TBT, Worst Dutch Real Estate Deal Ever
Except for the passenger ship terminal above 42nd street, commercial ship operations in Manhattan have pretty much come to an end. One of the last commercial shipping terminals to be built on Manhattan was Marine and Aviation Pier 40. It was built in 1962 at a cost of $18 million expressly for the use of… Read more »
A Cathedral Of Internal Combustion
As surveyors we rush around the world on short notice, arrive at some distant port and then are asked to look at a damage situation or some technical or operational problem. We crawl into tight and dirty spaces and end op taken pictures or measurements of broken components. Often we rush back to catch the… Read more »
What’s So Funny About ORB’s?
During the MAX1 conference Captain Tim Sullivan of Hornbeck Offshore sprung a surprise on us. His presentation dealt with Hornbeck’s very impressive efforts at improving MARPOL compliance and then towards the end of the presentation he mentioned that they needed to simplify their Oil Record Book guidance and therefore had handed all their stuff to a… Read more »
MAX1: Do People or Equipment Cause Ocean Pollution?
In the MAX1 study survey we included a few questions where we asked crews to tell us what their favorite Oily Water Separator brands are. We were very hesitant to include that question because there could be all types of weird bias and we would need a huge sample to makes sense of data where… Read more »
Diversity and Persistence: 5000 Projects Since 1995
Today, August 11, 2015, was a landmark day for Martin & Ottaway. Traditionally M&O used a report numbering system. Once a report was issued, it was provided with a sequential report number, but when I joined the firm in 1988, keeping track of projects by ship’s names until the report was issued became an unmanageable… Read more »
M&O Staff Circa 1992 (TBT)
For this week’s Throwback Thursday, check out the Martin & Ottaway engineering staff circa 1992. Four of these ten guys are still around – can you identify them?
James van Langen Joins Martin & Ottaway
With great pleasure Martin & Ottaway announces that Jim van Langen has joined the firm as an engineering and management consultant. Mr. van Langen’s deep experience in the cruise industry and with maritime and shore based Quality, Environmental, Safety, Training and Health (QESTH) systems is an outstanding complement to Martin & Ottaway’s consulting activities. Mr…. Read more »
A Forensic Engineer’s Short Course in Flawed Analysis, Or A Norden Bombsight Insight
This story will makes two important points about technical reasoning that in the heat of combat, disasters, disputes, commerce, parenting or politics often get overlooked. They are: 1.If your starting data is flawed, the rest of your argument becomes inherently flawed 2.Just because one thing looks like the other, it does not mean that they are comparable. The… Read more »
MAX1 Conference In Wilmington, NC; A First In Shipboard Waste Management
The MAX1 conference, which took place in Wilmington, NC on June 24, 2015, set a new standard in Shipboard Waste Management studies. The conference was a rapid fire exchange of ideas by 30 industry professionals representing almost all stakehlders involved in shipboard waste management. For too long OWS and Shipboard Waste Management has been a… Read more »
SCABU – Shipping Containers As Buoyancy Units
Our artist friend Mary Mattingly often contacts us for technical advice since she is very much interested in wetland and maritime community projects. Often our involvement with her projects relates to providing her with assistance in finding solutions to floating her projects. (Actual flotation, not the financial kind) As an artist Mary works with tiny… Read more »
MAX1 Studies OWS Conference Speakers Announced
The program for the MAX1 Studies conference in Wilmington, NC on June 23 and 24, 2105 is now in place and it has met its goal of trying to make the tent as big as possible. At the conference there will be points of view from different owner, regulatory, equipment, enforcement, training, operator, manager, design… Read more »
Solving the Really Difficult OWS and Police Brutality Problems
In engineering there are the difficult problems and the really difficult problems. Getting to the moon or designing a safe replica schooner is difficult. The really difficult engineering problems often require that the user also needs to be re-engineered. Such problems may involve removing addiction or stopping irrational behavior or reducing poverty or altering preconceived… Read more »
NAME Computer Programs; Making Admiral Meyer Smile.
