Francis Scott Key Bridge allision

The crash of the container ship MV Dali into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March of this year was by any measure a disaster. It resulted in the loss of innocent life and virtually incalculable expense. It shut down a U.S. port where 2,000 people work as well as a transportation artery that carries 30,000 vehicles (including trucks carrying hazardous materials prohibited in metropolitan tunnels) a day. Litigation will entail untold millions of dollars and may well employ as many attorneys as there were boxes on the nearly 10,000 TEU Neo-Panamax containership.

The crash — more precisely, the allision — occurred in the early hours of March 26, when the ship lost power on its way out of Baltimore, sending it drifting down on the 8,600' continuous truss bridge.

In the 90 seconds or so they had to react, police stopped traffic in both directions, but they were unable to contact the seven maintenance workers and an inspector who were on the bridge. The inspector, who had been walking the length of the bridge, made it to the nearest intact span. The seven workers were in their vehicles and fell with the bridge; one survived.

In its preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board said a primary electrical circuit breaker aboard the Dali tripped, shutting down generator-driven electrical pumps that fed the main engine cooling water and lubricating oil, triggering the automatic shutdown of the engine itself.

Engineers were able to start the emergency generator. This would have restored electricity and emergency steering. The NTSB pointed out, however, that the rudder would have turned at a slower than normal rate, and without the ship’s propeller turning, “would have been less effective.”

Meanwhile, the pilots called for tug assist. The Eric McAllister, one of two tugs that earlier had escorted the Dali, was three miles away and immediately headed in the container ship’s direction, but it did not reach the ship in time to prevent or minimize damage from the allision — had it been able to do so.

Aboard the Dali, the senior pilot ordered the anchor dropped, and the pilot’s dispatcher called the Coast Guard to say the ship had lost power.

With the Dali within 0.2 miles of the bridge, a second electrical blackout occurred, the NTSB said. The emergency generator continued to power emergency equipment, and the pilot ordered the rudder hard to port.

The ship broadcast a warning via VHF radio to all waterborne traffic. The crew was able to restore electrical power, but the main engine remained shut down.

A little more than a minute later, the Dali struck the bridge.

Mark Twain famously observed that “History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

In January 1975, 12 people died in what has become known as the Tasman Bridge disaster. In this episode, the 459' bulk carrier Lake Illawarra, traveling up the River Derwent, in Tasmania, Australia, struck two piers, resulting in the collapse of a 416' section of the bridge.

Instead of passing through the bridge’s center span, the Lake Illawarra, in the grip of the tide, attempted to navigate a narrower span.

A portion of the collapsed span landed on the vessel’s deck, and in minutes the Lake Illawarra sank. Seven crewmen were trapped and drowned. Four cars ran off the edge of the bridge, claiming the lives of their occupants, while the passengers in two vehicles whose front wheels overhung the breach miraculously scrambled to safety.

The Tasman Bridge disaster is also noteworthy for the social and logistical impacts it imposed. Without the bridge, the city of Hobart was split in two.

In February 1977, the SS Marine Floridian, a 523’ tanker, was downbound on the James River bound for Newport News, Va., when its steering system malfunctioned. The vessel veered to port, away from the raised center span of the Benjamin Harrison drawbridge, and struck a support pier. The adjacent deck slab fell into the river, taking with it the two vehicles that had been holding at the lift gate.

Fortunately, the vehicles’ occupants had seen fit to flee the span prior to impact.

Nor were there injuries aboard the ship, on whose deck the northern end of the truss span landed.

Thirty-five people who were crossing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Florida’s Tampa Bay were not as fortunate three years later when the 609’ bulk carrier Summit Venture struck the bridge during a squall. A Greyhound bus was among the eight vehicles on the 1,300' section of the bridge that collapsed.

The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the accident was “the Summit Venture’s unexpected encounter with severe weather involving high winds and heavy rain associated with a line of intense thunderstorms….” The ship strayed just far enough off course to clean out two support piers.

