American Maritime Officers had an especially strong year in 2005, with 19 vessels added to our union's deep-sea fleet roster in commercial and government charter trades and our jobs secured on many other ocean-going, Great Lakes and inland waters vessels.
In 2005, 3PSC LLC--which has a collective bargaining agreement with AMO--assumed management of the large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ships USNS Gordon and USNS Gilliland under a Military Sealift Command charter awarded under small business set-aside rules in August 2004. The vessels had been operated for MSC by Patriot Contract Services, which does not employ AMO.
The turnover of the ships to 3PSC was delayed when one company challenged 3PSC's standing as a small business before the Small Business Administration and another protested to the Government Accountability Office, charging that 3PSC was not a small business, and that aspects of 3PSC's bid were in violation of the 1965 Service Contract Act. Patriot Contract Services was not involved in either action.
Both the SBA and the GAO challenges were withdrawn in November 2004, and 3PSC began managing the vessels in January 2005.
Nine more LMSRs joined the AMO fleet in 2005 under an MSC charter awarded in September 2004 to American Overseas Marine Corp., or AMSEA. Patriot Contract Services had been the operator of these additional ships.
The LMSR charter to AMSEA was held up by predictably unsuccessful protest and legal challenge by Patriot. Meanwhile, MSC--acting reasonably in the interest of national security--extended the Patriot charter through the first quarter of 2005 because the ships were participating prominently in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The charter dispute took some frustrating turns, including wacky warnings from Patriot and the president of another merchant marine officers' union that AMO would never be able to man the ships. We did and we do, and the LMSRs under AMSEA management and AMO contract remain principal assets in the U.S. defense sealift fleet. The AMSEA LMSRs are the USNS Benavidez, USNS Bob Hope, USNS Brittin, USNS Fisher, USNS Mendonca, USNS Pililaau, USNS Seay, USNS Shughart and USNS Yano.
Maersk Line Limited, an AMO employer that operates eight remaining LMSRs and other vessels for Military Sealift Command, last year was awarded an MSC charter to operate eight fast sealift roll-on/roll-off ships, often referred to by industry veterans as the former SL-7s. The ships had been operated under AMO contract by AMSEA, so the charter award to Maersk Line secured our union's jobs on the vessels.
The fast sealift ships are the USNS Algol, USNS Altair, USNS Antares, USNS Bellatrix, USNS Capella, USNS Denebola, USNS Pollux and USNS Regulus.
Maersk Line in 2005 won the right to continue operating the special mission surveillance and instrumentation ships USNS Observation Island, USNS Capable, USNS Impeccable, USNS Victorious, USNS Invincible, USNS Effective and USNS Loyal, as well as the ammunition carriers John U.D. Page and Edward A. Carter Jr. under separate MSC charters.
The government-owned T-5 replacement tankers USNS Paul Buck, USNS Lawrence Giannella, USNS Richard Matthiesen and USNS Samuel Cobb remained in the AMO fleet last year after their longtime operator, Ocean Ships Inc., challenged MSC's small business set-aside charter award to Keystone Ship Services, a company that does not employ AMO. The SBA agreed that Keystone had not met the small business criteria, and the charter stayed with Ocean Ships.
A fifth T-5 tanker, the privately owned Gus Warren Darnell--manned for years by AMO as part of the Ocean Ships fleet--was sold to U.S. Shipping Partners, which has collective bargaining agreements with AMO. The ship, taken off MSC charter and renamed the Houston, is expected to begin service in commercial markets early this year.
The ice-strengthened containership American Tern--manned in all licensed positions by AMO--had its Military Sealift Command charter renewed in 2005. Osprey Ship Management operates the vessel.
The former MV Merlin (American Merlin before that), manned for years by AMO, was brought out of layup and renamed the Chapman for service under MSC charter and AMO contract. Sealift Inc. is the vessel's operator.
