Posted:
February 6, 2017
The following letter dated January 20 was sent by the presidents of seven seagoing labor unions, including American Maritime Officers, to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
We, the Presidents of the U.S. maritime unions representing virtually all the mariners employed on U.S.-flagged ships engaged in international trade, wish to bring to your attention the adverse results of the current way the Advanced Qualified Unlading Approval (AQUA) Lane program is implemented and its impact on U.S. mariners as well as the efficient and safe operation of U.S.-flagged ships.
As you know, the AQUA Lane program permits low risk ships engaged in foreign trade that are in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program to engage in cargo operations prior to CBP boarding and clearing the ship and crew. This can result in a very significant time period before crew members can leave the ship. Given the very short turnaround times on U.S. ships in liner services, the AQUA Lane program may effectively deny U.S. citizen crew members the right to go ashore or visit family in their own country.
U.S. citizen mariners must not be restricted to their ships and denied the basic right to shore leave in their own country due to a program designed to expedite the movement of the cargo that these tax-paying citizens transport across the ocean. U.S. citizen mariners hold credentials issued by the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as Transportation Worker Identity Cards (TWIC) issued by the TSA. They hold credentials with biometric identifiers issued by two U.S. government security agencies after screening and vetting that far exceeds the requirements for foreign nationals to enter the U.S. under the preapproval Global Entry program. These mariners have been more thoroughly vetted than the longshoremen that are permitted to work aboard AQUA Lane qualified vessels, than the truckers that are allowed to enter U.S. terminals or than the hundreds of thousands of manifested units of cargo that are loaded in foreign ports aboard containers destined for U. S. ports.
The rationale for the AQUA Lane program is that it saves time and money by expediting the free movement of low risk cargo. But, it unreasonably places a higher priority on the free movement of cargo in international trade than the free movement of low risk U.S. citizen mariners.
Important safety and operational considerations pertaining to U.S. flag vessels have also been overlooked in the AQUA Lane program. The high workload placed on the crew of a U.S. flagged ship in its home ports in the U.S. between cargo operations, stores, bunkering, repairs, auditing and inspections requires additional support from shore based port relief personnel, including deck and engineering officers. These personnel hold the same credentials issued by the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as Transportation Worker Identity Cards (TWIC) as do the permanent ship's officers and crew. Without this additional support, mandatory international work/rest hour regulations could require shutting down operations, thereby undermining the rationale for the AQUA Lane program.
The need for U.S. based crew members for timely access to leave the ship in their own country and the additional workload placed on U.S. ships in their home ports are not applicable to foreign crewed and flagged ships. If the CBP lacks sufficient resources to board all ships on arrival in a timely manner a high priority should be placed on boarding U.S. flagged ships with U.S. citizen crews before foreign flagged ships.
It should be noted that ships entering the U.S. from a foreign port are required to submit an "Electronic Notice of Arrival/Departure" (eNOA/D) ninety-six (96) hours in advance of arrival to the USCG and CBP. The eNOA/D contains a crew list with all required identity information on U.S. citizen crew members for CBP to check against data bases for preapproval.
The current AQUA Lane program's singular focus on preapproval of low risk cargo, but not preapproval of low risk U.S. crew members is creating an unnecessary hardship on U.S. citizen mariners, and the efficient operation of U.S. ships, that needs to be addressed. We are requesting that a system of preapproval of U.S. citizen crew members based on the prior submission of the crew list ninety-six (96) hours in advance of arrival be implemented and that port relief deck and engineering officers and relief crew members holding USCG credentials and TWICs be permitted to board the ship to assist in operations prior to formal clearance by CBP.
We request a meeting with the appropriate officials within the CBP to discuss a way forward on this issue. If any Congressional action to change U.S. statutes, or fund CBP resources, are needed to ensure U.S. citizen crew members on U.S. flagged ships are granted timely entry into the U.S. when returning home we will cooperate with the CBP to accomplish that goal.
