Brian G. Rogers, Cleveland Lodge No.4 AP 10635, was killed on June 20th 2009 in a motorcycle accident. According to the Elyria Chronicle Brian was knocked from his motorcycle by a deer and then run over by a SUV. The deer that struck Rogers was thrown into his motorcycle after it was hit by another car. After the deer hit him, he was thrown from his motorcycle and run over by a SUV. Brian was employed by the Great Lakes Towing Co. as a tug captain.

Please go to the following link for a tribute page for Brian:
http://hosting-24271.tributes.com/show/Brian-Rogers-86202505

Consolidated Merchant Mariner Credential

3/19 - The U.S. Coast Guard published a final rule Monday consolidating the credentials issued to merchant mariners into a single credential and reducing the burden on mariners by limiting the number of times they need to appear in person to provide fingerprints and proof of identity.

This final rule, which will become effective on April 15, 2009, addresses the comments received from the public in response to the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. A copy of the final rule is available on the Federal Register’s website  MMC Final Rule

Key features of the MMC regulations:
• The regulation consolidates the credentials issued to merchant mariners into a single credential.
• The regulation also streamlines the application process for the MMC by removing the requirement that all mariners appear at one of 17 Regional Exam Centers, so long as they have already enrolled for a TWIC at one of 149 TWIC Enrollment Centers.
• The rule works in tandem with the joint Final Rule published by the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration on January 25, 2007, titled "Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) Implementation in the Maritime Sector; Hazardous Materials Endorsement for a Commercial Driver's License.”

Under the previous regulations, the Coast Guard issued up to four credentials to a mariner: a Merchant Mariner’s Document (MMD), a Merchant Mariner’s License (License), a Certificate of Registry (COR), and an International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) Endorsement. Each credential served a separate purpose, thus creating the possibility that a mariner might need all four. The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 added a requirement for all mariners to obtain a transportation security card, implemented by the Department of Homeland Security as the TWIC. Without a regulatory change, a mariner could have been required to obtain up to five credentials, and to appear in person for duplicative applications.

The Coast Guard is streamlining its mariner regulations and consolidating the four separate Coast Guard-issued credentialing documents into one Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC). In addition to reducing the number of credentials a mariner will need to hold, this rule also eliminates redundant burdens and government processes.

Members, the following notice from the National Maritime Center amends the requirement to appear in person when applying for a Merchant Marine Document. (click here).
Regards, John Philbin

GOOGLE INFORMATION

Captain Lawrence W. Huston, who had celebrated his 100th birthday last October, passed away on Thursday, April 16, 2009 in Lafayette , Louisiana where he had been residing for the past several years.  Captain Huston became a member of Detroit Lodge No. 7 on January 26, 1982, and was assigned pennant number 10341. 

Born in Los Angeles in 1908, and raised in the Southeastern Iowa town of Ottumwa , Capt. Huston attended  Maryville College in Maryville , Tennessee .  His sailing career began in 1929, when, during summer vacation from college, he shipped as a deckhand aboard the S/S Western States, operated by the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company.  Over the years, he worked on all of the sidewheelers in the D&C line, with the exception of the City of Detroit III .   

In 1940 & 1941, Capt. Huston attended the 11th class at the Fort Trumbull Maritime Officers Training School at New London ,  Connecticut .  It was there that he received his first license, for Great Lakes Mate & 3rd Mate Ocean.   

In 1949, while sailing as 1st Mate on the S/S Eastern States, he left D&C to sail as Captain for the Wabash Railroad's Detroit River Carferry Fleet, which was later operated by the Norfolk-Western & finally the Norfolk-Southern Railroad. He worked on all three of the Wabash vessels: the Detroit , Manitowoc, and the Windsor .  When the carferries were replaced by a tug & barge operation, Capt. Huston moved to the tugs R.G. Cassidy and F.A. Johnson. He retired from the Detroit River carferries in 1975.

Although the majority of Capt. Huston's career was with the D&C Navigation Company and the Detroit River  rail car ferries, he did serve on other vessels in both licensed and unlicensed capacities.  These vessels include the Morris S. Tremaine, the sandsucker Nassau, the tanker Oscar D. Bennett of thePan American Petroleum & Transport Co., the tanker Joseph M. Cudahy of the Sinclair fleet, the President Harding and Manhattan, both operated by U.S. Lines, the Rensselaer of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Fleet, and Nicholson Steamship's Sultana. 

Captain Huston is predeceased by both his first and second wives. He met his first wife, Lois, of Rome , Georgia , while attending Maryville College , and they married in 1930.  Lois passed away in February of 1981.  In August 1985, he married another friend from Maryville college, Mary Fant, of Athens , Georgia .  They later relocated to Lafayette , Louisiana.   

Capt. Huston is survived by his son, William Huston of Detroit , two nieces and one nephew.  There will be no visitation or funeral.  Private burial will take place at 2:00 PM Monday, April 20, 2009 at the Roseland Park Cemetery in Berkley , Michigan .    If a memorial service is planned at a later date, the lodge membership will be notified. 

The newspaper death notice and on-line guest book can be found at the following link:

http://www.detroitnewspapers.com/deathnotices/viewnotice.cfm?id=213573

Fraternally,
Paul M. Jagenow
Secretary - Treasurer

BAIRD INTRODUCES PROPOSED NEW REGULATIONS FOR SMALL VESSELS

• better reflect the nature of the small vessel fleet in Canada;
• ensure consistency with international standards;
• incorporate new requirements to enhance safety; and
• provide alternatives for the construction and stability of small vessels.