Pettengill Tapped to Lead Maine Port Authority
Chelsea Pettengill has been selected to serve as interim Executive Director Maine Port Authority (MPA), taking over for Matthew Burns, who has decided to leave his position at the helm of the MPA to return to the Maine Department of Transportation in a new role.Beginning on September 23, Burns became the Deputy Director of MaineDOT's Office of Freight and Business Logistics. Under the leadership and guidance of Nathan Moulton, Director of Office of Freight and Business Logistics, Burns will expand his scope of work to include all freight modes, including freight rail, trucking, and ports. Burns
Darley Names Lee J. Wise CFO
and first responders, including pumps for fireboats—announced it has named Lee J. Wise as chief financial officer, effective July 22, 2024.Wise joins Darley from Covetrus, where he was a Senior Vice President of North America Distribution and Category Management at Covetrus (based in Portland, Maine). Prior to his tenure at Covetrus, Wise was a Vice President of Corporate Finance at Mauser Packaging Solutions. Wise’s previous roles include financial leadership positions within treasury and corporate development for Rockwell Collins, Inc., Treehouse Foods, Inc., Mead Johnson Nutrition Company
Fluid Watercraft Hires New Government Sales Manager
situations and uphold the integrity of maritime law and search operations.”After more than 15 years of experience in public safety and 10 of them in law enforcement, Young now takes responsibility for Fluid Watercraft’s U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic sales region that covers the state of Maine all the way down to Georgia. His focus will be on working with federal, state, and local community first responders and LEO agencies to match their needs with vessels such as the Patrol Cabin 29, a 28-foot, 11-inch patrol boat or the Search and Rescue 23, a 23-foot, seven-and-a-half-inch long
Maine Maritime Academy President Jerry Paul Steps Down
Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) President Jerry Paul announced his intent to retire this summer due to extenuating family circumstances, the public maritime training college announced.An engineer, attorney and former government official, Paul (class of ’89) has served as president of the Castine, Maine academy since April 2022.Following a special meeting on May 22 to finalize a transition plan for presidential leadership at the academy, the MMA Board of Trustees Chairman Wayne Norton announced that the Board had unanimously supported the appointment of Craig Johnson (class of ’91) as Interim
Bath Iron Works Gets $34 Million to Bolster Its Workforce
Bath Iron Works (BIW) will receive more than $34 million in federal funding for projects aimed at bolstering the Bath, Maine shipyard's workforce.U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R. - Maine), Vice Chairman of Senate Appropriations Committee and Defense Subcommittee, announced the funding has been approved by the U.S. Navy and included in the Fiscal Year 2023 Defense Appropriations bill as part of a larger initiative to make improvements to the infrastructure of the U.S. shipyards that build the Navy’s destroyers.BIW, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, primarily builds Arleigh Burke class guided
Jonathan Daniels to Lead Port of Baltimore
and the third busiest cruise homeport in the world. Prior to working at Port Everglades, Daniels was executive director and CEO for the Mississippi State Port Authority and oversaw a $570 million expansion and reconstruction project. He also worked for the Port of Oswego in New York and the Eastern Maine Development Corporation. He is a graduate of The Citadel, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science; and the Maine Maritime Academy, where he was a Master of Science Candidate in Maritime Management.“I’d like to thank Governor Wes Moore and Secretary Wiedefeld for
Labor Shortages, Climate Change & Technology: They’re All Related
are not waiting 30 years to make changes to their world.Brien McMahon High School students recently sent a “drifter” on a voyage from the U.S. to Norway. (Photo: Robert Kunkel)We have no less than four maritime academies located in the Tri-State/New England area stretching from New York to Maine. The U.S. East Coast is also the launching point for developing the country’s offshore wind industry. More importantly, the federal government just invested nearly $2 billion in the construction of five NSMV training ships in Philadelphia. The program to replace aging academy training vessels
Dumont Takes the Helm at Cal Maritime
where he handled aviation and admiralty litigation before leading major white-collar criminal investigations. Since leaving government service, Dumont has served as a strategy consultant to higher education and the tech sector.Dumont earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Maine, a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School, a Master of Science from the National War College, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College
Dirk Lesko Named President of Irving Shipbuilding
