Moran captain Wes Southworth joins USCG Towing Safety Advisory Committee

Longtime Moran Towing Corporation captain Wes Southworth has begun serving on the Coast Guard’s Towing Safety Advisory Committee.

Southworth, who commands the Moran Baltimore tugboat Mark Moran, was appointed to serve on the committee Oct. 7, by Jeh Charles Johnson, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, who confirmed the Coast Guard’s nomination of Southworth to a three-year term.

Southworth has been a tugboat captain for more than 25 years. His career with Moran has been largely centered Baltimore, where he has worked for 18 years. “It’s an honor to serve on the committee,” he said.

The TSAC is an 18-member group charged with advising the Secretary of Homeland Security on matters relating to shallow-draft navigation and towing safety on inland and coastal waterways. The group’s advice also helps the Coast Guard formulate the United States’ position on towing industry matters before the International Maritime Organization.

The committee’s members include representatives of the barge and towing industry, shippers, port authorities or terminal operators, and the general public. Its core constituencies are further divided into subcategories; Southworth represents one called Active Masters of a Ship Docking or Harbor Towing Vessel.

The committee meets at least twice a year, and held its first 2015 meeting March 25-26 in Louisville, Ky. Since its inception, TSAC has provided 144 separate recommendations to the Coast Guard for improving the safety of towing vessels and waterways, and to help strengthen the American marine transportation system.