In the clip below, Dr. Sal Mercogliano discusses the five big shipping stories of the year: the Houthis, global container shipping, tariffs, Matson, and tariff disruptions.
Lastly, he addressed ship fires. The NTSB Chair is sounding the alarm about the danger of inadequate training by some fire departments. Unsurprisingly, Newark is one of the worst. The city is a disaster in the air and on the sea. We have heard a lot about their airport problems, but fire department training is also a serious problem.
Warning About Ship Fires
All it would take to turn dangerous ship fires around in US ports is training.
(22:43 on the clip below)
Training failures contributed to the deaths of two firefighters on a RoRo ship at Port Newark in July 2023. According to the National Transportation Safety Board chairman, Jennifer L. Homendy, it is part of a broader nationwide shortfall in shipboard firefighter training.
“I am profoundly concerned with ongoing failures to appropriately train our nation’s firefighters despite the NTSB sounding the alarm time and again following tragedies in all modes of transportation,” said Homendy in a statement joined by three others of the NTSB board.
She praised the NYFD and the Port of Virginia.
Newark is seriously lacking.
Most of Newark’s firefighters and chiefs had no tactical shipboard firefighting training and had never been on a large vessel. The most recent training prior to the fire was held in 2014, and only two of the responding firefighters attended those sessions. The lack of training extended to the engine company tasked with operating Newark’s two fireboats—according to the report, the Newark Fire Division did not participate in exercises and meetings held by the New Jersey Fire Boat Task Force due to a lack of funding for overtime.
Even after the fire, according to the NTSB chair’s statement, Newark firefighters have only been provided with a four-hour Shipboard Firefighting Awareness class and participated in vessel tours. “This is far from the training firefighters need and deserve to appropriately respond to vessel fires,” she said.
It’s not the only city that lacks training.
The Houthi Bombings
Dr. Sal Mercogliano’s take on the Houthi bombings is worth listening to. It’s the first topic in the clip above.
The Houthis have attacked over 100 ships, and most have nothing to do with Israel. They have killed several mariners and sunk two ships.
Since January, the Houthis have caused only one major incident, partly because 40% of ships are going around Africa.
Dr. Sal doesn’t believe the military will solve the Houthi problem. Saudis bombed them relentlessly and got nowhere. They are insurgents, and what they do is cause insurance to go up just by the threat of an attack.
Shippers are also not compelled to open the Red Sea. They make more money traveling around Africa.
One reason Trump is bombing is to help Egypt. He wants Egypt to give US ships free passage through the Suez Canal.
Trump wants to bring US-flagged ships through the Red Sea. The big drawback is the cost of insurance.
Other Topics Worth Listening to involve shipping containers holding up shipping, tariffs, and the problem of China missing from the global highway.
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