The President’s Message

BY Mike Jarvis

ASA President

American Salvage Association

Welcome to the spring issue of Soundings. It was great seeing everyone at the ASA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, especially after missing last year due to the pandemic. I would like to especially thank the South American participants who traveled a great distance to be there. We all look forward to our continued expansion into the South American market. 

Congratulations to our marketing committee on their diligent work in continuing to provide informative content for this Soundings publication. Due to their efforts, readership has more than doubled. Congratulations are also in order for Stephen Dann and Alejandro Pena Zepeda on their newly elected positions as Associate Member Representatives to the Executive Committee. I look forward to working with them over the next two years.  

 I would like to thank all the Associate member nominees who participated in the election process. Additionally, I appreciate those members who worked hard to complete and approve the budget for the fiscal year 2022. Our membership committee continues to build the membership and reach out to members, checking company contact information and email addresses. To that end, I ask that you take a few moments to complete the questionnaire that was sent in early February. This was designed to enhance corporate associate member benefits and this information will be collected to create an interactive map listing equipment and capabilities of their companies. The new member equipment web page is currently active, and I encourage our members to visit the site.  

 During my tenure as president, I will work with our members to bring attention to the influence on China’s expansion into the worldwide wreck removal market and how it directly affects the U.S. response posture. 

 I would also like to focus and collaborate with authorities to improve the gaps that were identified in the GAO (Government Accountability Office) report published in 2021. As an organization, we can have a positive impact on identifying and suggesting solutions to the findings of the report. I recently re-read the 1982 National Research Council (NRC) report entitled “Marine Salvage in the United States” (NRC, 1982) and “The Assessment of the Marine Salvage Posture of the United States” (1994). I realized that we started talking about the gaps in 1982, reassessed in 1994, and today we have many of the same  challenges and gaps that we did 40 years ago. It is my goal to bring these issues to the forefront of the collective intellect of the ASA in the hopes of closing as many of these gaps as possible.   

As I write this, we’re coming out of a difficult two years where business was far from normal. Now that COVID appears to be waning, the events unfolding in the Ukraine present new challenges. Although it is unknown what effects the turmoil in Europe will have on the salvage community, we are an industry built on uncertainty and adaptability. I will continue to build upon our strengths while using our unity to fortify our organization as a whole.  

I look forward to these tasks and as always, welcome the information and input from our ASA members around the country as we navigate these ever-changing waters.  

Thank you and I hope you enjoy the spring edition of Soundings.