Detail-oriented
Cruising to Alaska will be a bit of a rules challenge. A12-13
Far off track
Ft. Lauderdale shoots down new marina at old Best Western. A30 Vol. 4, No. 4
www.the-triton.com
Tom Fexas’ design influence lives on after his passing.
B1
July 2007
SMALL VESSEL SECURITY SUMMIT
Best terror defense – an alert public The U.S government’s strongest tool in the fight against terrorism and the defense of homeland security is me. It’s you, too, and everyone who works and plays on the water. That was the message, repeated over and over during the twoday Small Vessel Security Summit put on by the U.S. Department Editor’s Notebook of Homeland Lucy Chabot Reed Security: that public awareness, education and reporting of suspicious behavior is the best way to stop terrorism. More than 400 people gathered for the summit in Washington, D.C., from June 19-20. They represented myriad segments of the maritime industry interested in small vessels including commercial fishermen, recreational boaters, passenger vessel operators, tug and barge operators, marine manufacturers and retailers, law enforcement and government officials. Four attendees, including me, were easily identifiable as representing the megayacht industry. The message of public involvement kept coming back as the No. 1 way to See SUMMIT, page A16
Press on
Trying to ID system failures in immigration ANOA, terror We received so many thoughtful comments from captains and industry leaders that we wanted to include some of them. We sought suggestions and solutions concerning the Advance Notice of Arrival (ANOA), terrorism threats, immigration, pilots, and clearing in processes. Some answered those questions, others simply wanted to note for the record why the current system isn’t working all that well. Comments have been edited for space and the identities of the respondents have been withheld for the sake of consistency. – Lucy Reed
The biggest problem is lack of communication between federal agencies. Having traveled around the Pacific – stops in Communist China (Shanghai), Hong Kong, The Philippines, Australia, Tonga, Fiji, Tahiti, and Galapagos – we were always greeted in a polite, professional manner, not like the ‘When one population is less governed than another population, that creates storm-trooper approach normally a soft area and a security risk,’ said Adm. Thad Allen, commandant of the U.S. in the United States. The owner of the vessel, who Coast Guard. ‘It’s a hard problem to fix, and that’s why we need your ideas.” For travels worldwide, has commented ideas from captains, see story at right. For ideas from the summit, see page
A17.
PHOTO COURTESY OF USCG
See COMMENTS, page A19
Captains weigh in on subcontractors, subs as crew, yard rules A couple of months ago, a group of industry leaders gathered in San Diego to talk about yachting. In one seminar, yard managers and owners took the liberty of beating up on crew and subcontractors. We have discussed yards and their management practices several From the Bridge times with Lucy Chabot Reed megayacht captains in this forum, so this month we raise the issue of subcontractors. (It is summer time in Ft. Lauderdale, after all.) What do captains think of subcontractors in yards?
“I’m all for them,” one captain quipped as everyone laughed. As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph on page A18. Let’s start with the basics. Who gets the subs for the work you need? “Typically, we get them,” one captain said. “The yards just require that they have insurance.” Some yards don’t allow you to bring in subcontractors, do they? “No,” another said. “We had to move to get some guys we wanted on board.” “When that happens, I sign them on as my crew,” one captain said. “I
contact the management company and get them on the insurance.” “And it saves the 20 percent, too,” another said, referring to the common and accepted practice of tacking 20 percent onto the invoice of any subcontractors not on a yard’s list of preferred vendors. “Twenty percent is pretty standard, and it’s posted for subcontractors not on the list,” a captain said. Several captains acknowledged they use the crew-list technique to get subcontractors on their yachts, adding as many as four or five “crew” members at any one time. One captain said he has the workers review and sign the yacht’s crew articles, then gives his crew list to the yard so the “crew” will
have access to the yard and yacht. Can’t the yard see through that? “Yes, but it relieves them of liability,” one captain said. “And they may not get the 20 percent, but they don’t have business walking out the door.” “You have to clarify that they are listed as crew and working under your discretion,” one captain said. “We pick them up and drop them off. We’re responsible for them. But every insurance underwriter is different.” “It all comes down to the American culture of suing everybody,” one captain said. There began a discussion of that never-endearing American trait, but it
See BRIDGE, page A18