In this issue...
Excelerate granted deepwater port license...CMES tour of EXCELLENCE...L.A. hall moving to new location...NASSCO launches new M.E.B.A.-crewed ship...M.E.B.A. vessels involved in rescues...Without the use of a rabbit's foot or a mojo hand, we remove the curse of a slow news week and conjure up the latest maritime scarabs from our Tibetan amulet box. Put away that four-leaf clover and sit down for a spell as we work our magic without a horseshoe or a Guatemalan Worry Doll. You're in luck! To get the news you need, the Telex Times works like a charm!

MARAD GRANTS DEEPWATER PORT LICENSE FOR EXCELERATE
M.E.B.A.'s newest contracted company Excelerate Energy has had a series of good news lately that bodes well for its development as a company. This week at a small rooftop ceremony at M.E.B.A. Headquarters, Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton signed Excelerate Energy's Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge Deepwater Port license. Excelerate President Kathleen Eisbrenner was also on hand with several company officials, along with a slew of MarAd representatives and an M.E.B.A. contingent including President Ron Davis.

Excelerate will build the Northeast Gateway deepwater port approximately 18 miles east of Boston, Massachusetts. Spectra Energy, formerly known as Duke Energy, will build a 16-mile subsea pipeline from its existing hub line to the deepwater port site to transfer natural gas from the vessels into New England's gas pipeline network. Excelerate will construct and own the deepwater port, which will be operated by Skaugen Offshore and will accommodate Excelerate's proprietary Energy Bridge Regasification Vessel (EBRV) fleet operated by Exmar NV.

The port's infrastructure will feature two submerged turret loading buoys supplied by Advanced Production and Loading. Excelerate estimates peak deliveries of up to 800 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, permitting Northeast Gateway to deliver about 500 million cubic feet per day of natural gas into the New England market during normal operations.

Recently, the company announced that it is expanding its fleet by three to a total of nine vessels. M.E.B.A. reached a Memorandum of Understanding recently to bring back the Union into the LNG arena and crew the vessels in the Excelerate fleet. The arrangement provides new opportunities for both M.E.B.A. engine and deck officers.

Pres. Davis, Secretary-Treasurer Bill Van Loo, Baltimore Branch Agent Bill McHugh and Deputy General Counsel William Doyle are wrapping up final details on the Excelerate LNG package.

SCHOOL INSTRUCTORS WORKING ON FURTHER UPGRADE OF LNG CURRICULUM
Two Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School officials were in Galveston, TX this week with an eye out to further ramping up our LNG training curriculum in Easton, MD. Scott Conway, Executive Coordinator of LNG Training & Simulation and Bob Smith, the School's Executive Officer of Business Development surveyed the Excelerate vessel EXCELLENCE, managed by Exmar NV. Capt. Mark Lane, Excelerate's Director of Operations shuttled them around the vessel as they met with crew and took notes on how to better mold our LNG courses to help students master the latest technologies used in LNG carriage.

L.A. HALL TO MOVE LOCATIONS ON JUNE 1, 2007
Effective June 1, 2007, M.E.B.A.'s Los Angeles Union hall will relocate to Wilmington, CA and share space with the Masters, Mates & Pilots at their union hall - at least on a temporary basis. The rising cost of rent at the San Pedro location necessitated the move.

The hall is located at:

533 N. Marine Ave.
Wilmington, CA 90744-5527

Phone and fax numbers as well as e-mail addresses will remain the same. Everything should be operational in Wilmington on June 1. Job call will take place there on that day and the regular membership meeting will be held there the following week.

The new location is only five miles away from the building in San Pedro and is one block north of the old M.E.B.A. hall in Wilmington. Members will be able to utilize the parking lot at the building or find a spot on the street. M.E.B.A. Branch Agent Mike Nizetich can be contacted on his cell phone (562-810-2336) to answer any additional questions.

Brother Nizetich and hall Rep. Greg Revers want to send a shout out to a slew of members and applicants who have been gracious with their time and have provided crucial assistance with the move so far. Thanks go to Josh Lemmon, Terry Ziegler, Pat Duffy, Patrick Bevers, Eric Conner, Norvin Castillo, Brian Krum and others.

