COVID

From the FDA: Approval Signifies Key Achievement for Public Health For Immediate Release: August 23, 2021 Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee), for the prevention of…

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on Aug. 9 issued the following “memorandum for all Department of Defense employees.” It's available on the DOD website HERE. As many of you know, President Biden asked me to consider how and when we might add the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)…

An arbitrator on July 30 ruled in favor of the American Maritime Association’s (AMA) insistence that they can require all mariners sailing aboard the companies’ respective vessels be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The SIU challenged the AMA’s mandate by demanding expedited arbitration, primarily because they unilaterally imposed it rather than…

Please see the flyer posted below (PDF version available HERE) for information on COVID-19 vaccination availability at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport daily between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The hiring hall in St. Louis is closed today (Friday, July 16) for precautionary reasons, but is scheduled to reopen Monday morning. The hall is still reachable by phone. ###

From the U.S. Coast Guard's National Maritime Center: The National Maritime Center (NMC) will resume counter service appointments for the Regional Examination Centers (RECs) listed below, beginning Monday, July 19, 2021.  Limited examination services will continue.  Mariners seeking to schedule counter service or examination appointments may do so by contacting…

The SIU in late June won an arbitration decision that is expected to result in thousands of dollars’ worth of overtime being paid to eligible Seafarers employed by Crowley Maritime and its subsidiaries. New York-based arbitrator Jay Nadelbach on June 25 sided with the union in its efforts to secure…

Fully vaccinated individuals (students and staff alike) now have the option to go mask-free at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, located in Piney Point, Maryland. The union-affiliated school also recently updated its rules to allow for fully vaccinated students to come and go from the campus…

According to the latest pandemic-era guidance on merchant mariner credentials (MMC) from the U.S. Coast Guard, those documents “may only be extended for up to one year from their date of expiration. Merchant Mariner Credentials (MMC) (National Endorsements only) that expire between March 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021 are…

The U.S. Coast Guard recently posted the following news item, which is available on the agency's Maritime Commons blog HERE. The first link below goes to a three-page Marine Safety Information Bulletin on the same subject. Update to mask requirement for persons aboard vessels On June 10, 2021, CDC announced…