Seafarers Log
Dear SIU Brothers and Sisters: Thank you for your dedication, professionalism and patience as the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic. Through your sacrifices and service, you are writing a significant chapter in SIU history. While the worst part of the pandemic is, obviously, loss of life, I think the…
Seafarers Log
America’s long-awaited national maritime strategy is here – and it supports taking aggressive steps to ensure the ongoing viability of the U.S. Merchant Marine. The Department of Transportation earlier this year issued the strategic document in the form of a report to Congress titled, “Goals and Objectives for a Stronger…
Seafarers Log
May 4, 2020 Pursuant to Article X, section 1(e) of our Constitution, I am submitting my Pre-Balloting Report. As everyone is aware, the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the adoption of procedural changes by most organizations and businesses around the world. The SIU Executive Board, in an…
Seafarers Log
Seafarers-contracted Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG) recently announced that its subsidiaries have completed the purchase of three SIU-crewed, U.S.-flagged tankers – the Alaskan Explorer, Alaskan Legend, and Alaskan Navigator – from BP Oil Shipping Company USA and BP AMI Leasing Inc. OSG has also entered into a bareboat charter with…
Seafarers Log
Editor’s note: Coinciding with enactment of the Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2020, the LOG is reprinting excerpts from a 1951 booklet titled “The Seafarers in World War II.” Penned by the late SIU historian John Bunker, the publication recapped SIU members’ service in…
Seafarers Log
Congratulations to the U.S. Merchant Marine of World War II on the recent passage of federal legislation that awards a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their heroism. The SIU proudly and actively supported this bill, which was years in the making, just as we worked for decades to ultimately…
Seafarers Log
The union and Seafarers Plans are not relocating their headquarters operations – but they’re getting a new address, effective April 20, 2020. Because of a government-ordered change, the new address is: 5201 Capital Gateway Drive Camp Springs, Maryland 20746 The old address (since 1982, when the SIU relocated from New…
Seafarers Log
Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chad Wolf recently expressed his backing of America’s freight cabotage law, the Jones Act. His remarks came Feb. 26 during a hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. The hearing’s main subject was the Fiscal 2021 budget request…
Seafarers Log
The SIU hasn’t let up in its efforts to provide relief supplies to Puerto Rico residents recovering from a series of earthquakes. Pictured aboard the El Coqui en route to Puerto Rico are (from left) Recertified Steward Juan Vallejo, Crowley Maritime Chairman/CEO Tom Crowley, Christine Crowley…
Seafarers Log
The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) recently released a new study detailing the benefits of the American maritime industry to national security, titled “Strengthening the U.S. Defense Maritime Industrial Base.” As a first-time review of the impact of the U.S. domestic maritime industry to national security, this historic…