Cummings on Maritime Credentialing

In a prepared statement for Congressman, Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, addressed a hearing on The National Maritime Center and Maritime Credentials. A live webcast of the hearing is available at http://transportation.house.gov.

“We convene today to review the operations of the National Maritime Center and the issuance of merchant mariner credentials.

“Over the past 18 months, the Coast Guard has consolidated the credentialing functions that were previously provided at 17 Regional Exam Centers into the National Maritime Center – and the Center opened at a new facility in West Virginia.

“The Coast Guard has also made significant changes to the actual credential that it issues. Specifically, it has consolidated the licenses, documents, certificates of registry, and endorsements that it previously issued as separate items into a single new Merchant Mariner Credential, which is essentially a passport-sized booklet. MMCs began to be issued on April 15th of this year.

“Finally, the Coast Guard has issued new guidelines to govern the type of medical information mariners are required to submit at the time they apply for a new or renewal credential as well as the specific review processes to which this information will be subjected to assess mariner fitness for duty.

“Each one of these changes is a significant alteration in the way the Coast Guard manages mariner licensing and I am hopeful that each change will, over the long term, significantly improve the licensing process and the services provided to mariners.

“That said, these hoped-for improvements have not yet been realized. To be frank, it appears that the Coast Guard did not adequately plan all aspects of the consolidated credential production process and the roll-out of the MMC – and this has led to extensive delays in the issuance of credentials.

“Further, as one specific area of delay has been resolved, subsequent bottlenecks have developed – and it appears that no significant progress has been made in speeding credential processing times.

“In fact, in a report issued on January 22nd, the Coast Guard indicated that the average gross processing time between July 2008 and January 2009 – meaning both the time required by the Coast Guard to process an application and the time the service waits for a mariner to provide additional information – totaled 83 days.

“Fifty percent of the credentials issued during this period were processed in under 52 days. Looking just at the time that it took the Coast Guard to process an application – and excluding all time spent waiting for a mariner to provide additional information – the Coast Guard reported that its average processing time in that period was 41 days, and that 50 percent of credentials were processed in 31 or fewer days.

“By comparison, in a report issued on June 29, 2009, the Coast Guard reported that average gross processing time for a credential between the beginning of 2009 and June 23rd was 80 days, while 50 percent of credentials processed during that period were processed in 54 or fewer days.

“That same report indicated that the length of time required by the Coast Guard itself in that period to process an application was 48 days, and only 35 percent of credential applications were being completely processed in 30 or fewer days.

“In other words, between January and June 2009, total processing time remained in the 80-day range – and it was actually taking the Coast Guard itself longer to process credential applications in the January to June 2009 period than in the six months leading up to January 2009.

“A credential is a mariner’s ticket to work. If the mariner does not have that credential – for whatever reason – the mariner cannot work.

“Unfortunately, the Subcommittee has heard of instances in which mariners’ credentials have expired before a renewal application could be fully processed – and these mariners have been left without an income while they were waiting for the bureaucratic wheels to grind.

“This is simply unacceptable. Given all that we are doing to stimulate our economy and to support the growth of jobs, it is inexcusable that any person should be out of work because the government cannot process a professional credential in a timely manner.

“I look forward to hearing from Admiral Cook, the Coast Guard’s new Director of Prevention Policy, and Captain Stalfort, the Director of the National Maritime Center, specifically what is being done to ensure that the new credential processing systems finally yield real benefits to mariners.

“As I mentioned, the Coast Guard has also instituted new guidelines regarding the assessment of mariner fitness for duty. This guideline, known as Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular 04-08, is intended to provide the level of specificity regarding mariner fitness for duty that previous guidance and even statute and regulation have lacked.

“The NVIC was the product of extensive work and consultation – and the National Transportation Safety Board indicated in its report on the Cosco Busan accident in San Francisco that it is “responsive” to much of what the Board called for in recommendations made after the 2003 allision of the Staten Island Ferry.

“Nonetheless, despite this improvement, there remain issues related to the assessment of a mariner’s fitness for duty that we look forward to examining today.

