Marine Log - October 2007 - (Page 2) October 2007 Vol. 112 No. 10 John R. Snyder Editor ISSN 08970491 MARINELOG amcginnis@sbpub.com USPS 576-910 editorial PUBLISHER Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & EDITOR John R. Snyder jsnyder@sbpub.com SENIOR EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: Nicholas Blenkey nblenkey@sbpub.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Shirley Del Valle sdelvalle@sbpub.com nkitchen@msn.com Of ferries, protesters & YouTube CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Nigel Kitchen I t’s not often that ferries grab the attention of the media. For the most part, ferries go about their everyday business in relative anonymity, shuttling commuters, cars and cargo. That certainly wasn’t the case in the last two months. Hawaii Superferry’s 350 ft Alakai, featured in this month’s cover story, was the target of protests when it arrived in Hawaii in August. Citing concerns about the need for an environmental assessment, fears of whale strikes and the spread of invasive species, protesters took to surfboards, kayaks and canoes to swarm the Alakai when it attempted its first voyages to Kauai. As can be seen in a number of YouTube videos (at last count there was 87 related to the Superferry), protesters risked life and limb to block the ferry from entering the harbor and docking. One yahoo is even shown standing on top of a buoy holding his board in close proximity to the ferry’s hull. What’s also clear in many of the videos is what an incredible job performed by Hornblower Marine Ser- vices, the operator of the Alakai, but also the difficult task endured by the U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities in clearing a path for the ferry. As we went to press, the Alakai was tied up awaiting the outcome of two court cases as to whether an environmental assessment must be conducted before the ship can sail again. Also, news broke last month of a shake up in the San Francisco Bay Area ferry market. California Senate Bill 976 is awaiting the signature of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill creates a new water transit authority that would take over the ferry operations of the Vallejo/Baylink and Oakland Alameda ferries. The new water transit authority would be called the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) and it would replace the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority. WETA would be responsible for coordinating emergency preparedness in the Bay Area. While most folks agree that’s a good idea, what upsets them is that it also includes the seizure of all the Bay Area ferry services except for the Golden Gate ferries. That’s left a lot of people in the Bay Area angry and confused. These topics should make for exciting discussion next month at Marine Log’s FERRIES Conference & Trade Show, which will mark its 20th anniversary in Delray Beach, Fla. 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 OCTOBER 2007 www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com http://www.abb.com/turbocharging http://www.marinelog.com
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