assigned to wfo houston/galveston mic - jeff evans srh - melinda bailey co-located with galveston...
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Assigned to WFO Houston/GalvestonMIC - Jeff EvansSRH - Melinda Bailey
Co-Located with Galveston County Emergency Management Office
2K Budget for Travel and Office supplies
PMO Vehicle, Cell Phone and Laptop computer provided by SRH
Assist in outreach programs and other office functions as directed by the MIC
PMO HOUSTONCHRIS FAKES
Retired LCDR USN 28 yearsPMO 12 years
FREEPORT
BEAUMONT
PORT ARTHUR
LAKE CHARLES
CORPUS CHRISTI
Corpus Christi 230 miLake Charles 145 miPort Orange 115 miPort Arthur 92 miBeaumont 89 miFreeport 49 mi
HOUSTON Area of Responsibility
PORT ORANGE
HOUSTON
HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL52 miles long2nd Busiest U.S. PortAverage 80 to 100 ships dailyOver 200 private facilities / docksPanamax Vessels Capable
GALVESTON
TEXAS CITY
CITY DOCKSBAYTOWN
Almost every type of vessel you can think of comes in and out of Houston
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 201325,000
26,000
27,000
28,000
29,000
30,000
31,000
32,000
33,000
26,056
28,433
29,71530,030
29,016
32,523
73
6460
62
69
HOUSTON OBSERVATION COUNTS
All Manual Reporters using Electronic Logbook (AMVERSEAS / TurboWin)
Number of new drill ships coming online 2014-15 (GOM - West Africa)
63
Houston is home to a number of large Shipping Companies. - Maintain close liaison - Provide annual Hurricane Briefing - NOAA/NWS related information
TransOcean Inc. Diamond Offshore American Eagle Tankers Pacific Drilling
InterMarine Inc. SeaDrill Inc.
To Mariners and Shipping Companies, the PMO is the face of NOAA. Field a lot of questions on Meteorology, Oceanography, Nautical Charts, Marine Life, and “Climate Change”
LECTURES / PRESENTATIONS
USCG Sector 8 / Houston Port Authority Annual Hurricane briefingNautical Institute (Gulf Coast Chapter)San Jacinto Junior College (Maritime Program)Council of American Master Mariners (SE Texas Chapter)Pilots Houston / Freeport / SabineYacht Clubs & Coastal CommunitiesGreater Houston Community Managers AssociationWrote Hurricane Preparedness for Recreational Boaters
Texas A&MMaritime College Galveston
3-4 Lectures per yearBasic Marine Meteorology / OceanographyTropical MeteorologyStorm EvasionNorth Wall EffectChart & Product InterpretationMarine Weather ObservationsNWS/NOAA Products and other services
Training Vessel T/V GENERAL RUDDER4 to 5 Training Cruises per year (GOM)Small shipLimited number of bunks and class room area Provide additional onboard training prior to cruise
CHALLENGES SECURITY Houston is home to the largest Petro/Chemical complex in the U.S. Some Facilities require 24 to 48 hrs visit notice. Visit requests are submitted by the Local Agent.
SAFETY 4 facilities require yearly safety training (1-3 hrs) for access. In the future might have to pay for this training. PMO job can be dangerous!
RECRUITMENT Now primarily accomplished thru Shipping Companies and Maritime Colleges. Maintaining a good relationship is a must.
KNOWLEGDE Trying to keep up with NWS/NOAA changes in products and services.
Parking in and around docks is always a challenge. Boxed in for 1½ hours in 930
Sometimes just getting onto a ship is challenging and dangerous.
OTHER UNIQUE CHALLENGES
FOCUS & GOALS
• TurboWin installation 18% complete. All Houston ships transitioned over by summer 2015.
• Recruit entire Pacific Drilling Fleet.
• Developing Houston Ship Channel Petro/Chem Information Book containing location, owner, dock length & height, special considerations.
PMO CONFERENCE OUTCOMEVOS PROGRAM
PROGRESS Establishing clear VOS Goals Short & Long Term
Establishing a VOS Equipment Life Cycle Support Plan
MOVEMENT Database Upgrades to make it a useful tool
Establishing VOS Awards Guidelines
COMMITMENT Improve communications and coordination between NDBC, Regions and PMOs
Promoting VOS within NWS and NOAA
Importance of Marine Weather Obs
A slide I like to show the Cadets at Texas A&M
JUST ONE MORE SLIDESlide #108