WASHINGTON – Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) this week received the 2014 Champion of Maritime Award from the American Maritime Partnership (AMP), the voice of the domestic maritime industry. The organization provides the prestigious award to recognize an individual who has displayed extraordinary dedication to and consistent support for the American maritime industry.
Exciting economic development and job creation news out of Kansas City: the city's barge-shipping terminal, which has been closed since 2007, is reopening at the confluence of the Missouri and Kaw rivers.
From The Virginian-Pilot..."Supplying merchant ships with the vast amounts of fuel they need to travel the globe is neither quick nor easy. And it's done on the water, from oil barges such as the one pushed by Meekins' tug. The barge crews work around the clock ferrying fuel to ships around Hampton Roads - a journey most people never see. This little-known corner of the East Coast maritime trade rests with one company: Vane Brothers, which began in Baltimore in 1898 as a ship chandler, ferrying supplies to anchored ships. Today, it owns a fleet of 66barges and 48 tugs.
On the 13th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, America’s tugboat, towboat and barge industry pauses to remember the nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives, and also to acknowledge the inspiring bravery shown by first responders and everyday citizens on that tragic day. One of the most notable acts of valor was the maritime evacuation of Lower Manhattan – the largest water evacuation in American history – in which 500,000 people were transported to safety by hundreds of vessels which answered a call from the U.S.
