Seafarers Log
Effectively blending powerful personal anecdotes with compelling data, executives from three Seafarers-contracted Jones Act companies recently described how the American maritime industry has been vital to the recovery in Puerto Rico. Addressing the Maritime Trades Department’s executive board during its winter meeting in Orlando, Florida, were National Shipping of America…
Seafarers Log
With predictable efficiency, SIU crews from two vessels have wrapped up another annual resupply mission to McMurdo Station in Antarctica. In early February, the SIU-crewed Maersk Peary offloaded nearly 6 million gallons of diesel and jet fuel in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2018. Another Seafarers-crewed vessel, the Ocean Giant,…
Seafarers Log
The top official from the SIU of Canada gave an information-packed report to the Maritime Trades Department (MTD) executive board March 9. President Jim Given detailed his union’s exhaustive efforts to protect Canada’s maritime cabotage laws and said significant victories have been achieved. There are also plenty of ongoing challenges,…
Seafarers Log
Another writer has spoken out in favor of America’s freight cabotage law. Julio Rivera, a popular multimedia personality and political consultant, wrote an editorial in early February that was posted on The Washington Times website. The headline: “A convenient scapegoat for Puerto Rico’s woes.” Rivera pointed out that the Jones…
Seafarers Log
With cabotage in the crosshairs of the uninformed, the executive board of the AFL-CIO’s Maritime Trades Department (MTD) recently gathered to bolster not only the Jones Act but similar maritime laws across the globe. The board met March 8-9 in Orlando, Florida. The MTD is composed of 22 international unions…
Seafarers Log
Two key supporters of the Jones Act recently spoke in defense of the law, as well as offered Congress some perspective on the challenges facing the American maritime industry, during a joint hearing between the House Armed Services Committee, the Readiness Subcommittee and the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. Maritime…
Seafarers Log
While there are many aspects of Maritime Trades Department meetings that make them worthwhile, we don’t normally hear breaking news during our gatherings. Last month was quite an exception, as an official from the respected, London-based organization Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI) shared results of a years-long survey which concluded that…
Seafarers Log
While most of the recent Maritime Trades Department winter meeting focused on the Jones Act, one guest speaker provided some global perspective to an otherwise domestically oriented gathering. Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI) Executive Director Deirdre Fitzpatrick shared results of a long-term study conducted by her organization. Among the findings are…
Seafarers Log
David Madden’s days as a Seafarer comprise a relatively small segment of his life, but that time continues to influence his writing. A frequently published author, Madden recently launched “Marble Goddesses and Mortal Flesh” – his fifteenth work of fiction. The 229-page book contains four novellas or short stories, the…
Seafarers Log
Despite ongoing efforts to unfairly discredit a key United States maritime law, a recent wave of media coverage is helping to set the record straight. Articles about the Jones Act (both online and in print) have reinforced what the domestic maritime industry has known all along – namely, that…