In fact, just today Cunard Lines has announced that it has appointed Captain Inger Klein Olsen as its first female captain in the companies history.  Captain Olsen assumed command of Cunard Line’s Queen Victoria on December 1st.

Captain Olsen’s first task at the helm of Queen Victoria was to take the ship, without passengers, to drydock in Hamburg for its planned refit. Next Wednesday, 15 December, she will be on the bridge as the ship sets sail with a full complement of guests.

Forty-three-year-old Captain Olsen was raised in the Faroe Islands, which accounts for her maritime abilities, and she joined Cunard in 1997 as First Officer on board Caronia. In 2001 she transferred to the Seabourn fleet, which at that time was part of Cunard. She sailed on Seabourn Sun and Seabourn Spirit before being promoted to the rank of Staff Captain on Seabourn Pride in 2003. Read full article

Olsen will helm Queen Victoria during the ship’s debut Americas voyage commencing on January 13.

For more information about women in maritime, read the following forum posts:

• Honesty On Jobs for the OTHER Gender
• Women Seafarers
• I am a women

Here at gCaptain.com, we are VERY happy to learn that Captain Alwin Landry has won the Lloyd’s List’s coveted Shipmaster of the Year Award 2010.  As some of you may know, we submitted Captain Landry as our nomination for the award after learning about his heroism and leadership on the night of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.  Captain Landry was master of the Tidewater vessel, Damon Bankston, which was tied up alongside the Deepwater Horizon when the rig exploded.  If it wasn’t for his quick thinking in directing SAR efforts, the incident could have been a lot worse.

Congratulations to Captain Alwin Landry!

And many thanks to the countless gCaptain members who petitioned Lloyds List to re-open the nomination process for Landry. This well deserved award would not have been possible without your help!

————————

CLICK HERE to download a Tidewater Report based on narratives by Captain Landry and the rest of the crew of the Damon Bankston.

Keep reading for the press release announcing Captain Landry’s acceptance, and the results of the 2010 Lloyd’s List Awards.

LONDON, September 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ –

The Best and Brightest in the Maritime Shipping Industry Were in Attendance to Witness the 2010 Lloyd’s List Awards Honouring Excellence in Shipping and to Witness Captain Alwin Landry Pick Up Shipmaster of the Year Award for his Life-Saving Action During the Deepwater Horizon Tragedy

The Deepwater Horizon catastrophe resulted in a stream of footage of environmental damage and justified concerns about when the oil flow would be stopped. However, that day ended particularly tragically for 11 families who lost loved ones in the explosion. But for a heroic and quick-thinking sea captain, the death toll might have been far, far higher.

Last night, Captain Alwin Landry of the ship Damon Bankston was honoured by Lloyd’s List – the world’s flagship news, data and information analysis source for the global maritime industry – at its annual Lloyd’s List Awards ceremony at London’s Dorchester Hotel. More than 500 senior executives attended the gala dinner for a glittering celebration of the best and brightest talents in maritime shipping.

The Damon Bankston was alongside the rig at the time of the explosion and subsequent inferno. The quick thinking and direct orders of her Master brought the ship to a safe distance off the rig where he continued to assist rescue operations, including deploying his fast rescue boat back to the rig. The training and trust of his crew plus the efforts of other ships in the vicinity ensured that all the rig’s people, apart from those directly caught in the blast, were rescued and evacuated to safety.

“The purpose of the Shipmaster of the Year Award is to recognise and value the ultimate responsibility of the Master for the safety of the ship, her crew and her cargo as well as the safety of life at sea generally,” says Tom Leander, Editor of Lloyd’s List.

“The Master of the Damon Bankston is deserving of the respect and admiration of his fellow mariners for his professionalism, courage and leadership and in honouring Captain Landry we acknowledge the bravery and professional work of his crew,” continues Leander.

A total of 14 companies, organisations and individuals were presented with awards in categories which paid tribute to innovation, courage, corporate responsibility, business and seafaring skill and lifetime achievement.

“At Lloyd’s List, we wouldn’t have been here for 276 years unless we respected the best in the industry,” says Tom Leander, Editor of Lloyd’s List. “We take pride in rewarding this industry’s strong character. This strength of character – in companies and individuals throughout our industry – has helped us weather the economic crisis and will continue to serve maritime shipping well. We are delighted and proud to honour that quality.”

