NEWS

Earlier this year, Dale Sirois and Rich Boyer visited the RRF Group 16 vessels in Alameda, CA, and they presented the 2011 Safety and Performance Awards.

The PGM Fleetwide Safety Award recognizes the vessel that demonstrates the best ongoing efforts to comply with all safety regulations, policies, and procedures, as well as to continually look for ways to increase safety awareness onboard the vessels.

In presenting the 2011 Safety Award to the Officers and Crew of the KEYSTONE STATE, Mr. Sirois commended all crew members for their continued vigilance, excellent overall safety record, and their proactive effort to instill a strong safety culture in all onboard activities.

The PGM Fleetwide Performance Award recognizes the vessel that best demonstrates consistent high levels of performance in meeting contract requirements and providing high levels of service to our customers.
This year the proud officers and crew of the S/S GEM STATE were recognized for their efforts and received the 2011 Performance Award. During the presentation the ship’s staff was specifically recognized for timeliness and professionalism in meeting contract mandated reporting requirements.

In other news, PGM itself was a recipient of the 2011 Environmental Achievement award from the Port of Long Beach, CA, for voluntarily having its vessels comply with additional stringent environmental goals while arriving in and departing from the Long Beach port. Environmental objectives have always been, and continue to be a core area of focus for PGM, its vessels, and its employees.

Another Successful Training Conference

PGM hosted the 2011 Officer’s Training Conference the week of May 8th thru 13th. The Training Conference was held at the Hilton Garden Inn French Quarter/Central Business District. This year’s theme was “Your Role as a Manager and Leader, Make No Mistake…Leaders must take Ownership.” More than 15 senior officers & RRF Group Managers attended the conference.

The conference kicked off Monday with a Welcome Theme Presentation by Dale Sirois, followed by a review of Job Hazard Analysis presented by Dan Smith. The afternoon consisted of Auditor Training also presented by Dan Smith and then training on PGM’s Management System Structure, the interrelationship of the elements, presented by Marlaina Shrives. Following Monday’s sessions, the officers adjourned for a social gathering which allowed conference attendees and PGM personnel to visit on the poolside rooftop of the Hilton Garden Inn, enjoying a view of beautiful downtown New Orleans.

The next two days consisted of various training sessions including the Daily Use of NS5 for Purchasing, Payroll, Crew Management and Drydocking presented by Barbara Hotard, Tara Bourgeois, Captain Lund, Scott Ward, Tom Schneider, Alex Butler and Adrian Passion; Social Responsibility presented by local labor attorney Tommy McGoey; Incident Reporting presented by Phil Rapp; Non-Conformity Non-Retribution presented by Todd Johnson; Information with Third Parties presented by Dale Sirois; and Use of Standard Operating Procedures presented by B.J. Courtney and Ron Parrish. A significant amount of time was also dedicated to Environmental Compliance by PGM’s Corporate Compliance Manager, Bill Richards.

Thursday focused on Vessel General Permit training, with presentations from David Hiller of the MARPOL Training Institute and LCDR Craig Toomey from the USCG. The afternoon sessions continued with the theme of Shipboard Environmental Practices and Vessel General Permit training with presentations given by David Hiller, Captain Langford and Marlaina Shrives. The officers adjourned the day to attend a company dinner at Pat O’Briens Restaurant on Bourbon St. where attendees were able to mingle with shoreside staff and their families.

Ethics Training was given on the last day of the conference by Todd Johnson and Shaun Clarke. The conference concluded with a discussion on the annual awards.

Later in the summer, Todd Johnson visited the RRF Group 16 vessels in Alameda, CA and presented the 2010 Performance Award to the vessel’s crew of the S/S Grand Canyon State, and presented the 2010 Safety Award to the vessel’s crew of the S/S Gem State. The 2010 Green Ship Award was presented to the vessel’s crew of the M/V Ocean Titan, by Assistant Technical Superintendent Scott Ward