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Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark has partnered with design firm Incat Crowther to develop a new line of passenger vessels.
At last month's Passenger Vessel Association Maritrends Conference in Savannah, Georgia, Metal Shark introduced its new Endurance PV-X passenger vessel lineup, with 26-meter (150-passenger) and 32-meter (350-passenger) models now available and additional offerings to follow.
The welded-aluminum, high-speed, low-wake, catamaran Endurance PV-X models are touted by Metal Shark as “next-generation passenger vessels” and feature thoroughly proven Incat Crowther hull designs well-regarded among passenger vessel operators for their efficiency and performance. The new models have been optimized for comfort, safety, and operational efficiency, offering a range of configurations and optional features designed to suit individual operator requirements.
The Endurance PV-X vessels stand out with chiseled, modern lines derived from Metal Shark’s latest military patrol boat designs. Large windows create a sense of openness while enhancing the view from within. Comfortable seating arrangements, wide aisles, and roomy head compartments combine to enhance the overall passenger experience. Amenities such as LED infotainment screens, charging stations for electronic devices, onboard wifi, and bicycle racks are all available. Metal Shark’s signature pillarless glass pilothouse offers best-in-class visibility from the elevated helm station.
Metal Shark is currently slated to deliver nine passenger vessels this year, with numerous 150 and 350-passenger vessels currently under construction at its Franklin Louisiana shipyard for markets including New York, Washington DC, and New Orleans.
However, company executives stress that production slot availability is not a problem.
“Thanks to the large number of contracts we’ve announced over the past year, a few clients have gotten the mistaken impression that we’re too busy to take on additional work,” said Metal Shark’s vice president of commercial sales, Carl Wegener. “We’re definitely busy at both of our facilities but thanks to efficient engineering and production management our operations are optimized for volume. We don’t need to ramp up to take on additional projects; we just keep feeding the machine.”

As a dad, one of my duties at home is to be a “fix-it” guy. While I may not be the handiest person out there, I can usually put some “MacGyver-esque” skills to the test and find a solution to a wide range of challenges around the house.
I’ve replaced a doorbell, repaired a few windows, laid down some tile, fixed a garage door opener, hung a few ceiling fans and kept an old AC unit running for a few years longer than it ever should have lasted. I can open a wine bottle with a shoe (seriously) and once repaired some reading glasses with a chopstick.
You shouldn’t hire me to build your dream home, but I can usually cobble together a workable solution or two for a project around the house when needed.
Having said that, take it from a guy like me, there is no quick fix to what is broken in Louisiana state government.
No patch can extend the shelf life of our current system, and no trick can mask its mounting problems. Duct tape and twine have been used to hold this thing together for as long as any of us can remember and the gig is finally up. The only solution is to replace what we have with a whole new model and never look back. It’s time to hit Ctrl+Alt+Del on Louisiana and reboot the boot.
Shortly after being elected governor in 1928, Huey Long consolidated all the state’s power, patronage, money and assets under his control and leveraged everyone and everything that crossed his path.
He expected you to pay respect and homage to him and his crew. The word got out that, in Louisiana, you had to know the right people to get anything done. That reputation still haunts us today.
Over the years, we haven’t deviated all that much from this vision. That “chicken in every pot” mindset is all around us, and far too many good Louisiana people have been brainwashed by the Kingfish’s legacy to think the only way to prosperity is through the well-greased fingers of some political powerbroker in Baton Rouge.
It has led to frustratingly low expectations harbored by generations of Louisianans. Other states don’t think like this and nei-ther should we.
Since Huey’s era, we have tried a little bit of everything to no avail. The reign of Edwin Edwards brought in an era of “comedic corruption,” where the shadiness of our officials was usually just laughed off if they gave us a good one-liner and showed us a good time. Reform-minded governors like McKeithen, Roemer and Jindal had their moments but also had their misses. The same goes for nice governors like Treen and Blanco. Mike Foster won with a welding hat. Jimmie Davis won with a song.
In 1973, a Constitutional Convention was held during an era of oil and gas surplus.
That convention drafted the document that enshrined much of that Huey Long mindset into a new constitution, the document by which we live under to this day. Since then, it has been amended 186 times in 44 years. In comparison, the U.S. Constitution has been amended only 27 times in 231 years.
Our constitution locks up much of our state budget to politically connected entities and protects overlapping boards and bureaucracies from reforms. It guarantees funding for a chosen few and designates the state capitol as the unquestioned kingmaker to everything that happens in our great state. The document relegates most local governments to the role of dependent children with good intentions, but they have been conditioned to be addicted to the subsidies and protections divvied out by the state capitol’s politicians.
Who you know has unfortunately been more important than what you know in Louisiana for as long as we can remember and our constitution makes that difficult to change.
Over the decades, a lot of good people have been elected to various offices with the intention of reforming Louisiana. Countless other public servants and staffers go to work each day to do the same. But the harsh reality is that it may be all for naught if we don’t get much more aggressive in changing our governing foundation and get to it quickly.
This past fiscal session was just the latest mess that ended with good people who ran for the right reasons once again blaming each other for all the wrong reasons. The people aren’t our problem. It’s the foundation of political patronage left behind by Huey Long that we have yet to eliminate. It is the legacy of corruption laughed off by Edwin Edwards that we have yet to reject. It is the unfulfilled promise of past reformers that we never fully embraced. And yes, it is a grossly inadequate and outdated constitution that we have refused to replace.
