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

MEBA TELEX TIMES       JULY 10, 2009

The Official Union Newsletter

NUMBER 28

In this issue...
House hearing on MMC medical evaluation issues...TLC show on MAERSK ALABAMA is next week...Trumka running for AFL-CIO President...MarAd clearing out rotting NDRF ships...With absolute certainty, we boldly bring a positive issue of steadfast and resolute maritime news in an unwavering, undaunted edition. Don't let your confidence be shaken by fence-straddling, wishy-washy newsletters that should be committed! Take a decisive step and resolve to read the bound and determined newsletter with a definite swagger. No doubt about it, the Telex Times is a sure thing!

HOUSE HEARING EXPLORES MMC PROBLEMS AT NMC
The maritime officer unions were on Capitol Hill yesterday to explain how U.S. mariners have been experiencing chronic difficulties in renewing their Coast Guard License/Merchant Mariner Documents. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Chair of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation presided over a hearing to examine whether recent changes at the National Maritime Center have slowed the issuance of Merchant Mariner Credentials.

In 2008, the merchant mariner credentialing services that were previously provided at 17 RECs located across the country were consolidated at the NMC in Martinsburg, WV. Late last year, Coast Guard issued new guidelines to govern the review of medical information provided by a mariner as part of his or her application for an initial credential, credential renewal or the upgrade of a professional qualification. M.E.B.A. officers have made it clear that there have been chronic problems with this system which have even prevented some from returning to work.

At the witness table, M.E.B.A. Secretary-Treasurer Bill Van Loo and AMO's Thomas Laird accompanied MM&P's Mike Rodriguez who delivered the joint comments of M.E.B.A., MM&P and AMO to the Subcommittee which is part of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The unions told the Subcommittee that "serious problems remain with the USCG medical review and credentialing processes that have negative impacts on our members. It is absolutely unacceptable that any mariner should be out of work due solely to the failure of the system to adequately anticipate and plan for the problems we have experienced, especially after the agency was repeatedly warned that these problems were coming. We have come to the conclusion that the present USCG medical review process is a flawed system the basic concept of which needs to be revisited."

Rep. Cummings and Ranking Member Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) expressed great concerns with the current system and urged the Coast Guard to straighten out these intolerable delays. Rep. Cummings noted, "A credential is a mariner's ticket to work. If the mariner does not have that credential - for whatever reason - the mariner cannot work. Unfortunately, the Subcommittee has heard of instances in which mariners' credentials have expired before a renewal application could be fully processed, and these mariners have been left without an income while they were waiting for the bureaucratic wheels to grind. This is simply unacceptable. Given all that we are doing to stimulate our economy and to support the growth of jobs, it is inexcusable that any person should be out of work because the government cannot process a professional credential in a timely manner."

For their part, the Coast Guard - represented at the hearing by Prevention Policy Director Rear Admiral Kevin Cook and NMC Commander Capt. David C. Stalfort admitted that many improvements need to be made in regards to speeding up processing time. They are trying to lower it to 30 days. In the short-term they are working to deploy their resources in order to address the backlog of outstanding evaluations. Coast Guard also realizes that the paper-based Mariner Credentialing program needs an overhaul. Rear Admiral Cook noted, "Short-term plans include the development and implementation of an electronic application form to assist the mariner in completing the application and to reduce errors. The Coast Guard is currently looking into options to further improve the Merchant Mariner Credential program, including the potential development of an internet-based application submission and evaluation capability."

TLC SPECIAL ON MAERSK ALABAMA CREW'S HEROICS WILL AIR NEXT SUNDAY 7/19
The Learning Channel (TLC) will air an all-new 1-hour special focusing on the heroics of the MAERSK ALABAMA crew who warded off four Somali pirates attempting to hijack the ship in April. TLC filmed interviews with many of the ship's crew and their families to get a perspective on the incident not seen before on television. The show has (at least tentatively) been called "High Seas Heroes: Fighting Back Pirates" and will air on TLC on Sunday, July 19 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. and repeated the same night from 11:00 to 12. The TLC synopsis says, "The unarmed crew of the U.S. container ship MAERSK ALABAMA wages a desperate battle to keep control of their vessel and save their captain after he is taken hostage by Somali pirates in April 2009." Put it on your calendar and make sure to watch!

TRUMKA ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR TOP JOB AT AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka has announced his candidacy for president of the AFL-CIO to succeed the retiring John Sweeney. No other presidential candidates have been announced yet. Joining Trumka on the ticket are Liz Shuler, executive assistant to IBEW President Edwin Hill, for Secretary-Treasurer and incumbent AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker for re-election. Gregory Junemann, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), will also running for Secretary-Treasurer.

