The New Channelview Office   

New Galley!!!

The new Channelview office is nearing completion.  Our move date is currently set for August 8th!  There are going be many improvements during our transition.  Here are some of the details:

The address is:

16530 Peninsula Blvd

Houston, TX 77015

All phone numbers will remain the same!

(see directions below)

When you come to the gate you will be required to enter a pin.  The pin is:

*41 [your five digit employee id number] followed by the pound sign.  For example: *41XXXXX#

Once you enter the facility you will be facing the large blue building.  You will have to maneuver around the right side of the building to come to our offices.  The first green and white building is the Warehouse.  Once the move is finalized all crew changes will report to the Warehouse.

During the move, crew members may be asked to park at the NEW Office on Peninsula Blvd.  From there we will shuttle crew members to the DeZavala office where they will be assigned a crew change truck.  The day before your crew change please check with personnel department to ensure you are reporting to the correct office.

The next building is the Galley.  The Galley building and the Main Office share a porch entrance.  In the Main Office you will find: Personnel, Purchasing, Port Captains, and Maintenance.

View of Galley and Main Office Entrances

Over the next few weeks we will be very busy with this transition.  We appreciate your patience during this time.  We are looking forward to the improvements that the Company has provided for us.

Until further notice the Bulkhead at the new office is not accessible!

Directions

The following is a link to Google Maps indicating our new location.  The link can be emailed/text to yourself.  If you send it to your smart phone it should link to your mapping app.

While driving to our new office please use caution around the Commercial Trucks and Trains.

Once you reach Jacinto Port Blvd. a good visual reference is the CarGill towers.  You will continue past CarGill and SAS on Peninsula Blvd to reach our facility entrance on the right.

Ideas from the warehouse ashore make sense for towboats operations.

The great French military and political leader, Napoleon Bonaparte once said "An army marches on its stomach". To be clear, Napoleon understood that the power of his army depended greatly on the flow of supplies and food to his troops in the field. An army running short of basic needs was not one that would win the great victories. The importance of the supply chain could not be under estimated.

A big part of the supply chain role and a function used everyday onboard our vessels is inventory control. Businesses large and small understand the importance of keeping their stocks at the proper levels to operate efficiently and without the drama of running out. Inventory Control is the supervision of supply, storage and accessibility of items in order to ensure an adequate supply without excessive oversupply.

One thing unique about working on a boat is the reality that you just don't go down to the local Home Depot or Wal-Mart every time you need a part or you need a dozen eggs. Vessel supply and grocery needs are carefully planned, ordered and received on the boat normally with crew change. With all the pieces needed to keep a towboat operation running smooth, how do you make it work onboard?

Your boat as a Warehouse.

A simple concept is to look as your boat as warehouse and to think of how a person who runs the warehouse keeps the place supplied and running. Most veteran Captains use these techniques on their boats using a variety of methods. Let's look at some of the concepts that are important to a warehouse that relate to a towboat operation.

Warehouse (Towboat) Inventory factors:

Designate a member of the crew to oversee inventory control. Each boat may be different in who they choose depending on the individual talents of each crewmember. It may be the Captain or the Relief Captain that oversee the inventory, but it could also be an experienced Tankerman that is charged with controlling what is onboard. There is great value in designating one person to be charged with planning and control of supplies.

Understand the frequency of resupply. A tow working cross channels in the Houston area is going to have different logistics than a tow assigned to the Chicago run. By closely planning the frequency of resupply and the lead times for procurement, inventories can be kept at the proper levels.

Understand the daily consumption rate by tracking what is used each day, especially consumables. A pattern of consumption will emerge over time. How many pounds of potatoes are used in a between crew changes? How much milk is consumed in a 30 day period? By keeping up with what is used, an average consumption will emerge which will help make your resupply more accurate.

Factor in a "safety stock" to your daily consumption rate. Add a cushion to designated items to account for a missed resupply. A change in orders, weather delays and communication lapses all could cause your resupply not to happen. Here is where your "safety stock" comes into play to get you to the next crew change.

