Current Edition

Building on Success As we launch into not just a new year but a new decade, I’m confident about the SIU’s future. Like always, we will change with the times – but we also will stick with the formula that’s brought us success. Some of those achievements are recapped in this month’s LOG, where we…

Numerous SIU-contracted companies were among the organizations recently honored for environmental safety by the Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA). The host organization on Nov. 13, 2019 presented Certificates of Environmental Achievement to 61 companies, representing 1,565 vessels, for a combined total number of 14,008 years without a reportable environmental incident. According to the CSA,…

 Before heading into the New Year, Seafarers closed out 2019 by welcoming a new containership into the union-contracted fleet. Seafarers in early November began sailing aboard the Rio Grande Express, an 853-foot vessel that’s operated by Marine Personnel and Provisioning for Hapag-Lloyd. Built in 2006 in Korea, the 4,248 TEU ship is sailing between northern…

'Earning a Credential at Piney Point is Like Putting Money in the Bank' When former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor Seth Harris received an invitation to deliver the keynote speech at a conference focused on identifying solid career paths, he quickly thought of the SIU. Harris, once an SIU field representative and now a Visiting…

The yearly pre-Thanksgiving gathering at the hiring hall in Oakland, California, lived up to its well-earned reputation as an uplifting event not to be missed. Guests packed the hall Nov. 26 (two days before the actual holiday) for the twenty-ninth straight year. They were treated to a traditional and generous menu, remarks by members of…

More than 110 International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) inspectors gathered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in late September for the Worldwide Inspectors Seminar (WWIS). The event, which now will take place every five years, gives the inspectors time to collaborate and network among themselves; and to develop new innovative strategies for achieving the ITF’s organizational objectives…

Throughout the past decade, the Seafarers International Union has earned numerous hard-fought victories, as well as worked through some devastating losses – including the deaths of 17 SIU members in a tragic accident at sea. In some ways, the decade mirrored prior ones. The union celebrated (and facilitated) new tonnage entering the American-flag fleet (click…

While it’s no secret that the U.S. Merchant Marine fleet has ample room for growth, the past decade certainly featured plentiful additions for the SIU. A review of the past 10 years shows that rarely a single month passed without a new-tonnage announcement or an actual delivery. No fewer than 110 additions were made that…

The SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education continues to offer Culinary 2.0 classes designed to help students boost their skills while complying with a new rule that took effect at the beginning of this 2020. Completing the coursework also is intended to aid individual shipping opportunities. Shipping Rule 5.A.(6), which went into…