In Memoriam Chris Hanges, 1928-2012
On February 22nd, we lost a dear friend, colleague and sage counselor when Chris Hanges died peacefully in his sleep. Chris’ Greek heritage and New York area childhood drew him to a maritime career as a young man. After graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering from New York University and upon his completion of… Read more »
Refloating the M.V. “Aristeas P” and M.V. “Nord Barcelona”
On January 21, 2012 I travelled to Kilometer 391 on the Parana River, near Rosario, Argentina on behalf of SMIT Salvage Americas Inc. to assist in the re-floating of the grounded bulk carrier, the M.V. “Aristeas P,” pictured below: The vessel, a 38,623 DWT bulk carrier, had run aground in low river conditions and was positioned such that the… Read more »
Oman Drydock Company
Over the years many Arabian countries have built drydock facilities to open new industries to help them steer away from a completely oil dependent economy. Oman is the latest entrant to the list with their brand new facility in Duqm. The facility has two 400,000 ton graven docks and will also soon add a floating… Read more »
Great Directors Lead
On a recent trip to Sicily to deal with construction issues on a number of high speed catamarans, I saw this forklift parked in a director’s reserved parking spot. I like it. I am not sure a forklift operator is trying to make a point or if a director is making a point, but there… Read more »
Which Way Did They Go?
Sometimes we get so busy no one knows where anybody is going. Fortunately, in New Orleans, we never have that problem; we always know where Pierce and David went.
Rochester NY, Under USCG care
December 15, 2011, in Rochester, New York to inspect a pier on behalf of the Department of Justice with regard to a fatal boater’s crash on a dark night in 2008 on Lake Ontario. It was surprisingly warm for this time of year, but the USCG Boatswain in charge of the 47 foot MLB and… Read more »
Donjon-SMIT OPA-90 Training Day
December 08, 2011 Donjon Marine Co. Inc., HQ in Hillside NJ hosted the latest in the Donjon-SMIT, OPA-90 Salvage and Marine Fire Fighting (SMFF) network Captain of the Port Zone (COTPZ) training drills. The drill was attended by PRONAV Flex Crew fire fighting first response individuals, Donjon-SMIT, SMIT Salvage Americas and Martin & Ottaway RSA…. Read more »
A NORMANDIE Semi-Mystery
The Normandie is by far my favorite passenger vessel from a design point of view (on a pure love/looks basis, the pre-war Nieuw Amsterdam II beats her by a small margin). Years ago I came across a set of drawings in our office with a last correction date of February 9, 1942 that show the… Read more »
Exxon Valdez? Enough Already.
My sister, Annemarie, who, as an ex tall ship sailor, has good salty connections sent me the words to this famous chantey. So here we go: What’ll we do with a drunken sailor (3x) Earl-aye in the morning? Hooray and up she rises (3x) Early-aye in the morning Shave his belly with a rusty… Read more »
World Maritime Day
The world is filled with anniversiries, commemorations and memorials. IMO also has special days and September 29, 2011 will be World Maritime Day. It would be easy to be cynical about yet another “special” day. But if there can be a national pickle day, or even a day that commemorates the Irish, it is simply… Read more »