MarEx Mailbag: Reader Response to MarEx Articles

MarEx readers weigh in on a host of MarEx articles from previous online editions.

In our July 24th e-newsletter, we published an editorial entitled, "A Time for Restraint: Maritime Disasters Usually Not What They Seem." The piece centered on both the Cosco Busan case and the crisis on the Mississippi River (collision and oil spill) attracting speculation and needless drama – and sometimes, grandstanding. A couple of MarEx readers had something to say about both the article and the situation itself. Read the July 24th editorial by clicking HERE. Read our reader's comments on the article below:

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Mr. Keefe -

I just wanted to thank you for your recent editorial calling for a bit of calm as the Coast Guard goes about its work in cleaning up the major #6 fuel oil spill that occurred at mile marker 97.2 on the Mississippi River after the collision of the Uninspected Towing Vessel Mel Oliver/Barge DM932 and the chemical tank ship M/V TINTOMARA.

As you noted, there is a lot of work to do in the spill cleanup, managing the waterway to keep traffic moving and investigating the causes of the collision. I expect a public hearing to be held about August 12th and we will be releasing more factual information prior to that hearing that I know will be of interest to the maritime public.

Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Joel R. Whitehead
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard
Commander (d) / 8th Coast Guard District

MarEx Editor's Note: In the considerable time that has past since this incident, I think that the Coast Guard showed itself to be an effective and fast acting organization. As commerce returns to near normal conditions, the results of their still ongoing efforts speak volumes. Here's another letter on the same subject:

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Good morning:

I read with appreciation your recent editorial "A Time for Restraint." As a graduate of the USMMA, former deck officer and now maritime attorney of 25+ years experience investigating and defending shipowner interests in casualty cases, I concur that generally initial impressions miss the mark. More particularly, as a student and occasional maritime academy speaker on the subject of error as a factor in maritime casualties, I have come to realize that maritime domain error, contrasted to error in other safety critical domains, is understudied and often misunderstood. One result is that formal investigations may fail to uncover or address all root causes (an omission I must concede may be aided and abetted by attorneys deliberately protecting their clients' interests). One consequence is that conclusions may be incomplete and remediation misdirected. For example, one OPA90 section in essence denied EXXON VALDEZ the opportunity ever to return to Prince William Sound, a 20th century revival of the medieval deodand doctrine whereby an offending physical object would be punished for its "crime" (distinct from a vessel's traditional in rem legal liability). Leaping to conclusions may carry one over the edge and into the abyss of another kind of error.

Cordially,

Geoff Gill

MarEx Editor's Remarks: This one speaks for itself – not much that I can add to it. The next three letters refer to my July 31st editorial, which I foolishly took the time to write while on vacation in Canada (much to my wife's displeasure). You can read that editorial, entitled, "Canada: Clean, Green and Simply Cranking Out the Energy," by clicking HERE. Read our reader's comments on the article below:

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Joe,

First things first: hang onto that wife of yours! Any gal who is both smart and gutsy enough to chuck the Blackberry out the window, you need her to stick around!

Second, you hit the nail on the head wrt energy production in this country. Now if we could just convince Congress…

For His glory,

Pat Tracy
Psalm 107:23-24

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I loved your article!

Lisa Doud
RYDLYME Marine & RDO Product Line Manager
Apex Engineering Products Corporation

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Joe, good work. You may get some other opinions regarding clean "Canada." A number of Mayors of major U.S. cities call it dirty oil; for example the tar sands due to the huge emission problems and the degradation of the land. Look up the Pembina Institute a think tank and they may have some good articles.

Sincerely,

Doug Good, Business Development / Project Manager
WILCO CONTRACTORS Southwest Inc.
Calgary, Alberta

MarEx Editor's Remarks: The third letter is from my brother-in-law. In addition to cleaning my clock at squash, he also took the time to provide me with a copy of a report entitled, "The Oil Sands Report Card," a text which touts – among other things – that oil sand mines have "substantial room for improvement across the sector." So, in the interest of fairness, I thought I'd share that with the readers, but it does not change my overall position, or the message that I laid out in the editorial. We, in the United States, can and should produce more energy – and we can do it in an environmentally sound fashion. Finally, one other reader weighed in on the (MARAD announcement) piece in our 31 July edition entitled, "Last World War II-Era Liberty Ship Leaving James River Reserve Fleet." You can read that announcement by clicking HERE. Read our reader's comments on the article below:

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RE: LAST WWII Era Ship leaves article…

Joe,

Lest we forget! US Navy gun crews were there too, "Liberty Ships". I was there!

Jack Slier

MarEx Remarks: I have another brother-in-law (a lot of them actually, with five sisters) whose Dad was a U.S. Navy gun crew member on U.S. merchant vessels during WWII, as well. Lest we forget, indeed!

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