Other highlights of the evening were the presentation of the lifetime achievement award for Dr Martin Stopford of Clarkson Research Services; the award for Newsmaker of the Year which went to Eivind Kolding, Chief Executive, Maersk Line; and an award for Gregorio Oca, President of the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines, who won the Seafarer of the Year Award which was introduced this year in honour of the Year of the Seafarer.

“The object of the Seafarer of the Year Award was to recognise an extraordinary individual that has, through the work of a lifetime, improved the lives of seafarers. In addition, we thought it appropriate that this person should be a seafarer, and one who has led an eventful life at sea,” says Leander. “Gregorio Oco certainly fits the bill.”

All 14 awards were chosen by an independent judging panel drawn from industry associations, academic institutions and private companies.

“We offer our most sincere thanks to all our entrants, sponsors and the attendees of last night’s event – and our hearty congratulations to each and every one of the 2010 Lloyd’s List Global Awards winners,” says Leander.

Source

–

The Winners of the 2010 Lloyd’s List Awards

• Port Operator Award (sponsored by TT Club) – Port of Antwerp
• Classification Society Award – Lloyd’s Register
• The Innovation Award (sponsored by DP World) – Hook Marine
• Amver-Assisted Rescue at Sea Award (sponsored by Immarsat) – M/V Overseas Primar
• Safety at Sea Award (sponsored by GNMTC) – Maersk Tankers and Nadiro
• Corporate Social Responsibility Award (sponsored by APM Terminals) – Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Company (ASRY)
• Environmental Protection Award (sponsored by Rightship) – DP World, London Gateway
• The Training Award (sponsored by Admiralty/UKHO) – NYK
• Shipmaster of the Year Award – Captain Alwin Landry
• Ship of the Year Award (sponsored by Drydocks World) – Oasis of the Seas from STX Finland Oy
• Company of the Year Award – Sovcomflot
• Newsmaker of the Year Award (sponsored by Lloyd’s List) – Eivind Kolding, Chief Executive, Maersk Line
• Seafarer Award (sponsored by Lloyd’s Register) – Gregorio Oca, president of the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines
• Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by Lloyd’s List) – Dr Martin Stopford, Clarkson Research Services

[Source: Lloyd's List, Image via VesselTracker]

About The Nautical Institute and Lloyd’s List The Shipmaster of the Year Award 2010

Now in its 9th year, this prestigious award will be presented to a shipmaster nominated by colleagues on board or by the company ashore or by others within the maritime industry. Previous recipients of the Award are Captain Arne Rinnen of the MV Tampa, Captain Ahmed Zubair MNI of the Maldive Islands, Commodore Ron Warwick FNI of the RMS Queen Mary 2, Captain Ken Owen MNI lately of NOL/APL, Captain Jan Iversen of CMA CGM, Captain Youvraj Kapoor of B+H Equimar, Singapore, Captain Alistair McFadyen of P&O Ferries, and Captain Richard Phillips of Maersk Line. Each had displayed exemplary professional conduct, in the year in question and usually throughout their respective careers.

[Via: The Nautical Institute]

We have received many great article submissions in gCaptain’s YOUblog section, the place where mariners get a chance to blog, but few posts have received the quick acclaim of this “news” article by first time participant Humorist. Enjoy…

In 2000 the Washington Tribune first broke the story of pets receiving credit cards. “Frustrated with an endless stream of solicitations” the newspaper tells us “Bob Jones angrily filled out an application for his dog Brandy, a toy poodle, and was shocked to find a shiny new Mastercard in his mailbox two weeks later”.

Captain Benjamin Dover, clearly remembers the article despite being only 6 years old at the time. “If a dog could get a card then so could I” he recalls. And he did. By the age of ten he had used the card to buy a Boston Whaler, by 12 he had financed a 100 ton fishing boat and soon accumulated enough seatime to sit for a Coast Guard 100 Ton Master’s license.

While Ben had experience with convoluted forms, from his dealings with Mastercard, the application for a Coast Guard license was significantly more complex. “I got most of the boxes filled-out ok and was able to do everything by mail, which I liked because I look young for my age.” says young Ben. “I did have trouble with the box titled ‘desired rank’ but my mom always says I have ‘Unlimited’ potential so that’s what I wrote down.”

