans and strengthen interagency relationships developed since September 11th.

The U.S. Navy announced that the USS George Washington will replace the USS Kitty Hawk as the forward deployed aircraft carrier in the western Pacific, according to a Stars & Stripes report. The Washington will arrive in Yokosuka, Japan in 2008. The USS George Washington was commissioned July 4, 1992. The ship returned from its sixth deployment in July 2004. It deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf in support of the Global War on Terror. Source: Stars & Stripes

Washington State Ferries will hold meetings regarding the status of the Steel Electric class vessels and Port Townsend/Keystone ferry service. Legislators and staff from affected ferry communities, Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond and Washington State Ferries Executive Director Mike Anderson will review current ferry status and discuss future vessel and service options. John Boylston, Naval Architect, Legislative Joint Transportation Committee consultants and WSF engineers will present Steel Electric repair and replacement options. Legislators and their staff, shipyard representatives, Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond and Washington State Ferries Executive Director Mike Anderson will likely attend. The meetings will be held in the Rainier Conference Room.

On February 20 and 21, 2014 Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Brian Salerno and BSEE Alaska Region Director Mark Fesmire traveled to Bellingham, Wash. to meet with senior leaders from the U.S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping and see first-hand Shell's containment system aboard the Arctic Challenger. Director Salerno and Alaska Region Director Fesmire also visited with Coast Guard representatives at the Coast Guard's District headquarters in Seattle.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced more than $42m in grants to improve ferry service and build new docks and facilities in 15 states and Puerto Rico. Congress authorized the Federal Highway Administration’s Ferry Boat Program was created to fund ferry boat projects that provide critical access to areas that lack other means of transportation where high passenger demand already exists. Program funds can be used for capital improvements to existing ferry operations which could increase the number of riders, relieve congestion or address environmental or significant operational concerns. The projects include funding…

After working alongside craftsmen from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Ship Repair Facility Yokosuka to complete routine maintenance to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, Sailors will now put the ship through a series of tests before going underway. George Washington sailed from its Truman Bay pier into open waters to begin a certification process that will ensure the ship, its equipment and crew are ready for extended periods at sea. "We're ready to execute sea trials," said Capt. David A. Lausman, George Washington's commanding officer.

The Court of Appeals of the State of Washington affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit on the basis of comity. In the instant case, plaintiff seaman was allegedly injured while working as a crew member on an Alaska state ferry. When the state started handling the injury as a workmen’s compensation issue in accordance with state law, plaintiff filed a declaratory judgment action in Alaska state court. After losing at the trial level, plaintiff appealed in Alaska and brought this separate action in Washington State seeking recovery against the State of Alaska under the federal Jones Act. The Washington appellate court noted that the dispute arose in Alaska, is based on Alaska law, and is being separately litigated in Alaska.

  The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Fir, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Astoria, Oregon, participated in a Spilled Oil Response System exercise near Blake Island, Washington, Wednesday. The exercise was part of an annual response exercise and included members of the Coast Guard 13th District Response Advisor Team, Pacific Strike Team out of Novato, California, Coast Guard Auxiliary, Washington State Department of Ecology, Harley Marine Service Inc., Navy Region Northwest, Washington State Ferries, and the Marine Spill Response Corporation.  

The new ferry Chimacum joined the Washington State fleet on Friday, April 7 as Washington State Ferries officially accepted the vessel from builder/contractor Vigor. The Chimacum will carry ferry riders on the Seattle/Bremerton route this summer after crews complete vessel outfitting, operational training and drills. Christened Chimacum, the new ferry’s name honors the Chemakum tribe’s gathering place, which is now the present day town of Chimacum near Port Townsend. “We’re excited to welcome the Chimacum to our fleet,” said Washington State Ferries Assistant Secretary Amy Scarton.

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has levied an $8,500 fine to the Greek shipping firm Marmaras Navigation Co. Ltd. for operating a cargo vessel in Washington waters without a state-approved oil spill readiness plan. The penalty against Marmaras Navigation marks the first time Ecology has levied a fine under its new oil spill contingency plan rule adopted in October 2006. Ecology requires that cargo and passenger ships, tank vessels, oil storage facilities and pipeline companies demonstrate that they can mount an effective, timely response if they spill oil. Under the rule, the vessel must either have their own approved spill readiness plan or be enrolled in one of the two non-profit organizations with approved plans that cover vessels in Washington.

Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that its U.S. marine transportation affiliate, SeaRiver Maritime, Inc., has been recognized by the Washington State Department of Ecology for excellence in marine safety and environmental stewardship. SeaRiver achieved this through meeting the state's voluntary Exceptional Compliance Program for Tank Vessels (Ecopro) and is the only company to attain full Ecopro status for a third consecutive renewal period since the program's inception in 1999. This honor acknowledges SeaRiver's achievement of high operating standards and environmental performance while operating in Washington state waters.

The Washington State Department of Ecology issued a Press Release stating that it assessed a fine in the amount of $81,000 against the Dockendale Shipping Company of the Bahamas for the spill of an estimated 8,000 gallons of bunkers from the M/V PENDRECHT while it was berthed near Longview, Washington on the Columbia River in January 2002. The spill resulted when oil from the bunker tank leaked through a crack into a ballast tank and was then pumped overboard. The owner was also assessed $15,114 in natural resource damages.

