With considerable fanfare, the Port of San Francisco officially opened the Pier 52 Boat Launch last month. It is located just south of AT&T Park on Terry Francois Boulevard, and is the only public boat launch in the City.
By Paul Duclos
Published: July, 2008
The Launch will be used by recreational boaters including kayakers, sailors, fishermen and power boaters. The San Francisco Police Department (Marine Unit), the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Navy also will use the public boat launch for water safety and security on the San Francisco shoreline.
The new $3.5 million facility replaces an existing facility, a single lane launch built in the 1950s that did not meet modern day boating requirements.
The new facility includes:
• 2-lane public boat launch
• 1 fully accessible landing float
• Loading floats
• Shoreline protection and improvements
• Lighting and signage
Eventually the facility will include shoreline landscaping and site furnishings as a part of the City’s Blue Greenway and Regional Bay Trail projects
The port and the local boating community have been planning this boat launch project for approximately 15 years. Funding for the project came from three sources: the California Department of Boating and Waterways ($2,026,000); the Port of San Francisco ($1,300,000); and the California Coastal Conservancy ($200,000).
The boating community appreciates having safe access to San Francisco’s most underutilized recreational resource: the Bay. The boat trailer parking will make it possible for small boat owners to use this facility even with the extensive development occurring all around us. We’re grateful to the Port of San Francisco, the California Department of Boating and Waterways and the Coastal Conservancy for making this happen, said Corinne Woods, long time member of the China Basin boating community.
Matson Earns High Environmental Marks
Matson Integrated Logistics (MIL) has joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership, a voluntary collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the freight industry designed to increase energy efficiency while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. MIL has also earned the EPA’s highest score for fuel efficiency and environmental performance.
Though MIL is a non-asset logistics provider, the company qualified for the program because it moves 70 percent of its freight volume with SmartWay rail and truck carriers. In addition, the majority of that volume was moved by intermodal rail, with all of the rail carriers utilized being SmartWay partners.
SmartWay evaluates each of its partners with a score based on a number of criteria. MIL received a score of 1.25, which represents outstanding environmental performance. Partners with high scores are already utilizing most of the commercially available fuel saving strategies and actively evaluating the latest emerging technologies. Partners with scores of 1.25 are awarded the honor of displaying the SmartWay Transport Partner logo, the EPA’s symbol of superior fuel efficiency and environmental performance.
Launched in February 2004, the SmartWay Transport Partnership aims to achieve fuel savings of up to 150 million barrels of fuel per year. The Partnership brings together major freight shippers, trucking companies, railroads, logistics companies and others to pursue mutually beneficial efficiencies that result in emissions reductions and other environmental improvements, as well as cost savings to the company. The Partnership currently has over 450 members.
Soares Appointed to Marine Exchange Board
Capt. Julio Soares, Director of Marine Operations in the Americas for global container shipping line APL, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Bay Region Marine Exchange.
It’s the second major maritime appointment in two years for the former containership captain. In 2006, he was appointed to the Board of Pilot Commissioners for San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun bays by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Soares joins a 20-person board overseeing the Marine Exchange, the oldest maritime service organization in the United States. The exchange is a nonprofit membership organization that serves as a chamber of commerce for Bay Area maritime affairs. Collecting, analyzing and distributing shipping information is the exchange’s primary responsibility.
A 23-year veteran of APL, Soares has operational responsibility for APL’s container fleet calling at ports in North, Central and South America. He previously had operations and senior management responsibilities in Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka and West Asia. In the early 1980s Soares was captain on ocean container vessels in the Asian trades.
