Something Old, Something New but Serving Maritime Just the Same

By Wes Starratt, PE, Senior Editor

From the Gold Rush Days to the age of containerized cargo From a time when sailing ships were the major link with the outside world. From communication by semaphore signs, to the telephone, and into the electronic age. From a single exchange to a family of marine exchanges on both coasts...That’s the pioneering story of the San Francisco Marine Exchange.

There was a time, following the discovery of gold in 1849, when San Francisco’s key link to the outside world was the sea, with sailing ships bringing news from home and vitally needed supplies from East Coast ports. Those were the days when the arrival of a clipper ship was the major event in the City by the Bay, and businesses stopped as throngs gathered to greet the great ships, packed with mail and supplies.

A ship arrival was, indeed, a vital event in the early life of San Francisco, and there was a need to announce the expected arrival at the earliest possible moment. The San Francisco Marine Exchange was founded to meet that need by establishing and operating a semaphore signal station at Point Lobos to announce the arrival of ships approaching the Golden Gate. That signal was relayed by a second semaphore signal station atop a hill originally known as Loma Alta and later as Telegraph Hill to commemorate its role in the communications network. So, communications were the foundation upon which the Marine Exchange was built, and continued as the organization established the first telegraph system on the West Coast and the city’s first telephone operation. Today, providing communications for maritime operations, marine safety, and Port security remain the core functions of the Marine Exchange, as it works closely with the United States Coast Guard on the latest maritime security measures. There is no organization more closely associated with the history of San Francisco, and no organization more vitally involved in the safety and security of today’s maritime operations throughout the bay and the delta than the San Francisco Marine Exchange.

To learn more about the Exchange, we talked with its Executive Director, Captain Lynn Korwatch. We met Captain Korwatch at the Exchange’s Operation Center on the top floor of one of Fort Mason’s piers with a direct view of ship traffic in and out of the Golden Gate. From that vantage point, one could track ship movements with a pair of binoculars, but instead, we found offices full of the most advanced types of electronic communication equipment.

Captain Korwatch introduced herself, "I’m a local girl, born and raised in the Bay Area, and graduated from the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo. I went to sea for 17 years, the last few with Matson Navigation Company where I was head of the firm’s marine operations. In that capacity, I became a member of the Board of Directors of the Marine Exchange. When the director of the Exchange passed away, the president invited me to become Executive Director, which I accepted in September of 2000.

"The San Francisco Marine Exchange has been in business for 154 years. Back in 1849, we started as a trade organization, and that is basically what we still are. The Exchange is responsible for communicating vessel arrival and departure information to our membership. The thing that has changed is how we communicate that information. Years ago, we started by running through town, providing information about ship arrivals, but now we do it electronically through e-mail, faxes, telephone.

"We are a membership organization. Our members represent virtually every facet of the maritime industry: ports, tug-boat companies, pilots, chandlers, customs brokers, divers, and anybody that does business with the maritime industry. We collect information through various sources…through ship agents and in partnership with the Coast Guard. We collect data, collate it, and put it into a form that everybody can use. Everyday, we send out a report the first thing in the morning and towards the middle of the afternoon. We also feed information on ship arrivals and departures to the newspapers and radio stations.

"The Marine Exchange is governed by a president, three vice presidents, a treasurer, and 15 other board members. The exchange has a staff of twelve; five staff members are in operations, and the others are support people. We are a 24/7 operation, with a vessel support specialist on duty all of the time."

Captain Korwatch explained, "We have a working relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard as well as with U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) to provide information to them and facilitate their outreach to the maritime industry. We also provide security information to the US Navy and other federal agencies.

"We act as an information clearinghouse for the State of California and its Office of Spill Response and Prevention. There is a law that mandates that loaded tankers coming into the Bay be escorted by tug to their dock. The Marine Exchange checks the size of the tankers and the size of the tugs and makes sure that they are matched up. We also do secretarial work for the state, including the Safety Harbor Safety Committee, which is involved withnavigational issues.

"The Marine Exchange has had a long and a close association with the Coast Guard. At one time, the Marine Exchange’s office was in the Ferry Building, but our operation center was at the end of Pier 45, adjacent to the Coast Guard’s Vessel Tracking Station, which later moved to Yerba Buena Island. In fact, the first vessel tracking system was created by the Marine Exchange in conjunction with the Coast Guard at Pier 45. In addition, the Coast Guard’s Harbor Safety Committee was a product of the Marine Exchange and has served as a model for the state committee."

We made contact with the Coast Guard and learned that, "The Marine Exchange is carrying the ball for the maritime industry under the new security regime. They are the facilitator for the Coast Guard’s very important Bay Area Port Security Committee, handling all of the day-to-day matters pertaining to that committee. If everything goes the way that we would like it to, the Marine Exchange will be the king pin of our emergency alert system in the Bay Area."

Also on the federal level, we learned from Captain Korwatch that, "We also manage a tide and current sensing program, called the Physical Ocean Real Time System, or PORTS. This is a system devised by NOAA (the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) that has been put in place in the Bay Area, using real-time sensors around the Bay to tell actual current and tidal conditions. Installed by NOAA, the Maritime Exchange is the manager of that system. It was conceived of as an oil-spill prevention device, but today, tankers as well as recreational boaters are using it."

We asked Captain Korwatch to tell us about the role of the Marine Exchange in the Automated Identification System (AIS) mandated by new federal maritime security regulations for Bay Area shipping, including ferries

Captain Korwatch explained that, "The Marine Exchange has managed the Bay Area’s original Automated Identification System (AIS) by putting equipment on boats around the Bay to test its validity and to tie it into the Coast Guard’s Vessel Tracking Station (VTS) on Yerba Buena Island. In the conceptual design of the system, it was very clearly a navigational tool in the same way that radar is a navigational tool, with little to do with security. As a radio frequency, it was meant to help ship-to-ship and boat-to-boat communication and identification. Originally, the State’s Office of Spill & Prevention (OSPR) provided the Marine Exchange with a grant to develop the AIS, which, they felt, was a navigational tool that would enhance vessel safety. The state was willing to fund a transponder on Mt. Tamalpais so that vessels around the Bay could track each other. They also provided equipment so that Golden Gate Ferries, Blue and Gold, Alameda, Vallejo ferries, and some of the tug-boat operators could talk to each other. Some 22 units were installed in vessels around the Bay, and the Marine Exchange was called upon to manage the system. It connected back to the Coast Guard’s VTS on Yerba Buena Island which was benefiting from the system. But, the state’s grant money ran out, leaving the boats with the equipment to communicate with each other, but without the ability to communicate with the VTS and Mt. Tam. Under the new Maritime Security Act, this equipment may become obsolete and require upgrading. That will be the status until the target date of January 2005 or longer when a Coast Guard-mandated new VTS system is installed with three proposed repeater sites: Mt. Tam, Mt. Diablo, and one in the South Bay. Vessels in the Bay will be required to install the newer version of the AIS equipment when the new national security regulations are in place at that time. .

"The Marine Exchange has served as a facilitator to bring together the various groups involved in the AIS program. We are involved in these and other issues affecting the maritime industry, since our job is to support and facilitate activities pertaining to the industry."