In this issue...
Aker chugging along on newbuilds...Referendum passes...AOTOS mariner awards announced...AMO to rerun election...On the strength of a steel grip, phonebook-ripping edition, we do the heavy lifting in a high-intensity news workout. Kicking sand in the face of wimpy, 97-pound weakling labor newsletters, we raise the bar with a herculean industry superset that bulks you up to maximum maritime muscularity. More power to you - the Telex Times is coming on strong!

KEEL LAYING FOR FIFTH AKER/OSG TANKER
Keel laying for the fifth tanker in Aker Philadelphia Shipyard's series of product tankers recently took place in the yard's Building Dock. Hull 009 will be known as the OVERSEAS TEXAS CITY upon its completion in 2008. Aker is constructing a series of MT-46 Veteran Class product tankers that will be chartered to OSG and crewed up with M.E.B.A. officers. As part of the ceremony, coins were placed under the keel block following a long-held shipbuilding tradition whereby special coins are hidden in the keel section of a ship as a permanent symbol of good fortune and safe travels.

The first two ships in the program, the OVERSEAS HOUSTON and the OVERSEAS LONG BEACH, were delivered earlier this year. The series of tankers will be owned by American Shipping Corporation, a subsidiary of Aker American Shipping, and chartered to OSG.

The third tanker in the series, OVERSEAS LOS ANGELES, is nearing completion with testing and commissioning procedures taking place in the yard's Outfitting Dock. Along with the TEXAS CITY, the OVERSEAS NEW YORK is also under construction in the Building Dock. Work on the sixth vessel, to be named the OVERSEAS BOSTON, is underway with ongoing steel cutting of plates which will form part of the ship's engine room.

REFERENDUM PASSES
A referendum put out to the membership has been approved. A rank and file Tallying Committee joined an Impartial Administrator in Washington D.C. to tabulate the results of votes by members on the referendum that makes a By-Laws change. The Committee was made up of six members that included Chairman Bill Cadden (New York), Michael O'Sullivan (Baltimore), John Fountas (L.A.), Thomas Knowlton (Seattle), Ed Lee, Jr. (New Orleans) and Christian Yuhas (S.F.) who served as Recording Secretary. A member elected from the Houston hall was unable to attend once he got a shipping job a few days after his election to the Committee. The Committee's report has been forwarded to the halls.

FOUR M.E.B.A. SHIPS SELECTED FOR AOTOS MARINERS' AWARDS
The award ceremony for the nation's highest annual maritime honors will have a distinct M.E.B.A. feel to it this November. Four M.E.B.A.-contracted vessels have been singled out for recognition to go along with the three main AOTOS recipients who represent three M.E.B.A.-contracted companies. As mentioned in a past issue, the honorees of the Admiral of the Ocean Sea awards will be James S. Andrasick, President and CEO of Matson Navigation Company, Inc., Morten Arntzen, President and CEO of Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. and John F. Reinhart, President and CEO of Maersk Line, Limited. This week, recipients were announced for Mariners' Plaques and Mariner's Rosettes, doled out to those who have performed acts of bravery and outstanding seamanship. The honors will awarded at a dinner to be held in New York City on November 2, 2007.

Crewmembers will be in attendance that day to accept an award on behalf of the USNS KANAWHA, a Military Sealift Command ship crewed with M.E.B.A. engineers. During the Israel/Lebanon crisis in 2006, the oiler performed more than 50 underway replenishments. During that time the crew transferred 9.2 million gallons of fuel and delivered 1,200 pallets of provisions, cargo and supplies in support of the U.S. European Command's Joint Task Force Lebanon.

The HORIZON FALCON was also selected as an award winner. The ship's crew came to the rescue of Chinese seafarers on a 420-foot log carrier after the vessel encountered the 70-mile-per-hour winds and 24-foot seas of a typhoon near Guam. The crew conducted a search and rescue mission through rough seas littered with logs, the cargo of the Chinese ship.

