Page 6: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2015)

EDITORIAL

Gettin’ Crabby with

Deadliest Catch

GREG TRAUTHWEIN, EDITOR & ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER s February is our traditional cruise ship- the process to build a cruise ship in China. Obvious- Patricia Keefe who dug in to explore the prospects ping edition, naturally we’ve selected ly the cruise shipbuilding business is held tightly in of a burgeoning cruise business in mainland China. a ? shing boat and two crabs for the the clutches of four European yards, and in my 20 Her story starts on page 24.

cover. But as many of you may already plus years in this chair I have seen some spectacular Finally, I’m sorry to say I was informed of the

A know, that’s not just any ? shing boat, rather it is the deals to build cruise ships in various world spots, passing of George Backwell. George was a trusted

Cornelia Marie, its owner Josh Harris and captain followed by the equally spectacular implosion of and insightful contributor in the overnight hours to

Casey McManus, stars on the hit cable television said deals when the process to build a fabulous new our electronic titles, namely MarineLink.com and show ‘Deadliest Catch’ which provides an up close cruise ship becomes too time consuming, too costly, MaritimePropulsion.com for many years. George and personal look at the rigors of catching crab in and simply fails. was a retired seafarer – 25 years in command – the Alaskan Bering Sea. While ? shing vessel cover- Since the cruise shipping industry was born in from England’s Westcountry and ‘beached’ in Thai- age is not our tradition, I couldn’t resist on this one the early 1970s, ships have grown progressively land. Above all, George was a true gentleman and a as it is primarily a coatings story. I had the oppor- larger and more sophisticated in accommodation friend; and there are never enough of those.

tunity to interview this entertaining pair on a recent and amenities, and today’s ships are virtual ? oat- trip to New Orleans. While I had to omit the most ing cities. Building a modern cruise ship is equally colorful portions of the interview for our pages, the dependent on new and emerging technologies as core story on the hunt and selection of a company well as accrued experience and old, long-standing to coat the boat, and keep it protected in some of relationships, and it simply is not a maritime busi- the most rigorous maritime conditions you will ever ness sector that is quick or easy to pick up. How- ? nd, is a worthy story starting on page 10. ever, with the muscle of Carnival and Fincantieri

Turning eyes to the cruise sector, late last year involved we were intrigued, so we did the best thing

Carnival and Fincantieri announced a deal to start that we possibly could … set the story in the lap of [email protected]

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