WorkBoat February 2023

Underway

After taking a big hit from Covid, the passenger vessel industry is back.

Smoother sailing

Poor operating conditions brought on by a drought that made parts of the Mississippi River unnavigable, worker shortages, in ation jitters, and lingering problems due to Covid have all affected the workboat industry. Arguably, the workboat sector hit the hardest by these developments has been the passenger vessel industry.

In this month’s cover story (see page 24), Betsy Haggerty reports that despite all of the aforementioned, 2022 was a good year for passenger vessel operators.

Covid restrictions that almost shut down the industry in 2020 are pretty much gone. Social distancing and mask requirements that kept people away eased in 2021, and by the end of that year, operators were optimistic that better times were ahead. And they were right. Business did improve in 2022 with many companies operating at 80% to 90% capacity on sightseeing trips. In addition, pro table corporate charters are nally starting to come back.

John Groundwater, executive director of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), is also optimistic. “U.S. passenger vessel operators nationwide are generally reporting very positive business levels for 2022,” he told WorkBoat “Some have indicated that their 2022 business levels have exceeded 2019 levels. Many also report that corporate business is returning.”

But there are challenges, with the worker shortage being the biggest. “We’ve got to get people off the couch and back to work,” PVA president Bob Bijur told WorkBoat.

Other challenges have made this even harder — the widespread legalization of recreational marijuana and illegal boat charters, which proliferated when governments shut down licensed vessel operators and landbased nightclubs during Covid.

Staf ng problems were the hot-button issue at the PVA northeast regional meeting that Betsy attended this fall and will be on the agenda at the PVA’s annual convention in February. “It is clear that nding capable staff is the industry’s biggest need and highest priority,” Bijur said.

But compared to those dark days in 2020, this is a good problem to have.

ai16389015345_editwatch_BPA_2021.pdf 1 12/7/21 1:25 PM

0444 22

David Krapf, Editor in Chief dkrapf@divcom.com

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honoring heroes. empowering families. supporting those who protect our nation.

The Coast Guard Foundation is a vital partner to the Coast Guard—tackling the toughest challenges confronting our heroes and strengthening the entire community. Join us today. coastguardfoundation.org 860-535-0786

EDITOR IN CHIEF David Krapf / dkrapf@divcom.com

SENIOR EDITOR Ken Hocke / khocke@divcom.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Kirk Moore / kmoore@divcom.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Capt. Alan Bernstein • Bruce Buls • Michael Crowley • Jerry Fraser • Pamela Glass • Betsy Frawley Haggerty • Max Hardberger • Joel Milton • Jim Redden

DIGITAL PROJECT MANAGER / ART DIRECTOR Doug Stewart / dstewart@divcom.com

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jeremiah Karpowicz / jkarpowicz@divcom.com

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE S

Kim Burnham 207-842-5540 / kburnham@divcom.com

Mike Cohen 207-842-5438 / mcohen@divcom.com

Kristin Luke 207-842-5635 / kluke@divcom.com

Krista Randall 207-842-5657 / krandall@divcom.com Danielle Walters 207-842-5634 / dwalters@divcom.com

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR

Wendy Jalbert 207-842-5616 / wjalbert@divcom.com Producers of The International WorkBoat Show and Pacific Marine Expo www.workboatshow.com • www.pacificmarineexpo.com

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Scull safety and PFDs

Iwas interested in reading your recent column in WorkBoat magazine (“Racing scull safety and PFD requirement revisited,” WorkBoat, December 2022).

I agree that there can be no compromise when it comes to your safety. The choice of buoyancy aids and lifejackets in the market is now highly comprehensive, with models designed to provide greater wearer comfort and performance than ever before, no matter what your on-the-water activity.

I work for Baltic Lifejackets. We are proud to say that we have a lifejacket or buoyancy aid for everyone, even your four-legged family members. Within our range we offer lifejackets and buoyancy aids designed and styled for an array of water sports — dinghy sailors, kayakers, rowers, canoeists, and those who SUP (stand up paddle boarding), to the competitive yacht racers or superyacht crew.

For commercial operators, we have a dedicated range of M.E.D./SOLAS inatable and inherently buoyant lifejackets with comfort, compactness, and ease of wear at the forefront of the design process. If the environment you work in requires constant wear of a lifejacket, it must be comfortable. A lifejacket can help save your life should you nd yourself in the water for any length of time. Thus, a lifejacket that is worn is the best one there is.

If athletes racing sculls need a speci c product that the market doesn’t currently offer, we are happy to learn what is needed so we can possibly consider for future product development and ensure even more water enthusiasts enjoy their activities safely.

Neil Harrison Head of Business – Commercial Baltic Safety Products UK Ltd. Hamble, United Kingdom

Steamship knowledge

Iread your tribute to captains Dow and Hawley in WorkBoat (“The passing of two industry giants,” WorkBoat, January 2023).

As we restore the only steam-powered lighthouse tender in the U.S., the USCGC Lilac, I’m particularly sad to see the knowledge that these two industry giants held disappear with them. I spoke brie y before the pandemic with Bill Dow and had hoped to visit his operation at Lake George, N.Y., but the pandemic set those plans aside. Alas.

Can you tell me who is in charge at their respective companies? We’d certainly like to pick the brains of those operating the steamships which survive them. Thank you.

Mary Habstritt Museum Director

Lilac Preservation

Project

New York, N.Y.

Domenic Rizzo

Crew actions credited as 900 rescued from Staten Island ferry

News Bitts

New law will improve duck boat safety

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it supports maritime safety improvements contained in the National Defense Authorization Act. President Biden signed it into law at the end of last year. The legislation advanced NTSB recommendations for amphibious vessels known as DUKW boats (duck boats) and requires the Coast Guard to provide an initial response to the new NTSB recommendations within 90 days.

Louisiana, Texas to add oil and gas industry jobs

Approximately 900 passengers and crew were evacuated from Staten Island Ferry’s Sandy Ground in the late afternoon on Dec. 29 after an engine room fire.

The Sandy Ground was bound from Manhattan to the St. George Terminal on Staten Island when the fire was reported around 5:18 p.m., and a 911 emergency call came in, according to the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY).

“The crew had already put CO2 into the engine hold as would be the policy to do,” said FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Frank Leeb. “Our main objective was to secure the vessel and to start getting the passengers of oaded onto other boats.”

Five New York Police Department vessels headed to the scene and a radio call went out for all available ferries to respond, Capt. Anthony Russo of the NYPD harbor unit said at a press conference. Tugboats came to help keep the Sandy Ground in position and another ferry moved close to create a lee as wind and waves increased with stormy weather.

Leeb said the decision was made to move passengers onto other ferries “as that was a safer alternative than putting them on re or police boats. At that point we had a total of ve injuries. Three people were transported to the hospital, all with minor injuries. There were approximately 868 people on board and then an additional 16 crewmembers.”

The re was under control and John Garvey, deputy commissioner and chief of operations for the Staten Island Ferry, credited the Sandy Ground crew for putting out the fire and making the decision to anchor and call for evacuation instead of proceeding to the terminal. Boats operated by NYC Ferry, Hornblower and New York Waterway responded to assist in the evacuation, said Leeb.

“This was not a lucky event,” Leeb said. “The crew acted as the crew was supposed to act.

The 320'×70' Sandy Ground is the third of three 4,500-passenger Ollisclass ferries built for New York by Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc., Panama City, Fla., and entered service in 2022. — Kirk Moore

The LSU Center for Energy Studies has released its 2023 edition of the Gulf Coast Energy Outlook (GCEO). The outlook said that by the second quarter of 2023, Louisiana is expected to gain about 3,500 jobs. Texas is forecast to gain about 12,200 upstream jobs between August 2022 and the second quarter of 2023. However, these model results are not anticipating employment in either state to reach pre-Covid levels over the forecast horizon.

Groups

opposed to offshore wind energy developments called on federal officials to suspend all survey work on projects off New Jersey and New York and investigate recent humpback whale strandings. The strandings includ two dead juvenile whales that washed up at Atlantic City, N.J., two weeks apart. The New Jersey-based environmental group Clean Ocean Action organized a press conference in January in Atlantic City and joined four other groups in demanding that President Biden shutdown all offshore wind development activity in the New York Bight pending an investigation into “the unprecedented number of dead, predominately juvenile, whales washing up in the last 33 days on the New Jersey/New York coastline.”

Offshore wind critics want New Jersey whale strandings investigated

Passengers were evacuated from the Staten Island ferry Sandy Ground after an engine room fire Dec. 22, 2022.

BY JOEL MILTON

Joel Milton works on towing vessels. He can be reached at joelmilton@ yahoo.com.

