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

MEBA TELEX TIMES           APRIL 18, 2008

The Official Union Newsletter

NUMBER 16

In this issue...
Get a TWIC...OVERSEAS NEW YORK delivered...Keel laid for next T-AKE at NASSCO...Piracy up...Horizon has Marine Highway plan...Talking trash, we sift through the rubble and toss out the latest industry scraps as we salvage the maritime pick of the litter. Refuse those throw-away, bottom-of-the barrel newsletters that'll get you down in the dumps. That soiled, load of rubbish is just "garbage in/garbage out" and belongs in the circular file. We kick them to the curb, cut through the clutter and rummage through a junkyard gem of an issue that will spoil you rotten. At your disposal, the Telex Times is the top of the heap!

SERIOUSLY, YOU NEED TO GET A TWIC CARD...
Members must secure a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) by September 25, 2008 or they will not be permitted to sail after that date. Those who have already undergone the process may skip to the next article - but if you are an M.E.B.A. member who has not yet applied for a TWIC card then read on. Mariners must have a TWIC by September 25, 2008 for their license, MMD, COR, or STCW endorsement to remain valid. Failure to obtain a TWIC may result in suspension or revocation of a mariner's credential.

Members should make sure to obtain their TWICs well in advance. You can pre-enroll for TWIC on the TSA Web (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. If you want to go directly to the pre-enrollment page, visit https://twicprogram.tsa.dhs.gov/TWICWebApp/ and click on "Apply for a TWIC."

At the TWIC Center, following your pre-enrollment, you will have to pay the enrollment fee, complete a TWIC Application Disclosure Form, be fingerprinted, provide any information not covered in the online pre-enrollment and sit for a digital photograph.

The cost for a TWIC is $132.50 -- it is valid for five years. Those who already hold a USCG credential may pay a reduced fee of $105.25 however, their TWIC will then expire when their USCG credential expires. Mariners working for Maersk Line Ltd. can take advantage of the company's "Drive to Zero Injuries" campaign which reimburses TWIC costs. They pay the TWIC card costs as long as the Maersk crewmember completes a minimum of 30 days on board without a lost time injury between April 1st and June 30th, 2008 and their vessel remains Lost Time Accident free for this quarter. To receive payment, the eligible crewmember must simply present the original TWIC receipt to the Master who will exchange it for cash reimbursement.

More information on the TWIC program is available at www.tsa.gov/twic. The website also provides TWIC Center locations and street addresses, hours of operation and directions. You can also check the site if you have pre-enrolled and wish to know your status.

D.I.C. GETTING READY TO DROP NON-DUES PAYING MEMBERS
The District Investigating Committee (DIC) will be convening later this Spring and are getting ready to drop members who haven't been paying their 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 D.I.C. 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 and return to good standing.

AKER DELIVERS OVERSEAS NEW YORK
Aker Philadelphia Shipyard delivered its fourth Veteran Class MT-46 tanker vessel - the OVERSEAS NEW YORK, crewed by M.E.B.A. officers in the engine room. The 600-foot long tanker is the first to be delivered in 2008, and the fourth in a series of twelve scheduled for completion by early 2011. It will be leased for charter in the U.S. Jones Act market to OSG America and operated by Shell Oil Company for use in transporting petroleum products.

The vessel was officially named in a ceremony and christened by its sponsor, Mrs. Candace Williams. During the ceremony, Mrs. Williams blessed the ship and all who will sail on her, and in keeping with long-held shipbuilding tradition, broke a champagne bottle against the ship.

Currently, the yard has three additional product tankers under construction as part of its building program; all three (OVERSEAS TEXAS CITY, OVERSEAS BOSTON & OVERSEAS NIKISKI) are expected to be completed by the end of 2009 and will be crewed with M.E.B.A. officers.

HORIZON'S CHUCK RAYMOND UNVEILS SHORT SEA SHIPPING ROAD MAP
Chuck Raymond, Chairman, President and CEO of M.E.B.A.-contracted Horizon Lines this week outlined a road map for developing a U.S. Marine Highway that will ease congestion around gateway trade corridors and improve the overall efficiency of America's transportation system.