Our sordid history doesn’t have to become our future. It’s time to move on from our “colorful” past and create the better Louisiana we have long deserved. That won’t happen with more of the same. Special sessions, taxes, lawsuits and political patronage may have gotten us here, but no combination of them will ever take us to where we need to go. It’s time to pull out Huey’s model of government by the roots… and that can only happen with a Consti-tutional Convention.
Stephen Waguespack is president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.

NEW YORK — In pajamas and old wedding gowns, with high tea or a bit of the early morning bubbly, royal watchers in the U.S. and around the globe are fascinator-ready to watch the nuptials of Prince Harry and his unprecedented fiancee: Meghan Markle.
He’s the spare to the heir, soon to be booted to sixth in line for the throne, but Harry is forever the people’s prince to many inside and outside the Commonwealth who once wondered whether the bad boy of Windsor would ever tie the knot.
She, of TV “Suits” fame, has whipped up some big fan buzz, including those thrilled by her mixed race heritage.
Their “woke” wedding (the Spice Girls are expected) is May 19 at midday, Windsor Castle time, or about 7 a.m. in the Eastern U.S. Viewing party plans are in the works, as are pricey hotel packages and bar meet ups. The frenzied have their own Facebook groups and some have cajoled less-enthused spouses to jet across the pond to watch the pomp in person from a spot on the carriage route.
Julie Brillhart, a hardcore royal enthusiast in Hurricane, West Virginia (population, 7,000, maybe), said she fired up her Harry and Meghan Facebook page to connect fans with parties back in November, “the minute I woke up in the morning and found out Meghan and Harry were engaged.” She and her twin sister now have nearly 5,000 members.
“We are in love with Meghan Markle,” said Brillhart, a former career logistics specialist in the Army. “For every little black girl who has ever wanted her very own princess who is a well-known, modern princess, they now have one. Isn’t that wonderful? She will always be our American princess.”
The group’s members share wedding updates and plans for gatherings, and they live in 91 countries on six of the seven continents.
“We’re actively looking for contacts in Antarctica,” Brillhart said. “They had their own Women’s March so we thought wouldn’t it be great for them to have their own little get-together for the wedding. They need something to break the monotony.”
Stateside, a recent AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll shows 19 percent of Americans are very or extremely likely to watch the marital hoopla. Another 20 percent said they’re somewhat likely to tune in and another 61 percent said they were not very likely or not at all likely to watch.
In Indianapolis, legal assistant Kelly Bentley, is on board. She’s married to a Brit. From North Yorkshire, to be exact. She’ll be the one in a crown as they sit at the bar of the Aristocrat Pub & Restaurant, sipping something yummy as the wedding unfolds.
“He doesn’t get as excited as I do,” she said. “It’s really fun that she’s from the United States. It’s that added connection. I got up early for William and Kate and the Charles and Diana wedding.”
Melissa Uhte, the Aristocrat’s general manager, said the place usually opens for breakfast at 8 a.m. but she’ll hang the welcome sign an hour early for the wedding. On the bar side, for those 21 and older, reservations were filling up for a royal brunch. On the restaurant side, kids are welcome. Royal attire is encouraged. Uhte’s 5-year-old daughter will be Elsa from “Frozen.”
“I’m going to try to squeeze into my wedding dress. I might have to wear a sweater to cover the back of it. It’s been nearly 15 years,” Uhte laughed. “There’s no shame. We’ve asked the moms to break out their wedding dresses, too.”
Royal media commentator Eloise Parker in New York said much of the U.S. hype is due to Markle’s status not only as an American but a divorced one.
She’s “kind of all of us and we could use a good news story right now,” she said. As for Harry, Parker said, he likely will never be king but, “people have a soft spot for him as the royal bad boy.”
For 31-year-old Esha Dev, who is Indian-American, the fact that Markle is a fellow woman of color offers an added connection.
“There’s definitely that, seeing that representation join the royal family,” she said.
Dev plans to host a viewing party, complete with mimosas, English tea and pastries, for a small group of friends in her tiny one-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia. It will be come as you are, fascinators provided.
“I didn’t even exist when Princess Diana got married,” she said. “The William and Kate wedding didn’t seem like such a big deal to me but this one has really stirred me up.”
For the well-heeled, hotels are also gearing up. The Brazilian Court Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, has on offer the “Royal Romance Suits You” package for a cool $24,000 with a four-night stay in its “Brando Suite.”
Upon arrival, guests will receive a bottle of Tignanello and banana cake — Markle’s favorite wine and the flavor chosen for their wedding cake, the hotel said. They also get the Strathberry tote bag that sold out after Markle was pictured carrying it and an introductory helicopter lesson to honor Harry’s service in that department.
A yachting excursion, a bespoke necklace modeled after Meghan’s engagement ring, afternoon tea, traditional English breakfast in bed and dinner at Cafe Boulud are included, with 5 percent of proceeds going to some of the couple’s favorite charities, along with a local humane society.
Kristin Contino in Philadelphia will be marking the occasion in Windsor. She’s flying over for the wedding, husband in tow.
“I grew up loving the royal family,” she said. “My mom was a big fan of Princess Diana. My sister’s name is Diana, if that gives you an indication. I missed going over for William and Kate’s wedding so my husband said if Harry ever gets married we’ll go. He honestly thought Harry would never get married.”
Gossip columnist Rob Shuter, a Brit, royal wedding podcaster and former executive editor of OK! Magazine, called the wedding excitement a slow burn in the U.S., though cheeky Harry has always held a special place in the hearts of many.
“I think this wedding is going to be a way for all of us to escape,” he said. “Who doesn’t need that right now?”