MaritimeLicensing.com

Here is the latest from NMC on the same subject.

January 23, 2008MERCHANT MARINER’S AND THE TRANSPORTATION WORKERS IDENTIFICATION CREDENTIALAs required by law, all credentialed U.S. merchant mariners must obtain a Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC), prior to September 25, 2008 – this includes all persons holding a Coast Guard-issued License, Certificate of Registry, Merchant Mariner Document or Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers endorsement. The Coast Guard is currently engaged with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) working out the specific information, provided by applicants to TSA during TWIC enrollment, that would needed to process an applicationfor a Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC). We are also attempting to determine the method by which the information we require will be shared with (or transferred to) us by TSA. We expect to have coordinated these details prior to September 25, 2008, if not sooner. Until the information-sharing arrangement is worked out, mariners will still have to be fingerprinted, digitally photographed and have their identity verified at one of the 17 Coast Guard Regional Examination Centers in accordance with 46 CFR Parts 10 and 12. It is expected that a future rulemaking will amend this requirement to permit the process of applying for a merchant mariner credential to be conducted entirely through the mail (or by electronic means, but at any rate without a requirement for an appearance in person at an REC). For more information on improvements we’re making to Mariner Licensing and Documentation go to our web site at http://www.uscg.mil/stcw/wnnmc.htm or to http://homeport.uscg.mil and select Merchant Mariners under the list of Missions.We thank you for your patience as we continue to centralize operations. Sincerely,David C. StalfortCaptain, U. S. Coast Guard

Here is something from CaptJack.

Greeting,

This is just some things I found about TSA’s TWIC card that I thought might not know about. Have you seen this document Small Entity Guide for Applicants from Homeport.uscg.mil? ( download pdf file below my comments of this email). According to the web site and pdf file its been up since Sept 14th, 2007. I found it an interesting read. But I didn’t care for the often use word ( We ). I felt the iron curtain starting to close. Reminds me of the comment in the movie “Hunt for Red October” when one officer says “Can you travel state to state with no papers?” But thats just my thinking. Anywho.

 It says on page 23,  [ If you have one  of the following documents, you had a  comparable threat assessment. i.e. Merchant mariner’s document (MMD)  issued after February 3, 2003 or Merchant mariner’s license issued after  January 13, 2006. Merchant Mariners who do not need  an STA (Security Threat Assessment) Instead of doing a new STA, we can use your  comparable threat assessment to issue a TWIC.   You can pay a reduced fee, however your TWIC  will expire the same date as the STA which has  already been conducted. In some cases it might  make more sense to pay the full fee to receive a  5-year TWIC.  If you choose to pay for a STA,  you must complete the enrollment process and  give us your fingerprints.  If you are a  merchant  mariner, you  may hold a  document  that means  you do not  need an STA  or need to  pay for one.  But you must submit all the  information for an STA when you enroll for a  TWIC. ]   note: fees in this pdf are incorrect.

The application fee with STA $137.25 - w/o STA $105.25   = $32.00. So I googled a site: www.seafarers.org
I found a break down of the fees:

[ In the preamble of the final rule, we discussed the potential range of fees that would be charged for each Segment but did not publish specific fees for each Segment in the final rule text because the contract for enrollment and card production services was not finalized at that time. We explained that when the contract was executed and final fee amounts determined, we would publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing them. TSA has executed the contract for TWIC enrollment and card production and, with this notice, announces the final fee amounts. The Enrollment Segment fee is $43.25, the Full Card Production/Security Threat Assessment Segment fee is $72, and the FBI Segment fee is $22. Therefore, the total Standard TWIC Fee is $137.25 ($43.25 + 72 + 22). For applicants who have completed a prior comparable threat assessment, there is no FBI Segment fee and the Card Production/Security Threat Assessment Segment fee is $62. Therefore, the total Reduced TWIC Fee is $105.25 ($43.25 + 62). ]

Link below is the CFR:
Code of Federal Regulations, at 49 CFR 1572, subpart F, Fees for Security Threat Assessments for Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
I think most mariners would pay the extra $32 to have the full 5 years of STA. Also read in the guide was that you can not pay cash or personal check. Since when is cash not a legal tender for the government? Oh so to track your transactions via Credit card?

I don’t know which is scarier? Terrorists or  Big Brother?

Now if they are able to use your STA from your MMD card or Merchant Mariner’s License, then TSA has access to USCG computers. I wonder how they do that?

