August 2022 – Pacific Maritime Magazine

IANA Award Winners Announced

The Intermodal Association of North America on July 13 announced that the winners of its three industry awards will be honored at the annual Intermodal Expo in September. The winners are: the Silver Kingpin Award—Ted Prince; the Chairman’s Award—Jim Newsome; and the Intermodal Achievement Award—Congressman Alan Lowenthal. The recognitions will take place during Intermodal Expo’s opening general session on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Southern California. Prince, the chief strategy officer and co-founder of Tiger Cool Express, was selected to receive the IANA Silver Kingpin Award for his career-long contributions to intermodalism. Prince is a…

Fincantieri Marine Group Announces New CEO

Fincantieri Marine Group, a U.S. subsidiary of Italian shipbuilding giant Fincantieri, announced that general manager Marco Galbiati has been named as the new CEO effective July 6, while former CEO Dario Deste remains the company’s president. Galbiati had been FMG’s general manager since 2018 and in this capacity, had been heavily involved in all aspects of the business and its efforts to grow the workforce in support of important commercial and military contracts. Deste had served as FMG’s president and CEO since 2018, and was recently promoted to lead Fincantieri’s Naval Vessels Division. Galbiati began his business career in 1996…

Infrastructure Projects in Full Swing at Major West Coast Ports

A number of big and small West Coast ports are approaching coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic by investing in their future via innovative and forward-looking infrastructure projects. Several of the larger ports are focusing on modernizing their terminals, enhancing rail systems, reducing emissions and/or transitioning to hybrid, increasing shore power and designing projects that aim to improve efficiency and accommodate bigger ships. Here are some of the highlights of the projects: PORT OF LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners recently adopted a $1.9-billion budget for fiscal year 2022-23, much of which will be reinvested into the Port…

NW Seaport Alliance Again Recognized as a Top Green Supply Chain Partner

For the sixth consecutive year, the Northwest Seaport Alliance has earned the distinction of being an Inbound Logistics Green Supply Chain Partner. The recognition highlights NWSA’s commitment to protecting the environment through proactive and collaborative partnerships with supply chain stakeholders and communities across the Puget Sound. The 75 organizations selected by the publication Inbound Logistics represent various trade sectors, including trucking companies, railroads, shipping lines, freight forwarders and air cargo carriers. These companies are recognized for their commitment to supply chain sustainability and ensuring that their operations are environmentally friendly. The NWSA, which is a maritime operations partnership between the…

Offshore Wind Update 2022

A lot has happened since the Biden administration in May 2021 announced that California’s northern and central coasts would be open to offshore wind development, identifying two areas in particular: Morro Bay and Humboldt Call. The idea was to pursue the development of floating offshore wind platforms off the California coast as part of the Biden administration’s overall goal of generating 30 gigawatts of domestic offshore wind by 2030. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the lead agency on offshore wind. This past May, the department announced offshore wind lease sales for the first…

POLB Begins Demolition of Gerald Desmond Bridge

Demolition of the Gerald Desmond Bridge in the Port of Long Beach began in July with the removal of the section of the span suspended over the Back Channel, which required a 48-hour closure to all watercraft traffic. The Back Channel was closed to vessels for one weekend, from 6 a.m. July 9 to 6 a.m. July 11, as the bridge’s 410-foot-long suspended span was dismantled and lowered onto a barge. The bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic since its replacement opened in October 2020. Vehicle traffic on the replacement bridge was not expected to be affected by the…

U.S., Canada Coast Guards Meet, Talk Joint Mission

The U.S. and Canadian coast guards reaffirmed their commitment to enforcement in the Arctic Ocean on June 7-8 when Rear Admiral Nathan Moore, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard 17th District, and Neil O’Rourke, assistant commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard Arctic Region, convened in Yellowknife and Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada. The leaders and their staff discussed partnering on matters related to the Canada-U.S. trans-boundary waters of the Beaufort Sea part of the Arctic Ocean, including coordinating search and rescue missions, managing waterways and responding to marine environmental issues. “The two regional leaders signed the newly revised Beaufort Sea…

California Ports, Stakeholders Laud Goods Movement Funding in State Budget

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on June 30 signed the state’s 2023 budget, which includes $2.3 billion in funding for projects that seek to improve the supply chain. Included is $1.2 billion over two years for expanding rail yard expansions, building new bridges and upgrading to zero-emissions equipment; $110 million over three years for a workforce training facility in San Pedro Bay and $159.7 million to buy zero-emission trucks and put in charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure. “We thank the governor and state Legislature for their foresight and responsiveness in including supply chain needs in the budget,” Port of Long Beach…

Doing More with Less

It would appear that “doing more with less” could be the unofficial motto for today’s society, especially regarding the workplace. Restaurants, offices, tech companies and many other businesses are feeling the squeeze of being short staffed and finding it hard to recruit and retain qualified long-term help. What does this mean for the employees who are in the workforce? It means doing more than your normal duties in your job description. While it is a fact that sometimes you just do what needs to be done to perform the task at hand, this extra effort is creating an environment for…

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to Begin Phasing Out Older Drayage Trucks

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in mid-June announced that its Rolling Truck Age Program goes into effect Sept. 15. The program aims to phase out older container trucks serving the Port of Vancouver, for the benefit of the region’s air quality and local communities’ health. The program will cap the age of container trucks serving the port. Older, diesel-powered trucks are a significant source of particulate matter, which is known to cause cancer. Currently, some of the drayage trucks serving the seaport are more than 20 years old, according to the Port Authority. “The container trucking sector plays a vital…