Editorial: Editor’s Note

As intrusive, costly and arcane as some rules that regulate our industry may seem, I have an entirely different perspective . I love them. To me, new rules and regulations mean an endless array of interesting articles to pursue and publish in our pages. It is a given that new regulations mean an increased cost of doing business. Trust me in that I do not wish increased cost on our readers and customers. Pick up your favorite business newspaper or magazine, flick on the television or computer, or simply talk with a colleague or friend, and I think that you will agree that intense competition and consolidation have severely challenged companies of all shape and size to build and maintain profitability. The trick, then, becomes the ability to embrace the new reality in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. A great example is OPA 90. Following the Valdez tanker oil spill, OPA 90 was introduced to help reduce the future likelihood of such a mishap. Among a myriad of rules, OPA 90 is most closely associated with the double hulling of tankers trading in U.S. waters. When first introduced, and in fact to this day, the merits of double-hulled ships as a method to eradicate oil spills from tankers are hotly debated. Some of this furor subsided when several successive spills off Europe's coast resulted in new double hull tanker rules from this region. Starting on page 22 we look at an innovative solution to turn single hull tankers into double hull tankers. Estimated to be a quarter to a third of the cost of a newbuild tanker, the process has been created by Maritrans in cooperation with Lloyd's Register. Another area of major regulatory concern is the vast realm of Maritime Security, and all that it encompasses. While movement to procure new solutions has been slower than expected, it is foolhardy to believe that this will not be the topic that defines a generation in the maritime industry. From the reinvention of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, through the sweeping changes that are forever altering the processes and procedures ports and port facilities (including shipyards), on through to the world's largest owner/operators to the smallest small fleets, Maritime Security has and will continue to permeate every pore of the market. As VADM Terry Cross, USCG Commander of the Pacific Fleet, recently said: "We have many challenges today... and they all involve technological solutions."