In this issue...
Drillship contract finalized...Keel laying for another T-AKE... Upcoming DIC meeting...Come enjoy the fruit of our labor as we peel away the handpicked maritime items of the week straight from the news grove. We juice up a seedless, pulp-free edition served chilled and never from concentrate. An excellent source of Vitamin C, rise and shine with the freshly squeezed Telex Times. It's the nectar of the gods!

M.E.B.A. FINALIZES ARRANGEMENT FOR DRILLSHIPS/RIGS;  IMMEDIATE OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE
After productive negotiations over the past four months, M.E.B.A. successfully hammered out a full-bodied collective bargaining agreement that will put members to work onboard drillships and drill rigs in the international subsea oil and gas industry.

M.E.B.A.'s solid working relationship with ARMADA Companies, LLC's President & CEO Bobbi Wolff and Executive V.P. Sandy Jones, will enable our members to work on the drillships and rigs owned and operated by Frontier Drilling through a referral arrangement.

Frontier has contracts with Shell Oil for the exploration of natural resources for the international subsea oil and gas industry. The drillship FRONTIER DISCOVERER which is being refurbished in a shipyard in Singapore.

Additionally, due to the first-class training our members receive at our School in Easton, MD we were able to secure language in the agreement to supply personnel to work in a non-traditional job classification known as "subsea engineer." Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School Director Lou Marciello and his dedicated staff of professionals (in particular Scott Conway & Bob Smith) should be commended for their tireless efforts in support of this endeavor. The School will develop and implement a course that will provide the additional training required for subsea and assistant subsea engineers.

The full Agreement was sent to the Union halls and is available for review.

The deal was brokered by M.E.B.A. President Ron Davis along with Secretary-Treasurer Bill Van Loo and Deputy General Counsel William Doyle. HQ Contracts Rep. Mark Gallagher provided valuable assistance in the process.

NASSCO LAYS KEEL OF SIXTH T-AKE
San Diego's NASSCO shipyard held a keel-laying ceremony this week for the sixth ship in the Navy's T-AKE program. The ship will be named USNS AMELIA EARHART, in honor of the first woman to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Upon completion, the vessel will be delivered to the Military Sealift Command and crewed up with M.E.B.A. officers. Delivery is scheduled for the fall of 2008.

In total there are 11 T-AKE dry cargo-ammunition ships planned for construction. The first two vessels, the USNS LEWIS AND CLARK and USNS SACAGAWEA have already been delivered with the third ship USNS ALAN SHEPARD set to be turned over to MSC. The fourth ship USNS RICHARD E. BYRD was recently launched and the fifth, the USNS ROBERT E. PEARY, is still under construction.

At the ceremony for the EARHART, event honoree Darlene Costello welded her initials into the keel. Costello is the deputy director for Naval Warfare in the office of under secretary of defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.

The EARHART will be 689-feet long and displace about 41,000 metric tons when fully loaded. The ship's primary mission will be to deliver food, ammunition, fuel and other provisions to combat ships at sea.

UPCOMING DIC MEETING
The District Investigating Committee (DIC) will convene later this month to consider applicants for membership in District No. 1-PCD, M.E.B.A. All eligible applicants should submit their information as soon as possible to Headquarters, c/o DIC. Overnight mail is recommended. The deadline is June 8, 2007 - submissions will not be accepted after this date. This will be the last DIC meeting this year.

PAY YOUR DUES!
Any member or applicant two or more years in arrears on their dues and/or service charges will be put under review by the District Investigating Committee (DIC) and WILL BE DROPPED from the membership or applicant rolls. If you are in arrears and desire to retain your membership or applicant status, you must contact Headquarters immediately to make payment on your arrearage to return to good standing.

MOLA TALLY GROUP TO BE ELECTED AT MEETINGS NEXT WEEK - LAST CHANCE TO GET YOUR BALLOT IN
A rank and file tally committee will be elected at next week's membership meetings to help tabulate ballots concerning a referendum on the proposed Merchant Officers' Labor Alliance (MOLA). The MOLA is a cooperation pact between the M.E.B.A. and the MM&P. The MOLA charts out a system for the two unions to work together on items of mutual interest.

Seven rank and file members will be elected at those meetings one each from Baltimore, Houston, L.A. New York and Seattle and alternates from New Orleans and San Francisco. On June 15th, the Tally Committee will join the Impartial Administrator in Washington D.C. and count the ballots.

