Marine safety and communication product manufacturer Vesper Marine added to its sales team, naming Jason Young as global sales director. Young, who has 15 years of experience specializing in marine electronics and technology, will be tasked with expanding Vesper’s presence in critical markets around the world. “Anyone who has dealt with Jason knows how passionate he is about the marine electronics industry and that his priority is always for his customers,” said Vesper Marine CEO Brady Cox in a statement. “His extensive product knowledge is a great resource for Vesper customers around the world.”

Horizon Yachts has been recognized with the Taiwan Excellence Award for the 11th straight year, and its FD102 was bestowed with a Taiwan Excellence Gold Award. The awards were presented last week by the country’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and cover four areas: R&D, design, quality and marketing. The FD102 was the fifth Horizon model to receive Gold Award, offering “innovative value while satisfying the key criterion of being made in Taiwan,” the company said in a statement. 

 The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which is celebrating its 20th year of coral reef conservation, announced $1.2 million in grants for North American coral reefs. The funds will support community-based efforts to preserve reefs in Florida, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and the Caribbean. “Coral reefs are critically important habitats for thousands of marine species, and they also offer coastal communities protection against storms and provide many other social and economic benefits,” said foundation CEO Jeff Trandahl in a statement. The grants, which were awarded through the Coral Reef Conservation Fund, will leverage nearly $1.3 million in matching contributions to generate a total conservation impact of more than $2.5 million.