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Letter to the Editor Dear Greg: First, you know that I have the world of respect for all that you and your col- leagues at Maritime Reporter and Engi- neering News, MarineLink.com, Marine News, and Marine Technology Reporter do to help keep our industry and govern- ment leaders accurately informed. As a result I was surprised and even disappointed when I came upon "Money for Nothing - Maritime Salvage for Fun & Profit" appearing in the 2010 World Yearbook edition of the Maritime Re- porter and Engineering News. No one I know in the salvage industry would ever think of associating the words “Money for Nothing” with the challenging and often dangerous work of marine salvage. Nor would anyone I know in this busi- ness associate the word “Fun” with the response to a vessel in distress with the potential for loss of life and damage to the environment not to mention loss or damage to the vessel itself as well as its cargo. Frankly, I found the article soph- omoric from its beginning, “You are sail- ing along in your ship ….” to its end, “… the best thing a person who has rendered assistance at sea can do next is to contact a lawyer.” You have given the issues of salvage, marine firefighting and wreck removal significant coverage in the past and, as a result, have helped raise the level of un- derstanding of the important role of the salvor at the time of a marine casualty. Please know that I am grateful for that and that my colleagues and I will be pleased to assist you in any way that we can in the future. Best regards, Dick Richard E. Fredricks, Director American Salvage Association 801 North Quincy Street, Suite 200 Arlington, Virginia 22203 U.S.A. Tel: 1-703-373-2267 www.americansalvage.org August 2010 www.marinelink.com 7 Obituary Jack Gilbert John (Jack) William Gilbert, Founder and President of John W. Gilbert Associates Inc., a Naval Archi- tect and Marine Engineering company in Hingham, Mass., died at the age of 80 years on July 26, 2010. Gilbert was a resident of North Scituate, Mass., for more than 48 years. He graduated with a B.S.Nam. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1955. Gilbert founded John W. Gilbert Associates, Inc., in 1964, which has a long and suc- cessful business in ship design, over- seeing the construction of over 400 vessels ranging from fishing, research, passenger vessels and vehicle ferries, excursion ships, tugboats, fireboats, river towboats, to other commercial vessels. He pioneered original research from his model tests, developed com- puter programs and simulations for his design and stability of vessels. Addi- tionally, Gilbert received numerous awards and has given lectures world- wide on topics of naval architecture and marine engineering, fishing indus- try and diversification, vessel regula- tions, and ferry transportation. An online guestbook is at www.mcnamara-sparrell.com
