The answers to all you questions have already been provided in previous posts or in the articles I have written and posted on my blog American Professional Mariners but since you haven’t read all of this thread or my blog, I’ll answer each of your questions here:
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43USC1356 and 33CFR141 each clearly state that personnel employed in Outer Continental Shelf Activities (including vessels providing service thereon) be United States Citizens (or resident aliens with green cards). The carriage of cargoes between land and units on the OCS is a Jones Act protected cabotage trade and not raised as an issue here because that is not under attack by the foreign vessel owners. It is subsea IMR, saturation dive suport, pipelaying, construction and now drilling vessels that are rapidly going from US manning and ownership to foreign owned with foreign mariners also there are US owned vessels with foreign mariners working here in the Gulf which a seperate violation under the law than the Norwegian invasion of our waters taking place.
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I believe that there is ample evidence to show that US flagged vessels and personnel are barred from employment in the waters of the nations where the owners of the vessels are located principally being Norway and the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Some Norwegians here have claimed that this is not the case. At this moment I am continuing to research their statements but at this time I know of not one single US flagged unit working in their waters. It may not be codified against US vessels but I well imagine that there are so many regulations and procedural hurdles which would make it prohibitive for a US vessel owner to even try to enter their market.
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I believe that all cabotage and other intranational trades be restricted to the mariners who are the citizens of the waters their ships are plying. 43USC makes the OSC the waters of the US and that US nationals have an inherent legal right to the work and foreign workers are to be allowed rights to work only by exception.
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Just as they do with their vessels working in Australia or Brazil…by engaging citizen mariners from the host country. (I don’t know about Australia but Brazil allows at least the Master and Chief Engineer be of the nationality of the vessel’s owner.
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Junior officers should immediately be recruited from the various maritime academies to fill JDPO berths. When they obtain their DPO certificates and have proven their ability, then they fill DPO berths and new JDPOs are hired. In the case of chief mate’s positions, there is a much smaller pool of US mariners with the license and DPO certificates but those that are available need to be recruited an engaged. As DPOs earn their chief mate’s papers they become chief mates. Junior engineers should likewise immediately be recruited from the academies and those berths filled first but also recruiting efforts would need to happen to get more senior engineers into those positions.
Unlicensed positions should be filled by recruiting ex Navy and USCG enlisted personnel with the time to earn their endorsed MMDs. I believe that they are the best qualified to work on these high tech vessels although I am sure there are many other unlicensed American mariners who can make the cut.
Contrary to what you might say these men are out there and all they need are the opportunities. The subsea vessel GLOBAL ORION has been mentioned by me previously, a Norwegian flagged vessel purchased by Global Industries last year where Global chose to replace the foreign mariners with American mariners. This cannot have been because Global Industies wanted to be charitable…they did this for legal and business reasons and I applaud them for doing this.
You may notice that not once have I said throughout this tread, that [B][I]any[/I][/B] American should be hired. I believe that for these vessels a very selective process be engaged to hire only those mariners with the knowledge, skills, experience and ability to match the nature of the vessels they are being hired to serve.
I believe that five years is ample time to implement the manning change 100% but it must be started with a serious effort on the vessel owners part…not just lip service.
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There are no restrictions to foreign built and flagged vessels providing these specialty services on the OCS…what is restricted is the nationality of the persons working on it
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Even though they are not required to build in the US, previous mention has been made to Otto Candies which has already built the CHLOE and GRANT CANDIES and has the ROSS CANDIES under construction. DMT built the DMT EMERALD. ECO is putting rov’s on many of its vessels now and since they do not publish lists of their vessels under construction I do not know if they are building purpose designed subsea vessels but their purchase of very large subsea cranes indicates that they have something happening. Lastly, Hornbeck took delivery of the HOS ACHIEVER last year and has shipped a US crew on her, they also have the HOS IRON HORSE coming from Holland next year and I understand will flag her in the US although she will not have Jones Act privileges. When finished (someday) one of the two converted sulphur tankers is going to be outfitted as a subsea vessel as well.
In a perfect world, all vessels working on the OCS would be US built including drillships and MODUs but even I know that is not realistic. However all those vessels which the US is capable of building for an economically competitive price should be US built. That is a separate matter which I have only mentioned in this tread as an aside not as an argument. This is for the OMSA and vessel owners and shipbuilders to take to Washington DC.
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As already stated, this is not a Jones Act issue. It is an effort on the part of these foreign vessels owners (which includes American companies as well as foreign) to use loopholes in the law to circumvent the intent of it. The USCG has been a willing handmaiden to these owners in granting them waivers to permit this practice. I advocate the Congress to order the GAO to investigate these practices and to hold hearings to bring this situation to the light of day.
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I have sailed unlimited tonnage cargo vessels in foreign trade and have sailed waters around the globe. I have been in Norway before to take delivery of a vessel and know their maritime culture. I am very impressed with the offshore vessels they build which I believe truly set the standard all other shipbuilding nations should meet. I do not believe, as they do, that they are somehow “world class” seafarers that sets some standard all other mariners must meet to be considered professionals. The posts of the Norwegians throughout the last half of this thread provides ample evidence to that!
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Ocean master of steam or motor vessels of any gross tons (issue 7), Nautical Institute dynamic positioning operator, ocean master of towing vessels. I am licensed as master in Panama, the Bahamas, Vanuatu, the Cayman Islands and the Marshall Islands.
I’ve been going to sea since the early 1980’s and have always been a seafarer. I have worked on just about every type of vessel that requires a license on its bridge including having sailed as master for 20 years including on unlimited tonnage vessels. I have sailed on both US and foreign flagged vessels and have worked with mariners from all over the world including Norwegians!
I believe that I have answered all your questions now…can you please answer mine?