b'MEMBER NEWSContinued from page 4:Fincantieri Shipyards Earn Letter from the presidentsecretary of Homeland Security, along withNational Safety HonorsaspecialaddressbytheHonorableJoseph Biden, president of the United States. ItwasextremelysatisfyingtoseeAdmiralT woofFincantieriMarineGroupsAcross the bay from Marinette, the leader Linda Fagan execute her orders and becomeWisconsinshipyardsearnedacco- of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Craig Per-the first female service chief in the history oflades for safety from the Shipbuild- ciavalle, echoed Vandroffs sentiment. We the U.S. as the 27th commandant of the Coasters Council of America. maintainafocusonsafety,andwhenwe Guard. Admiral Fagen has a long-standing re- do it right, awards such as this reinforce our lationship with PVA. One of her many accom- FincantieriMarinetteMarine(FMM)re- collective efforts.plishments includes being the longest servingceived both the Excellence in Safety and active-duty marine safety officer, which hasImprovement in Safety awards, while Fin- The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) earned her the distinction of being the Coastcantieri Bay Shipbuilding, a PVA member,is the national shipyard industry association Guards first-ever gold ancient trident.received the Improvement in Safety award.and they annually recognize member com-Both shipyards have extensive nationally-rec- panies who have zero fatalities throughout InattendancewerePeteLauridsen,Ericognizedsafetyprogramsandaworkforcethe previous year and have a total recordable Christensen, John Groundwater, and I. Onthat values safe operations and wellness. incidentrate(TRIR)thatfallsbelowthe top of that groundbreaking event, was the re- SCA average or if they reduce their TRIR by tirement ceremony for the 26th commandantThe safety of our employees, suppliers, and10 percent or more.of the Coast Guard, Admiral Karl Schultz.customers is our highest priority, and this This also was an honor for me to attend asrecognition is a testament to that priority,SCArecognizedtheFincantierishipyards Admiral Schultz was our sector commandersaid Mark Vandroff, CEO of FMM. and 13 other shipyards and repair facilities.in Miami. Over the years, I was able to in-teract with him, as he was an extremely ap-proachable and a helpful leader. I wish him well in his retirement.While at the Change of Command, we also visited with many friends of PVA including RearAdmiralJosephServidio(Ret).,Rear Admiral James Watson (Ret.), Rear Admi-ralRichardTimme,commanderEighth Coast Guard District, and Vice Admiral Paul Thomas,deputycommandantforMission Support U.S. Coast Guard.I am very encouraged as we look to future interactions with the Coast Guard. Admiral Fagans experience as a marine inspector and herdeepunderstandingofindustryalong with that of Rear Admiral Wayne Arguin as assistant commandant for Prevention Policy bodes well for our industry. Having a seat at the table with our key regulator as policies are formed, is by far one of the greatest benefits of PVA membership.I hope to hear from you and see you at a com-mittee meeting. At your service, Bob Bijur PVA President, 202239 JUNE 2022'