NMC Chief, Captain Dumass USCG, says that’s where the initial mistake was made. In an official statement he writes “An insidious compilation of events led to the misevaluation of Mr. Master’s application and subsequent misguidance by NMC staff the complexity of which is still being evaluated.”

Further Web 2.0 based investigation by gCaptain reporters unravels the larger mystery. On a facebook tweet the evaluator handling Mr. Dover’s application admits “Well it was a application for Master and he wrote ‘Unlimited’, the mistake was clearly his.” In a later tweet he continues, “Mr. Dover had no medical issues, no background check issues, never failed a coast guard exam or missed an alimony check. Based on my findings he was the perfect candidate.”

But there is still the issue of him never submitting a seatime letters. An NMC employee that wishes to remain anonymous tells gCaptain “Lots of records got lost in the move to West Virginia and all the guys with experience have left out of frustration. Anyone who tells you this operation is running smooth needs a colonic.”

While heads are rolling at the Coast Guard, Ben and his family couldn’t be happier. When asked his future plans Ben told us “Many of those guys working on drillships have never been more than 100 miles out to sea. Some, like me, haven’t yet graduate high school. So I rigged my GPS up to a trawling motor and wrote DP experience on my application to (xx drilling company). Luckily HR didn’t really know what DP was so they hired me on the spot.”

It seems the future is bright for Captain Benjamin. In a final stroke of luck he asked the Coast Guard if his license might be taken away, considering the clerical error. The CG’s answer was promising; “No son, it’s our firm policy never to revoke a license that was issued due to a mistake by the NMC, otherwise who would be left to drive the ships? Just don’t kill any birds in California and you’ll be ok.”

When asked if he had any regrets Ben gave us these final words “I should have been more persistent. It’s great being a Captain at 16 and all but if the NMC hadn’t taken so long processing the darn thing I could have been a Captain at 14. Now that would have been really cool!”

Chief Officer Charles P. Posas, has scored a dubious first in legal history. He is the first person to be charged with a violation of the US Anti-Invasive Species Law in addition to two felony counts of lying to the Coast Guard and violating recordkeeping laws. His superior, Captain Panagiotis Lekkas, is charged with violating anti-pollution laws, ship safety laws and obstructing a US Coast Guard investigation. Both have pleaded guilty in a Federal court in New Orleans, sentencing for both officers defendants is set for 14 October, 2009.

Says the US Department of Justice: “Posas is the first individual ever charged under the anti-invasive species law, a law designed to mitigate the introduction of marine invasive species into waters of the United States. Aquatic nuisance species are non-indigenous species that threaten the diversity or abundance of native species or the ecological stability of infested waters.

“Lekkas, who was the highest ranking officer aboard the ship, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, one count of obstruction of justice and two counts of violating the Ports and Waterways Safety Act. Posas, who served as the vessel’s chief officer, pleaded guilty to one count of false statement and one count of violating the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance and Prevention Control Act.”

Their vessel, M/V Theotokos, is owned by Liberia-based Mirage Navigation Corporation and managed by Polembros Shipping Limited.

In the summer of 2008, on passage from the Suez Canal to China, Lekkas and Posas suspected that the aftpeak ballast tank was leaking, but the crew was unable to confirm a leak during an inspection. Later, while at a dock, offloading cargo in China, Lekkas and Posas saw a crack of about 60 centimetres in the ship’s rudder stem. It was evident that water had passed through the crack because water was streaming out of it from inside of the ship. Lekkas reported the crack to company personnel, but failed to write a written report. Lekkas did not report it to the Coast Guard until he was confronted by Coast Guard inspectors in New Orleans.

In court documents, Lekkas admitted that he knew the crack could have adversely affected the safety and safe handling and operation of the vessel. No repairs were undertaken on the rudder stem crack until the Coast Guard ordered it repaired upon its discovery.

The Port and Waterways Safety Act, PWSA, requires that a vessel operator must report all hazardous conditions to the Coast Guard prior to arrival in a US port. Under the PWSA regulations, a hazardous condition does not have to be a definitive danger or imminent threat, but need only be a condition that may adversely affect the safety of any vessel, bridge, structure or shore area or the environmental quality of any port, harbour or navigable waterway of the United States..

