Congratulations to David and Joel Cohen of Promet Marine for being named the 2008 Maritime Persons of the Year by the Propeller Club, Port of Narragansett Bay chapter! The Providence Business News has a brief article on the award and the Propeller Club’s scholarship fund award winners:

The Propeller Club, Port of Narragansett Bay, will bestow its Maritime Person of the Year honors upon Promet Marine Services Corp. co-owners David A. Cohen, the company’s founding president, and Joel H. Cohen, its vice president, secretary and treasurer. Both brothers are longtime members of the Propeller Club.

The Cohens have operated their commercial ship repair yard for more than 30 years. (The company’s 2004 purchase of its current site, on Allens Avenue, was recently upheld by the R.I. Supreme Court. READ MORE.)

“Over the past year, they have been instrumental in the formation of the Providence Working Waterfront Alliance (READ MORE), which has worked tirelessly to educate state and local officials about the economic importance of the Port of Providence and to protect the area from incompatible mixed uses,” the club noted.

They will be honored for their many years of participation and support of the club, the maritime industry and the area, the club said.

The Propeller Club’s Education Fund Scholarships for 2008 will go to Christopher Duarte of the Mass. Maritime Academy; Brian Eisenhower, a student of admiralty and maritime law at the Roger Williams School of Law; and Tiffany Smythe, a Ph.D. candidate in marine affairs at the University of Rhode Island.

The winners will be honored at the club’s 2008 awards dinner, slated for Monday, May 19, at the Hotel Providence, 311 Westminster St. The event will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m.