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EDITOR’S NOTE

I recently attended an industry conference where, as part of one presentation, an industry expert put up a slide that fl ashed industry acronyms and abbreviations, one-by-one until the page was completely full. It was a striking montage, taking the better part of a minute to populate the entire page. The talk, of course, had everything to do with one sort of regulatory compliance or another.

The visual helped drive home the gentleman’s point nicely and with great emphasis. As I prepared to put together this voluminous edition of MarineNews – our Workboat Annual – I thought of little else as the articles came in, and as I prepared for each and every interview.

ECA, EPA, SubM, VGP, USCG, IMO, MLC, OPA90, BWT, ABS, DNV-GL, TIER III,

CLASSNK, BV, ISO, ISM, STCW, SOLAS, NAVC, Fi-Fi, ISPS, PSC, AIS, VDR, BOEM, BSEE,

NTSB, QI, IACS, LNG, LR, SAR, FMC, ATB, and AWO. The foregoing acronyms and abbrevia- tions are but a few of the terms that you, no doubt, deal with on a daily basis in your line of work.

That’s because the world of workboats is as wide as it is varied, and at some point in your profes- sional career, it is likely that each and every one of these terms – and dozens more like them – will impact you or your line of work. Count on it.

There is very little in our maritime industry today that is not driven by regulatory change, envi- ronmental policies, safety initiatives and the never-ending pressure to do the ‘right’ thing. For some, the efforts take the shape of doing just enough to get by and comply. Others get out in front of the regulations and ensure adherence to a higher standard. Both paths are shaped by the corporate cultures peculiar to each model and more often than not, the results will be refl ected in the amount of elbow grease applied and the reasons for attempting to comply in the fi rst place.

It is no coincidence, then, that matters pertaining to lube oils, pumps, piping, valves and marine propulsion all form a part of the editorial calendar for our Workboat Annual. Each and every one of these items – covered closely within – is subject to some sort of regulatory compliance mandate, either coming soon or already here. All of that said; I’ve been told more than once that (a.) opera- tors rarely ‘go green’ because it is the right thing to do, and (b.) the so-called ‘two-tier’ market that operators (in particular) hope that will emerge as a result of being greener, cleaner and safer has not yet fully come to pass.

In other words, consistently being paid more for the same job on the premise of a better quality operation is still, to a certain extent, a pipe dream. That might be about to change. The eventual winner’s in today’s workboat market, awash in regulatory oversight, will be those who ‘sweat the small stuff.’ Pumps. Piping. Propulsion. lube oils and more. Here’s a hint: it’s all small stuff. [email protected]

Joseph Keefe, Editor, [email protected]

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November 2014

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