MarEx eNewsletter - April 16, 2009

April 16th, 2009 Vol. 7, No. 15 Defining Euphoria: Energy, Synergy and Collaboration Two days in Massachusetts open the window to the world of maritime education, a complicated regulatory process and unlimited opportunities for seafarers everywhere. Sean Connaughton tells the gathered crowd that "Finally, we have a good story to tell." Buzzards Bay, MA: The quarterly MERPAC meeting, this year's ... Read More>>>Back to Top MarEx Mailbag: The MarEx Mailbag returns this week as more than a few letters hit our in-box. Last week, our lead editorial touched briefly upon the (then) growing crisis in the Gulf of Aden where, among other things, an American containership had been hijacked by Somali so-called "pirates." And, ... Read More>>>Back to Top Slippery When Wet Fiction by MarEx Editor Joseph Keefe from the summer 1998 MarEx print edition featuring Tidewater's William O'Malley on the cover. The lengthy piece is as valid today as it was when it first was published in 1998. We bring it back online by popular demand. Joseph Keefe's ... Read More>>>Back to Top THE UN-COMFORT ZONE with Robert Wilson The Main Ingredient In 1907, during a major league baseball game, second base was stolen 13 times by the winning team. The catcher for the losing team, Branch Rickey, was unable to pick off even a single runner. That record stands to this day. It also spelled ... Read More>>>Back to Top New Petition to Provide Veteran Status for WWII Era Merchant Mariners is Online Petition specifically asks for alternative methods of recognition for Veterans Status to merchant marine seamen of WWII. Proposed wording has been sent to Congressman Bob Filner, Chairman House Veterans Affairs Committee; Senator Daniel K. Akaka, Chairman, Senate Veteran Affairs Committee. The author of this proposal, Mr. Don ... Read More>>>Back to Top Liberia Issues Report into Investigation of Explorer Casualty April 14, 2009: AN investigation by the Liberian Registry and the resulting Decision of the Commissioner of Maritime Affairs for the Republic of Liberia into the sinking of the passengership Explorer off the South Shetland Islands in November 2007, while on an Antarctic cruise, has concluded that the primary reason ... Read More>>>Back to Top Retail Import Volume Hits Lowest Level in Seven Years Total Number of Cargo Containers Drops Below 1 Million Mark WASHINGTON, April 15, 2009: Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports hit its lowest level in seven years in February as the number of containers dropped below the 1 million mark for the first ... Read More>>>Back to Top 2009 International Maritime eLearning Symposium Symposium kicks off with a "Call for Participants" for this year's Conference. The Calhoon MEBA Engineering School will be hosting the 2009 International Maritime eLearning Symposium from July 20th through July 23rd this year at its campus in Easton MD. The conference will bring Shipping Company Executives, ... Read More>>>Back to Top Seaway News 2009 – Notice to Shipping # 5 – Maisonneuve Region Montreal/Lake Ontario Section Water Levels at Morrisburg (April 14, 2009) Mariners are advised that the water levels at Morrisburg have returned to normal. The speed limits for vessels between Richard's Point and Iroquois lock ... Read More>>>Back to Top Marine Safety Alerts: 09-08 (Update) & 01-09 Electronically-Controlled Cargo Pump Engine Components April 15, 2009 – Washington, DC: For many years, cargo pump engines on weather decks of Subchapter D & O tank barges had mechanical-type start and control systems. The installation of electronically controlled engines on tank barges since the 1990s has introduced ... Read More>>>Back to Top INTERTANKO & ITF hold Young Seafarers' Focus Group Workshop INTERTANKO and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) this week organised over three days in London a Workshop for young serving seafarers to express their views on their career and life at sea, and on what attracts young people to the shipping industry and retains them there. Read More>>>Back to Top ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY'S 50th ANNIVERSARY ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY'S 50th ANNIVERSARY INSPIRES NEW BOOK ABOUT PROJECT'S DEDICATED WORKFORCE: "The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project: An Oral History of the Greatest Construction Show on Earth" On Sale in May The culmination of a century-long dream to link the Great Lakes ... Read More>>>Back to Top MarEx March / April PRINT Edition is in Distribution! The latest MarEx print edition, featuring a decidedly international theme on the cover, provides unique focus on the offshore environment, LNG, safety, maritime security - and so much