On the Water

Educating rec operators — Part III

Another way that communications between commercial and recreational vessels has improved dramatically is by the increasing frequency of voluntary carriage of AIS transponders (whether Class A, B or the new enhanced B+) by recreational vessels. The first part of communicating begins with the simple awareness of each other’s presence and, with the use of AIS, this is expedited and amplified.

Rather than being just a small-to-tiny bobbing, indistinct object at sea, which mariners may not be able to acquire visually or on radar, an AISequipped motor yacht, sport fisherman or sailboat is readily apparent to other AIS-equipped vessels. The vessel now has a name “visible” from miles away and can therefore be accurately targeted with a directed call on VHF-FM marine radio to figure out intentions and make safe passage arrangements, particularly with ships and tugs with tows. Attempting to call the random “white sailboat about five miles east of Barnegat Inlet” was al-

Captain’s Table

A big step forward for U.S. mariners

In June 2019, the Coast Guard published a final rule that eliminated the requirement for marine radar refresher training. This issue had been discussed on the inland rivers for a long time.

most always a fool’s errand and remains so today. AIS, when carried, has changed that equation.

Although AIS was originally mandated in the name of maritime security for commercial vessels in the wake of 9/11, it would be hard to overstate the gains in navigation safety that have arisen from its routine use. These gains are underlined by its increasing adoption by vessels otherwise exempt from carrying it.

Of course, AIS, on any vessel, comes with a downside not associated with its cost, space requirements and power demands: it easily becomes a weak or lazy watchstander’s crutch, used at the expense of keeping a proper lookout. Years ago I was jolted when I read, for the first time, the tacit admission by a deck officer posting on one of the professional mariner forums on gCaptain that “If you’re not on AIS then you’re invisible.” With rare exceptions, this should never be the case.

Furthermore, AIS is not a radar unit, let alone an ARPA, and should never be seen or used as more than a valuable assistant to those devices for the purposes of collision avoidance. A watchstander using closest point of approach information derived solely from AIS is making a big mistake.

cost savings will be about $6.8 million, and over 7,000 mariners will benefit from this rule each year.

BY CAPT. ALAN BERNSTEIN

Alan Bernstein, owner of BB Riverboats in Cincinnati, is a licensed master and a former president of the Passenger Vessel Association. He can be reached at 859-292-2449 or abernstein@ bbriverboats.com.

It represents a big step forward, eliminating an obsolete and unnecessary requirement for experienced mariners. The final rule also harmonizes the radar observer endorsement with the merchant marine credential.

In its comments, the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) agreed with the Coast Guard that refresher training is not needed when a mariner has practical on-the-water experience using radar on a regular basis. PVA also agreed with the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee’s (MERPAC) position that this regulatory change would not negatively affect safety.

Over the years, the PVA and many others in the maritime industry have pointed to the negative effects of regulation on small business. I was pleased to learn that the Coast Guard’s analysis of this regulation estimated that the annualized total

I am a big believer in on-the-job training, especially when it pertains to navigation, electronics in the pilothouse, deckhand training, and emergency situations. Once a mariner has a radar endorsement, there is no substitute for real time experience to stay up to date.

Safety and training are at the core of what my company, BB Riverboats, does. Not only do we conduct the training that is necessary to meet Coast Guard regulations, but we believe that we have a responsibility to exceed regulations to protect the safety of our passengers and crew. One accident is one too many.

My company ensures that the core competencies that are necessary for mariners to navigate safely are common practice. While this recent regulatory change has eliminated the need for radar refresher training, our mariners will have the necessary training and experience.

I commend the Coast Guard for eliminating the requirement for radar refresher training.

Ed. Note: This column first appeared in the August 2019 issue of WorkBoat

WorkBoat GOM Indicators

OCT '22 NOV '22 DEC '22 DEC '21

WTI Crude Oil 86.54 77.10 79.57 75.49

Baker Hughes Rig Count 14 18 15 15 U.S. Oil Production (millions bpd) 11.9 12.1* 12.1* 11.8

Sources: Baker-Hughes; U.S. EIA *Estimated

BY JIM REDDEN, CORRESPONDENT

Acityclosely aligned with US offshore oil and gas is going full bore on renewable energy even as deepwater hydrocarbon production is expected to surge.

Emphasizing the urgency to “accelerate the clean energy evolution,” New Orleans claims to be “showing the world how major cities can lead the way in reducing carbon emissions while creating jobs and promoting equity.” To that end, Greater New Orleans Inc. (GNO), the city’s economic development body, has formed separate alliances to advance both offshore wind and green hydrogen energy developments.

The recently formed GNO Wind Alliance, comprising manufacturers, service companies, developers, utility companies, and industry associations, aims to “swiftly materialize a shared vision for alternative energy creation off the coast of Louisiana.” Offshore wind development in the oil-dominant Gulf of Mexico is on the horizon as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) plans to hold an inaugural lease sale early this year.

LM Wind Power is among the established companies actively engaged in engineering offshore wind technology. A business unit of GE Renewable Energy, LM designs and manufactures wind turbine blades at its New Orleans Technology Center Americas facility.

In Jefferson Parish, the former Avondale Shipyard is being revived as a logistics hub, partly in response to the need for an offshore wind supply chain infrastructure. The rst major tenant of the rebranded Avondale Global Gateway is Gulf Wind Technology, which was formed in 2021 and bills itself as the nation’s “leading wind turbine rotor technology specialist.”

Besides offshore wind, the GNO’s H2theFuture coalition received a $50 million federal grant in September to

help develop a green hydrogen hub in South Louisiana. Made up of 25 organizations, the regional partnership is

looking to capitalize on a global green hydrogen market that it says is on track to grow 6,000% by 2031.

WorkBoat Composite Index

WorkBoat stocks rise 13.5% in 2022

In December, the WorkBoat Stock Index dropped 31 points, or 1%. For the month, losers topped winners by a ratio of 2-1. Despite the losses in December, the WorkBoat Composite Index gained 13.5% in 2022 and the Operators Index gained 23%. Both indexes beat the Dow and S&P 500, which lost 8.8% and 19.4% respectively in 2022.

Among the top gainers in December was Transocean Ltd. The offshore driller announced on Dec. 7 awards for its ultradeepwater drillships, Deepwater Corcovado and Deepwater Orion, for work offshore Brazil. Together the two contracts represent approximately $1.04 billion in firm backlog. The Deepwater Corcovado was awarded a

four-year contract, which will contribute an estimated $583 million in backlog and is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2023.

In early January, Transocean announced contract awards or extensions for five of its drilling rigs. Together, the fixtures represent approximately $488 million of firm backlog. Deepwater Invictus, an ultradeepwater drillship, was awarded a new three-well contract with an estimated 100-day duration in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with an independent operator. The contract will contribute an estimated $43 million in backlog.

11/30/22 12/30/22 CHANGE CHANGE

INDEX NET PERCENT COMPARISONS

Operators 402.72 397.35 -5.37 -1.33%

Suppliers 5,169.82 5,094.48 -75.34 -1.46%

Shipyards 4,759.35 4,836.99 77.64 1.63%

WorkBoat Composite 3,452.98 3,421.77 -31.21 -0.90%

PHLX Oil Service Index 84.12 83.86 -0.26 -0.31%

Dow Jones Industrials 34,589.80 33,147.25 -1,442.55 -4.17%

Standard & Poors 500 4,080.11 3,839.50 -240.61 -5.90%

For the complete up-to-date WorkBoat Stock Index, go to: www.workboat.com/resources/workboat-composite-index

Inland Insider

A new year, the same challenges

2022 was a punishing year for the barge industry, with difficult operating conditions, a labor shortage, the war in Ukraine disrupting the grain transportation market and inflation sending the costs of doing business into the ozone.

Transocean Barents, a harsh environment semisubmersible, was awarded a new one-well contract with an estimated 110day duration in the North Sea with a major operator. The contract will contribute an estimated $34 million in backlog and is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2023. — David Krapf

coal movements and oil prices, while high diesel fuel will hurt barge operators. “Global energy is huge,” he said.

On the weather, Toth said flooding and drought events in many other parts of the world will affect harvests of agricultural commodities like soybeans, which in turn will impact demand for U.S. grain exports which are carried largely by barge to U.S. ports for export.

BY PAMELA GLASS

Pamela Glass is the Washington, D.C., correspondent for WorkBoat. She reports on the congressional committees and federal agencies that affect the maritime industry, including the Coast Guard, Marad and Army Corps of Engineers.

So, what’s the outlook for 2023?

Unfortunately, more of the same. Although weather is hard to predict, what is predicted are continued unusual climatological events that produce bigger than normal and longer-lasting storms, droughts, and flooding that not only impact barging but cultivation of the goods they carry. The tight labor market will likely linger for at least another year, as will the war in Ukraine.