The  US Coast Guard has notification processes in place for vessels arriving at US ports that have identified hazardous conditions onboard, such as excessive leaks and major equipment malfunctions. A vessel operator has several options available, including notifying the Coast Guard 96 hours prior to arrival of the hazardous condition or contacting the applicable ports’ 24-hour Sector Command Center or Vessel Traffic Service.

Through further investigation, the Coast Guard also found fuel was leaking, or “migrating”, from the deep fuel tanks into the forepeak ballast tank. Directly astern of the forepeak tank were two fuel tanks, known as the deep fuel tanks.

In mid-September 2008, Lekkas and Posas learned that fuel oil may have been leaking into the forepeak ballast tank because it was reported that the sounding tapes were dirty with oil. After opening the tank’s hatch, two inspections confirmed the presence of oil in the forepeak tank. Following this discovery, Captain Lekkas ordered the crew to undertake a cleaning operation that initially involved skimming the surface of the water in order to remove the oil. In order to facilitate further cleaning, Lekkas ordered the level of the liquid in the tank lowered by pumping it directly overboard through the ballast pump. As the liquid level was lowered the crew could clean more of the tank, with the cleaning operation expanding to rags and a portable pump. The discharged ballast liquid was contaminated with oil.

The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and its regulations require that discharges from the machinery spaces of a cargo ship must be fully and accurately recorded in the oil record book. This obligation extends to emergency, accidental, or other exceptional discharges of oil and oily mixtures. Lekkas ordered the ballast discharges and counter-signed each page of the oil record book, certifying its accuracy. However, none of the contaminated ballast water discharges were recorded in the Oil Record Book.

When the vessel was about two days out from arriving in New Orleans, in late September 2008, it was clear that oil was continuing to leak into the forepeak tank. Prior to entering the Mississippi River and about a day out from New Orleans, Lekkas ordered two fitters to fabricate and install an obstruction device onto the forepeak tank’s sounding tube so that during Coast Guard inspections, when taking a sounding, the results would only reveal water and not the presence of oil in the tank. The obstruction device consisted of a rubber hose with a metal stopper at the bottom end. Before being affixed to the sounding tube, the rubber hose was partially filled with water.

On Oct. 1, 2008, the Coast Guard boarded the M/V Theotokos near New Orleans in order to inspect the ship. During the inspection, the Coast Guard oversaw the sounding of the forepeak tank which indicated the presence of water in the tank but did not reveal the oil. Later, as part of the inspection, the Coast Guard had the crew open the hatch to the forepeak tank which revealed approximately one meter of oil in the tank. During the initial inspection, confined spaces safety regulations prevented the Coast Guard inspectors from retrieving the obstruction device. Although the inspection lasted another two days, Lekkas ordered the fitters to remove the rubber hose from the tank and restore the sounding tube to its original condition. The removal occurred before the Coast Guard had an opportunity to enter the tank.

In addition to the obstruction regarding the sounding pipe, Lekkas admitted in court documents that he knew about the fuel leak into the forepeak tank well before coming to New Orleans and that he chose not to report the leaks to the Coast Guard. Lekkas further admitted that the fuel migration may have adversely affected the safety of the M/V Theotokos or the environmental quality of US ports and shores because the oil contamination in the ballast system meant that captain could not have utilized the ballast system, with its attendant direct overboard discharges, without polluting the marine environment.

Additionally, during the inspection, a Coast Guard inspector asked to see complete ballast records for the Theotokos. Posas responded by physically handing the inspector a copy of the 27 September, 2008, ballast report, which is a report of soundings and volumes of water in the ballast system. Posas prepared, signed and maintained these reports as part of his duties as chief officer. In court documents Posas admitted, that at the time he presented the ballast report to the Coast Guard inspector, he knew that the form was false.

Maintenance of accurate ballast water records is required under Ballast Water Management for Control of Nonindigenous Species regulations promulgated under the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act.

“Invasive marine species are a serious problem that can be transmitted in the ballast water of oceangoing vessels. Today’s pleas should act as a warning to industry and crewmembers alike that we will investigate and prosecute those who ignore not only pollution laws but those laws designed to protect native species,” said John C. Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

US Attorney Jim Letten noted, “The message should be clear that this office, in conjunction with its partnership with the US Coast Guard, the Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section and all its law enforcement partners, will vigorously prosecute individuals who impede or obstruct the US Coast Guard’s mission and pollute our marine environment.”

