Page 6. MAINE COASTAL NEWS August 2014 Port Safety Forum Minutes
Introductions –The meeting was called to order at 10:00 by the Port Safety Forum Alternate Co-Chair Brian Downey on behalf of the Maine Port Authority with Captain Brian Gilda as the Co-Chair representing the Coast Guard. A quorum was comprised of 30 individuals.
Dredging Updates
Tom Dobbins and Brian Downey briefed the Forum on Portland and Searsport dredging projects as follows: Portland Dredge Project –Tom Dobbins (Portland Harbor Commission) provided a short wrap up brief marking the completion of the Portland Dredge Project. The preliminary post dredge statistics for the project include: 551,000 cubic yards of mud and 600 cubic yards of rock removed from the dredge site. Approximately, 1,803 lob- sters and 30,977 Green Crabs were relocated as part of the project. The fi nal survey was conducted and chronicled in an Army Corps of Engineers Report of Channel Conditions dated April 16, 2014.
Searsport Dredge Project – Brian Downey (on behalf of the Maine Port Au- thority) updated the Forum on the status of the Searsport Dredging Project. The USACE and MaineDOT have held two pre-water quality certifi cation application public information meetings in the area as required by Maine DEP. The fi rst was held in Bangor on March 24 and the second on April 8 in Belfast. Both were well attended. We also briefed the Transportation Commit- tee on the project on March 4th. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association also requested a meeting on May 2. The US Army Corps pro- vided good information to them particularly regarding disposal of dredge materials. It is anticipated that the Water Quality Certifi ca- tion application will be submitted to DEP in June.
NOAA Update
LT Meghan McGovern (NOAA Corps) will be assuming the duties previously held by LCDR Brent Pounds. Brent and Meghan are in the middle of their relief process which will end on June 21 when Meghan
will become the Port Safety Forum’s direct NOAA liaison. LT McGovern revisited the previous discussion regarding NOAA’s discontinuation of paper charts. Paper chart printing ended on April 13, 2014. NOAA nautical charts may now be obtained through Print on Demand (POD). POD charts are the only Coast Guard acceptable chart format for navigation.
PDF charts are available through the following link, but do not meet the naviga- tional carriage requirements. nauticalcharts.
noaa.gov/pdfcharts POD charts are offered through 13 vendors. Below is a screen shot from the presentation delivered at the meeting which provides POD Chart provider details. LT McGovern also briefed that the R/V FERDINAND R. HASSLER completed an offshore survey of the approaches to Ports- mouth, NH. The results are still preliminary and are not yet public.
NERACOOS
Tom Shyka – NERACOOS released its annual report earlier this year and one of the success stories featured Captain David Gelinas and his use of the NERACOOS buoy data and forecasts. The Annual Re- port may be downloaded at http://neracoos. org/sites/
neracoos.org/files/documents/ communication/NERACOOS-2013-Annu- al-Report-WEBVERSION.pdf
The University of Maine Physical Oceanography Group recently completed the Spring turn- around of the Gulf of Maine NERACOOS buoys. These buoys will be on station until the fall turn-around. The University of Maine team has been testing new technologies on the buoys that will provide wave direction information. This information is being reviewed and may be available in real-time this summer. NERACOOS has funded the deploy- ment of red tide or Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) sensors along the New England Coast. The buoys with HAB sensors will be deployed until early July.
NERACOOS is working on improving the display of ocean forecast information.
