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

MEBA TELEX TIMES           MARCH 14, 2008

The Official Union Newsletter

NUMBER 11

In this issue...
School gets approval for online STCW course...TTD, MTD statements on TWIC...Next T-AKEs named...RECs transition...In a senior, gray-haired edition we present time-worn maritime wrinkles in a "good old" issue not seen since the days of Methuselah. Stop kidding around with baby-faced, ankle-biting news reports that were born yesterday. That child's play should be seen and not heard! Put in your teeth, pull up a rocking chair and retire with the "elder statesman" of industry weeklies that's aged to perfection. The granddaddy of all newsletters, these are the golden years of the Telex Times!

CALHOON SCHOOL GETS COAST GUARD APPROVAL FOR ONLINE STCW COURSE
Congratulations should go the Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School which has received Coast Guard approval for its online STCW Crowd Management Course utilizing the CMES-developed Learning Management System (LMS).

This is the first true Distance Learning system to be approved for training mariners. The LMS is a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), which is a suite of functionalities that deliver, track, report on, and manage the learning content, trainee progress, and trainee interactions with the course and instructor. The LMS provides the instructor with the method to deliver course content, monitor student participation, and assess performance.

The CMES LMS embraces four important aspects of Distance Learning, which had to be addressed to satisfy the Coast Guard:
-Technical Delivery Standards Conformance
-Privacy
-Uniform Quality of Training
-Sustainability.

CMES LMS also satisfies industrial and government standards for delivery methods and course content, transfer, and storage information standards:
-SCORM 2004 (Shared Content Object Reference Model)
-AICC (Aviation Industry CBT Committee)
-MIS GLS (Instructional Management System Global Learning Consortium)
-ARIADNE (Foundation for Knowledge Pool)

Go to the CMES website (www.mebaschool.org) for more information about its Distance Learning Program.

TTD, MTD AIR CONCERNS ON TWIC
At executive meetings on the West Coast recently, both the AFL-CIOs Transportation Trades Department (TTD) and the Maritime Trades Department (MTD) issued statements airing their concerns over certain aspects of TWIC implementation. As M.E.B.A. members know, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program has been implemented to ensure that those who have unescorted access to secure areas of ports and vessels are not security threats. M.E.B.A. members and all transportation workers must obtain a TWIC by September 25, 2008 or they will not be permitted to sail.

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. The MTD is an AFL-CIO coalition of maritime-oriented unions and port councils.

With the onset of TWIC late this summer, TTD questions why certain states still have their own versions of background checks and worker credentials to which they subject mariners. These redundant regulations place an additional burden on mariners and should be rendered moot they say.

TTD says that, "Florida requires workers entering a deep-water seaport to hold a Florida Uniform Port Access Credential (FUPAC). As a result, all port workers in those facilities will need both a TWIC and FUPAC to gain unescorted port access. This means fees will have to be paid twice for these overlapping programs and workers will have to undergo duplicative, mostly redundant background checks. Workers without a FUPAC will be either banned from Florida's ports or forced to be accompanied by an escort while engaging in legitimate, legal activities - even though they already possess a TWIC."

State checks must be preempted by federal law, says TTD, "to ensure one level of security and to avoid subjecting the port and maritime industry and its employees to a hodgepodge of requirements that will do little to improve security. We call on Congress and the Administration to address this problem."

The Maritime Trades Department also has some issues regarding the new system. They are not thrilled that the new biometric credential system will go into effect in late September before the electronic card readers are ready to be placed in ports. Once the technology is finalized, the readers will then be used to verify TWICs. But because the development of the readers has taken longer than foreseen, the program is scheduled to come online without them and the TWICs will essentially be used as "flash cards" until the readers are ready. It is not clear when the card readers will be completed and deployed to ports across the country. MTD would prefer that TWIC implementation be delayed until the system can work as designed from the get-go. "Since implementation of the card was designed to make ports and ships safer, " MTD noted, "issuing TWIC documents without having a reader to verify is the equivalent of building a gate around the house and placing bars on the doors and windows, BUT leaving the backdoor open." Despite the concerns, implementation is still scheduled for September 25, 2008. Members should make sure to obtain their TWICs well in advance. You can pre-enroll for TWIC on the TSA Web site (www.tsa.gov/twic). Pre-enrollment speeds up the process by allowing workers to provide biographic information and schedule a time to complete the application process in person. This reduces waiting and in-person enrollment times for each individual. More information on the TWIC program is available at www.tsa.gov/twic and additional information on port security is available at the U.S. Coast Guard's Homeport site at http://homeport.uscg.mil by clicking on the Maritime Security link.

