The Maritime Minute - 2/1/12
February 01, 2012
BARGES TO PLAY KEY ROLE IN EXPANDED EXPORTS OF U.S. COAL: Port Commissioners in St. Helens, Ore., have approved agreements that will potentially lead to as much as 38 million tons of coal being barged annually from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming to St. Helens for export to Asian markets. More than 100 jobs are in the offing and shipments could begin in 2013.
TANKER COMPANY’S SAFETY RECORD IMPRESSIVE: Alaska Tanker Company has reached a safety milestone – only one lost-time accident in a period that now stretches more than a decade. The company operates four U.S.-flag tankers and moves petroleum from Alaska’s North Slope to West Coast refineries and Hawaii.
LAKES CARGOS REBOUND IN 2011: U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters moved 94 million tons of cargo on the Great Lakes in 2011, an increase of nearly 6 percent compared to 2010. The total would have been higher, but a number of storms delayed the fleet in the latter half of December. The iron ore trade on the Lakes rose to 61 million tons, its highest level since 2006.
American Maritime Partnership ("AMP") is the voice of the U.S. domestic maritime industry, a pillar of our nation‘s economic, national, and homeland security. More than 40,000 American vessels built in American shipyards and crewed by American mariners ply our waters 24/7, and this commerce sustains nearly 500,000 jobs, $29 billion in labor compensation, and more than $100 billion in annual economic output according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Transportation Institute. So efficient are these vessels that they carry a quarter of the nation‘s cargo for only 2 percent of the national freight bill, and being American owned, built and crewed helps make America more secure.
Ship Repair Workforce Development Initiative Announced
January 30, 2012
Shipbuilders move ahead with workforce development initiative
Leading American shipbuilders and repairers are moving ahead with plans for a national Maritime Workforce Development program overseen by a National Maritime Education Council.
Spurred by the high cost of recruiting, hiring and training the thousands of skilled shipbuilding and ship repair professionals needed by shipyards, industry leaders launched a national initiative called the Lighthouse Campaign at the Shipbuilders Council of America's fall meeting October 26, 2011, in Biloxi, Mississippi.
On December 6-7, 2011, the leadership team of the Lighthouse Campaign sent representatives to a meeting at NCCER headquarters in Alachua, Fla., to finalize the plans for the development of the Maritime Workforce Development program and to establish the National Maritime Education Council.
Read the full article
National Ship Repair Industry Conference (NSRIC) 2012
January 27, 2012
NSRIC12 will be 27 February-1 March 2012 at the Embassy Suites in Crystal City. The room rate is similar to last year, $244 single or double. The registration fee is $425 for members and $475 for non-members.
Online Registration for the Conference ended February 20th.
Schedule:
Cocktail Reception and Registration 6pm—8pm
Hosted by the Port of San Diego Ship Repair Association
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 - Navy & Coast Guard Day
Embassy Suites, Crystal City
Registration 8am—9am
Speakers 9am—4:30 pm
Lunch Noon—1pm
Cocktail Reception and Dinner 6pm
Cocktail Reception hosted by Marriott ExecuStay of Jacksonville Area Ship Repair Association
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012– Hill Day
Speakers 9am - Noon
Bus leaves for Hill and Office Visits at 8am
Lunch Noon - 1pm
Capitol Hill, ASNE President’s Club Luncheon
Hill Crawl 1pm - 6pm
Cocktail Reception 6pm - 8pm
Hosted by the Virginia Ship Repair Association
Thursday, March 1, 2012– Industry Day
Industry Only Discussions 8am—11am
Tuesday speakers:
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Opening Brief
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RDML(r)
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Carnevale
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0800
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0900
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RDML
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Shannon
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0900
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0945
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Break
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0945
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1000
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Mr.
