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EDITOR’S NOTE love statistics, numbers and all things to do with measuring our waterfront in a de? ned way.

That’s why our regular BY THE NUMBERS feature is one of my favorite parts of this maga- zine. One particular statistic that I like to throw around is that, of the +/- 40,000 hulls in the

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U.S. ? ag commercial merchant ? eet, all but 400 can be considered to be brown water, lower tonnage hulls. Drilling down a little further, dry and tank barges along with tugs of all shapes and sizes make up more than 38,000 – or 96 percent – of the rest of the ? eet. That gives this edition of MarineNews, our annual focus on the inland waterways, a little more urgency.

Inside this edition, we cover the inland scene – the environment, boatbuilding and repair, regulatory climate, safety, ? nance, infrastructure and much more – from soup to nuts. That’s because inland marine markets arguably de? ne the domestic marine climate like no other. [email protected]

Likewise, we can dredge every major harbor on our blue water coasts to 100 feet and it won’t mean a thing unless we can get our goods to those ports using modern, environmentally sound tonnage transiting well maintained inland arteries. The art of ? nancing that tonnage in creative ways is explained in this edition by frequent MarineNews contributor James Kearns. That story begins on page 18.

With the subchapter M towboat rules now just around the next bend in the river, we realize that there will be more than one layer to that onion. Ultimately, the rules promise a safer and cleaner inland marine industry. Looking deeper, we understand that there will be a human as- pect to this effort, as well. That said; a look at recent industry studies on manning and fatigue as well as real life examples of what can go wrong for even the most seasoned mariners, with the best of planning, is appropriate. All of that comes in the pages that follow.

Turning our attention now to the increasingly important offshore energy support aspect of our domestic ? eets, it is clear that it isn’t just the ‘war on coal’ or slowing shale production that is impacting the ? eets. The plethora of stacked OSV tonnage along the U.S. Gulf Coast tells us that there could be more pain to come. In the meantime, operators and those who provided the working capital that made those vessels possible look to ? nd creative ways to put those boats back to work. To that end, at least one shipyard group has put together a viable plan to do just that. Hence, when Netherlands-based Damen – already partnering with many North American partners in creative ways – offers a different way forward, it is a good idea to listen. That story begins on page 46.

By any yardstick, it is an exciting time for our brown water, workboat ? eets. What comes next isn’t something that, unlike our ? eets and tonnage numbers, that we can measure with any certainty. Still, I like to try. Stay tuned as I do.

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Joseph Keefe, Editor, [email protected]

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