We develop and sustain Washington’s maritime careers.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The ABYC Foundation will host a free online Educator Forum on Nov. 13 offering collaboration and discussions for high school and post-secondary educators, industry trainers and administrators involved in marine service technology programs. “The Educator Forum is about building connections that strengthen marine education programs and, ultimately, our industry’s workforce,” accreditation director Sarah Devlin said in a statement. “Whether a school already offers a marine service program or is just getting started, this event offers practical insights and tools to help them succeed.”

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. As maritime companies continue to struggle to fill job vacancies, a small, family-run shipyard in Seattle believes it has found a winning strategy. Snow & Company Inc., which builds workboats, pilot boats, fishing vessels, and tugboats at its facility along the Lake Washington Ship Canal, has developed what it calls “hiring from non-traditional avenues,” which means diving deep into labor markets that have been traditionally ignored by the maritime industry. In addition to targeting maritime trade schools, Snow taps veterans, ex-prisoners, or those starting work release, and in a more innovative approach, immigrants and refugees, many of whom do not speak English when hired. 

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. Three industry experts told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday that the United States faces an urgent need to rebuild its commercial shipbuilding capacity in the face of decades of Chinese industrial targeting and declining domestic maritime infrastructure. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries convened the hearing titled “Sea Change: Reviving Commercial Shipbuilding” to examine how to modernize U.S. commercial shipbuilding while strengthening the broader maritime industrial base. The hearing focused on President Trump’s efforts within the National Security Council to “Make Shipbuilding Great Again” and issues likely to be addressed in the administration’s upcoming Maritime Action Plan, a key component of the President’s Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance executive order signed in April.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The American Waterways Operators, the trade association of the American tugboat, towboat and barge (TTB) industry, has released a new video on the industry’s contributions to U.S. national and homeland security. The two-minute AWO video, The Tugboat, Towboat and Barge Industry: Supplying America, Securing America, notes that while the mariners who transport cargo and facilitate commerce on America’s rivers, coasts, harbors and Great Lakes are critical to powering the economy, they also play a vital role in safeguarding the nation: By supporting the Coast Guard in securing \borders and waterways; by moving military cargo on domestic waters and guiding Navy ships in and out of U.S. ports; by delivering supplies to help American communities recover from disasters; and by ensuring a strong, reliable domestic maritime supply chain under American control.