Posted:
October 23, 2013
It seems business as usual has resumed in the Military Sealift Command contracting department, and across Washington, D.C.
On the legislative front, although the funding baseline of the Maritime Security Program has been restored and the MSP is now funded through mid-January, AMO remains engaged in the battle to secure full funding for the program for the rest of one fiscal year. It is not the only legislative challenge we are facing.
However, our attention remains focused on the sealift fleet as one AMO-contracted operating company - Ocean Ships, Inc. - grapples with MSC's decision to award the operating contract for the eight Watson Class LMSRs to Patriot Contract Services.
On October 7, I sent a detailed letter to MSC Commander RADM Shannon expressing my shock and disappointment regarding MSC's intent to award the contract for the Watson Class LMSRs to Patriot. In the letter, I provided clear examples of how this and some of MSC's other recent contract awards have ignored obvious and potentially costly issues, and how the RFP process itself now rewards companies presenting offers that fall far short of the best value.
While the MSC leadership and counsel were apparently huddled around figuring out how to respond to my letter without really responding to any of the issues it raised, I fired off a second letter to RADM Shannon on October 13.
In the time since, MSC has officially awarded the Watson Class LMSR contract to Patriot.
It seems obvious by now that everyone in the industry knows MM&P and MEBA do not have the trained and qualified officers to man the Watson Class LMSRs. At least one of these unions even has trouble manning its other contracted vessels. I know this because AMO has been providing trained and qualified engineers to MEBA-contracted employers to keep their vessels running for the past year.
AMO is also aware that MSC knows full well MM&P and MEBA cannot man the Watson Class LMSRs, and they simply don't care.
MSC held a debriefing with OSI regarding the Watson Class contract award to Patriot. Any MSC bidder that has had the privilege of attending one of these debriefings can tell you how enlightening the experience can be. The entire RFP process is broken and needs to be completely overhauled.
Separately, our dysfunctional Congress did manage to bring a temporary halt to the government shutdown, effective October 17.
In doing so, Congress restored the funding baseline for the Maritime Security Program to the full level authorized by law, providing for the program to continue as long as the continuing resolution lasts. While gridlock remains the rule at the institutional level, the efforts of Acting Maritime Administrator Paul "Chip" Jaenichen and the unwavering support of senators and representatives who understand the indispensable roles served by U.S. merchant marine made this accomplishment possible.
In the same span, the House of Representatives announced the members who would be serving on the conference committee with the Senate to reconcile different versions of legislation known as the farm bill. Contained in the farm bill is authorization for PL-480 Title II Food for Peace. Appointed to the conference committee, among others, were California Republican Congressman Ed Royce and New York Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel, who jointly sponsored an amendment to the House version of the farm bill that would have imposed drastic changes to the PL-480 program sought by the Obama administration, effectively gutting Food for Peace.
The Royce-Engel amendment was defeated in June by a vote of 220 against to 203 in favor. But the assignment of these cosponsors to the conference committee signals another battle in our ongoing struggle to sustain Food for Peace.
If the powers that be in Washington, D.C. persist with poor decision making and punishment of the U.S. merchant marine for doing nothing less than an outstanding job of serving the sealift needs of our Armed Forces and the transportation needs of our nation, they will one day push the U.S.-flag industry beyond the brink and ensure there is no one left to answer the call the next time it is made.
Our goal is to prevent this from happening and our determination remains undiminished. My most recent letter to RADM Shannon is included below. I encourage you to read it, and I urge all AMO members to support the Voluntary Political Action Fund to the greatest extent possible.
Tom Bethel
National President
Dear RADM Shannon,
Further to my letter of last week, I would like to add comments resulting from events occurring during this past week.
I know your key managers are working on answers to the statements I made in my letter. But, you might also want to consider asking about the following events that support my comments concerning the other unions' lack of training and their lack of maintenance and operational expertise.
With respect to my point about the cost of training all new crews, it might be informative to know how much it is costing you for just the three deck officers who Masters, Mates and Pilots are sending to six weeks of schooling at your training facility in San Diego. When you consider those costs, realize that these three are only the first of as many as 80 other deck officers who will require similar training. And, compare this to the fact that AMO's officers are already trained and their refresher training, or new officer training, would be accomplished at AMO's training center - using MSC approved courses - at no cost to MSC. Our courses supporting your training do not cost you anything.
With respect to my comments on the higher cost of maintaining the ships, I believe the miserable failure and subsequent docking at CSX in Newport News of USNS Gordon's turbo-activation last week illustrates the low quality of maintenance and operation of the MEBA engineers employed by Patriot Contract Services aboard the ship - these are the very same people who, without any operational experience, are proposed to operate the gas turbines on the Watson Class LMSRs. Added to the debacle of USNS Martin striking the bridge in Jacksonville, there must be questions in your mind about the quality of Patriot as an operating company and the people it employs.
Admiral, although you probably view AMO as just another vendor, we have supported every initiative MSC has wanted to implement. This has cost us time, money and resources - to relieve you of costly training efforts - and now I am facing a board that questions my wisdom of investing in state-of-the-art-training for your contracts when your people do not feel they add value and award contracts to others who have not made these commitments.
I respectfully ask you to reconsider this apparent award of Watson Class LMSRs. These vessels, crews and sponsors deserve quality operation and that is what companies contracting with AMO can provide.
