Plimsoll Awards for maritime safety presented at salvage conference

摘要

Professional Mariner honored advocates of maritime safety by awarding its 2003 Samuel Plimsoll Awards to U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Domenic Calicchio and the Columbia River Bar Pilots on Sept. 11. The presentation was made in Arlington, Va., before an audience of about 150 people attending the National Maritime Salvage Conference, sponsored by the American Salvage Association. Calicchio was the head of the Coast Guard board of inquiry that investigated the sinking of Marine Electric, a bulk carrier that sank in a storm off the coast of Virginia in February 1983. His determination to confront the serious deficiencies in the condition of Marine Electric led to the scrapping of the oldest and most dangerous ships in the U.S. merchant fleet. The board's report also induced the Coast Guard to confront the deficiencies in its ship inspections programs.