From the Editor – Pacific Maritime Magazine

The Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Could Something Similar Happen Here?

During the early morning hours of March 26, a 10,000-TEU capacity containership, the Singapore-flagged Dali, suffered a complete power loss, resulting in the massive vessel crashing into a support beam for the Francis Scott Key Bridge near the Port of Baltimore. The cause of the outage is still under investigation, but the allision resulted in the deaths of six construction workers who had been on the bridge repairing potholes at the time, as well as the total loss of the bridge itself. Part of the 1.6-mile bridge was turned into a twisted heap of metal by the 984-foot Maersk-chartered cargo…

Panama Canal Update

A few months ago in this space, I wrote a column detailing how the Panama Canal has been affected by drought, and that vessel traffic through the shipping route has been adversely impacted by it. If you missed that column and aren’t familiar with the ongoing situation, here’s a summary: according to climate scientists, Panama experienced its worst drought in over two decades last year, even though the country’s rainy season, which lasts from May through December. Typically, the country experiences anywhere from 8.4 inches to 27.5 inches of rain during the last seven months of the year, but fell well…

Printing Spare Parts

Could 3D printing spare parts soon become commonplace in the maritime shipping industry? There’s a very interesting story recently published by Forbes magazine that indicates that it might be. According to the article, marine industry supply chain and distribution company Thyssenkrupp Materials Services has “invested substantially” in 3D printing technology and has been using it to manufacture critical spare parts faster and cheaper than traditional manufacturing. The company has even dropped 3D-printed parts onto a vessel from a drone, the article states. A huge leap forward when it comes to 3D printing for the maritime industry came in October, when…

Drought & the Panama Canal

Panama is typically one of the wetter countries in the world due to its tropical climate, but a very unusual occurrence is affecting the Panama Canal during the current rainy season: a severe drought. The drought has already slowed vessel traffic to the U.S. West Coast and is threatening to have an effect on the current peak shipping season, when goods are shipped to North America from Asia in time to be on store shelves for holiday season shopping. Here’s the situation: according to climate scientists, Panama is experiencing its worst drought in over two decades, even though the country…

From the Editor: Maritime Publishing Acquires The Log

The Maritime Publishing family of periodicals has gotten bigger. On June 12, the company announced the acquisition of The Log newspaper from Newport Beach-based Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc. We’re happy and proud to have another maritime-focused publication join the family. For those who aren’t familiar, The Log is a biweekly publication based in Orange County, Calif. It has been a boating and fishing essential for recreational anglers throughout Southern California since 1971. “The Log is an iconic publication,” Maritime Publishing owner and CEO Dave Abrams said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “I’ve been reading almost every issue since 1990,…

From the Editor: National & International?

As you know if you’ve been reading this magazine for at least a couple of years, each issue of Pacific Maritime contains an international news section in its back half, usually around pages 44-45. But since the number of issues of the magazine that come out each year has changed, it has me wondering if we should also make another change, and I’d like your input. Although the International Report is chock full of useful, interesting information, I’ve begun to wonder if that space might be better filled by a National Report that focuses on important U.S. maritime news and…

From the Editor: Oil Spill Aftermath

The massive oil spill that accidentally dumped tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil in the waters off the Southern California coast in October 2021 may have been cleaned up and forgotten by some, but the ramifications continue to be felt by shipping companies involved in the incident. Case in point: on March 1, the oil pipeline’s owner, Texas-based Amplify Energy, said that it had reached a $96-million settlement with various parties over the spill. The oil company has maintained that as a result of negligent conduct, an estimated 25,000 gallons of crude oil were discharged from a crack…

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…