Maritime Information Services of North America

History of Misna

Overview

Maritime Information Services of North America (MISNA) is a coalition of non-profit maritime information service organizations dedicated to providing information, communications and related services to ensure safe, secure, efficient and environmentally sound maritime operations. Established in 1995, MISNA represents the commercial maritime community’s shared commitment to proactively address some of the challenges faced by the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, the Maritime Administration and other federal and state agencies and industry partners in a cooperative and cost efficient manner.

Membership

MISNA membership includes maritime exchanges and associations from throughout the United States, Canada and Europe (see Members for listing). These organization, several of which have been in existence well over 100 years, represent a broad cross section of maritime interests in their respective regions – vessel owners and agents, ports, pilots, towboat companies, stevedores and terminal operators, admiralty lawyers, custom brokers and freight forwarders, ship repair firms, employer associations, insurance agencies, marine surveyors, maritime union and oil spill response organizations, just to name a few. Collectively, over 8,000 private and public maritime businesses, agencies and associations are represented by MISNA members.

Scope of Activities

On behalf of its members, MISNA is engaged with various private and public sector agencies, such as the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Maritime Administration, on a variety of projects and issues ranging from advance and real-time vessel movement monitoring to vessel specific tracking or track histories, and promoting U.S. maritime commerce. In addition, by monitoring, recording and disseminating major commercial maritime activity, individual members have developed a profound knowledge of maritime operations in their respective regions. This information is then shared through common protocols with the MISNA organization. The purpose of these initiatives is to ensure maritime intelligence information is available electronically – on a need-to-know basis – in order to streamline the flow of commerce as well as to undertake trend analyses and conduct effective risk assessment and targeting.

In short, MISNA’s primary focus is to provide valuable maritime information to organizations and entities that have roles in providing for safe, secure and efficient maritime operations. Evolving from the 1800’s when spy glasses, messengers and semaphores were in use, the marine exchanges that make up MISNA today are applying satellite and internet technologies to provide accurate and timely information on maritime operations. While the exchanges vary to some degree in the type and scope of products and services they provide, products and services include:

Advance vessel schedule information, including ETAs and ETDs

Actual arrival and departure data

Vessel traffic analysis

Historical vessel movement

Information center and answering services

A variety of electronic data services, such as berth scheduling, cargo manifesting, and advance notice of vessel arrival

Port and terminal utilization studies

Expert maritime analysis and assistance with regulatory compliance

Hazmat, transportation, security, and a host of other training programs

Secretariat and association management

Today MISNA is involved in an array of joint ventures to effectively address the maritime challenges of the 21^st Century.

History

The Marine Exchange of San Francisco led the effort to initiate coalition of the Marine Exchanges starting on the west coast and MISNA was ultimately chartered in 1995 as a non-profit corporation. The charter members of MISNA included:

President: Terry Hunter, Marine Exchange of San Francisco

Vice President: Manny Aschemeyer, Marine Exchange of Southern California

Treasurer: Dick Copeland, Merchant Exchange of Portland

Secretary: Harry Hutchins, Marine Exchange of Puget Sound

Ron Cartwright, Chamber of Shipping, British Columbia

MISNA membership held to the west coast for several more years before extending an invitation to the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay, at which point MISNA became a “bicoastal organization.” Soon the Maritime Association of the Ports of New York and New Jersey joined MISNA, the Baltimore Maritime Exchange, the Marine Exchange of the West Gulf (subsidiary of the Greater Houston Port Bureau) all joined MISNA, giving the organization coverage on all three coasts. Later, the New Orleans Board of Trade and the Hampton Roads Maritime Association (now the Virginia Maritime Association) joined MISNA ranks followed soon thereafter by the newly created Marine Exchange of Alaska (in Juneau) and Jacksonville Marine Transportation Exchange became MISNA members.

MISNA is also affiliated with International Ship Reporting Association (ISRA) representing ports in five Europe countries and MISNA continues to explore collaborative and cooperative possibilities with this group for the future.

Past Presidents of MISNA

¨ Terry Hunter (San Francisco)

¨ Rich Softye (Puget Sound)

¨ Manny Aschemeyer (Southern California)

¨ Ron Cartwright (British Columbia)

¨ Bob Bohlman (Puget Sound)

¨ Liz Wainwright (Portland)

¨ Lisa Himber (Delaware River and Bay)

¨ Ed Page (Alaska)

¨ Alistair Macnab (West Gulf – Houston)

See Executive Committee for current officers.

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