editorial
A reader recently pointed out to me that if we keep looking for the most strikingly ugly numbers to report, we might end up creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. No one disputes the fact that the economy is hurting, but Don Wilson, from C. E. Supply Company, has a point. Wilson's company, out of Debert, N.S., Canada sells mainly used engines and gensets from U.S. suppliers to foreign buyers in Asia, South America and Greece. He wrote that he often can't find enough product to fill orders in hand. I've heard from a few others who say their maritime related businesses are doing well, if not growing, and I think Wilson is on to something when he suggests taking a closer look at what's going right. Insular executive offices and board rooms have been blamed for causing the short-sightedness (and greed) of the financial sector and the lack of innovation in the automobile industry. By comparison, talking with the innovators in the workboat industry puts me at ease. There are examples of individual innovators such as Brian O'Connor, mechanical designer and President of OCOR Corporation, who is looking to build a prototype from his patented submerged waterjet design and has attracted the attention of notable companies. Then there are companies and organizations that show leadership, like Bureau Veritas (BV), which recently released new guidelines for the application of fuel cells on ships. Gijsbert de Jong, BV product manager, blamed the lack of wider applications of fuel cells on what he called a "vicious cycle" where the lack of a regulatory framework for fuel cells reduced incentive to create prototypes, yet
6 MN
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the absence of fuel cells in the industry is a disincentive to spend time creating that framework. This is the same quandary explained to me by Cameron Clark, Director of Environmental Affairs at Hornblower Cruise & Events, when he took me on a tour of the company's hybrid ferry in San Francisco Bay. This challenge didn't keep Hornblower from building its hybrid, instead it inspired the company to work with the Coast Guard to address the need for a framework for hybrids on the U.S. coast and waterways.
Raina Clark Managing Editor rainaclark@marinelink.com
April 2009