Page 20: of Marine Technology Magazine (November 2012)

When Raymond Lord was named President of Donjon-SMIT, LLC just over one year ago, the native Houstonian brought with him more than 30 years of experience within the marine sal- vage industry, and he joins industry heavyweights John Witte and Douglas Martin at the joint-venture, casualty response and compliance group. Coming from his previous position as Vice President and Operations Manager for SMIT Americas in Houston, Lord now heads up one of the largest, and ar- guably the most visible nationwide marine service providers. Lord?s leadership in this highly technical business involves leveraging the strengths of both SMIT Salvage Americas and Donjon Marine to best serve their diverse client base. This month, Lord weighs in on a raft of subjects for Marine Tech- nology Reporter readers. You?ve been at helm of Donjon-SMIT for just over one year now. What distinguishes Donjon- SMIT from its competitors? Donjon-SMIT?s best attributes are twofold. First, this involves the total commitment of both companies, Don- jon Marine as well as SMIT Salvage Americas, to not only provide each vessel owner/operator with the documentation and administration to allow them to operate within US waters in full compliance with OPA90 regulations, but also to allow each owner operator the con dence that in the event of a true emergency incident Donjon-SMIT is fully capable of provid- ing prompt professional service regardless the size and scope of the situation. Secondly, and as is the case with any organiza- tion, people are our greatest resource. The staff at DJS as well as both parent companies, Donjon Marine and SMIT Salvage Americas, are highly trained and dedicated to providing the highest quality service to our clients. Backed by years of hands on experience within the maritime industry they provide the key element when responding to an emergency situation. How has Donjon-SMIT found the promulgated marine Þ reÞ ghting and salvage regulations to be in terms of an overall industry point of view? Although the path in developing the newly founded SMFF regulations has been long and arduous, we believe that it has been a huge step forward to improving the nation?s abil- ity to respond to any emergency salvage situation within U.S. waters. For many years following the Exxon Valdez incident, the focus has been largely upon the oil spill response commu- nity and many salvors were able to operate with little or no resources, minimal experience and without the company struc- ture that would enable it to conduct a full scale salvage opera- tion if one had arisen. Those days are behind us with the new regulations. Each responder now is held accountable for their planning, their resources and their ability to react to a serious salvage incident. Vetting processes have been developed and are underway. Drills are now established (although some addi- tional detailed requirements are still being developed) leading to the exposure of not only strengths but weaknesses within the salvage community that can now be addressed and improved upon. As with other regulations, they are work in progress. Each step is seen as an improvement in the salvage response capability within the US and that, in the end, is the true goal. In what areas are you going to focus on for growth in this year and beyond? The standard procedure for almost all serious salvage operations is now to remove the threat of pollution whether the vessel is transporting an OPA 90 related cargo or is carrying only bunkers. In this regard we are closely monitoring the up- coming non-tank regulations and looking forward to expand- ing our client base extensively. Anticipating that once released the new non-tanker regulations will mirror most aspects of the present day SMFF regulations pertaining to tank vessels, we are encouraging present day non-tanker vessel owners to act proactively in the administrative process and enroll their ves- sels now instead of later. Interview Raymond Lord President, Donjon-SMIT, LLC 20 MTRNovember/December 2012MTR #9 (18-33).indd 20MTR #9 (18-33).indd 2011/29/2012 10:59:02 AM11/29/2012 10:59:02 AM