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Maritime Executive
The topic of this article is inspired by the discussions Maritime Executive's Jad Mouawad had during a recent panel debate, during a conference in London in March 2019. During that panel discussion and throughout a number of interventions, ship-owner representatives kept on going back to the fact that focus on the environmental challenges of the shipping industry must not overshadow the focus on safety on board ships.
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NMLEA
The National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO) is pleased to announce the presentation of its annual National Maritime Law Enforcement Academy (NMLEA) Award for Excellence in the Field of Maritime Domain Awareness at the upcoming Maritime Security West Conference in Los Angeles/Long Beach August 5th through the 7th.
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NMLEA
I am getting a little nervous. Ok, VERY nervous.
As reported by Scot Graham (Port Security Specialist and USCG retired Captain at Sector Long Island Sound) to his stakeholders this week, cyber-related risks in the maritime environment continue to be cause of concern. Three spear phishing attempts outlined below indicate a troubling trend toward targeting cargo vessels while underway.
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NMLEA
In the White House 2020 “A Budget for a Better America – Major Savings and Reforms,” a lot of things we have become accustomed to when it comes to grant programs, especially in the maritime realm, are going away. No, this is not an “April Fool’s” joke, nor is it “new” news, as there has been many discussions over the last few years about the reduction in the Port Security Grant Program, the State Homeland Security Grant Program and the Urban Area Security Initiatives, to name but a few. And although it isn’t likely to happen to the extent being proposed, it is worth paying attention to.
I have been preaching that the "Grant Tree" will eventually lose all its leaves for a number of years, and all over the country. I used it as a means to get people to focus on the long-term, and to promote the sustainability of training programs, long after the grant stream slows to a trickle. Yet people still build the majority of their training and readiness posture around those precious federal dollars (as do businesses selling their wares to those grantees.) When the end eventually arrives, there are going to be a lot of public safety agencies, at the local, county, state and tribal levels that see their maritime capabilities come to a grinding halt.
So how do we prepare for that right now? What could we do to in anticipation of the inevitable? Play with me just for a moment. Let's just ponder the consequences and ask ourselves, "What would we do if the leaves on the tree disappeared, instantly?
Some questions to ask yourself now, and things to start thinking about (if you haven't already):
- How can I build trainers internally, that can keep up with the ever-evolving landscape (or seascape) of responsibilities, training requirements, and mission areas?
- When the grants dry up, how can I get that national level of training brought to me and my department at an affordable price, since it’s now going to come out of general operating funds (less than $600 per student for courses that were usually five days long and cost tens of thousands of dollars)?
- How could I have "on-demand" type training, that I could have my officers access instantly, at all hours of day and night, weekends and holidays?
- How could I transition some of the training I do now at the academy level, or through in-service training, to a more affordable, manageable, mobile and immediately accessible framework?
- With this rapidly changing workforce (see the White Paper on Navigating the Changing Seascape of Maritime Public Safety, or the one on Adjusting to the Incoming and Outgoing Tides of Training), how can I keep up with the loss of institutional knowledge (retiring senior level leaders and trainers), overcome the retention challenges, and answer the diversity issues?
What that thinking should have generated is a harsh reality check, and identify for you some things that you may not have previously considered when it comes to evaluating your present and future needs. And here's a newsflash: Even if you might not have received any grant dollars previously, and don't anticipate any in the future, all of these questions and challenges exist in your domain. It isn't just about the grant dollars, but that clearly has an impact on many departments.
Now, although that forecast and questions could cause you to lose some sleep, there are things that you can do (in addition to talking to your congressional representatives), solutions that are right in front of you, and steps that you can take to mitigate the impact if those grants were to get cut dramatically. The National Maritime Law Enforcement Academy has built programs for just these situations and challenges. We can provide instructors and trainers "on-demand," we can provide learning platforms that can dramatically reduce your training costs instantly (and pay for another officer position), we can provide you with a Learning Management System that tracks and coordinates all of this at no cost, and we can bring that institutional knowledge that you left back to you as you need it. Pretty interesting concept, isn't it?
Contact me if you want to learn how we can chop the Grant Tree down if it isn't growing anymore, and use it for firewood to fuel the future. Just click on this link and ask for the match.
Millitary.com
The scenario: Neo-Nazi terrorists with a cache of radioactive material have taken over a three-deck tour boat out of Miami full of frightened tourists. The rescue team: an elite cadre of Coast Guard operators with specialized training in ship boarding. Their uniforms were nonstandard — some even wore high-top sneakers — but they sported arm patches bearing a common motto: "Nox noctis est nostri," the night is ours.
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American Journal of Transportation
The newly launched New York Maritime Innovation Center (NYMIC) is proud to announce that it has completed its first major event to generate innovative ideas and minimum viable products to find solutions that address the most pressing challenges impacting the ocean shipping industry today. Top honors of the 36-hour hackathon went to “Doc-it,” which addressed compliance challenges through the use of artificial intelligence NYMIC was organized in 2018 at SUNY Maritime College with a unique mission to bring fresh ideas into the industry, foster collaboration with the tech/startup community and accelerate the adoption of new technologies by the maritime industry.
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Hellenic Shipping News
ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki spoke about the important role of the U.S. continuing to shape the future of global maritime energy, safety and sustainability during a keynote address at the opening session of the CMA Shipping 2019 Conference. “The U.S. energy landscape has been and will continue to be shaped by a relentless focus on improving technology and safety. When we speak about shaping the future of maritime energy use, we are really speaking about technology and safety driving energy leadership,” Wiernicki told attendees.
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Maritime Executive
Oceans and seas cover 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. Humans use this landscape for defense, commerce, transportation, offshore drilling, research, environmental cleanup and much more — with as many as 180,000 large ships at sea at any given moment. This number continues to rise with the amount of ships traversing our oceans increasing by 60 percent between 1992 and 2012. A newer study also found that Canadian Arctic shipping traffic nearly tripled between 1990 and 2015. In addition, according to the International Maritime Organization, maritime shipping supports about 90 percent of global trade.
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Federal News Network
Mid-career women are leaving the Coast Guard at a higher rate than their male counterparts and there are a lot of factors to blame for it. A new study from the RAND Corporation, commissioned by the Coast Guard, found gender bias, sexual harassment, personal life factors and career opportunities were all reasons that mid-career women are leaving the service. “There’s a gap both for officers and enlisted and there is a cumulative retention gap that emerges in those first 10 years of service and then starts to stabilize,” said Kirsten Keller, senior behavioral scientist at RAND.
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Boating Industry
The Sea Tow Foundation selected 13 marine industry stakeholders to serve on its newly launched North American Sober Skipper Advisory Council, with the goal to collaborate on current and future boating safety messages including its popular Sober Skipper campaign. "The Sea Tow Foundation is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between the non-profit recreational boating safety community and the for-profit boating industry with the launch of the Sober Skipper Advisory Council,” said Executive Director Gail R. Kulp.
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Boating Industry
The National Safe Boating Council (NSBC) inducted National Marine Manufacturers Association president Thom Dammrich into the NSBC Boating Safety Hall of Fame during the recent 2019 International Boating and Water Safety Summit. The NSBC Boating Safety Hall of Fame is the organization’s most prestigious award, recognizing those who have provided vital leadership and boating safety support throughout their career. Dammrich has been at the helm of NMMA for nearly 20 years.
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