The President’s Message

BY Mike Jarvis

ASA President

American Salvage Association

Welcome to the fall edition of SOUNDINGS magazine. As we enter the second half of the 2022 hurricane season, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the response posture ASA members continue to maintain along our coastlines, not only here in the U.S. mainland, but across our Pacific Islands, throughout the Caribbean, and into Latin and Central America. Each year, as hurricane seasons come and go, with some years being surprisingly quiet while others are unspeakably catastrophic, our members endeavor to serve as the tip of the spear in recovery operations and stand ready to support our maritime stakeholders in restoring critical waterways infrastructure and pristine marine habits. As evidenced by our industry’s historic response to the mega-storms that have ravaged our coastlines over the last five years, ASA members and their emergency response crews are among the unsung heroes of disaster clean-up and serve as a great source of pride for our organization.

While we await the “sirens”, ASA leadership continues to drive member value through several ventures. This month, we will host our quality partnership meeting with members of various federal agencies in Washington D.C. including the United States Coast Guard and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. These forums afford us the opportunity to have open dialogue with key regulators and discuss important issues that affect our industry. We look forward to providing the membership with updates and feedback from this meeting.

I am also pleased to report that the ASA will be hosting its first Gulf Coast Regional Member Event and Alternative Fuel Response Symposium in October at Texas A&M University in Galveston, Texas. The program will offer valuable insight into alternative fuel and cargo response operations and will feature speakers from the Coast Guard’s Liquefied Gas Carrier National Center of Expertise, the local Captain of the Port, Lloyd’s Register, and more. I want to encourage all members to take advantage of this opportunity to both learn from, and network with, key response industry representatives. Your commitment and feedback will help drive the success of future networking initiatives and symposiums around the country. Over the last several months, the ASA’s Training Committee has hosted a number of ASA Salvage Courses for both the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Strike Teams. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend these events and have had the distinct pleasure of watching our members showcase our industry’s capabilities in front of future CG leadership. I also recently had the opportunity to represent the ASA during a Coast Guard Crisis Management Course at their infamous Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia. These events and opportunities prove to be invaluable business development and networking opportunities for ASA member companies. If you or your organization are not currently engaged in any of the ASA’s various committees, I want to encourage you to capitalize on your membership and consider doing so today. The American Salvage Association has, and continues, to open doors for me and Northstar Marine.

I will take this time to wish you and your families much joy during the coming fall holidays and festivities. As we take a deep dive into the latter half of 2022, I look forward to rounding out another successful year for the ASA.

Please enjoy this issue of SOUNDINGS magazine,

Mike Jarvis