From the Editor – Pacific Maritime Magazine

12 Sep

Drought & the Panama Canal

Pacific MaritimeFrom the Editor, News, News Briefs, PMM Online News

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…

08 Aug

From the Editor: Protecting Maritime & Industrial Lands

Mark Edward NeroFrom the Editor, News, News Briefs, PMM Online News

The city of Seattle recently took steps to ensure that its working waterfront will remain the domain of maritime and industrial uses for the foreseeable future and not become the location of large retailers or storage facilities. The new legislation may eventually become a blueprint for other cities with both waterfronts and a housing crunch to follow. On July 25, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell signed the Maritime and Industrial Strategy into law following its unanimous passage by the City Council the week prior. The package of legislation represents the first major update to the city’s industrial land use policy in…

13 Jun

From the Editor: National & International?

Mark Edward NeroFrom the Editor, News, News Briefs

As you may know if you’ve been reading the print edition of Pacific Maritime over the last couple of years, each issue of the magazine contains an international news section in its back half, usually around pages 44-45. But since the number of physical issues of the magazine that come out each year has evolved, it has me wondering if we should also make another change, and I’d like your input, if you’re willing to give it. Although the magazine’s International Report is chock full of useful and interesting information, I’ve begun to wonder if we should also occasionally run…

16 May

From the Editor: Rest in Peace, Rick

Mark Edward NeroFrom the Editor, News, News Briefs, PMM Online News

On May 10, the Port of Long Beach announced that its former deputy executive director, Richard D. Cameron had passed away. Rick, as most people knew him, worked at the POLB for more than 24 years before resigning in March. He first joined the port in 1996 as an environmental specialist and steadily worked his way up the career ladder before being promoted to managing director of the port’s environmental planning division in January 2014, a position where he oversaw the Planning and Environmental Affairs Bureau, including environmental and transportation planning. Then, in August 2018, he was named to the…

07 Mar

From the Editor: Oil Spill Aftermath

Mark Edward NeroFrom the Editor, News, News Briefs, PMM Online News

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 about 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…

07 Feb

From the Editor: Coming Soon in Pacific Maritime Magazine

Mark Edward NeroFrom the Editor, News, PMM Online News

This is just a brief reminder that the next print edition of Pacific Maritime is out this month, and it’s an issue that’s chock full of useful information. In case you somehow missed the news, the print edition of Pacific Maritime now comes out every other month; the next issue, carrying a cover date of March/April, should be hitting mailboxes starting in mid-February. Among the stories in the magazine are a regional update recounting what a wild ride 2022 was for California’s major seaports, as well as an article detailing recent technological advances when it comes to spill response and…

10 Jan

From the Editor: The Infiltration of MSC

Mark Edward NeroFrom the Editor, News, News Briefs, PMM Online News

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…

03 Jan

From the Editor: Happy New Year

Mark Edward NeroFrom the Editor, News, News Briefs, PMM Online News

Hello and Happy New Year, This is just a reminder that starting the first week of January, the Pacific Maritime Online newsletter is going from a twice a week schedule to being sent out on just Tuesdays. Among the reasons for this is to align the digital newsletter more closely with two of PacMar Online’s sister publications, Professional Mariner Online and Fishermen’s News Online, which each generate newsletters once a week. (Another of our sister publications, Ocean Navigator, has a monthly newsletter, FYI.) With the PacMar Online newsletter becoming a weekly, each edition will contain five stories, rather than four…

02 Dec

From the Editor: A Note About Upcoming Changes

Mark Edward NeroFrom the Editor, News, News Briefs

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…

11 Oct

From the Editor: Pacific Coast Partnership

Mark Edward NeroFrom the Editor, News, News Briefs, PMM Online News

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,…