Whether Twain’s dictum improved on the New Testament’s admonition that “there is no new thing under the sun,” this much seems certain: as long as there are bridges within reach of ships, ships will try to run into them.

Still, there is no such thing as a sure thing. Lose power, the Dali made clear, and all bets are off. — Jerry Fraser

Offshore wind’s rollercoaster ride

The U.S. offshore wind industry saw another year of changing fortunes. While the Biden administration pressed onward with planning new wind lease sales — including the first deepwater ventures — developers faced new supply chain challenges.

New York State officials on April 19 canceled three provisional contracts with developers holding federal leases in the New York Bight, after turbine manufacturer GE Vernova decided to cancel its plans for supersized 18-megawatt turbines the developers had planned to use.

GE Vernova’s troubles came into public view after a blade fractured July 13 on a turbine in the Vineyard Wind array off southern Massachusetts. One month after the fracture, the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued an “updated suspension order” to allow some work to resume on the planned 62-turbine, 806-megawatt rated array. The order continued to block new blade installation or power production at the 24 turbines installed before the break.

Reports of broken blade pieces drifting across southern New England waters were cited by opponents off the Atlantic Shores project off New Jersey as proof of their fears that building turbine arrays starting just 8.7 miles off their beaches will endanger their own tourism industry.

“We saw what happened in Nantucket. God only knows what would happen when we get a cat [category] 3 or any hurricane,” said Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., a fierce critic of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the wind industry. He predicted “a blizzard of fiberglass” if turbine blades break apart in a severe hurricane.

Then news broke on Sept. 20 that GE Vernova could lay off 900 workers as part of readjusting its offshore wind sector. CEO Scott Strazik told the Wall Street Journal that the industry’s supply chain problems still require a reset.

Meanwhile, BOEM pressed on with opening future wind development areas. Two wind energy leases offshore of the Mid-Atlantic’s Delmarva region brought in nearly $93 million in an Aug. 14 auction from Equinor Wind US LLC and Virginia Electric and Power Co.

BOEM moved to advance floating offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine and off Oregon. But a planned Oct. 15 Oregon lease sale was cancelled by the agency, amid opposition from Gov. Tina Kotek, fishing groups, and Oregon tribes. Updated regulations for offshore wind development announced by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in April include a five-year planning framework that could bring 12 new offshore wind lease sales by 2028, according to Interior officials.

“By modernizing and updating these regulations, we are paving the way for the safe and efficient deployment of offshore wind projects, providing clarity for developers while continuing to protect important natural and cultural resources,” said Haaland, speaking at the International Partnering Forum offshore wind conference in New Orleans in April.

Offshore operators and shipbuilders continued slowly building the U.S.-flag Jones Act fleet. The first U.S.-built service operations vessel for offshore wind was christened on May 11 in New Orleans by wind energy developer Ørsted and vessel builder Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO).

Carrying up to 60 technicians on board, the 262' ECO Edison will serve in operations and maintenance for Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind, Revolution Wind, and Sunrise Wind projects off southern New England and Long Island, N.Y. — Kirk Moore 

LabMar Inland throws hat into barge industry ring

LabMar Inland, New Orleans, began marketing towing and pushboat operations to the inland marine market on July 15. The inland company is the newest affiliate of New Orleans-based Laborde Marine Management. With a fleet of 23 vessels, Laborde has been providing OSV and crewboat services for the offshore Gulf of Mexico market since 1995. Laborde Marine’s new inland waterway venture has been some time in the making.

The idea to diversify its towing and pushboat operations began in about 2015, said Ashton Laborde, president of Laborde Marine Management, during what he refers to as “the last downtime.” It was a period of “lower utilization and day rates for vessels in the offshore sector, beginning in late 2014 and running through the covid pandemic,” Laborde said.

