AMO member Bob Ring brings Anderson Kelly controversy to home state U.S. Senator Susan Collins

AMO member Bob Ring has alerted Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, to his difficult, longtime struggle with mariner health and medical arbiter Anderson Kelly Co. - and he drew an immediate, encouraging reply from one of the Senate's top supporters of the U.S. merchant fleet and its civilian ship officers and crews.

Ring - a Chief Engineer, a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy and a resident of Maine - is among the many AMO members denied work or who have had shipboard assignments delayed indefinitely under Anderson Kelly requirements said by Ring to exceed "the requirements set down by the United States Coast Guard."

"Bob Ring's action here brings the Anderson Kelly discussion to an entirely new level," said AMO President Paul Doell. "While AMO Government Relations Vice President Christian Spain has had remarkable success overcoming Anderson Kelly policy in many specific, individual AMO member cases, Ring's initiative puts real federal focus on how Anderson Kelly became the ultimate job placement authority in the American maritime industry."

In his January 25 letter to Sen. Collins, Ring acknowledged the lawmaker's direct assistance when his mariner credentials were delayed at the Coast Guard's National Maritime Center in West Virginia. "I should note as well that I am a member of American Maritime Officers," he added.

Ring said of Anderson Kelly: "I have found in the past 15 months that I am by a wide margin far from the only one that has been affected by Anderson Kelly's approach to deigning a 'fit for duty' tag on professional mariners over and above the requirements of the USCG/Med office.

"Many in my circles have suggested I should bring suit," Ring continued. "AMO's hands are tied as AK is employed by the individual operational companies - ship managers. But in fact, AK is generating a business plan that generates income off the perpetual medical test and result model."

For example, Anderson Kelly requires mariners to provide "clearance letters" from primary care physicians and specialists - letters then altered to fit the Anderson Kelly format. "I have done this on numerous occasions over the last 15 months," Ring explained. "Getting test after test done at their insistence when I hold a USCG Med Cert seems that there may be some malfeasance at play."

In response to Ring on January 27, Pamela Gerow - Constituent Services Representative for Sen. Collins at the Senator's regional office in Caribou, Maine - said:

"Thank you for contacting Senator Collins's office for assistance.

"I am writing to let you know that our office has contacted the liaison for the United States Coast Guard and have asked for information about the USCG's policies on fit for duty standards and information on the role of third-party companies in these standards. Please be assured that I will contact you with any information as it becomes available.

"If you have questions or concerns in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me at Senator Collins' office in Caribou."