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MARITIME REPORTER AND ENGINEERING NEWS Editor's Note I m not sure if it's just me, but if you haven't noticed, the earth has stopped spinning, the sun has gone . dark and the world is coming to a cataclysmic end any day now. A bit extreme, you say? Perhaps. But frankly, the dour reports coming from all four cor- ners is starting to have an effect. Not in recent memory have so many had so little to be happy about. Cruise? No orders in more than a year. Offshore? Starting a down cycle. Tanker? Too much capacity/too many subsidies. Most everything else? Terrible. Is it all that bad? I think not. If there's one thing I've noticed about the marine business, an industry which is notorious for it's cyclical nature, there is seldom if ever an upbeat tone. The very nature of this diverse business, though, practically mandates that there is always an opportunity ... sometimes they are simply harder to find. There has been a lull in new cruise ship construction, a fact most assuredly tied to the events of 9/11. But lost sometimes is the fact that the cruise industry has, over the last decade, simultaneously experienced a record number of new ships and endured ceaseless corporate consolidation. These two factors alone could provide a cause for pause in the ordering of half-billion dollar ships. The fact that more people were unable or unwilling to travel down south to jump aboard a cruise ship is real, but this situation has spawned cruises from a host of new, non-traditional cruise home ports that have proven popular and could spur real passenger growth in the years to come. Maritime Security is an area for obvious growth, with the demand for vessels and equipment climbing rapidly around the country, and around the globe. The time to target the vast "homeland security" market is yesterday, but it is still not too late to jump on now. The government, with the official "opening of the doors" of the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003, has under- gone one of its most radical restructuring in almost 60 years. Security starts at the borders, and at last check, the U.S. has more than 95,000 miles of navigable waterways with which to contend. New missions, new technologies, more ves- sels ... sounds like an opportunity to me. On the Cover Pictured on this month's cover is Normond Mermoid, o massive Anchor Handling Tug built by Norway's Ulstein Verft. A similar vessel, Normand Master, was delivered last month for Solstad. The story starts on poge 40. In this edition 19 Government Update 57 Training & Education Directory 49 UK "-port 64 Ship's Store 70 Buyer's Directory 72 Advertiser's Index 74 Classified Ad Section Subscriptions: One full year (12 issues) S24.00 in U.S.; outside of U.S. S96.00 including postage and handling. For subscription information, con- tact: Dale Barnett, fax: (212) 254-6271; e-mail: barnett@marinelink.com www.marinelink.com ISSN-0025-3448 USPS-016-750 No. 4 Vol 65 118 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 477-6700; fax: (212) 254-6271 Founder: John J. O'Malley 1905 - 1980 Charles P. O'Malley 1928 - 2000 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News is published monthly by Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. Mailed at Periodicals Postage Rates at Waterbury, CT 06701 and additional mailing offices. Postmaster send notification (Form 3579) regarding undeliverable magazines to Maritime Reporter/Engineering News, 118 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010. Canada Post International Publications Mail Product (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 0970700. Printed in U.S.A. Publishers are not responsible for the safekeeping or return of editorial material. ©2003 Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro- duced or transmitted in any form or by any means mechani- cal, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers. Member INTERNATIONAL ® Business Publications Audit of Circulation, Inc. www.marinelink.com trauthwein@marinelink.com Looking for service reliability, we deliver it. ABB Turbochargers am New York/NJ, Miami, Houston, Seattle/Tacoma, Los Angeles - email: turbochargers@us.abb.com Other Printed & Electronic Products MarineNews Published 18 times per year, MarineNews is covers the North American inland/offshore shallow draft market. Marine Security Sourcebook Published four limes per year, the definitive guide to marine security systems, products and services. 2003 Global Marine Directory CD More than 110,000 records... log onto www.marinelink.com and download a FREE SAMPLE. www.maritimetoday.com • Customized e-mail news service twice a day. www.maritimejobs.com • The marine industry's recruiting & employment resource. www.marinelink.com • The Internet's largest marine website, with over 270,000 "hits" 6 Circle 200 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