As for inflation, no one really knows, as that will depend on government policies as well as worldwide economic trends.

But there are other issues to watch as well. Sandor Toth, editor and publisher of River Transport News, which offers news and analysis of the commercial barge industry, told an audience at Marine Money’s Marine Finance Forum in New Orleans on Nov. 30, that developments in the global energy market will have a big impact on

Then there’s production of domestic steel.

“Nucor,” Toth said, referring to the largest steel producer in the U.S., “is building new plants. Integrated mills are shutting down and geography is shifting more in favor of the South and the inland river system.

“It’s going to have a big impact in terms of how we ship and where we get our raw material volume from, and what will be the demand for raw materials on the inland river system.”

The industry should also keep an eye on China. “China is our biggest purchaser of soybeans. They come in and dramatically and massively disrupt the market,” Toth said. “We can go from zero exports of sorghum grain exports one year to five million tons of export the next.”

And don’t forget about the fraught domestic labor market that has forced operators to find new ways to attract, recruit and retain workers.

www.workboat.com

BY TIM AKPINAR

Tim Akpinar is a Little Neck, N.Y.based maritime attorney and former marine engineer. He can be reached at 718-224-9824 or t.akpinar@verizon. net

Legal Talk

Cell phone use cited in containership grounding

Cell phones have been recognized as contributing factors in maritime accidents over the years. This was recently evidenced in the grounding of the containership Ever Forward in Chesapeake Bay on March 13, 2022. The 117,000-ton ship, owned by Evergreen Marine, departed Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore enroute to Norfolk with a Maryland state pilot aboard.

In its report, the Coast Guard cited (1) failure to maintain situational awareness and attention while navigating and (2) inadequate bridge resource management as factors. In terms of a positive aspect of the matter, post-accident recommendations of the Coast Guard called for vessel owners and marine operators to develop and implement effective policies outlining when the use of cell phones and other portable electronic devices is appropriate or prohibited.

The 1,095-foot containership had missed a waypoint in executing a required course change. The third of cer stated that he observed the pilot looking at his cell phone. Drawing 42 feet of water, the container ship ran aground outside the Craighill

Nor’easter

Channel near buoy 16.

The distraction posed by cell phones is wellrecognized in maritime case law. In 2013, a ferry operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District was involved in a boating accident with a 22-foot powerboat. The operator of the speedboat was killed and the owner seriously injured. At trial, attorneys for the plaintiffs alleged that the ferry captain was using his cell phone immediately before the collision.

In July 2010, the tug Caribbean Sea was pushing a 250-foot barge when it ran over a small tour vessel on the Delaware River. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that distraction created by a cell phone was a probable cause of the accident, together with a decision to use the lower wheelhouse instead of the elevated one.

Cell phones are not a new issue in the realm of transportation safety. On the road and on the water, their potential for distraction is well recognized. It’s also true that their roles have evolved from early models with screens the size of a postage stamp. They have become more integrated in our daily lives, offering valuable resources in navigation, weather forecasting, and messaging, among other applications. In some settings, they are regarded as failsafe communication back-ups. However, the fact remains that they compete for attention — no matter how integrated they have become in our lives.

BY KIRK MOORE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Contributing

Editor Kirk Moore was a reporter for the Asbury Park Press for over 30 years before joining WorkBoat in 2015. He has also been an editor for WorkBoat’s sister publication, National Fisherman, for over 25 years.

Cost

concerns mount as states plan spring offshore wind solicitations

existing power purchase agreements (PPAs) with electricity distributors — essentially telling the wind developers they must stick with the deal they’ve made.

Angst

over the nancial prospects of U.S. offshore wind projects continued to build as Northeast states look toward their next round of solicitations for developers. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities on Dec. 30 turned down the request from Avangrid’s Commonwealth Wind project to cancel the regulators’ review of its

Developers of a nearby federal lease for Mayower Wind, a joint venture between Shell New Energies US LLC and Offshore Wind LLC,

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expressed similar concerns in a Dec. 23 filing with the state. Backers of both ventures warned that their previously negotiated power purchase agreements are not viable for obtaining nancing, given global upheaval in in ation, interest rates, and supply chain problems.

The war in Ukraine — driving up energy costs in Western Europe — is another complication for European-

based wind companies as those nations scramble to develop more renewables.

Nevertheless, the order from Massachusetts regulators stated that the Commonwealth Wind and May ower offshore wind farm procured the power purchase agreements “through an open, fair, and transparent competitive solicitation process … the Department nds that the pricing terms in the PPAs are

reasonable for offshore wind energy resources.”

“In conclusion, through the use of a fair, open and transparent competitive solicitation process, the companies have demonstrated that: the pricing terms in the PPAs are reasonable for offshore wind energy generation resources … the Department nds that the estimated bill impacts of the PPAs are reasonable in light of the bene ts of the contracts. For these reasons, the Department nds that the PPAs are in the public interest.”

Commonwealth Wind developers left open the possibility they may walk away from the earlier commitment and attempt to re-bid when Massachusetts opens its next solicitation in April.

That’s the time when New Jersey — another enthusiastic state government supporting East Coast offshore wind — will put out a new invitation for proposals for future projects.

At a Dec. 13 stakeholder meeting held by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU), the state’s chief advocate for electric ratepaying customers urged the regulators to slow down and take a closer look at costs.

Brian Lipman, director of the state Of ce of Rate Counsel, told the board how in ationary pressure, higher interest rates and supply chain problems are pushing developers to renegotiate with Massachusetts utilities.

May ower partner Shell New Energies is also a partner with EDF Renewables in the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind project, a planned 1,510-megawatt project off Long Beach Island, N.J.

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On another lease just to the south off Atlantic City, N.J., Ørsted’s 1,100MW Ocean Wind 1 project is on track to be the rst built and supplying power to New Jersey.

Ørsted’s North American president David Hardy has spoken candidly of nancial headwinds facing the company. In October the New Jersey utility Public Service Enterprise Group said it is reviewing its option to join Ørsted as a 25% partner in Ocean Wind 1.

BY DAN BOOKHAM

Insurance Watch

Signs of a ‘hard market’ in 2023 loom

The phrase to familiarize yourself with above all others this year is “hard market.” Insurance is subject to a range of forces — claims activity, social in ation in jury awards, stock market performance, in ation and the overall state of the economy, the availability and affordability of reinsurance, the end of an era of cheap capital, geopolitical concerns, and climate instability, among others. These factors combine to harden the market by driving insurers into a defensive posture to protect their balance sheets.

In a hard market, premiums increase, underwriting becomes more selective, the capacity to offer policies decreases, and insurance carriers become less aggressive competitors. There’s no point in soliciting your competition’s customers if you don’t have the capacity to write the risk.

In ation and labor issues are big drivers of disruption, as is the drying up of the cheap capital

well (which funded large tranches of reinsurance) and the challenging performance of the nancial markets — most insurers invest portions of the premium they collect to offset claims losses and to generate additional revenue.

In the marine universe, the supply and cost issues around energy and distillates, the war in Ukraine, climate-driven uncertainty, record-smashing hull, cargo and property claims, huge settlements, and nuclear jury awards on P&I claims all have insurers battening the hatches.

We are also seeing other longer-term trends in the economy having increasing impacts on insurance. “Environmental, Social & Corporate Governance” concerns (ESG) are coming to the fore and will likely feature more heavily in approaches to underwriting.

Already, some insurers and reinsurers are declining to take on new hydrocarbon business. State legislatures in oil and gas states are less than impressed. AI, machine learning and increased automation will also continue to decouple the person from the process when it comes to underwriting and quoting coverage.

Dan Bookham is a vice president with Allen Insurance & Financial. He specializes in longshore, offshore and shipyard risk. He can be reached at 1-800-236-4311 or dbookham@ allenif.com.

FOCUS Maritime Legislation

Strong Support

2022 was productive for the inland waterways’ public policy agenda.

By Pamela Glass, Correspondent

In a rush to finish business and leave town in December, Congress handed the maritime industry a boatload of legislative victories.

Congressional action touched an array of topics, including funding for inland waterways projects, increased pay for Coast Guard members, duck boat safety regulations, a new Great Lakes icebreaker, and measures to address sexual harassment and assault onboard commercial vessels and at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

To move things along quickly, lawmakers combined several bills — the Coast Guard Authorization Act, the Water Resources Development Act, and the Maritime Administration Authorization Act — into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was signed by President Biden on Dec. 23.

“It’s hard to overstate what a productive year 2022 was for our industry’s public policy agenda,” Jennifer Carpenter, president and CEO of the American Waterways Operators, Arlington, Va., said. “With strong support from Congress and the Biden Administration, and thanks to the energetic grassroots advocacy of AWO members across the country, we got big things done.”