OUTSIDE THE COMFORT ZONE

The first venture into diversity was LabMar Ferry Services. A ferry service  for the New Orleans area began in 2019, with the Margaret Lab, a 162' crewboat retrofitted as a passenger ferry. Today LabMar Ferry Services is made up of two 105', 149-passenger-only, high-speed aluminum catamaran ferries and one car ferry that carries 30 vehicles and 600 passengers.

“We were leaning on our core competences and lessons learned on the offshore side” to launch the ferry business, said Laborde, “bringing kind of the same culture into that operation.” At the same time, Laborde Marine had been monitoring the inland towboat and pushboat market for a few years. “We were in a position now with the offshore business in an uptick to commit some cash to exploring that market. That’s kind of where we are now,” said Laborde.

LabMar Inland’s first inland pushboat is the Ivy Steiner, a bareboat chartered 78'x34'x10', 2,000-hp pushboat built by Steiner Construction, Bayou La Batre, Ala. Going the bareboat charter route “allowed us to take delivery of a new vessel immediately and to best respond to the demands of our customers,” said Laborde.

Powered by a pair of Caterpillar C32 diesel engines turning stainless steel props through Reintjes WAF reverse-reduction gearboxes, the Ivy Steiner has a running speed of about 8 knots. On deck are two 40-ton Nabrico DF-1-40H winches.

The Ivy Steiner was launched this past July. “It went straight out of the yard onto a charter,” Laborde said. “We are running crude oil from Rio Honda, Texas, to Nederland, Texas,” he said.

Typically, that means pushing two 30,000-bbl. barges along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. “It’s a tough route,” Laborde said. “You are dealing with shoaling, heavy traffic, heavy winds. The consensus we get is if you can do this job on that route, you guys can do it anywhere.”

LabMar Inland’s solution for the crewing issue was reaching “into our other operations for mariners that have experience and the proper licenses to come back to the inland market,” said Laborde. If there’s been any question, potential crew candidates are carried as extra crew “on the Ivy Steiner, so we can put them through our vetting process and have our existing vessel managers sign off on these guys. We are at a point now where we are comfortable bringing an additional vessel on with guys we feel will be a good fit for our company.”

Looking further into the future, expect LabMar Inland to increase its towing and pushboat presence on the inland waterways even further. “We have additional boats lined up,” said Laborde, “and are looking at additional bareboat opportunities, as well as potential purchasing of existing vessels. We are also exploring the barge market through those same avenues.”

Laborde admits that he would like to “have contracts in hand” before acquiring additional vessels, “but depending on the timing, we’re exploring potentially taking a vessel on spec and marketing it or taking a bareboat without a charter in place,” he said. Michael Crowley

Small Shipyard Grant Program cuts

Small shipyards have always played an essential role in the U.S. maritime industry, often providing specialized services and craftsmanship that larger shipyards do not offer. However, staying competitive has become increasingly challenging. Yards must contend with regulatory pressures, inflation, supply chain issues, and a shrinking skilled workforce.

Yet, for these smaller shipyards, a crucial lifeline remains — the Small Shipyard Grant Program.

Administered by the U.S. Maritime Administration (Marad), small shipyard grants have been a reliable resource for many shipyards across the U.S., helping them modernize their facilities, purchase new equipment, and invest in workforce training. The program has proved to be critical in maintaining the competitiveness of these smaller shipyards.

Given that, the survival and success of this program hasn’t always been guaranteed, and much of its continued relevance can be attributed to the efforts of the Small Shipyard Grant Coalition — a group formed to advocate for the program’s funding and support. 

UNDER THREAT

Now underfunded and under threat, the Small Shipyard Grant Program finds itself at a crossroads. For the past six years, the program had a budget of around $20 million. For example, in fiscal year 2023, 27 different shipyards across 20 states split a purse of $20.4 million to improve their facilities and upgrade their equipment.

