Posted: December 7, 2016

AMO in 2016: new jobs, ongoing fiscal reform and greater security


By Paul Doell
National President


For American Maritime Officers, 2016 ended as it began, with the ongoing expansion of the AMO fleet, the steady application of real financial reform and greater job and benefit security for all AMO members and their families.

New construction accounted for most of the vessels added to the AMO fleet roster this year. The latest addition is the product tanker American Endurance, which was delivered November 30 by Philly Shipyard in - where else? - Philadelphia. The ship - the first in yet another series for American Petroleum Tankers, or APT - is set to enter domestic service by the end of this year, with a full complement of AMO engine and deck officers aboard.

The American Endurance follows the new APT tankers Lone Star State, Magnolia State, Garden State and Bay State under AMO contract. General Dynamics NASSCO of San Diego built these four ships for domestic trade. NASSCO will deliver a fifth tanker in the class, the Palmetto State, to APT next year.

These APT tankers are operated by Intrepid Personnel and Provisioning, a unit of the sprawling Crowley Maritime Corp. Crowley this year took delivery of the tankers Texas, Louisiana and West Virginia from Philly Shipyard for the Intrepid fleet. AMO engine and deck officers are aboard these vessels as well.

SEA Vista/Eco-Tankers, a new company based in Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, launched new service between U.S. ports with the NASSCO-built tankers Independence and Constitution under AMO contract. NASSCO will deliver a third tanker for SEA Vista in 2017.

All of these tankers were designed for conversion to the use of clean liquefied natural gas as fuel.

Our union's fleet growth in 2016 was not limited to tankers. AMO engineers and deck officers are at work aboard the TOTE Services containership Perla Del Caribe, which follows 2015's Isla Bella to complete TOTE's revolutionary Marlin Class project at NASSCO. The Isla Bella and Perla Del Caribe - each of which operates between Florida and Puerto Rico - are the first ships of their kind anywhere in the world designed specifically for LNG propulsion.

Down in Pascagoula, Miss., construction of the Crowley container/roll-on, roll-off ships El Coquí and Taíno by VT Halter Marine continued apace for delivery next year. Our union will represent the engine and deck officers aboard these LNG-powered vessels on the Florida-Puerto Rico run.

Vessel reflagging this year resulted in additional gain for American Maritime Officers in the dry cargo sector. Intermarine's heavy-lift ship Ocean Glory was brought into U.S. registry under Crowley Global Ship Management and AMO contract, and the American flag was raised aboard the ARC car carrier Patriot (formerly the Aida) under AMO contract.

Both the Ocean Glory and the Patriot participate in the increasingly important Maritime Security Program, which was the focus of budget wrangling in Congress as this issue neared press time and online distribution.

Each of these developments represents new employment for AMO members and additional employer contributions to AMO Plans, the benefit funds that serve all AMO members and their families.

New jobs mean new operating revenue for AMO from membership dues and initiation fees - and AMO members everywhere (and applicants for AMO membership) can be certain that this money is managed responsibly.

As we report elsewhere in this issue, American Maritime Officers is heading into its third consecutive calendar year without membership dues and initiation fee increases. This is a result of what in two years has developed into a practical and productive partnership between the AMO administration and the seagoing AMO membership.

A unified AMO National Executive Board in 2015 adopted a continuing cost containment strategy that has thus far shaved a high seven-figure sum from our union's operating budget, with the principal cuts in payroll and rents for out-port office space. The AMO operating budget has shown a surplus each month since Spring 2015, and we are encouraged by this trend.

Our union also has a healthy balance in a reserve account, and we are back in the investment markets in a significant way.

Seagoing AMO members responded to this strategy by stepping up the timely payment of dues. Dues receipts through direct payment to AMO are six figures ahead of the 2014 pace, and dues and initiation fee payments through authorized deductions from AMO Vacation Plan benefits continue to spike. For example, membership dues paid through the Vacation Plan in October 2016 were up 20.8 percent over the total recorded in October 2015, and initiation fee receipts in October 2016 increased a whopping 101.2 percent over the total noted in October a year ago.

This informal partnership between the AMO administration and the seagoing membership has kept our union sound, and it will enable more effective yet more efficient service to all deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members and their families in the New Year.

Fleet growth, new jobs and financial stability in 2016 give us much to celebrate in this holiday season - and much to anticipate optimistically in 2017.

On behalf of the National Executive Board of American Maritime Officers, AMO representatives and AMO support staff, I offer best wishes for healthy and happy holidays and a bright, peaceful New Year to all AMO families.