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E nduring a historic October rainfall in New York, someone recently had the audacity to complain about the 10 consecutive days of rain and cold. Of course, the complainer was me, and as soon as the words crossed my lips my thoughts turned to the stories and images coming out of the Gulf of Mexico region, gratis of a double smack from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Putting this disaster in perspective is easily the most difficult task in my 13 plus years with Maritime Reporter. Simply put, the losses are incalcuable, though I’m quite certain a number of insurance companies are burning the mid- night oil trying to do just that. Anyone who knows the Gulf of Mexico realizes that the maritime and offshore energy businesses in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are not merely businesses, they are the very core threads that weave the cultural and economic fabric of the region. For every large corporation in the shipbuilding and offshore oil business that announced losses due to the storms, there are perhaps a dozen other companies that were simply lost. To get the story, we sent Don Sutherland — a long-time contributor to MR sister publication MarineNews — to the region for a week after Katrina hit. Logistics hell, combined with the arrival of hurricane Rita, stretched his one- week tour into a three-week journey. Along the way Don took many pictures — about 60 gigabytes by his best estimate — and met with a good number of locals and outsiders, both marine and non-marine, to gather information for his article, which starts on page 37 of this edition. Anyone who has read Don’s reg- ular work in MarineNews, though, knows that he is rarely at a loss for words. That said, part of his coverage is in the November edition of that publicaton. Along his “On the Road with Charles Kuralt”-esque travels, Don took to the air and water, nearly was left ashore by his ride, heard many great stories that unfortunately are not for publication, and enjoyed incredible generosity and assistance from colleagues I’ve know for years. Most of all, Don got the story. 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. 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. Publications Mail Agreement No: 40024966 Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to Circulation Dept. of DPGM 4960-2 Walker Road Windsor, ON N9A 6J3 Publishers are not responsible for the safekeeping or return of editorial material. ©2005 Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. 118 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 477-6700; fax: (212) 254-6271 ISSN-0025-3448 USPS-016-750 No. 11 Vol. 67 Subscriptions: One full year (12 issues) $28.00 in U.S.; outside of U.S. $52.00 including postage and handling. For subscription information, call 212-477-6700; fax: (212) 254-6271; or e-mail: mrcirc@marinelink.com MARITIME REPORTER AND ENGINEERINGNEWS Member Business Publications Audit of Circulation, Inc. 66 Pipes, Pumps & Valves 73 China 82 Buyer’s Directory 88 Ad Index 89 Classifieds On the Cover: Pictured on this month’s cover is New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina blew through. (Photo Credit: Don Sutherland) Editor’s Note www.marinelink.com trauthwein@marinelink.com On the Cover Circle 202 on Reader Service Card Coming in Maritime Reporter & Engineering News December 2005 Great Ships of 2005 MR’s annual review of the best ships delivered in 2005, with an emphasis on the companies that built and supplied them. January 2006 Passenger Vessel Annual Marine Propulsion Directory Marine Interior Design Marine Finance & Leasing Australia www.marinelink.com 6 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News (I really hate to single anyone out, as Don received assistance from innumerable individuals and companies, but a special debt of gratitude in this case is given to Robert Socha and the entire Bollinger Shipyard crew.) MR NOVEMBER 2005 #1 (1-8).qxd 10/28/2005 11:51 AM Page 8