NASSCO LAUNCHES LATEST T-AKE
San Diego's NASSCO shipyard this week launched the U.S. Navy's newest resupply ship, USNS RICHARD E. BYRD (T-AKE 4). The vessel is being transferred to the Military Sealift Command and will crew up with M.E.B.A. officers in the engine room. The ship is named in honor of the Navy Rear Admiral and Medal of Honor recipient who explored the North and South Poles by air.

Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter spoke at the event that took place at the shipyard. Rear Admiral Robert Reilly Jr., commander of the MSC, was the ceremony's principal speaker. Mrs. Bolling Byrd Clarke, Byrd's oldest daughter and the ship's sponsor, christened the ship by breaking the traditional bottle of champagne against its bow.

A 1912 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a naval aviator, Byrd (1888-1957) explored the North Pole region by air in May 1926. He received the Medal of Honor for the flight. Two and a half years later, Byrd began his first expedition to the Antarctica. He commanded the first flight over the South Pole in November 1929. Byrd completed four more expeditions to the Antarctic continent over the next 26 years, including the 1955 "Operation Deep Freeze" expedition that established the permanent U.S. facilities at the South Pole.

USNS RICHARD E. BYRD is the fourth ship of an expected class of 11 T-AKE dry cargo-ammunition ships for the Navy. NASSCO began constructing the 689-foot-long ship in February 2006. The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in November. The yard announced that it has already started work on the seventh vessel in the class to be delivered in the first quarter of 2009.

M.E.B.A. FERRY SUCCESSFULLY EVACUATES PASSENGERS
An M.E.B.A. ferry in the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) came to the rescue this week when a sternwheeler cruise ship ran aground near Juneau this week. Crewmembers aboard the 360-foot EMPRESS OF THE NORTH said they were trying to make a course correction when the ship raked a rocky shoal in the early morning hours on Monday. No injuries were reported. The AMHS ferry M/V COLUMBIA was on scene at around 545 a.m. along with a Coast Guard cutter. Both vessels began the process of helping to offload the EMPRESS OF THE NORTH onto the COLUMBIA. The ferry took on all 206 passengers along with 46 of the cruise ship's 75 crewmembers.

The 418-foot long COLUMBIA is the largest vessel in the AMHS fleet and can carry 499 passengers and 134 vehicles. The COLUMBIA crew, which includes highly skilled M.E.B.A. officers, helped make the evacuees as comfortable as possible with blankets, hot drinks and food. The ferry returned to Juneau where it dropped off its passengers safe and sound. The COLUMBIA then resumed its regular run to Haines and Skagway. The EMPRESS OF THE NORTH made it Auke Bay under its own power where Coast Guard marine inspectors surveyed the damage. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting its own investigation of the incident.

LAST FEW WEEKS TO VOTE ON MOLA; TALLY COMMITTEE ELECTIONS AT SEVEN HALLS
These are the last few weeks to cast your vote on the proposed Merchant Officers' Labor Alliance (MOLA), a cooperation pact between the M.E.B.A. and the MM&P.

Any member in good standing who has not received a mailing containing a referendum on the new Merchant Officers' Labor Alliance (MOLA) can call 1-800-273-0726 to get one. The number was set up by the American Arbitration Association which is overseeing the ballot count.

The MOLA charts out a system for the two unions to work together on items of mutual interest. The 90-day mail ballot must be returned by June 14, 2007.

A rank and file tally committee will be elected at the regular June membership meetings and will join the Impartial Administrator to tabulate the ballots on June 15th. Members for this Tally Committee will be elected in Baltimore, Houston, L.A. New York and Seattle. Alternates will be selected from the halls in New Orleans and San Francisco. Once assembled at the designated meeting place at the M.E.B.A. Headquarters Building in Washington D.C., they will pick the ballots up from the depository on the morning of June 15th, then proceed to count the ballots.

ADDITIONAL LNG TANKSHIP COURSE SCHEDULED AT SCHOOL IN JUNE
The Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School has just announced that it has scheduled an additional LNG Tankship course from June 18-29. Instructor Paul Greubel heads up the course which helps students master the safe and efficient transportation of liquefied natural gas. There may be additional LNG courses scheduled to accommodate demand especially due to our new relationship with Excelerate Energy which is putting members to work aboard its fleet of LNG ships. Call the School for more information. You can talk to Registrar Shirley Shelton at (410) 822-9600, ext. 100.