“Currently, pilots are required to submit to the Coast Guard the results of annual physicals. However, most mariners submit medical exam results only once every five years when they seek the renewal of their credentials.

“In its report on the Cosco Busan incident, the NTSB noted that the Coast Guard has not moved to require mariners to report changes in their medical condition during the 5-year period between credential renewals as the Board had recommended after the Staten Island Ferry accident. We wish to understand why this recommendation remains unaddressed.

“Additionally, in its marine casualty investigation report on the Cosco Busan incident, the Coast Guard Senior Investigating Officer recommended that ‘the Commandant of the Coast Guard amend the existing standards in Marine Safety Manual (MSM) Volume III, for medical professionals performing mariner physicals, to ensure that physicals are performed only by designated physicians with a thorough understanding of the physical and mental demands of a mariner’s position.’

“The Coast Guard responded to this recommendation by stating that “we believe the guidance provided in NVIC 04-08 is sufficient to provide medical professionals with the necessary understanding of the occupational demands of mariners to perform marine physicals” and that the service therefore does not intend to change its requirements regarding the medical personnel who perform mariner physicals.

“We look forward to examining these and related issues in more detail today – and we look forward to the testimony of industry witnesses assembled on our second panel, who will provide a variety of perspectives on these issues.”

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Politics Northwest | Jarrett would put ferry district on hold | Seattle Times Newspaper

Politics Northwest | Jarrett would put ferry district on hold | Seattle Times Newspaper

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From the South Whidbey Record

Nichols goes after new ferry contracts ( Click here for link )

VashonBeachcomber.com

Point Defiance-Tahlequah ferry service could be cut (Click Here for Link )

Ferry System's Long-Range Plan Sweet News for Southworth - Kitsap Sun

Two Kitsap ferry routes won’t change a bit during the next 22 years, but the other pair will benefit from new and bigger boats, according to Washington State Ferries’ final long-range plan.

The plan, three years in the making, was released last week. It features the replacement of 10 aging vessels with new, slightly larger ones, presuming the state can fill a $3.3 billion funding gap. The first three will carry 64 vehicles; the next seven would be 144-car boats.

The increased space won’t keep up with a projected 37 percent ridership growth, so there will be an effort to move people out of their cars or away from peak travel times.

The Bainbridge-Seattle and Kingston-Edmonds routes, the busiest in the system, will hold on to the biggest, newest boats. The 202-car Wenatchee, Tacoma and Puyallup are barely 10 years old, and ferries are expected to last for 60. Kingston’s other boat, the 188-car Spokane, was built in 1972.

The Bremerton-Seattle route will get new 144-car ferries in 2015 and 2029. They’ll run together during the spring, winter and fall, and one will team with a 188-car boat in the summer. That’s an increase of 20 car slots year-round.

The Legislature also directed Washington State Ferries last session to look into ways to improve Bremerton’s schedule. There are big gaps at midday and late night.

Southworth could be the biggest Kitsap winner, although it won’t get a route to downtown Seattle or its own boat to Fauntleroy. What the Southworth-Vashon Island-Fauntleroy customers will enjoy are 78 more car spaces, the biggest increase in the system. Its two 87-car boats will be replaced by 124-car ferries, the first by 2015 and the second by 2030, joining its existing 124-car boat.

The Kitsap changes won’t take place until after three 64-car ferries are built. One is already under construction at Todd Shipyard in Seattle. It will go to the Port Townsend-Keystone route in 2011. The contract for two other 64-car ferries will soon go out to bid. The second, to be delivered in 2011, will be added to the Port Townsend route during the summer and shoulder periods. The third will replace the 62-year-old Rhododendron on the Point Defiance-Tahlequah route in 2012.

Washington State Ferries is assuming that it will then switch to building 144-car ferries, but might have to build one more 64-car boat if there’s not enough money left in the allocation from the legislature. The system doesn’t have a good place to put another 64-car boat.

Also good for the Bremerton and Southworth routes, which often lose a boat when a ferry breaks down, is that an 87-car ferry will replace the 34-car Hiyu as the backup boat in 2014.

