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| By MICHAEL R. McKAY | |
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September was an especially good month for the ever-growing American Maritime Officers deep-sea employment base. Five ships were added to the roster, and that means new jobs for AMO members and additional employer funding of the AMO Medical, Pension, Vacation and Safety and Education Plans.
First, Pacific Gulf Marine announced that work necessary to reflag the heavy-lift ship Ocean Titan in the United States had been completed in Houston, despite the chaos and destruction caused throughout the Gulf Coast region by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Next, AMO and Maritrans Operating Co. LP signed an agreement under which our union will man the tanker Seabrook, which will be time-chartered by Maritrans. Then, on Sept. 29, the car carriers Integrity, Honor and Courage were welcomed officially in a ceremony sponsored by their owner, American Roll-On/Roll-Off Carrier (ARC), at Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. As ARC President and Chairman Ray Ebeling noted, the simultaneous christenings of the three reflagged vessels represented the single largest addition to the American merchant fleet ever at one time. AMO represents all of the licensed personnel aboard the ships, which are to be operated for ARC by Interocean American Ship Management Corp. All five ships serve commercial markets, but the Ocean Titan, Integrity, Honor and Courage operate under Maritime Security Program contracts awarded by the Maritime Administration in the Department of Transportation under MSP renewal as authorized in a defense budget bill signed by the President in November 2003. The MSP contracts were effective Oct. 1, the start of fiscal year 2006. Also operating under a first-time MSP contract is the heavy-lift ship Ocean Atlas (formerly the Industrial Challenger), operated under AMO contract by Pacific Gulf Marine. The Integrity, Honor, Courage, Ocean Titan and Ocean Atlas join the Maersk Line Limited container ships Maersk Georgia, Maersk Missouri, Maersk Virginia and Maersk Carolina and the ARC car carriers Patriot, Freedom, Liberty and Resolve (operated by Interocean American) in the Maritime Security Program. AMO represents the officers aboard these eight ships as well. As you know, the Maritime Security Program provides limited direct operating aid in equal annual amounts to each participating ship to keep the vessels working in commercial foreign trade. In its second 10-year stage, the program supports 60 ships, compared to the 47 sustained between 1996 and 2006. In exchange, the ships are available to the Department of Defense as needed for strategic sealift and other military support services during national security emergencies. It would cost DOD a lot more to build or buy the reliable tonnage represented by the MSP fleet, so the program is as good a deal for the government as it is for participating companies and their seagoing and shoreside employees. Under the 2003 authorizing legislation, the Maritime Security Program must be paid for one year at a time--a condition applied as well to the MSP during its first 10-year term. In fiscal 2006, a full-strength MSP would cost $156 million. But, as of the start of fiscal 2006 on Oct. 1, Congress had not completed some appropriations bills, including the legislation to fund DOT and its agencies, and DOT was operating under a continuing resolution at fiscal 2005 budget levels. Thus, the Maritime Security program was funded temporarily at the 47-ship level--$98 million. Seagoing unions were told reliably that DOD's Transportation Command, or TRANSCOM, wants the 60 MSP ships operating as planned, even if they must receive less money for a short time than called for in the authorization bill. We were also told that, once the DOT appropriations bill for fiscal 2006 is signed into law, MARAD will pay the difference to participating U.S.-flagged ship operators. We will keep all AMO members advised on this and other issues bearing directly on AMO job and benefit security. |
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