I have been a USCG-Licensed Captain for 30 years. Much of that time I was overall manager of marine operations for mix fleets of tugs, supply boats, crew boats, barges and small craft. I started at the bottom, as an ordinary seaman, and worked my way up as an able seaman and engineer  before I was issued my first captain’s license, giving me a complete understanding of operations and maintenance from the bottom up.

Since 1984 I have worked internationally, and am accustomed to the extra challenges that language and cultural barriers can add to already difficult operations. Effective communications, especially in an international setting, is both the most difficult and most important aspect of operations.

As a tug captain, I have worked in port operations, docking and undocking ships, moving bunker barges, lightering, and in offshore towing.

My salvage career began when I took command of the 400-foot, 8,000-ton Crowley barge, CMC 450-10, for the Ehime Maru Recovery Project with the US Navy in Hawaii, 2001, and the USS Jacob Luckenbach fuel removal with Titan Salvage and the US Coast Guard in the Gulf of the Farallones, California in 2002.

In 2004, Hurricane Ivan damaged and destroyed oil platforms in the Main Pass oil field, near the Mississippi Delta in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the spring of 2005, CMC 450-10 was sent to the Gulf of Mexico to assist with repair and recovery. I found myself in Hurricane Alley for what proved to be the most active and destructive North Atlantic hurricane season on record up to that time, working not only to repair hurricane damage, but more importantly working to avoid becoming another casualty. By the end of the season there were more than 100 platforms down across the western Gulf of Mexico.

The experience of running from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and numerous less famous storms informed my focus on developing detailed hurricane plans, identifying options for keeping my vessels and my people safe. That focus also proved valuable in learning how to manage winter weather events, which ultimately enabled the barge to remain offshore, on site during the cold fronts which sent other work barges for cover. The ability to reduce weather downtime enabled the barge to continue working through the winters when the competition was forced to shut down for the season.

Since 2012, I have worked as a salvage master for Mammoet Salvage Americas on a wide variety of projects worldwide. Mammoet Salvage was sold in 2016, and became Koole Mammoet Salvage. The Americas and Singapore divisions were closed in 2017, and I launched Porter Marine Salvage & Consultancy to offer a wide range of services to clients dealing with marine casualties.