NEXT TWO T-AKEs NAMED AFTER NAVY HEROES
Secretary of the Navy Dr. Donald Winter has announced that the names of the seventh and eighth Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo/ammunition ships (T-AKE) will be called USNS CARL BRASHEAR and USNS WALLY SCHIRRA. The T-AKEs are being built by San Diego's NASSCO shipyard and will be handed over to the Military Sealift Command and crewed with M.E.B.A. officers in the engine room.

The selection of CARL BRASHEAR, designated T-AKE 7, honors Master Chief Boatswain's Mate (Master Diver) Carl M. Brashear, who joined the U.S. Navy in 1948. He was a pioneer in the Navy as the first black deep-sea diver, the first black master diver and the first U.S. Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee, the result of a leg injury he sustained during a salvage operation.

After 31 years of service, Brashear officially retired from the U.S. Navy on April 1, 1979. He was the subject of the 2000 movie "Men of Honor" starring Cuba Gooding Jr.

The selection of WALLY SCHIRRA, designated T-AKE 8, was chosen in honor of Capt. Walter "Wally" Schirra. Schirra was a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and former Navy test pilot who served in both World War II and Korean War. Schirra is honored as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts. He holds the distinction of being the only astronaut to fly in each of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. Schirra officially retired from the U.S. Navy and NASA in 1969. He and the other original Mercury 7 astronauts are the subject of the 1983 movie "The Right Stuff."

The naming of these ships continues the tradition of the T-AKE Lewis and Clark-class of honoring legendary pioneers and explorers.

The vessels are 689 feet in length, have an overall beam of 106 feet, a navigational draft of 30 feet and displace approximately 42,000 tons. Powered by single-shaft diesel-electric propulsion systems, the T-AKEs can reach a speed of 20 knots.

MORE RECs TRANSITION TO NMC
Coast Guard Regional Examination Centers (REC) in Memphis, TN and Long Beach, CA have joined six other RECs that have transitioned to become field units of the National Maritime Center (NMC), located in Martinsburg, WV. Last week, REC Memphis and REC L.A.-Long Beach became "storefront" operations, with staff focused on helping mariners ensure their applications are ready for evaluation. Mariners will still need to verify their identity, get fingerprinted and take their tests at the REC. Completed application packages will be sent to the NMC for evaluation. The NMC will conduct security, professional qualification, and medical evaluations and will print and issue credentials. RECs in Anchorage, Alaska; Baltimore; Juneau, Alaska; New Orleans; St. Louis; and Toledo, Ohio have already transitioned to NMC field units. By the end of this calendar year, all 17 RECs nationwide will have transitioned.

"The future role of the transitioned RECs will be primarily that of a mariner advocate," said Captain David Stalfort, commanding officer of the NMC. "As the "face" of the Coast Guard to the mariner, they will help the mariner complete the application and ensure it is ready to be evaluated before forwarding the application to the NMC for evaluation. In the future, it is envisioned that credentials will be issued faster and the level of customer service will exceed the mariner's expectations."

The REC Transition Guide is available on the Coast Guard website at www.uscg.mil/stcw/wnnmc.htm. More information on improvements to mariner licensing and documentation is available at www.uscg.mil/stcw/wnnmc.htm or http://homeport.uscg.mil and select Merchant Mariners under the list of missions.

PATRIOT FINALIZING CREWS FOR SURVEY, RESEARCH SHIPS
Patriot Contract Services, LLC is accepting résumés for Chief, 1st, 2nd and 3rd A/Es for the USNS HAYES and USNS WATERS program. Applicants must have completed the M.E.B.A. Government Operations course within the previous five years and be eligible for a DOD security clearance.

Interested persons should e-mail their resume to john.howe@asmhq.com or fax it to (877) 573-1094.

GHOST FLEET IS DOWN ANOTHER SHIP
A combination freight and passenger vessel, once crewed by M.E.B.A. members, was towed to meet its demise this week as the Maritime Administration continued its quest to rid a Virginia river of rotting rustbuckets.