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Thackrah
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1000
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1045
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Break
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|
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1045
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1100
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RDML
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Creevy
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1100
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1145
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Lunch
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|
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1145
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1300
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VADM
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McCoy
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1300
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1345
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Break
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|
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1345
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1400
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RDML
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Gale
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1400
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1445
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Break
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|
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1445
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1500
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RADM
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Rabago
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1500
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1545
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Break
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|
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1545
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1600
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TBD
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1600
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1645
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Break
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1645
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1700
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TBD
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1700
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1745
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Wednesday Speaker Lineup:
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Congressman Buck McKeon
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900
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915
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Congressman Forbes
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915
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930
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RDML Matthews
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930
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945
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TBD
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1000
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1030
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Congressman Hunter
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1030
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1100
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Congresswoman Hanabusa
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1100
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1130
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TBD
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1130
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11:45
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Lunch
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Congressman Palazzo
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11:45
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1:45
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Navy Maintenance Command Update
January 19, 2012
At the monthly meeting of the members of VSRA on January 17th, Rear Admiral Dave Gale, Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Command, provided a timely undate on progress made in Navy surface ship maintenance organization. Click on the link below to view the presentation.
RDML Gale CNRMC Presentation
"Mission Essential Personnel" Defined by the Navy
January 19, 2012
The following message was received brom Dave Shutter, Security Director for NSSA. It is a follow-up to a discussion that took place at the most recent VSRA Security Committee meeting. This information is very important for all companies who do work on Navy installations.
All,
As discussed at the last VSRA Meeting, the Installations in Hampton Roads will now not only execute "Alpha /Bravo" personnel only for entrance onto the Bases, but will now also announce "Mission Essential Personnel only" when required.
Who are Mission Essential Personnel only? Designated U. S. Navy Personnel, assigned by their Command.
What does this mean for anyone else? If you are not designated "Mission Essential Personnel" by a Navy Command, "Stay off the Base"! If you are needed for any "Emergent Work", or currently working "Mission Critical Work", your government contracting representative will contact you with follow on details. All other maintenance will be suspended.
What happens if Mission Essential Personnel only is announced after being on the Installation? The Installation will be evacuated, pending your location, by established zones. Guidance will be given at your work site.
Ships will be locked down, and no one will be gaining access to the pier/ship. Emergent work must have approved permission through the Emergency Operations Center for access to the piers. This permission can be obtained by your Government Contracting Office Security Representative. (Do not send anyone to a ship, until permissions have been granted!)
Norfolk Naval Base will be holding an exercise the week of 27 February, Mission Essential Personnel Only may be executed during this timeframe.
The U. S. Navy (Throughout the Continental U.S.) will be holding Solid Curtain / Citadel Shield Exercise the week of 19-24 March 2012. Hampton Roads Naval Bases are expected to set "Mission Essential Personnel only", sometime during the week, for an extended period (48-72 Hours).
If there are any questions/concerns, please let me know. Please ensure widest dissemination throughout all sub-contractors as well.
David Shutter
NSSA Security Manager
NNSY C1123 Private Yard Security
Norfolk, VA 23511-2393
Phone: (757) 443-3872 ext.2592 DSN: 646
Cell: (757) 613-9094 Fax: (757) 443-3698
OSHA to Convene SBREFA Panel on I2P2
January 12, 2012
OSHA has notified the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within OMB by letter dated January 6, 2012 that OSHA intends to convene a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) panel under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) for its Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2) rule in the next sixty (60) days. The Panel, convened for all rules estimated to have a significant impact on a substantial amount of US small businesses, is one of the first steps in the promulgation of large rulemaking and was scheduled to take place last year.
SCA submitted 2 SER candidates to the Office of Advocacy, however to my knowledge the Panel participant have not yet been selected.
OSHA considers the notification of Advocacy and OIRA of its intent to convene the SBAR (or SBREFA) panel to be public information; however, the materials that will be provided to the panel and Small Entity Representatives (SERs) will remain confidential until the panel is formally convened. At that time, OSHA will place all of the materials in its rulemaking docket so they will be universally available.
Background
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA)
What is SBREFA?
