Following the Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School Board of Trustees meeting October 20-23, 2009, an updated listing of all reimbursable courses has been released:

• Basic Safety Training
• Advance Fire Fighting
• GMDSS
• Lifeboatman
• RADAR Recertification
• Refrigerant Recovery EPA Testing
• Helicopter Control Officer
• Helicopter Fire Fighting
• MAXIMO
• MERCOMMS
• ABS Safenet
• Ship Security and Tactics
• Damage Control
• Crisis Management
• Crowd Management
• Small Arms
• Tankship DL
• VSO

A revised "Application for Alternate Location Training" form can be found on the CMES website (www.mebaschool.org)  in the Admissions section, and will be distributed to the Halls.

According to "LNG Unlimited," Excelerate Energy, which employs M.E.B.A. officers in their large fleet through our agreement with Alaris Companies, may be getting into floating natural gas liquefaction involving the construction of additional new vessels:

The company signed an agreement on Wednesday with its longstanding shipping ally Exmar and gas processing specialist Black & Veatch to pursue floating LNG. The partners are targeting units with capacities ranging from the 1.5 million tons per annum to 3 million tpa. Excelerate president and chief executive Rob Bryngelson said even a 4 million tpa vessel is "not out of range" for the partners, revealing the company has received expressions of interest for this size.

Bryngelson said the partners have already got a basic design for what they are calling a floating liquefaction storage and offloading (FLSO) unit. He said the design packages together proven technology but is also being developed in modular fashion to suit any given gas field. Bryngelson said he and his colleagues at Excelerate have been working on floating liquefaction since around 2001 when they were with El Paso Corporation.

He said Excelerate, which is backed by its two key shareholders RWE Group and oil tycoon George Kaiser, will be the driving force behind the FLSO partnership and will retain commercial control. The company has brought in Anthony Schiller as upstream development director.

Bryngelson said there are "a lot of discussions going on" with prospective clients, adding: "We are talking to people where the gas reserve makes sense." He is adamant an FLSO will not be built on speculation. However, he said: "The first one will set the benchmark for how we are going to do it."

Bryngelson is also certain the FLSO will be more cost competitive than a like-size onshore liquefaction plant. He said it will take around four years from pulling the trigger on a project to LNG production. Exmar chief executive Nicolas Saverys said 2012 remains a realistic date for the first FLSO to be in operation. Saverys said the partners' existing expertise on issues such as sloshing, product processing and discharge via ship-to-ship transfer will be key to the FLSO projects. Bryngelson is clear about the motives for the move into the offshore liquefaction sector. "We are not trying to be an asset player. We want to integrate further up the chain and gain access to the molecules," he said.

The US Coast Guard has launched a customer survey to collect feedback on its Mariner Licensing and Documentation Program. The survey results will help usher in improvements for U.S. mariners and the maritime industry. Go online and visit the following link:
http://homeport.uscg.mil/mycg/portal/ep/program/mmld_survey.jsp

Somalia’s Prime Minister observed that piracy off his country’s coast needs to be tackled from the land side as well as from the sea. He requested assistance to halt attacks from the two main piracy networks (one in the central region of Somalia and one in Puntland) through the establishment of information-sharing centers on how the pirates operate and analyzing their money flow. He stated his eagerness to ensure that pirates were prosecuted within Somalia and stated that Somalia was reviewing its national legislation accordingly, and that he would appreciate assistance from IMO in this connection.

Mitropoulos responded that he would, in co-operation with his counterpart at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), provide the requested assistance and also that, through IMO’s technical co-operation program and assistance from Member States, the Organization would help Somalia to establish a national coast guard. The Prime Minister and the Secretary-General agreed to pursue Somalia’s capacity-building needs through a Somali delegation visiting IMO to specify such needs in the near future.

According to a plea agreement filed with U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the company has agreed to pay a $1 million criminal fine along with a $250,000 community service payment to the congressionally-established National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The money will be designated for use in the Flower Garden and Stetson Banks National Marine Sanctuary, headquartered in Galveston, Texas, to support the protection and preservation of natural and cultural resources located in and adjacent to the sanctuary.

According to court documents, the engineers knowingly failed to make the required entries into the oil record book including the fact that sludge and oily waste had been discharged directly into the ocean using the magic pipe and circumventing the internationally required pollution control equipment. The senior engineers also made false entries in the oil record book to conceal the fact that the pollution control equipment had not been used. The crewmembers then attempted to conceal the discharges on Feb. 19, 2009, during a Coast Guard boarding at the port in Texas City, by providing the falsified oil record book to the boarding crew.

M.E.B.A.-contracted Liberty Maritime Corporation needs Chiefs, 1st A/Es, and C/Ms for their Fleet of Bulk Carriers and new PCTCs. Resumes can be e-mailed to personnel@libertymar.com.  You can also fax them to (516) 488-8806. They can be mailed to: Nina Timonina, Personnel Manager; Liberty Maritime Corporation; 1979 Marcus Avenue, Suite 200; Lake Success, NY 11042. Call Nina or Joe MacEwen (516) 488-8800 for more information.

M.E.B.A.-contracted OSG Ship Management needs Chiefs and 1st A/Es for four of their product tankers. Members MUST be qualified with Tankerman PIC or Tankerman Engineer for these positions. Resumes can be e-mailed to OSG Crew Manager Fred Meyer at FMeyer@OSG.com.  You can also fax them to (813) 221-3179. They can be snail mailed to Fred at OSG America, Inc., Two Harbour Place, 302 Knights Run Avenue - Suite 1200, Tampa, FL 33602. For further information please contact Fred Meyer at (813) 209-0683.

Monday, Dec. 7 – Boston; Jacksonville; Seattle;
Tuesday, Dec. 8 – Baltimore/Calhoon School@CMES, Houston, San Francisco (Oakland);
Wednesday, Dec. 9 – Charleston, New Orleans;
Thursday, Dec. 10 – L.A. (Wilmington), New York (New Jersey), Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, Dec. 11 – Honolulu.