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tom@neracoos.org with questions. High Capacity Passenger Vessels The Port Safety Forum followed a theme of High Capacity Passenger Vessel safety as a preparation for the 2014 cruise ship season. Toni Doucette (City of Portland) Toni Doucette detailed the regulatory require- ments for Ocean Gateway Terminal and Portland Ocean Terminal to meet the Mar- itime Transportation Security Act require- ments as enforced by the Coast Guard. The terminals are owned and managed by the City of Portland. While the terminals accept various types of vessels, cruise ships are a staple of the facility profi le. The terminals host some of the largest and most sophisti- cated ships in the world; operated by brand name companies such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian Cruise lines, Carni- val, etc. Ms. Doucette explained that the 2014 summer cruise ship season has started with arrivals already logged by American Cruise Lines and the new Nova Star inter- national ferry. Late summer/early fall is the highest volume of cruise ship traffi c with upwards of 3000+ combined passengers and crew per (large) cruise ship. The city expects to facilitate at least 65 distinct cruise ship arrivals which will host over 75,000 cruise ship passengers this cruise season (exclud- ing the daily Nova Star schedule). Eric Junker (Nova Star Cruises) Mr. Junker briefed the forum on the overall operation of the new international ferry NOVA STAR which links Portland, ME and Yarmouth, NS. The connection resumes the service previously offered by the THE CAT and SCOTIA PRINCE. Nova Star Cruises began operations May 15 and will operate the ferry through November 1 using the Ocean Gateway Terminal in Portland. The ship is virtually brand new. Built in Singa- pore, the ship has a capacity of 1,215 pas- sengers and 162 overnight cabins. The ferry has multiple vehicle decks and accepts cars, buses and commercial trucks, although the ferry in not accepting any dangerous truck cargoes. The ferry is very well appointed with the latest navigation, propulsion, fi re and safety systems which were verifi ed in a combined pre-season Transport Canada/US Coast Guard Port State Control examination in May. The safety and fi re systems have been well tested and procedures reviewed and exercised to ensure effi ciency and co- ordination with port partners in the event of an emergency.
Captain Brian Fournier (Portland
Tug Boat Company) Captain Fournier outlined the capabilities and contractual
nuances of tug boat assistance in the event of an event requiring external emergency re- sources. He explained that most companies use consortium based response contracts and agreements that would be used to trigger tug boat assistance. He further, explained some of the technical details of a few of the tugs within the Portland fl eet that would be used for salvage or fi refi ghting. ANDREW MCALLISTER was the featured tug, which was built in 2008, offering 6000 HP to deliv- er 83 tons of bollard pull. The presentation highlighted its FiFi 1 Firefi ghting classifi ca- tion, boasting 3000 gallon foam capability and 2 fi re monitors capable of delivering 11,600 gallons per minute to the highest decks of most ships (with fi re department direction). The boat also has a 1100 gallon per minute deluge system, to help protect the vessel from radiant heat. RODERICK MCALLISTER was also highlighted as having fi refi ghting capability with one fi re monitor capable of 500 gallons per minute. Overall, ANDREW MCALLISTER and RODERICK MCALLISTER are outstand- ing assets for the port that can be integrated with City fi refi ghting resources, if needed. Captain Chris Pirone (Portland Fire
Department) Captain Pirone represented the Portland Fire Prevention Bureau and delivered some brief remarks regarding the general role of the fi re department in facil- ity safety and fi re protection. Considering the large volumes of passenger traffi c from cruise ships, Captain Pirone emphasized the importance of the ship/facility interface during the port calls to ensure that crews were aware of in-port emergency proce- dures. Additionally, the Fire Prevention Bu- reau ensures that egress routes, international shore connections, and overall emergency preparedness are established in advance to ensure safety.
Chief Frohman (Sector Northern New England) Chief Frohman provided a detailed presentation regarding the require- ments for foreign vessels of 400 Gross Tons or more to comply with Vessel Response Planning requirements to protect lives and the environment. Each vessel must carry a Vessel Response Plan (VRP) with de- tailed pre-arranged capabilities to respond to various emergency scenarios and must list specifi c resources and contact details for each port the ship will call. The Coast Guard verifi es that Sector Northern New England is represented in each ship’s VRP that calls within the Captain of the Port zone. In addition to traditional oil spill response capability, VRPs are now required through contract or other acceptable means, to prove capability to respond to fi re and salvage
Continued on Page 9.
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