Earlier this year, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney announced he was retiring when his fourth term as president expires in September. Delegates to the AFL-CIO's 26th Constitutional Convention meeting in Pittsburgh Sept. 13-17 will elect the AFL-CIO's new officers.

Before being elected AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer in 1995, the same year Sweeney took the helm of the AFL-CIO, Trumka served as president of the Mine Workers (UMWA) from 1982 to 1995. He is a third-generation coal miner and graduate of Pennsylvania State University and holds a law degree from Villanova University Law School.

MEMORIAL BENCH COLLECTION FOR KIRK LOURIM
Members and retirees mourning the recent death of M.E.B.A's Kirk Lourim are seeking to honor their fallen brother with a memorial bench at the Calhoon School. Kirk was enjoying his retirement riding his Harley in North Carolina - when a rooster flew out into the road causing him to swerve into oncoming traffic. He sailed into the sunset on June 24th at the age of 54. You can contact the M.E.B.A. Merchant Marine Memorial Foundation and pledge a donation in Kirk's name toward the purchase of a memorial bench. Contact Jessica Milligan at (410) 822-9600, ext. 306 or jmilligan@mebaschool.org. Checks should be payable to MMMMF, Inc, P.O. Box 2443, Easton, MD 21601. Visit the Memorial section of the School's website at www.mebaschool.org.

Kirk had retired in 2004 as a Chief Engineer. He was an avid fisherman and loved to travel the country on his Harley. There will be a memorial services for Kirk in Point Pleasant, NJ on Saturday, August 8 at 11:00 am. A second memorial service will be held, according to his wishes, during Bike Week 2010 in the Daytona, FL area. You can visit a special Facebook tribute page set up for Kirk for details and locations upon their announcement: www.facebook.com/pages/Kirk-Lourim-1954-2009/97564709079.  Those who knew him are welcome to sign an online guestbook located at http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=6176292146113.

MARAD TO RID NDRF OF FIVE MORE AGING HULKS
The Maritime Administration has announced recent agreements to rid its National Defense Reserve Fleet of five rustbuckets. They have sold two ships for recycling to Esco Ltd. of Brownsville, Texas for a total of $171,452. RESOLUTE, a partial container/breakbulk ship built in 1980 by Bath Iron Works, brought a purchase price of $90,726. The vessel is currently moored at the James River Reserve Fleet site in Newport News, Va. GULF FARMER, a breakbulk cargo ship built at Avondale Shipyard in 1964, brought a purchase price of $80,726. The ship is at the Beaumont Reserve Fleet site in Texas. MarAd also reached fee-for-service contracts with Esco to recycle three other ships. Esco will receive $564,910 to recycle the GAGE, a former attack transport ship built at Oregon Shipbuilding in 1944. GAGE received a battle star for its service in World War II. The ORTOLAN, a submarine rescue ship built in 1969, will be recycled under the terms of a contract for $325,090. Both ships are moored in the James River Reserve Fleet at Fort Eustis, Virginia. The GULF SHIPPER, a breakbulk cargo ship built in 1964, will be recycled at a cost to the Maritime Administration of $145,726. That vessel is in the Beaumont Reserve Fleet site in Texas.

WSF STEEL-ELECTRIC FERRIES SOLD TO CALIFORNIA RECYCLER
The Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division (WSF) has sold four 1927-built Steel Electric class vessels to Eco Planet Recycling, Inc. of Chula Vista, Calif. The total combined sale price for all four ferries is $200,000. "The Steel Electric class vessels served as unforgettable icons of life in the Pacific Northwest," said Assistant Secretary for WSF David Moseley. "We now must continue to focus our attention on getting new vessels built and into service, starting with the 64-auto ferry under construction."

In November 2007, Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond ordered the QUINAULT, ILLAHEE, NISQUALLY and KLICKITAT removed from service due to safety concerns. In 2008, the Washington State Legislature directed WSDOT to sell the vessels. WSF had been in discussion with potential buyers up until their sale to Eco Planet Recycling, Inc.

USNS AMELIA EARHART CREW HONORS SHIP'S NAMESAKE
The crew of the Military Sealift Command newbuild USNS AMELIA EARHART including M.E.B.A. officers aboard paused recently to honor the ship's namesake as they were sailing in waters near where the famed aviator disappeared on July 2, 1937. The dry cargo/ammunition ship was on its maiden MSC mission near Howland Island in the Central Pacific Ocean. As the sun began to set, the ship's crew took a quiet moment to hold a wreath laying ceremony in the area where Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan are believed to have perished during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe.

"Despite all of her accomplishments, Amelia Earhart was known as a very private person," said Capt. John Pope, Earhart's civil service master, of the aviator who was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean. "There was something very dignified about her modesty, and I think our simple remembrance would be just her style."

