MARINE ENGINEERS' BENEFICIAL ASSOCIATION (AFL-CIO)
         "On Watch in Peace and War Since 1875"

MEBA TELEX TIMES                          JUNE 02, 2006

The Official Union Newsletter

NUMBER 22

In this issue...
New jobs with Chevron...Agreement for Horizon newbuilds...Tuesday meeting in JAX is at Clark Rd. hall...Break a leg! We premiere a crowd-pleasing new issue and set the stage by belting out an industry song-and-dance. With our name in lights on the MEBA marquee, we take a curtain call and bring the house down with a maritime star turn. That's entertainment! A real show stopper, the Telex Times is a tough act to follow.

NEW MEBA JOBS AS CHEVRON CHARTERS TANKERS
Members will have new deck and engine job opportunities as MEBA contracted company Chevron Shipping announced plans to bring three double-hulled tankers into their fleet under a long-term bareboat charter arrangement with Seabulk International Inc., a subsidiary of Seacor Holdings. Chevron has an option on a fourth Double-Eagle class tanker that will be decided upon later this year. The three vessels are all relatively new and were built in the Newport News shipyard in the late 1990s for Hvide. They include the SEABULK MARINER (built 1998), SEABULK COURAGE (built 1999) and SEABULK ENERGY (built1999). Chevron will operate the vessels under 9-year bareboat charter agreements with an option to extend.

MEBA President Ron Davis and Executive V.P. Bud Jacque who have worked closely with Chevron were pleased that the company has expanded its role under the Stars and Stripes and secured its future in U.S.-flag shipping with MEBA officers aboard.

The first ship in the trio (SEABULK MARINER) will join the fleet in the first quarter of 2007 with the other two following on a staggered schedule. The vessels will join the three existing Chevron U.S.-flag tankers - the ARIZONA VOYAGER, COLORADO VOYAGER and WASHINGTON VOYAGER at least until the delivery of the new ships and very possibly beyond. Those three ships are not subject to mandated Oil Pollution Act phase-outs and can continue to operate as long as feasible.

ACCORD REACHED ON HORIZON NEWBUIILDS
Atlantic Coast V.P. Don Keefe has signed a contract with Horizon Lines governing licensed MEBA engineers who will crew up five newbuilds the company plans to bring into its fleet over the next year. The five new diesel-propelled, D-8 or Hunter-class vessels are currently under construction in a Korean shipyard. Once completed, they will be brought under the U.S.-flag beginning in late December of this year and continuing on a staggered schedule over the next five months.

V.P. Keefe negotiated the deal with Horizon's Ocean Transportation Services V.P. and General Manager Glen Moyer. The ships will be covered under the existing contract between MEBA and Horizon Lines that runs until mid-June 2012 except that the vessels will be subject to A-2 automated rates. The vessels are expected to begin service in the first quarter of 2007.

Horizon is leasing the vessels as part of an agreement with Ship Finance International. The term of each bareboat charter will be 12 years with a 3-year renewal option on the part of Horizon Lines. Horizon will have the option to buy the vessels after 5, 8, 12 and 15 years. The company plans to operate the ships in its expanded TP1 service from the U.S. West Coast to Guam and Asia.

UPDATE: TUESDAY MEETING IN JAX IS AT THE OLD HALL
It was announced at a late hour that the regular membership meeting in Jacksonville, scheduled for Tuesday, June 6, will take place at the old Union hall (435 Clark Rd., Suite 106).  MEBA is relocating to a new space in Jacksonville (349 E. 20th Street) and earlier planned to host the meeting at the new hall which we will be sharing with the MM&P. However, with the move still ongoing, the old hall will be used one final time. Rep. Tom Suneson expects that the new location will be fully operative by the end of next week.

Active and retired members attending the last Clark Rd. meeting will also have the opportunity to wish a fond farewell to MEBA's longtime Jacksonville Plans employee Joretta South who is retiring after 40 years (!!!) with MEBA. Following the 1 p.m. job call and subsequent meeting, there will be a surprise party for Joretta. Since Joretta (shockingly) is not a reader of the Telex Times, the surprise should remain intact.
   
HORIZON LINES EMPLOYEES CAN GET STOCK DISCOUNTS
Horizon Lines' Board of Directors has okayed a voluntary Employee Stock Purchase Plan that the company is offering to MEBA Horizon employees. The plan provides for the purchase of Horizon Lines common stock at a discount through payroll deductions. Stock purchases will be made each calendar quarter using funds withheld by authorized deductions from each paycheck in that quarter.

The purchase price is a discount from the fair market value of the stock on either the first or last day of the quarter, whichever is lower. Currently, the discount will be 5%. All Horizon employees are eligible except those who do not usually work more than twenty hours a week or more than five months in any calendar year.  The plan starts on July 1, 2006.

Communications to Horizon Lines' associates will go out on June 1. Employees wishing to participate will be asked to send back a form that includes data such as amount of dollars to be withheld each pay period, beneficiary information and the usual name, address, etc.

