A closed labor market opening, perhaps?

[dougpine]

Need a job in this horrible economy? There may be opportunities that presently do not exist, if congress has the nerve to defy the fishing industry and compel them to advertise for American crews. You can vote, in an admittedly unscientific fashion, on whether or not you'd apply for a job if given the opportunity. Please do vote, as congress is interested. I know they're interested in hearing from us because I've talked to some members about this. Click here to vote.

[seadawg]

IMHO..US flag vessels working permanently or on contract "outside the US" should be crewed with US Captain, US C/E and that all officers be able to speak and understand the English language..thought that the IMO considered English to be the official "language of the sea"??

[dougpine]

IMHO..US flag vessels working permanently or on contract "outside the US" should be crewed with US Captain, US C/E and that all officers be able to speak and understand the English language..always thought that the IMO considered English to be the official "language of the sea"??

It is, indeed, but along with almost every other law that ensures safety on US vessels, American uninspected fishing vessels are exempt from the English language requirements found in the United States Code.

Convenient, yeah?

[rjbpilot]

Very interesting.

[Shellback]

It is, indeed, but along with almost every other law that ensures safety on US vessels, American uninspected fishing vessels are exempt from the English language requirements found in the United States Code.

Convenient, yeah?

Part of the ADV FF course that I took this past week, focused on the FV Galaxy, that caught fire and later sank in the Bering Sea,in 2002...

The crew consisted of at least 6, non English speakers..At the conclusion of the investigation, one of the recommendations that was handed down by the CG , that fishing companies that have crew members on board,who do not speak English, should have training videos and other related drills and instructions in the language of their crews, so that they may better understand what the policies and procedures are for life threatening events...

Gee, ya think???

I wonder if the party that got this exemption passed realizes how much danger they have just put crews in that cannot communicate..When a life threatening situation happens on a vessel at sea, communication is already hard enough with a crew that is fluent in one language...

This will never make any sense to me....

[dougpine]

This will never make any sense to me....

It never makes sense to any of us who have to work on the boats. It makes wonderful sense to the folks who profit from the catch though, and they're powerful and they have powerful friends. One step at a time toward sanity is my goal, and I hope we'll make some progress around these issues.

[Shellback]

It never makes sense to any of us who have to work on the boats. It makes wonderful sense to the folks who profit from the catch though, and they're powerful and they have powerful friends. One step at a time toward sanity is my goal, and I hope we'll make some progress around these issues.

Doug, I have meant to ask you several times about this very subject..When you were on that fishing vessel ,I think you said there were 3 different nationalities aboard..The fisheries guy was the only other English speaker,correct?

How did the crew conduct weekly/ monthly/ quarterly drills ? or did they?...

Also, were safety training and instruction part of the ships normal routine...?

[dougpine]

The officers were American (me) and Korean (seven, deck and engineering) and the unlicensed deck and engineering were Indonesian, Filipino, and Korean. We did have a FFA observer aboard who spoke English; he was with us for two months during August and September. One of the Filipino guys, the electrician, spoke pretty fair English and I would communicate to the crew through him from time to time. The officers spoke English, sort of, if and when it suited their agenda. If not, they suddenly understood not a word.

US flag Uninspected fishing vessels are required only to have a monthly fire and abandon ship drill and a safety meeting.

The normal routine was to do nothing that would interfere with fishing, so no, there was no safety training and instruction as part of the routine beyond the monthly meeting. I did have informal conversations (in sign language, mostly...) with the deckhands when I felt it was warranted due to a safety concern, but not very often.

[seadawg]

It is, indeed, but along with almost every other law that ensures safety on US vessels, American uninspected fishing vessels are exempt from the English language requirements found in the United States Code.

Doug,
I was referring to the IMO's SMCP (standard marine communication phases)??

[dougpine]

Doug,
I was referring to the IMO's SMCP (standard marine communication phases)??

Here's more info on SMCP

[dougpine]

H.R. 3619: COAST GUARD AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2010

• Summary: Maritime Safety Act of 2009 - Regulates vessel size limits, the rebuilding or replacing of vessels, fishery management in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area or the Gulf of Alaska, maritime safety, oil fuel tank protection, merchant mariners' documents, vessel staffing requirements, and the Navigation Safety Advisory Council.
• Status: Passed House, 11/22/09
• Title VIII: Marine Safety: includes dockside inspections (http://dougpine.com/2009/11/22/hr-36...e-inspections/).
• Related Senate Bill: S. 1124 (Sponsor: Maria Cantwell)
  • Authorizes the commandant of the Coast Guard to make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, international maritime organizations to acquire information or data about merchant vessel inspections, security, safety and environmental requirements, classification, and port state or flag state law enforcement or oversight.
• Amendment to Sec. 8103 of Title 46:
  • SEC. 1314. OFFICER REQUIREMENTS FOR DISTANT WATER TUNA VESSELS. Section 8103 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow new subsection: (l) Officer Requirements for Distant Water Tuna Vessels-

(1) CITIZENSHIP- Notwithstanding subsection (a), a purse seine tuna fishing vessel documented under chapter 121 fishing exclusively for highly migratory species under a fishing license issued pursuant to the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Islands States and the Government of the United States of America in the treaty area (as that term is used in that treaty), or transiting to or from the treaty area exclusively for such purpose, may engage an individual who is not a citizen of the United States to fill a vacancy in a position referred to in subsection (a) (except for the master) if, after timely public notice of the vacancy, no United States citizens are readily available to fill the vacancy.
(2) RESTRICTIONS-
(A) IN GENERAL- An individual may not be engaged under paragraph (1) unless the individual holds a valid license or certificate issued--
(i) in accordance with the standards established by the 1995 amendments to the Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (STCW 95); and
(ii) by an authority that the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating recognizes as imposing competency and training standards equivalent to or exceeding those required for a issued under chapter 71.
(B) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION- Paragraph (1) applies only to engagement of an individual on a vessel that--
(i) is homeported in American Samoa, Guam, or the Northern Mariana Islands; and
(ii) has passed an annual commercial fishing vessel safety exam administered by a individual authorized to enforce this title.
(3) TREATMENT OF EQUIVALENT LICENSE- The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall treat a license held by an individual engaged under paragraph (1) that was issued by a foreign government as meeting the requirements of section 8304 with respect to that engagement, if the Secretary determines that the standards for issuing that license are equivalent to the standards that apply under that section.'.

(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquer...:@@@D&summ2=m&)

[Jeffrox]

"if, after timely public notice of the vacancy, no United States citizens are readily available to fill the vacancy."

So where will this this so-called "public announcement" be posted, The Bikini Atoll Herald Examiner?? It sure wont be on gCaptain Jobs Link....

[Jeffrox]

IMO's SMCP (standard marine communication phases).... Thinking back to when I listened to the "Mel Oliver Incident", the Pilot et al could stand to review the SMCP. We could make a long list of folks within our own borders that don't exercise proper circuit discipline or proper terminology; there's no need to search foreign waters to find offenders.

(sorry for being off topic)

[dougpine]

"if, after timely public notice of the vacancy, no United States citizens are readily available to fill the vacancy."

So where will this this so-called "public announcement" be posted, The Bikini Atoll Herald Examiner?? It sure wont be on gCaptain Jobs Link....

Exactly. What is the definition of "timely public notice"?