Best Regards,
Tom Bethel
National President
American Maritime Officers
Business as usual resumes in Washington, D.C. as MSC officially awards Watson Class contract to Patriot
It seems business as usual has resumed in the Military Sealift Command contracting department, and across Washington, D.C.
On the legislative front, although the funding baseline of the Maritime Security Program has been restored and the MSP is now funded through mid-January, AMO remains engaged in the battle to secure full funding for the program for the rest of one fiscal year. It is not the only legislative challenge we are facing.
However, our attention remains focused on the sealift fleet as one AMO-contracted operating company - Ocean Ships, Inc. - grapples with MSC's decision to award the operating contract for the eight Watson Class LMSRs to Patriot Contract Services.
On October 7, I sent a detailed letter to MSC Commander RADM Shannon expressing my shock and disappointment regarding MSC's intent to award the contract for the Watson Class LMSRs to Patriot. In the letter, I provided clear examples of how this and some of MSC's other recent contract awards have ignored obvious and potentially costly issues, and how the RFP process itself now rewards companies presenting offers that fall far short of the best value.
While the MSC leadership and counsel were apparently huddled around figuring out how to respond to my letter without really responding to any of the issues it raised, I fired off a second letter to RADM Shannon on October 13.
In the time since, MSC has officially awarded the Watson Class LMSR contract to Patriot.
It seems obvious by now that everyone in the industry knows MM&P and MEBA do not have the trained and qualified officers to man the Watson Class LMSRs. At least one of these unions even has trouble manning its other contracted vessels. I know this because AMO has been providing trained and qualified engineers to MEBA-contracted employers to keep their vessels running for the past year.
AMO is also aware that MSC knows full well MM&P and MEBA cannot man the Watson Class LMSRs, and they simply don't care.
MSC held a debriefing with OSI regarding the Watson Class contract award to Patriot. Any MSC bidder that has had the privilege of attending one of these debriefings can tell you how enlightening the experience can be. The entire RFP process is broken and needs to be completely overhauled.
Separately, our dysfunctional Congress did manage to bring a temporary halt to the government shutdown, effective October 17.
In doing so, Congress restored the funding baseline for the Maritime Security Program to the full level authorized by law, providing for the program to continue as long as the continuing resolution lasts. While gridlock remains the rule at the institutional level, the efforts of Acting Maritime Administrator Paul "Chip" Jaenichen and the unwavering support of senators and representatives who understand the indispensable roles served by U.S. merchant marine made this accomplishment possible.
In the same span, the House of Representatives announced the members who would be serving on the conference committee with the Senate to reconcile different versions of legislation known as the farm bill. Contained in the farm bill is authorization for PL-480 Title II Food for Peace. Appointed to the conference committee, among others, were California Republican Congressman Ed Royce and New York Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel, who jointly sponsored an amendment to the House version of the farm bill that would have imposed drastic changes to the PL-480 program sought by the Obama administration, effectively gutting Food for Peace.
The Royce-Engel amendment was defeated in June by a vote of 220 against to 203 in favor. But the assignment of these cosponsors to the conference committee signals another battle in our ongoing struggle to sustain Food for Peace.
If the powers that be in Washington, D.C. persist with poor decision making and punishment of the U.S. merchant marine for doing nothing less than an outstanding job of serving the sealift needs of our Armed Forces and the transportation needs of our nation, they will one day push the U.S.-flag industry beyond the brink and ensure there is no one left to answer the call the next time it is made.
Our goal is to prevent this from happening and our determination remains undiminished. My most recent letter to RADM Shannon is included below. I encourage you to read it, and I urge all AMO members to support the Voluntary Political Action Fund to the greatest extent possible.
Tom Bethel
National President
Dear RADM Shannon,
Further to my letter of last week, I would like to add comments resulting from events occurring during this past week.
I know your key managers are working on answers to the statements I made in my letter. But, you might also want to consider asking about the following events that support my comments concerning the other unions' lack of training and their lack of maintenance and operational expertise.
With respect to my point about the cost of training all new crews, it might be informative to know how much it is costing you for just the three deck officers who Masters, Mates and Pilots are sending to six weeks of schooling at your training facility in San Diego. When you consider those costs, realize that these three are only the first of as many as 80 other deck officers who will require similar training. And, compare this to the fact that AMO's officers are already trained and their refresher training, or new officer training, would be accomplished at AMO's training center - using MSC approved courses - at no cost to MSC. Our courses supporting your training do not cost you anything.
With respect to my comments on the higher cost of maintaining the ships, I believe the miserable failure and subsequent docking at CSX in Newport News of USNS Gordon's turbo-activation last week illustrates the low quality of maintenance and operation of the MEBA engineers employed by Patriot Contract Services aboard the ship - these are the very same people who, without any operational experience, are proposed to operate the gas turbines on the Watson Class LMSRs. Added to the debacle of USNS Martin striking the bridge in Jacksonville, there must be questions in your mind about the quality of Patriot as an operating company and the people it employs.
Admiral, although you probably view AMO as just another vendor, we have supported every initiative MSC has wanted to implement. This has cost us time, money and resources - to relieve you of costly training efforts - and now I am facing a board that questions my wisdom of investing in state-of-the-art-training for your contracts when your people do not feel they add value and award contracts to others who have not made these commitments.
I respectfully ask you to reconsider this apparent award of Watson Class LMSRs. These vessels, crews and sponsors deserve quality operation and that is what companies contracting with AMO can provide.
Best Regards,
Tom Bethel
National President
American Maritime Officers