But 2024 saw a steep cut to $8.75 million. With the reduced funding, there are fewer grants and smaller awards, leading to a significant decrease in transformative projects like marine boat lifts and drydocks — essential elements for shipyard operations. This year, only one drydock was funded, and no boat lifts, a sharp contrast to last year’s provision of four each.

Coalition founder Dave Matsuda, notes that the shortfall is most telling in the absence of haul-out equipment, the backbone of any shipyard’s functionality, but he remains positive. “This is a critical year,” he told WorkBoat recently. “If Congress comes back and gives us the 8.75 number again, we might be stuck at that for a while. And if they come back at 20, then it just kind of shows that [20]24 was an aberration, and that was just a one-time thing.”

The take home message from coalition-to-industry is that this is a critical time for the program. “If you care about this program, if you want to see it continue, you’ve got to be engaging with us, with your members of Congress, to let them know how important this is, and that we want to see the funding restored,” Matsuda said.

As the program continues to evolve, the success stories of shipyards that have benefited from the grants are powerful testaments to its impact. 

GRANT SUCCESS

Last year, Senesco Marine, North Kingstown, R.I., was awarded $738,000 through the Small Shipyard Grant Program to support the purchase and installation of a one-sided submerged arc welding system that consists of three integrated digital systems to load, fit, and weld multiple-plate panels, upgraded network servers and software, an all-terrain lift with variable reach, and a Tier 4 compressor.

“This machine runs a bead and can weld two (40'x40') plates together in about an hour and a half,” Ted Williams, Senesco Marine’s president, said in describing the benefits of that grant and the sub arc welder as an asset to the yard. “It would take a human about three-to-four days to do it,” he said.

Mike Foster, Senesco’s general manager, mentioned the increased capabilities that the new welding head will provide.

“This one’s capable of welding up to five-eighths of an inch thick,” he said. “Whereas the new machine’s three-quarters to one-inch, so it allows us to weld thicker materials with less distortion.”

Most importantly, Foster said, Senesco was awarded about $500,000 out of that grant to get a new head, that yellow head right there,” he said, pointing to the arc welder. “We’re going to replace that in a few months as that comes in. That’s an old analog system. We’re going to get a new digital system, which will make it even better, more accurate, and more refined,” he said.

Williams emphasized the impact the Marad program has had since its inception. “That’s a great thing for shipyards to be able to tap into something like that and get that support.” — Ben Hayden

American Offshore Worker Fairness Act caught in DC machinery

Advocates for the U.S. offshore services industry kept up their pressure for Congress to pass the American Offshore Worker Fairness Act, legislation they say will ensure parity and job opportunity for American maritime workers and U.S.-flag vessels.

Bill S-3038 was introduced last October by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This summer more than 100 organizations signed onto a July 31 letter written by the Offshore Marine Services Association (OMSA) calling for Congress to enact the measure.

The legislation “will provide parity between U.S.-flagged and foreign-flagged vessels operating in U.S. offshore energy activities and ensure that U.S. offshore energy creation means jobs for U.S. mariners,” the letter stated. “By requiring foreign vessels to utilize mariners from their flag state, or U.S. mariners, when working in U.S. waters, the American Offshore Worker Fairness Act creates a fair and level playing field on which foreign vessels comply with the same rules that U.S. vessels comply with for domestic offshore energy operations.”

In August OMSA President Aaron Smith said that broad support from across the offshore sector underscores the importance of the legislation.

“This bill is crucial for ensuring safe and reliable domestic energy production at a time when the stakes are incredibly high,” said Smith. “Without AOWFA and the parity it provides, foreign vessels and crews will continue to take jobs away from American mariners and jeopardize the nation’s economic stability and national security.”

In letters to U.S. lawmakers since 2022, OMSA has stressed the need to update the law.

“Understanding this point, existing law (43 U.S.C. Section 1356) requires that all vessels, rigs, platforms, or other structures on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) be manned by U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents,” according to OMSA’s position papers.