(This is the end of my comments, below is the pdf file of the Small Entity Guide for Applicants of the new TWIC.)

Capt. Jack also added the website for the CG’s Homeport http://homeport.uscg.mil/

 Thank you Capt. Jack.  This is awesome research.  It is scary isn’t it?  Big Brother is truly watching.  If some of you out there are not familiar with the term “Big Brother is watching” or where it came from, I suggest that you go to your public library and check out the book “1984″, by George Orwell, I promise you that the hairs on the back of your neck will start to rise and goose flesh will set in.  The similarities are unmistakable.

 I totally agree with Capt. Jack when he states “since when is cash not legal tender in the U. S.”  I think the USCG, TSA or any other agency that accepts monies for any transactions, cannot preclude the use of cash until such time as the “Federal Lawgivers” write into law, for all to read that ‘CASH IS NO LONGER LEGAL TENDER IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA’.  I don’t know a lot of attornies, but I’ll bet that this issue would be a hot one to discuss with one of them.  Of course the reason for these agencies not accepting cash, may be that it is harder for those working “inside” the system to abscond with the cash.

Great job Capt. Jack!

Touch Keys with you Later

N.

I had a question from a mariner who holds a 3rd mates license.  He has renewed his license in the past but due to happenstance did not renew it in 2006 when it was due.  He also missed the grace period in 2007 as well and now his license has lapsed. 

His question was:

To whom it may concern,

I have been looking through your website and I am in th exact same situation as “Ed” in your “frequently asked questions” under the “renewal beyond grace period” heading. I have a Third Mate Unlimited License and I am a 1994 graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. I did renew with sea time in 2001 but my license expired in 2006 and now so has the grace period. I have done some research of my own and I would like to take the license renewal class in order to renew my Third Mate Unlimited/Ocean as opposed to retaking the entire Third’s exam. I was wondering who offers this course?, how long is the course?, how much does it cost?,

My answer was:

I am sorry to be the barer of bad news, but there is no easy way for you to renew your license  once it is beyond grace.  To my knowledge, there are no approved Coast Guard renewal courses for 3rd mates nor any other license for that matter.   There are refresher courses for AB’s, QMED’s, Radar, STCW, BST, BRM, ARPA, GMDSS, Lifeboatman, Rules of the Road, Tankerman, but no renewal course for any license.  I checked the CG website at www.uscg.mil/STCW/index.htm and found nothing. The regulations in 46 CFR 10.209 (f) Reissuance of expired license or certificate of registry state;“(f)(1) Whenever an applicant applies for a reissuance of a license more than 12 months after expiration, in lieu of the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section, the applicant SHALL DEMONSTRATE CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BY COMPLETING A COURSE APPROVED FOR THIS PURPOSE, or…” However, there are no approved courses at this time for that purpose. 

If you are beyond grace you will be required to re-test for the entire 3rd mate exam plus meet all of the requirements for a 95 STCW certificate as well (I am assuming here that you held a 95 STCW certificate as well).  If you chose not to meet the 95 STCW requirements then your 3rd mate license will be limited to vessels less than 200 gross register tons on domestic waters.

 Touch Keys with you LaterN.

Boy, this is a tuff question sometimes, but one that needs to be addressed especially since we live in the Puget Sound.

Where is Inland versus Near Coastal in Puget Sound?  Sounds like a simple question right?  WRONG! 

I don’t know how many times people have told me that if you go to 46 CFR Part 7 (7.145) (Boundary Lines) it says very clearly “Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait and Strait of Georgia, WA” is defined as near coastal. 

 Well, Yes and No.  You first need to look a little deeper into the CFR and find the definition of “Inland”.  46 CFR 10.103 states, and I quote:  “Inland waters means the navigable waters of the United States shoreward of the Boundary Lines as described in 46 CFR part 7, excluding the Great Lakes and, for towing vessels, excluding the Western Rivers.  For establishing credit for sea service, the waters of the Inside Passage between Puget Sound and Cape Spencer, Alaska, are inland waters”. 

The above underlined passage is something that almost all mariners miss. And why wouldn’t they miss it, it is not in a logical location to give them all of the information that they need.  They have gone to the correct place to find the boundary lines, but without knowing that the “definitions” in 10.103 changes part 7. 

Near Coastal waters in Puget Sound begin at Angeles Point Westward.