At the same time, she added, “members’ constant focus on safety and compliance enabled us to meet the Subchapter M 100% compliance milestone without a hitch for commerce or our customers.”

JONES ACT

Among the most significant developments for the domestic maritime industry are provisions that make it harder for the government to issue Jones Act waivers by suspending the use of blanket waivers and requiring that the

president, not the Secretary of Homeland Security, determine if a waiver is necessary for national defense. It also will make surveys of U.S. vessel availability, which are pivotal to a waiver decision, more meaningful. Finally it will create more transparency in the process by requiring that a waiver request be published and publicly available for 48 hours before it can be granted, and an explanation of the national defense justification be given.

“Congress determined that the waiver statute needed clarification to address the potential for additional ‘novel and problematic’ waiver requests in the future,” according to a post written by three Washington, D.C- based attorneys with K&L Gates LLP. “The final changes are designed to ensure U.S.-flag vessels are given adequate opportunities to carry domestic trade cargoes and to ensure that waivers are

only issued on the rare occasions when U.S.-flag vessels are not available to meet the need of national defense.”

The amendments were pushed by Jones Act supporters who were alarmed by waivers granted to foreign vessels to deliver fuel to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona, and recent requests to grant waivers for delivery of energy products to New England for the winter.

Of particular importance to the inland barge industry is a permanent change to the cost-share formula for construction and major rehabilitation projects on the inland river system, setting it at 65% from the General Fund and 35% from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, which is financed by a diesel fuel tax paid by barge operators. In 2020, Congress adjusted the cost share from 50% General Fund and 50% trust fund to the 65/35 split. That formula was set to expire in fiscal year 2031.

U.S. Army photo by Carrie Fox

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, prepares to open the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., on March 15, 2021. Recently, Congress authorized $3.29 billion for ongoing construction of a new Soo lock, expected to be completed by 2030.

Making the change permanent “will allow the Corps of Engineers to plan projects properly after 2031, knowing they will have the additional dollars to support the program,” said Tracy Zea, president and CEO of Washington, D.C.-based Waterways Council Inc.

The legislation also allows the Corps to construct and maintain the barge lanes in the Houston ship channel to a safe depth, and to establish a five-year regional dredge pilot program that will give the Corps more flexibility to quickly respond to changing river conditions requiring emergency dredging, which is often needed after hurricanes.

“At a time when relatively few victories are being accomplished in Congress the inland waterways industry continues to obtain policy wins, making significant advancement to our system,” Zea said. “Congress must continue to enact WRDA (Water Resources Development Act) on a biennial basis so that the Corps of Engineers program and the inland waterways system can continue to evolve.”

OTHER MARITIME DEVELOPMENTS

The National Defense Authorization Act would also:

• Allow articulated tug-barges (ATBs) with automated engine rooms to keep previously approved crewing levels, reversing a Coast Guard interpretation that required these vessels to carry additional engineers.

• Impose new safety regulations on duck boat operators in response to the 2018 accident on Table Rock Lake in southwest Missouri that killed 17 people when a duck boat sank after being overcome by waves caused by a severe storm. The new law requires passengers to wear life jackets and mandates operators to either remove canopies from vessels or use those that don’t block passengers from escaping during an accident. Boats must also install lights that can function underwater during an emergency and ballast tanks and bilge pumps to avoid sinking.

• Authorize $3.29 billion for ongo-

CRACKING DOWN ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT

Allegations

of sexual harassment and assault have rocked the maritime industry and U.S. maritime academies in recent years, prompting Congress to include a series of measures in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to prevent and respond to allegations, protect victims, and punish those found responsible.

One set of new rules targets the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., in response to an allegation by a female cadet who said she was sexually assaulted by her supervisor during her Sea Year training in 2019, and by claims of widespread sexual assault and harassment at the academy, where many allege a climate of fear has silenced victims. This prompted the school to twice suspend Sea Year and develop new safety rules for ship assignments and at the academy.

Specifically, the legislation requires the Maritime Administration to track and store information on claims and incidents at the school, create a student advisory board at USMMA to identify “health and well-being, diversity and sexual assault and harassment challenges,” and designate an attorney to be a victim adviser and offer legal assistance to any midshipman who is the victim of an alleged sex-related offense.

The legislation also states that a mariner convicted of sexual assault will be denied a Coast Guard license or merchant mariner’s document or have the existing document or license suspended and it allows the Coast Guard to impose fines on shipping companies that fail to “immediately” report complaints of sexual harassment, or sexual assault.

In addition, it will be required that each berthing area include information on sexual assault policies and that oceangoing vessels with accommodations for more than 10 crewmembers install and maintain a video and audio surveillance system. — P. Glass

ing construction of a new Soo lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., expected to be completed by 2030. The Soo Locks shipping complex allows ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. The new funding would roughly triple what was previously authorized for the project after inflation and rising labor and materials costs forced a recalculation of overall cost estimates.

• Require the Coast Guard to consider establishing an electronic merchant mariner licensing and documentation system, with the goal of reviewing applications within two weeks of receipt.

• Fully fund the Maritime Security Program, expand the Tanker Security Program to a total of 20 vessels in fiscal 2024, and continue funding grants for small shipyards and marine highways.

• Require the Secretary of Transportation to develop and send to Congress a strategy to help maritime academies

increase representation of women and underrepresented communities.

Direct the DOT to finally submit a national maritime strategy to Congress which would be updated every five years.

• Authorize $350 million for a new Coast Guard heavy icebreaker for the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard currently has a fleet of six icebreakers in the Great Lakes and their average age is nearly 40 years.

• Expand grant programs to train maritime workers to join the growing offshore wind industry.

• Simplify and streamline the application and credentialing process for veterans to transition from the military to the maritime industry under the Military to Mariners Program.

• Extend a 4.6% federal pay raise in 2023 to active duty and reserve Coast Guard members, the highest in 20 years.

Emerging Electrifi cation

More battery-power options are being developed.

While working on this story about electrically powered commercial vessels, this headline from Popular Mechanics caught my eye: “The Battery That Will Finally Unlock Massless Energy Storage.”

What, I wondered, is massless energy storage?

It turns out that massless energy storage incorporates what we once called a “battery” into the structure of a vehicle, vessel or aircraft. There is no need for a separate battery, hence the term massless, as the storage of energy adds no weight.

It would be as if two-by-fours were also batteries.

Indeed, in March 2021, ScienceDaily reported on research conducted at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden on battery technology that included a carbonber negative electrode and a positive electrode made of lithium iron phosphate-coated aluminum foil, separated by a berglass fabric, all of which is “impregnated with a structural battery electrolyte for combined mechanical and

electrical function.”

The 2021 iteration of this battery has a 24 Wh/kg energy density, which is only about 20% of non-structural lithium-ion batteries. But Leif Asp, a professor at Chalmers and the leader of the structural battery project, said continued development could reach an energy density of 75 Wh/kg with a stiffness of 75 GPa. “This would make the battery about as strong as aluminum, but with comparatively much lower weight,” he said.

The utility of a structural battery is clear. Demand for low- or zero-emissions vessels is growing steadily, and battery-powered boats are an obvious consideration. But because today’s batteries are relatively bulky and heavy, packing enough battery power for high-speed and/or long-distance or heavy passenger/cargo load has been the problem for both boats and airplanes.

MISSION MATTERS

But it’s a boat’s mission that de nes the possible power

Candela

Candela’s 12-meter P-12 (4.5-meter beam) is a carbon-fiber, 30-passenger catamaran hydrofoil.

con guration. If you travel slowly for only short distances, like some tour boats or ferries, batteries alone could work well. Such is the case with two 600-passenger tour boats owned and operated by Maid of the Mist , Niagara Falls, N.Y. The all-electric, 90'×33' aluminum catamarans will begin their third season next spring. The two boats run regular 20-minute excursions and then get their batteries recharged from 60% to 80% in seven minutes from two massive shorepower connections while passengers get off and on.

In many if not most situations, tapping into the local grid for that kind of juice spike would be a challenge, but Maid of the Mist operations are adjacent to Niagara Falls’ hydroelectric generators, so there’s plenty of steady, carbon-free electricity.

The two boats, James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla, were designed by Propulsion Data Services, Marblehead, Mass., and built by Burger Boats, Manitowoc, Wis., in 2019-2020. The boats were delivered in modular sections and assembled at Maid of the Mists’ maintenance facility at Niagara Falls. The power and control package were designed and supplied by ABB Marine and Ports. Essential equipment includes manual Cavotec shore-to-ship battery charging connections, and each vessel receives power from a pair of Spear Power Systems lithium-ion battery packs providing 316 kWh total. There are no onboard generators.