In March of 2014, I posted a blog where I expressed my frustration at a lack of simple and affordable NAME programs. This led to a very lengthy SNAME Linkedin discussion, which now, sadly, seems to have evaporated in the mists of time. Regardless, the discussion was not in vain, because it connected a large… Read more »
Vessel Face-Lift
Bayonne Dry Dock & Repair Corp April 7, 2015
MAX1 Studies: Please Take the Survey to Build Knowledge of OWS and OCM
When we were asked to look at OWS effectiveness by NFWF, one of the tasks we proposed was the development of a survey to obtain more information of actual OWS and shipboard waste management. With input of the research team (made up of all types of stakeholders in our industry), we have now developed the survey and invite… Read more »
Feedback: Here’s Your Sign.
Life is complicated, and designing to deal with life’s complications is difficult. Unfortunately bad design unnecessarily punishes humanity by increasing inefficiencies and frustrations. Design mistakes get made, and sometimes the mistakes cannot be easily corrected. However, it is difficult to imagine anything more destructive to humanity than bad design that affects many people that can… Read more »
MAX1 Studies OWS Chronology Analysis
In almost every technical case, or operational problem we get involved in we find that it first takes the construction of a chronological narrative to get an idea as to where the shoe sticks. When we were asked to look at OWS effectiveness by NFWF, one of the tasks we proposed was the construction of… Read more »
AD 1522 to 2015, A Really Big Step for Mankind
In 1522 a sailing vessel, named the Victoria, arrived in Spain and thereby completed the first circumnavigation of Earth using only sustainable power (wind). This voyage is generally called Magellan’s voyage, but the person who completed the voyage in command was Juan Sebastian Elcano. Since that time, humans have circumnavigated Earth in any number… Read more »
Double Dog Day
Dog days are good days in an office. Today is a double dog day. Jim brought in beagle Buddy and Rik brought in golden/lab Harris. Nothing easy about taking a picture of two dogs at the same time.
National Bulk Carriers, Daniel Ludwig and Universe Ireland (TBT)
Of all the shipping companies that I have had any contact with National Bulk Carriers and its Owner Daniel Ludwig is probably more deeply submerged in lore than any other company. Every time I meet somebody who has worked for NBC I am regaled with yet another story of clever derring do led by Daniel… Read more »
MAX1 Studies, a NFWF Ship Waste Stream Management and OWS Study. Invitation for Participation
In the first half of 2015 Martin & Ottaway will be performing a study for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, “MAX1 Studies” (MARPOL Annex I Studies), that will address the following questions: How effective are shipboard Oily Water Separators? What can be done to further increase the effectiveness of shipboard oily waste management? The… Read more »
Baby It Is Cold Outside, So Be Careful
Cold weather actually makes us busier. Cold weather makes people seek shelter so they pay less attention and cold weather makes equipment operate and fail in unusual fashion. It has been cold out (we almost had iceboat conditions on the river) so there is no time to ruminate any further. Instead I will post a few… Read more »
Christmas Poetry
Many years ago Arthur Mournian gave me a quirky little book named Nautical Poetry, which was a collection of (what the editor considered to be) the best nautical poetry. It contained some good stuff, but not this Robert Louis Stevenson poem that was sent to me over Christmas by my friend and former colleague John… Read more »
The Big Maritime Things In 2014
So here, at the end of the year, I have spent a few moments pondering the maritime events that affected my life. As usual, this is a personal list, but checking back against prior lists I am surprised that this list making can be very unpredictable. It almost seems that these annual lists carry a… Read more »
SS Sea Witch & SS Esso Brussels (TBT)
Harry Ottaway, past President of Martin & Ottaway, getting his balance on the SS SEA WITCH in drydock (stern section), August 2, 1979. The SS SEA WITCH was a container ship which lost steering control while leaving New York harbor and collided with the fully loaded tanker SS ESSO BRUSSELS on the night of May… Read more »
Big Load Afloat
As a company maybe we love salvage more than anything else, but load outs must come in as a very close second. There is something special about showing up somewhere, where it is too hot, too cold or too dark and to work with true professionals in the form of riggers, equipment operators, barge operators,… Read more »
Invention: Vinyl Plus Memory Stick; You Saw It Here First
Inventions are often difficult to track, but they often start with a loose comment. Hannah came into my office and asked for my portable CD drive. Not too long ago CD drives were built into computers, but USB memory sticks are rapidly rendering CD’s old hat. Out loud Hannah wondered: “How long do you think… Read more »
Ryszard Kaczmarek Can Do!
