As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. On Wednesday, the nonprofit BlueForge Alliance - a heavily-funded program intended to help revitalize Navy submarine construction - announced that it is now working with leading commercial AI firm Palantir Technologies on a program to accelerate "warship production, fleet readiness, and digital transformation." The idea is to use Palantir's existing Warp Speed operating system for manufacturers in order to better connect up shipbuilders, suppliers and other partners in the shipbuilding supply chain in a "digitally connected manufacturing ecosystem." 

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The American Boat & Yacht Council yesterday announced that it participated in and judged the Marine Service Technology competition at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, held June 23-27. Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and the National Marine Electronics Association also participated. The annual conference recognizes the nation’s top career and technical education students, featuring more than 110 competitions and more than 10,000 participants. In addition to marine technology, the event includes contests for welding, construction trades, manufacturing, transportation, health care, hospitality and more.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. A milestone has been achieved in plans to modernize and restore service for Washington State Ferries (WSF) with Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding being awarded a contract to build three passenger RoRo ferries. The state says the process was its first competitive bid for ferry construction in more than 25 years, and will further contribute to the efforts to bring service back to pre-pandemic levels. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson announced that after a year-long competitive bidding process that attracted interest from two shipyards, Eastern Shipbuilding has been selected to construct the three new 160-vehicle hybrid-electric ferries. The company won the contract after presenting the lowest bid, $714.5 million, which was six percent lower than WSF’s estimate, and significantly lower compared to its competitor, Washington-based Nichols Brothers Boat Builders.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. Just a decade ago, a ship simply dropped out of digital contact when it went over the horizon, and hackers had little if any access to its systems. With the advent of ubiquitous satellite broadband, that is changing quickly, and owners are getting used to a new reality: cyber criminals have discovered shipping. To learn more about the current threat picture and the steps that companies can take to protect their assets, TME spoke with Michael Devolld, Director of Cybersecurity at ABS Consulting.

Michael, could you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your history with ABS? I've been with ABS Consulting for about a year now. Before that, I was with Royal Caribbean Group for about three years, helping to stand up their maritime cybersecurity program for their fleet. Prior to that, I had a 21-year career with the Coast Guard, ending with two years as Chief of Maritime Cyber Readiness at USCG Cyber Command.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy is again underway for its annual mission to the Arctic as one of only two large icebreakers currently operational for the United States. She departed her homeport of Seattle, Washington, on June 19 for what the USCG reports will be a “months-long” deployment. The icebreaker, which was commissioned in 1999, provides the USCG’s primary presence each year in the Arctic. She completed her last deployment returning to Seattle on December 12, 2024, after a 73-day Arctic mission that included scientific research, search and rescue, and training exercises. Her 2024 deployment, however, was interrupted by an electrical fire in the engine room, which forced her to return to Seattle for repairs at the beginning of August.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The maritime industry is having to contend with an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. The introduction of FuelEU Maritime at the beginning of the year has, for the first time, established comprehensive regulations for phasing out the use of fossil fuels by vessels sailing in Europe. Additionally, the recent outcomes from MEPC 83 suggest a likely introduction of a new global carbon pricing mechanism for international shipping. Furthermore, shipping is quickly approaching its 2030 checkpoint – as outlined in the IMO’s revised GHG strategy in 2023 – by which time the industry must evidence a 20% reduction in carbon emissions, with the ambition to achieve 30% compared to its 2008 baseline. Combining this with the MEPC 83 outcomes, the industry is under significant pressure to demonstrate tangible reductions in carbon emissions from its operations.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. Zodiac Maritime, managers of the car carrier Morning Midas, reports that it received information from the salvage team that the fire-damaged vessel sank in international waters. The fire had begun three weeks ago on one of the decks carrying electrical vehicles and grew quickly in intensity, forcing the crew to abandon ship. A salvage team from Resolve Marine took a week to reach the vessel because of its remote location approximately 360 nautical miles southwest of the Aleutians in Alaska. The vessel was reported to be still burning when teams reached it on June 9, but they believed the water integrity had been maintained. A towline was attacked on June 11, and by the time a second salvage vessel Garth Foss arrived on June 16, thermal scans and visual inspections showed no signs of an active fire onboard.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. I just realized that WSF is awfully close to WTF, which is what many Puget Sound ferry riders have said about Washington State Ferries’ service over the past several years. But, to be fair, service has improved, and state officials are promising a nearly full summer schedule of boats and crews. The Wenatchee, one of WSF’s largest boats, a Jumbo Mark II-class ferry, is expected to return to service after spending about two years in Vigor’s Seattle shipyard, where it has been converted from mechanical-diesel to hybrid diesel-battery propulsion. The Wenatchee was supposed to be completed in a year and to use about half the money allocated for two Jumbo conversions. However, the extra year also ate up all the budget and most of the available patience, so the plan now is to skip the second conversion and concentrate on getting five newbuild hybrid ferries ASAP. A final request for bids was sent out earlier this year.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The marine technician role is a hard job that requires technical knowledge, stamina, and the ability to problem solve. Being a female marine technician presents some additional challenges, from not having consistent access to a women’s restroom to being discredited because of gender. Has the situation improved over the last decade? Cindy Tufts, ABYC Master Technician at Town and Country Marine Services in the Virgin Islands, switched careers to join the marine industry after her youngest child started high school. “I was suffering burnout as a massage therapist when I started at IYRS School of Technology & Trades (Newport, Rhode Island) to become a marine technician, so I was excited to start my new career and take the first step in my new life dream,” said Tufts. She achieved her first ABYC Certification in 2012 and became an ABYC Master Technician in 2013.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. NOAA has awarded $95,408,666 to JAG Alaska Inc. from Seward, Alaska, to complete expanded upgrades and maintenance on NOAA’s fisheries survey vessel Oscar Dyson. Following the 2026 field season, the ship will go into a year-long maintenance period. NOAA is working to maximize the service life of each of its vessels through long-term maintenance planning and tracking. The goal of this forward-looking maintenance is to provide up-to-date, dependable vessels for NOAA’s scientists and science partners. NOAA anticipates that the Oscar Dyson will be available for service in time for the 2028 field season.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. Vigor Marine Group announced that it has organized Vigor, Continental Marine of San Diego, MHI Ship Repair & Services, Seaward Marine Services, and Accurate Marine Environmental under its single banner. “As a full-service prime contractor, the group delivers comprehensive solutions for the maintenance, modernization, and lifecycle management of military and commercial vessels across the United States,” the group said June 19. “Vigor Marine Group represents a unified identity for a highly experienced team with bi-coastal capabilities,” said Francesco Valente, CEO of Vigor Marine Group.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is taking an unusual approach to dealing with derelict vessels that wash up on remote shorelines. In a recent cleanup project, it used helicopters to lift 14 boats from the shoreline of Squaxin Island in Puget Sound. Using its wildfire helicopters and ground personnel, DNR conducted the operation as part of its Derelict Vessel Removal program. The boats had been washed ashore or left behind to deteriorate, posing a serious risk to the Island’s ecosystem. Because of their deteriorated state, floating the boats out was not an option.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. Washington’s Centers of Excellence were created two decades ago with one simple goal: to bridge the connection between education and industry - helping colleges grow enrollment and build workforce pipelines for critical sectors.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Angus King (I-ME) are doubling down on their bipartisan effort to fortify the backbone of America’s coastal economy. On June 6, the two reintroduced the Working Waterfronts Act, a bill designed to boost shoreside infrastructure, maritime workforce development, and economic resiliency in fishing communities from Alaska to Maine. Originally introduced in February 2024, the legislation included more than a dozen provisions aimed at building capacity across the blue economy while helping fishermen and seafood processors face down the mounting challenges of climate change and shifting fisheries dynamics.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The Around the Americas Expedition is a 14-month voyage, starting in May 2025, that will circumnavigate North and South America aboard the 48-foot sailboat, One Ocean.

