So I’m on vacation last week on Lake Champlain, at a yacht club where the stewards are all required to sport OUPVs for the club’s launches. Would THOSE individuals require a TWIC? Or say the charter schooner skipper on the Burlington waterfront? Neither would be accessing anyplace that i am understanding TWIC was designed for. Are their licenses gonna be at risk after the deadline?<br><br>JED sends from Mariner’s Harbor, NY
<P>The TWIC card is one of the worst things to happen on the waterfront in a long time. I have had mine for five months and I still can’t get access to ports unless I go get that state’s port id. Which, in the case of Florida costs 85 for the first card and 35 (I think) for every subsequent annual renewal. I have friends still sailing who have the TWIC and are still getting seriously hasselled every time they try to join a ship. Wasn’t the TWIC card supposed to prevent this? If we left port security to their own devices they would shut down international commerce here in the US…Thos poor guys on Lake Champlain will eventually probably be required to get a TWIC, once the Homeland Security realizes they don’t have them. The only thing that the TWIC is making more secure is the profit margin for Lockheed Martin.</P>