Seagoing unions seek to secure shore access for U.S. mariners
The following letter dated January 20 was sent by the presidents of seven seagoing labor unions, including American Maritime Officers, to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
We, the Presidents of the U.S. maritime unions representing virtually all the mariners employed on U.S.-flagged ships engaged in international trade, wish to bring to your attention the adverse results of the current way the Advanced Qualified Unlading Approval (AQUA) Lane program is implemented and its impact on U.S. mariners as well as the efficient and safe operation of U.S.-flagged ships.
As you know, the AQUA Lane program permits low risk ships engaged in foreign trade that are in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program to engage in cargo operations prior to CBP boarding and clearing the ship and crew. This can result in a very significant time period before crew members can leave the ship. Given the very short turnaround times on U.S. ships in liner services, the AQUA Lane program may effectively deny U.S. citizen crew members the right to go ashore or visit family in their own country.
U.S. citizen mariners must not be restricted to their ships and denied the basic right to shore leave in their own country due to a program designed to expedite the movement of the cargo that these tax-paying citizens transport across the ocean. U.S. citizen mariners hold credentials issued by the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as Transportation Worker Identity Cards (TWIC) issued by the TSA. They hold credentials with biometric identifiers issued by two U.S. government security agencies after screening and vetting that far exceeds the requirements for foreign nationals to enter the U.S. under the preapproval Global Entry program. These mariners have been more thoroughly vetted than the longshoremen that are permitted to work aboard AQUA Lane qualified vessels, than the truckers that are allowed to enter U.S. terminals or than the hundreds of thousands of manifested units of cargo that are loaded in foreign ports aboard containers destined for U. S. ports.
The rationale for the AQUA Lane program is that it saves time and money by expediting the free movement of low risk cargo. But, it unreasonably places a higher priority on the free movement of cargo in international trade than the free movement of low risk U.S. citizen mariners.
Important safety and operational considerations pertaining to U.S. flag vessels have also been overlooked in the AQUA Lane program. The high workload placed on the crew of a U.S. flagged ship in its home ports in the U.S. between cargo operations, stores, bunkering, repairs, auditing and inspections requires additional support from shore based port relief personnel, including deck and engineering officers. These personnel hold the same credentials issued by the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as Transportation Worker Identity Cards (TWIC) as do the permanent ship's officers and crew. Without this additional support, mandatory international work/rest hour regulations could require shutting down operations, thereby undermining the rationale for the AQUA Lane program.
The need for U.S. based crew members for timely access to leave the ship in their own country and the additional workload placed on U.S. ships in their home ports are not applicable to foreign crewed and flagged ships. If the CBP lacks sufficient resources to board all ships on arrival in a timely manner a high priority should be placed on boarding U.S. flagged ships with U.S. citizen crews before foreign flagged ships.
It should be noted that ships entering the U.S. from a foreign port are required to submit an "Electronic Notice of Arrival/Departure" (eNOA/D) ninety-six (96) hours in advance of arrival to the USCG and CBP. The eNOA/D contains a crew list with all required identity information on U.S. citizen crew members for CBP to check against data bases for preapproval.
The current AQUA Lane program's singular focus on preapproval of low risk cargo, but not preapproval of low risk U.S. crew members is creating an unnecessary hardship on U.S. citizen mariners, and the efficient operation of U.S. ships, that needs to be addressed. We are requesting that a system of preapproval of U.S. citizen crew members based on the prior submission of the crew list ninety-six (96) hours in advance of arrival be implemented and that port relief deck and engineering officers and relief crew members holding USCG credentials and TWICs be permitted to board the ship to assist in operations prior to formal clearance by CBP.
We request a meeting with the appropriate officials within the CBP to discuss a way forward on this issue. If any Congressional action to change U.S. statutes, or fund CBP resources, are needed to ensure U.S. citizen crew members on U.S. flagged ships are granted timely entry into the U.S. when returning home we will cooperate with the CBP to accomplish that goal.