Rotate your stock. Stock rotation is the practice of moving items that have been onboard to the front of a shelf or refrigerator so they get used before the newer items. Do this on a scheduled basis so that gallon of milk hidden in the back of the refrigerator does not become a homemade cheese spread.

Identify "dead stock". Take out of inventory items that are no longer useful. As an example, at one time the wheelhouse electronics on Higman boats were powered with individual 12V power supplies. Over the years, the majority of Higman boats have been converted to our proprietary, built in 12V power systems. With individual 12V power supplies no longer needed, any spares should be removed from the boats. Occasionally I will find a stock of the no longer needed power supplies piled up under the wheelhouse.  Please consult your Port Captain for advise on items to remove.

Create an inventory management system. There are many ways to record what comes onboard, what is used and what is reordered. Develop an inventory management system that designates a minimum and maximum for each inventory spare part or consumable. The min/max designation will help you make resupply order decisions. As an example the Higman boat filter order list on Higmanboats.com has a min/max number for each filter to be ordered.

 

A good practice is to mark a min/max number for each item on the shelf where it is normally stored, i.e. pantry, forward hold, etc.

 

If you are computer savvy, an electronic spreadsheet like Excel will make the job easy as long as it is kept up.

   

Operating a towboat requires many skills and warehouse management is just one of them!   Many thanks to Warehouseman Anthony Scruggs for his thoughts on this subject.

Request for 2014 Higman Calendar  

We need your photo submissions for pictures for the 2014 Calendar. Please note the deadline is Friday, November 1, 2013.  We have received some wonderful submissions so far, but would like more selection from within the fleet.  These photos may also be chosen for use in additional Higman publications such as The Tow Line and Newsletter.  We encourage you to pick up your camera, be creative and take some shots to send in for consideration. 

Please send your pictures to Janis. With your picture please remember to include your name, the vessel name, and the location where the picture was taken.  

Best Practices 
 

Every boat has good ideas.

Good ideas need to be shared, refined and become "Best Practices".A "Best Practice" is defined as a method or technique which shows results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark.  In addition, a "Best Practice" can evolve to become better as improvements are discovered.

This column is dedicated to sharing the best practices developed while operating your tow. Each issue we will outline a "Best Practice" sent in by the fleet.  Share your Best Practice by sending to Gordie

This week's "Best Practice" is sent by the crew of the M/V SPINLETOP.

 

Know Your Charts

  

There are several different types of charts that you may experience during a voyage.  Understanding these charts is vital to your daily operation.  Knowing if a hazard, natural or man made, has moved is key to safely navigating your vessel.

 

The two main publishers of your charts are National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).  USACE produces the river charts.  The ICW charts are produced by NOAA.  NOAA produces several different types of charts that you may see:

 

Raster Navigational Charts (RNC): are full color digital images of NOAA's paper charts.  The charts are made of different colored pixels that when put together make up a patterned shape.  If you ever zoom way in, you can see the individual pixels, but at this level the charts are not usable.  These charts are used in Raster Chart Display Systems and Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS).  These charts are updated weekly by NOAA.

 

Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC): are vector based digital charting.  These are used in ECDIS and electronic charting systems (like Rose Point).  These are the most powerful electronic charting product provided by NOAA and meet international exchange formats.  ENC's and their updates can be downloaded online or through some charting software.  

 

Traditional Paper Charts:  are what you first learned to plot on as a Steersman.  They were established in 1807 when President Thomas Jefferson asked for a survey of the coast.  Coast Survey, a division of NOAA has been producing and updating these charts ever since.  These are the charts that meet Coast Guard requirement. The Coast Guard also requires that these

charts are updated.  As part of any good voyage plan, the mariner should check to ensure that the charts for that voyage are up to date.  NOAA has created a very easy way to complete this task:

 

• Go to this site:  http://ocsdata.ncd.noaa.gov/ntm/Default.aspx

• Then type in the Chart number you wish to update.

• You are provided all the updates for that edition/date.  To ensure you have the most up to date edition and date, check the lower left corner of the chart.  If you do not have the current edition/date please fill go to the "Chart List" on higmanboats.com.

