Seafarers Log
Safety Training Saves the Day Having had a little more than a week to process the incredible saga of the SIU-crewed Stena Immaculate, a couple of things in particular stand out. One is that the safety training completed by our members and by the officers really helped make the difference…
Seafarers Log
The union is supporting new legislation that promises to boost U.S. shipboard manpower and cargo for American-flag ships. On March 11, U.S. House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Ranking Member Salud Carbajal (D-California) and Chair Mike Ezell (R-Mississippi) introduced the bipartisan “American Cargo for American Ships Act” to strengthen…
Seafarers Log
Click here for related story “It could have been so much worse.” Among those who experienced it and the people who supported them immediately afterward, that’s perhaps the most commonly expressed sentiment following the harrowing fire aboard the Seafarers-crewed Stena Immaculate. By now, the details are known to many around…
Seafarers Log
Click here for related article Settling in for a telephone interview while still in the United Kingdom, Jeffery Griffin didn’t wait for the first question. “The training I received at the Joseph Sacco Fire Fighting (and Safety) School saved my life,” said Griffin, a graduate of Paul Hall Center (PHC)…
Seafarers Log
SIU members are sailing aboard a new addition to the American-flag fleet: the Crowley-owned American Energy, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier. Among other ceremonial activities acknowledging the historical importance of the vessel, SIU member Fr. Sinclair Oubre in early March blessed the ship in Sabine Pass, Texas, and presented…
Seafarers Log
America’s freight cabotage law – a crucial part of national, economic and homeland security for more than a century – recently received strong backing from several prominent sources. During a March 5 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Randall Reed, USAF, commander of the United States Transportation Command…
Seafarers Log
The SIU recently welcomed new shipboard job opportunities as Schuyler Line Navigation Company successfully reflagged the cargo vessel M/V SL Midway into the United States registry Coast Guard inspections of the SL Midway were completed in Houston in February, supported by SIU members Recertified Bosun Laurentis Colbert, AB Rigoberto Mejia…
Seafarers Log
The union is mourning the death of retired SIU Port Agent Thornton “Tony” Elliott Jr., who passed away Feb. 23. He was 82. After his sailing days, Elliott worked for the National Maritime Union (NMU) as a branch agent in Savannah, Georgia, before that organization merged into the SIU in…
Seafarers Log
Excellent Work by Seafarers The professionalism, reliability and compassion of SIU members never wanes, but a few recent developments underscore those characteristics. As reported elsewhere in this edition, SIU members aboard the Liberty Power helped handle a tense situation reportedly involving Iran’s military. Thankfully, nothing came of it, but the…
Seafarers Log
Boatmen at a longtime SIU-contracted company in the south are enjoying new benefits, following cooperative negotiations that concluded Jan. 7. “After many months of discussions and negotiations that began during the 2022 contract bargaining sessions, we have successfully finalized a new paid-time- off (PTO) plan at E.N. Bisso & Son…
