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

MEBA TELEX TIMES       FEBRUARY 15, 2008

The Official Union Newsletter

NUMBER 7

In this issue...
Rep. Lantos dies...NCL-America makes a hard decision...Nadler visit at HQ...Let's still be friends! We go our own way in an unattached, break-up edition that serves you your maritime walking papers. Divorce yourself from heart-wrenching, incompatible newsletters that do you wrong. We show them the door and kick them to the curb -- hit the road Jack! Tell them you found someone new...it's not you, it's us. The single-minded Telex Times stands alone!

CONGRESSMAN JERRY NADLER VISITS HQ
Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) visited MEBA Headquarters today to meet with officials and staff from the M.E.B.A., MM&P, SIU, ILA, ILWU, and AMO as well as reps from various U.S.-flag companies. Congressman Nadler represents portions of Manhattan including Greenwich Village, TriBeCa, Wall Street, and the World Trade Center grounds and Brooklyn including Bensonhurst, Brighton Beach and Coney Island among others. The highest ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from the Northeast, Nadler has long voiced strong support for the development of America's intermodal ports. Nadler was pleased to be welcomed to the M.E.B.A. and outlined an agenda for major advancements at the port of New York.

The productive meeting with Congressman Nadler was heartening in respect to his pronounced support of the Jones Act, willingness to work towards successful short sea shipping solutions, and his belief in keeping the waterfront strong, an issue the ILA & ILWU representatives at the meeting were especially glad to hear.

FRIEND OF MARITIME, REP. TOM LANTOS IS DEAD
Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) who had planned to retire at the end of the year died this week from cancer complications. A real friend to the maritime industry, Rep. Lantos will be missed following over 27 distinguished years of Congressional service. He was 80 years old. Rep. Lantos was one of the biggest supporters of cargo preference and the PL-480 Food for Peace program, which faces annual challenges. He is also remembered as a great battler on behalf of human rights and civil liberties. He was Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Born in Hungary, Lantos was a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Budapest and a survivor of the Holocaust. He lost nearly all his family during the Shoah. Upon announcing his retirement in January he noted, "It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family, and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a Member of Congress. I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country."

GILCHREST OUSTED IN MARYLAND PRIMARY
In other news, the maritime industry will also be sad to see Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD-1) leave Congress at the end of the year. In his ninth term in office, the Congressman lost his primary this week to state senator Andy Harris who is also an anesthesiologist. Republicans were apparently punishing Gilchrest for occasionally siding with Democrats on certain votes. The party base perceives Dr. Harris as more staunchly conservative.

Rep. Gilchrest has been a reliable friend to the maritime industry. His District includes the Eastern Shore of Maryland including the Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School. He serves on the Natural Resources Committee as well as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

NCL-AMERICA PLANS TO PULL ANOTHER SHIP
Foreign-flagged cruise ships exploiting the Passenger Vessel Services Act have taken a toll on NCL-America's U.S.-flag cruise ship business, the company said, necessitating the removal of another ship from the Hawaii service. The PVSA prevents foreign-flagged vessels from transporting passengers directly between U.S. ports. By utilizing "sham port calls in Mexico," foreign lines have eroded the benefits of flying the American flag over passenger ships in the Hawaii trade. NCL America's PRIDE OF HAWAII redeployed earlier this month into the international trades under a new flag and a new name (the NORWEGIAN JADE). Now the company has set May 11th as the date that the PRIDE OF ALOHA will follow suit. The American crews onboard these ships are receiving opportunities to sail in NCL's international fleet. Should that plan play out, there will only be just one large U.S.-flagged cruise ship left in existence - the PRIDE OF AMERICA.

The U.S. Customs & Border Protection recently released an interpretive ruling concerning the increasing numbers of foreign-flagged cruise lines in the Hawaii trade. These foreign lines have been shuttling passengers between the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii making a quick stop at a Mexican port. The Interpretive rule found that this practice undercuts the PVSA to the detriment of U.S. mariners serving in the trade. Customs is currently examining whether it will adopt the interpretation. As part of that ruling, the agency outlined a series of conditions that they say these foreign cruise lines should submit to as part of their West Coast-Hawaii itineraries that better serves the spirit of the law. Customs prescribes conditions such as longer port stops in Mexico and provisions for passengers to go ashore in the foreign port. M.E.B.A. strongly supports the interpretive rule and our membership has sent over 300 letters urging them to implement the interpretation. The Hawaiian economy will take a hit from the removal of the two ships from the trade and the subsequent loss of tourism. The Hawaiian Governor is lobbying against the rule change fearing that the Hawaiian tourism market would suffer additionally from the reduced presence of foreign-flagged cruise ships. Hawaii's Congressional delegation and a bipartisan coalition of House members among others have spoken up in favor of the rule change. NCL America is hoping that Customs' adoption of the interpretation could lead to the return of the HAWAII and the ALOHA to the U.S. fleet.