Maybe too often do we tout the power of interning and mentoring, but this week we received a heartwarming note from one of our past interns which started as follows: Since you deserve a partial credit for your support, I thought you would want me to share this great news I received last week. The… Read more »
Great Design Is No Joke
True or not, this joke is attributed to Abraham Lincoln: A farmer’s young son comes running into the house. Out of breath he says: “Pa, Pa, the hired hand and Sis are in the hayloft. The hired hand has dropped his pants and Sis has pulled up her skirt! Pa, I think they are fixin’… Read more »
van Hemmens Present At The SMC In Houston
Rik and I will be presenting our co-authored paper titled “Game Theory for the Maritime Professional” at the SNAME Maritime Convention this Wednesday from 1300-1400 hrs in the Technical Track 1 section, Sandalwood A&B room on the 4th Floor. If you’ll be at the SMC, come check it out! The picture is explained in the… Read more »
Salvage Of The SS Normandie (TBT)
Watch a cool video produced in the 1940’s by the US Navy on the salvage of the SS Normandie (USS Lafayette) here. Frank A. Martin of Martin & Ottaway valued this vessel for the US government before the fire/capsize.
48 Hours On The Lettie G. Howard
Maritime education is an incredibly powerful educational tool. While it does not necessarily have to be a path to maritime employment, it is always an effective path to provide Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Philosophy, History, Language and Arts (STEMPHLA) education. The Lettie G. Howard project has a straightforward focus: Provide students with a tool to… Read more »
Funding The Lettie Project, Two States One Port
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has provided seed funding to the “Two States One Port Campaign”, but to fully operate the Lettie G. Howard requires a budget of $600,000 per year. This is a substantial sum of money, but it is estimated that about 300,000 people in the Port of New… Read more »
M&O Jeep Fleet
In 1994, M&O leased the then new Jeep Grand Cherokee, with miles per gallon in the 17 mile range. Twenty years later M&O has returned to the Jeep brand with the leasing of the new “Eco Diesel” Jeep Grand Cherokee, which can get some 33 miles per gallon on the highway. Stephanie Khadam-Hir of the… Read more »
Damage Artwork (TBT)
USNS “Maumee” Bethlehem Steel, Key Highway Encounter with ice floe Antarctica, March 1976
Meeting In The North Atlantic (TBT)
In 1954, my great-grandfather, Hendrik Fokko van Hemmen, was Chief Engineer on the M/V Prins Frederik Hendrik of the Oranje Lijn, and my grandfather, Henk van Hemmen, was deck engineer on the Dutch flagship, the SS Nieuw Amsterdam. On November 1, my grandfather was asked to make a repair to the steam whistle valve which… Read more »
Dungeon Art (TBT)
Our office has a real dungeon where we keep our unused art, our extra gear, our historical records and our completed files. Inevitably we need to clean out the dungeon when we no longer have space for the completed files and that means we literally get rid of dumpster loads of reports, depositions, shipping documents,… Read more »
N.S. Savannah
M&O took a picture of the N.S. Savannah while at an adjacent pier in Canton Marine Terminal, Baltimore on a recent survey: N.S. Savannah is the first nuclear-powered merchant ship ever built (the Soviet ice-breaker N.S. Lenin was the first nuclear-powered civil ship). She was launched in 1959, and was built at a total cost… Read more »
Ten Real Shipping Books
The general public’s awareness of maritime continues to be elusive. People without exposure to maritime have a vague notion of what ships do, but the knowledge is almost always superficial. Maritime is complex and therefore it takes a large investment to become deeply familiar with the dynamics of maritime in all its facets. This made… Read more »
Hydrogen As The Ultimate Fuel (Maxi Taxi 10)
Our intern Matt Stern is guest blogging on some background research he did at our office on hydrogen fuel before he gets ready to start his junior year at the Bronx High School of Science: In modern times, we have become accustomed to using fossil fuels as our source of energy for road transportation. But,… Read more »
NYMAR Victory!