The boats are working out well. “There isn’t an electric boat of this size in North America,” said Christopher Glynn, president of Maid of the Mist Corp. “It’s very quiet. No engine noise, no vibration, no exhaust fumes. It’s really spectacular.”

FLYING HIGH

Another avenue for using battery power on boats is to further reduce vessel weight. Using carbon- ber materials for vessel construction cuts the weight signi cantly, which allows designers to add hydrofoils that lift

the entire vessel partially or totally out of the water while underway. The America’s Cup boats get the amazing speed they achieve thanks to carbonber construction and hydrofoils.

With that, and powered by large vertical wings, the boats can accelerate to 60 mph or more, which can be three or four times the speed of the

wind.

When the hull and its load ying above the surface, water resistance is dramatically reduced, allowing faster speeds with less power. The same combination of lightweight construction and hydrofoils is beginning to be applied to the passenger vessel sector, in both Sweden and the U.S .

Maid of the Mist 600-passenger tour boats at Niagara Falls, N.Y.

ABB

Maid of the Mist tour boats get their batteries recharged from 60% to 80% in seven minutes from two large shore-power connections while passengers get off and on.

ABB

VESSEL REPORT Electric Vessels

Green City Ferries, a private company based in Stockholm, Sweden, is building a pair of foilassisted, carbon- ber catamarans in two emissions-free options called the Beluga24. One is batteries-only, and one is powered by hydrogen fuel cells for longer routes. Either can carry 147 passengers and 28 bicycles. The company announced key suppliers last summer.

“The key to building an emissionfree passenger ferry is to combine light-weight hull technologies, energy-ef cient design and a propulsion system that is both highly effective and light weight,” said Fredrik Thornell, CEO of Green City Ferries. “By collaborating with BAE Systems for the power train, HamiltonJet for the jets and vessel controls and Echandia for the battery and fuel cell systems, we have a combination of highly innovative and

technical solutions that will enable the Beluga 24 to travel emission-free at high-speeds.”

The rst two of the class are in production with delivery cited as sometime in 2023, with Stockholmbased passenger operations to start in early 2024. The foil-assisted hull technology was developed by Nik de Waal’s Teknicraft Design in New Zealand.

Another Swedish company, Candela , is also targeting Stockholm’s ferry system, but with smaller boats fully ying on hydrofoils, which has been a Candela specialty for several years. It started with recreational hydrofoils and is now marketing passenger boats for transit. “The wake is where the energy goes,” said Candela’s Erik Eklund. “That’s from friction. Our boats have almost zero wake.”

The 12-meter P-12 (4.5-meter

beam) is a carbon- ber, 30-passenger/one-operator catamaran hydrofoil. Loading and unloading is over the bow. Service speed is designed to be 25-27 knots, powered by underwater pods at the stern with internal electric motors turning opposing propeller sets. Battery capacity will be 252 kWh. Candela said charging would take 90 minutes to 3.2 hours, depending on service and battery discharge state.

Sensors on the struts and foils feed data to the “ ight control” system that keeps the boat in balance at all times and provides “unmatched passenger comfort.” No noise, no exhaust fumes, no turbulence. No seasickness.

In the Puget Sound area, a consortium of partners, pro t and non-pro t, are actively pursuing funding for the development of a similar high-speed, battery-powered passenger cat with full hydrofoils. The team is led by

Glosten , the Seattle-based maritime technical consulting rm, and Bieker Boats, an engineering and design company now based in Anacortes, Wash. Paul Bieker, company namesake, was a key player in the successful engineering of the America’s Cup carbon- ber hydrofoils.

Everything is still on paper for this project, but current plans call for a 27.5-meter (90') total length with a capacity of 150 passengers. Cruising speed will be 30 knots with a range of 30 nautical miles. A single mainfoil amidships will create primary lift and provide ride height and roll control. Twin, independent, aft propulsors with apped elevator assemblies will push and steer the vessel.

Shoreside charging is expected to be provided by a battery energy storage system (BESS) with a 2.5mW load and 1-kV chargers.

With preliminary work completed,

the partnership is pursuing state and federal funding for the construction and testing of a 1:5 scale prototype,

permit level design for shoreside infrastructure and detailed vessel design for construction.

High-speed hydrofoil concept for Puget Sound.

Glosten

Gladding-Hearn to refit 34-year-old, 700-passenger ferry for Bermuda

Bermuda’s Marine and Port Services has awarded a contract to Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corp. for a major refit of the 700-passenger ferry Bermudian

Built in 1988, the 118' steel vessel recently completed the 635-mile crossing of the North Atlantic, arriving at the Somerset, Mass., shipyard, in about 65 hours. With engineering and project management by GladdingHearn and Propulsion Data Services, and class oversight by Lloyd’s Register, the refit is scheduled for completion in mid-2023.

Among the myriad of items to be removed, repaired, or replaced, the hull will receive repairs as required by class and repainted.

“It’s a different kind of project, but we are happy to have the work,” said Peter Duclos, the shipyard’s copresident. “It’s a little out the box, but Bermuda has been a good customer.”

The vessel’s original twin Detroit Diesel 12V-71 460-hp main engines will be replaced with continuously rated Caterpillar C-18, 600-hp, IMO Tier II diesel engines, along with new controls and monitoring systems. With new enlarged shafts,

seals, bearings, cooling and exhaust systems, the engines will be paired with new ZF W650 gear boxes to turn 5-bladed Hung Shin Marine nibral propellers. The repowered ferry will have a service speed of 12 knots with a full load of passengers.

Existing air controls at each of the three control stations — one centerline and one at each bridge wing in the wheelhouse — will be replaced with ZF electronic controls. The original Wagner steering will be replaced with a new Kobelt PTO powered hydraulic system.

Two new 99-kW Caterpillar genera-

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corp.

The 118' steel ferry motored 635 miles across the North Atlantic to the shipyard in Somerset, Mass.

tors, with new mechanical and electrical support systems, will replace the existing 40-kW gensets.

In the engine room, the existing Halon fire-suppression system will be replaced with a new “clean agent” fire suppression system.

The passenger accommodations will be renewed or updated. The five passenger heads will be refreshed with new fixtures and Headhunter toilets. The black and grey water holding capacity will be increased to comply with zero-discharge requirements.

In the main cabin, with seating for 150 passengers, the interior bulkheads will be re-lined, and the carpeting replaced. The cabin ceiling will be replaced, along with new LED lighting. A new 36,000-Btu air-conditioning system will replace the existing HVAC.

A new integrated audio/visual passenger information system will be installed in the passenger accommodation spaces, and a new CCTV security system will monitor the entire vessel from the wheelhouse.

New electronics will include the Simrad NSS16 EVO multifunctional display, linked to its HALO24 radar and interfaced with the vessel’s existing AIS. The incandescent navigation, flood and search lights will be replaced with new LED fixtures.

“They have been a customer of ours for many years,” said Duclos. “They’re on an island 600 miles out in the ocean so everything has to be simple and robust.”

Austal USA christens 17th littoral combat ship

Austal USA christened the 421'6"×103.7' Augusta (LCS 34), an Independence-variant littoral combat ship, at a ceremony in December at the company’s Mobile, Ala., shipyard. The Augusta is the 17th LCS designed and constructed by Austal USA.

“Building these ships is not easy. It takes thousands of the world’s best shipbuilders here at Austal USA, along with a robust supplier network,

a strong partnership with our elected officials, and the cooperation and support of our Navy teammates,” Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh said during the christening ceremonies. “I am proud of our team for pulling together to achieve our common goal

of efficiently delivering state-of-theart surface combatants to the Navy on budget and on schedule.”

The Independence-variant LCS is the most recent step in the small surface combatant evolution. A highspeed, agile, shallow-draft, focused-

BOATBUILDING BITTS

Snow & Company Inc., Seattle, recently began construction of the 50'x16' all-aluminum hybrid research vessel Resilience for the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Sequim, Wash. Designed by Incat Crowther, the vessel will have a 3'6" draft. Propulsion integration is being provided by Pacific Power. The Resilience’s hybrid propulsion will be accomplished by joining twin Volvo Penta D8-510 marine engines, producing 501 hp each, and two Danfoss Editron 20-kW motor-generators. Power will be stored using a Spear Trident battery system. The combination will allow the vessel to operate in a zeroemission “quiet” state, which is more effective for marine research and is also designed to reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. The vessel’s speed will be 28 knots running on diesel and six knots running on full electric. The new research boat will be stationed at PNNL’s Sequim

50' hybrid research vessel.

campus. PNNL-Sequim houses the only marine research facilities in the DOE complex. Resilience, which will have a 55,000-lb. displacement, will be a multiuse platform for deploying research equipment, ROVs and diving operations in support of various research projects, including power generation and environmental surveys. Other features include a 5,000-lb. capacity A-frame, 1,000-lb. capacity crane, 500-lb. capacity davit, a dive operation platform, onboard Scuba bottle air compressor, Teledyne FLIR camera, and a Garmin electronics suite. Capacities will include 600 gals. of fuel; 80 gals. fresh water, two crew, and six scientists. Delivery is scheduled for summer 2023.