“This case clearly demonstrates the Coast Guard’s commitment to work with our interagency partners to aggressively enforce all maritime anti-pollution and safety of life at sea laws. The breadth and magnitude of the investigation that underpinned the charges brought forth is a testament to the dedication of all persons who were involved in resolving this matter including the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the US Department of Justice‘s Environmental Crime Section, and the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana,” said Rear Admiral Mary Landry, Eighth District Coast Guard commander.

by Ian Bowles

During the glory days of empire and famous shipping lines, it would have been easy for nationalistic tendencies to come to the fore. Easy to look down one’s nose at others, but at the same time though, have a mutual respect for one’s equals. Thus it came to be that there could be two main types of national ensign; one that is of a major seafaring nation and the other that is of not such a nation, and so entered the “flag of convenience” or as it was often also called, “foreign flag”. That is, a foreign flag was a bad flag.

Now fast forward to a few years ago and the Connecticut Maritime Association’s annual Shipping event. Your author had a great chat with a young man fresh out of King’s Point, his 2nd Mates ticket still in the wrapper, although he was old enough to drink! When I asked him what his plans were he said he was going to have either join some domestic tug company or a domestic tanker company, both trading up and down the US coast. Is that all that is on offer I asked and he said yes, without going foreign flag.

Apparently, all through college they drummed into him how bad (or is that unpatriotic?), foreign flag is….aaahhh, the “F” word! Well at this point I must say I took umbrage, climbed on to my high (and cynical) horse and gave my 2¢ worth. To defend [some] foreign flags as truly worthy flags to sail under…in the interests of industry.

And before you rush to admonish me, let me say in my defense how much I love this (soon to be “my”!) country and will always support it in any way possible. But, this is the land of opportunity, the land where hard work and entrepreneurship are duly rewarded…that is why I want to call it my home for sure. I am not saying that coastal trading is bad or in any way demeaning of professional character, I certainly did my share of it, but only once my youthful exuberance was waning.

But this young man, with beer in hand, was silently crying out for something more. What he really needed was some good old fashioned global tramping bulk carrier with mixed nationality crew and no stern alcohol restrictions. A few years in that fun environment would have set him up nicely for quick promotion and with a world of experience under his belt, then come back to the US flag and help fix what is wrong, if indeed there is anything wrong.

The Merchant Marine is a passionate industry in any language and is stymieing that passion the right way to protect our own little corner of it?

About the author:

Capt. Ian Bowles, MNI
VP Sales & Marketing, FarSounder, Inc.

Bowles is a Master Mariner with 30 years of industry experience. He went to sea in 1978 with the UK Merchant Navy and rose to the rank of Master. After 13 years he came ashore and for the last 17 years has been involved in senior international sales and marketing roles with major marine electronic manufacturers, (Raytheon Marine, Rutter Technologies and Japan Radio Co., Ltd.). He is currently VP of Sales & Marketing with FarSounder.

A vessel found in 700 AD, several centuries before Vikings ruled Norway, an Oseberg ship from approximately 800 AD and the vessel knarr from around year 1000 AD all have one thing in common; their rounded bows were the inspiration for Ulstein’s latest design, the x-bow container ship.

This design is not new, launched last year the Bourbon Orca was the first vessel launched with Ulstein’s revolutionary bow design. Now the company is set to incorporate this design into a new class of short-sea shipping vessels. A company press release:

The ULSTEIN AX104 Bourbon Orca, the first vessel with the ULSTEIN X-BOW , was appointed Ship of the Year 2006, and served to demonstrate how the Ulstein Group is turning visions into reality while also creating ship history.
However, the benefits of the bow are not restricted to offshore vessels, explains managing director in Ulstein Design Rolf Inge Roth. “The principle features of the ULSTEIN X-BOW® are as relevant for a number of merchant vessel applications as they have proven to be for offshore applications.”

Advantages of ULSTEIN X-BOW® :
• Higher transit speed in adverse weather conditions
• Reduced fuel consumption in head seas and following seas
• Reduced fuel consumption in ballast condition due to improved lightweight distribution
• Negligible slamming reducing the risk of damage to the vessel
• Lower pitch and heave accelerations, and enhanced protection of cargo areas reducing the risk of loss or damage of cargo
• Increased payload capacity for certain applications and configurations
“Particularly small and medium sized vessels engaged in regional trades are set to capitalize on the benefits offered by the X-BOW®, and we are currently evaluating this feature for use on container feeder vessels, ro-ro vessels and certain general cargo vessels”

With news of Ulstein winning Norway’s Ship of the Year again in 2007 for design of the Normand Seven we have every expectation of seeing the 2008 awards dominated by the first x-bow container ship.