REP. BRIAN BAIRD ISSUES EARLY MARITIME DAY STATEMENT
Congressman Brian Baird, a longtime friend of the M.E.B.A. who represents Washington State's 3rd District has issued a National Maritime Day statement in advance of the observance next week. Maritime Day is officially recognized as May 22 each year and is a day set aside to pay special tribute to the industry as well as to those mariners who gave their lives defending our Nation's freedom. Rep. Baird's statement follows:

"I am proud to join with my colleagues in Congress, the President, and others around the country in recognizing National Maritime Day. Maritime transportation is a fundamental part of our country's economic growth and success, as well as our national security.

Economically, we are a maritime nation. America has always relied on the maritime community to connect us to the world through the transportation of exports and imports. The men and women who work in the maritime industry are truly the engine of the American economy. My district, which includes the Columbia River, a stretch of the Pacific Coast, and the Puget Sound, plays a unique role in keeping the American economy moving.

We also rely on the maritime community for our national security. The Merchant Marine, to this day, is responsible for keeping the United States military mobile and well supplied. It is an integral part of our national defense. Since 1943, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy has trained these outstanding mariners for their important task. I have been proud to nominate students from my district to this outstanding institution. These students are the future of our maritime industry and security.

During my time in Congress I have had the pleasure to serve on the Water Resources Subcommittee and Coast Guard and Maritime Subcommittee, and have proudly worked on behalf of our maritime industry. Again, I am happy to recognize National Maritime Day and our outstanding maritime workforce."

M.E.B.A. AMMUNITION SHIP RESCUES FIVE AFTER CARGO VESSEL FIRE
Mariners aboard the Military Sealift Command ammunition ship USNS SHASTA (T-AE 33), that include M.E.B.A. officers, rescued all crewmembers aboard a disabled commercial cargo ship on May 12 in the Western Pacific near Saipan.

Just after sunset, SHASTA received a request from the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet Battle Watch Center to assist the ill-fated MV HAUROSI, which reported a major engine room fire. Traveling at full-speed, SHASTA made the 90-mile voyage to HAUROSI's location in just over four hours, using the transit time to prepare the flight deck for helicopter operations and ready SHASTA's towing and firefighting equipment.

"As we approached, we could see the crew on deck waving flashlights," said Capt. R.J. Bellfi, SHASTA's civil service master. After refueling a U.S. Navy HH-60 helicopter from Guam that was already on-scene, SHASTA's crew dispatched a boarding team to HAUROSI in the ship's rigid-hull, inflatable boat. Once onboard HAUROSI, Cargo Officer Robert Foor assessed the damage to the ship and condition of the crew. The fire was fully extinguished, but HAUROSI was adrift without propulsion or power. Luckily, the ship's crew fared much better. "They were a bit exhausted, but appeared to be in good shape," Foor said. HAUROSI and its crew were five days into a voyage from Pusan to the Solomon Islands when the fire occurred.

SHASTA set-up temporary lighting to monitor the ship throughout the night. The following morning, in rain showers and gusty winds, the MSC ship attached a towline to HAUROSI and set course for Saipan, the nearest port.

HAUROSI crewmembers were transferred to SHASTA and received general medical services, a hot meal, clean clothing and a place to sleep. Shasta's crew passed the hat and collected $800 for HAUROSI's crew, all citizens of the Solomon Islands. SHASTA safely delivered HAUROSI and its crew to Saipan early that morning.

DHS TO TEST SECURITY TECHNOLOGY AT TACOMA PORT
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will soon begin conducting multiple projects in the Port of Tacoma, Wash., to evaluate technology and concepts of operations for radiation detection that will scan cargo at various points in transfer from ship to rail. By establishing a Rail Test Center (RTC) at the port, DHS will identify and evaluate radiological and nuclear detection solutions for intermodal rail port facilities that can be used across the country. Projects being considered for further evaluation at the RTC include scanning cargo on the dock, during transport to the rail yard, entering the rail yard, in the container storage stack, during train assembly, and as the train leaves the port.

NEXT REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday June 4 - Boston, Seattle;
Tuesday, June 5 - Baltimore, Houston, Jacksonville, San Francisco;
Wednesday, June 6 - Calhoon M.E.B.A. School, Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, June 7 - Los Angeles, New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, June 8 - Honolulu