Workboat articles from October 2005

Workboat archives from October 2005

Katrina brings out the best.(EDITOR'S WATCH)
October 1, 2005... Hurricane Katrina hacked a path right through the core of the Gulf Coast workboat industry. From Alabama to Louisiana, Katrina damaged hundreds of vessels, scores of shipyards and loading terminals, and displaced thousands of industry...

Weed out the 'paper' captains.(MAIL BAG)
October 1, 2005... It's ironic to hear so many alleged hawsepipers complain about ring bangers. Among the many purchased licenses from Coast Guard-approved schools, it's refreshing to know that someone out there might actually be maintaining a proper lookout....

Coast Guard was a lifesaver after Hurricane Katrina.(MAIL BAG)
October 1, 2005... I appreciated receiving your electronic issue of WorkBoat recently ("Katrina hits close to home," Sept. 2). In particular, I was so pleased to learn that my old friends at WorkBoat and their families were safe and sound. My family and I...

On the water: academies can't do it alone.(AT A GLANCE)
October 1, 2005... Judging by the number of responses in the Mailbag over the past few months to my "end of the hawsepiper" column ("The great divide," January 2005), it is clear that this is a hot issue for many mariners. However, it appears that many have...

Captain's table: Coast Guard to revamp licensing and documentation.(AT A GLANCE)
October 1, 2005... The Coast Guard plans to make major changes to its Merchant Mariner Licensing and Documentation (MLD) Program to make it more consistent throughout the nation. The agency plans to centralize certain processes, while at the same time preserving...

WorkBoat Composite Index: index rises on Katrina news.(AT A GLANCE)
October 1, 2005... For most of August, the WorkBoat Composite Index was making little headway. Then Katrina hit on Aug. 29. The result? A big boost for companies that service the offshore oilfields. Many companies, from shipyards to operators, are expected to see...

OSV day rates: rates up before Katrina.(AT A GLANCE)
October 1, 2005... Utilization of offshore service vessels was essentially flat in August, but operators reported some significant day-rate increases during the month. Every vessel category realized rate gains, including a $4,350 increase for large...

Inland insider: low water and lost business.(AT A GLANCE)
October 1, 2005... Yes, it's shallow-water season again! The brownwater sector is back in the news. Photos of barges stuck in shallow water and stories of light-loaded barges and reduced tow sizes affecting efficient river operations have popped up in newspapers...

Legal talk: salvaging a salvage reward.(AT A GLANCE)
October 1, 2005... If the history of admiralty law were kept in a deck log, the law of salvage would be one of the first entries. Salvage is the oldest and craggiest of all maritime legal issues. And yet the law of salvage is often misunderstood, resulting in the...

Book review: a history of Big Apple tugs.(AT A GLANCE)(Tugboats of New York, An Illustrated History)(Book Review)
October 1, 2005... George Matteson establishes his credentials as an able storyteller as well as mariner right off the bat in his newly released book, Tugboats of New York, An Illustrated History. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In describing an incident early in...

Officials tackle multiple oil spills after Katrina.(NEWS LOG)
October 1, 2005... Oil Pollution containment and recovery operations are in full swing in southeast Louisiana, where Katrina caused nearly 50 oil spills. Four spills are considered major, over 100,000 gals., and five are classified as medium sized, between 10,000...

K-Sea moves into the West Coast market.(NEWS LOG)(K-Sea Transportation Partners LP purchased Sea Coast Towing, Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... With its planned $81 million purchase of Sea Coast Towing, Inc., Seattle, K-Sea Transportation Partners LP will add 15 tank barges and 15 tugs to its fleet. Total capacity of the Sea Coast fleet is 694,000 bbls., of which 316,000 bbls. is...

Highway bill increases funding for ferries.(NEWS LOG)
October 1, 2005... It will cost $287 billion, is two years overdue, and has a name as long and as complicated as the transportation system that it claims it will try to fix. The Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Act--A Legacy for Users...

Pittsburgh-N.O. barge service shelved.(NEWS LOG)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... In a decision unrelated to the hurricane that hit New Orleans in August, a Pittsburgh-area intermodal company has canceled plans to launch a new container-on-barge service between Pittsburgh and the Big Easy. The service was to begin in...

USCG RECs pick up slack after Katrina.(NEWS BITTS)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the Coast Guard moved quickly to restore vital services to merchant mariners in the New Orleans area. Katrina forced the USCG to close its Regional Examination Center in New Orleans. The New...

Post-Katrina marine bulletin board launched.(NEWS BITTS)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... In an effort to help our friends and colleagues on the Gulf Coast who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina, WorkBoat and the International WorkBoat Show have launched a Gulf Coast message board (Gulf States WorkBoat Board). We encourage you...

Maine Maritime ship aids in hurricane recovery.(NEWS BITTS)
October 1, 2005... Maine Maritime Academy's training ship, the State of Maine, received emergency activation orders from the Maritime Adminstration following Hurricane Katrina. The vessel set sail from Castine, Maine, for the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 8. The...

