MEBA brother tells me that APL is going AMO with their new US flag ships. Leaving the MMP to wither away once their APL ships phase out in a few years. Rumor is MEBA is going to side with AMO and pretty much turn MMP into a Maersk/Matson containership union. There will be hardly any jobs left at MMP with LMSRs gone and Express ships. I guess the hope is MEBA is brought along on the new APL ships and eventually the two unions merge. I think it is time for all 3 to come together and form one union. It would be better for the mariner for sure.
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The above post seems to assume MMP will lose their jurisdiction case with the AFL-CIO. As mentioned in the other thread,AMO has tried this before with APL ships and lost.
What is different this time around that would make us believe the outcome will be in AMO’s favor?
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I am very curious about this as well. What is different about things this time around that would make MMP lose their case? Is there something I’m missing here?
Nah MMP has too much baggage. Best bet is for AMO and MEBA to merge and have MMP wither away.
Maersk has MEBA top bottom ships (deck and engine) hopefully any new tonnage is brought under that subsidiary.
Not totally versed in the history but I believe APL was bringing in a replacement ship for an MSP slotted vessel and attempted to replace MMP with AMO. So it was technically a ship MMP was already on. I’m not sure how MMP APL relationship is set up though.
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This is what happened, and MEBA was backing the claim bc they were in the same situation. The APL Guam was the ship and they went with AMO top to bottom which pissed off two unions instead of one
Yeah but it wasn’t new tonnage. Just the same ship essentially. Replacement tonnage.
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So would MEBA have the engine side on the new ships?
So when are these ships supposedly coming to the US flagged fleet?
There’s two APL chief mate jobs on the MMP board right now. I have seen a lot APL chief mate jobs go open board and sit for a bit. Not sure what’s going on but from what I’ve heard APL and MMP haven’t been please with each other
Probably have to be. If they want the ships to move or if they just doing something for show and have the ships sail occasionally for show leading some back room deal with the current Trump administration,
I heard a rumor that some or roughly half are supposed to flag in this summer. Hopefully they get to that 20 ship number and not cut it short. Regardless of what unions sail on them and in what capacity this is a good thing for the US merchant marine in general. More jobs, more strength, more economic protection. But going from 80 foreign trading ships to 100 is a small accomplishment knowing that China has 5,500, India said they are expanding their fleet and Russia even announced an big expansion of their merchant fleet which is bigger than ours by a lot.
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I’ve heard the same rumor, but a quick check of online schedules for ports they might be calling doesn’t show any names up yet. Be curious to see if it happens.
For that matter, has anyone heard anything of what ships they currently are? I’ve heard a couple rumors that seem too outrageous to be grounded in reality.
I also heard that the ships would be calling east coast ports. I don’t know if those are the same port schedules you’ve been checking?
Replacing the same run the Express ships had?
Yes, they are.
Checking the line’s schedule for the EC ports they’re supposedly calling through September doesn’t show anything.
Rumor I heard was three US ports then direct to India via the Cape.
Woof.
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Per APL’s website:
they already run a USEC liner service using Maersk ships (UMX). Maybe the plan is to replace this service with their own ships? It’s only 14 ships on this run vice the 20 we’re hearing about though.
Just seems odd to me that if this is really going to happen, that they’re not mentioning it on their website.
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Are they keeping their 6 running the west coast?
There’re 7 on the West coast and the same website shows EX1 service schedules thru December 14.
So if you believe that, it looks like that service will remain unchanged.
Looks like AMO got those contracts with MEBA pass through. Good for them. Not sure how they’re going to crew them all. Every union and company is hurting for chief mates.
Not AMO according to they guy who says there’s “20 applications” for any CM jobs on the board
Just released an hour or so ago.
New Work for AMO Members, Greater Cooperation Between the Leading U.S. Officers’ Unions
There have been a lot of conversations here, there, and everywhere over the past month about what we are working on and what it will mean for the AMO membership. Every once in a while, the stars align and things advance to a point where details are available and can be discussed.
American Maritime Officers has signed an MOU with Osprey Ship Management to represent the licensed officers on the soon-to-be-reflagged CMA CGM Phoenix. Many of our members have sailed under AMO contract with Osprey in the past.
