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66 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • JUNE 2014 PEOPLE & COMPANY NEWS Spinrad Named NOAA Chief Scientist Dr. Richard (Rick) Spinrad will be step- ping down from his MTS position as he is named chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion (NOAA). President Barack Obama announced the appointment May 8, 2014. Currently he serves as Vice Presi- dent for research at Oregon State Uni- versity. White House Honors Chiarello TOTE, Inc. President and CEO Antho- ny Chiarello was among 11 honored by the White House as 2014 transportation industry “Champions of Change.” Chi- arello was chosen for his role in lead- ing the U.S. maritime industry toward natural gas as fuel. TOTE is building the ? rst natural gas-powered containerships in the world to serve Puerto Rico and is converting its ships in Alaska to natu- ral gas; TOTE is the ? rst in the United States to convert its ? eet to lique? ed natural gas (LNG). Ulrichs: CEO at Rickmers-Linie Ulrich Ulrichs, COO of Rickmers-Linie has been promoted to CEO of the heavy lift and project cargo liner service spe- cialist, effective May 1, 2014. In this context Rüdiger Gerhardt has passed on the role of Global Head of Rickmers- Linie to Ulrichs. Ulstein Increases U.S. Focus “U.S.A. is an increasingly important area of growth, and we see the impor- tance of being present (at the recently held OTC in Houston)” said Gunvor Ul- stein, CEO Ulstein. Several Ulstein de- signed vessels are working in the Gulf of Mexico with Galveston as port. A N.Y. listed ship owner recently bought eight platform supply vessels from Ulstein. And Ulstein was recently contracted to design their ? rst vessel to be constructed in U.S. The vessel of the large and new- developed offshore construction vessel design (SX165) will be constructed at Edison Chouest Offshore’s LaShip yard in Louisiana. The contract also includes options. Edison Chouest Offshore oper- ates a ? eet of more than 200 vessels. It was important for Edison Chouest Off- shore to establish themselves in the Gulf of Mexico with a large Jones Act con- struction vessel, and the SX165 design was selected for building such a vessel at their own shipyard. The current market situation indicates that the demand for such vessels will be strong in the com- ing years. Vessel Safety, Onboard Management Go Hand-in-Hand Attitude change is key to boosting ship- ping’s professional image, says Rajaish Bajpaee, CEO, Bernhard Schulte Ship- management (BSM). Ensuring a robust and dependable safety culture onboard ship is essential to reducing large scale accidents at sea, which is why BSM has placed seafarer attitude-change at the heart of its loss-prevention strategy. “Getting your onboard and shore-based management teams to embrace a loss- prevention mind-set is crucial to the in- dustry goal of no injuries or loss of life, no damage or loss to cargo, no damage or loss to the ship, and no damage or loss to the environment,” said Bajpaee. IRClass Makes Three Appointments Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) announced three new senior appoint- ments aimed at boosting its presence in key international maritime centers. Na- rayanan Shankar joins as Senior Vice President of Business Development in Singapore. Praveen Kumar Mishra has been appointed as Vice President of IR- Class in London. Ravi Kiron Kalra has been promoted to Head of Safety from his previous role as Senior Principal Sur- veyor in IRClass based in Mumbai. DNV GL Acquires Marine Cybernetics DNV GL acquired Marine Cybernetics, a company for third-party testing of com- puter control systems. The acquisition expands DNV GL’s scope of services in the offshore and maritime industries. Marine Cybernetics was established in 2002 as a spin-off from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Vergine Named CEO of Saipem The Board of Directors of Saipem S.p.A. con?rmed the appointment of Umberto Vergine as CEO of Saipem S.p.A. Allianz Names Khanna Allianz Group’s specialist corporate in- surer Allianz Global Corporate & Spe- cialty (AGCS) announced the appoint- ment of Captain Rahul Khanna to Global Head of Marine Risk Consulting, effec- tive July 1, 2014. Harvey Gulf Sells Towing Division to Signet Maritime Harvey Gulf International Marine sold its towing division to Signet Maritime Corporation. Through the deal, Signet will acquire eight offshore towing ves- sels (OTVs) ranging in size from 75 to 153 metric tons bollard pull. The trans- fer of OTV ownership was completed on May 15, 2014 in New Orleans, with ? - nancing provided by Wells Fargo Equip- ment Finance as part of a $209 million syndicated ? nancing facility. Chet Morrison Names Shaw, Ristic Jerome Shaw has been named VP of Marine Construction for Chet Morrison Contractors, LLC, bringing more than 20 years of experience in the oil? eld ma- rine service lines. He will be responsible for the strategic planning, management and operations of the division. He takes over for Brett Blanchard, who has been named to Chet Morrison Contractors’ Board of Managers. Replacing Shaw as HSEQ Director is Bo Ristic, who previ- ously served as Executive HSEQ and Business Development Manager for Triton Diving Services. Ristic has more than 15 years experience managing com- plex projects and developing HSEQ ac- tion plans. Maritime College Honors Angerame, Bouchard The State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College honored two industry leaders at its annual Admiral’s Scholarship Dinner on May 6. The Col- lege honored Richard A. Angerame, Spinrad Ulrichs Gerhardt Shankar Ulstein Chiarello & Foxx ShawVergineRemi Eriksen, DNV GL & Stein Eggan Shane J. Guidry & J. Barry Snyder seal the deal. MR #6 (66-74).indd 66 6/10/2014 9:50:55 AM
