Towmasters: the Master of Towing Vessels Assoc. Forum

The Jones Act

• 1-800-JonesAct – The best known online resource for the Jones Act, provided by the Ogletree Abbott Law Firm of Houston, Tx. We can’t personally vouch for their integrity or legal expertise, but they’ve done more than anyone else to put this very important information at your disposal free of charge. For this the MTVA applauds them.
• JonesActQuestions.com

Mariner Associations & Advocacy Groups

• Master of Towing Vessels Association – North America’s towing industry-specific professional association for the working tug and towboat deck officer.
• National Mariners Association – Capt. Richard Block and his crew have been fighting the good fight for all of us for years (previously as the Gulf Coast Mariners Association) by keeping pressure on the Coast Guard, unscrupulous vessel operators and the powerful trade/owner associations like the American Waterways Operators and Offshore Marine Services Association. Now they’ve gone nation-wide! They’re the best friends we limited-tonnage mariners have, so please consider joining so you can support their important activities in Washington, D.C. Come on, cough it up you cheap bastards!
• International Tugmasters Association – the first global professional association for towing industry deck officers. The time to join is yesterday…..

Labor Information & Government Agencies

• National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
• U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
• U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD)

Labor Unions

• Local 333 – United Marine Division – Staten Island, N.Y.
• International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) – the largest maritime workers union in the U.S.A., located at 17 Battery Place in New York City. Local 333 is affiliated with the I.L.A.
• The Inland Boatmen’s Union (IBU) – The biggest union on the West Coast for limited-tonnage workboat mariners of all types. They’re affiliated with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, and based in Seattle.
• International Association of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P) – With 6,800 members, on everything from ships to tugs, they’re the Big Kahuna on the East Coast and are affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
• Seafarers International Union (SIU) (Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes & Inland Water Districts) – Affiliated with the Seafarers International Union of North America.
• American Maritime Officers (AMO) – There’s some interesting reading on their site, though they seem to be yet another example of what happens when union members put too much trust in their elected officials and then don’t pay attention. They’re also an S.I.U. affiliate, and based in Dania, Fl.
• Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (MEBA) – Located in Washington, D.C.
• Sailors Union of the Pacific (SUP) – The biggest and oldest blue-water union on the West Coast. Based in San Francisco, and affiliated with the Seafarers International Union of North America.
• American Federation of Labor – Congress of International Organizations
• International Transport Workers Federation – Seafarers
• International Transport Workers Federation – Inland Navigation Section

Labor Union Reform

• The Association for Union Democracy – If your union has forgotten what democracy means and who it is they’re supposed to be working for, and you want to know what you can do about it, then this is your site. A great how-to manual for going about fixing a broken union.
• National Labor Relations Board – This agency is the government’s referee for disputes, squabbles and fights between unions and management, unions and their discontented members, non-union workers who want to unionize and management-types that want to prevent it, disenchanted union members who want to get rid of their union, and so on. Probably not a very fun job. Lots of good information here for those who want to form a union, get rid of a union, or who aren’t quite sure what they want to do. Plus the entire text of the Labor Relations Act of 1935. Read it if you dare!

USCG Licensing & Documentation, Military Sea Service, TWIC, FCC Licensing, U.S. Passports & Traveler’s Health Information

• U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center: Mariner Licensing & Documentation – Find out about sea-time and training requirements for U.S.C.G Licenses and Merchant Mariner Documents, as well as STCW ’95 endorsements. You can also download all application forms here too, including the Physical Examination Report.
• Transcripts of Sea Service (TOSS) for C.G. Personnel – U.S. Coast Guard Pay & Personnel Center
• Military Personnel Records – National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO
• Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) – You can’t get seafarer’s documents from the Coast Guard anymore unless you have one of these first. If you should allow it to expire then you’re seafarer’s documents immediately become null and void. One job, two completely different (and indifferent) bureaucracies to deal with. What a great system!
• F.C.C. Marine Radio Operator’s Permit – Information about the F.C.C. radio license that you need to operate a workboat or passenger vessel in domestic service.
• F.C.C. GMDSS Radio Operator’s License – Information about the F.C.C. radio license you need to work on vessels equipped for the GMDSS radio service. Anyone who wants to be able to work internationally on the larger SOLAS-compliant vessels (like some ATB’s and OSV’s) needs this license.
• U.S. Passports – If you want to be able to travel and work internationally you’ll need one of these. Here’s the latest word, right from the U.S. State Department.
• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention / Traveler’s Health Info – if you’re getting a passport and thinking of traveling and working overseas don’t forget to check that you have the appropriate vaccinations before you go. Dengue Fever, anyone?

Licensing Consultants

• Broad Sound Consulting – East Boston, MA
• Grossetti License Consulting – Framingham, MA
• Sea K’s Maritime Licensing Service – Temperance, MI
• USCG License Consultants – Port Orchard, WA

License & Certificate Insurance

• Captains Coverage
• Jordan Harrison Insurance Brokers, Inc.
• Marine Officers Protection Syndicate (MOPS)
• R.J. Mellusi & Co. (MOPS)
• Professional Mariners Insurance Agency

License & Certificate Study Guides

• Marine Education Textbooks – Houma, La.
• Hawespipe.net – Bristol, R.I.
• Lapware
• F.C.C. General Radio Operators License Examination by Jack Rudman, 1997
• GROL Plus: General Radiotelephone Operator License Plus Radar Endorsement by Fred Maia & Gordon West, 1998
• GROL Plus Book & Software Package by Fred Maia & Gordon West, 2004
• GMDSS: A study guide for the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (2nd Ed.) by Richard K. Bass, 2007

License Test Questions

• U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center – Deck Exam Guide & Questions
• U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center – Engine Exam Guide & Questions
• USCG Questions.com