The M.E.B.A.-crewed car carrier OVERSEAS JOYCE, a vessel managed by OSG, was selected as well. The JOYCE was near Alaska's Aleutian Islands when it picked up a fishing boat's mayday call. The JOYCE immediately relayed the call to the Coast Guard which deployed a C-130 airplane, an HH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter and a cutter. The JOYCE raced to the scene and was on hand as the situation worsened. Only one life was saved but without the JOYCE there would have been no survivors. The story was catalogued on the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch series.

The MAERSK MARYLAND (ex-M/V ENDURANCE) was the fourth M.E.B.A. ship selected and was tapped for a Mariner's Rosette stemming from a fire that broke out on the ship in the General Vessel Assistant's room. The crew worked together and was able to suppress the flames and escape any injury.

Since the incident, the vessel was assigned to Maersk's international fleet and the MAERSK GUERNSEY, which was renamed the MAERSK MONTANA, took the MARYLAND's place.

AMO WILL RESTAGE ELECTION AFTER DOL AFFIRMS VIOLATIONS
The American Maritime Officers will submit to a new election for six union officer positions after the Department of Labor found that "errors" were committed in AMO's 2006 election. Mike McKay won reelection as the union's President in that election but was convicted on a series of Federal racketeering charges soon after and sent to prison.

Candidates on the "AMO Membership Committee for a Fair Election (AMC)", an upstart group of members dedicated to restoring democracy to the AMO, were largely behind the protest that led to an eight-month DOL probe into the election. One of those candidates, Jack Hearn who finished second to Mike McKay as President by a mere 20 votes, is rekindling his campaign.

The union says that errors made by an independent mailing service hired by AMO to distribute the campaign material of ALL candidates are to blame for DOL's insistence on the need to recast ballots. According to AMO, DOL found that Dania Beach-based Van Dee Services, Inc. didn't give equal treatment to all candidates when they failed to deliver the campaign material for some members seeking office. DOL's plan to rerun the election for the top six positions will force re-balloting for the union's President, Secretary-Treasurer, National Executive V.P., National V.P. for Deep Sea, National Assistant V.P. at Large and National Executive Board Member for Inland Waters. The DOL will supervise the election and the tabulation of ballots will take place on June 30, 2008. Any qualified AMO member may run for any of these offices even if they were not involved in the 2006 election.

IMB INFORMS OF PIRACY RISE
Piracy and armed robbery attacks against ships rose 14% in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2006, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported. This is the second consecutive quarterly increase in attacks, as the coastal waters off Nigeria and Somalia became ever more dangerous. In the first nine months of the year, 198 attacks were reported versus 174 attacks reported in 2006 during the same time frame. A total of 15 vessels were hijacked, 172 crewmembers were taken hostage, 63 were kidnapped, and 21 were assaulted. If this trend continues, the decline in piracy attacks begun in 2004 will have bottomed out. Crew assaults, kidnapping and ransom rose dramatically from 2006.

Somalia remains a hotspot of great concern, with 26 incidents reported so far this year against eight the year before. This represents one of the highest numbers of attacks ever reported off the coast of this East African country, and highlights a blatant disregard for the law.

While waters off the coast of Africa remain the most dangerous, the Malacca Straits offshore Indonesia continues to report a decline in attacks, due in large measure to cooperation among states bordering these waters and stepped-up efforts by the Indonesian authorities. Thailand has also recently stated its willingness to patrol the Straits of Malacca.

SEA SERVICE CHIEFS ANNOUNCE NEW MARITIME STRATEGY
The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard have announced a unified maritime strategy entitled "A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower," that explains the comprehensive role of the sea services in an era marked by increased globalization and change.

The strategy integrates seapower with other elements of U.S. national power in addition to that of friends, partners and allies. It states that protecting the U.S. homeland and winning the nation's wars is matched by a corresponding commitment to preventing war.