I hope this will help some of you in clarifying the difference between Inland and Near Coastal for Puget Sound.

Touch Keys with you later.

N.

Well, according to the latest intel, REC Toledo, Ohio  and REC St. Louis, Missouri are the latest to hit the trail to the big house in Martinsburg West Virginia where all good mariner files will eventually come to rest.  The next to go will be REC Memphis, Tennessee and Long Beach, California, both are reported to start the transition on the 1st of March.  After that it is Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California starting April 1st.

Here is the latest press release from NMC:

Well, it’s here, whether you or I like it or not. The effective date is coming way faster than you think SEPTEMBER 25, 2008.

My personal opinion of this is still under censorship to remove all of the expletives. I have been opposed to this for a dozen reasons, since we were first told about it.

My personal opinion aside, you need to go to the TSA website http://www.tsa.gove/twic and if you can’t find your answers there, then you can call the TSA TWIC Help desk (1-866-DHS-TWIC) (1-866-347-8942) and do a Pre-Registration. This is supposed to save you time in the long run. It won’t save you money, nor the need to get a TWIC, but it will save you time in the processing end of the credential.

If you can’t get help there then call the Coast Guard TWIC Help Desk at (202-372-1126) during normal business hours for the East Coast or email uscg-twic-helpdesk@uscg.mil to ask questions pertaining to “implementation specific questions”.

Be sure to read the January issue of the Pacific Maritime magazine http://www.pacmar.com, they have an article done by USCG Commander Peter W. Gautier which is interesting and might help you understand the inevitability of TWIC.

In my opinion, one of the many things that bother me about the article and most of the articles that I have read, is that they skirt around the issue of just exactly “WHO” is required to have a TWIC. From what I can gather from the statement “a TWIC is required for anyone who gains unescorted access to secure areas of facilities and vessels regulated by the Martitime Transportation Security Act (MTSA), and for mariners possessing a Coast Guard-issued license or document.”

To me, this means the following folks are REQUIRED to have a TWIC - Any one who holds a license from OUPV, 25 gross tons to any gross tons, any one who holds an engineers license, any one who holds a merchant mariners document (MMD or old school term Z-card), truckers, long shoremen, delivery personnel, ship welders, carpenters, and I am sure many hundreds of others.

The TWIC should also, but I doubt it will, include active duty and civilian personnel in the Coast Guard, Navy, NOAA, MSC, Shipping companies, Fishing Companies, Tug companies, Police, Firemen, Emergency crews. Lets face it, if they are talking about “Port Security” issues, it doesn’t take a genious to figure out where to go to buy a uniform for one of these services now does it?

Keep those opinions coming.

Touch keys with you later.

N.

As most of you are aware, NMC is taking over the evaluation and issuance functions of the 17 Regional Exam Centers by the end of 2008. If you have not already seen this, it will be helpfull to you.

Letter signed by Capt. David C. Stalfort of the National Maritime Center, Martinsburg, WV

I am pleased to inform you that the Coast Guard National Maritime Center (NMC), which was originally located in Arlington, VA and temporarily relocated to Kearneysville, WV, is moving to its permanent home in Martinsburg, WV as part of our planned effort to restructure and centralize the Mariner Licensing and Documentation (MLD) Program. The permanent office in Martinsburg, WV, will become operational on January 7, 2008 and after that date no further NMC operations will be carried out in Arlington, VA or Kearneysville, WV. The first phase of our move will take place on December 7th an we will continue to transition through the holidays and into the New Year to meet our goal.

The NMC’s new address will be:

Coast Guard National Maritime Center
100 Forbes Drive
Martinsburg, WV 25404

The main telephone number beginning January 7th will be (304) 433-3400. Other numbers will be published in the future and posted on our website.

David C. Stalfort
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard

The Coast Guard Website can be found at:
http://www.uscg.mil/stcw/index.htm

Well, here it is January 6th and we here are looking forward to what the New Year brings.

We are anticipating many meetings and greetings and hoping you are all up to date on the latest and greatest happenings in the Maritime world.

Many changes are coming at us fast and furious with the closures of the REC’s as we have known them for many years. By mid to late 2008 all of the evaluations will be done in West Virginia, so if you are not prepared, we suggest you educate yourselves on what will be expected of you when making applications for original, raise in grade, endorsements, renewals. If you are not prepared beforehand, you will be in for a great deal of heart ache and undue stress.

Happy New Year to all of you