One of the older vessels in the Ghost Fleet, the SCAN left the James River Reserve Fleet this week bound for the Marine Metals, Inc., facility in Brownsville, Texas where it will be dismantled. The ship was built in the 1960s for the Moore-McCormack Company. The James River is one of three National Defense Reserve Fleet anchorage sites. The Maritime Administration maintains the NDRF as a reserve of ships for national defense and national emergencies and arranges for responsible disposal when the ships are no longer considered viable for those purposes.

AKER ISSUES PROGRESS REPORT ON M.E.B.A. NEWBUILDS
Aker Philadelphia Shipyards tanker build program continues unabated with work progressing nicely on the next four newbuilds in the series of vessels. Aker has agreements to construct twelve 46,000 dwt Veteran Class product tankers, with options for up to 13 additional ships. Three of these tankers were delivered in 2007 and are currently in service. The vessels will be owned by Aker American Shipping. Upon completion, the tankers will be chartered to OSG and crewed up with expert M.E.B.A. officers.

A mild Philadelphia winter has provided generally favorable conditions for shipbuilding throughout the season. The vessel that will be named OVERSEAS NEW YORK at a ceremony in April is advancing through the testing and commissioning process on schedule in the Outfitting Dock. Sea trials for the ship will take place this month with an April delivery expected.

The ship that will be named the OVERSEAS TEXAS CITY is at the north end of the adjacent Building Dock. The fifth product tanker in the series, the ship continues to take shape. The vessel's lower stern section is now set in the dock, and includes the ship's rudder horn, a structure to which the rudder is mounted. A number of double-bottom and side shell sections have been completed, and are being staged throughout the yard in advance of their being mounted in the dock.

The OVERSEAS BOSTON, currently called "Hull 010" is about 25% complete, with a number of the ships engine room and double-bottom sections now advancing from the yard's section assembly shop to the nearby Grand Block Shop. A steady stream of steel cutting is also taking place for panels to be used in the construction of Hull 011 (OVERSEAS NIKISKI), with the first lower engine room sections now entering the subassembly phase of production.

USCG EMPHASIZES APPRECIATION FOR MARINERS
The Coast Guard has issued two ALCOAST (All Coast Guard) announcements that underscore just how serious it is about restoring confidence in its ability to perform its maritime safety role.

As Marine Log reported, the first, ALCOAST 108/08, sets out Commandant Thad Allen's expectations for interaction with the maritime industry. "USCG activities involving U.S. and foreign professional mariners and maritime organizations will be conducted with utmost professionalism and respect," his message begins. "Licensed and documented mariners are professionals who share our interests in a safe, secure, and environmentally compliant industry."

The second, ALCOAST 109/08, announces immediate steps, directed by the Commandant, that are being taken in FY 08 to inject critical civilian marine safety expertise to the Sectors. The Coast Guard has been making a major effort to get the maritime safety mission back on track since a House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Navigation hearing last July that examined "Challenges Facing the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Program." The hearing brought open a widespread industry concern that the Coast Guard's growing security responsibilities post-9/11 had caused a loss of focus on its maritime safety mission and a deterioration of its relationship with the maritime industry.

Late in the summer of 2007, Admiral Allen asked Vice Admiral James Card, U.S. Coast Guard (ret.) to candidly and independently assess and report on the experiences, perceptions, concerns and recommendations of the commercial maritime industry and stakeholders on the Coast Guard's performance of the Maritime Safety Mission. Admiral Allen has welcomed the report and has directed it be posted publicly, to ensure an informed and transparent process as the Coast Guard continues to consider and respond to concerns regarding its execution of the Maritime Safety Mission."

MARITIME SUBCOMMITTEE POSTING HEARING VIDEO
A House Subcommittee that holds many important hearings to the M.E.B.A. and industry has begun posting links to hearing video. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committees Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation has held a number of interesting hearings that can be viewed online. Among others, there is a viewable TWIC hearing as well as a riveting hearing exploring the Coast Guards Administrative Law Judge program. Video can be accessed at http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx. Use the pull-down menu to select the subcommittee of interest then hit "Submit Options" before selecting the hearing of your choice. Not all have video available but quite a few do.

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday, April 7 - Boston, Seattle;
Tuesday, April 8 - Baltimore, Houston, Jacksonville, San Francisco;
Wednesday, April 9 - Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, April 10 - L.A., New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, April 11 - Honolulu.

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