Robert Allan Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, recently announced the delivery of the 50th tug in its Boğaçay tug series. Turkey’s Sanmar Shipyards delivered the Boğaçay L, now named the SAAM Condor, to South American towage company SAAM Towage

Snow & Company

ON THE WAYS

BOATBUILDING BITTS

The RAmparts 2400-SX compact hull design was created exclusively for Sanmar in 2011. The hull is designed to support propulsion systems delivering up to 70 tonnes BP. Measuring 80'x37', the tug can be delivered with a variety of power train options, deck machinery layouts, and accommodation layouts. Robert Allan also announced that it has been awarded a contract by the Port of Tianjin in northern China for the design

of a RAmparts 3500 ASD tug. Two vessels will be built by Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard for delivery in fourth quarter of 2023. Robert Allan has worked with the Tianjin port for more than 10 years, resulting in the delivery of nine tugs to five different designs including the first tug with CCS notation of I (Intelligent)-Ship. American Cruise Lines, Guilford, Conn., has added new Starlink satellite internet to the company’s 2023 fleet of riverboats and small cruise ships. The new Starlink satellite service is a major upgrade, ensuring seamless connectivity and faster upload speeds nearly everywhere the company’s small ships operate.

mission surface combatant, the LCS is designed to conduct surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral near-shore region, while also possessing the capability for deepwater operations. With its open-architecture design, the LCS can support modular weapons, sensor systems and a variety of manned and unmanned vehicles.

Each aluminum trimaran LCS has a displacement of 3,200 MT, and a 15.1' draft.

Main propulsion comes from a pair of 12,200-hp MTU 20V8000 diesel engines and two 29,500hp GE LM2500 gas turbines. Augusta has a range of 4,300 nautical miles at 18 knots, but the ship has a top speed of 44 knots.

Independence-variant LCSes are fast, optimally manned, mission-tailored surface combatants that operate in nearshore and open-ocean environments.

The 797-dwt ship carries a crew of 43 — 11 officers and 32 enlisted — in addition to carrying up to 36 mission crew.

Armament includes BAE Systems Mk 110.57-mm gun, four 50-caliber guns and Raytheon SeaRAM CIWS.

LCS 34 has 390,000 cu. ft. of payload volume. Augusta was designed to carry two mission modules, allowing the ship to do multiple missions without having to be refitted. The 11,100-sq.-ft. flight deck can support two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, or one CH-53 Sea Stallion-class helicopter. The trimaran aluminum hull will allow flight operations up to sea state 5.

The latest Independent-variant LCS is the second Navy vessel to be named Augusta in honor of the Maine state capital, the first being a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine decommissioned in 2009.

Augusta is planned for delivery in early 2023 and will be homeported in San Diego. Austal can drydock and provide lifecycle sustainment support for the Independence-variant ship class and other similar sized ships at its waterfront repair facility in San Diego.

The Boğaçay L, now named the SAAM Condor

Robert Alla Ltd.

American Constellation sundeck views in Alaska.

American Cruise Lines

Burger Boat delivers 92' passenger-vehicle ferry to Michigan

Burger Boat Co., Manitowoc, Wis., delivered a new car-passenger ferry vessel to the Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority (EUPTA), Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

The ferry was designed by Seacraft Design LLC, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

The 92'×33' Neebish Islander III has a 6'2" draft. The ferry entered service in November.

The steel ferry will operate yearround on the St. Mary’s River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula between Barbeau, Mich., and Neebish Island. The ferry was designed to operate in the harsh winter environment and through the solid ice conditions it will encounter on its route.

The ferry has a full displacement hull with a displacement of 170 LT or 173 metric tons.

Main propulsion comes from twin Caterpillar C18 engines, produc-

ing 600 hp each. The Cats connect to Kahlenberg 4-bladed stainless-steel propellers on Aquamet 22 5"-dia. shafts, giving the Neebish Islander III a maximum speed of 10 knots.

Controls are the responsibility of Jastram controlling independent rudders — one forward and one aft.

The new ferry is classed USCG 46 CFR, Subchapter T. It has a fuel capacity of 1,500 gals.

The Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority, established in 1975, operates three local vehicle and passenger ferries to the nearby islands of Sugar, Neebish and Drummond.

Austal

USA

Burger Boat Co.

The Augusta is the 17th LCS designed and constructed by Austal USA.

92' steel ferry will operate year-round.

Looking Up

By Betsy Frawley Haggerty, Correspondent

Despite a major hurricane that devastated southwest Florida, a ash drought that made parts of the Mississippi River unnavigable, a nationwide labor shortage that hit the marine industry hard and lingering Covid fears, 2022 was a good year for the passenger vessel industry.

The Covid restrictions that just about shut down the industry in 2020 are gone. Social distancing and mask requirements that kept people away eased in 2021, and by the end of that year, things were looking good. They improved in 2022 with many companies operating at 80% to 90% capacity on sightseeing trips. Corporate charters — the real moneymakers — are gradually coming back.

John Groundwater, executive director of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), is optimistic. “U.S. passenger vessel operators nationwide are generally reporting very positive business levels for 2022,” he said. “Some have indicated that their 2022 business levels have exceeded 2019 levels. Many

also report that corporate business is returning, but more slowly than public business.”

And there is good news from Washington, D.C. On Dec. 23 President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which contains a provision that will bene t the passenger vessel industry.

Under the new law, the Capital Construction Fund (CCF) was expanded to make all privately-owned U.S.- agged vessels in domestic service — regardless of type and area of operation — eligible to establish and use CCF. Under the old law, only cargo vessels, commercial shing boats and certain domestic passenger vessels were eligible for CCF. This included passenger vessels in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Great Lakes. CCF allows eligible operators to deposit earnings in a non-taxable fund that can be used for building U.S.- agged vessels in U.S. shipyards.

It had been a top PVA legislative priority to expand eligibility for CCF to all domestic passenger vessels. “This is huge,” Groundwater said.

American Cruise Lines

American Cruise Lines Modern American Riverboat Fleet. The boats are sister ships. Pictured left to right, American Melody (2021), American Harmony (2019), American Symphony (2022), American Song (2018), American Jazz (2020), and American Serenade (2023).

Despite weather and labor woes, passenger vessel operators are recovering from the Covid era.

WEATHER

Ingenuity, grit, exibility and backbreaking labor have brought the industry to where it is today. Memphis Riverboats, for example, de ed the Mississippi River drought by nding channels deep and wide enough for their two 100' boats to give tours every day. “Passengers are coming to see what the river looks like. I’ve seen it lower, but there are sandbars everywhere and tugs and barges are lined up, waiting,” said Capt. William Lozier, the Memphis, Tenn., company’s third-generation owner. “We have to keep running. It will take us four years to make up what we lost during Covid.”

Because of low water, American Cruise Lines (ACL), the Guilford, Conn.-based luxury overnight-small-ship operator, cut Memphis out of the itinerary on some of its cruises. Passengers met in Memphis, as planned, to see and enjoy the city, but instead of boarding their boat there, they traveled by limousine to their next port, Vicksburg, Miss., 250 miles to the south. “Everyone understood,” public relations manager Alexa Paolella said.

Hurricane Ian left rubble in its wake

when it stormed through southwest Florida in September. Images of Fort Myers Beach, the hardest hit area, played in an almost constant nationwide TV loop while local businesses scrambled to gure out what to do.

Key West Express, which runs jet-powered 170' and 180' catamarans between Fort Myers Beach, Marco Island and Key West, went to work immediately. The trips, which take 3 ½ hours each way, had been operating at near capacity before the storm, according to Scott Scho eld, digital marketing and IT director. The boats were safely out of the way when the storm hit, but the company headquarters and shore facilities were destroyed.

“The boat crew came in and started going like gangbusters, moving debris away and lling dumpster after dumpster after dumpster,” Scho eld said. The company, which had no electricity, internet, or phone for two weeks, was able to get a satellite phone and generator to keep things going. Service between Fort Myers Beach and Key West resumed the week before Thanksgiving and the Marco Island route began operating a few weeks later.

Business was slow at rst. “People remembered what they saw on TV and were hesitant to come to Fort Myers,” Scho eld said, “but they are coming back now.”

