By Tony Munoz

It is winter in South Florida, and millions swarm in from around the world to vacation in the Caribbean on the cruise ships waiting at their berths in Port Everglades. For the residents of Fort Lauderdale, the sight of tourists crowding the streets, restaurants, shops and hotels means it's another busy season. For the Chamber of Commerce and the cruise lines, the exuberant masses armed with pockets of credit cards and cash mean it's yet another glorious season of revenues. But no matter what the perspective, there is no denying the world is in love with South Florida.

By Joseph Keefe

Case studies centering on successful offshore and brownwater U.S. Gulf operators are a dime a dozen. The seemingly endless summer of success and prosperity in the Oil Patch has lasted for years, enduring devastating hurricanes and other calamities. It does seem, at times, that anyone with three boats who has the gumption to string together a towline can make a buck in this environment. For this reason alone, some may find it too bothersome to read about yet another tale of success on the Gulf Coast. To ignore the Harvey Gulf International Marine story, however, would be a serious mistake.

By Joseph Keefe

Visiting the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) for the first time is an impressive event. Founded in 1972 and located just minutes from one of the United States? most efficient air/rail public transportation hubs, the school has everything located on its spacious, eightyacre tree-lined campus. The infrastructure includes a 232-room, three-star quality hotel and conference center, 45 classrooms and one of the most advanced marine simulation technology centers in the world. The quality of the infrastructure, the attention to detail and the professionalism of the staff boldly state that customer service is much more than a slogan for this organization.

This August marked the anniversary of two milestones in the history of environmental services in the U.S.: the passing of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) and the 2005 landfall of Hurricane Katrina. Experts continue to debate whether the extent of Katrina?s wrath could have been predicted. It is, however, an unassailable fact that without the development of the oil spill response industry following OPA 90 we would have lacked the critical infrastructure to respond swiftly and efficiently to the offshore incidents caused by the storm.

By Joseph Keefe

Returning VT Halter from adversity and building its three Mississippi yards into a premier mid-tier ship construction company have not been empty promises coming from the likes of General Boyd "Butch" King, the company's Chief Executive Officer. The retired Brigadier General and thirty-five-year veteran of the U.S. Army is not in the habit of failing at much, and his impressive record of managing and improving infrastructure precedes him at VT Halter.

By Joseph Keefe

Louis E. Schaefer, Jr. is the chairman of the board for Superior Offshore International, but for readers who are not familiar with his dynamic maritime services company, a simple title like that does not give full justice to his role within the firm. In reality, Louis Schaefer IS Superior Offshore?starting it many years ago, taking it to where it is today?fresh off its initial public offering (IPO) and just around the corner from launching Superior?s own cutting-edge, partly self-designed, 432-foot offshore diving and services vessel. Wherever it goes from here, Schaefer?s indelible stamp will always be affixed to whatever Superior Offshore accomplishes. In a business where experience and competence means everything and diving and subsea operations will continue to be at the heart of earning revenues, knowing that Schaefer?s guiding hand is still at the helm is a very good thing.

Maritime Executive Readers: Meet J.F. Lehman & Company

Well past the middle of the first decade in this new millennium, the world of marine transportation and associated maritime business finds itself in arguably the most robust period of prosperity and expansion since the United States starting launching a ship-per-day during World War II. Ships are being built all over the world to answer the projected demand for LNG and, here at home, coastwise product tankers, and a new generation of brown-water vessels is being produced in surprisingly large numbers. Hand-in-hand with all of this is an unprecedented number of innovations emanating from a wide range of maritime entrepreneurs. It is, quite simply, a very good time to be in business for all things "maritime."

It is said that the world is running out of fossil fuels and, yet, the demand for crude oil will continue to grow from 85 million barrels per day in 2004 to 98 million barrels per day in 2015 to 118 million barrels per day in 2030. 43 percent of the current growth consumption comes from India and China, it is projected that worldwide oil production will have to be increase by 38 percent to meet demand by 2030. Moreover, it is acknowledged that OPEC will account for only 14.6 million barrels per day (12%) of the required increase, while non-OPEC countries will account for 88 percent of the remaining production demand. The stark reality is; while the West is bogged down maintaining stability in the Middle East, its true economic life-line lies outside the region. And, both sources of oil and gas will be essential for a well-balanced geo-economic existence.

In the oil industry, fortunes are made and lost through the mere fluctuation of prices on world markets. It wasn?t that long ago that the average price of a barrel of crude oil was less than the cost of a take-out dinner. But those days are far behind us. A fluctuation in the price of crude oil can influence automobile sales, holiday travel decisions, interest rates, stock market trends and the Gross National Product of industrialized nations, whether they are net importers or exporters.

The shipping companies of the Great Lakes are an integral part of Americana. Workhorses of America's industrial revolution, these steamship companies were launched to serve the industrial supply lines for John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Henry Clay Frick, and Elbert H. Gary. The job kept their hulls full of the iron ore that fed the blast furnaces of the American industrial saga.

MarEx Case Study on the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) and the Pacific Maritime Institute (PMI), which are considered by many to be the Ivy League of maritime training.

MarEx Case Study provides a review from inception to modern times of one of the nation's most successful inland tug and barge companies- Ingram Marine Group.

Today, at Seabulk International, it's about leadership. Gerhard Kurz, Chairman and CEO, is known for his leadership qualities that has lead his organization to new levels of achievement and success.

Case Study - Thomas B. Crowley, Jr. took the helm of one of the most recognized maritime organizations with the passing of his father in 1994. As the company, founded in 1892, entered its second hundred years, Crowley implemented a new vision for the company by establishing a new business philosophy.

Case study - Bollinger Shipyards, "The Power of Information."

Case Study - P&O Nedlloyd

Case Study of the Port of Long Beach