of BIW from 2017 to 2022.A 32-year BIW employee and third generation shipbuilder, Lesko held leadership positions including Vice President DDG 1000 Program, Vice President Surface Combatants and General Manager. He also served as Chairman of the General Dynamics Engineering and Technology Council.A Maine native, Lesko earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from The University of Maine and a Master of Science Degree in Business Administration from Boston University.“We are very pleased that Dirk Lesko is joining us as President,” said Jim Irving, Co-CEO of Irving
ASL Hires Chawarski as Biological Oceanographer
and deep ocean ecosystems. He will be responsible for developing consulting services for ASL's ocean monitoring clients and will develop new tools for hydroacoustic studies of aquatic ecosystems.Previous to his appointment at ASL, Chawarski completed a Masters in Marine Biology at the University of Maine. During his studies he designed experiments to investigate the effects of marine protected areas (MPAs) on the recovery of groundfish stocks in the Gulf of Maine. He trained in acoustic analysis and provided new insights into the spatial distribution of herring spawning in inshore waters of Maine
New Bill Aims to Address Sexual Misconduct in the Merchant Marine
(SASH) prevention, response, investigation and accountability in the maritime industry and provide additional safeguards for the Midshipmen at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA).The Improving Protections for Midshipmen Act is being put forward by Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) after the United States’ federal maritime academy paused at-sea training for the second time in five years amid ongoing struggles to grapple with sexual assault and misconduct against its cadets at sea.The new bill would result in improved conditions and reduced
Maritime Academies Work Toward Inclusion
classes trending to reflect America’s mosaic of people and races?Importantly, state school systems will largely reflect the demographics of the state. Black Americans, for example, make up 13.4% of the U.S. population (2019 U.S. Census estimates). State and regional statistics, however, vary. In Maine, for example, Black people make up 1.7%—about 22,000 individuals— of the state’s population of 1.34 million. With diversity and inclusion, numbers are not the whole story, but still critical for a big picture.The U.S. Coast Guard AcademyCapt. Michael Fredie is the CGA’s Director
Australian Maritime College Partners with IAMPE
to over 2,500 alumni worldwide in the port and terminal industry, military, and government agencies. The Association is working with industry partners to develop a worldwide port professional education and certification standard. This is the Association’s first international college partner joining Maine Maritime Academy’s Loeb-Sullivan Graduate School of International Business and Logistics, the graduate programs of Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Texas Southern University and the State University of New York Maritime College Continuing Education Program.“Our association with the
McDonald Named ABS Chief Operating Officer
. He also has held operational leadership roles including Senior Vice President of the Western Hemisphere Survey Operations and most recently as Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and the Global Marine market sector. McDonald has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Engineering from Maine Maritime Academy and an MBA from Texas A&M University.“Tony has been an exceptional COO and operational leader across ABS and our wholly-owned subsidiary, ABS Group of Companies, Inc., for 40 years,” said Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Lemanowicz Joins Poseidon Barge, Piedmont Relocates
as East Coast territory sales manager, to fill the position left by the transfer of Carl Piedmont from the Northeast to the West Coast.Located in New Jersey, Lemanowicz's territory includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Maryland, Delaware, Washington D.C., Montreal, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.Lemanowicz graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Engineering in civil engineering and a Master of Science in construction management. He brings practical field experience
Port of Gulfport Names Nass CEO
new executive director to lead the Port of Gulfport team,” said MSPA President E.J. Roberts. “Jon’s extensive background includes port management, economic development, homeland security and policy advising, making him an ideal candidate to lead our state port.”Nass comes from the Maine Port Authority where he helped develop Northern New England’s only container terminal and secured tens of millions of dollars in funding for port and rail infrastructure. He also led efforts on a public-private partnership to construct Maine’s only publicly available climate-controlled
Maine Maritime Academy Partners with SailPlan
Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) announced Tuesday it is partnering with maritime technology company SailPlan to accelerate the development of an intelligent vessel’s navigation platform and shoreside vessel control.The academy said it equip its fleet, including the autonomous 41-foot workboat R/V Quickwater, with the Reston, Va. based startup’s intelligent navigation platform. SailPlan will provide real-time fleet location and health monitoring to MMA’s Shore Control Center resulting in unparalleled vessel telemetry being made available shoreside. SailPlan’s cloud-based route
