Great Lakes Maritime Industry Issues

MARINER LICENSING WITH ANDY HAMMOND OF MARITIME CONSULTING, LLC

This is the final podcast in a three part series on mariner licensing with Andy Hammond of Maritime Consulting. Hammond shares his insight as a merchant mariner, former Coast Guard Regional Exam Center Chief and a consultant to mariners in the licensing process.

In this last edition, we’ll hear Hammond’s advice to those considering transferring into the merchant marine from a military sea service and get his take on the need for licensing consultants in the complex bureaucratic process.

Maritime Consulting, LLC can be found at www.hammondmaritime.com.

Click here for the podcast (6min).

Related stories in the on-line maritime grapevine:

Managing Editor of the Maritime Executive Newsletter, Joseph Keefe, is documenting his journey through the STCW process using Andy Hammond’s consulting services.

• 1st entry

• reader responses to 1st entry

• 2nd entry (incomplete listing)

Andy Hammond is writing a series for the Maritime Executive Newsletter, “What the Coast Guard NMC won’t tell you.”

• part 1
• part 2 (incomplete listing)
gCaptain posts:

• License Creep
• US Mariner Licensing Consultants (mentions Andy Hammond’s west coast counterpart)

MARINER LICENSING WITH ANDY HAMMOND OF MARITIME CONSULTING, LLC

This is the second of a three part series on mariner licensing with Andy Hammond of Maritime Consulting. Hammond shares his insight as a merchant mariner, former Coast Guard Regional Exam Center Chief and a consultant to mariners in the licensing process.

In this second edition we’ll take another look at the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, or STCW. We’ll also examine the Coast Guards switch to National Maritime Centers and get Hammond’s take on the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, or TWIC.

Next time, in our third and final podcast in this series, Hammond will detail what aspiring mariners from outside the industry should consider, especially those transferring from a military sea service.

Maritime Consulting, LLC can be found at www.hammondmaritime.com.

Click here for the podcast (5min 30sec).

My most recent trade article, “Applications of Modern Shipbuilding Design,” was published in the February edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.

“As a result of a partnership between the shipbuilding industry and higher education, the University of Wisconsin-Marinette and the University of South Alabama will soon be offering the first continuing education shipbuilding course in the U.S. using the industry standard ShipConstructor software.” Read the entire article in pdf…ShipConstructor_MREN_Feb08.pdf

I love writing for trade magazines because you learn so much in the process. My interviews for the article included Paula Lanteau, Dean and Executive Director at University of Wisconsin-Marinette, where this new distance course is based. I also published a podcast from our interview in a previous post. Click here to listen to the podcast.

And how could I not brag about making “College Level” on Sea-Fever’s list of maritime blogs? The sting of missing “Genius Level” by a few has almost worn off. But rating right next to gcaptain.com is good enough for me! Click here to view a great list of maritime blogs and their Sea-Fever rankings.

Also, if you’re following popular maritime blogs, you’ll be interested to read an interview with the founder of the gcaptain.com blog, John Konrad, at International Marine Consultancy’s blog. Click here to read the interview.

MARINER LICENSING WITH ANDY HAMMOND OF MARITIME CONSULTING, LLC

This is the first of a three part series on mariner licensing with Andy Hammond of Maritime Consulting, LLC. Hammond shares his insight as a merchant mariner, former Coast Guard Regional Exam Center Chief and a consultant to mariners in the licensing process.

In this first edition we’ll take a general look at the ever-changing licensing process and the common pitfalls mariners encounter. Next time we’ll hear more about the regulatory changes that mariners must navigate and what can be expected in the future. In the third and final podcast in this series, Hammond will detail what aspiring mariners from outside the industry should consider, especially those transferring from a military sea service.

Maritime Consulting, LLC can be found at www.hammondmaritime.com.

Click here to hear the podcast (7min 15 sec).

A Great Lakes Maritime Industry Podcast with Paula Langteau, Executive Director and Dean at UW-Marinette, and partner in the development of a new course for entry level marine designers.

As a result of a partnership between the shipbuilding industry and higher education, the University of Wisconsin-Marinette and the University of South Alabama will soon be offering the first continuing education shipbuilding course in the U.S. using the industry standard ShipConstructor software.

Currently, the only training of this type in North America is at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada.Course development was funded by a U.S. Navy National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) grant.

Click here, or on the image above, to listen to a 4min 45sec podcast interview with Paula Langteau, of UW-Marinette, one of the major partners in the project.

A short sea shipping podcast with Steve Fisher, Executive Director of the American Great Lakes Ports Association.

Welcome to the the first edition of a Great Lakes Maritime Industry podcast:

A small section of the 2007 Energy bill, recently signed into law by President Bush, requires the establishment of a program to promote short sea shipping. However, the Harbor Maintenance Tax, one of the major obstacles to short sea shipping, has not yet been addressed by Congress.

Click on the links above to hear what Steve Fisher, Executive Director of the American Great Lakes Ports Association, has to say about the benefits and challenges to the short sea shipping initiative in our region.