oct-2017

98 99 Global Maritime’s Chief OperatingOfficer.“Whilewe don’t own those vessels,we do handle all maintenance and operations.” Current HMS Ferries contracts include: Gee’s Bend Ferry in Camden,Alabama; Governors Island Ferry in NewYork,NewYork; Mobile BayFerry inMobile Bay, Alabama; Oklahoma CityRiver Cruises inOklahoma City,Oklahoma; Pierce CountyFerry in Pierce County, Washington; St.Johns River Ferry in Jacksonville,Flor- ida; Channel CatWater Taxi Service inMoline,Illinois; and RiverlinkFerry in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. Anewproject for HMS Ferries is the planned shift of a conventionally-powered,small passenger and car ferry in Gee’s Bend into the first all-electric ferry in the United States.“We’reworkingwith theAlabama De- partment of Transportation and the United States Envi- ronmental ProtectionAgency (EPA),which is providing a $1.8million grant,”saysTimAguirre,General Manag- er of HMS FerriesAlabama.“Right now,we’re looking to have that ferryoperational by late spring 2018,or perhaps the early summer.Currently,the extensive design and engineeringwork is in progress; themarine integrators have been selected andwe are getting ready to start ordering the hardware required for that project.There are a lot of maritime companies in the United States that are interested either in the all-elec- tricor some formof hybrid vessel,and ferries happen to be a verygoodway to introduce this technology.Our approach is innovative and it could be a groundbreak- ing project for themaritime industryintheUnitedStates.” “The two largest expenditures foroperatingavessel are themarinerswhooperate themandthe fuel burnedto get fromPointAtoPointB,”Jaenichenadds.“Asmaritime companies focusonfiscal responsibilityandreturnon HMS GLOBAL MARITIME investment for technologyadvances,theylookat those operatingcostsaswell as rulesandregulations for clean air andcleanwater and lookforopportunities tomake thoseoperationsmoreefficientwhilekeepingsafetyat the forefront.Giventhegoal ofzeroemissions for this vessel,havingone thatmakesno liquiddischargesor anyadverseair emissionsbenefitsboththeenvironment andthecommunity.It’sa leadingtechnologyandtheEPA providesassistance formakingtransitiontonewtechnol- ogy,becauseoneof the rolesofgovernment is totakeon someof theexpenseandreduce riskfor earlyadoptersof technology.” HMSConsulting&Technical,based inSeattle,Wash- ington,providesbothconceptual andexistingoperations withtheexpert knowledgenecessarytosucceed inthe complexanddemandingmaritime industry.It focuses onthreeprimaryconsultingdisciplines:marine technical, regulatory,andbusinessconsulting.For start-up ven- tures,HMS Consulting can provide critical services such as feasibilityanalysis,concept and business plan development,financial modeling,andmarket research. When a start-up is ready to engage the infrastructure and logistics of its project,HMS Consulting can pro- videmarine site assessments,vessel identification and acquisition,vessel construction/conversionmanage- ment,operations planning,and financing options.For existing operations,the division offers a completely customized level of support that can take the company to a newlevel of optimized operational and financial performance. AmericanQueen Steamboat Company,currently based inMemphis,Tennessee,is HMS Global Mari- AT A GLANCE HMS GLOBAL MARITIME WHAT: A full-service marine operator and maritime management company WHERE: New Albany, Indiana WEBSITE: www.hmsgm.com