Raymond told attendees at North America's Marine Highways Conference that Horizon Lines is working with maritime unions to design a viable labor model for a Coastwise Container Feeder Network. The feeder service will act as a safety valve moving containers from congested gateways to smaller ports closer to destination with better intermodal connections. The Maritime Administration hosted the Conference earlier this week in Virginia Beach, VA. Raymond called for the creation of a National Port Development Plan within the context of the National Freight Transportation Program recommended by The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission. The national port plan would prioritize federal funding of port projects, such as dredging and inland infrastructure construction according to a port's role in global supply chains.

"A strategic approach to port development within a national freight transportation funding framework will play a key role in creating a viable Marine Highway system," Raymond said. "Gateway ports with deep water will serve the large containerships and the primary metropolitan consumer markets. Regional ports will provide the intermodal safety valve served by a network of smaller container vessels and RO/RO ships, offering fast connections and efficient service to local markets. Inland ports will develop efficient highway alternatives, supporting barge and ferry networks." Raymond discussed our country's need for a working Marine Highway to improve the fuel efficiency of the transportation system, to help ease highway and rail congestion around our major cities and to improve the environment. He reinforced the severity of the looming transportation infrastructure crisis as a reality that can no longer be denied.

"The information technology revolution has reached a plateau," he said. "We are at a crossroads, and at the crossroads of the global economy today, you find logistics. The very real business of moving real things on highways, trains, ships and airplanes is subject to the very real laws of physics. Simply stated, the global economy will grow only as fast as we are physically able to carry it."

NASSCO LAYS KEEL OF USNS WALLY SCHIRRA; YARD READIES FOR NEXT SHIP
This week, San Diego's NASSCO shipyard laid the keel for the USNS WALLY SCHIRRA, the eighth dry cargo-ammunition ship in the T-AKE program. The Navy is building a series of Lewis & Clark-class ships that will be owned and operated by the Military Sealift Command and crewed with expert M.E.B.A. engineers. MSC will use the T-AKEs to deliver food, ammunition, fuel and other provisions to Navy combat ships at sea. The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the third quarter of 2009.

On April 21, NASSCO will begin construction of the ninth ship in the class. The as-yet unnamed vessel is set to be delivered to the Navy in the first quarter of 2010.

NASSCO has delivered the first four ships of the Lewis and Clark class and will deliver the fifth ship, USNS ROBERT E. PEARY in June. USNS AMELIA EARHART was launched on April 6 and USNS CARL BRASHEAR is under construction at the yard.

The T-AKE ships incorporate international marine technologies and commercial ship-design features, including an integrated electric-drive propulsion system to minimize operating costs over their projected 40-year service lives. NASSCO has contracts to build 11 T-AKEs. The Navy has options to build three additional ships for a total class of 14 vessels.

CG PROGRAM TO TEST BALLAST WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY
An M.E.B.A. vessel is one of a handful of ships that could participate in a new Coast Guard program to test ballast water treatment technology. Matson Navigation's towing vessel, the MOKU PAHU, has been offered to the Shipboard Technology Evaluation Program (STEP) which was instituted to facilitate the development of effective ballast water treatment technologies through experimental systems. The Coast Guard hopes this program will end up creating more options for vessel owners seeking alternatives to ballast water exchange.

"The potential and real impacts of aquatic nuisance species on our environment, food supply, economy, health and overall biodiversity are universally accepted as costly, significant and growing," said Capt. Mike Blair, chief of the Coast Guard's office of operating and environmental standards. "This program is one of several Coast Guard initiatives aimed at reducing the introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species into U.S. waters, and it facilitates the shipboard testing of experimental systems for removing or deactivating aquatic nuisance species in a ship's ballast water. The Coast Guard is taking another big step in protecting our waters from aquatic nuisance species by observing these prototypes in operation."

Current ballast water management regulations require applicable ships to conduct a mid-ocean ballast water exchange unless doing so would be unsafe or the route did not permit the vessel to conduct exchange properly. This ballast water exchange is intended to flush out most coastal water, along with coastal organisms, and replace it with water from the open ocean.

