LOSS OF JOBS ON THE HORIZON
LOSS OF JOBS ON THE HORIZON
This is brought to your attention to emphasize that less jobs equate to less contributions. Less contributions from existing inadequate contracts equate to changes in benefits as Unions struggle to maintain a sound financial footing not only in it's operating expenses but also in it's PLANS
Ship Operators Covet Subsidies as RRF Cuts Confirmed
U.S. flag ship owners and operators have been put on notice by the U.S. government that reductions to the Ready Reserve Fleet (RRF) will be significantly larger than previously thought.
Eight companies now under contract to operate ships are facing the possibility of cancellation of as much as half of the existing contracts by the end of fiscal year 2007.
A total of 10 vessels are scheduled for removal from the RRF during this fiscal year. The need to replace 300,000 square feet of capacity that will depart from the RRF roughly coincides with a request for information issued to U.S.-flag ship owners earlier this month by MARAD). U.S. military planners constantly monitor logistics requirements and the assets needed to support those missions. Programs such at the RRF, Military Sealift command (MSC), and the ships of the Maritime Security Program (MSP) make up the maritime component of those contingencies.
Any reduction in RRF numbers or capabilities will ultimately require probing the commercial market for replacement tonnage. Ship owners hope that this could translate into still more ship subsidies which would allow operators to keep ships under the U.S. Flag. The MSP program, consisting of 60 ships, each receiving a $2.6 million annual operating subsidy, allows the United States to keep private vessels with military value on retainer for emergency call-up.
TransCom has not yet disclosed which vessel types or operators might be slated for elimination, but MARAD has issued recent requests for information from U.S. commercial operators for RO-RO tonnage.
The May 3 issue of the Federal Register (Vol. 71, No. 85) also provides notice of open season for enrollment in the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA). U.S. Flag vessels not currently enrolled in the program are invited to participate, with applications due no later than May 31, 2006. VISA provides for “the phased availability of participants’ shipping services/systems to meet contingency requirements” through contractual arrangements between the government and participants. In exchange, VISA participants receive “priority consideration” for the award of DOD peacetime cargo.
posted by wff @ 11:43 AM
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Legislation could avert RRF cutbacks
A reduction of the U.S. Ready Reserve Force would be averted under an amendment to a defense authorization bill in the House of Representatives.
Hawaii Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie and Michigan Republican Rep. Candice Miller filed the amendment May 4, days after the drastic budget-driven plan to pare the reserve sealift fleet was made known to the eight U.S.-flagged ship operating companies that manage the RRF under Maritime Administration charter. MARAD told the companies that the fleet reduction would be completed gradually by the end of fiscal 2007 in September 2007.
The Abercrombie-Miller amendment--attached to a Department of Defense spending measure approved by the House Armed Services Committee--would require DOD to consult with the Department of Transportation on a five-year plan for “maintaining the capability of the Ready Reserve Force … necessary to support (DOD) wartime missions and support civilian authority missions.” The plan would have to be submitted to Congress “not later than March 1, 2007.”
The amendment would also require MARAD--an agency in DOT--to “maintain 58 vessels in the Ready Reserve Force” until 45 days after the five-year reserve sealift plan is sent to the House and Senate.
The House was expected to approve the Abercrombie-Miller amendment. Because the Senate’s defense authorization measure does not include comparable language, the issue will have to be settled in House and Senate conference, and the House-Senate conference report would have to be approved in both chambers.
MARAD, an agency in the Department of Transportation, owns the Ready Reserve Force, which is kept in varied readiness states in U.S. ports for breakout as needed. However, the RRF is funded through DOD, and the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command controls the ships once they are underway. MARAD was said to be opposed to the planned RRF fleet reduction.
A statement from the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) in DOD said four geared containerships, two barge-carrying LASH vessels and four tankers--including one offshore petroleum discharge system tanker, or OPDS--would be axed in the initial round in fiscal 2006, which ends at midnight next Sept. 30.
But some companies managing RRF vessels said they had been told by MARAD that 14 ships would be dropped initially, and that the total could climb to 26 vessels.
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