If you are a member in good standing and have not cast your vote yet, there's not much time. The 90-day mail ballot has to be returned by June 14, 2007. If you do not have a ballot or yours was destroyed you 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.

L.A. HALL IS NOW IN WILMINGTON
The Los Angeles Union hall, which was in San Pedro, is now in Wilmington. The Union hall will be located in MM&P's hall for the time being. Branch Agent Mike Nizetich expects there to be business as usual in the new space come Monday. The hall is located at 533 N. Marine Ave., Wilmington, CA 90744-5527.

The phone and fax numbers as well as e-mail addresses remain the same. Job call will take place on Monday and the regular membership meeting is set to be held there on Thursday.

SIGN UP FOR LIBERTY SHIP TRIPS ABOARD THE JOHN BROWN!
You have an opportunity to sail on an adventure voyage aboard one of only two operational Liberty ships. The S.S. JOHN BROWN, which saw action during World War II, will have a series of cruises in New England waters this August in addition to several cruises on the Chesapeake Bay near her berth in Baltimore, MD. Several M.E.B.A. retirees work aboard the ship that will depart Baltimore on August 11 to spend three weeks hitting North East points and ports allowing lucky New Englanders to spend time on the ship during special six-hour cruises.

The exciting six-hour cruise features a continental breakfast, luncheon buffet, music of the 1940s and flybys of wartime aircraft. The ship is open for tours of the engine room, onboard museums, crew quarters, bridge and other areas of interest. Tickets are $125 each with group rates available.

Project Liberty Ship, the foundation that preserves the vessel, is a volunteer, nonprofit organization. Donations will continue to allow generations to view this historic floating museum and get a taste of how the Fourth Arm of Defense helped win World War II.

The ship will arrive at Massachusetts Maritime Academy on August 13th and hit Portland, Maine on August 16. It will conduct its Living History Day Cruise in Portland waters on August 18. On August 23rd, the ship will be in Beantown and is scheduled to perform its Living History Day Cruise in Bostonian waters on August 24th. The vessel returns to Baltimore on August 30th.

In addition to the New England voyage, the JOHN BROWN will conduct cruises on the Chesapeake Bay scheduled for June 23 and September 22. Reserve your place now! Order forms are available online at www.liberty-ship.com.  You can call in your order to (410) 558-0164 or fax it to (410) 866-5214.

CAPTAIN WITH FORGED PAPERS GETS JAIL TERM AFTER SHIP SINKS
52-year old Gary O. Burnham has been sentenced to serve 30 months in prison after captaining his ship to the bottom of Lake Michigan in March 2005. Burnham had been working on a report instead of paying attention as the MARGARET ANN went over on its side before sinking. The vessel's use of towlines that were much too short to tow a pair of barges loaded with coke which caused the accident. 250 gallons of diesel subsequently spilled into the lake.

The owner of the vessel, Holly Marine Towing, helped limit the damage by sending divers to seal off the fuel tanks and prevent further spillage. The Coast Guard rescued the crew and no one was injured in the debacle.

The ensuing investigation discovered that Burnham had falsified his Coast Guard mariner's license. He had been legally licensed as a captain from 1989 to 1999 but when his documents lapsed, instead of renewing them, he forged his papers and passed them off as legitimate.

Besides his jail term, Burnham must also pay $750,000 in restitution to Holly Marine which will help cover their costs for raising the MARGARET ANN, the pollution mitigation and the costs to overhaul and repair the vessel.

USMMA CONTAINERIZATION MUSEUM
A group of international maritime industry leaders associated with transportation pioneer Malcom McLean kicked off a campaign this week to collect artifacts, historical data, and documents for a museum and research center at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy about the history of containerization.

"The shipping container is called the box that changed the world - and not just maritime commerce. It changed global economies, societies, and cultures too," said Paul F. Richardson, Chairman of the McLean Container Center at Kings Point, NY.

The center, named for the late Malcom McLean, whose 1956 shipping innovation is credited with revolutionizing world commerce and accelerating the pace of globalization, seeks to acquire, preserve, and share material with historians, industry, researchers, students, and the general public. The McLean Container Center will be maintained at the American Maritime Museum and Bland Library at the US Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, NY.

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.