In 1996, Congress passed the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, or SBREFA, in response to concerns expressed by the small business community that Federal regulations were too numerous, too complex and too expensive to implement. SBREFA was designed to give small businesses assistance in understanding and complying with regulations and more of a voice in the development of new regulations. Under SBREFA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other Federal agencies must:
§ Produce Small Entity Compliance Guides for some rules
§ Be responsive to small business inquiries about compliance with the agency’s regulations
§ Submit final rules to Congress for review
§ Have a penalty reduction policy for small businesses
§ Involve small businesses in the development of some proposed rules through Small Business Advocacy Review Panels.
In addition, SBREFA established 10 Small Business Regulatory Fairness Boards to receive comments from small businesses across the country about Federal compliance and enforcement issues and activities, and report these findings annually to Congress. The legislation also gives small businesses expanded authority to recover attorney's fees and costs when a Federal agency has been found to have acted excessively in enforcing Federal regulations.
About the Panel Process
When an OSHA proposal is expected to have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities, the agency must notify the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy. The Office of Advocacy then recommends small entity representatives to be consulted on the rule and its effects. OSHA next convenes a Small Business Advocacy Review Panel, consisting of officials from the agency, the SBA's Chief Counsel for Advocacy, and the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The panel hears comments from small entity representatives and reviews the draft proposed rule and related analyses prepared by OSHA. A written report of this interagency panel is submitted to OSHA within 60 days. OSHA reviews the report, makes any appropriate revisions to the rule and publishes the proposed rule along with the panel’s report in the Federal Register.
The Maritime Minute - 1/9/12
January 09, 2012
FIVE HUNDRED NEW CONTAINERS CAP $23 MILLION INVESTMENT IN NEW EQUIPMENT AT MAJOR U.S.-FLAG OPERATOR: The addition of 500 new 40-foot “High-Cube” containers brought Crowley Maritime’s total investment in new equipment to more than $23 million in 2011. The new containers, which have a capacity of 2,700 cubic feet, will be used in liner operations to Puerto Rico and other destinations. The containers, which contain more durable North American oak wood flooring, feature a combination of security enhancements and upgrades that deter and prevent unauthorized access into containers and loaded cargo. In total, the company has more than 45,000 containers. Click here to read more.
DUTRA GROUP ACQUIRES HOPPER DREDGE “STUYVESANT”: The Dutra Group announced that it has added a hopper dredge, the Stuyvesant, to its fleet of dredges, marking an historic day in the company’s history. At 372 feet in length and 72 feet wide, the Stuyvesant is the second-largest hopper dredge in the United States. The Stuyvesant joins a growing fleet of Dutra dredging equipment that actively clears shipping channels and performs other important maritime-related work in the United States. Bill Dutra, President and CEO of The Dutra Company, said “This ship will be a welcome addition to our fleet and its size will allow us greater flexibility in our operations.” Click here to read more.
U.S. COAST GUARD LAUNCHES “OPERATION TACONITE” TO KEEP GREAT LAKES FLEET MOVING AS ICE FORMS ON THE FOURTH SEACOAST: The U.S. Coast Guard stood up Operation Taconite on Dec. 21, which means its icebreakers and crews are primed and ready to keep cargo moving on the Great Lakes as winter sets in. U.S.-flag “lakers” can move as much as 16 million tons of cargo, or 20 percent of their annual total, during the ice season that stretches from mid-December to mid-April. (During the severe winter of 1993/94, the Coast Guard broke ice until May 18.) The primary cargos shipped during the ice season are iron ore for steel production and coal for power generation.
NEW OFFSHORE SUPORT VESSEL TAKES “GREEN” TO NEW LEVEL: The newest Offshore Support Vessel ("OSV") to join the Jones Act fleet was constructed to the standards demanded by the American Bureau of Shipping to certify it "Enviro+, Green Passport.” This certification means the 292-foot-long HARVEY SUPPORTER will have a trained environmental officer onboard at all times and state-of-the-art equipment and procedures for ballast water, sewage and garbage. The vessel, the first of three "Tiger Shark Class" OSVs ordered by Harvey Gulf International Marine of New Orleans, La., is already at work in the Gulf of Mexico. Its sister ships are under construction at Eastern Shipbuilding Group's yard in Panama City, Fla., and will enter service in 2012.