MCTF STATEMENT ON NCL NEWS
The Maritime Cabotage Task Force issued a strongly worded press release this week critical of foreign-flag cruise ships that are undercutting the Passenger Vessel Services Act. As detailed in the article above, this is forcing NCL-America to remove another U.S.-flag cruise ship from the Hawaii trade. The Maritime Cabotage Task Force is a coalition of maritime interests vigilant in the safeguarding of the Jones Act and other cabotage laws.

MCTF notes: The Passenger Vessel Services Act has been eviscerated by foreign cruise lines who have been evading the law on Hawaii cruises with sham foreign port calls in Mexico, sometimes for as little as one-hour, in the middle of the night, and with no passengers going ashore. These sham port calls allow these foreign cruise lines to avoid being subjected to U.S. laws and regulations, including Federal tax, labor, and employment laws, thereby enabling them to operate at a fraction of the cost of American-flagged ships.

The maritime cabotage laws were enacted to create a level competitive playing field in U.S. domestic trades by ensuring that everyone operating in those trades was subject to the same U.S. laws and regulations as their competition. The announcement by NCL America to withdraw the U.S.-flagged PRIDE OF ALOHA from its Hawaii service is unfortunate evidence of the harm imposed on coastwise operations resulting from unfair competition by flag-of-convenience foreign ships. As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity for U.S. businesses and thousands of American jobs are being lost.

The Maritime Cabotage Task Force strongly supports Customs and Border Protection's efforts to enforce the cabotage laws, and urges the agency to promptly adopt an interpretive rule that prevents further incursion into the domestic Hawaii trades by foreign cruise ships circumventing the law with sham foreign port calls.

MARAD RELEASES ADVISORY ON PIRACY IN NIGERIAN WATERS
The Maritime Administration has issued an advisory concerning crime on the high seas in the "Niger Delta" area in Nigerian territorial waters. Since September 2007, there have been 19 acts of aggression against vessels in that region with 16 occurring in the vicinity of Bonny River between Port Harcourt and Bonny. Three incidents took place near Escravos in Delta State.

This advisory comes on the heels of a statement from a leading Niger Delta militant group that announced that it sponsored the 'Freelance Freedom Fighters' - which reportedly shot at six oil tankers in January of this year (injuring two) and have threatened larger attacks.

This group sent an e-mail to the media describing itself as the "Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The e-mail said, "MEND will be supporting small independent groups to harass and sabotage the oil industry at will."

MEND apparently is an umbrella organization for several heavily-armed militias in the Niger Delta, an impoverished region of Mangrove-lined creeks and swamps home to much of Nigeria's oil reserve. Vigilance should be exercised by mariners sailing in the Niger Delta area in Nigerian waters.

TAUSCHER BILL WOULD REQUIRE ADDITIONAL NAVIGATION DEVICES FOR SOME PILOTS
Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), in a response to the recent oil spill in San Francisco Bay, has put forward a piece of legislation that she says would provide an extra level of safety over ship navigation systems. The Vessel Navigation and Safety Improvement Act would instruct the Coast Guard to issue regulations that require pilots to carry their own electronic chart devices, known as Portable Pilot Units. The COSCO BUSAN struck a bridge piling on November 7th spilling more than 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel into San Francisco Bay.

Rep. Tauscher said that, "Putting these devices in the hands of pilots, who provide an important service to our port, will improve navigation and protect our environment. The legislation also provides flexibility to respect the professional decisions of the pilots. It permits the bar pilot to choose the device best suited for his/her purpose and when to use it. In addition, it allows the Coast Guard to exempt pilots, who operate in locations where the device is not necessary for safe navigation. Examples of currently-used Portable Pilot Units include laptop computers, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA).Mandatory carriage of Portable Pilot Units is an easy and practical way to improve safety. This requirement will protect our environment against the disastrous effects of ship groundings and oil spills," said Rep. Tauscher.

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday, March 3 - Boston, Seattle;
Tuesday, March 4 - Baltimore, Houston, Jacksonville, San Francisco;
Wednesday, March 5 - Calhoon School, Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, March 6 - L.A., New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, March 7 - Honolulu.

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