“The law also provides that vessels, rigs, platforms, or other structures that are more than 50 percent foreign owned are exempt from the requirement that they be manned by U.S. citizens. This exemption was enacted by Congress to ‘reconcile dual concerns of providing fullest possible employment for Americans in [OCS] activities and eliminating to the fullest extent…retaliation by foreign nations against American workers in foreign offshore activities.’”

Pushing from the other direction, the International Marine Contractors Association in November 2023 warned that the American Offshore Worker Fairness Act “would make it harder to develop U.S. offshore energy projects by limiting the availability of vessels and crews.

“This proposed legislation ignores the reality for offshore delivery in wind markets around the globe,” association CEO Iain Grainger said then. “There is a worldwide shortage of specialist vessels, a limited talent pool with the skills, knowledge and experience required to operate them safely, and huge demands driven by the move to net zero and energy security concerns.”

The association said that “with the U.S. facing a shortage of mariners, American companies are struggling to man existing fleets.”

OMSA has campaigned since at least 2022 to show offshore wind developers are using foreign-flag vessels when U.S. boats are available.

In March, Vineyard Wind announced the Belgium-based DEME Offshore US would team with Foss Maritime, Seattle, to construct the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind 1 offshore energy project, using the “feeder” concept of a foreign-flag wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) supplied onsite by Jones Act-compliant U.S. vessels.

The American Offshore Worker Fairness Act “would require foreign vessels to utilize either U.S. mariners or citizens of the vessel’s home country while operating in offshore energy activities in U.S. waters,” according to OMSA. “This would change the current practice where foreign vessels utilize crewmembers from low-wage countries at day rates no American would or should accept. This unfair practice gives foreign vessels a competitive advantage over U.S. vessels and takes jobs away from American mariners.”

The legislation still making its way through Congress is hotly disputed in the offshore wind industry. Renewable energy advocates warn it will hobble U.S. offshore wind development still in its early stages, when some foreign-flag vessels are needed for specialized tasks.  K. Moore

First fully electric ship-assist harbor tug

In Jan. 2024, Master Boat Builders, Coden, Ala., delivered the 82'x40'x17'9" eWolf, the first all-electric, ship-assist harbor tugboat in the U.S., to Jacksonville, Fla.-based Crowley.

The eWolf was designed by Crowley’s engineering services team with a 16'5" draft. Crowley said the vessel operates with zero emissions while providing the complete performance capabilities of a traditional tug.

The company also said it is committed to improving air quality through battery energy for the vessel and port technology, including a shoreside, microgrid charging and storage station at the Port of San Diego.

The industry had been anticipating the new tug’s delivery for over two years. During a visit to Master Boat Builders last year, Garrett Rice, the shipyard’s president, explained that the delay was a result of the Coast Guard never having had to sign off on this kind of tug before. There has never been a similar tug up for certification in the past. “Our industry has to be pushed to build toward innovation,” he said. “Our government doesn’t work fast.”

Main propulsion comes from a 6.2-MWh Orca battery energy storage system provided by Corvus Energy and two 2,100-kW RAMME electric motors spinning two Schottel rudder propellers type SRP 430 LE azimuth thrusters. There are two switchboards — a DC grid and AC switchboard. For longer transits, the new tug has twin 300-kW John Deere generators. The tug has a running speed of 12 knots.

“The eWolf will provide services through its advanced vessel control technology and first-in-class energy features, while providing the safety, quality and reliability that Crowley and our mariners are known for,” James Fowler, senior vice president and general manager of Crowley Shipping, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to reach this important achievement for our company and the U.S. maritime industry through the collaboration with our partners.”

According to EPA calculations, the tug will generate 178 fewer tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), 2.5 tons less diesel particulate matter and 3,100 metric tons less carbon dioxide (CO2) over the first 10 years of its operations versus a conventional tug — the equivalent of removing 350,000 gals. of gas from use. The vessel uses ABB’s integrated electrical propulsion system.

