Beset by delays, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program nevertheless got going last month, as Wilmington, Del. on Oct. 16 became the first port to enroll workers in the federally mandated plan.Along with the start date for enrollment in Delaware, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced the next 11 ports that will begin enrolling in November. They are (early November) Corpus Christi, Texas; (mid-month) Baton Rouge, La.; Beaumont, Texas; Honolulu; Oakland, Calif.; Tacoma, Wash.; and (late November) Chicago; Houston; Port Arthur, Texas; Providence, R.I. and Savannah, Ga.
During a media conference call Oct. 15, TSA and U.S. Coast Guard officials noted that while the enrollment period for the TWIC is starting, program enforcement hasn’t begun. TWIC compliance dates will vary from port to port, the officials stated, and those dates haven’t been announced. There is a federal requirement to provide at least 90 days of advance notice before the TWIC regulations are enforced at a given port.
Barring changes to the program, mariners will be required to carry a TWIC by Sept. 25, 2008 in order to have unescorted access to secure areas of vessels and maritime facilities. Eventually, they also will be required to carry a separate document known as a merchant mariner qualification credential (MMC), as the current z-card/MMD and STCW certificates are phased out. The final rulemaking on the MMC isn’t expected to be published until at least summer 2008, and initial issuance of that credential will continue over a five-year period. This means that until the proposed MMC regulation is final, Seafarers should continue to apply for z-cards/MMDs, licenses, CORs and STCW endorsements under the current regulations in 46 CFR parts 10 and 12. Indications are that the MMC will be phased in over five years.
If the MMC proposed regulation is fully implemented, mariners would be able to apply for original, renewal, duplicate and raise-in-grade MMCs entirely by mail, without having to visit a Coast Guard regional examination center. Most or all of the information currently submitted in person at one of the 17 RECs already would have been submitted at one of the 125 or so TWIC enrollment centers when an individual applied for a TWIC, removing the need (though not eliminating the option) to apply for an MMC in person.
Many questions remain about the TWIC program, including details about the card readers. Those readers were one of several topics scheduled for scrutiny during a U.S. House Homeland Security Committee hearing scheduled for Oct. 31 and titled, “Homeland Security Failures: TWIC Examined.”
More information about the TWIC program will be included in upcoming editions of the LOG, posted at www.seafarers.org and reported in the monthly membership meetings. Additionally, the TSA/TWIC customer service line is available at (866) 347-8942, and the TSA’s TWIC web site is located at www.tsa.gov/twic.
The fee for a TWIC is $132.50 and the credential is valid for five years. Mariners with a valid z-card may pay a reduced fee of $105.25 because they have undergone a “comparable background check” as the one required for a TWIC, but it’s important to note that a new TWIC only is valid for five years from the date the background check was performed. In other words, if a mariner secured his z-card in December 2005 and then obtained a TWIC in December 2007 by paying the reduced fee, the TWIC only would be valid until December 2010.
In any case, according to the TSA, payment for a TWIC must be made with credit card (Visa or MasterCard only), money order, or cashier’s check. The cost of a replacement TWIC if the original is lost, stolen or damaged is $60.
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