I'm packing up a few things and headed to Seattle for the Pacific Marine Expo. I'll be there Friday, Nov. 20 and Sat, Nov. 21. Looking forward to meeting a few vessel suppliers and seeing how the West Coast throws a workboat show. There will also be a WISTA (Womens International Shipping & Trading Association) mixer at the Beer Garden at in the Qwest Event Center (where the Pacific Marine Expo is being held) on Friday the 20th, starting at 4pm and going to whenever. All are welcome to join in the merriment.
December is MarineNews' Passenger Vessel Annual, so if you've got any interesting passenger vessel news send it my way. For the January edition I'll be looking at short sea shipping, so if your company has been active or making plans to be active in this emerging market let me know. I'd also like to start a debate on whether this is going to become a market or not. There's been plenty of talk over the years of realizing the benefits of short sea shipping in N. America, like it has been realized in Europe. But is it really going to happen? Is the climate finally right? What obstacles have to be removed?