Workboat articles from February 2006

Workboat archives from February 2006

Passengers are back onboard.(EDITOR'S WATCH)
February 1, 2006... After 9/11, passenger-vessel operators suffered from a double whammy of customer anxiety about both security and money. The terrorist attacks and the stagnant economy were the main reasons that operators suffered from a big decline in commuter...

Hawsepiper vs. maritime academy debate continues.(Column)
February 1, 2006... I have read with interest the back and forth banter regarding the qualifications or, more appropriately, "suitability" of candidates that lack a school-ship education for positions both at sea and ashore. Being a hawsepiper raised on the...

On the water: smoke signals--Part II.(AT A GLANCE)(to avoid smoking at workplace)
February 1, 2006... Clearly, no one should be forced to put their health in jeopardy and significantly increase their risk of cancer because of the bad habits of coworkers. As a simple matter of fairness, if not common courtesy, it's wrong for smokers to...

Captain's table: are you prepared for your next legal defense?(AT A GLANCE)
February 1, 2006... I was recently called upon to be an expert witness in a ferry company's lawsuit. The experience brought back bad memories of the legal hassles I had to deal with during my tenure as a ferry company manager in New York. Those illuminating...

WorkBoat Composite Index: index jumps 21 percent in 2005.(AT A GLANCE)
February 1, 2006... The WorkBoat Composite Index ended 2005 on a positive note, gaining over 30 points. The 3 percent increase in December topped all other indexes, including the Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index, the Dow and the S & P 500. For the month,...

OSV day rates: boat demand stays strong.(AT A GLANCE)
February 1, 2006... "Too good to be true!" That's how one offshore service vessel operator recently described the red-hot U.S. Gulf of Mexico market. At present, just about every available anchor handler, supply vessel and crewboat that is able to work is...

Legal talk: intellectual property protection for hull designs.(AT A GLANCE)
February 1, 2006... The Vessel Hull Design Protection Act (VHDPA) provides protection for original hull designs. VHDPA gives owners of original hull designs certain exclusive rights, provided that an application for registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is...

Inland insider: is oil just another commodity?(AT A GLANCE)
February 1, 2006... Oil prices nearly doubled in 2005, so what's in store for '06? Will the spiraling trend continue? What should our reaction be, other than to simply pay more? The big story for the barge industry in 2005, other than Hurricane Katrina,...

Towboat salvaged on the Tennessee.(NEWS LOG)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The 3,000-hp Elly Lane was successfully salvaged in late December after it sunk near the docking facilities of First Marine Corp. in Calvert City, Ky., near Mile Marker 11 on the Tennessee River. Nine crewmembers safely evacuated from the...

Gulf ports scramble to find housing for workers.(NEWS LOG)
February 1, 2006... Beyond the damaged buildings, piers and warehouses, storm-ravaged U.S. Gulf ports have also been trying to accommodate their workers. Some are back in their homes and on the job, while others are working and staying in FEMA trailers, on U.S....

Dredging completed on the Columbia River.(NEWS LOG)
February 1, 2006... Shippers and businesses can breathe easier now that the dredging of 27 miles of the Columbia River channel has been completed. During the first phase of the long-awaited project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers removed more than 2.6...

New Orleans school rebounds after Katrina.(NEWS LOG)(Hurricane Katrina, 2005)
February 1, 2006... Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, officials from Delgado Community College were out assessing storm damage. Not long into their investigation, they watched in amazement as a wall of water came rushing down the street, boiling over...

Coast guard rolls out new rescue system.(NEWS BITTS)(United States. Coast Guard)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Rescue 21, the U.S. Coast Guard's replacement for the National Distress Response System, has been officially commissioned. At a late-December ceremony at Air Station Atlantic City, N.J., location of a Rescue 21 pilot program, officials praised...

Seattle shipyard buys Marco equipment.(NEWS BITTS)
February 1, 2006... Pacific Fisherman Inc., a shipyard located on the Seattle ship canal across from the now defunct Marco Shipyard Seattle, purchased a majority of Marco's equipment at auction in December. "Big Bertha," Marco's 150-ton Denison hydraulic steel...

Q & A: an interview with Capt. Jim Wilkins, U.S. Navy director of ocean engineering and supervisor of salvage and diving. Wilkins is overseeing post-Katrina vessel salvage operations in the Gulf Coast region.(FOCUS: NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW)(Interview)
February 1, 2006... WorkBoat: What is the Navy's role in marine salvage, and what resources does it have? What kinds of disasters have you responded to in the past, and how does Katrina compare in complexity and magnitude? Capt. Jim Wilkins: The Navy's primary...

Retirement plan: Washington state can't seem to replace its 80-year-old ferries.(VESSEL REPORT: FERRIES)
February 1, 2006... When Washington state's "steel electric" ferries were built in 1927, Ford Motor Co. was still making the Model T. Even though the four vessels in this class have been repowered and refurbished over the years, no one disputes the need to replace...

Breaux Brothers delivers another Chouest crewboat.(CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS)(Breaux Brothers Enterprises Inc delivered aluminum boats to Edison Chouest Offshore Inc.)
February 1, 2006... Breaux Brothers Enterprises Inc., Loreauville, La., recently delivered the second of five fast crew/supply boats to Edison Chouest Offshore, Galliano, La. The Fast Tempo was delivered in September 2005 and the Fast Vinicius was completed in...

Derecktor building new catamaran for Bermuda.(CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS)
February 1, 2006... In late June, a new 350-passenger, high-speed catamaran ferry is due to leave Derecktor Shipyards, Bridgeport, Conn., for Bermuda. The 124' ferry will be operated by the Bermuda Department of Marine and Ports Services, which operates four other...

Gulf Craft to deliver fast cat to Florida operator.(CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS)
February 1, 2006... Gulf Craft Inc., Patterson, La., is scheduled to deliver a 170'x38', 500-passenger catamaran to Fort Myers, Fla.-based Key West Express in February. The boat, Key West Express, will have a draft of 4'6". The aluminum vessel was designed by...

C & C Marine rebuilds sunken pushboat.(CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS)
February 1, 2006... Just because a workboat collides with a ship on the Mississippi River and sinks to the bottom, that doesn't mean it can't be put back in service. Such is the case of the Arkansas, a 55'x24' pushboat owned by Carline's Geismar Fleet Inc.,...

SeaArk Marine Inc.(plans for the construction )
February 1, 2006... SeaArk Marine Inc., Monticello, Ark., keeps delivering a steady stream of aluminum patrol boats to the U.S. Navy and domestic law-enforcement agencies. One of its recent deliveries was the 48' Dauntless-class patrol vessel Accardo, which is now...

Strength in numbers: business continues to improve for passenger-vessel operators.
February 1, 2006... The recovery of the passenger-vessel industry to pre-9/11 levels is nearly complete. How much better business will be going forward is anybody's guess. But for those guessing--guess high. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "This year, in many...

Looking good: passenger-vessel operators want more out of their interior designers.(BOATS & GEAR: VESSEL INTERIORS)
February 1, 2006... Passengers or customers? When it comes to boats used for dinner cruises, sightseeing, commuter trips or eco-tourism, what's the difference between the two terms? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While accurate, the term "passenger" can indicate...

More bottoms.(CONSTRUCTION SURVEY)
February 1, 2006... Shipyards are busy, as seen in this year's WorkBoat construction survey. The 56 yards in our list, delivered or contracted for 460 vessels. Last year the survey included 45 yards that delivered or signed contracts to build 398 vessels. That's...