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J une is MarineNews’ Leadership Edition in which we speak with a number of executives from a range of maritime businesses in the North American shallow draft market.

Leading businessmen in the inland river, coastal tug and barge, offshore support and salvage markets offer valuable insights on things such as the economic climate, how potential legislation and ongoing regulations impact business, infrastructure issues weighing heavy on the industry, the rate of permitting for offshore drilling and how it effects their work and even how the recent flooding on the rivers threatens business.

Markets are still depressed, most of these leaders confirm. Reduced demand for goods and the cost of fuel both contribute to that. With so many vessels to be had, rates are unlikely to go up very soon. But major players like Crowley Maritime say they are still able to keep their assets employed and they continue to upgrade their fleets. Crowley Maritime just christened two new double-hulled petroleum tank barges and said they are the first double-hulled, environmentally friendly barges of their kind to operate in Western Alaska

In the offshore arena, the pace of permitting for drilling still leaves many in the industry frustrated. President Obama affirmed a need to get moving on drilling, seemingly swayed by an outcry over prices at the pump. On the first of June, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) approved the 15th permit for a deepwater well, “for those of you who are counting,” the press release said. That brings us up to about the half-way point, if we’re on our way to returning to pre-moratorium permit levels.

On the inland waterways, Marquette Transportation’s Chairman, President and CEO, John Eckstein, reported that between the coal and agricultural commodity outlooks, he was feeling very good about the recovery. Unfortunately the flooding has hampered that, but still, he said he felt bullish for the long-term.

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Raina Clark, Managing Editor, [email protected]

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Online Resour ces 6 MN June 2011

EDITOR’S NOTE rainaclark@ marinelink.com