 

USCG Navigation General

Which nautical charts are intended for coastwise navigation outside of outlying reefs and shoals?

a. Approach charts
b. General charts
c. Sailing charts
d. Coastal charts

a. National Ocean Service
b. National Imagery and Mapping Agency
c. U.S. Coast Guard
d. U.S. Naval Observatory 

The National Ocean Service publishes the __________.

a. Light Lists
b. Coast Pilots
c. pilot charts
d. Sailing Directions 

On charts of U.S. waters, a magenta marking is NOT used for marking a __________.

a. 5-fathom curve
b. prohibited area
c. lighted buoy
d. radio beacon 

Mariners are FIRST warned of serious defects or important changes to aids to navigation by means of __________.

a. marine broadcast Notice to Mariners
b. Weekly Notices to Mariners
c. corrected editions of charts
d. Light Lists

Stern Shots  

Capt. Bub says....peas, mac n' cheese, beef tips, and a TV remote; what more can you ask for?

Tankerman Josh Schovajsa on the Bolivar Point finds time to pose for the camara.

Capt Fred Beaver explains the rules.

Deckhand Joseph Berry quickly learned where the groceries were stored.

Tankerman Shaun Scott knows lunch time is near!

Nautical Trivia

Port of Galveston JAN 1, 1863

 

The below news article was written in the Galveston News on JAN 23, 1863, three weeks after the city of Galveston was retaken by Confederate forces from federal troops. The city had been captured by federal troops on Oct 4, 1862.

 

The article was written two days after Sabine Pass was retaken by the Confederates when the cottonclad CSS Uncle Ben defeated the USS Morning Light as discussed in the last issue of the Higman Training Newsletter.

 

On January 1, 1863, two Confederate cottonclads, the CS Bayou City and the CS Neptune, sailed from Houston to Galveston in an effort to engage the Union Fleet in Galveston Harbor consisting of USS Clifton, USS Harriet Lane, USS Westfield, USS Owasco, USS Corypheus and USS Sachem. Outnumbered six to two by the Northern ships, the Neptune was severely damaged by the Union Fleet and eventually sank. While the Neptune was quickly disabled, the Bayou City succeeded in capturing the USS Harriet Lane.

CS Bayou City captures the USS Harriet Lane

 

From our Galveston correspondent:

GALVESTON, Jan 23, 1863

 

Last evening, the enemy's vessels lay in position to command our batteries from the Point to the South of Tremont Street, and this morning we were tiptoe of anxiety expecting an attack at daybreak.

 

Bustle and commotion everywhere prevailed; people moved about in mysterious haste, impressed with the idea that something monstrous was about to happen. Women with children trotting at their heels were seen directing their steps toward the beach or convent for safety, the lookouts were filled with spectators and everyone was momentarily waiting to see and hear the guns belch forth flame and thunder but still they continued silent.

 

As the morning advanced it was discovered that the enemy had other business on hand; the three propellers, which the previous evening were within range of Fort Point, were making, all speed to the eastward, while the Brooklyn, with one of the gunboats, steamed out to intercept a large transport coming up from the west, and which continued on her voyage.

 

The enemy had probably heard of what had taken place at Sabine and was desirous to reestablish the blockade of that port. Such news, it was believed, would be likely to disarrange his plans, and thus save us from the contemplated bombardment. Time is most precious to us at this particular period. Major Kellersberg is said to be indefatigable in hurrying forward the defenses of the city; by tomorrow some more new guns will be in position, and our means of resistance increased in like proportion. Gen. Magruder's dispatch to Colonel DeBray, now the Commandant of this city, has filled our hearts with joy, such repeated acts of; heroism and patriotism will tend to elevate our character among the nations of the earth, and give the Federals wholesome dread of Texas prowess and invincibility.

 

The mark of esteem lately; paid by the good people of Houston and Galveston now residing there to Gen. Magruder has afforded the greatest satisfaction here. May the day not be far distant when, with a return of peace and prosperity, we shall be able to give him a warm reception in this our fair Island.

Rebel Attack Upon the Forty-Third Massachusetts Volunteers at Galveston, TX, January 1, 1863"

 

GORDIE KEENAN
KELLY CLEAVER

JANIS ANDERSON