In July 2005, the Maritime Administration in the Department of Transportation selected AMO employers to operate 28 of its 54 Ready Reserve Force sealift ships. Crowley Liner Services was awarded 11 ships, Pacific Gulf Marine was awarded 10, Interocean American Shipping was awarded five and Ocean Duchess Inc. was awarded two.
The RRF ships manned by AMO are the roll-on/roll-off Cape Inscription, Cape Intrepid, Cape Isabel, Cape Island, Cape Washington, Cape Wrath, Cape Taylor, Cape Texas, Cape Trinity, Cape Henry, Cape Horn and Cape Hudson, the aviation logistics support ships SS Curtiss and SS Wright, the auxiliary crane ships Flickertail State, Gopher State, Cornhusker State, Diamond State, Gem State, Grand Canyon State and Keystone State, the OPDS tankers Chesapeake and Petersburg, the T1 tankers Alatna, Chattahoochee and Nodaway, and the Seabee barge carriers Cape May and Cape Mohican.
Our union filled the licensed jobs on an ocean-going platform bearing the powerful SBX radar. Interocean American Shipping operates the platform for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
All of these positive developments in the government charter trades resulted from difficult competitive bidding among U.S.-flag merchant ship operators that employ either AMO or the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots and the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association in the licensed shipboard positions. In some cases, companies that do not recognize or negotiate with any seagoing unions were in the mix, which made the competitive pressure that much stronger. In some case, pennies in labor cost literally made the charter award difference. In all cases, we took steps to keep AMO employers in the running.
In the commercial sector, AMO gained on several fronts in 2005:
- The former Buffalo Soldier, manned for years by AMO in MSC service, was acquired by a New York-based company, brought out of layup, and renamed the Global Patriot for service in commercial and cargo preference trades under AMO contract. Interocean American Shipping operates the vessel.
- The number of ships manned by our union under the Maritime Security Program--authorized initially in 1996 to prevent the flag-out of U.S. liner vessels that never were under AMO contract--grew from seven to 13, with a net gain of four new ships for AMO (two other ships enrolled in the MSP last year had already been manned by our union). New to the AMO fleet in the MSP in 2005 were the car carriers Integrity, Honor and Courage and the heavy-lift ship Ocean Titan.
Although the Maritime Security Program is intended to enhance strategic sealift capabilities in national security emergencies, the participating ships--60 in all--serve commercial foreign trade markets until they are needed by the Department of Defense.
In 2005, Congress and the President approved full funding of the Maritime Security Program in fiscal 2006, the first year of its second 10-year term. Funding for the program at the authorized level (sufficient to cover 60 ships) must be approved each year.
- The sale of Seabulk to Seacor Holdings in 2005 did not have an adverse effect on our union's jobs on Seabulk's 10 ocean-going tankers or its 14 Florida-based tugs.
- The newly built car carrier Jean Anne began Jones Act service between the U.S. mainland West Coast and Hawaii, with AMO members aboard in all licensed positions. Interocean American Shipping operates the Jean Anne for a partnership between Pasha Group and Strong Vessel Operators.
- AMO members filled new deep-sea jobs on the tankers Sea Venture and Seabrook. U.S. Shipping Partners recently bought the Sea Venture from Intrepid, and Maritrans operates the Seabrook.
- Our union held its jobs on the 1,000-foot U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carriers Burns Harbor and Stewart J. Cort after the vessel's owner, International Steel Group, was acquired by Mittal Steel. American Steamship Co. assumed management of the Burns Harbor, while Interlake Steamship Co. was awarded the operation of the Stewart J. Cort. The vessels were the last of what once was the Bethlehem Steel Corp. fleet.
The jobs we gained and the jobs we sustained in 2005 represent continued security for AMO members everywhere. They mean long-term work and new and sustained employer contributions to the AMO Medical, Pension, Vacation and Safety and Education Plans. And they mean our union is positioned well for the New Year.
None of these gains would have been possible without the support of the men and women of AMO, the extraordinary seagoing professionals whose reputations for excellence and character travel as far and wide as the ships themselves.
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