Keegan Plaskon, director of business development at the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), said during a conference session at last year’s International WorkBoat Show that the eWolf complies with U.S. shipping industry standards and will be the first Jones Act-compliant all-electric tug.

So, what is in the future? Battery-driven electric motors cannot be retrofitted and placed in existing tugs, but alternative fuel engines can be retrofitted.

Master Boat’s Rice said during the eWolf session that “it’s costly to retrofit an already existing vessel fully. Federal and state grants can help fund new fully electric vessels.” 

On deck is a Markey Machinery DEPC-48-50-hp electric render/recover winch.

“The eWolf demonstrates where the maritime industry can go, in terms of both innovation and sustainability, with solid partnerships between owners, designers, suppliers and shipyards,” said Rice. “We are proud to have partnered with Crowley in the construction of the eWolf.”

The 200-gt all-electric tug has an estimated bollard pull of 70 short tons. Tankage includes 9,800 gals. of fuel and 750 gals. fresh water. — B. Hayden

The end of the aluminum LCS and EPF

Twenty years ago, the U.S. Navy awarded contracts to two teams of defense contractors to build one or two prototypes each for what would become the littoral combat ship (LCS), an agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments.

One of those teams was a joint venture between General Dynamics and Australian shipbuilder Austal. Once it had secured a contract, the team planned to build its version of the LCS at Austal USA, a small shipyard in Mobile, Ala.

LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP

In response to the Navy’s goals, the contractor based its original ship design partly on high-speed ferries. The new design produced a 421'6"x103.7' trimaran aluminum LCS with a displacement of 3,200 MT, a 15.1' draft, and powered by a pair of 12,200-hp Rolls-Royce 20V8000 diesel engines and two 29,500-hp GE LM2500 gas turbines.

Two decades later in August 2024 Austal USA successfully launched the Pierre (LCS 38), the last ship of the Navy’s Independence-variant LCS program.

​In all, Austal USA built 19 ships at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars each. (Austal USA built the even-numbered ships.)

During that 20-year period, the Navy moved in and transformed the small southern Alabama shipyard into a sprawling campus featuring a 700,000-sq.ft. hyper-technological module manufacturing facility (MMF) employing 3,500 workers and ballooning both Mobile’s and the state of Alabama’s tax rolls. (The shipyard opened a steel manufacturing facility in 2021.)

The first LCS was built in a large aluminum shed and got stuck on its way out the door. The process has been refined over the years so that Austal USA uses a multi-step method of rolling the ship onto a moored deck barge and then transferring the ship from the barge to a floating drydock. The drydock is then submerged enabling the ship to float for the first time. The ship is then removed from the drydock and moored pier side to get ready for engine light-off and trials.

“Our industry teams work methodically alongside our Navy partners to improve this innovative process with each launch evolution, guaranteeing the Navy a quality product delivered on time and on budget,” Austal USA vice president of new construction, Dave Growden, said about the launching process.

EXPEDITIONARY FAST TRANSPORT

In 2008, Austal USA secured a contract to build the Navy’s expeditionary fast transport ship.

The 338'x96'6"x12'6" aluminum catamarans are used for expedited transportation of cargo, equipment, and personnel. Called the EPF, the ships are equipped to handle specialized missions, pre-position combat supplies at sea, and dock at impaired or damaged ports as necessary. 

EPFs are powered by four Rolls Royce 20V8000 M71L diesel engines. The four gearboxes are ZF 60000NR2H. The vessels can average 35 knots.

The first EPF was delivered to the Navy in 2012. In August of this year, Austal USA celebrated the start of construction of the Navy’s final expeditionary fast transport, the future USNS Lansing (EPF 16). The first module for the ship was moved into the assembly bay just days after USNS Point Loma (EPF 15) was rolled out of the bay in preparation for launch later that month.

“This ship highlights the success and importance of our maritime statecraft initiative, encompassing a national, whole-of-government effort to restore the comprehensive maritime power of our nation,” Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, said during the ceremony.