American Maritime Partnership ("AMP") is the voice of the U.S. domestic maritime industry, a pillar of our nation‘s economic, national, and homeland security. More than 40,000 American vessels built in American shipyards and crewed by American mariners ply our waters 24/7, and this commerce sustains nearly 500,000 jobs, $29 billion in labor compensation, and more than $100 billion in annual economic output according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Transportation Institute. So efficient are these vessels that they carry a quarter of the nation‘s cargo for only 2 percent of the national freight bill, and being American owned, built and crewed helps make America more secure.
The Maritime Minute - 12/20/2011
December 20, 2011
JONES ACT CARRIERS MAKE IT EASIER TO BE GREEN IN ALASKA: South Central Alaska is far from many of the closest recycling centers located in Washington’s Puget Sound. However, the two main U.S.-flag carriers in the Anchorage-Tacoma trade – Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) and Horizon Lines – have partnered with Alaskans for Litter Prevention & Recycling (ALPAR) to make the choice and cost of recycling easier for Alaskans. The two Jones Act carriers donate the trailers and provide ocean-borne transit to get much of Alaska’s recycled aluminum and steel cans and multiple grades of plastics, paper and cardboard to markets in and around Tacoma and Seattle. This amounts to nearly a thousand 40-FE’s (forty-foot equivalent) containers each year. ALPAR Executive Director Mary Fisher stressed that, “The generous contributions by the marine carriers to move recyclables to Seattle play a huge role in making recycling economically viable for our communities. Without these contributions, recycling would be significantly stymied throughout the state.”
BUSY WINTER AT WISCONSIN SHIPYARD: Nearly 800 men and women will be hard at work this winter at Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. The construction of two platform supply vessels, coupled with the normal maintenance and modernization of U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters (lakers), will keep the yard at full employment for the next several months. The platform supply vessels are the first Bay Ship has built. However, the yard’s experience in building freighters that can keep going in the thick ice that forms on the Great Lakes each winter was crucial, as energy exploration is moving into northern regions of the world. Click here to read more.
LAKES FLEET GROWING AGAIN: The Great Lakes’ Jones Act fleet will welcome a new member next spring. Rand Logistics, Inc., has acquired the articulated tug/barge unit BEVERLY ANDERSON/MARY TURNER, which has been working in the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel will sail to the Lakes in the spring and have new self-unloading gear installed before entering the dry-bulk trades. The vessel will be operated by Grand River Navigation Company of Avon Lake, Ohio.
FOSS MARITIME TO BUILD NEW FERRY IN WASHINGTON: The state of Washington has ordered a new car ferry to move residents, school children and emergency responders across Lake Roosevelt. Foss Maritime of Seattle won the $9.6 million contract. Given the lake’s remote location, the 20-car ferry will have to be built in sections and transported across the state for final assembly near the ferry landing. The ferry is expected to enter service in May 2013.
American Maritime Partnership ("AMP") is the voice of the U.S. domestic maritime industry, a pillar of our nation‘s economic, national, and homeland security. More than 40,000 American vessels built in American shipyards and crewed by American mariners ply our waters 24/7, and this commerce sustains nearly 500,000 jobs, $29 billion in labor compensation, and more than $100 billion in annual economic output according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Transportation Institute. So efficient are these vessels that they carry a quarter of the nation‘s cargo for only 2 percent of the national freight bill, and being American owned, built and crewed helps make America more secure.
MARAD Small Shipyard Assistance Grants
December 12, 2011
On Friday (12/9), the Maritime Administration announced in the Federal Register the availability of $9.98 million in grants for the Small Shipyard Assistance Program.