PORT OF BALTIMORE RENAMED FOR "FIRST LADY OF MARITIME"
At a ceremony honoring the 300th anniversary of the Port of Baltimore, Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich announced that the seaport will be renamed in honor of the "First Lady of Maritime." The "Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore" is a tribute to the longtime maritime advocate who continues that role today at the age of 82. Bentley began covering industry issues as a reporter at the Baltimore Sun in the 1940's through the late 60's. In 1969, she was appointed as the Chairwoman at the Federal Maritime Commission. In the mid-1980s, she won election to Congress representing Maryland. Her district covered Baltimore as well as the Port there and she continued to fight fiercely for maritime issues throughout her legislative service which concluded in 1995. Soon after, Bentley founded a maritime consulting firm which she continues today.

Though Bentley serves as the chairwoman of the port's Tricentennial Committee, she didn't learn about the honor until the Governor's announcement at the anniversary ceremony that took place at the South Locust Point cruise ship terminal.

Calling her the "Godmother of the Port," Gov. Ehrlich noted that, "For more than five decades, the name of Helen Delich Bentley has been synonymous with the port of Baltimore. There has been no one who has championed the vital role the port plays in both the global economy and our everyday lives more than Helen."

MARAD LAUNCHES MERCHANT MARINER OUTREACH
The Maritime Administration has announced the creation of a new web-based Mariner Outreach System (MOS) designed to improve MarAd's ability to contact mariners during a national sealift emergency.

The MOS, which will be operated as a service to mariners, will also improve MarAd's ability to communicate with them and to solicit feedback through questionnaires and surveys. The MOS also allows mariners to review their U.S. Coast Guard qualifications/sea service and provide up-to-date changes to their contact information.  Mariners can access the system from anywhere in the world through a secure website at https://mos.marad.dot.gov.

For further information on the MOS contact MarAd's Office of Sealift Support at (202) 366-3423.

OIL SPILLS CLOSE CORPUS CHRISTI HARBOR
The Coast Guard was on hand and cleanup crews began their work on Thursday as a fire and heavy rain helped cause a pair of oil spills in Corpus Christi harbor that closed the port. It was estimated that 172,000 gallons of oil poured into the ship channel from two refineries adversely affected from a storm that dumped almost a foot of water on the area. Tanks used to catch waste oil overflowed at the Valero and Citgo refineries. A lightning strike that started a fire at the Valero tank created additional spillage.

With the damage occurring just west of the Harbor Bridge, the Coast Guard closed the channel to vessel traffic at 3:40 a.m. early on Thursday.

The fire was reported by crewmembers of the tanker MATT JACOBS at 1:26 a.m. That vessel was docked next to the 125-foot storm containment tank that
caught fire. Crewmembers were evacuated by a pair of tugboats and no one was harmed.

COMFORT CIVMARS COMPLETE READINESS TRAINING
The MEBA-crewed hospital ship USNS COMFORT returned to her berth in Baltimore recently after successfully completing a three-week international medical exercise and sea trials. The vessel is one of the special mission ships in the Military Sealift Command fleet.

While in Norfolk, Va., COMFORT's civilian mariners participated in substance material assessment and readiness testing. The test, conducted every five years, is mandated by Congress to ensure top-notch operability. Every operating system on the ship was tested and ran to full capacity.

The ship's captain, Richard Cicchetti, said that the test "provides verification that equipment is working properly under actual operating parameters, such as full electrical load and design pressures with the ship working in a seaway. These are conditions that a pierside dock trial cannot fully replicate. Additionally, many components of the ship are being tested under worst-case scenario parameters, such as generator feedback, emergency startup from dead ship conditions, as well as equipment shutdowns."

David Lieberman, the ship's second mate, pointed out that although extra work was done to ready the ship for testing, the engineers and the rest of the MSC crew ensure the ship is always in top shape in case of a deployment. MEBA engineers serve aboard the vessel.

MARAD TO UNLOAD TWO MORE GHOST SHIPS
The Maritime Administration has sold two more obsolete vessels for recycling. Southern Scrap Material Company, LLC (SSMC), of New Orleans, LA, has purchased the ALLISON LYKES and the MALLORY LYKES, both located in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX, for $50,000 apiece. Both vessels are cargo ships built in the mid-1960s.  The two ships are scheduled to leave the fleet site for New Orleans the last week of June.

"MarAd is taking advantage of the high global prices for recycled steel to get the best bargain for the American taxpayer," said Acting Deputy Maritime Administrator Julie Nelson, noting that, in the recent past, MarAd has often had to pay to have the ships recycled.  "We look forward to more such sales in the near future."
    
NEXT REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
Monday, June 5 - Boston, Seattle;
Tuesday, June 6 - Baltimore, Houston, Jacksonville, San Francisco;
Wednesday, June 7 - Calhoon School, Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, June 8 - Los Angeles, New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, June 9 - Honolulu.

CAA Reunion is June 30th-July 2, 2006. Plan accordingly and support the CAA!

 --------FINISHED WITH ENGINES---------