Shore leave and terminal access aren't just matters of convenience - they're crucial to maritime safety and the general wellbeing of mariners. They should also be considered part of the cost of doing business as a maritime terminal.

Those were some of the primary messages delivered by maritime labor officials Jan. 23 during a public meeting conducted at Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington, D.C. The gathering concerned a Coast Guard notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) aimed at making it easier for mariners to go ashore in U.S. ports.

SIU Secretary-Treasurer David Heindel spoke on behalf of the union, and he also offered comments for the International Transport Workers' Federation, where he chairs the Seafarers' Section. He thanked the agency for proposing the rule, and said it is imperative that if any additional costs arise for making it easier for mariners to go ashore, those costs must not be passed on to seafarers, either directly or indirectly. Heindel added that although that sentiment is consistent with the proposal's stated intent, unions and other mariner advocates are on guard to make sure that's how it is implemented.

"The concern we have on the labor side and also with the ministry side is that the seafarers have access to shore in a timely manner and at no cost to the seafarer," Heindel stated. "We think the terminal operators have a responsibility here. They have an obligation to make sure people have access through their terminals."

Heindel also said foreign mariners in particular have "a very, very tough time getting ashore at a lot of different terminals," and that a balance can be reached between proper security measures and reasonable treatment of seafarers.

Other industry leaders also offered remarks, as did representatives from maritime terminals and the seafarers welfare community. Father Sinclair Oubre, an SIU member who runs the Apostleship of the Sea's Beaumont, Texas, Dioceses, addressed the meeting and stated access should be considered routine for the terminals. He also pointed out, as did others, that reasonable access to shore leave and welfare organizations boosts morale, reduces fatigue, and increases retention rates in the merchant marine.

"This proposed rule would be a tremendous advancement over our present situation," Oubre stated. "It would significantly improve shore leave for seafarers and access to facilities by seafarer welfare agents.

He noted the word "flexibility" as it appears in the NPRM, and cautioned "it can be used to delay shore leave and access, or outright deny it. Flexibility and the interpretation of that word in this rule must always be employed in order to expedite shore leave and access."

Oubre, a former member of the Coast Guard's Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC), continued, "The cost of shore leave and access to the vessel, we believe, is the cost of doing business at a maritime terminal. By the very nature of a maritime terminal, there must be vessels.... Vessels can't get to a terminal without seafarers.... Access and shore leave issues regarding seafarers in this rule are part of being a maritime facility."

He also said ship visits and access "are part of a larger maritime safety matrix." There is a direct correlation between reducing fatigue and raising morale, and boosting shore leave and access, Oubre explained.

The SIU planned to submit formal comments by the Feb. 27 deadline.

AOS-USA was saddened to learn of the passing of the Rev. Dr. Roald Kverndal, long time Port Chaplain, historian, member and past Executive Secretary of the North American Maritime Ministry Association (NAMMA), maritime ministry consultant to the Lutheran world Federation and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Affiliate Member of AOS-USA.  

One only had to meet Roald once to know that he was a man of great intelligence, an inquisitive mind, and a unique character!   

He did a great service to the Apostleship of the Sea, and ALL maritime ministries, by compiling and preserving  the history of maritime ministry in his books "Seamen's Missions: Their Origin and Early Growth - A Contribution to the History of the Church Maritime", and "The Way of the Sea: The Changing Shape of Mission in the Seafaring World."  

Mrs. Ruth Kverndal

9201 Fortuna Drive #2202

Mercer Island, WA 98040

Please join us in prayers of Thanksgiving for the life and work of the Rev Dr. Roald Kverndal. We are richer for having worked with him!  And join us in prayer for his wife Ruth and their family who now grieve their beloved. 

Vessel Traffic Services Houston-Galveston and the U.S. Coast Guard have confirmed a vessel collision on the Houston Ship Channel at 12:30PM CST on Monday involving the bulk carrier MV Conti Peridot carrying a cargo of steel and the chemical tanker Carla Maersk carrying 216,000 bbls of MTBE.

The Coast Guard says the Carla Maersk is listing and that upwards of three port cargo tanks may have been breached.  An unknown quantity of the ship's cargo has leaked into the channel.

The collision occurred approximately 1 kilometer south of the entrance to Barbours Cut.