Austal USA is also building two EPF Flight II ships featuring enhanced naval medicine-afloat capabilities. The ships will provide critical combat care in austere and contested operating environments. The EPF’s catamaran hull is designed to provide inherent stability to allow surgeons to perform medical procedures in the ship’s operating suite while underway. Enhanced capabilities to support V-22 flight operations and launch and recover 11-meter RIBs complement the ship’s medical facilities. The Flight II configuration will enhance current EPF capabilities, particularly the ship’s forward resuscitative care capability with a limited intensive care unit and medical ward — all while maintaining most of the original requirements of the ship. — Ken Hocke

Schools’ curricula may be partial answer to workforce woes

The fact that the workboat industry has a workforce problem is not news. It’s been a chronic weakness for decades and solving it may take decades.

There has been no shortage of training programs. Companies have gone outside their own facilities for help and created in-house training programs specifically tailored to their particular needs. All have worked to varying degrees. Yet the core problem remains.

GET YOUNGER

What it will take to solve the problem is an influx of younger people and people new to the industry. What it will take is a cultural change. From the outside, the workboat industry is not “cool,” and that must change. There are a great many things about the industry that are cool, and those things are the keys to a successful change in perception.

One approach to refilling the ranks is early recruitment into secondary school programs that will set young people on the path to full-time careers, either on the water or on the beach in support positions.

One such program, now in its third year in the Puget Sound area, is the Maritime High School in Des Moines, Wash. (between Seattle and Tacoma). The school is part of Highline Public Schools, but students from outside the district are welcome and even recruited.

It’s a small school made up of about 400 students in ninth through 12th grades. “The focus would be on recruiting kids who wouldn’t have historically been a part of the maritime industry,” Ryan Calkins, a member of the Port of Seattle’s port commission, told WorkBoat this summer. “We wanted to make sure that we were well represented with girls and also students of color and to try to address some of the lack of representation in a lot of these maritime trades, which was an industry concern.”

In many ways, the Maritime High School was modeled after the Urban Assembly Harbor School in New York City. Created in the early 2000s as part of a citywide, secondary-school overhaul, the Harbor School initially was landlocked in Brooklyn but in 2010 moved to Governor’s Island, a short ferry ride from the southern end of Manhattan. There the old Coast Guard base was available for renovation and has reemerged as the campus for a high school specifically created to train future mariners, marine scientists and industry leaders. In other words, get them while they’re young.

The current enrollment is about 500 students in ninth through 12th grades.

New York City’s secondary schools now include a wide variety of education/vocational options that middle school kids can choose from. Students rank their choice from one to 12. Harbor School is so popular that it is the first choice of more prospective students than it can accommodate. 

GREENER GRASS

Northshore Technical Community College, Lacombe, La., has an educational program designed for those who want to give the marine industry a try. The college’s Maritime Technology Program (MTP) targets people who want to move from their current jobs into the marine industry.

“It’s rare in this program to get a student right out of high school,” Randy Savoie, lead maritime instructor, said during a visit to the school’s campus. “Of course, we welcome them, but this course attracts people already in the workforce who are looking to make a change.”

The program is designed to furnish students with fundamental skills and competencies that will create and promote a sustainable employee base of workers who are better prepared and trained for professional careers in the maritime industry. — K. Hocke

Partnerships formed to increase access to the Arctic

The U.S., Canada, and Finland on July 11 announced a new trilateral partnership to build polar icebreakers and enhance their capabilities in the Arctic. The Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact) aims to bolster the shipbuilding industries and industrial capacities of the three nations, strengthen economic and security ties, and foster mutual workforce development, according to a statement from the Biden Administration.

The ICE Pact will initially focus on three components: enhancing information exchange between the U.S., Canada, and Finland; collaborating on workforce development; and inviting allies and partners to purchase icebreakers built in U.S., Canadian, or Finnish shipyards.