Lockheed Martin's MS2 Division of Syracuse, N.Y., is being awarded a $10.5m cost plus fixed fee (CPIF) contract for engineering support to the Navy's SQQ-89A(V)15 Undersea Warfare System.Work will be performed in Syracuse, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by September 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.The contract was competitively procured and advertised on the Internet, with one (1) proposal received.The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin's MS2 Division was also awarded a $10.1 CPIF contract for test and integration engineering of the Navy's SQQ-89A(V)15 Undersea Warfare System.Work will be performed in Syracuse…

International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) begins protest in Washington DC & Port of Charleston, South Carolina. Union longshore workers from many Atlantic Coast District Ports are joining forces outside the United States Marine Barracks in Washington, DC to protest the loss of handling military cargo at the Port of Charleston, South Carolina. Hundreds more members of the International Longshoremen's Association are also picketing simultaneously at the Port of Charleston. Both demonstrations in Washington and the Port of Charleston are to protest the US Marines allowing Portus Stevedoring Company, a Jacksonville-based company, to move its military cargo operation from Jacksonville, Florida to Charleston but bypassing the use of ILA workers in Charleston.

A Coast Guard Dolphin helicopter that was on Washington Island after the crew made an emergency landing on Sunday was recovered Monday and is being transported back to Air Station Traverse City, Mich., to undergo necessary repairs. A six-member recovery team from the air station arrived on Washington Island on Monday morning to begin the process of recovering the helicopter. At about 5 p.m. CST, the crew loaded the trailered aircraft onto the Washington Island Ferry, Arni Richter, for a 30-minute transit back to Northport Pier in Door County, Wis.

Washington State – Alaska – Non tank final rule & Washington State – Contingency Plan requirements. We refer to our circular no. B.613. As stated in that circular, every tank vessel and every other vessel over 300 GT is required under State law to file a contingency plan prior to entry into the waters of Washington State but that instead of filing his own plan an owner can subscribe to an umbrella oil spill contingency plan. Since publishing the abovementioned circular, Washington State Maritime Co-operative (WSMC) has changed its enrolment agreement and the version with footer “WSMC Enrolment Agreement – December 2013” conforms with the International Group’s guidelines on vessel response plans.

Crowley Petroleum Services will be awarded the Exceptional Compliance Program (ECOPRO) award for excellence in marine safety and environmental stewardship from the Washington Department of Ecology  this Thursday at Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center in Seattle. Companies that apply for the ECOPRO certification are required to submit plans to the Washington Department of Ecology for approval. Their plans are valid for three years. Ecology vessel inspectors conduct ship audits to make sure the management system is being implemented and continues to meet or exceed state ECOPRO standards.

Recent media reports have highlighted the potential for the Washington State Ferries to be a potential terrorist target. At this time, there is no specific, credible intelligence information indicating an attack is planned against the ferry system. However, the Coast Guard, FBI, Washington State Ferries and Washington State Patrol continue to closely coordinate on identifying threats and addressing potential vulnerabilities in the Washington ferry system and the rest of the maritime transportation sector. Ferry passengers can be assured that behind the scenes, those partner agencies are working around the clock investigating reports…

Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) completed its carrier qualifications (CQ), May 23. CQ allows CVW 5 pilots and George Washington's flight deck crew to prove accuracy and proficiency in successfully landing and recovering aircraft. "We don't have the luxury of crawl-walk-run in the forward-deployed Navy," said Lt. Eric Alexander, flight deck officer aboard George Washington. According to Alexander, being a part of forward…

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) christened Chimacum, the third Olympic Class vessel to join the Washington State Ferries (WSF) fleet. The ceremony took place at Vigor's Harbor Island Shipyard in Seattle, and marked the vessel’s final stage of construction and its preparation for sea trials. In a traditional maritime ceremony, Washington State Ferries Assistant Secretary Lynne Griffith broke a bottle of champagne to officially welcome the new ferry to the fleet. Gov.

US Fab Contracts Nichols Brothers Boat Builders to build the second 144-Car Washington State Ferry Superstructure. At their Seattle facility, US Fab, a subsidiary company of Vigor Industrial will partner once again with Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Freeland, Washington to build the second 144-Car Washington State Ferry. The Vessel is the second to be built in the Olympic Class for Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries division. Construction of the first vessel is currently underway at both US Fab and Nichols Brothers facilities.

SEATTLE – The new class of 144-car Washington state ferries currently under construction will be named after a beloved Washington landmark, the Olympics. The winning name, Olympic, was selected by Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond after a contest among Washington State Department of Transportation employees resulted in more than 130 submissions. “I loved the mountain range theme,” said Hammond. “You can see the Olympic mountains from any ferry route in our system,” said Assistant Secretary David Moseley.

MTU has recently appointed Richard Reisig as its head of governmental affairs in Washington D.C. In this role, Reisig will oversee the activities of MTU’s Washington D.C. office and assist with the sale of MTU engines to both the foreign and domestic defence base. Before joining MTU, Reisig worked for GE Transportation Systems in Washington, D.C. as a Director of Business Development for Government Accounts. He brings to this position several years of management, sales, project management and legislative experience gained during his previous employment with GE Energy, the Office of Senator John Warner, Allscripts Healthcare and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.