Information on the Coast Guard's ballast water program and the Shipboard Technology Evaluation Program application package is available at www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/mso/mso4/bwm/step.htm.

PIRACY UP DURING FIRST QUARTER OF '08
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has reported that there has been an upswing in piracy over the first quarter of 2008 compared to the figures from last year at this time. In its latest quarterly piracy report, IMB said that there were 49 attacks reported to the Piracy Reporting Center in the first three months of 2008 as compared to 41 for the corresponding period in 2007. During the quarter a total of 36 vessels were boarded and one vessel was hijacked, seven crewmembers were taken hostage, six kidnapped, three {blocked}ed and one missing - presumed dead. In the majority of incidents, the attackers were heavily armed with guns or knives. The use and threat of  violence against crewmembers remains unacceptably high, IMB noted.

Nigeria ranks as the number one hotspot this quarter accounting for just over 20% of the figures with ten incidents reported. Vessels have been fired upon and crews injured as a result. Many of the attacks are concentrated off Lagos. India and the Gulf of Aden shared second place with five reported incidents each. The incidents in India were low level attacks aimed at theft from the vessel. The attacks in the Gulf of Aden are all aimed at hijacking the vessel and taking it to small ports on the Eastern coast of Somalia. A decline of incidents in Indonesian waters has dropped that country down on this list of shame for the first time in over a decade. There has been a sustained decrease in the number of reported attacks in the archipelago leading up to only four incidents reported this quarter. Indonesia ranks fourth in this quarter's figures - IMB credited the Indonesian Navy and the police for their anti-piracy measures that contributed to the drop.

Waters around Somalia continue to be notorious for hijacking of vessels and the abduction of crew for ransom. The locations of these attacks have moved from the Eastern Coast of Somalia to the north and northeastern coast and the Gulf of Aden. The heavier concentration of traffic in the Gulf of Aden means the pirates do not have to range as far away from the coast, although they now operate in an area with a large number of Coalition Naval vessels at hand. Incredibly, there were no reported incidents for the Malacca Straits this quarter. This can again be attributed to the enhanced cooperation between the littoral states.

In other piracy news, the French Navy swooped down in the Gulf of Aden this week in pursuit of a dozen pirates that held a French yacht and her crew of 30 hostage while demanding a princely ransom. After a week of negotiating with the yacht's owners, the ransom was paid and the pirates sailed the vessel to Somalia to attempt escape on land. French helicopters pursued and managed to capture six pirates and a chunk of the ransom money. France is seeking to bring the six men to justice on French soil. France used the opportunity to call for an international coalition to combat piracy around the Horn of Africa and other hotspots.

SIGN UP FOR THE CAA REUNION THIS SUMMER!
The Calhoon Alumni Association is hosting its Reunion this summer for members and retirees and their friends and families. It is scheduled to take place at the Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School from June 27-29.

The long weekend begins on June 27th with the Golf Tournament which happens at the Harbourtowne Resort in St. Michaels, MD beginning at 1 p.m. Golf champions will be gloating mercilessly while the hapless losers will be coaxed into buying drinks all night at the CMES bar later that evening. On Saturday, June 28th, the all-day picnic takes place on the Manor House lawn with wall-to-wall activities, food and fun.

Details concerning the Reunion can be accessed from the School's website (www.mebaschool.org). CAA President Mike Fanning says that if you are interested in attending, you should fill out the event forms located online.

If you want to reserve a room at the School, book it early. They are on a first-come, first-served basis and no phone reservations will be accepted. Mike states that you should leave your fireworks and pets at home that weekend but says that boaters and RVs are welcome (electrical hook-ups only are available on a limited basis). If you have any questions or concerns please contact Mike Fanning at caa@mebaschool.org.

JAX MEETING DAY WILL SHIFT TO MONDAYS STARTING IN MAY
The Jacksonville Union hall will permanently change its regular membership meeting day from Tuesday to Monday beginning next month in May (Monday, May 5). The hour and location of the meetings will remain the same.

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

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