The mission focuses on scientific research, education, and community outreach to raise awareness about ocean health. Building on Captain Mark Schrader’s original 2009–2010 journey, the expedition will compare oceanic changes over the past 15 years.

Go to this link for more information, and to follow the expedition through June 2026! https://oneislandoneocean.com/

Click here to follow the blog: https://oneislandoneocean.com/blog

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. Global insurer Allianz Commercial warns the Morning Midas fire is the latest example of an underling safety problem facing seafarers. Captain Rahul Khanna, Global Head of Marine Risk Consulting, Allianz Commercial said in its latest Safety and Shipping Review fires on container ships and car carriers remain a major concern for insurers.  “While regulatory changes are in progress, we cannot say this is a risk that is under control,” said Captain Khanna. “This is still very much a live issue and one that will only get worse [with electrification].”

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The Oregon pink shrimp industry is getting a much-needed boost from the federal government this spring after another round of international trade disruptions threatened to sideline the start of the 2025 season. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will purchase $16 million worth of Oregon pink shrimp through a program aimed at stabilizing domestic food producers during economic hardship, according to an article by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB).

The federal buy comes after processors along the Oregon Coast opted to delay the start of the Pacific pink shrimp season in early April, pushing back operations by at least two weeks due to ongoing uncertainty in overseas markets.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. Gov. Bob Ferguson is currently weighing bids from two shipbuilders to construct badly needed boats for Washington State Ferries. But this moment is more than just deciding on a contract. It’s the governor’s best chance to stake out a long-term strategy that revives a fleet weakened by years of executive and legislative neglect.  The state system needs at least one shipyard as an enduring partner to build up to 16 new vessels, as called for in WSF’s long-range plan. Establishing a steady rhythm of regular vessel construction over more than a decade is the only way Washington’s ferry system can emerge from a crisis that has broken its network of marine highways.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The recently released Women in Maritime Survey 2024, jointly published by IMO and the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA), showed that, at sea, women remain vastly underrepresented, accounting for just 1% of the total number of seafarers employed. With a worldwide shortage of seafarers, a number of leading ship operators are working to change that situation — including leading dry bulk operator Oldendorff Carriers. The Lübeck, Germany, headquartered company reports that nearly 125 female seafarers from 17 nationalities are now serving onboard its vessels across 13 ranks.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. Brix Marine, Port Angeles, Wash., is wrapping-up an order for two aluminum 46'x15'7" tour boats for Blue and Gold Fleet, San Francisco. In addition to each boat’s 49 passengers, the vessels carry two-person crews. The boats’ hull skins are made of 5086 alloy aluminum while the yellow Naiad D-shaped, outer foam collars are made of heavy-duty Erez with a double black PVC rub strip. Main propulsion for each tour boat comes from four COX CXO300 4.4-liter, twin turbo V8 diesel electric outboards with stainless steel props. The mains are connected to a Seastar Optimus quad outboard steering system.