Page 30: of Marine News Magazine (January 2021)

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Feature

Fireboats

Energy Projects Bring Big,

New Risks: Be Prepared “Fireboats are basically an insurance policy.” - Meeting minutes, Southeast Texas Waterways Advisory Council (SETWAC).

By Tom Ewing evelopments in America’s coastal ports are caus- tory review (Figure 1). And it’s more than just cargo push- ing of? cials to closely review maritime safety ing up risk. Vessels are bigger and traf? c is heavier, and operations and equipment. Fireboats draw a lot logistics are always expected to perform faster.

of attention. The reference here is to big ? re- These developments and challenges, though, do not

D boats – 40-50 feet, crewed by specially trained ? re? ght- automatically signal a one-to-one kind of dynamic lead- ers, out? tted with the equipment required to confront ing to new ? reboats. The process between documenting a and take on a range of waterway emergencies. [CBRN is ? reboat’s value and a commitment to buy one and place it a frequent acronym used with these ? reboats: Chemical, in service is a fractured one. If it’s a ? ow chart, it’s compli-

Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear operations.] cated. Big ? reboats are expensive. And public of? cials, of

Big, new energy projects stand out as prime examples course, don’t just buy a boat. Specialized crews and special- of new and signi? cant port hazards. Consider the map ized equipment add up to signi? cant operating costs. A from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) closer look at two ports shows some of these issues at play.

showing some of the major energy projects under regula- The Sabine-Neches Waterway is one such navigation sys-

Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department boats combat a ? re on board USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) at Naval Base San Diego, July 12.

John J. Mike / U.S. Navy 30 | MN January 2021