From the Editor – Pacific Maritime Magazine

From the Editor: The Infiltration of MSC

One of the dark underbellies of the maritime shipping industry that no one likes to talk about is smuggling. But the weekly magazine Bloomberg Businessweek has taken on the problem head-on in an expose detailing how one of the biggest goods shippers in the world, MSC—Mediterranean Shipping Company—was infiltrated in recent years by Balkan gangs engaging in vast amounts of drug smuggling. In recent years, officials have found that multiple MSC vessels were carrying drugs, and a $100 million ship, the Gayane, was seized by authorities after finding $1 billion worth of cocaine onboard. This information and more is detailed…

From the Editor: Pacific Marine Expo ‘22

As you may or may not know, in addition to being the managing editor of Pacific Maritime Magazine, I also edit one of its sister publications, Fishermen’s News. And in mid-November, I had the privilege and pleasure of representing Fishermen’s News at one of the largest and longest-running commercial fishing and commercial marine trade shows in existence, Pacific Marine Expo, which took place Nov. 17-19 in Seattle. Maritime Institute, the parent company of Maritime Publishing, which owns Pacific Maritime, Fishermen’s News, Professional Mariner and other fine publications, operated Booth 220 at this year’s expo. A handful of Maritime Publishing/Pacific Maritime…

From the Editor: A Word About Upcoming Changes

Hello, I wanted to take a moment to let you know about some upcoming changes coming to the print and online editions of Pacific Maritime. First, the big news is that PacMar is switching to a bimonthly printing schedule in 2023. This means that the next issue of the magazine will be cover dated January/February, rather than just January. The plan is to publish six issues in 2023—one every other month—plus an annual in late summer/early fall that focuses on port facilities, repair facilities, shipyards, intermodal yards and related maritime entities. The reduction in the number of issues was driven…

Pacific Coast Partnership

The governors of three U.S. Pacific Coast states and British Columbia’s premier gathered in San Francisco recently to sign an agreement that looks like it could result in additional environmental initiatives being launched at West Coast ports. California Governor Gavin Newsom, Oregon Governor Kate Brown, Washington Governor Jay Inslee and British Columbia Premier John Horgan signed the Pacific Coast Collaborative Statement of Cooperation on Oct. 6. The Statement of Cooperation (SOC) promotes collaboration between the four regional governments on accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, investing in climate infrastructure like electric vehicle charging stations and a clean electric grid,…

From the Editor: Terminal Blockades

In mid-August, the Port of Oakland announced that its monthly loaded container volumes dropped 28% as compared to the same month in 2021. The reason for the dip? According to the port, it was a nearly week-long protest at the port during July that virtually shuttered each of the port’s container terminals. During the protests, which began July 18 and ended July 23, the port’s shipping terminals were effectively shut down. Specifically, the port said that protestors blocked and slowed traffic, particularly trucks, that were attempting to enter and leave the container shipping facilities located at the port’s inner and…

From the Editor: Arctic Commitment

Over the years, the Arctic has gradually begun to play a more important role when it comes to the shipping of goods between the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and now a couple of elected officials are trying to ensure that the role in it by one of America’s biggest geopolitical adversaries is minimized. Two U.S. senators have put forward legislation that they say would eliminate Russia’s monopoly on Arctic shipping by establishing a permanent U.S. maritime presence in the region. The bill, known as the Arctic Commitment Act, was introduced Aug. 3 by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). It is co-sponsored…

American Port Access

If three U.S. congressmen have their way, legislation they’ve recently introduced would pave the way for American merchant marine and military vessels, including those in the Jones Act fleet, to bypass the long vessel queues and congestion at major U.S. ports, particularly those on the West Coast. The legislation, HR 8243, also known as the “American Port Access Privileges Act,” was introduced in the House of Representatives on June 29. It would allow U.S. exports to skip to the front of the line at American seaport terminals. “This legislation would put American exports at the front of the line at…

From the Editor: Contract Negotiations

By the time you read this, the current labor contract between the Pacific Maritime Association—the organization representing dozens of maritime companies—and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union—which represents dockworkers will be about to expire. Or if this issue of the magazine found its way into your hands after June 30, then the agreement has already expired. The good news is that ILWU, which represents more than 25,000 dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports, and the PMA, which represents about 70 companies that the laborers work for, began contract negotiations on May 10. The bad news however, is that if past…

From the Editor: The Rise of Autonomous Vessels

There’s been much talk over the years about the development and deployment of autonomous vessels—ships that have the capability to fully function without the need for a human crew to be actively involved. Operations of these captain-less ships can be remotely managed by personnel on the shore, or else the ships can have various advanced technologies onboard or elsewhere for performing the operations. For the most part, progress in the realm had been slow but steady, then like much of everything else, things were slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. But according to a new report, things might be picking up…

Letter from the Editor: Maritime Cyberattacks

Although large amounts of news and information have been circulating recently pertaining to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, there’s one nugget of information that’s flown under the radar so far: potential retaliation against the U.S. maritime transportation sector. The remarks didn’t receive much media attention, but national Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly recently said that America’s maritime transportation sector could be an infrastructure soft spot that Russia may try to disrupt via cyberattack. “Given the vital role of the industry, the importance of securing systems and functions that make up the maritime transportation sector cannot be…