Section Front Front Page |
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| By MICHAEL R. McKAY | |
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One certain result of the sale of Navieras de Puerto Rico to Sea Star Line
will be the unusual, possibly unprecedented manning of the larger Sea Star
fleet by four separate officers' unions, including American Maritime
Officers. Another will be an eventual net gain of ships and jobs for AMO
through developments not directly related to the sale. Sea Star is a partnership that includes Matson Navigation and Totem Ocean Trailer Express, or TOTE. Sea Star currently owns two roll-on/roll-off containerships, the El Morro and El Yunque. Both ships are operated for Sea Star by Interocean Ugland Management Corp. (IUM), which employs AMO engine and deck officers on the vessels. IUM also operates the roll-on/roll-off trailerships Westward Venture, Great Land and Northern Lights for TOTE in the Pacific Northwest, as well as 14 ships in the Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force sealift fleet--all under AMO contract. Navieras is a subsidiary of the Holt Group, which went bankrupt last year. Navieras now owns five aged Lancer-class ships. But two of the vessels are in permanent layup, leaving the Guayama, Mayaguez and Humacao. Navieras also operates the ships, which are manned in the licensed positions by members of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, and the American Radio Association. Both Sea Star and Navieras provide round-trip service between the U.S. and Puerto Rico under the 1920 Jones Act, which restricts domestic waterborne commerce to vessels owned, built, registered and crewed in the U.S. Once the acquisition of Navieras by Sea Star is completed, the new Sea Star fleet will remain in that important two-way trade. All five ships will be managed and operated for Sea Star by IUM--the El Morro and El Yunque under the current AMO contract, and the Guayama, Mayaguez and Humacao under MEBA, MM&P and ARA contract. AMO, which has a long history as the exclusive representative of the licensed officers in the IUM fleet, respects the jurisdictional divisions that exist on the Lancer-class ships. The collective bargaining agreements Navieras has with the MEBA, MM&P and ARA include sales and transfer clauses intended to protect those unions' jobs in cases like this, and AMO has no desire to challenge those contract provisions. An agreement I initiated with IUM April 16 ensures no dispute--AMO waived all claim to the jobs, which will remain with the other unions "for as long as the existing Lancer vessels continue in operation under the ownership of Sea Star and the vessel management by IUM or a contractor of IUM." Most projections put the remaining life of the Guayama, Mayaguez and Humacao at a year or two on average. The fair licensed manning arrangement will ensure labor continuity on and uninterrupted service by the three ships during their limited time. Whether the MEBA, MM&P and ARA will work the Guayama, Mayaguez and Humacao under terms of their existing agreements with Navieras or under new terms negotiated with IUM remained uncertain as of May 1. But all three unions were reporting--without detail--that settlements had been reached with the company. Commenting April 25 in MMP's on-line Wheelhouse Weekly on a day-long meeting at IUM's office in Voorhees, N.J., MM&P President Tim Brown said: "After some negotiation, the MM&P agreed that IUM would continue to employ MM&P masters and mates aboard the NPR vessels so long as they remain in service and are operated by Sea Star. We left New Jersey with an agreement in principal. We have not as yet signed a full agreement because IUM is reviewing the NPR agreement and additions. We are certain that IUM will continue the current rates of pay and honor the current work rules." MEBA's on-line Telex Times said April 26: "MEBA has reached an agreement with IUM for the manning of the Lancer vessels. All shipboard wages will remain intact." Telex Times also reported that MEBA had put liens on the ships for unspecified claims, and that the bankruptcy court will hear arguments on the claims on June 18. But, no matter what the court determines in that proceeding, the ultimate outcome will not change: the Guayama, Mayaguez and Humacao will soon be withdrawn from service as too old to operate safely or efficiently. As the Guayama, Mayaguez and Humacao are retired, the El Morro and El Yunque will be joined in Sea Star's fleet by at least two, but possibly all three, of the TOTE ships IUM now operates in Jones Act service between Washington State and Alaska. The Great Land and Northern Lights are the likely replacements for the Lancer-class vessels. Shifting those ships from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast and Caribbean will not impair TOTE's Washington-Alaska service. Instead, the move will solve a strategic dilemma for TOTE--what to do with the Westward Venture, Great Land and Northern Lights once the new, significantly larger roll-on/roll-off ships Midnight Sun and North Star are delivered by National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. in San Diego. The new construction, slated for delivery in October 2002 and May 2003, will be operated by IUM and manned in all licensed positions by AMO. TOTE's original plan was to use the Midnight Sun and North Star in place of the Great Land and Northern Lights on the Washington-Alaska shuttle run, with the Westward Venture serving as a back-up vessel. TOTE's intent was to find commercial cargoes elsewhere for the Great Land and Northern Lights, but the Sea Star-Navieras transaction makes a market search unnecessary. Now, the new TOTE hulls and at least two of the existing ships will have steady work in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast/Caribbean. Meanwhile, the MEBA, MM&P and ARA are assured of their jobs on the Guayama, Mayaguez and Humacao for a year or longer--jobs that will continue to generate employer contributions to the MEBA, MMP and ARA benefit funds. In addition, the three unions have time to plan for the looming loss of the Lancer-class ships--a loss that was certain whether the ships changed hands or not. If AMO can help these unions in any way during or after the transition, we will. Under the difficult and unfortunate circumstances, the Sea Star-Navieras transaction and the cooperative, no-muss-no-fuss officer manning arrangement agreed to by AMO represent the best the four unions could have hoped for. The interests of all affected officers are protected to the greatest possible and practical extents, and that's what matters most in this time of diminished commercial opportunity for the American merchant fleet. |
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