Seafarers Log
October 2016 Rank-and-file SIU members recently approved three new contracts that boost wages while either maintaining or increasing benefits. The respective agreements cover Seafarers at Express Marine, Port City Marine Services, and the Crowley facility at Petty’s Island. The Express Marine contract covers approximately 45 members who sail aboard the…
Seafarers Log
October 2016 Two weeks after retrieving the voyage data recorder (VDR) from the El Faro, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in late August announced that approximately 26 hours of information had been recovered from the device. The agency released some particulars from a preliminary review of the data and…
Seafarers Log
October 2016 The USS Frank Cable (AS 40), a Guam-based submarine tender crewed by SIU Government Services mariners and operated by the Military Sealift Command, was recently named the winner of the 2016 SECNAV Safety Excellence Award. The prestigious honor, announced by the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), is presented…
Seafarers Log
October 2016 More new SIU-crewed tonnage is on the way following a late-August announcement by Matson, Inc. that the company has partnered with General Dynamics NASSCO to build two new combination container and roll-on/roll-off (Con-Ro) vessels for its Hawaii fleet. The Jones Act-qualified ships will be constructed at NASSCO’s facility…
Seafarers Log
October 2016 New tonnage continues to enter the SIU-contracted Jones Act fleet, including the recently christened tankers Bay State and Constitution. Both vessels were built at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, a union facility. The Bay State was christened Sept. 17, while the Constitution was christened Aug. 27. SIU…
Seafarers Log
October 2016 The newest addition to the NY Waterway fleet of passenger ferries – the Betsy Ross – officially began service Sept. 1, signaling new jobs for Seafarers. It marks the expansion of what the company described as “the most reliable, most comfortable, fastest commuter service available to Monmouth and…
Seafarers Log
October 2016 New jobs for members of the SIU Government Services Division are on the horizon following the Aug. 20 christening of the USNS Yuma in Mobile, Alabama. The Yuma is the eighth of 10 expeditionary fast transport vessels (EPF), formerly identified by the Navy as joint high-speed vessels or…
Seafarers Log
October 2016 Demonstrating the finest traditions of the Brotherhood of the Sea, the SIU-crewed M/V Ocean Glory recently rescued a fisherman whose capsized boat was about to sink. On Aug. 14, the Ocean Glory – operated by Seafarers-contracted Intermarine for the U.S. Military Sealift Command – was headed to Banyuwangi,…
Seafarers Log
October 2016 Although there are other additional factors, the job security of many SIU members depends on maintaining the Jones Act, the U.S. Maritime Security Program, cargo preference laws and other promaritime and pro-worker statutes. And the ongoing viability of all of those laws and programs depends on having pro-maritime,…