Although the current MOU is for one vessel, CMA CGM intends to bring as many as 20 vessels into the U.S. registry over the next two-plus years with Osprey as the U.S.-flag vessel operator, all under contract with AMO.
In a similar timeframe, we are expecting several other vessels to enter the AMO fleet through the expansion of AMO-contracted companies, as well as new work in other sectors with companies that are new to us. For the latter, there are NDAs in place and hopefully the stars will continue their alignment and we’ll be able to provide more details in the near future.
With the expansion of the U.S.-flag fleet just getting underway, AMO and MEBA met yesterday and signed a new passthrough agreement that builds upon our existing arrangement. We believe our continued cooperation will put each of our separate unions in an excellent position to provide the officers for the incoming vessels.
A joint letter from MEBA President Adam Vokac and myself follows this announcement. Details of our new passthrough agreement will be presented at the July AMO membership meeting.
In the meantime, AMO and MEBA continue working together under our existing passthrough agreement, which remains very successful. We’ve had numerous senior deck officer billets come to our job board from MEBA, and many of our engineer billets go to theirs. The AMO membership, the U.S. Merchant Marine, and our operating companies are all best served when our officers fill these jobs cooperatively to keep the ships moving.
This is an exciting time as the U.S. Merchant Marine is getting long-overdue attention at the highest levels of the U.S. government and we expect expansion of the U.S.-flag fleet to continue.
Willie Barrere
AMO National President
To the Memberships of AMO and MEBA
As many of you know, with the SHIPS for America Act, numerous Executive Orders, and foreign investment interest due to the Trump Administration’s focus on rebuilding and revitalizing the US Maritime Industry, our unions play an important role in developing how far the future of US flagged shipping can go and how great it can become.
Over the last year and a half, there have been numerous meetings across the country and in DC strategizing the new National Maritime Policy; one common refrain heard from companies and stakeholders is regarding Labor - are there enough mariners to match the aspirations? The SHIPS Act includes incentives throughout all aspects of the bill - for shipbuilding, cargo carriage, and mariners. The USCG is reworking requirements for licensing and upgrading. However, as our Unions have seen since the pandemic, it is the Unions that have picked up the ball and led the charge through improved contracts that make going to sea a desirable career. There is certainly more work to do, but the interunion collaboration has ended the race to the bottom, and allowed us both to achieve improved working conditions and wages for our mariners that more accurately reflect the skills required, hardships, and dangers of sailing.
AMO and MEBA wish to continue the successful partnership. We have worked out a set of pass-through parameters to facilitate an increase in US flagged vessels with the introduction of the CMA CGM fleet under Osprey Ship Management, an AMO employer. The memberships will hear more about this from their respective Unions shortly. The expectation is that there will be many more ships coming in to the US registry soon, whether it be for assisting MSC, the TSP program, foreign investment, LNG export vessels, or simply increases to our current employer fleets. A national goal of 250 ships in 10 years is only achievable if we work together (we now collectively have 85 trading internationally). Not only will we need to rely on each other’s mariners to help move the ships of today, we will most certainly need to work with each other to ensure mariner compensation and working conditions are good enough to recruit and retain the mariners of tomorrow into this industry.
For nearly two years, MEBA and AMO have been working together with a very successful pass-through arrangement with approximately 100 mariners working via this procedure. It is an initiative some would have thought impossible just a few years ago. This has allowed our vessels to continue operating, and our employers to make investments into expansion knowing they can plan on their vessels moving. It has also allowed trust to develop between the union officials operating the program, and the mariners working side by side on the deck plates. As more ships come in, there will be even more need to collaborate. If our industry is going to grow and fulfill our Nation’s maritime and national security needs, we need to work together to keep our vessels moving. If our mariners are to earn the wages you deserve and work in conditions fitting for US maritime officers, then we cannot work at cross purposes. The success of this venture will rely heavily on the cooperation of our members and both presidents agree this is the best path forward - both for our nation, and for our members and their families.
Thank you,
Adam and Willie
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