EARHART, which was accepted into the MSC fleet in October 2008, passed Howland Island while en route to deliver more than 600 pallets of equipment, medical supplies and food to MSC dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS RICHARD E. BYRD as it prepares to deploy on humanitarian assistance mission Pacific Partnership 2009. During the mission planning, EARHART's crew discovered that their course would bring them within 70 miles of Howland Island, and a slight course change provided the ship with this rare opportunity.  "It's amazing how this all came together," said civil service mariner Michelle Stark, Earhart's second mate and navigator. "Howland Island is remote. People work for years sailing the Pacific and never come close to passing by it. Here we are on our first mission, on the ship named after Amelia Earhart, going right by where she was last seen."

EARHART is the sixth of eight ships in the M.E.B.A.-crewed Lewis and Clark-class of underway replenishment ships that deliver ammunition, provisions, stores, spare parts, potable water and petroleum products to the Navy's underway carrier and expeditionary strike groups.

M.E.B.A.-CREWED VESSEL COMPLETES HUMANITARIAN SEARCH EFFORT OFF VIETNAM
The longstanding cooperation between the U.S. and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) on accounting for Americans missing from the Vietnam War broadened June 25 with the redeployment of a U.S. Navy oceanographic survey ship. The M.E.B.A.-crewed USNS BRUCE C. HEEZEN conducted search operations off the coast of Vietnam June 11-23 as part of the U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command's 95th search mission in Vietnam, which began May 25 and concluded on June 24. Representatives from JPAC and the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP) were aboard the oceanographic survey ship June 11-23 for the humanitarian operation.

Although joint U.S.-SRV search teams have investigated and excavated underwater sites off the coast of Vietnam using Vietnamese boats before, this was the first time Vietnam has allowed the use of a U.S. Navy ship for underwater searches.

"Vietnam's cooperation in allowing the ship to operate in her waters is a big step forward and greatly appreciated by the U.S. government and the families of those Americans still missing," U.S. Army Lt. Col. Todd Emoto, commander, Det. 2, JPAC's Detachment in Hanoi wrote by e-mail. "This was a historic event in terms of JPAC's mission and the continuing growth of the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnamese governments to have a U.S. Navy ship authorized to operate in Vietnam's territorial waters. The JPAC underwater investigation team, led by [JPAC UIT Team Leader] Ron Ward, that operated aboard the USNS HEEZEN was able to use the ship's unique capabilities and JPAC's equipment to produce some promising preliminary results."

Manned by a civilian crew, the ship provides oceanographic capabilities in coastal and deep ocean waters and is ideally suited to detect aircraft crash sites on the ocean floor. Hundreds of U.S. aircraft and their crews are still missing in Vietnam's coastal waters; JPAC currently only has accurate enough data to effectively search for a small percentage of these cases. The United States hopes the addition of the ship's capabilities will increase both the speed and effectiveness of the search for underwater sites.

"After so much hard work by so many people to make it happen, the JPAC mission on the USNS HEEZEN was a success," Ward wrote. "I had a great JPAC team and the cooperation between us and the NAVOCEANO scientific staff aboard the ship was superb. [Merchant Marine] Captain Robert Reish, the ship's captain, and his crew are a real group of professionals and they provided outstanding support to the search team. The Vietnamese government officials aboard the ship and I coordinated very closely throughout the mission, and their flexibility and assistance helped make this extremely complicated operation a reality."

BENDER SHIPBUILDING FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
The US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Alabama has granted a motion by Bender Shipbuilding and Repair to convert the involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing initiated by three creditors on June 9th 2009, to a Chapter 11 filing. The court has set a July 13th 2009 date for Bender to meet with a Bankruptcy Administrator.

In a press release, Bender said that it had hoped to avoid bankruptcy, but the filing of the involuntary petition and the effects of that filing on the company forced it to realize that it is in the best interests of its customers, creditors and vendors to reorganize in Chapter 11. The company will continue to operate as a full service shipyard and, under Chapter 11, the company's customers will be protected as to existing and future contracts as well as to the company's performance under such contracts. Bender worked closely with its secured creditors prior to the filing of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and believes that they will continue to work with the company.

Tom Bender president & CEO of Bender Shipbuilding said that "I regret very much the impact this decision has on our employees and vendors and the community, but the involuntary petition gave us no choice. I will devote every waking minute to getting us through this process as quickly and painlessly as humanly possible. In the meantime, we will continue to provide our customers the quality service, quick turn-around and attractive prices they have come to expect from Bender over the years."

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday, August 3 - Boston, Jacksonville, Seattle;
Tuesday, August 4 - Baltimore/Calhoon School (at CMES), Houston, San Francisco (Oakland);
Wednesday, August 5 - Charleston, New Orleans;
Thursday, August 6- L.A. (Wilmington), New York (New Jersey), Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, August 7 - Honolulu.

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