Click here to view the embedded video.

More Video:

• ULSTEIN X-BOW – Bourbon Monsoon to Tananger
• Orca in the “The perfect storm”
• Bourbo’s Official Orca Videos

(This post was originally published on June 20th 2007)

Episode 4 of “Messing About In Ships“, our joint-venture podcast with Sea-Fever, has been posted to iTunes. This week’s topics include;

A Mariner’s Perspective

Captain Kelly Sweeney, master mariner, monthly contributor to Professional Mariner magazine and author of From the Bridge: Authentic Modern Sea Stories; discusses the importance of new media tools like blogs and podcasts to the professional mariner.

Sea Stories

John – Report on Empress of the North grounding.

Peter – Discoverer News “Winged ships exempt from speed restrictions” submitted by wb6nah (Captain Richard Rodriguez)

Internet Ports of Call

Peter’s recommendation: The Bitter End blog – http://captrichardrodriguez.blogspot.com/

John’s recommendation: NowPublic – http://www.nowpublic.com/

This Week’s Music

The New Year by Love = Action (Jacoby Jennings) from the Podsafe Music Network

Subscribe via iTunes

Also be sure to check out our fellow maritime podcasters Bob Couttie of Maritime Accident Casebook and Raina Clark of Great Lakes Maritime Issues.

This week’s highlights include:

• the introduction of a new feature, “A Mariner’s Perspective” with Master Mariner Captain Kelly Sweeney, monthly contributor to Professional Mariner magazine and author of From the Bridge: Authentic Modern Sea Stories;
• roundtable discussion about education, training and career opportunities in the maritime field with guest Captain Bob Glover, director of education at Northeast Maritime Institute;
• our Internet Ports of Call;
• some holiday music from the Podsafe Music Network.

Please subscribe via iTunes or download the MP3. (Windows users can right click here and save the file on your computer. You can then open it in Windows Media Player, iTunes and other media players.)

For the show notes and links and to offer feedback, please visit the Messing About In Ships blog.

This morning Senator Barbra Boxer and Representative Nacy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, announced a bill giving the U.S. Coast Guard broader authority to direct the actions of ship masters in navigating inland waters. The San Francisco Chronicle tells us;

The Coast Guard would gain new authority to order ships to reduce speed or shift course during emergencies or hazardous conditions under new legislation that California Sen. Barbara Boxer is introducing this week.

The bill could increase the responsibilities of the Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Service, which helps guide ships in U.S. harbors. The measure would give it powers akin to those of air traffic controllers, who issue step-by-step directions to airplane pilots.

…

Boxer, a Democrat, said she believes the spill could have been prevented if the Coast Guard had ordered the ship to slow down or change course.

“I absolutely think it would have” prevented the spill, Boxer said. “Let’s say the conditions were fierce – and they were – (the Vessel Traffic Service) would have declared an emergency, and they would have taken over in guiding this ship.” Continue Reading….

Regular readers of this bog already know my personal thoughts on the subject. In last week’s editorial, I wrote;

The problem with maritime incidents is the fix rarely address the true cause and often creates problems that contribute to future incidents.

…

Current technology is simply not capable of delivering real time tracking. Also, final say remains the responsibility of a ship’s captain because he is the one who knows the ship’s capabilities, it’s crew and he is stationed on the bridge. He is also the last one to abandon if the ship finds danger… and he knows it.

If the Coast Guard wants final say then they need to be aboard the vessel and if that happens they will be hard pressed to fill the position with anyone more qualified than the competent and experienced San Francisco Pilots.

My comments resulted in 5 emails, 2 phone calls and a, well written, personal response by our friend Bob Couttie of the Maritime Accident Casebook. Bob wrote;

MAC’s own informal think-tank of veteran master mariners, who aren’t tanked up when they think, finds the proposal less objectionable, the authority of the master will remain in force much as it does now, in their view. Continue Reading…

This comment cause me to invest more than a few hours in nocturnal contemplation. Had I overestimated the potential outcome of the Coast Guard’s overtly defensive and seemingly irrational stance or has Bob’s geographic location far away from our shores disconnected him from the current state of American politics?

