By Sammy Miles, Managing Editor-in-Chief of CORROSION journal

On Tuesday, March 17, the AMPP TC04 Marine Technical Community of Interest (TCI) is bringing together commercial shipowners, classification societies, government, and workforce innovators in a session to explore the technologies, workforce initiatives, and policy drivers shaping the future of marine fleet readiness.

With perspectives spanning coating performance optimization, ship operational safety, workforce development, and emerging environmental regulations, attendees will gain a holistic understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing today’s maritime ecosystem.  

This session includes four featured presentations. The first one, “Optimizing Fleet Coating Performance: A Practical Approach to Reliability and Operational Excellence,” will be presented by Dylan Goddard, a coatings performance Sspecialist at Seaspan, one of the world’s largest commercial shipbuilders and fleet operators.

The second presentation, “How ABS Evaluates and Ensures Ship Operational Safety During Design, Construction, and Service,” will be presented by Ryan Salamati, senior manager of operations at ABS, the leading classification society responsible for ship safety across global commercial fleets.

The third presentation, “Forging the Future Fleet: National and Regional Initiatives to Recruit, Train, and Retain the Next Generation of Maritime Shipbuilders,” will be presented by John Snell, the senior program manager for maritime trades at Old Dominion University’s Virginia Digital Maritime Center. The center is known for its academic and workforce leaders who are shaping the future of U.S. shipbuilding capacity.

The final presentation, “Update on Regulatory Requirements – Copper Release, Microplastics, PFAS, Oxsol, Halogenated Compounds & VOC,” will be presented by Kelsey Hendrixson, PE, MPH. Hendrixson is the director of chemical and material risk management at the U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary of War (EI&E).  

The session will be held from 1:00-3:00 p.m. in Room 360 AB. All sessions are held inside Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, the host site for the 2026 AMPP Annual Conference + Expo.

AMPP is an acronym for the Association for Materials Protection and Performance.

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