Fares are projected to cover 78 percent of operating costs through 2030, assuming annual fare increases of 2.5 percent and a 37 percent increase in ridership.

For more about the long-range plan, go to http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/planning/ESHB2358.htm

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Lawmakers Seeking Federal Funds to Keep Ferries Afloat - The Kitsap Sun

SEATTLE —

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen are pursuing federal dollars that could take a big chunk out of Washington State Ferries’ funding gap.

The ferry system’s final long-range plan, released Tuesday night, shows a $3.3 billion deficit over the next 22 years. If Murray and Larsen succeed, WSF would receive at least $40 million a year from the feds.

“It’s not the complete answer,” ferries director David Moseley said during a news conference in a Colman Dock parking lot Wednesday morning. “The state would still have a huge responsibility, but $40 million a year over the 22-year life of the plan is $900 million.”

The U.S. Ferry Systems Investment Act of 2009 would increase federal ferry funding nationwide from $67 million this year to $200 million in each of the next six years. Half of it would be distributed based on a formula that looks at a ferry system’s number of passengers, vehicles, and route miles. Systems would compete for the other $100 million.

Washington State Ferries ranks first in the nation in the number of passengers it carries (22.7 million in 2008) and vehicles (10 million), and second to Alaska in route miles (200 miles). Based on the formula, it would get 35 percent to 40 percent of the $100 million, Moseley said.

The United States spends only one-tenth of one percent of total surface transportation funds on ferries.

“The federal government has long understood the wisdom and value of investing in the nation’s infrastructure,” Moseley said. “Our ferries are a marine highway, a floating bridge between 18 communities in Washington state and the second-largest transit system in Washington state, all of those things the federal government has realized it needs to fund wrapped up into one.”

Murray said Wednesday at Colman Dock that the bill has no enemies in Congress, only people with other priorities who don’t realize ferries’ importance. She and Larsen have been educating them for a decade and got $323 million for ferries in 2005. They’re trying to add support by marketing ferries as job creators to boat-building states’ reps.

Rep. Judy Clibborn, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, said the state would be in good shape to compete for the non-formula money, because after two years of state-mandated studies, there is now a blueprint for the ferry system’s future.

“It’s welcome news that we have a partner and it doesn’t fall on just our taxpayers,” said Clibborn, D-Mercer Island.

Washington State Ferries has had money problems since losing license tab revenues a decade ago. The Legislature has been keeping the system afloat, but it hasn’t found a dedicated long-term funding source that WSF can rely on. This would help, but it alone couldn’t build the 10 new ferries the system’s long-range plan calls for.

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WSDOT Ferries Division finalizes long-range plan

Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Contact: Marta Coursey, Communications Director, 206-515-3918

SEATTLE – Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division (WSF) will purchase five new vessels over the next five years as part of a long-range plan that will guide its services and investments through 2030.

“After a lot of hard work by the Legislature, Gov. Gregoire and WSDOT, we are finally at a place where we can look ahead to long-term, sustainable service of our marine highways,” said Paula Hammond, Washington Transportation Secretary. “This is good news for the communities that depend on our marine transportation system, but also for the entire state of Washington.”

“The final long-range plan for the ferry system is the culmination of the efforts of many people, including lawmakers, ferry served communities, and WSDOT,” said Assistant Secretary David Moseley. “The plan sets a path for WSF between now and 2030 with the first milestone being construction of the 64-auto ferry.”

The plan assumes that current levels of service remain as they are today with minor improvements as new vessels are acquired to replace retiring vessels. Other plan highlights include:

Purchase 10 new vessels to replace retired and retiring vessels
Preserve and maintain existing terminals and vessels
Investigate new technology for vehicle reservations systems at Anacortes/Sidney B.C. and Port Townsend/Keystone, and to look at options to incorporate reservations on other routes
Make transit supportive investments at select terminals
The plan identifies a net funding gap of $3.3 billion over the next 22 years with most of that deficit in the capital program. WSF will continue to work with the Legislature to identify a sustainable funding source for the ferry system.

You may download a copy of WSF’s final long-range plan online at

www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/planning/ESHB2358.htm

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