more. As always, you get our now familiar regular features, too! The latest edition of THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE is ... Read More>>>Back to Top Obama Commends Military, Other Agencies for Maersk-Alabama Captain Rescue Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden (American Forces Press Service) weighs in. WASHINGTON, April 13, 2009 – President Barack Obama today praised the U.S. military for the Navy's successful efforts over the weekend to rescue the kidnapped captain of the Maersk-Alabama cargo ship from Somali pirates. ... Read More>>>Back to Top Release of the M/V "Biscaglia" is Only Part of the Story More than two months ago, all 28 crew members of the M/V "Biscaglia" were released unharmed as U.S. attorneys (Seward & Kissel) provide advice and counsel in first negotiation of its kind to be negotiated from the United States. On 29 January, they discussed their experiences with MarEx. ... Read More>>>Back to Top Panama Canal Authority Releases Fiscal Year 2009 2Q Metrics Canal waters time down, General Cargo, Dry Bulk and Tanker Transits up. PANAMA CITY, Panama, April 14, 2009: The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) released second quarter (Q2) operational metrics today for fiscal year 2009. In Q2, Canal Waters Time (CWT), the average time it takes a vessel ... Read More>>>Back to Top USMMA Alumni Foundation Spring Meeting 2009 in Baltimore, MD All are invited to attend the meetings and the great luncheon and dinner programs! RSVP TODAY! Schedule of event is as follows: • Apr 29, 2009 Wednesday 6:00PM – 8:30PM CPC hosts a "Welcome Barbecue" Dinner @ CCMIT for early arrivals…......Price: ... Read More>>>Back to Top Port of Anchorage Receives $10 Million for Next Phase of Development MARAD-administered funding will allow the port to complete the next phase of its $700 million renovation and expansion, which will add an additional 18 acres of new real estate to the port. WASHINGTON Thursday, April 09, 2009: The Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration announced today the receipt ... Read More>>>Back to Top U.S. Coast Guard: Medical Evaluation Processing Time – A Measured Success Since January 1, 2009, the National Maritime Center (NMC) has issued 22,158 credentials with 50% of those credentials issued in 40 calendar days or less. Over the past quarter (1/1/09 – 3/31/09) the NMC's total average processing time for all credentials decreased 13% from 54 calendar days to 43 calendar ... Read More>>>Back to Top NTSB Advisory: "Go-Team" Launched to Marine Accident in Florida At approximately 6:30 pm (EDT) on Sunday, a 22-foot pleasure craft struck a moored workboat at mile marker 195 of the intercoastal waterway. Multiple fatalities and injuries were reported. The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a go-team to yesterday's marine accident in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Senior ... Read More>>>Back to Top Obama Administration & Transportation Secretary LaHood Announce 2,000th Transportation Project Recovery Act specifies just $100 million specifically for maritime improvements in a bill providing $48.1 billion for transportation infrastructure projects to be administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Monday, April 13, 2009: President Barack Obama today announced funding for the 2,000th transportation project under the American ... Read More>>>Back to Top NAMEPA Announces Winners of North American Marine Art Contest Work created by students focuses on ways to protect marine environments and prevent climate change. MYSTIC, Conn. (April 7, 2009): The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) and Immersion Learning™ are pleased to announce the winners of a national art contest focused on the marine environment. ... Read More>>>Back to Top Powers International CEO to Participate on the Advisory Board of the SMART-CM Consortium International Transportation Security Firm Invited to Sit on Advisory Board to Smart Container Management Transportation Consortium of the European Commission's FP7 Initiative With offices in Belmont, North Carolina, and Greenville, South Carolina, Powers International announced on April 16, 2009 that its CEO, Ed Harrison has been invited ... Read More>>>Back to Top Hellespont Trooper Rescues Yachtsmen in Southern Ocean Tanker asked to divert on April 5th when yacht lost mast and power in a remote area of the Southern Ocean, about 3,500 miles West of the Southern tip of South America. The 148,000 dwt tanker Hellespont Trooper has rescued the crew of a dismasted yacht in ... Read More>>>Back to Top EMAIL UNSUBSCRIBE Copyright © 2009 The Maritime Executive. 3200 S. Andrews Avenue, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316