Posted:
June 5, 2015
By Paul Doell
National President
As I wrote this June 5, American Maritime Officers celebrated the 95th anniversary of the Jones Act, which resulted in coastal, Great Lakes and inland and harbor jobs for generations of AMO members, and which will account for significant expansion of the AMO employment base on the near horizon.
Sponsored by Sen. Wesley Jones of the State of Washington and signed into law as Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act holds all waterborne commerce between and among U.S. ports for merchant vessels owned, built, flagged and manned in the United States. These sensible restrictions apply not only to cargo movement within the continental U.S., but also to shipments between the U.S. mainland and the remote states and territories of Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam.
The Jones Act's direct, positive impact on AMO was noted most recently on May 8, when General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego cut steel for the fourth of five "ECO" product tankers for American Petroleum Tankers. Each of these five vessels will operate in domestic energy markets. Each will be manned by AMO in all licensed positions, and by crewmembers represented by the Seafarers International Union.
A day earlier, the combination container/roll-on, roll-off ship Marjorie C entered service between San Diego and Honolulu. The ship - operated by Pasha Hawaii, built by VT Halter in Pascagoula, MS, and staffed by AMO and the SIU - joins Pasha's Jean Anne in round-trip trade between the mainland West Coast and Hawaii.
Meanwhile, back in San Diego, GD NASSCO hosted a keel-laying ceremony for yet another ECO tanker, the first of three to be operated in domestic markets by SEA-Vista LLC under AMO and SIU contracts.
The ECO tankers ordered for APT and SEA Vista LLC can be converted to use liquefied natural gas as fuel.
GD NASSCO in April was the setting for the christening and launch of the containership Isla Bella, which will be operated by TOTE Services. The Isla Bella, which will begin service between Florida and Puerto Rico under AMO and SIU contracts in September 2015, is the first ship of its kind anywhere in the world to be powered by LNG.
Later this summer, TOTE will launch a sister ship to the Isla Bella at GD NASSCO.
Back in Pascagoula, VT Halter Marine continued work on the first of two combination container/roll-on, roll-off ships for Crowley Maritime. These ships, too, will operate domestically under AMO and SIU contract.
But the Jones Act's value extends well beyond our union. The law is indeed an all-American asset: nationwide, the Jones Act accounts for more than 500,000 private sector, revenue-raising jobs in critical industries; it represents multiple billions in private capital investment; the Jones Act helps sustain a skilled, loyal and dependable civilian seagoing workforce for strategic sealift service during defense emergencies; many ocean-going ships in Jones Act service can carry military supplies, equipment and vehicles to distant war zones; the Jones Act ensures that vessels moving hazardous cargoes between U.S. points along the deep-sea coastlines, on the Great Lakes and on commercially navigable inland waters are crewed not by foreign nationals of questionable ability or by terrorists or their sympathizers, but by trained, trustworthy U.S. citizens.
Though the Jones Act serves U.S. economic, national security and homeland security interests so conspicuously and so well at no cost to U.S. taxpayers, the law has its persistent critics - in the U.S. and abroad.
Our union's Washington staff and Brenda Otterson - who represents AMO employer companies on Capitol Hill - do a superb job overcoming attempts to amend or repeal the Jones Act. So do AMO members who let their Congressional representatives know what the law means and why it matters.
Everyone in AMO can support these difficult but successful efforts by contributing routinely to the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund. Having managed this fund while working in Washington for seven years, I can attest personally to its significance. It is without question a wise personal investment in sustained job and benefit security.
Of symbolism and substance
The Jones Act's anniversary followed National Maritime Day, which is celebrated each year under Presidential proclamation. This official tradition began in 1933.
National Maritime Day is a time to reflect on the historic service of civilian American seafarers, especially those lost at sea in the U.S. merchant fleet in support of U.S. Armed Forces in all wars dating from the American Revolution to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The principal focus in each National Maritime Day observance is, fittingly, on mariners lost to enemy action in the Atlantic and the Pacific during World War II - in which only the U.S. Marine Corps suffered a higher casualty rate than U.S. merchant marine officers and crews. Some of the mariners who survived the war went on to become founding members of American Maritime Officers as the Brotherhood of Marine Engineers in May 1949.
Between National Maritime Day and the Jones Act's anniversary, we celebrated Memorial Day, pleased to know that U.S. merchant mariners are recognized permanently for their service and sacrifice at the National World War II Memorial in Washington.
But substance matters as much as symbolism, which is why AMO in Washington is promoting a full-strength Maritime Security Program, enforcement of all U.S.-flag cargo preference laws and support of all federal programs subject to these "ship American" requirements, and the right of the United States to insulate maritime policy from bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements. What better way to honor the heroic men and women of today's U.S. merchant marine?
Please feel free to call me with questions, comments and criticisms at any time. I can be reached on the headquarters office line at 954-921-2221 or on my cell at 954-881-5651.