As they have in the past, grants will be made available for capital improvements that foster efficiency and competitive operations; including ship construction, repair, and employee training.
The grants cannot be more than 75 percent of the estimated improvement costs and application packages must be received by 5 p.m. on January 17, 2012.
Congressman Wittman on Carriers
December 12, 2011
More Aircraft Carriers Are Key To American Influence
(ROLL CALL 12 DEC 11) ... Rep. Rob Wittman
“Catastrophic.” That’s just one of the words used to describe the effects of the additional $600 billion in cuts set to strike our nation’s military, resulting from the abject failure of the 12-member super committee charged with shaping cuts in the federal budget as directed by the Budget Control Act.
The Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction is becoming but a memory of another failed initiative in Washington. The effects of its failure, however, are enormous and won’t soon be forgotten. The lack of urgency in Congress is bitterly disappointing and, quite frankly, endangers the security of this nation.
Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee in November, one of our nation’s highest military leaders, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, said “sequestration” would cause “irreversible damage” to our nation’s naval forces.
The U.S. Navy faces its smallest force since before World War I. Sequestration will cause irreparable damage to the Navy’s manpower and ship force structure. Aging ships in the fleet are already on overdue maintenance schedules, lacking the appropriate funding levels to conduct life-cycle maintenance and modernization work.
Without changes to sequestration, ships will be taken out of service before their scheduled decommissioning. What the United States will ultimately sacrifice here is presence and power projection. We will not have the assets to effectively project power and display a forward-deployed presence in regions of the world that demand our attention and oversight.
To retain the greatest Navy in the world, we need to maintain our fleet capabilities, or we will lose the ability to project power in the 21st century and our competitive edge at sea and in our industrial base. In order to retain this influence, we must increase our investment in shipbuilding, not cut it.
An iconic symbol of American freedom domestically and abroad and a potential item for the sequestration chopping block, the aircraft carrier could face detrimental cuts to her fleet and capability because of a flawed defense strategy driven by looming budget cuts. The Navy has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in her fleet. While six remain deployed across the world, supporting operations, others are in rotation, utilized for training or remain in the shipyard for necessary maintenance.
In 50 years, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has made history and shaped the world into what it is today. The USS Enterprise (CVN 65), the first of the 11 nuclear-powered carriers, has served during Vietnam, the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Libya, Desert Shield/Storm, Bosnia, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
The aircraft carrier also symbolizes the industrial engine within the United States that will sputter if sequestration remains in its current form.
The construction of these great ships is supported through business and industry spanning 50 states and built by our greatest asset: the American people. They are designed, manufactured and engineered by the most skilled American tradesmen and craftsmen in our entire industrial workforce.
Some of the most skilled workers in the shipyard train for seven years to attain the proficiency necessary to build these nuclear-powered carriers. These carriers take five years to build, and if we do not move without interruption from completing one and beginning construction on the next, the American workforce cannot be maintained. The shipbuilding industrial base — those skilled workers — cannot stop and start work.
The men and women who build our ships will go to the back of an already long unemployment line, and those critical skills, that knowledge base and experience, will be lost as they seek employment elsewhere. That is not simply American job loss. It is a loss of critical national security capability.
Every aircraft carrier represents peace, prosperity, leadership and democracy, while standing ready and fully capable of being an instrument of warfare.
Since World War II, each crisis that threatened the national security interests of the United States has shown the need for an aircraft carrier to transport our men and women serving to protect freedom around the globe. The American aircraft carrier is the pinnacle of industrial engineering, ingenuity and genius; where mechanical, nuclear, aerospace and electrical engineering converge with naval architecture to form a magnificent 100,000-ton, 1,092-foot-long piece of America.
All this hard work by Americans — the years of designing, building, manufacturing and training — must not become a forgotten trade.
The super committee chose failure over making tough choices for the greater good of this country. Sequestration cuts threaten our national security capability to defend our nation and respond to conflict in the 21st century. Failure is an outcome we must not and cannot accept.
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) is chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and co-chairman of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus.