A lot of good news for AMO families this month:
- On May 4, the long-awaited Ready Reserve Force ship management and operation contracts came down from the Maritime Administration, and our union came out on top at the job end.
Under the five-year contracts, five companies that employ AMO members in all licensed positions were awarded a total of 39 of the 75 ships put out for competitive bidding under MARAD's Request For Proposals, or RFP.
Although RRF ships are most often in ROS--reduced operating status--nearly all of the vessels that fall under AMO contract as a result of the bidding are among the first MARAD would activate for use by the Navy's Military Sealift Command in defense emergencies. As front-line tonnage, the ships will employ engine and deck officers while in ROS.
- On May 3, AMO engine and deck officers went aboard the West Coast Jones Act tanker Prudhoe Bay for the first time. The former ARCO vessel joined the tankers Blue Ridge and Coast Range under AMO contract in the Crowley Petroleum fleet.
- A day earlier earlier, AMO learned that it will keep its engine and deck jobs on eight fast sealift roll-on/roll-off ships under MSC charter. The converted SL-7s, which had been operated by Bay Ship Mgmt., will be operated for the next five years by American Overseas Marine Inc., or AMSEA.
- On April 20, the roll-on/roll-off ship 1st Lt. Harry Martin was delivered for operation by Osprey Ship Mgmt. under MSC charter. The Martin is the first ship in MSC's new Maritime Prepositioning Force (Enhanced) program, or MPF(E).
- Late in April, AMO concluded a successful campaign to organize the captains, engineers, mates, and deckhands in Tampa Bay Towing, a unit of Hvide Marine Inc. Tampa Bay Towing operates 11 tugs, and another was to join the fleet in May or June. AMO also signed up the licensed officers on three deep-sea Jones Act tankers operated separately by Hvide.
- In April, American Classic Voyages announced that its application for construction loan guarantees for up to five mid-sized coastal cruise ships had been approved by the Maritime Administration.
The guarantees, which are available under Title XI of the 1936 Merchant Marine Act as long as the program is adequately funded, will enable American Classic to complete its package of private financing for the vessels, which will be operated by a new ACV subsidiary and manned in all licensed positions by AMO.
- ACV was to inaugurate Pacific Northwest cruise service by its newly acquired Columbia Queen, which will be operated under AMO contract by American Classic's Delta Queen Steamboat Co.
Still ahead are:
- The domestic construction of two large ocean-going cruise ships for service under AMO contract in the Hawaiian Islands by ACV's new United States Lines subsidiary. Work will begin at Litton's Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula, Miss. in July 2000.
- The arrival of the U.S.-reflagged cruise ship Patriot for Hawaiian Islands service, beginning in December 2000. The Patriot--formerly the Nieuw Amsterdam in the Holland America fleet--will be operated by ACV's United States Lines under AMO contract until the second newly built cruise ship is on stream.
- The continued development of SeaAmerica Cruise Line, which will build at least two large deep-sea cruise ships for domestic service under AMO contract. Service is expected to begin in late 2003 or early 2004.
The company has its strategic partnerships and alliances in place--including an agreement with Litton Ingalls to negotiate the ships' construction cost--and it is about to apply to MARAD for Title XI guarantees to secure its commercial credit.
In all, these extraordinary developments mean new jobs, additional opportunities, and long-term security for AMO members and their families and an even higher profile for AMO as the nation's strongest union of merchant marine officers.
To keep and build on what we have gained will require the same formula we used to come this far: one part union policy and one part political policy. AMO members in all sectors are traditionally supportive on both fronts, the second of which is especially important this year, with all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, one-third of the U.S. Senate, and the Presidency to be determined in November's elections.
Domestic U.S.-flag tug and tanker services like those provided by Tampa Bay Towing, Hvide Marine Inc., and Crowley Petroleum are possible only because of the Jones Act, which requires the use of U.S.-owned, built, registered, and crewed merchant vessels for the commercial transport of all domestic waterborne cargoes.
Similarly, the varied expansion plans of American Classic Voyages and the SeaAmerica Cruise Line initiative depend on continued enforcement of the 1886 Passenger Vessel Services Act, which is the domestic cruise trade's Jones Act equivalent. And both require sufficient funding of the Title XI program--an important federal budget issue.
The budget also influences MSC charter terms and the construction or conversion and operation of ships like the Martin--without the money, there is no MSC work for U.S. shipyards or for commercial U.S.-flag ship operators.
So, for every vessel that comes along, for every new job created for our union, there is a political consideration. That makes the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund among the most important of our endeavors, and I urge your continued support.
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