Message from the President

Messages from Foss Leadership

By Chris Mack Jr., COO

Holiday Greetings

Holiday Greetings,

In wrapping up 2023 we can’t help but reflect on what a challenging yet rewarding year we’ve had at Foss Maritime. In looking back to last January, we were plagued with uncertainty around our ability to hire enough Mariners to get through a busy year of new projects as well as the demands of our regional operations. Post pandemic we realized how important it is to refocus our energy on engagement. This brought revitalization to regional safety committee meetings in person. We successfully held Deck Officer Conferences across all regions with the remainder to be finalized Q1 2024. I also want to thank the many volunteers in the various regions who stepped up to take the lead in hosting regional safety committee meetings.

As we look ahead, I want to share a few items as it relates to the shoreside support organization as well as where we need to continue to focus our energy in 2024. Most recently, we have posted jobs to fulfill the needs of our HSQE department. The positions will be in support of our increased marine assurance needs, operational safety, as well as coordination and communication of both. We encourage interested employees to reach out to me, their manager, or Rosie Chavez if they have any questions or have interest in the posted positions.

Recently in the PNW region, we welcomed Drew Kerlee aboard as Port Captain. Drew will report to Sam Diedrick as we continue to strengthen the bond of cross regional support between both regions. We have also posted a Marine Personnel Manager position for Foss Hawaii in support of the Honolulu inner harbor operations and the developing team under Andrea Mack. In the coming weeks many of you will see Capt. Whit Olson in the SoCal region supporting El Segundo Operations. The SoCal team has developed a Z-Drive training program in support of El Segundo Line Tug operations in which Whit will help support the training program and open the door to future advancements in our operations at the moorings.

In other news, there has been several projects across the company. The NorCal team recently completed a massive project with the removal of the dredge boom on the TS&G 230. This 10-day Maintenance & Repair project was in support of reliable operations for Maritn Marietta dredging operations in San Francisco Bay. In writing this update, the crews working offshore are in process of delivering the 6th wind component spread to the Sea Installer out of New Bedford. There are countless other projects in which both the regional teams and project services group are working on which contributes to a successful transition into Q1 2024.

In our transition to 2024, there will be a few areas of focus that we all need to participate in for our continued success. Laura Rosenberg and her team of marine personnel managers will be working towards reestablishing our “in-person” Mariner training program. This was a widespread request through my vessel visitations, deck officer meetings, and employee surveys. This will be an exciting development as we continue to increase engagement and focus on training and development. Through our collaboration with Saltchuk Marine Shared Services, the operations teams will continue to focus on our vessel procurement practices as it relates to streamlining the experience of both getting goods and services to our vessels and actively managing our inventory.

We are also diligently working towards our newbuild program. At this time, we are currently working through steps to secure preliminary design work for a “Harbor Assist” vessel in the range of 95 tons + BP. Our desire is to use the foundation based on the success of the current DOLPHIN design considering the current needs of our Mariners, customers, and ports of operation. We hope to be developing a more focused approach on design and outfitting once the preliminary design has been confirmed.

In closing, I want to congratulate the team in their focus on safe operations as we close out 2023. It is a true testament of the mentality of a good “shipmate”. We wish you all a fantastic holiday season!

CMJ

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Messages from Foss Leadership

Holiday Greetings

Archived Messages:

Always Safe. Always Ready.