Page 23: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 2, 2005)

January 2005 23 moved up the company ladder to his present position of Director of Marine

Operations. This diverse background was of assistance when Spirit effectively overhauled the way in which it approached the hiring and retention of its crew. "First, we had to look at how the boats were crewed and staffed," Captain

Hanchrow said. "We had to develop a complete staff matrix, looking at the positions which were the most difficult to fill, that being the captains and mates.

The company considered it imperative to create several corporate management slots, executive level career paths for the captains and mates, and Captain

Hanchrow notes that of the current crop of six permanent captains, five started out as deck hands with Spirit. For mates, the company offers full time employ- ment and benefits, and has successfully legitimized the positions by doling out considerable responsibility and stability in the form of a defined career path. "We had to develop a plan that gave them room to move up," Captain Hanchrow said. An example: though it is not required, mates are give fire fighting training as a means to show them that the company is interested in their profes- sional development.

Captain Hanchrow is a good example of this success as well. He recently received a "huge honor" when he was selected for the delivery crew aboard the

M/V Chenega, the new Derecktor-built,

Nigel Gee-designed fast ferry built for

Alaska Marine Highway. He recently completed his GMDSS training at

MITAGS in Baltimore in order to be fully qualified for the 23-day delivery run, and cites his company allowance to participate in the delivery as a part of the bridge team as further proof to Spirit's commitment to ensuring the professional growth of its team. Much of this is made possible by the fact that Spirit City

Cruises is a part of a much larger corpo- rate structure, and advantage in a market filled with small operations. In fact, he cites the corporate culture as to why the implementation of all of the new mar- itime security regulations has been rela- tively seamless. "Our corporate struc- ture made it (the implementation of new security rules) easy, but if you talk to the 'mom and pop' guys down the block, they think it's a disaster."

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