Page 44: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1973)

U.S. Coast Guard

Drops Plan For Early

Loran-A Phase-Out

Loran-A stations, relied upon by nearly two-thirds of the members of the American Institute of Mer- chant Shipping as a primary elec- tronic navigational aid for deter- mining vessel position, will not be subject to phase-out this year, as a result of hearings before the

Coast Guard and Navigation Sub- committee of the House Merchant

Marine and Fisheries Committee.

The Coast 'Guard has assured

AIMS that it will keep open through the fiscal year 1974 all

Loran-A stations now in operation.

Confirmation of this determina- tion was first revealed in recent testimony by Deputy Under Sec- retary of Transportation Theodore

C. Lutz before the House Subcom- mittee chaired by Representative

John Murphy (D-N.Y.). The Sub- committee's earlier hearing on the

Coast Guard authorization bill was the forum for public announcement of the decision to begin phasing- out Loran-A stations ahead of the previously announced schedule, and before agreement on an alternative radionavigational system.

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Budget—AIMS president James J.

Reynolds appeared before Repre- sentative Murphy to urge the Sub- committee to take whatever steps it could to prevent the early clos- ing of Loran-A stations. AIM'S testimony called attention to the threat to the environment and ma- rine safety posed by prematurely shutting down these navigational aids.

This action prompted the Fed- eral Government to reevaluate its decision, resulting in Secretary

Lutz's statement that Loran-A signal emitting stations would be kept open for at least another year while alternatives are discussed with user groups. DOT said the continued operation of these sta- tions would be accomplished with- in current budget estimates.

Gulf Mississippi Marine

Announces Promotions

Claude J. Autin, president of

Gulf Mississippi Marine Corpora- tion, a Louisiana-based company serving the marine industry world- wide, has announced the following promotions:

Named to the position of execu- tive vice president is former vice president Lavell Isbell. Mr. Isbell will be in charge of both domestic and international activities.

O.L. Kirkpatrick is the manager- director of North 'Sea operations.

Mr. Kirkpatrick, who has 15 years of experience in the marine indus- try, will direct all North Sea and

European activities from London.

Manager of operations for the

North Sea and Europe, with head- quarters in Leith, Scotland, is Capt.

Philip Thomassie.

Newly appointed vice president

John Norrod will handle all Middle

East operations and will be based in Dubai. He is a graduate of Kings

Point with 10 years of experience in the industry.

Other promotions include Bob

Morrill, manager of traffic for the

Gulf of Mexico and Central and

South America; Capt. Albert Heb- ert, manager of new construction, and Capt. Jeff Guidry, personnel manager.

These new alignments reflect the expansion of Gulf Mississippi Ma- rine. Formed in 1958 as a towing service for the Louisiana Gulf, the

Gulf fleet is now operating through- out the world. In addition to tow- ing, the company operates supply vessels and heavy duty barges.

Virginia Port Authority

Promotes M.V. Craft Jr.

M.V. Craft Jr., Virginia Port

Authority director of planning has been promoted to the post of deputy executive director of port development and plans, according to the Authority's executive direc- tor Adm. Ephraim P. Holmes. lln his new post, Mr. Craft will be responsible for managing the re- search, engineering and planning for the development of Virginia ports. 46 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News