Foss Maritime Center Provides 24/7 Service, Enhancing Safety and Shoreside Services to Saltchuk Companies’ Maritime Fleets

Portland, Oregon –June 7, 2016 – Foss Maritime has expanded services offered at its Portland terminal and dispatch center, now called the Foss Maritime Center (FMC), to include a 24/7 call center with fleet monitoring and weather service capabilities.

On June 1, the FMC opened to support Foss’ international fleet of tugs and marine assets as well as the maritime fleets of sister companies TOTE Services and Tropical Shipping.

The expansion, the result of a collaboration of Saltchuk companies served by the FMC, included a renovation of Foss’ Portland offices located on the shores of the Columbia River and the addition of staff trained to enhance safety and situational awareness of maritime fleets operating around the globe.

While a vessels’ master remains the final authority on all operational decisions, the FMC Staff are specially trained to use multiple information sources to keep Mariners and those who support them well ahead of potential hazards and provide actionable information to support decision making. Emergency calls to the Call Center will be forwarded to designated points of contact within the companies’ shoreside operations.

“The Foss Maritime Center allows us to standardize and enhance support for the Saltchuk family of companies,” said Foss Maritime President & CEO Paul Stevens. “We’re taking state of the art technology and pairing it with our own experienced and dedicated staff – this is a natural extension on Foss’ promise of ‘Always Safe, Always Ready.’”

Features of the Foss Maritime Center include:

  • 24/7 Watch Stander – Call Center staffed by professional mariners. The call center will have the ability to immediately see the vessels location, its route, and the prevailing weather conditions.
  • Fleet Monitoring to collect information through automated situational alerting and Watch Stander observation.
  • Weather Monitoring will be provided by enhanced weather tools for information, monitoring and rerouting support.

For more information about Foss and the Saltchuk family of companies visit www.foss.com; www.saltchuk.com.