WORKERS NEEDED

Staf ng is the biggest challenge throughout the industry. “We’ve got to get people off the couch and back to work,” PVA president Bob Bijur said. But Bijur, who is the chief engineer at Island Queen Cruises, Miami, knows rsthand that the problem is more complicated than that.

Staf ng problems were the hot-button issue at every PVA regional meeting this fall and will be on the agenda at the PVA’s annual convention in February. “We were hoping for more encouraging updates, but it is clear that nding capable staff is the industry’s biggest need and highest priority,” Bijur said.

At the PVA’s northeast regional meeting in New London, Conn., in November, operators shared ideas roundtablestyle. “The hardest part is getting people in the door,” said Dave Riley of Cross Sound Ferries, New London, Conn.

Cross Sound runs large car-carrying ferries between New London and Orient Point, Long Island, and needs USCG licensed deck and engineering crew for many positions. “We went to all of the maritime job fairs and did not get anyone. The engineers went off to deep sea or land-based power plants, where salaries are substantially higher.”

What has worked for many companies is offering bonuses to current employees who refer friends, outreach

Key West Express

Florida’s Key West Express operates jet-powered 170’- and 180’- catamarans between Fort Myers Beach, Marco Island and Key West.

to former employees offering better pay and bene ts, to seniors who might want part-time work, teachers who are available in summer, and even the customer base. “It is important to make it easy to apply, make it easy to work with exible schedules, and offer competitive pay,” one operator said.

One speaker related that he’d attended another maritime industry conference, and hiring was so competitive that companies were going to correctional institutions and primary schools to talk about their industry to plant the seed that working on the water is fun and pro table.

Marijuana testing is also keeping people away from the maritime industry. Recreational use of marijuana is now legal in 21 states and the District of Columbia and medical marijuana is legal in 36 states. But its use is illegal under federal law, and the feds control the maritime industry.

All workers in safety-sensitive positions on vessels are subject to random drug testing, and if a result is positive, they could lose their job for doing something completely legal. Many don’t want to take the risk.

Unlike alcohol, THC, the ingredient that produces the marijuana high, can remain in a body for 30 days or more after use, and will show up in a urine test. There is currently no test that measures impairment, meaning that if deckhand A drinks two beers on Saturday, no trace alcohol will be detected when he goes to work on Monday, but if deckhand B smokes a joint instead, THC will be with him for several weeks, even though neither is impaired.

“It makes it dif cult to nd people who are willing to work,” said Helen Vaughn, director of Sailing Excursions Inc., Newport, R.I., a division of New York’s Classic Harbor Line. “I don’t care if someone smoked a joint on Saturday and comes to work completely sober on Monday. I only care if he or she is impaired. Current tests won’t tell me that.”

What is needed, everyone agrees, is a change in the law and more sensitive and informative tests. “Technology

is one of the issues,” Bijur said, and several companies are working on tests that work differently. The Department of Transportation is using oral uid testing, using saliva and others are investigating breathalyzer tests. But no one has found an answer yet.

EXPANSION

At a time when some operators are struggling to hold their own, two very different companies are building new boats and expanding their businesses.

ACL came on the scene in the early 2000s with two 49-passenger cruising boats. Today they have 17 small ships, three of them new this year, that operate in 35 states on both coasts and the rivers in between, with more than 50 different itineraries.

How did this happen? It happened because Charles A. Robertson, the company’s founder, rst CEO and chairman, was a man with vision and high energy who loved being on the water and exploring new areas. He wanted to share this experience with others. He had the means to do so, and believed the market would be attractive to well-educated, well-traveled and mature well-to-do people. He was right.

ACL added ships gradually the rst few years, including Mississippi River paddleboats, modern riverboats, and coastal cruisers, then speeded up development over the last ve years. “The

eet has doubled since 2017,” Paolella said. Since then, ve new modern riverboats, with sleek lines and gracious luxury amenities have begun sailing. The sixth, the 175-passenger American Serenade, will begin cruising the Mississippi in April.

Chesapeake Shipbuilding and Naval Architects, Salisbury, Md., which the company owns, are the designers and builders of all ACL vessels. “It’s easier when you own your own shipyard,” Paolella said.

ACL has introduced a new design and will be building 12 109-passenger Coastal Cats. The rst of these, American Eagle and American Glory, will sail East Coast itineraries beginning in August and October.

“This project, dubbed Project Blue, started as a design challenge to create a boat small enough for New England harbors and stable enough for the Alaska Inside Passage with draft shallow enough for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway,” said Charles B. Robertson, who became CEO after his father, company founder Charles A. Robertson, passed away in 2020. “These boats can run almost anywhere. And because there will be 12 of them, they will be deployed all over the United States.”

Unlike ACL’s well-funded corporate business, Classic Harbor Line and Scarano Boatbuilding is more of a seat-of-the pants operation that has

Classic Harbor Line/Scarano Boatbuilding

Rum Runner II offers sightseeing tours out of Newport, R.I. .

grown into a successful business.

The principals, John and Rick Scarano, president and vice president of Scarano Boatbuilding and Classic Harbor Line, started sailing as kids on an upstate New York lake in a boat they called the “tub” — an 8' sailboat fashioned out of a split-in-half World War II bomber fuel tank.

They caught the sailing bug and started building boats a few years later in a small facility on the Hudson River about a mile south of the Port of Albany, N.Y. They incorporated Scarano Boatbuilding in 1986.

The boatyard began building custom boats, one at a time for a variety of customers. A schooner that did well as a tour boat made them wonder if they were on the wrong side of the business, Rick said. In 1994 they built the 80' schooner Adirondack, the first of the boats that would become part of the Classic Harbor Line. Adirondack carried passengers successfully out of Newport, and the Scaranos decided they’d build another schooner to run out of Manhattan. It took five years to get the financing.

“It was not a business plan I’d recommend to anyone,” Rick said. “It was more like improvisation, but it worked.”

Five years after that, in 2005, they built Manhattan, an 80', 1920s-style commuter motor yacht and added it to their tour-boat fleet. Things were iffy at first, but they hung on.

ELUSIVE ILLEGAL CHARTERS CONTINUE

Illegal charters have been a thorn in the side of the passenger vessel industry for years. These charters, for the most part, are privately owned, uninspected vessels that carry passengers for hire, sometimes without a licensed captain aboard. They are a danger to public safety, for both the people aboard and those on the waterway, and unfair competition to licensed commercial operators.

The Coast Guard has been working to apprehend, fine and even prosecute the offenders, but that is difficult given limited resources, and the fact that these boats are elusive. A complaint may come in one hour and by the next there is no visible violation.

These non-compliant businesses proliferated during the early days of the pandemic when commercial operators were idled. They have not gone away. Since they pay no overhead for regulatory compliance, they have the money to pay huge salaries to their captains

Today Classic Harbor Line operates a dozen boats in four locations—New York City, Newport, Boston and Key West, Fla. — and the Scaranos are building for themselves again. A new 88' schooner, the Adirondack IV, is on the ways in Albany and scheduled to be delivered to Newport this summer.

Coast Guard crewmembers in south Florida in 2018 board a vessel to make sure it is in compliance with the Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993.

and mates, something businesses like Bob Bijur’s Island Queen Cruises in Miami cannot do.

“Captains and mates can make a lot more money with them than they can with a normal commercial salary, so that’s where they work,” Bijur said. “We have enough staff to operate the tours we advertise on our website. But we cannot operate a third boat for an event cruise because we can’t pull in the staff. Something needs to be done.” — B. Haggerty

Classic Harbor Line/Scarano Boatbuilding

An 88’ schooner, to be named Adirondack IV, is currently under construction at Scarano Boatbuilding in Albany, N.Y. It will be added to Classic Harbor Line’s Newport, R.I., fleet and begin offering tours there this summer.

U.S. Coast Guard

Good Connection

In the future, expect to see more types of onboard wireless data systems.

forwarded to the wheelhouse. There the crewman’s location is displayed on the vessel’s general arrangement screen. “If there’s a fire aboard a ship, you can see exactly where everybody is,” said Henk van Heaven, director at Seacoast Marine Electronics.

An accident doesn’t have to encompass the entire vessel to require immediate attention. If an individual is in distress for whatever reason and pushes the button on their wearable, that signal is picked up by a nearby node and “about three seconds later” an alarm goes off in the wheelhouse.

The number on the screen assigned to the crewman changes from yellow to red and whoever is on watch “can exactly see where the injured person is and send in a rescue crew,” said van Heaven.

Seacoast Marine also offers Scanreach’s ConnectFuel monitoring system, which uses a specialized fuel sensor on the engine. Those same nodes that are tracking crewmembers “will transport data from fuel sensors over the nodes back to the wheelhouse,” said van Heaven. “All the nodes are doing is making the data-line wireless.”