"Keeping the seas safe and secure from a broad range of threats and hazards is in everyone's best interest," said Adm. Thad Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. "The key to global prosperity and security is through cooperation and coordination."

The strategy codifies the requirement for continued development and application of existing core capabilities of forward presence, deterrence, sea control and power projection, while recognizing the need for expanded capabilities of maritime security and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

FRED EHLERS SAILS INTO THE SUNSET
Longtime member Fred Elhers who sailed with Lykes Bros. Steamship Company out of the Jacksonville Hall for more than a decade died recently at the age of 60. Toward the end of his sailing career he shipped out of San Francisco on the Horizon Lines vessel EXPEDITION. His last two years were spent in a terrible battle against ALS. A great shipmate, Fred had a tremendous sense of humor and will be missed by anyone who knew him. He lived most of his life in Whiting, IN before moving to Pinetta, FL in 1988. Fred did a stint with the Navy before suiting up with the M.E.B.A. The Jacksonville union hall is looking into having a memorial luncheon for Fred. Please contact the Jacksonville Representative for information at (904) 765-6100 or 904-629-4057 or e-mail him.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOHN EDWARDS DECLARES STRONG SUPPORT FOR U.S. FLEET AND IMPORTANT MARITIME PROGRAMS
Presidential candidate John Edwards has forwarded his responses to a large list of questions submitted by the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department to each of the Democrat and Republican men and women vying for the nation's top job. M.E.B.A. is a founding member of the TTD which represents 35 member unions in the maritime, aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, and related industries. Edwards stressed his unequivocal support for the Maritime Security Program and Jones Act and pledged to work for a strong and vibrant U.S. fleet under his administration. The list of questions touches on every segment of transportation. We have excerpted questions and answers related to the new Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program as well as the U.S. Merchant Marine:

TTD: Will you ensure that the TWIC program and other background checks imposed on transportation workers provide workers with basic due process rights, including a right to a waiver and appeal before an administrative law judge?

John Edwards: Yes. Fulfilling the government's essential duty to keep Americans safe does not mean that it has to disregard its constitutional obligation to ensure due process. I strongly support procedural due process protections for workers on the front lines.

TTD: Will you insist that the cost of the TWIC program not be imposed individual workers? Will you ensure that privacy protections are in place and enforced?

John Edwards: Yes. It is outrageous to make individual workers pay out of their own pockets for the cost of public safety systems. I also support protecting the privacy of workers when implementing these kinds of systems.

TTD: Will you ensure that the federal TWIC program preempts any and all state and local programs?

John Edwards: Yes. TWIC is being designed to ensure national security. Once the program is established, separate state or local security standards for transportation workers that might require workers to carry two or more badges would be costly and counterproductive. The federal program has the flexibility to reflect different risk standards for the most sensitive settings.

TTD: Do you support and will you fully enforce existing cargo preference laws for defense and non-defense government cargo, including the P.L. 480 Food-for-Peace and other food aid programs?

John Edwards: Yes. The "Food for Peace" program under the cargo preference laws has provided over 107 million tons of food aid and benefited 3.4 billion of the world's hungry. This constant source of cargo for America's sea merchants has provided a stable source of income helping them weather the boom and bust cycles of international trade. It has also benefited our nation's farmers by facilitating the sale of over $30 billion dollars worth of commodities.

TTD: Do you support fully funding the Maritime Security Program at its authorized level of $174 million in each of the next three fiscal years? Would you support a further expansion of the Maritime Security program in order to increase the fleet of militarily-useful U.S.-flag commercial vessels available to the Department of Defense in times of war or emergency?

John Edwards: The Maritime Security Program has served to encourage investment in U.S.-flag merchant fleet improvements and has ensured continued Department of Defense access to commercial vessels for sealift in national security emergencies. The program also has assured an important presence of U.S.-flag ships in international ports around the world. Cutting the MSP could leave our military dangerously unprepared to respond to terrorist threats and leave our troops in the hands of inexperienced mariners. I support full funding for this program.

