Marine Log - March 2008 - (Page 2)

March 2008 Vol. 113 No. 3 John R. Snyder Editor ISSN 08970491 MARINELOG amcginnis@sbpub.com jsnyder@sbpub.com USPS 576-910 editorial PRESIDENT Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. PUBLISHER & EDITOR John R. Snyder SENIOR EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Nicholas Blenkey nblenkey@sbpub.com Reshaping the Coast Guard EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Shirley Del Valle CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Nigel Kitchen sdelvalle@sbpub.com nkitchen@msn.com T he U.S. Coast Guard’s emphasis on marine safety has been blown off course since the increased emphasis on maritime security since 9/11. That’s at the heart of the report, “Coast Guard Marine Safety Analysis: An Independent Assessment and Suggestion for Improvement,” by Vice Adm. James C. Card, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.). The report by Admiral Card was conducted at the request of Adm. Thad Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, in the wake of Congressional hearings and harsh marine industry criticism of the agency’s deteriorating performance on marine safety. The increased emphasis on security has also led to harsh treatment of the maritime industry by the Coast Guard during routine boardings, inspections, investigations and mariner licensing revolutions, says the report. Since the move to the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11, the Coast Guard seems to take more of a “militaristic” approach, rather than working with industry to solve problems. As an example, the report quotes an industry source as saying that a Coast Guard inspection/boarding team told a master and crew after an inspection/boarding, “Well, we didn’t find anything wrong this time, but we’ll be back to catch you.” As a result of all this, the industry has “lost trust and confidence in the Coast Guard,” leading to an uneasy partnership on maritime safety. “The relationship between the Coast Guard and the maritime industry is the most strained in my memory,” writes Admiral Card. Recent incidents, such as the Coast Guard response in the Cosco Busan accident, as well as aggressive prosecutions by the Department of Justice in environmental incident cases have not improved matters. Admiral Card’s report, which is based on about 170 interviews with industry and Coast Guard professionals, makes several sound recommendations, some of which are in the Coast Guard’s “Enhancing the Coast Guard Marine Safety Program.” The Coast Guard plans big changes over the next three fiscal years, including strengthening its marine inspector and investigator capacity (including augmenting it with more civilians), improving the rulemaking process, increasing accessions from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and maritime institutions, streamlining credentialing, establishing career paths for marine safety personnel, and creating the position of Assistant Commandant from Maritime Safety, Security and Stewardship. Faced with an ever-more complex marine operating environment, the Coast Guard needs to grow with the right people. Of course, attracting, training and retaining new personnel is not unique to the Coast Guard. This month, Capt. Art Sulzer, U.S. Navy (Ret.) writes about maritime technical primary and secondary schools as a lead in to next month’s SOCP event on the same subject. jsnyder@sbpub.com MARKETING DIRECTOR Peter Sexton psexton@sbpub-chicago.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Wendy Williams wwilliams@sbpub.com ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Phil Desiere pdesiere@sbpub.com ART PRODUCTION MANAGER Todd Blanchard tblanchard@sbpub.com PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Mary Conyers-Brown mbrown@sbpub.com NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Roland Espinosa respinosa@sbpub.com INTERNATIONAL SALES MANAGER Donna Edwards dedwards@sbpub.com SALES REPRESENTATIVE -KOREA Young-Seoh Chinn jesmedia@unitel.co.kr SALES MANAGER Jeff Sutley CLASSIFIED SALES Diane Okon jsutley@sbpub.com dokon@sbpub-chicago.com CONFERENCE DIRECTOR Jane Poterala jpoterala@sbpub.com CONFERENCE COORDINATOR Michelle M. Zolkos mzolkos@sbpub.com A SIMMONS-BOARDMAN PUBLICATION EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICES 345 Hudson Street New York, N.Y. 10014 TEL: (212) 620-7200 FAX: (212) 633-1165 website: www.marinelog.com e-mail: marinelog@sbpub.com CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call toll free (800) 895-4389, Monday-Friday 9 am—5 pm EST. 2 MARINE LOG MARCH 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com http://www.abb.com http://www.abb.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - March 2008

Marine Log - March 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Navy's Toughest Battle Building Future Fleet Less Fuel, Lower Emissions A New Generation of Mariners Training for the Future LNG Security: Resources Needed Models of Perfection Tech News Newsmakers Contracts Events Infodirect Website Directory ML Marketplace Opinion

Marine Log - March 2008

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