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12 • MarineNews • February, 2005 News largest of the three maritime unions repre- senting crewmembers of the M/V Fair- weather, the state's fast vehicle ferry. Agreement was reached earlier this week with the Inlandboatmens Union (IBU) on a three-year contract. Contract talks have continued with the IBU after the state declared an impasse in negotiations in December. Terms of the tentative agreement are not being released, but negotiators said the state has entered into a letter of agreement with the IBU that allows winter operations of the Fairweather to continue, provided similar agreements can be reached with two other unions representing ferry work- ers. "I am pleased that the members of the IBU negotiating team committed to stay- ing at the negotiation table until we could work out our differences on the Fair- weather," said John Torgerson, a special assistant to DOT&PF Commissioner Mike Barton, and a member of the state's negotiating team. "The state and IBU still need to reach an agreement on the M/V Lituya, the day boat that provides service between Metlakatla and Ketchikan. Con- tract negotiations are ongoing for the Lituya. It has been my opinion that we will not have a completed master agree- ment ready for consideration by the Leg- islature, until we have all components of it agreed upon." Each of the three unions operates under a master agreement covering all AMHS vessels in Southeast. Although the state's original position was that the Fairweather should be a separate labor contract, the state agreed earlier in the negotiations to make it a supplemental to the master agreements. Torgerson said the state is still seeking mediation with the other two unions - the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association and the Masters, Mates and Pilots - in hopes of finalizing a long-term agreement for the Fairweather. Commissioner Barton announced in December that if an agree- ment is not reached by January 25, the state will cease operating the Fairweather until an agreement is reached. Wooster Completes Acquisition Wooster Hydrostatics announced the purchase of Fluid Power Solutions. Fluid Power Solutions of Hilliard, Ohio, is a full service distribution company and a leader in the design and build of hydraulic power systems. Fluid Power Solutions represents the following manufacturers within the hydraulic pump, motor, valve and acces- sories market: Denison Hydraulics, Ort- man Fluid Power, Stauff, Schrupp Indus- tries, American Industrial, Gaumer, Rotary Power. In addition to the manufac- turers Wooster Hydrostatics services, stocks and remanufactures (Rexroth, Bru- eninghuas, Hydromatik, Uchida, Lohman and Stolterfoht, Denison, Calzoni, Dynapower, Vickers, Oilgear and Hydrokraft), Wooster Hydrostatics will now offer the best serviceable product line-up in the industry. Rapp Hydema Mooring Winches Installed on Sause Brothers' Barge Sause Brothers recently installed four double-drum mooring and two tricing winches from Rapp Hydema. The winch- es are to be used on Sause' new oil barge, the Sunset Bay, recently completed. This barge-fitting out at 19,700 long tons at load line-is the largest double-hull towed oil barge on the West coast. The choice was of Rapp Hydema was "a value-based decision," explains Sause Engineering Manager Mark Babcock. Mark cited Rapp's earlier tanker winch work and well-known achievements in the fishing industry, especially in Alaska. Rapp's MW-20-2 winches are of a split double-drum, anchor and mooring type. There are clutches on both drums with capstan heads; they will have a two-speed option for a high-speed, light line-pull application (15 tons of line pull first layer with 30 meters/minute line speed). The winches accommodate 330 meters of 32 mm line, and have 50 tons of brake hold- ing force (first layer). The two tricing winches added more recently have 23 tons of line pull first layer, at 18 meters per minute; they accomodate 50 meters of 45 mm wire rope. Their brake holding is 124 tons first layer. Circle 31 on Reader Service Card Circle 218 on Reader Service Card Hummers of the Water and Road Team Up Hummer's Tactical Mountain Bike, boasting the same name as the maker of the number one off-road vehicle in the world, recently joined forces with Mission Marine, often referred to as the "Hummer of the water," for a day of trial, testing, and tactical military training in Miami, Fla. The Hummer of the road and the Hum- mer of the water joined up at the Advanced Marine Law Enforcement and Military Training in December which offers active training demon- strations to international marine police officers and supervisors, government securi- ty and military forces. Mission Marine provided boats to these demonstrations, including one with its exclusive patent-pending ramp. Circle 21 on Reader Service Card MN FEB05 (9-16).qxd 1/26/2005 3:38 PM Page 12