Help wanted: there's a severe shortage of mariners, from captains to deckhands.(FOCUS: MARINE LABOR)
October 1, 2005... Help wanted signs are hanging everywhere. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Immediate openings abound for captains, mates, engineers, ABs and deckhands. Lures include competitive pay and full benefit packages, including 401(k) plans, health...

Reinforcements: the Coast Guard Auxiliary has provided key assistance after 9/11.(FOCUS: USCG AUXILIARY)
October 1, 2005... Jimmy Duckworth was managing one of his family's tire stores in New Orleans on 9/11. Like so many other Americans, his world soon changed dramatically. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, Lt. Cmdr....

Tube time: demand for new and larger RIBs keeps growing.(VESSEL REPORT: RIBs)
October 1, 2005... Ask most anyone involved with making or marketing rigid inflatable boats, and you will discover that RIBs are perhaps the fastest growing segment of the workboat market. Take the case of Almar Boats in Tacoma, Wash. The company started...

ATB orders for Bender and VT Halter.(CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS)
October 1, 2005... Mobile, Ala.-based Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc., recently signed a contract to build three articulated tug/barge units (ATB) for marine petroleum transportation stalwart Maritrans Inc., Tampa, Fla. Construction of the new 335,000-bbl....

Northwind Marine boats, crew heading to Iraq.(CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS)
October 1, 2005... Sparks and e-mails have both been flying about at Northwind Marine, Seattle, as the company works on a 20-boat order for Iraq and simultaneously prepares to send a crew to Baghdad to help train the operators of the new boats. All 20 are...

Island Tug & Barge putting finishing touches on tug.(CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS)
October 1, 2005... Unlike U.S. operators, Canadian tug companies can have their boats built anywhere in the world. For British Columbia companies, that often means China. Island Tug & Barge, Vancouver, B.C., has had several barges built at Jinling Shipyard...

Response Marine patrol boat for Lake George.(CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS)
October 1, 2005... Lake George in upstate New York is 36 miles long and two miles wide. In that space are more than 100 islands, many of them used by campers. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation patrols the lake and islands, and makes sure...

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding.(BOATBUILDING BITTS)
October 1, 2005... Sometime in 2007, the Flying Cloud will fly away from its run between Hyannis, Mass., and Nantucket Island. The troubled boat, which is owned and operated by the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, will be replaced...

Derecktor Shipyards.(BOATBUILDING BITTS)
October 1, 2005... Derecktor Shipyards recently completed a boat that's a bit smaller than the Flying Cloud. The Bridgeport, Conn., yard delivered a 30'X11'6"X2'6" outboard-powered aluminum catamaran to the Bridgeport Police Department's Harbor Patrol Unit. The...

American Marine Holdings.(BOATBUILDING BITTS)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... American Marine Holdings, Sarasota, Fla., announced plans to deliver its third Donzi-bred patrol boat, a 340 Pilothouse model, in October to the Prince William County (Va.) Police. The city of Virginia Beach, Va., took delivery of a similar...

Kvichak Marine Industries.(BOATBUILDING BITTS)(contracts)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Kvichak Marine Industries, Seattle, announced a contract with the U.S. Navy for 10 MPF (Maritime Prepositioning Force) utility boats. Essentially 40'X10' house-aft landing craft with bow ramps, the aluminum boats will be powered by twin Cummins...

Todd Pacific Shipyard.(BOATBUILDING BITTS)
October 1, 2005... Todd Pacific Shipyard added a third drydock in August when the 632' Mighty Servant delivered the 552' Resolute to the Seattle yard. A Navy drydock built at the end of World War II, the Resolute was transported from Norfolk, Va., around the...

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc.(BOATBUILDING BITTS)
October 1, 2005... Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc., Mobile, Ala., delivered the Esplanade, the 10th and final 210'X54' GPA 640 diesel-electric platform supply vessel, to Houston-based Rigdon Marine in August. Guido Perla and Associates, designers of the...

Storm surge: Katrina left a big mark, but much of the marine industry in the Gulf recovered quickly.(Cover Story)
October 1, 2005... Hurricane Katrina's 145-mph winds and massive storm surge cut a 250-mile-wide path of destruction on the Gulf Coast roughly the size of Great Britain. In that path was Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the core of the region's workboat...

Self made: new generation of harbor tugs built by and for Foss Maritime.(BOATS & GEAR: FOSS TUGS)
October 1, 2005... Despite having a longstanding shipyard in Seattle, Foss Maritime had never built its own tugs--until now. While its Seattle yard has repaired, repowered and retrofitted many tugs and other vessels, newbuilds were never part of the program....

WorkBoat looks back.(WB ARCHIVES)
October 1, 2005... October 1965 * Called one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the nation, Hurricane Betsy hit the Louisiana coast on Sept. 9 with winds up to 150 mph and gusts up to 175. The sprawling tempest breached levees along the New Orleans...