The View From Workboat: FOSS CEO Gary Faber Delivers a Hopeful and Upbeat Message
Sober realities of the day do not extinguish the important work ongoing in environmental initiatives.
New Orleans, LA: I’m taking a bit of medication that prevents me from consuming alcohol this week. And, although there aren’t too many places that it is more difficult to make good on that policy than the Big Easy, I nevertheless soldier on. I can’t claim to be the only sober Workboat attendee in this historic Louisiana city, but the condition puts me in a better position than most to reflect on the gravity of the times and perhaps, put pen to paper on what that can mean for our collective maritime world in the months and years to come. Gary Faber’s Keynote address on Wednesday afternoon, however, instead put emphasis on what can and is being done to continue on with important environmental goals. What he had to say may just hold the key for other companies to weather the current financial crisis. Follow along as I explain why:
After being introduced to the gathered throng by his gracious Workboat host, Faber easily could have launched into a discussion of the implications of a flagging credit market or worries about the falling price of crude oil that could eventually impact offshore OSV operators as exploration and drilling becomes less attractive. Indeed, before relinquishing the podium to Faber, Workboat Editor David Krapf wryly told the audience, “The only people taking ships right now are the Somalians.” His light joke drew a collective laugh, but the FOSS CEO later proved him wrong by outlining his aggressive plans for the future – most of which continue today – unabated despite a palpable pullback in many other sectors.
Faber, a Kings Point graduate with many years of industry experience, started out by asserting that the key to survival in these tough times will be diversification. But, he wasn’t just talking about lines of business. “There is a difference between being environmentally aware and environmentally proactive.” Later, he put an emphatic period on that meaty sentence by talking about the “triple bottom line” of FOSS: People, Profit and Planet. The speech reminded me of an article that we carried in a recent edition of MarEx that centered on a San Diego-based yacht repair yard. In that piece, we discussed “two kinds of green.” FOSS and Faber, apparently, like both kinds, too.
Putting his money where his mouth is, Faber’s on-time / on-budget delivery of the world’s first hybrid tugboat is a sign of things to come at FOSS. The unique vessel, capable of running in direct diesel, diesel electric and electric mode, cost 40 percent more to build than other similar class vessels in the FOSS fleet, but Faber believes that he can recover those costs (depending on the wildly gyrating costs of fuel oil) within a very short, five year period. The vessel, which can also plug into the shoreside electric grid when alongside, was made possible by the FOSS commitment to environmental excellence and some help from the ports of LA / Long Beach, as well. The industry’s first EPA partner in the Smartway Transport program isn’t about to stop there, however.
Faber insists that the hybrids tugs are “not a flavor of the month type project.” Instead, he says that this technology can be retrofitted onto existing platforms and in doing so, issued a challenge of a sort to industry to do just that. The hybrid tug project, he adds, “Was not driven by regulations or mandates." Instead, the project that took three years to bring from concept to reality, is merely a continuation of other FOSS environmental initiatives. With an entire fleet that already runs on ultra low sulphur diesel – a requirement not set to come into force until 2012 – FOSS operations are already yielding substantial dividends to the environment.
Primarily known as a leading West Coast operator, FOSS of course has operations in other places, as well. Still, Faber put the FOSS way of doing business in perfect perspective when he claimed, “We are both privileged and burdened by operating in some environmentally sensitive areas.” That kind of awareness will probably serve Faber and his employees well in the turbulent months to come as he positions an already modern fleet for the future, aiming to be the “green” operator of choice when the current downturn is over. And, although he readily admits that there is little if any premium paid for these efforts today, the same guy who kept open a marginally profitable shipyard to carry out his plans and voluntarily installed vapor recovery systems on FOSS bunker barges isn’t likely to stray from the plan.
Gary Faber’s message to industry on Wednesday was clear: Stay aggressive, get green and do it for the right reasons. And even those who had enjoyed a late night on Bourbon Street the night before couldn’t fail to get the point. This is a serious – and for more than just one person – a sober week at this year’s Workboat Show. But, there’s plenty of reason to think that the future looks bright indeed. With leadership like that shown by Gary Faber and FOSS, the logic of that sort of thinking is crystal clear. You didn’t need to be limiting yourself to Diet Colas last night to fully understand why. MarEx
Joseph Keefe is the Managing Editor of THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE. He can be reached at [email protected] with comments or questions on this or any other aspect of this newsletter.