They said it couldn’t be done but Martin & Ottaway’s representatives had the pleasure of winning the 3rd race of the August 7th NYMAR J/24 racing series. Congrats Captain Peter and crew!
P.V. “Molly Pitcher” Rolls Out Of Yank Marine
Congratulations to Yank Marine and NY Waterway on the rolling out of the hull of the passenger vessel P.V. Molly Pitcher on August 25, 2014. M&O provides construction supervision and attended on behalf of Owners. We caught the roll out on video too:
Wood Technology Never Gets Old
Wood is a truly wonderful material, not just for its beauty, but also for its excellent engineering characteristics. While wood technology has been around for thousands of years for boat construction purposes, wood technology is still developing today. In August of 1999, Woodenboat magazine published an article on a novel type of wooden mast construction…. Read more »
SS Florida / SS Republic Collision (TBT)
A photo of the damaged SS Florida as a result of its collision with the SS Republic in 1909 hangs in our office. On the back is an article from an unknown source (I’m betting that one of our consultants decided to look up the story one day). The story reads as follows: “Due to… Read more »
The SS Morro Castle (TBT)
Today’s Throwback Thursday is one of the most famous shipboard fires, and is especially well-known in our area because the vessel was beached for several months in Asbury Park, New Jersey, not far from our current headquarters. While the SS Morro Castle disaster of 1934 tragically killed 137 passengers, it directly resulted in numerous shipboard fire… Read more »
Martin Ottaway RSA Grounded Bulk Carrier Refloating, Lake St. Clair, MI July 2014
In the early hours of July 27, 2014, a Donjon-SMIT NTVRP (Non-Tank Vessel Response Plan) vessel, a handysize bulk carrier, grounded in Lake St. Clair, near Detroit MI. In accordance with the vessel’s plan activation, the SMFF resource provider Donjon-SMIT were contacted who immediately mobilized USCG Sector D09 (Lake Michigan) Martin Ottaway RSA Mr. Mike… Read more »
When Lloyd’s Registers Were Secret (TBT)
Since 1764, Lloyd’s Register has published annually what is basically the definitive list of ocean-going vessels in the world. Our office – and many other maritime offices worldwide – use these “registers” regularly, since they contain valuable, authoritative information on ship size, carrying capacity, age, builder, and equipment, to name a few. We keep our old… Read more »
Sprawl, the Infrastructure Trap, and A Real World Solution (Maxi Taxi 9)
A Time magazine article by Leigh Gallagher highlights a problem that we deal with on a daily basis but that pretty much stays just below our awareness horizon. In the article Mr. Gallagher describes a professional epiphany of a town engineer with regard to town planning codes that exhibits itself as suburban sprawl. The issue… Read more »
Deep Culture
At Martin & Ottaway occasionaly we see all aspects of our culture come together in a single project. This photo pays witness to such an event. Consider: The Engineering Attitude: We can do this, we have the tools, and we sure don’t need to use the written instructions. Frugality: Why pay for chair assembly if… Read more »
Container Archeology
Last week I found myself in Skagway on a cruise ship stop and hopped a ride on the White Pass & Yukon railroad. This railroad was a vital connection between the Pacific and the Yukon River gold fields. It starts in Skagway, the most northeast corner of the Alaskan Inside Passage, goes through the White… Read more »