Provided the Chronicle has accurately conveyed Senator Boxer and Representative Pelosi’s intent, gCaptain reader ACI’s comment most accurately portrays the sentiment of our master mariner think tank;

Keep on putting more constrains to the shipping business with your new ridiculous American fear to everything and we will end up with no business at all. I know of captains that are refusing to sail to your country.

I really loved the times when the US was leading the world towards modernity, now it seems you are too scared.

The likely impetus for drafting legislation that puts us in the ironic position of being more likely to have a future incident is the demand for quick answers. For this reason I can not form a personal opinion as to maritime pilot John Cota’s culpability, at least not until the NTSB report is published. I can, however, give an industry insider’s opinion on the safety of current operations in the bay… so I wish to reiterate my personal feelings that both the San Fransisco Bar pilots and local VTS operators are among the most capable and well trained in the world. This, coupled with the fact US Coast Guard and State pilot officials have not asked for these changes, is worrisome.

Regardless of the headlines Pelosi’s bill does contain some element of potential good. The Chronicle writes;

Boxer’s bill would authorize $20 million to upgrade the technology used by the Vessel Traffic Service. The measure also would require all pilots to have their own navigational laptop computers. Cota has said he was unfamiliar with the ship’s electronic charts. Many pilots bring their own laptops on board to make sure they have reliable navigational charts to steer the ship.

The state pilot commission suspended Cota’s license on Friday. Cota’s attorney, John Meadows, has said his client was given “wrong information” by the ship’s captain, Mao Cai Sun.

History has proven that safe operations in the bay are possible without advanced electronics and I will not be surprised if the NTSB’s report places some degree of blame on the rapid integration of new technology on the bridge, a problem only made worse by already burdensome training requirements. This, however, does not mean we can ignore technological improvements.

For an intelligent discussion of the topic I’ll point you to audio from Captain Kelly Sweeney’s recent interview with NPR (CLICK HERE). Boiled down he states that we as mariners love AIS, ECDIS and other technology that keep us safe but improvements (most notably in implementation and redundancy) are needed.

But I’m still an optimist. When this discussion fades into memory we may find Pelosi’s large investment propelled interesting technological improvements while our worries were mitigated by the level headed watchmen of VTS.

*We’d love to head your thoughts! Click here and leave a comment (bottom of page) or contact us with your message.

__________________________________________________

John Konrad is a USCG licensed Master Mariner of Unlimited Tonnage. Since graduating from SUNY Maritime College he has sailed 4 of the world’s oceans and reports from his ship via satellite. John lives in Morro Bay, CA with his wife Cindy and son Jack.

__________________________________________________

VTS Links;

• Real Time AIS data from SF Bay
• San Francisco VTS Historic Timeline
• Official USCG VTS Homepage
• San Francisco VTS Homepage
• VTS San Francisco User’s Manual
• AIS FAQ
• VTS San Francisco User’s Manual
• Marine Safety Manual – Vessel Traffic Management

MarineBuzz brings us photos of the M/V Bohai Challenge, being launched on what appears to be Yokohama Fenders (official they’re not Yokohamas). They tell us;

Qingdao Yongtai shipping supplies co.,ltd has come out with a novel product called Intense pneumatic tire for ship lifting, loading and floating. These highstrength pneumatic tubes are useful in cargo boat launching and landing, clog lifting and moving, sunken ships salvaging and stranded boats saving. The product is suitable to launch ships up to 7000 tons.

CLICK HERE for more photos from Marine Buzz.

Also, in researching this post, I came across an excellent transcript from a Nautical Institute presentation by Captain Eric Southworth, Director of FenderCare. He tells us;

Originally, Japanese ships used dead whales as large fenders. They were replaced after WW2, when the Japanese tyre manufacturer ‘Yokohama’ was asked to come up with a suitable man made alternative, hence the birth of “‘Yokohama” fenders. Before 1975 wheel type fenders were commonly used in positions 2 & 3, with “Yokohama “pneumatic fenders in positions 1 & 4. (All four positions are along the parallel midbody). Smaller secondary fenders may be used to protect the bow and stern plating from inadvertent contact during mooring and unmooring.

Read Captain Eric’s full transcript on fender history, use and maintenance HERE.