insights
Please submit your `insights' nominations to Raina Clark at rainaclark@marinelink.com
Richard Horner, CEO, AHL Shipping
Richard Horner and AHL Shipping made news last year when it announced a deal to build three Jones Act tankers for charter to Shell Trading -- the first Jones Act tankers built to common structural rules (CSR) adopted by IACS. Starting with a blank sheet of paper, Horner and his design team invented this purpose-built ship from the bottom up, a process that -- as anyone knows who has ever done it -- results in its fair share of headaches and heartburn. MarineNews visited with Horner in his San Antonio office recently to discuss his company and this project. MN: How did you get into this business? Horner: My grandfather and my father were in the refinery business, and that's what I thought I was supposed to do. But I was hired by Ingram on the tanker marketing side, I stayed there five years and the rest is history. I was hired by Captain Bo Downing two weeks after he formed AHL, hired to charter ships. I left AHL for 27 months in the early 1990s, and worked for Ron McAlear at Avondale, which gave me a good opportunity to understand U.S. Shipyards. I then came back to AHL as CEO. MN: Last year you announced your deal with Shell to build Jones Act tankers. What makes these ships unique? Horner: First, we started with a blank sheet of paper and said 'Let's build a tanker that fits the domestic trade.' Versatility is the key to these ships, versatility in the cargo carried and the way in which they load and unload. These ships are purpose built to go from the Mississippi River to Florida, and they are purpose built for this route. MN: What has been the biggest change to the industry in your career? Horner: Industry oversight, for one, as well as a change in the environmental consciousness and quality management. We even put 'office guys' on the ships, personnel
10 MN
with degrees in marine safety and quality. It is their job to assist shipboard management, to assess what needs to be done (to improve operations). MN: What do you count as your top challenges today? Horner:Finding and keeping qualified people. Culturally, young people today question the wisdom of a life at sea. I also believe that the renewed vigor in the Gulf of Mexico has cost us some people. MN: Is there anything you find troublesome in the industry? Horner: Yes. It bothers me when we sign on to new rules designed to make ships safer, and I turn around three times and no one else is doing it. Whey
November 2008