Recognizing the capital-intensive nature of shipbuilding, the agreement aims to leverage shipyards in each country to construct polar icebreakers for domestic use and export. This strategy seeks to meet the needs of allies and partners efficiently and affordably, while ensuring shipyards maintain robust, long-term orderbooks essential for their success.

As shipyards in the three nations invest in expanding their capacities, the ICE Pact encourages allies and partners to buy icebreakers from these experienced builders. The collaboration is expected to help achieve the necessary scale to reduce costs and meet the growing demand for access to polar regions.

By the end of the year, the three countries will develop a joint memorandum of understanding outlining the framework for implementing the ICE Pact within each nation. This memorandum will also establish a mechanism for including additional allies and partners. The process will be guided by regular trilateral meetings.

The U.S. Coast Guard, which requires polar icebreaking capabilities to support the country’s economic, commercial, maritime, and national security needs, is currently building new heavy icebreakers under the Polar Security Cutter (PSC) Program. The vessels are designed to operate worldwide and handle extreme environmental conditions, from polar to tropical regions. Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss., is constructing the first Polar Security Cutters, marking the first U.S.-built heavy icebreakers in over 50 years. This effort aligns with the president’s commitment to enhance the U.S. surface presence in polar regions.

“Our goal is to create a world-class American-owned shipyard capable of producing the first fleet of American-made polar icebreakers in over half a century, and we’re honored that responsibility lies with Bollinger,” Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards, said in a prepared statement during the summer. “We have made, and will continue to make, significant, long-term investments in our facilities, infrastructure and workforce,”

Two weeks later Canadian multinational shipbuilder Davie announced its intention to make a significant, long-term commitment to the U.S. shipbuilding industry.

Pending final site and partner selection, Davie officials said the company’s decision coincides with a series of actions announced by the U.S. government to boost the efficiency, resilience, and competitiveness of U.S. shipbuilding. Currently, Davie is building the world’s largest orderbook of heavy icebreakers for Canada, a founding ICE Pact partner. Davie is also the owner of Helsinki Shipyard in Finland, another ICE Pact founder. — K. Moore

Passenger vessel industry rebounds from Covid

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the passenger vessel industry and left it for dead. A year later, when the general public had served its home detention sentence, people flocked to the water, and the resurrection was underway. Today the industry is as healthy as it was before the pandemic, and there’s room for things to get even better, passenger vessel officials say.

A good example is Washington State Ferries (WSF) ridership, which saw a 7.4% increase in 2023, with over 1.3 million more riders compared with 2022. The rise is attributed to a significant increase in walk-on passengers, reflecting resurgence in tourism and in-person work.

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The WSF ferry system is the largest in the U.S., and it’s converting its fleet from all diesel-fueled to hybrid mechanical-electrical systems. With $1.33 billion in funding secured, the program aims to convert 16 of its ferries, though additional funding of $2.37 billion is still required for completion.

Unfortunately, in late September it was announced that the program would be delayed until the summer of 2025 or longer because of unexpected engineering challenges. Those challenges could cause costs to increase.

In addition to Washington State, other regions are also embracing hybrid and electric ferry technology. New York City has plans for its first hybrid-electric ferry, while initiatives like the Mackinac Island Ferry Co.’s (MIFC) electric conversion project in Michigan showcase the industry’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. MIFC is receiving a $3.06 million grant from Michigan’s Fuel Transformation Program to convert the 84' ferry Chippewa to electric power. The project will replace the ferry’s 1988 diesel engines with new electric propulsion motors, resulting in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

In April, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the availability of $316 million to support and modernize passenger ferry service in communities across the U.S.. Within that FTA support, the Electric or Low Emitting Ferry Program provides federal support to transit agencies to buy ferries that reduce emissions by using alternative fuels or on-board energy storage systems. For fiscal year 2024, $49 million was available.  K. Hocke and B. Hayden

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