By Michael Crowley, Correspondent

Whether you’re on an 85' towboat on the Mississippi River or a 740' ro-ro vessel steaming down the East Coast, if there’s an accident aboard your vessel you need to know the exact location of every crewmember.

That won’t be an issue if all crewmembers are wearing a small watch-like object on their wrists — called a wearable — and the vessel is outfitted with electronic nodes from Scandinavian Reach Technologies (Scanreach), Strum, Norway, a wireless IoT-mesh node network marketed in North America by Seacoast Marine Electronics, Halifax, Nova Scotia, under the name ConnectPOB.

The wearable — a form of wireless connectivity technology — assigns each crewman a number and sends out an electronic signal every three to five seconds that is picked up by electronic nodes mounted throughout the vessel and then

The electronic nodes, essentially wireless transmitters, send data to other nodes, and the data is transmitted through steel plating. An electronic node is about the size of a cigarette pack. Put each electronic node on a wall and plug it into a power source (each node has a backup battery in case power is lost).

Nodes are located throughout a vessel, as are the 60 nodes that Seacoast Marine recently installed on a 728' Great Lakes cargo vessel.

“All the nodes were installed in about two hours,” said Van Heaven, noting that “the more you put in, the more accurate” the system is.

The nodes were placed throughout the vessel, from the Fo’c’sle to a tunnel under the cargo hold (for someone who might be working in the tunnel), to crew accommodation spaces and the engine room.

Scanreach and Seacoast Marine are expected to soon offer additional types of wireless data systems, including wind and temperature sensors for inside a vessel. In the works is also a

Seacoast Marine Electronics photos

Electronic nodes from Scanreach are wireless gateways mounted on a vessel that every few seconds pass on electronic signals from a crewman’s wearable on his or her wrist, tracking his location throughout the vessel.

system to wirelessly transfer data from electronic engines through nodes to the wheelhouse.

“They want to transfer all that data wirelessly,” said van Heaven.

DAVID CLARK

Understanding what a fellow crewman or the captain is telling you can be especially difficult on a windy day when pounding through choppy seas in small workboats.

Wireless headsets from the David Clark Company Inc., Worcester, Mass., take away that uncertainty, allowing crewmembers to understand what others are saying and communicate their own observations.

And since the headsets are wireless, there’s no cord tethering you to the boat. Thus, you can leave the vessel and board another boat, say in the case of an interdiction by a patrol boat, and still be able to communicate if you are within 300'.

Three components make possible wireless communication with a David Clark headset. There’s the gateway that serves as a relay between the boat’s intercom system and the belt station that comes with each wireless headset.

The belt station is a small rectangular box with a heavy-duty clip that is attached to your pocket or belt and then connected to the headset’s earphones (called domes) by a short wire. The belt station picks up the gateway’s wireless signal and sends it to the earphones

over the wire. If the belt station’s batteries run low, replace it with a charged belt station while yours is recharged. Belt station batteries generally last about 50 hours.

The third component is the headset with either one or two ear domes, depending on the model. The ear domes don’t have wireless circuitry. The wireless components are in the belt station, which means your head is carrying less weight that over a period of time could be uncomfortable. Each ear dome features volume controls to produce preferred hearing levels in each ear. The domes also provide hearing protection on those days when the wind noise alone makes it difficult to hear.

The David Clark wireless system is basically designed for workboats, patrol boats and military craft no longer than about 50'. That’s because an unobstructed line of sight is needed from the gateway to a wireless headset, which isn’t usually possible on larger vessels.

All the components in a David Clark headset are watertight, marine grade and corrosion resistant.

FURUNO

In the next year if you happen to be in the Antarctic on a cruise ship operated by Seabourn Cruise Line and are about to step on to Antarctic’s icy shore, you can thank Furuno’s latest wireless system, the WAASP W3, for ensuring a safe landing.

The WAASP W3 was introduced

about 20 years ago by the New Zealand electronics company ENL (Electronic Navigation Ltd.) as a multibeam sounder for commercial fishing. The WAASP W3 is still sold to commercial fishermen, but the “technology has been adapted to other things besides commercial fishing,” said Furuno’s Alan Terry.

The most recent rendition is surveying for cruise boats, where the WAASP W3 is available in two models, the W3P, a fixed system, and the W3Pi, a portable system.

The portable system has been available for about a year but only since late fall has Furuno — a sister company to ENL — been marketing it in the U.S.

“What’s been done over the last 20plus years is develop it into a wireless, multibeam bottom-mapping system that a tender (that’s working with a cruise ship) can use in an area that doesn’t have very good chart coverage,” said Furuno’s Bart Disher.

The tender’s bottom information is wirelessly transmitted back to the cruise ship in real time, showing where it’s safe to anchor and allow passengers to go ashore. There is a line-of-sight operational range of two nautical miles.

The WAASP W3Pi is a “big advantage for a cruise ship looking for anchorage because you don’t have to worry about damaging ecological systems” or damaging the vessel. And being portable, the WAASP W3Pi can quickly be moved from one tender to another, Disher said.

Besides marketing the mapping system to cruise ships, Furuno is talking with barge companies in Alaska that would use it when the spring thaw hits Alaska’s inland rivers. That’s when ice pushes sand to places it hadn’t been on the riverbed, causing barges to get stuck and potentially back up other barges.

The WAASP W3 system is not complicated and comes with all the required hardware to get it up and running.

“If you understand how to use PC plotter or PC echo sounder, it’ll be simple to understand the use of the WASSP wireless system,” said Disher.

Running hard while seated close to the 42' Zodiac’s four outboards, the crew’s hearing is both protected and enhanced by David Clark wireless headsets, part of the David Clark Wireless Boat Crew Communication System.

David Clark Company Inc.

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Hiring- Port Captain

LOOKS BACK

FEBRUARY 1963

• Intracoastal Shipyard, Morgan City, La., delivered a 120'×30'×7' deck barge recently to Tand G Barge Lines. Under construction at the yard last month was another barge of the same dimensions, for stock.

• What may be a record for a year’s work by a pair of Mississippi River towboats is claimed for the 190'×48' towboats Patrick Calhoun Jr. and

the J.E. Alquist, sister vessels owned by American Commercial Barge Line Co. and its af liate Commercial Transport Corp. Each boat ran 346 full days during the rst year of full-scale operations in 1961.

• A new 187', $2 million oceanographic and shery research vessel, the rst of its kind in the U.S., was completed recently at Southern Shipbuild-

FEBRUARY 1973

• Ninety-six stainless steel coils, shaped like giant ying saucers, were airlifted from Dravo Corp., Marietta, Ohio, to a waiting barge on the nearby Muskingum River for a boat trip that ended on the Savannah River near Barnwell, S.C.

• The California Department of Fish and Game recently christened and put into service a 44'×16' high-speed patrol boat which its builder, MonArk Custom Craft, Jeanerette, La., plans to duplicate and make available through-

ing Co., Slidell, La. The boat was designed by Boston-based Dwight S. Simpson and Associates

FEBRUARY 1983

• The capabilities of a modern specialized heavy lift vessel were demonstrated recently with the delivery of the Mississippi riverboat Mark Twain to New York. Too fragile to make an open sea voyage on her own, the Mark Twain was carried on board the heavy lift ship Docklift 1. The heavy lift ship has a large open hold which is ooded when the ship is partially submerged, and acts like a oating dock.

• Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, has delivered two covered hopper barges to C.G. Willis Inc., Paulsboro, N.J. The barges will be operated along the East Coast by Willis Barge Line. The 195'×35' barges are out tted for both push and hawser towing and are equipped with corrugated rolling covers and deck winches. The barges were moved from Pittsburgh to New Orleans by Dravo’s barge line subsidiary Dravo Mechling

out the U.S.

• TBI Products Inc., Stonington, Conn., one of the few shipyards in the U.S. that produces berglass workboats, recently delivered the Lil’ Toot, a 26'×7'×3' commercial tugboat. The Lil’ Toot displaces 12,000 lbs. and is powered by a single Perkins 4-236 diesel which turns a 23"×20" Columbian prop through a Paragon reduction gear with a 3:1 ratio. The tug operates with two crew.

Owner:

“Blessey Marine has trusted the Karl Senner, LLC and the REINTJES family of gears for over 25 years. With more than 75 sets of REINTJES gears in service today, our business continues to operate safely and efficiently with reliable and dependable service from Karl Senner, LLC. With REINTJES and Karl Senner, LLC as our partners, we are confident that we will have many more years of operating success along America’s Inland Waterways.”

— Clark Todd, CEO, Blessey Marine Services Inc.

Vessel Owner: Blessey Marine Services Builder: Vessel Repair