January-February 2023 – Pacific Maritime Magazine

Facial Biometrics Introduced at Port of San Diego by U.S. Customs, Princess Cruise Line

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in partnership with Princess Cruises, expanded the use of facial biometrics into the debarkation process at the Port of San Diego, becoming the latest seaport to modernize efforts to revolutionize cruise travel. “As cruise travel resumes around our nation’s ports, it is increasingly important to implement this technology and safely restart cruising, a vital sector of the US travel economy,” Jennifer De La O, CBP Director of Field Operations in San Diego, said. “With the biometric facial comparison process, travelers have the benefit of secure, touchless and streamlined entry procedures into the United States.”…

Newsmakers

Peter Levesque Named President of CMA CGM America, APL In late November, the CMA CGM Group, a global sea, land, air and logistics solutions company led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rodolphe Saadé, announced that Ed Aldridge, president of CMA CGM America and American President Lines (APL), would retire on Dec. 6. Peter Levesque, an international global supply chain executive with more than 30 years of industry leadership experience, assumed the presidency of both CMA CGM America and APL upon his departure. Levesque is an accomplished international shipping executive who until 2021 was president of Ports America Group. Prior…

Coast Guard Cutter Midgett Returns to Honolulu After Three-Month Deployment

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Midgett and crew returned to its homeport of Honolulu on Oct. 31 following an 83-day, 16,000 nautical-mile deployment to the Western Pacific. The Midgett and crew departed Honolulu in August to the Western Pacific to operate under the tactical control of U.S. Navy 7th Fleet to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region. “The Coast Guard strives to be a trusted partner, and we play a vital role in ensuring safety, security, and prosperity across the Indo-Pacific,” Pacific Area Commander Vice Adm. Andrew J. Tiongson said. “As the region faces challenges like climate change and…

Coast Guard Cutter Healy Returns to Seattle

After 17,000 nautical miles and 124 days at sea, the crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy came back to its homeport in Seattle, the agency announced Nov. 11. The crew’s journey was considered a historic one as the 420-foot medium icebreaker traveled in high Arctic latitudes and reached the geographic North Pole Sept 30, “only the second time a U.S. surface vessel had reached 90 degrees north unaccompanied,” USCG said. The crew also provided law enforcement presence in the Arctic and the Gulf of Alaska. “It is more important than ever before to provide security and sovereign…

Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Berry Completes South Pacific Patrol

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Oliver Berry returned to homeport in Honolulu on Nov. 22 following a 38-day expeditionary patrol enforcing international living marine resources treaties and conducting joint operations with partner nations across the South Pacific. During the 7,000 nautical-mile patrol, the Oliver Berry crew conducted 12 fisheries boardings, identified 16 fishery and safety violations, and completed 18 community relation events while sailing from Honolulu, Hawaii to Kiribati, Samoa, the Kingdom of Tonga and American Samoa before returning to homeport. During the first port call of the patrol at Kiritimati Island, Kiribati, the Oliver Berry crew delivered COVID-19 personal…

USCG Recovers Oil from Sunken Vessel in LA Area

In late October, the U.S. Coast Guard completed cleanup efforts after the 70-foot fishing vessel Bill Ketner partially sank at a pier in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles. At about 7 p.m. on Oct. 24, the Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach Incident Management Division received notification that the f/v Bill Ketner had partially sunk at the pier with a max capacity of 2,500 gallons of diesel onboard. Working alongside Los Angeles Port Police and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response, Coast Guard pollution responders oversaw the successful clean-up operation, the…

Pacific Northwest Ports: Transition and Transformation

More than a century ago, the bustling Port of San Francisco dominated the U.S. West Coast’s international and domestic intercoastal deep-water trade. Meanwhile, the ports of Washington and Oregon were busy handling export cargoes such as lumber, agricultural products and coal. Japan’s NYK steamship line had begun service between Japan and Seattle in 1896, but 13 years later a unique agreement between the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. and Japan’s Osaka Shoshen Kaisha (OSK) Line created what was the very first ship-to-train trans-shipment agreement. It would revolutionize the international movement of goods. Under the terms of the agreement,…

Ocean and Coastal Towing News: 2022 In Review

Maritime shipping volumes stalled at some West Coast ports in 2022, but even still, there remained a large need for ocean and coastal towing services to guide commercial vessels of all sizes to shore. In fact, according to an analysis released in March by the global firm Technavio Research, the tugboats services market is expected to grow by $2.42 billion between now and 2026, with 33% of that growth originating in North America. The report, titled “Tugboats Services Market by Application and Geography—Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026,” states that the market will witness a year-over-year growth of 14.24% in 2022 and…

WCT Barges Pilings from Astoria for I-205 Bridge Work

The Oregon Department of Transportation’s I-205 Improvements Project involves some challenging engineering on the Abernethy Bridge, across the Willamette River south of Portland. This stretch of I-205 carries more than 100,000 vehicles daily and needs a major upgrade to become a “seismically resilient lifeline” in the event of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, according to the Oregon DOT. Many local contractors are delivering large amounts of material and equipment by road to designated drop-off zones, but WCT Marine, at the Hyak Tongue Point shipyard in Astoria, is using the river itself to ship dozens of steel pilings to support temporary…

PacMar Retro: The United Fruit Company Steamer Talamanca

Called “the most attractive ship to ever visit the port,” the United Fruit Company’s Talamanca made her maiden arrival at the Port of Los Angeles on Jan. 13, 1932. The ship docked at Berth 188 in Wilmington with 100 passengers and 45,000 stems of ‘Grade 9’ bananas, 19,000 of which were discharged at the company’s facility. In the years prior to World War II, the port served as the West Coast’s primary unloading spot for bananas shipped from Central America and the Caribbean. In 1937, off-loading at the port using slings and pallets was replaced by specially designed conveyor equipment…