Maritime Fire and Safety Association (MFSA)

Congratulations to MFSA member organization Radius Recycling on their recent announcement.

Sunday marked a major milestone for the Washington State Maritime Cooperative, as they celebrated 30 years of protecting Washington’s waters and supporting the maritime industry!! Since 1995, WSMC has been at the forefront of oil spill preparedness, and their commitment to safeguarding our unique maritime environment has made them invaluable in ensuring the health of our waterways. As long-term partners, we are proud to celebrate this achievement and look forward to many more years of collaboration. Here’s to 30 years of excellence! https://www.wsmcoop.org/

Columbia River Ship Traffic Report 03/1 - 03/07: 38 inbound vessels crossed the bar this week. There are 42 vessels on the river today of which 21 are at berth and 21 are at anchor or in transit.

Registration is now open for our annual FPAAC Summit, April 15th at the Cowlitz County Event Center in Longview, WA. The event is open to anyone with an interest in marine firefighting, affiliation with an FPAAC agency is not required. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gMN-psXh

Columbia River Ship Traffic Report 02/15 - 02/21: 35 inbound vessels crossed the bar this week. There are 43 vessels on the river today of which 21 are at berth and 22 are at anchor or in transit. https://buff.ly/41b5XyJ

February 2025 marks Clean Rivers Cooperative Operations Manager Carl Boelter’s 15-year anniversary with the Cooperative. We are proud to celebrate Carl this month and spotlight his service and dedication to the Cooperative, his immense industry knowledge, and the many important contributions he has made to this industry over the last decade and a half. ?? In 2010, Carl joined Clean Rivers Cooperative as Assistant Manager. In 2018, he was promoted into his current role as the Operations Manager. This past year, he added a new responsibility as the designated trainer for our Response Manager Training Program. ? Throughout Carl’s tenure with Clean Rivers, he has responded to over 50 spill / threat of spill incidents.?One of his most memorable responses was a wildlife response in Medford, OR in April 2022.?Fire at a fueling facility caused the release of oils into a nearby creek resulting in significantly oiled wildlife.?The Oregon DEQ requested Clean Rivers to deploy the wildlife response and rehabilitation system to the incident to be utilized by International Bird Rescue (IBR). IBR was shorthanded and asked Carl to assist with washing birds. He says that it was a great learning experience.?Carl has developed strong relationships with our members and industry partners.?Scott Smith of Oregon DEQ says “DEQ is thankful to Carl for his professionalism, his attention to detail and his long-standing efforts to protect the environment.” During his time with the Cooperative, Carl has taken part in numerous training courses and has earned many certifications. Some of the training courses he has taken are the Texas A&M Oil Program, NW Oil Spill School, and the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility (better known as Ohmsett). Some of his certifications include Aerial Observation and Operations Section Chief. Carl has participated with the Association of Petroleum Industry Cooperative Managers (APICOM) Health, Safety, Environment, and Training Committee (HSET) since 2017. He served as Co-Chair in 2023 and 2024 and is now the Chairman for 2025. ? As Operations Manager, one of Carl’s duties is to manage equipment projects and work with the Clean Rivers / MFSA Joint Equipment Committee to procure response equipment. The equipment project that Carl says he is most proud of is the Marco Skimming Vessel “John Hartup”. In 2021 he oversaw the build out and outfitting in-house. ? What Carl says he likes best about working for Clean Rivers is that he loves the versatility of the schedule. One day he may be in the office and the next day out on the river. In true Carl fashion, he says that he is most proud of the current team of Cooperative staff, and the collaboration and flexibility that the full staff bring.?If you have met Carl Boelter, you know what we mean when we say that he is the heart and soul of the Cooperative. Thank you, Carl, for your years of service to the Cooperative and the Lower Columbia and Willamette River community.

Columbia River Ship Traffic Report 02/01 - 02/07: 23 inbound vessels crossed the bar this week. There are 41 vessels on the river today of which 22 are at berth and 19 are at anchor or in transit. https://buff.ly/3CIyaVy

The Merchants Exchange Scholarship is OPEN for 2025. Apply now!

We are delighted to publish our Oil Tanker Spill Statistics for 2024 ??? ? The initial report is available on our website, with the full report coming soon. ? In 2024, we can report the total volume of oil lost to the environment from 10 tanker spills was approximately 10,000 tonnes, this estimate is higher than 2023 but remains a fraction of the total amount of oil transported by sea each year. ? Despite annual fluctuations, our stats show the number and volume of oil spills from tankers have now largely stabilised at a low level in comparison to previous decades. This reflects the positive changes driven by the shipping industry and governments to improve tanker safety standards of operations. Maintaining this commitment is crucial for the continued protection of the marine environment. ? Read more here ?? https://lnkd.in/esCXEFEt ? ITOPF’s data relates to spills with confirmed volumes and does not include incidents resulting from acts of war. ? #oiltankerspillstats #oiltankerspillstatistics #marinepollution #oil?

An excellent training opportunity for staff and contractors to practice setting up and operating our portable generator. The Merchants Exchange Marine Operations Services Department, which supports MFSA as our emergency call center for both oil spill and shipboard fire activations, has multiple levels of redundancy to ensure continuous operations in the event of an emergency.