I will work to preserve a vibrant, strong American fleet. The Maritime Security Program is a relatively small investment that could be expanded within the context of a responsible budget. The number of maritime ships has declined in the U.S. since 1970. However, a strong maritime fleet is in our best interest both economically and militarily.

TTD: What is your position on the Jones Act?

John Edwards: I strongly support the Jones Act. It helps strengthen our economy, keep our homeland secure and protects our environment. For decades, it has ensured the construction and operation of a merchant marine fleet capable of meeting our nation's commercial and military needs with the most productive crews in the world, while simultaneously creating a competitive U.S. shipbuilding industry and thousands of good-paying American jobs.

As president, I will vigorously enforce the Jones Act, and subject any requests for waivers to strict scrutiny.

U.S. MARINER CONVICTED OVER OIL POLLUTION
Mark Humphries, the Chief Engineer of the M/V TANABATA, an American-flagged car-carrier based in Baltimore, has been convicted on one count of conspiracy and two counts of making false statements for his role in discharging oily waste overboard.

Humphries is the fourth Chief working for Pacific Gulf Marine, Inc. (a non-M.E.B.A. company) convicted in the conspiracy. The Coast Guard found that vessels in the four ship PGM fleet were outfitted with bypass equipment used to illegally discharge waste before being stowed away for port visits. Discharges were falsely recorded as having been processed through the separator in the ship's oil record book.

Humphries was found guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore of conspiring to violate four different laws including making illegal discharges of oil-contaminated bilge waste, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships; failing to fully maintain an oil record book, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships; making and using materially false documents; and obstruction of agency proceedings. The jury also found the defendant guilty of two counts of making materially false statements to the Coast Guard in 2002 and 2003, related to instances when the ship was in Baltimore with a falsified oil record book. Humphries was found not guilty of one count of destruction of evidence.

Sentencing has been set for Jan. 10, 2008. Humphries faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.

MARAD, OSG SIGN TRAINING PACT
Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton and Captain Robert Johnston of M.E.B.A. company Overseas Shipping Group, Inc., signed an agreement this week that will provide training opportunities for American maritime academy cadets on board OSG's international vessels. The public-private partnership is the first formal agreement to make available onboard billets in the international fleet for U.S. maritime academy cadets. The signing took training place at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine.

EVER SAIL ON A NEW "MARINER CLASS" SHIP?
Capt. Charles Lund, is doing background research for a possible book about the Maritime Commission-designed Mariner vessels. He would like to hear your stories and sagas about these "new, state of the art" ships of the early 1950s. His research includes just how different these vessels were from the WWII era ships.

The SCHUYLER OTIS BLAND was supposed to be the prototype ship of the future, but no sisters were ever built. Information on the BLAND is very hard to find, so Lund is looking for information about her too, as part of his research. Then there was the Mariner C4-S-1a design, 35 ships designed and built by and for the Maritime Commission.

If you have information he can use, Mr. Lund would like to get your vessel's name(s), voyage itineraries, your job(s), and how these new ships compared with the WWII C1s to C4s, Liberty ships, Victory ships, and even the SCHUYLER OTIS BLAND. Were they better or worse, how and why? What were your feelings about these ships? Got any good photos of the vessels? When the ships were eventually purchased by the various steamship companies, what changes did they make in order to fit their respective needs? If you can help him out, please drop him a line:

Capt. Charles Lund, MM&P (retired)
1620 N 203rd Pl.
Shoreline, WA 98133-3309
e-mail: lundmop@juno.com 

NEXT REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday, November 5 - Boston, San Francisco, Seattle;
Tuesday, November 6 - Baltimore, Houston, Jacksonville;
Wednesday, November 7 - Calhoon School, Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, November 8 - L.A., New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, November 9 - Honolulu.