Paul Benecki

Staff Writer

Paul Benecki is a graduate of Cornell University's chemistry program. He worked in industry for several years before shipping out on freighters and tugs on the U.S. West Coast, then with the University of Washington's research vessel, the Thomas G. Thompson. He studied navigation and bridge resource management at the Pacific Maritime Institute, and is currently a staff writer and news editor at The Maritime Executive Magazine.

"Fix Me!"

By Paul Benecki 2019-01-18 18:01:53

Vessel operators pay close attention to their hull and machinery, but what if the ship could talk to them directly about its condition? That’s basically the goal of condition monitoring, or condition-based maintenance, which in effect “tell” the shipowner when and where repairs are needed. At the most basic level, condition monitoring (CM) simply means tracking key indicators of equipment health and looking for changes that could predict trouble. Lube oil analysis is a time-tested example:...

Overland Express

By Paul Benecki 2018-12-20 20:15:52

Trucking dominates the business of moving boxes to and from container ports and has a big advantage: A truck can go virtually anywhere there’s a road. However, its flexibility comes with a price. Truck drayage is the least fuel-efficient method to move a container. Over long distances, it’s usually the most expensive. When combined with other modes of transportation in an intermodal network, on the other hand, it can be very cost-effective. In the most common form of intermodal transport,...

IN THE KNOW Podcast 6: USMMA at 75

By Paul Benecki 2018-10-03 21:50:00

In this edition of the Maritime Executive Magazine podcast series, we spoke with Capt. Jim Tobin, the head of the USMMA Alumni Association and Foundation, and with Ivy Barton Suter, an alumnus of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and an advocate for its flagship "Sea Year" program. The academy's leadership and its student body have implemented many changes in the wake of the 2016 Sea Year standown, and the Alumni Foundation has played a key role in that process -...

Does Europe Have Enough Shipbreaking Capacity?

By Paul Benecki 2018-09-25 19:47:47

Under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (SRR), vessels flagged in EU countries will have to be scrapped at EU-approved yards beginning next January. All 20 yards on the current approved list are within the EU, and members of industry have expressed skepticism about whether they have the capacity. In a report released Monday, advocacy coalition NGO Shipbreaking Platform pushed back, asserting that European ship recyclers already have enough room. NGO Shipbreaking Platform calculates the maximum capacity of the current EU-listed yards at 1.15...

Digital Twins

By Paul Benecki 2018-08-17 15:08:53

Individual shipowners may not always have the resources to invest in their own research and development. With intense competitive pressures, rising bunker prices and new compliance costs, their focus is on the bottom line. But R&D comes naturally to class societies, which have engineering expertise at the core of their business model and are leading the way in developing new data-driven opportunities for shipping. While the top class societies' much-discussed “digitalization” initiatives may sound futuristic or abstract, they are all...

Quieting the Waters

By Paul Benecki 2018-06-04 19:18:00

Orcas are charismatic, playful and well-publicized, and they might be British Columbia's best-known animals. One large subgroup is also endangered, and researchers say that ship noise - particularly cavitation - bears a large share of the blame. Southern resident killer whales (SRKWs) are a genetically distinct population of orcas. In the summer, they congregate in the busy waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait and the Georgia Strait. Their population was reduced by collection for marine parks in the 1960s, and...

White House Seeks Input on U.S. Shipping Regulations

By Paul Benecki 2018-05-18 18:04:00

The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is soliciting public input on ways to reduce regulatory costs and restrictions on the American maritime industry. In particular, it is asking for recommendations regarding merchant ships and opportunities for "increased regulatory cooperation between the United States and foreign partners, especially Canada and Mexico." Consistent with President Donald Trump's focus on deregulation, OIRA is gathering comments on how "agency requirements affecting the maritime sector can be modified or repealed to increase...

Compliance Challenges

By Paul Benecki 2018-03-22 22:04:00

Wastewater is ubiquitous on land and sea, and ships create multiple streams of effluent as they voyage from one port to the next. Their ballast systems discharge marine life. Their passengers and crew create sewage, and oil mixes with water in their engine room bilges. Vessel operators must handle these waste streams carefully to preserve the marine environment, avoid penalties and maintain the bottom line. Discharge regulations and treatment technologies are constantly changing, and shipowners must make smart investments to...

IN THE KNOW Podcast 3: Transas Wants to Change Navigation

By Paul Benecki 2018-03-18 13:09:00

[Update: On Monday, technology firm Wärtsilä announced that it is purchasing Transas.] Transas CEO Frank Coles is one of the industry's most outspoken provocateurs. He questions the methods of the class societies, the P&I clubs, the satcom providers and the IMO. He describes tech skeptics as "citizens against virtually everything." He dismisses the buzz about autonomous ships and promotes technology as a means of support for mariners instead. Today, he's calling for an overhaul of the industry's entire model for maritime operations, and he...

PULLING TOGETHER

By Paul Benecki 2018-02-09 22:40:00

In the wake of Hurricane Maria, the Jones Act has become a bone of contention with critics claiming it hinders the Puerto Rican economy and supporters pointing to its importance for American jobs and national security. However, the tugs and barges that move 760 million tons of cargo across the nation each year – the majority of the Jones Act fleet – are often glossed over in this debate. According to the American Waterways Operators, 5,500 tugs and 31,000 barges...