The U.S. Coast Guard has shut down the Houston Ship Channel between light 86 to Morgan's Point.  An update from the USCG Alert and Warning System issued at 2:15 CDT read:

"A discharge of MTBE, Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether, has occurred following a collision at Morgan Point on the Houston Ship Channel.  Primary hazard is flammability, and odor detection threshold is very low - 50 PPM.  Port entities are advised the Houston Ship Channel is closed to all traffic from light 86 to Morgans Point High lines.  A Unified command is being established - follow any protective orders issued by municipal & county authorities."

The following notice by Candice Armenoff, Port of Houston Authority Customer Service Manager was posted on gCaptain's Facebook page:

Barbours Cut and APM Terminals are under and evacuation order. Drivers that are inside of the terminal will be escorted off by Port Police. Containers will not be allowed to exit the terminal as US Customs has also evacuated. Containers and Chassis can be dollied down inside of the terminal. I will be sure to follow up with details as I get them. 

An update from the Port of Houston said that business operations continue at all Port of Houston Authority terminals with the exception of the Barbours Cut Container Terminal.

The National Transportation Safety Board says it has sent a team to investigate the collision.

A "Shelter In Place" order is in effect for Morgan's Point, according to the City of La Porte's Office of Emergency Management.

A.P. Møller Maersk spokesperson Mikkel Elbek Linnet said in an emailed statement, "Carla Maersk crew are safe and accounted for, and there are no reports of injury and fire on the vessel. Vessel is anchored in Houston Ship Channel and not in immediate danger. A response team is working on handling the incident."

MTBE, or methyl tertiary-butyl ether, is a chemical compound that is primarily used as a fuel additive in motor gasoline.

Weather in the area was reported to be foggy with light rain.

Today's incident follows a collision last Thursday (March 5th) involving the Hamburg Süd-owned containership Monte Alegre and the chemical tanker Chembulk Houston, which briefly shut portion of the channel. No injuries or pollution were reported as a result of that incident.

Another attack last year on an oil products tanker, the SP Brussels, killed one crew member, Johnson said. Neither Indian refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), which chartered the Kalamos tanker that was attacked this week, nor the manager of the vessel, Greek shipping firm Aeolos Management, returned calls from Reuters for comment.Cyrus Mody, assistant director of the piracy-tracking International Maritime Bureau said the waters off Nigeria are now the deadliest in the world "by any length", despite attention still focused on Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. "(The Gulf of Guinea) is not perceived as bad as it is," Mody said.Mody said incidents in the region were hugely underreported due to fear of further attacks, concerns over insurance or a belief that information on vessels is sensitive or proprietary.

Oil tankers make relatively easy targets for Nigerian-based pirates who usually want hostages to ransom, but will also sell stolen fuel.Security experts say the pirates have emerged from militant groups in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta, such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). These groups have long targeted oil infrastructure and foreign companies in the region, arguing the Niger Delta has been left impoverished despite production of almost 2 million barrels of oil per day in Nigeria. The situation is further complicated by the government's ban on foreign armed guards in its waters - a method that has been used to deter pirates off Somalia and Yemen.Security experts said most companies know the risks in the region well."It hasn't stopped or slowed down trading," said Johnson at Dryad.The danger is already priced into premiums that insurers charge for entering the region, said Dominic Enderby, marine hull practice leader for Marsh, a global insurance broker.

While costs varies widely, the premium is generally "a few thousand dollars" per voyage - not enough to increase costs significantly for a tanker that may carry more than $100 million worth of crude. "It's not going to change the price of our oil," Enderby said."These attacks are part and parcel of operating in this part of the world."

 Amidst the beauty of Your Sea, O Lord, there always dangers be.

   The Cargo Hook could smash my dead, or countless perils lay me dead.

   The boilers could explode, me burn, and end me in a brassy urn.

   The mighty wave could grab, me take, then maybe in Heaven shall I wake.

   The cargo could catch a flaming fire, and put all in circumstances dire.

   Pirates board and capture violent, to You, O Lord, be not my blood silent.

   In war the vicious foe attack, my ship- though sunk, "I will go back!"

   From the Mainmast I could fall, and that would be the end of all.

   Or I could eat some Evil Stew, and wake up, Lord, next morn with You.

   If vessel should capsize and sink, I hope Your name I'll cry or think.

   So many years at sea I ponder, on dry-land work, or dry-land wander?

   Though dangers all around me wait, I trust You guide this Sailor's fate.

   You are my Anchor, Bell and Wheel, and all anxiety Thou doest heal.

   In loving care, I trust in thee, as I'm in service on the Sea.