Celebrating Jones Act jobs on the law's 95th anniversary
By Paul Doell
National President
As I wrote this June 5, American Maritime Officers celebrated the 95th anniversary of the Jones Act, which resulted in coastal, Great Lakes and inland and harbor jobs for generations of AMO members, and which will account for significant expansion of the AMO employment base on the near horizon.
Sponsored by Sen. Wesley Jones of the State of Washington and signed into law as Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act holds all waterborne commerce between and among U.S. ports for merchant vessels owned, built, flagged and manned in the United States. These sensible restrictions apply not only to cargo movement within the continental U.S., but also to shipments between the U.S. mainland and the remote states and territories of Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam.
The Jones Act's direct, positive impact on AMO was noted most recently on May 8, when General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego cut steel for the fourth of five "ECO" product tankers for American Petroleum Tankers. Each of these five vessels will operate in domestic energy markets. Each will be manned by AMO in all licensed positions, and by crewmembers represented by the Seafarers International Union.
A day earlier, the combination container/roll-on, roll-off ship Marjorie C entered service between San Diego and Honolulu. The ship - operated by Pasha Hawaii, built by VT Halter in Pascagoula, MS, and staffed by AMO and the SIU - joins Pasha's Jean Anne in round-trip trade between the mainland West Coast and Hawaii.
Meanwhile, back in San Diego, GD NASSCO hosted a keel-laying ceremony for yet another ECO tanker, the first of three to be operated in domestic markets by SEA-Vista LLC under AMO and SIU contracts.
The ECO tankers ordered for APT and SEA Vista LLC can be converted to use liquefied natural gas as fuel.
GD NASSCO in April was the setting for the christening and launch of the containership Isla Bella, which will be operated by TOTE Services. The Isla Bella, which will begin service between Florida and Puerto Rico under AMO and SIU contracts in September 2015, is the first ship of its kind anywhere in the world to be powered by LNG.
Later this summer, TOTE will launch a sister ship to the Isla Bella at GD NASSCO.
Back in Pascagoula, VT Halter Marine continued work on the first of two combination container/roll-on, roll-off ships for Crowley Maritime. These ships, too, will operate domestically under AMO and SIU contract.
But the Jones Act's value extends well beyond our union. The law is indeed an all-American asset: nationwide, the Jones Act accounts for more than 500,000 private sector, revenue-raising jobs in critical industries; it represents multiple billions in private capital investment; the Jones Act helps sustain a skilled, loyal and dependable civilian seagoing workforce for strategic sealift service during defense emergencies; many ocean-going ships in Jones Act service can carry military supplies, equipment and vehicles to distant war zones; the Jones Act ensures that vessels moving hazardous cargoes between U.S. points along the deep-sea coastlines, on the Great Lakes and on commercially navigable inland waters are crewed not by foreign nationals of questionable ability or by terrorists or their sympathizers, but by trained, trustworthy U.S. citizens.
Though the Jones Act serves U.S. economic, national security and homeland security interests so conspicuously and so well at no cost to U.S. taxpayers, the law has its persistent critics - in the U.S. and abroad.
Our union's Washington staff and Brenda Otterson - who represents AMO employer companies on Capitol Hill - do a superb job overcoming attempts to amend or repeal the Jones Act. So do AMO members who let their Congressional representatives know what the law means and why it matters.
Everyone in AMO can support these difficult but successful efforts by contributing routinely to the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund. Having managed this fund while working in Washington for seven years, I can attest personally to its significance. It is without question a wise personal investment in sustained job and benefit security.
Of symbolism and substance
The Jones Act's anniversary followed National Maritime Day, which is celebrated each year under Presidential proclamation. This official tradition began in 1933.
National Maritime Day is a time to reflect on the historic service of civilian American seafarers, especially those lost at sea in the U.S. merchant fleet in support of U.S. Armed Forces in all wars dating from the American Revolution to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The principal focus in each National Maritime Day observance is, fittingly, on mariners lost to enemy action in the Atlantic and the Pacific during World War II - in which only the U.S. Marine Corps suffered a higher casualty rate than U.S. merchant marine officers and crews. Some of the mariners who survived the war went on to become founding members of American Maritime Officers as the Brotherhood of Marine Engineers in May 1949.
Between National Maritime Day and the Jones Act's anniversary, we celebrated Memorial Day, pleased to know that U.S. merchant mariners are recognized permanently for their service and sacrifice at the National World War II Memorial in Washington.
But substance matters as much as symbolism, which is why AMO in Washington is promoting a full-strength Maritime Security Program, enforcement of all U.S.-flag cargo preference laws and support of all federal programs subject to these "ship American" requirements, and the right of the United States to insulate maritime policy from bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements. What better way to honor the heroic men and women of today's U.S. merchant marine?
Please feel free to call me with questions, comments and criticisms at any time. I can be reached on the headquarters office line at 954-921-2221 or on my cell at 954-881-5651.